Chapter 789 Attitude
"I want to drink red wine and eat steak, not this 'junk'. Also, the conditions here are too poor. This bed doesn't even have a blanket. How can anyone sleep on it?" Igor, a Portuguese officer, shouted in the room.
The food that Igor called "garbage" was actually the standard meal of the East African Army. At the same time, two cans of food were prepared for the senior coalition official, namely, stewed beef brisket with potatoes and mango, as well as two bottles of beer and a pack of cigarettes. Even ordinary soldiers in East Africa rarely receive such treatment.
"Stop howling, Igor, this is already very good. I don't believe you haven't eaten worse than this. Although it tastes weird, it's still good." Igor's roommate, British Lieutenant Michel said.
"And even if you scream your throat out, the East Africans outside won't meet your demands. You should be thankful that they didn't drag us out to do hard labor."
After hearing what Michelle said, Igor impatiently sat back at the table, but he still complained, "Look at this environment, it's so dark and cramped, and there are two people living here. It's unimaginable, and there's not even basic bedding."
"It's December now, and the weather is as hot as an oven. What else do you want? On the contrary, this kind of 'cellar' is cool to live in. Besides, it's good enough that you are not asked to live in a dormitory in East Africa. There probably aren't any dormitories in East Africa. Other captured soldiers may have to use the ground as their bed and the sky as their quilt." Michelle retorted exaggeratedly.
Although summer in the southern hemisphere is winter in the northern hemisphere, southern Mozambique is close to the subtropics, so it is not too hot. Igor was just complaining, and Michelle could only follow the words of Igor, the "complaining woman".
But the effect was very good. Igor did calm down a lot. Michel was quite disdainful of the behavior of this Portuguese nobleman. Now that they had lost the war, it was considered merciful by East Africa not to execute them directly, not to mention that they were being treated well now.
"Look at this rice. Why don't you prepare bread? Are we going to eat the same thing as the soldiers in East Africa? And this dish looks like it's stewed in a big pot. There's very little meat, and there are so many wild vegetables." Igor was still picky, but although he was tough, his tongue couldn't deceive people. Igor's mouth was busy. He ate while talking and soon finished the food.
As for Igor's complaints, it was not actually the Guards Division's intentional making things difficult for him. It was just that things in Mozambique were difficult to get. For example, most of the East African soldiers were actually very satisfied with wild vegetables.
The proportion of undeveloped land in Mozambique is even more exaggerated than that in East Africa. As Chokwe is inland, there are no fruits or vegetables nearby except for the farmlands and plantations that have become the front lines of the battlefield. Fortunately, the East African soldiers have stayed in Africa for a long time and have learned many edible plants from the natives, so it is good to improve the food occasionally.
Using wild vegetables to improve food is also a practice used by East African soldiers, because when they are at home, there is no shortage of oil and water. The animal husbandry industry in East Africa is not developed, but it is large in scale, and the supply to the army is particularly sufficient.
However, for this cross-sea operation, the logistical supplies of the Guards Division must be transferred from sea to land, so many things are difficult to deliver. Meat is easy, but fruits, vegetables and other things that are not easy to preserve are more difficult. Therefore, using local materials is one of the important courses for East African cooks.
Moreover, the chefs of the Guards Division took into consideration that these Allied officers were probably used to a diet of meat and fish, and many of them had big bellies, so they were afraid that they might not be used to the food, so they specially gave them some extra wild vegetables.
And even if the food is not delicious, the taste of canned food is uniform and should be able to satisfy the tastes of most people. The only thing is that a "complaining woman" like Igor will never be satisfied.
His roommate Michel is more open-minded. He is very satisfied with the current environment. After all, he has suffered a lot. This also shows the difference between the British Army and the Portuguese Army. The British Army is far less corrupt than the Portuguese Army.
Although there were also corrupt officials in the British army, the military rules and regulations were more complete than those in Portugal, and the "education of hardship" received by the British aristocracy was much better than that of the Portuguese aristocracy.
Especially for someone like Michel who came from a small noble family and a military background, although the family education was not as strict as in Prussia, military training was also strict. Military training was an indispensable item, and an important item in military training was "hard work and endurance" in a battlefield environment.
And now that he has been captured in East Africa, he is not being abused at all, but rather being treated well, which makes Michelle even more satisfied.
Although he didn't say anything about Igor's complaints, he found it hard to agree in his heart. Take the food for example, in fact, he found it more difficult to accept than Igor. Igor was Portuguese, and rice was also grown in Portugal. Even if rice was not in the menu of Portuguese nobles, they should at least have seen it.
Michelle had never seen this crop in the UK, so British people who are used to living in India might find it easier to accept it.
…
After the meal, the East African soldiers took away the tableware. At this time, Igor lay like a dead pig on the bed that he was very unfamiliar with, while Michelle asked the East African soldiers for books.
"I'm so bored here, can you find a book for us?"
Although they could not understand Michelle's English, the East African soldiers still reported Michelle's situation to their superiors, and soon an interpreter arrived.
"Hello, Mr. Michel, what do you want?"
"I want you to find a book. I'm so bored. It feels like a lifetime here."
Michelle's words gave the translator a hard time. After all, who would carry books with them into war?
However, two hours later, Michelle's request was finally met. An English book was actually found in East Africa, which was quite rare.
If it was just German books, then many officers in East Africa would have had stocks of them, and some soldiers might have also carried books with them, and reading was quite common for many East African soldiers who had received compulsory education.
However, English books are extremely rare in East Africa, especially in military camps. After all, English is not popular in East Africa, and the printing industry is not yet developed in East Africa. Naturally, limited resources tend to be more inclined towards German products.
However, many people in East Africa are bilingual or multilingual. For example, Chinese immigrants know Chinese and German, and there is no conflict. Although most people cannot write or recognize Chinese characters, you cannot say that they don't know.
Even in Germany, there may be people who immigrated from the UK or took the initiative to learn English, so there are many people in the East African army who can speak English, French and Russian.
Of course, there are definitely not too many people covering the Guards Division, but there is a soldier whose grandmother is British, so he can speak English. When he immigrated from Europe to East Africa, he brought a box of English books with him. This time on the battlefield, he also carried an English "Bible".
So Michelle could only read the Bible, but this was also what Michelle wanted. Nothing could soothe his soul better than a Bible in this terrible situation.
After all, it is a product of religious culture, which carries psychological implications. In this case, Michel's uneasy soul after being captured seemed to be baptized. For Michel, this might be a test from God.
Of course, it would be perfect if my roommate wasn't "Igor".
(End of this chapter)
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