Chapter 95 Arsenal Upgrade
August 20, 1867.
Berlin, Hechingen Arsenal.
“Clang…Clang…”
The worker held the chisel carefully and used a hammer to rhythmically hit the rivets at the welding point of the machine.
As the hammer fell again and again, the rivets were knocked off, but no big marks were left on the surface of the machine.
Holding a large wrench in his hand, he exerted great force to remove the screws, and then other workers sorted the removed rivets and iron filings into wooden barrels.
Professional masters put the disassembled parts into wooden boxes according to fixed positions. These machines, which had only been in use for a short time, were gloriously retired from the Heixingen Arsenal.
This batch of dismantled machines were the old facilities that were originally obtained from the Prussian royal family and were part of the arsenal.
When Ernst first acquired this arsenal, his purpose was not for the machines, but mainly for the workers and technicians in the factory.
Therefore, the fate of this batch of machines was decided the moment Ernst got them.
Of course, in line with the principle of making the best use of everything, this batch of dismantled outdated machines will be sent to the East African colonies for re-armament, repair and processing of parts.
The East African colonies were now stockpiling and equipped with large quantities of old flintlock rifles, and these machines were exactly what they needed to put them to use.
Those old flintlock rifles can still serve in East Africa for at least seven or eight years, which is enough to deal with the natives of Africa.
The old machines were responsible for the maintenance and parts replacement of these guns. To be honest, there was no other way. Once these machines left Berlin and the Prussian military-industrial system, they could only do these jobs.
The Hechingen Arsenal was itself a semi-finished product processing plant, and many parts had to be ordered from other factories in Prussia.
Therefore, even if this batch of old equipment was reassembled in East Africa, there was no way to put it back into production, but it was more than enough to complete small tasks such as gun maintenance and correction.
It's not that Ernst didn't think about selling this batch of machines, but unfortunately there were no good buyers. Not to mention Europe, with the Austro-Prussian War as a demonstration, countries were trying to improve their equipment and were also facing the problem of eliminating a large number of obsolete production machines.
Therefore, the price cannot be sold at all. The backward regions such as the Far East and South America have no official connection, and the shipping cost alone is not a small amount.
As for Africa, the most backward region, the indigenous tribes and small countries in West Africa may need it, but they have no money! In the past slave trade era, they could use slaves to exchange weapons from European colonists. Now that slavery is banned in Europe and America, slaves are worthless.
Therefore, it would be better to let these machines go to the East African colonies to continue to shine, and they can also be sent to East Africa via immigration ships without having to send them separately.
While the old equipment was being dismantled, new machines were installed.
These new machines will be used to produce the Dresser rifles that the Prussian army is currently equipping. Prussia completed the equipment replacement during the Austro-Prussian War.
After the war, the control over the military industry was naturally relaxed, so Ernst easily got the new machine.
In addition to being provided to the Prussian Army, the rest of the new rifles will be used to equip the standing armed forces of the East African colonies.
As part of the Prussian military industrial system, the Hechingen Arsenal's main service target was the Prussian Army.
After all, the parts and some technologies needed by the Hechingen Arsenal are inseparable from the support of Prussia, and if the arsenal wants to make a profit, or at least not lose money, it must serve the entire market.
And on the premise of ensuring no loss, the army in the East African colonies will be replenished with weapons.
There have always been two types of military forces in East Africa: standing armed forces and militia forces.
The former are full-time soldiers ready to respond to various crises at any time, while the latter are militiamen who receive military training during the slack season and will only be mobilized when large-scale operations are required.
Before this, both were equipped with old flintlock rifles. Of course, most of the weapons in the East African colonies were second-hand goods eliminated from the Prussian Army, and a small number were produced by the Hechingen Arsenal itself. After all, second-hand goods were in large quantities and cheaper.
The two are equipped with the same weapons, but the difference is that the former is a regular army, with very intense military training every day, and mainly with live ammunition. The latter has little experience with live ammunition, and aiming at targets with empty guns is the mainstream of training. Only when they are temporarily called up to clean up the local indigenous people can they have enough gunpowder to satisfy their desire.
The newly produced Dreiser rifles at the Hechingen Arsenal will be used to arm the standing armed forces of the East African colonies, that is, the regular army that has been demobilized. As for the old flintlock rifles, they will all be distributed to the militia forces in the East African colonies.
While the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin was upgrading its equipment, a branch of the Hechingen Arsenal was also under construction in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Unlike the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin, which mainly produced rifles, the Hechingen Arsenal in the Austro-Hungarian Empire focused on imitating and producing light artillery.
At present, the scale of the branch factory is very small and is in the experimental stage. It is only slightly better than some handicraft workshops, but its main purpose is to provide experience for artillery production in the East African colonies.
Moreover, traditional arsenals all have fixed partners. For example, the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin was originally an industry under the Prussian government, but Ernst acquired it and took control of the management rights, so after upgrading its equipment, it could continue to receive orders from the Prussian army.
However, the branch factories in the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not have this treatment. The Hechingen Arsenal branch factory was located in Trieste, and the purpose of this location was self-evident.
This is to facilitate the supply to the East African colonies. East Africa currently has no ability to produce weapons and equipment, let alone artillery.
The branch factory was to take advantage of Trieste's convenient shipping conditions (after the Suez Canal was opened in the future) to provide artillery power to the East African colonies.
At present, the East African colonial armed forces are still using the most basic firearms, and the only weapons with slightly more powerful power are grenades and explosive packs.
As for why light artillery was needed, it was to deal with potential threats from Portuguese colonies and at sea.
Even the Sultanate of Zanzibar actually had more than a dozen cannons, mainly inherited from the Omani Empire.
Most of them were in the seaports of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. After the East African colonies seized the territory of the mainland of Zanzibar, they also confiscated several old cannons in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.
The Sultanate of Zanzibar still has cannons to use, not to mention the neighboring Portugal and other maritime colonists, whose ships cannot be without this guy.
Therefore, it would be better for the East African colonies to be equipped with some artillery. As for the artillery pieces of the Zanzibar Sultanate, they were not only in disrepair and seriously damaged, but also too few in number to be enough for the East African colonies to use.
Therefore, it is necessary to establish a branch factory. As for why we don’t buy a batch directly from Europe, it is mainly because the current East African colonies do not need them. Now the East African colonies are mainly focusing on digesting the territory and will not take the initiative to cause trouble.
There will be no conflict with the surrounding forces, and buying is not as good as making is just a short-sighted behavior. It is better to make than to buy, which is the long-term solution.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
