Chapter 1526: Surprise Inspection of the Entire Army
At present, the size of the Eastern Reserve Army is maintained at around 700,000, second only to the Far Eastern Empire and the Soviet Union. The Far Eastern Empire has over one million, and the Soviet Union may be close to one million.
The exact number of troops in the Far Eastern Empire is difficult to assess accurately, and may even be more than two million.
However, although the Far Eastern Empire's standing army is the largest in number, it is actually very inflated.
On the one hand, there are so many warlords and military factions that it is difficult to conduct statistics, and no one can guarantee whether these military leaders will over- or under-report the number of troops.
On the other hand, the quality of the Far Eastern Empire’s army is poor. In terms of weapons, food, logistics, training, etc., it may not be as good as the reserve forces of other countries. The reserve forces of the Far Eastern Empire are basically just for show.
For the warlords of the Far Eastern Empire, anyone who could pick up a gun was considered a "qualified" soldier. No training or reserve was needed. They could directly "recruit men" from the public. These men who were temporarily captured were nothing more than cannon fodder on the battlefield.
Not to mention these "able-bodied men", even the actual combat effectiveness levels of most of the current main armies of the Far Eastern Empire and the reserve forces of other countries are questionable.
Just like countries like Germany and France, many of their reservists have participated in wars, but were disbanded after the end of World War I. They also have the opportunity to be organized and trained in peacetime to maintain their combat effectiveness.
Therefore, this military power can quickly organize a huge army of over one million at any time when war breaks out, and its combat effectiveness is considerable. Japan, which is relatively lacking in actual combat experience but attaches great importance to the army, can also organize an army of two million within half a year.
As for East Africa, in wartime, more than five million troops can be directly recruited, and many people have military experience.
However, unless there is a world war, East Africa's existing military strength is sufficient to cope with any regional conflicts and wars. Even if the colonial troops are removed, East Africa's standby army will still remain at a scale of 500,000, while the United States has only a few hundred thousand.
Theoretically, as long as East Africa and the United States retain a small number of ground forces, it will be enough to ensure land defense security, but it is obvious that the East African government is not satisfied with this.
The East African Army has always been benchmarked against the German Bundeswehr, because the German Bundeswehr is recognized as the world's best army.
In contrast, the United States not only attaches great importance to the army, but historically, veterans of the First World War in the United States organized large-scale protests in Washington to demand wages and subsidies, but were suppressed by the US government and military.
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The current development of the East African Army is not yet within Ernst's inspection itinerary. His main target this time is still the navy.
Ernst had his own criteria for judging whether the army was slack. In addition to routine inspections, at his request, he personally inspected the barracks in Pemba Port to check the army's housekeeping, hygiene, catering, and weapons maintenance.
Rembrandt and others naturally could not stop the emperor's request, so under Ernst's temporary arrangement, everyone entered the barracks area first.
"It looks pretty neat!" Ernst commented in an ordinary six-person dormitory.
The housekeeping of the East African Army continued the style of the Far Eastern Empire's army in the previous life, especially the fine tradition of folding quilts, which was passed down from the Hechingen Military Academy in the last century to the entire imperial army system today.
From top to bottom, all East African officers and soldiers are able to fold quilts well. These quilts are placed at the head of the bed like tofu blocks, with a cool mat underneath.
Pemba Port is located on the coast, so the climate is relatively hot, so the bedding provided to the army in East Africa is generally not thick. In addition, there is a dark green ceiling fan hanging on the ceiling of the dormitory.
The fan, painted with military-style paint, is shiny and free of dust and cobwebs, which means that the fan is wiped regularly.
There is not a single stain on the floor or walls, and the windows are very bright, allowing you to directly overlook the water of Pemba Bay, making it a "sea view room".
Ernst said, "It seems that you are very attentive to the internal management of the army. The internal management of the army may seem like a trivial matter, but it must be taken seriously and maintained by the army, especially for a tropical country like the Empire. The sanitary conditions are directly related to the health of the soldiers."
Ernst is not exaggerating on this point. As a tropical region, East Africa has always attached great importance to sanitary and environmental issues, which is also an important detail for the East African army to maintain its combat effectiveness.
Although, due to the economic and social development in East Africa today, the living environment has been greatly improved and various plagues and diseases have been greatly reduced, this is the result of decades of hard work and efforts by East Africans.
"In the last century, Africa was portrayed as a region where plague and malaria were rampant in the propaganda of European and American countries. This even delayed the progress of European and American countries in colonizing the African continent."
"However, we must admit that the actual situation on the African continent at that time was consistent with their original cognition. The older generation of the empire was able to become pioneers on the African continent and gain a foothold. One of the important magic weapons was to attach importance to hygiene."
The older generation in East Africa did not have a much better situation during their colonization of the African continent, even if it were not for the geographical difficulties. Many East African soldiers and immigrants lost their lives to the harsh environment and diseases.
Naturally, no one refuted Ernst's words. After all, His Majesty the Emperor himself belonged to the "older generation" and had experienced that era and was the highest authority.
As Ernst spoke, he checked other details. He sniffed the room and found no strange smell, such as the smell of cigarettes or alcohol, or the smell of fermented clothes and bedding. There were no traces of cigarette butts on the floor.
This shows that the soldiers in this dormitory usually maintain good living habits. He walked to the head of the bed and looked at the bedding. There were obvious signs of cleaning on it, with some wear and fading, but overall it was very clean.
Of course, these details could not completely reassure Ernst, so he randomly checked several other dormitories and even the trash can behind the barracks.
However, even with such a detailed inspection, no major problems were found, and he was very satisfied with this.
"General Rembrandt, it seems that under your management, the internal affairs of the Pemba Port base are still very strict. This is very good. I hope you can continue to maintain it."
After hearing the words of His Majesty the Emperor, Rembrandt and other officers finally put their minds at ease. In fact, before Ernst arrived, they had already reorganized the army's internal affairs in advance, but time was short and they were not sure if there would be any problems.
Of course, they could not have imagined that Ernst, the supreme ruler of the empire, would be so strict with details, including checking smells, traces of life, and even the army's daily household garbage.
Of course Ernst knew that the Pemba Port base would deal with his inspection in advance, so he could only strictly control various details to prevent himself from being fooled.
Fortunately, the final result was good. Now Ernst could be sure that even under normal circumstances, the barracks in Pemba Port, the sanitation and the housekeeping of officers and soldiers would not be too bad, at least up to the standard, otherwise there would definitely be clues left behind.
Of course, the inspection of the army’s internal affairs was just one piece of evidence. Next, Ernst went to the training ground in person to investigate the soldiers’ training situation.
Rembrandt and others were more confident about this aspect. The training ground was not far from the barracks, and it was around nine o'clock in the morning.
The training ground was in full swing, but Ernst actually did not pay much attention to the training of the soldiers. His attention was focused on the physique, skin color, mental outlook and other aspects of the grassroots soldiers. Rembrandt and other military high-ranking officials knew nothing about this.
The grassroots soldiers at the Pemba Port base are all relatively lean and strong, which means that there should be no problem of skimping on diet while maintaining the intensity of training. Otherwise, they would be fat instead of muscular.
Then there is the skin color. Except for a few senior officers, most of the officers and soldiers have a beautiful bronze color, a neat crew cut, and a clear boundary in skin color. The parts covered by clothes are obviously white, while the face, arms, etc. are rough and dull due to wind, sun and training.
The soldiers' mental outlook also met Ernst's expectations. Their eyes were bright and although they lacked murderous intent, they showed high morale and great bloodiness.
The lack of murderous intent is easy to understand. After all, the East African army had few opportunities for actual combat. If it were a colonial army, this might be reflected because the latter had certain opportunities for actual combat and had truly experienced the baptism of bullets and rain.
Seeing Ernst's satisfied expression, Rembrandt said, "Your Majesty, the soldiers at our Pemba Port base are trained very intensively. Many of them are new recruits this year, but we treat them all equally and only follow the contents of the drill manual. Except for a few who may have health problems, all of them can meet the standards or even exceed the requirements."
"In the field of physical training, the Imperial Army ranks second. I guess no country dares to rank first. At the same time, the quality of the Imperial Army's soldiers has also reached the world's leading level. The Imperial Army generally has a high school education or above. We even have many college students in Pemba Port."
Under East Africa's ten-year compulsory education system, the minimum educational level of the East African military is now a high school diploma, which is unique in the world. For example, the German Bundeswehr, the educational level of grassroots soldiers is mainly primary school education, not to mention other countries.
There is a consensus in East Africa today that if you have not even attended middle school, you will have no competitiveness at all when entering society. Of course, studying abroad is a different matter.
For example, a middle school student in East Africa may be considered ordinary in his own country, but in countries with backward education levels such as the Far East Empire, he is likely to be considered a talent.
Ernst said: "Under the compulsory education system of the Empire, the quality of military personnel is higher than that of other countries. This is not surprising. You must also make good use of this advantage of ours. In terms of training, pay attention to the application of new things and new tactics."
"Since the first industrial revolution, the development of the armies of countries around the world has also undergone tremendous changes. Today, grassroots soldiers should also master more skills to improve the combat effectiveness of the army..."
After inspecting the training of grassroots soldiers.
Ernst and his team came to an unexpected place - the toilet. Apparently the toilet is an important area for health inspection.
The toilets in Pemba Port are very clean. Nowadays, the East African army has fully popularized automatic flush toilets in terms of toilet construction. After all, the automatic flushing device is not complicated, so the group did not stay here for long.
Next were the warehouses, armories, garages and other areas. Ernst focused on checking the maintenance of the equipment and found during random checks that no firearms were rusted. All the places that needed to be oiled were oiled, and those that needed to be sealed were properly stored. No garbage, wine bottles, cigarette butts and other objects were found in these areas.
This is not Ernst making a fuss. Smoking in the arsenal looks ridiculous, but it is impossible to ignore it.
Ernst inspected many places in the Pemba Port base, and time unknowingly came to noon. At this time, Rembrandt and others suggested that Ernst go to the cafeteria for lunch. Ernst readily accepted and did not ask for special treatment.
Military food in East Africa has always been good. In addition to sufficient food supply and balanced nutrition, East African chefs are skilled in cooking. This is also a consensus among many countries in the world.
In the cafeteria, Ernst, Rembrandt and others lined up obediently. The staple food in the cafeteria at noon today was divided into three categories, namely rice, steamed buns and bread. Soldiers could choose according to their personal preferences. In addition, fruits, vegetables, meat and milk were not lacking. Due to its location, the cafeteria at the Pemba Port base also had seafood. The seafood in the cafeteria today was garlic prawns and fried sardines.
Ernst took the food tray, found a random table and sat down. He asked an East African soldier about their daily meals, and the results were similar.
At least the food in the Pemba Port Navy is definitely good, and the navy’s funding for this aspect is higher than that of the army.
Of course, the East African Army’s treatment in terms of meals is slightly lower, but this does not mean that the food is bad, unless there are really daring embezzlers. Once such pests in the army are discovered, East Africa will never let them off easily.
Although Ernst is very satisfied with the performance of the Pemba Port Base, it does not mean that he is confident in the entire East African army. After all, the Pemba Port Base is an important core base of the army, and it is not surprising that there are no problems in all aspects.
If there is a problem even here, it can only mean one thing: there is a problem with the entire East African military system. After all, the garrison at the Pemba Port base is elite in the East African navy.
If there is a problem with the elite troops, the situation will only be more serious with the ordinary army. The requirements for the two are also different. Therefore, Ernst's attitude towards the Pemba Port base is basically zero tolerance. Fortunately, he is very satisfied with the overall results of this inspection.
And this is just the first stop of Ernst's inspection. Next, Ernst will take a special train to another important military base in East Africa, namely the Port of Nacala. The importance of the Port of Nacala is no less than that of the Port of Pemba. If the Port of Pemba focuses on submarine forces, then the Port of Nacala focuses more on aircraft carrier formations and battleships.
Currently, there is an aircraft carrier and two battleships docked in the port of Nacala in East Africa.
This time, Ernst had plenty of time because he had basically handed over most of the affairs to Crown Prince Friedrich, so this also gave Ernst the opportunity to conduct a surprise inspection of the entire East African Defense Force.
Apart from the first stop of Pemba Port, where Ernst knew about the arrival of His Majesty the Emperor in advance, where Ernst would go next depended entirely on his personal mood and thoughts. Today Ernst might still be on the east coast, but maybe two days later he would appear on the west coast or in the north to inspect the border troops. This was a surprise inspection of the entire army, not targeting a certain unit, a military base, or a certain branch of the military.
(End of this chapter)
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