African Entrepreneurship Record

What else can the Army optimize? Ernst's first thought was about the food issue for the soldiers in East Africa. While fighting in South Africa, Ernst noticed that the East African army still used the method of burying pots for cooking, and it was quite common to carry marching pots with the troops.

Of course, this method cannot be said to be bad, but it has considerable limitations. After all, it is very convenient to only rely on a marching pot, but compromises must be made on the dishes.

When a war breaks out, the quality of food may affect morale at any time. The ancients all knew the principle of feeding soldiers before a war to defeat the enemy. Giving soldiers a good meal before a war can significantly calm their fear of war and boost their morale.

After discussing some details with Archduke Ferdinand, Ernst began to conduct research on military kitchens in East Africa. He approached the top brass of the Army and the heads of the Army Logistics Department to discuss the matter.

Ernst said bluntly: "I want to know what problems our troops have exposed in the food and kitchen aspects of soldiers in previous wars. I can put forward some of the problems that your soldiers complain about in your daily life."

"Your Highness, when it comes to military food, our East African army as a whole shouldn't have much of a problem! Not only are we leading the world in terms of material supply, we are definitely the best among them. Other countries don't know much about it. We are at least better than Austria and Prussia. ." said the logistics minister.

Ernst: "Of course I know this. After all, I presided over the formulation of the standards, but nothing can be perfect, especially in the face of emergencies, such as this time in the South African battlefield. I am also on the front line, and our The supplies are abundant, but due to transportation issues they may not be distributed to each unit in time, which shows that our work has not been done better. This problem exists, and so do other problems, so we cannot turn a blind eye to it."

The meal standards of the East African Kingdom Army were set against Prussia, which was better than Prussia, on the same level as France, and lower than Britain. Of course, this is only true in terms of food funding. According to the development situation of various countries, East Africa is completely over the standard.

For example, in Prussia before, the monthly salary of Prussian soldiers was about forty-eight Groschen (two thalers). However, it should be noted that Prussian soldiers did not eat for free, but had to pay for food and accommodation, and they also needed to pay taxes when purchasing supplies.

Of course, the army has special characteristics, so Prussian soldiers will enjoy tax-free privileges when buying bread, but only for bread. In addition, the essential meat, vegetables, salt and tobacco must be provided by the soldiers themselves, and drinks can also be used. Consider coffee made with water, cold milk, light beer and substitutes. As for hot drinks such as tea and chocolate, it is a complete fantasy.

Now the level of the Prussian army has been greatly improved, but with the huge size of Prussia's army, this improvement is limited.

Moreover, Ernst made great efforts to improve this. Among them, Ernst lowered the price of tobacco in Germany. At present, the German army cannot do without cigarettes. With the large-scale cultivation of tobacco in East Africa, a large amount of cheap tobacco has also poured in. The German region broke the monopoly of foreign countries. At the same time, because the Hechingen Consortium actively developed ocean trade, many things that were rarely seen in Germany or were not produced at all became more and more common.

For example, after the luxury food bananas were put into production in East Africa, a batch was sent free of charge by fast ship to the Prussian and Austrian armies.

This has always been the labor tradition of the Hechingen Consortium. The military is not only a good customer, but also the best propaganda tool. Soldiers from all over the world alone are worthy of the strong support of the Hechingen Consortium.

In this era, there is no television, radio, or Internet, and population mobility is not frequent. The military and newspapers are the best platforms for civilians to learn about new things.

Just take the Prussian Army as an example. The size of the Prussian Army is about 600,000. If each person is given one, 600,000 people will know about Somali bananas, a high-quality product, and these 600,000 people will inevitably introduce it to their hometown people when they return home. Introducing the delicacies you enjoyed in the army is a rare source of conversation, and Somali bananas can get a lot of publicity among civilians.

Talking about army meals, compared with the armies of major powers, the wages of soldiers in the East African Army are not high, but their food, clothing, housing and transportation are free.

At the same time, because East Africa is located in a tropical region, the East African Army is destined to have no shortage of vegetables and fruits. In fact, after the livestock industry develops in East Africa, the same goes for meat, dairy products, and eggs. And East Africa is a big tobacco-producing country, so cigarettes are almost standard equipment for the East African army, so the food of the East African army is not bad at all.

However, this is only theoretical and not in practice. First of all, the land area of ​​East Africa is too large, the transportation lines are extremely long, and the transportation conditions are very backward.

In addition, the initial development areas of the East African Kingdom are concentrated in the east. This means that only the troops in the Central Military Region and the Northern Military Region can meet the dietary standards for the East African Army set by Ernst in peacetime. The other three military regions cannot enjoy this kind of treatment. . There is definitely no way to reverse this situation in a short time, so Ernst has to use his brains in other aspects.

Ernst: "Let's not talk about other things. Let's take hot food as an example. Our army has a lot of room for improvement. When I was on the front line in South Africa, the soldiers still used big pots to cook various kinds of paste, and they had to cook it every time. It wastes a lot of time to temporarily build a stove. I know that the Prussian Army now has a special cooking cart. I think this thing is very good and we should adopt it. It has great advantages for the army when marching in the field."

In 1853, Canter Lambford of Bavaria, Germany put boilers and other equipment on a four-wheeled carriage. From then on, the military equipment included cooking carts.

However, at present, cooking carts can only be regarded as a new thing and have not been popularized. It will be around the 20th century that countries start to specially develop cooking carts and distribute them to their troops.

Felix said: "Your Highness, we have never seen the cooking cart you mentioned. I have served in the Prussian Army for many years and have always used a big pot to cook."

Ernst: "That's normal. The principle is very simple. The stove is mounted on a carriage and can be pulled around at any time. However, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in this kind of thing."

As he spoke, Ernst suddenly became interested in being a teacher. He simply asked someone to get pen and paper and started designing by himself.

"First of all, this kind of military dining truck should consider convenience, so it should be equipped with two wheels. Considering the road conditions in East Africa, the wheels should be larger, but not too bulky. The frame must also be lightweight, so use A wooden frame would be more suitable, and of course, for sturdiness to withstand bumps, be reinforced with iron sheets and iron fasteners.”

"Ahem...Your Highness, is there any problem with using a wooden frame? This is a thing for burning fires."

"Haha, you think I would make such a stupid mistake! The frame is made of wood, but it doesn't mean that the parts in contact with the stove are also made of wood. We can use earth sealing as an insulating material."

As Ernst began to design (plagiarize) the stove, as the drawings gradually took shape, it was suddenly discovered that Ernst's drawings were plagiarized from a simple indigenous stove from the Far East in his previous life, usually made of iron barrels.

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"Your Highness, why do you want to design the middle to be circular?"

According to Felix's idea, the stove is of course square, because the main fuel now is firewood and loose coal, and the ashes have to be taken out after burning.

Ernst: "This is specially designed by me to place something called briquettes. It can greatly improve the burning efficiency of coal and can continue to burn for half a day. When using it, open the pull-out vent below. , you can strengthen the flame above and use it to heat meals. When not in use, put a hot water kettle on it to continuously generate hot water, and you can also use other fuels..."

Ernst did not elaborate on what exactly briquettes were. After all, many of his subordinates were former soldiers who had not studied well in elementary school. They would not be able to understand scientific principles when they were told. As long as the finished product is completed. , just let them try it out.