Chapter 654 Military Vehicle Research Institute
Having said that, the Whale Highway is not just a road, it is also equipped with a telegraph line for the postal department, which also ends the history of no telegraph in Southwest Africa.
Mainly on the coast of Southwest Africa such as Walvis Bay, communication has always relied on ships of the Postal Department. Even the nearest port city of New Hamburg is 3,000 kilometers away, and there is also the British Royal Navy in Cape Town. The risk of truncation exists.
So this land telegraph line is particularly important. After it is opened, if there is any disturbance along the coast of Southwest Africa in the future, the central government can be reminded earlier and then respond.
Southwest Africa is of little value now, but if someone makes a dangerous move, it is not impossible to land on the coast and launch a sneak attack into the hinterland of East Africa.
...
Recently, Ernst had finally finished the work he had been saving for more than half a year. With a rare free time, he went to the weapons and equipment testing site of the Guards Division to take a look.
The Guards Division is deployed throughout the Central Province. Due to the special nature of the garrison, it has always maintained first-class standards in weapons and equipment.
The weapons and equipment experimental site of the Guards Division was built on the Kidunda Mountain on the left bank of the Little Rhine River. The Kidunda Mountain is actually a terrain of plains and hills, and its name was inherited from the indigenous people.
It is more than 80 kilometers away from the first town in a straight line. It mainly relies on the water transportation of the Little Rhine to connect with the first town, so the transportation is quite convenient.
After the reconstruction of the Little Rhine, most of the river channels have become suitable for navigation. Of course, the waterfall area in the upper reaches cannot be passed directly, but canals were specially built in East Africa. This was also an important reason why the central canal was divided into three sections at that time, so it can be bypassed. .
Otherwise, relying only on the Little Rhine, there is no way to reach the upper reaches through its original river channel. Of course, the weapons and equipment experimental site of the Guards Division is not far from the first town, so there is no need to take a detour through the canal.
Ernst boarded a Guards Division warship and arrived here two hours later. When he landed at the pier, he could see a road extending towards a construction area.
There is a sign on the side of the road: "Military Zone, No Passage". This is of course for ordinary people to see to prevent accidental entry, but no one at the Kidunda Mountain Weapons and Equipment Testing Ground will deliberately come here. Come.
Although there will be ships passing by on the Little Rhine, the destination of these ships is the first town downstream or Bagamoyo, and they are mainly used to transport grain, and will not reach Kidunda Mountain. Stop at weapons and equipment testing site.
"The total area of our Kidundashan Weapons and Equipment Testing Ground is 61 square kilometers. The building in front of us and behind it are the newly built 'Military Vehicle Research Institute' in the southeast of the testing ground, which is specially used for "Study the application of internal combustion engine vehicles to the military," Marvin Hughes, the director of the proving ground, introduced to Ernst.
After landing from the pier at Kidunda Mountain, the first building I saw was a row of small bungalows, the so-called Military Vehicle Research Institute. It looked very simple, and the most important thing was that there was not even a single No car was seen.
So Ernst asked: "Why don't you see a single vehicle in this military vehicle research institute? What are you studying without vehicles?"
Guards Division Staff Officer Laird: " Your Highness, the Military Vehicle Research Institute is currently in its infancy and has no official samples and products yet. Some car manufacturers have more research than we do, so our Guards Division has related cooperation projects with Hechingen Energy Power Company, and for some tests, considering the need for military confidentiality, we can only conduct separate tests."
“What about your test subjects?”
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we have two prototype cars, both purchased from the Dar es Salaam automobile factory of Hechingen Energy Power Company, but the car is a completely new thing. The principles and mechanics are unknown. Except for the two technicians, our people don’t know much about its role, so these two cars are now being dismantled and studied by us in the warehouse,” Marvinsius said. Laird also explained on the side: "The current military research institutes cannot be compared with the automobile companies that have been working hard for ten years. Hechingen Energy Power Company is the world's leading level in engine research alone, and the military Fang couldn't even get the relevant R&D personnel together, so it was inevitable to rely on companies in the early stage. Of course, our Guards Division also attaches great importance to the military application prospects of automobiles, so we want to make progress and achieve results."
There are currently three state-owned automobile factories in East Africa. , respectively in the city of Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and finally Harare.
All rely on the technical support provided by Hechingen Energy Power Company. In March this year, the three state-owned automobile factories just completed the construction of the factory area. The estimated production capacity is more than 30 vehicles a year. To put it bluntly, it is a larger car. workshop.
But this is easy to understand. In previous lives, until the end of the 19th century, the United States, the most developed automobile industry, had an annual output of several thousand vehicles per year.
The world's automobile industry is new now, so the East African state-owned automobile factory's production capacity of thirty cars is already very large.
East Africa's automobile production is so limited, but it is already the world's second largest automobile industry distribution area after Germany. Of course, in addition to the three state-owned automobile factories, Hechingen Energy Power Company also has operations in Mombasa, Da Three factories have been built in Es Salaam and Harare, so the structure of the East African automobile industry is currently half-public and half-private.
The automobile factory of Hechingen Energy Power Company mainly considers export issues, assembling and producing in East Africa, and then exporting it to other countries.
“We are now working with Dar es Sala Two car companies in the city cooperated and purchased two test models from Hechingen Energy Power Company last year. The technicians were also hired from Hechingen Energy Power Company, and there were only two people in total. Therefore, the Military Vehicle Research Institute now plays a role The role is very limited. "
It is so difficult to even start a business, let alone the military vehicle research institute of the military. The current military vehicle research institute of the Guards Division can be said to be completely established by Hechingen Energy Power Company. A "small office" but owned by the Guards Division.
"The Ministry of National Defense also has related projects, but they mainly cooperate with several state-owned automobile factories, and the enterprises are directly responsible for relevant research."
State-owned automobile factories are also government assets, so the Ministry of National Defense has no psychological burden when using them. , and the state-owned automobile factory will definitely give priority to the military, because it is not entirely for profit, and the one that can get more domestic orders will definitely be the military.
In recent years, apart from the exaggerated expansion of the navy, the East African army has not actually changed much, and the number of troops has even been streamlined. This has allowed East Africa to invest more in research and development funds for weapons and equipment.
Ernst probably also knows the composition of this military vehicle research institute. So far, it is still the same, but it is no wonder. Cars have been around for such a short time, and there are probably only a hundred technicians who know a lot about cars. Most of them still work in the European department of Hechingen Energy Power Company.
Of course there are imitators in other countries, but so far, only Hechingen Energy Power Company has finished products for sale on the market.
Therefore, starting from scratch is quite difficult for the East African military, but it is much better than other countries. They may not even have seen samples.
Afterwards, Ernst didn't have much interest in this place, but he still encouraged him: "I hope you can make achievements soon. The automobile industry has a huge impact on the military, just like the railway. Taking the first step means taking a hundred steps less in the future, and your task is to widen this gap.”
After all, the people under his command are motivated, so Ernst did not criticize, and it was experimental in nature, so it was not possible to get it done. There are car companies that have the bottom line.
(End of this chapter)