Chapter 1283 The Terrible Climate
This is just like after the living standards in the previous life improved, people's desires will also increase accordingly. For example, for a person who has a lot of fish and meat every day, what he may remember most is The food I ate when life was hard.
Kumoyev had faced material shortages during the war in Ukraine before, and also experienced a difficult life in the Basra refugee camp. It was experiencing these difficulties that made him cherish his current life even more.
……
The next day.
Betzdorf appeared in the classroom on time. He said: "Today, we will start our first practical class. Everyone will follow me in order of numbers."
The class led by Betzdorf There are more than sixty people, including Kumoyev and Rebrya.
Then, under the leadership of Betzdorf, the whole class came to the warehouse of the study camp.
"Everyone gets an axe, a hatchet, and you two bring this whetstone." Kumoev and Rebulya were chosen as the ones carrying the whetstone. .
The weight of a whetstone is not small. From the appearance, it is estimated to be equivalent to the size of three or four red bricks, and the density of the whetstone is much higher. At the same time, they also need to carry an axe. and machete.
However, in the face of Betzdorf's assignment, Kumoev and Lebrya did not dare to stab themselves, and could only admit that they were unlucky.
Subsequently, Betzdorf led a group of people to the forest area next to the learning camp. The group walked nearly two kilometers before arriving.
In fact, the study camp was originally built on the edge of the forest area. However, as the area of Davao City expanded, the surrounding forest area decreased, which resulted in this result.
"You obviously know what we are going to do today! That's right, logging. Logging is the most basic job in Mindanao."
"You should also have a preliminary understanding of the environment in Mindanao. That is, there are many rainforests, and the forest coverage rate here can be said to be more than 90%.”
"The land we need is obtained from this huge rain forest, and the trees and rain forests in Southeast Asia are completely different from the forests you see in Europe."
"In addition to logging, there are also Be aware of threats such as venomous snakes and venomous insects. There are many dangers in Mindanao. Few people have lost their lives due to bites from venomous snakes or poisonous insects, so pay special attention when cutting trees. Use wooden sticks to drive away possible threats in the surroundings, and be careful of threats on the trees.”
"There might be poisonous snakes in the trees, and they The color is not easy to detect, and it is difficult to find it when hiding on leaves and branches, so you should pay attention next."
"At the same time, I also ask each of you to master the maintenance of tools, such as axes and axes. Hatchets are public belongings and cannot be lost. At the same time, they must be kept The sharpness of the blade..."
Betzdorf talked eloquently and personally demonstrated how to properly maintain the tools, how to deal with trees and vegetation in the rainforest, and how to encounter various poisonous snakes and lizards. , maybe even how to avoid dangerous creatures such as crocodiles, etc.
Afterwards, they began to lead the team to "learn" logging work, which was actually equivalent to using their labor force for free. It was through such "learning" of batches of students that the area of Davao City continued to expand.
As Betzdorf said, the entire available land in Mindanao is obtained from the rainforest. In Mindanao, any village or town must first clear an open space, and then day after day expansion.
Machines are not easy to use here, and cultivated land and open land can only be continuously expanded manually.
After all, the rainforest is complex, with dense vegetation and lots of water, which is not suitable for large machinery such as tractors to operate here.
Moreover, Mindanao also has a large number of mountains and complex terrain, which also explains to a certain extent the difficulty in developing the Southeast Asian region in East Africa.
Of course, if you want to speed up the development of overseas colonies, there is a shortcut, and that is to solve the population problem, which is not limited to introducing immigrants, increasing the local fertility rate, etc.
And this is what troubles East Africa the most. It has now passed the best stage of obtaining immigrants, especially European immigrants. The First World War provided East Africa with a short window period, which was the main reason why East Africa resorted to unscrupulous means to introduce war refugees from Europe.
Even so, the demand for white immigrants in East Africa is still a drop in the bucket compared to the current immigration rate.
Kumoyev and Lebrya naturally chose to act together. The two of them took axes and chopped down two relatively close trees.
Lebulia said: "Many of the trees here have strange shapes. The trunks are bare and the leaves are extremely large. This leaf can be used as a mat."
"I just saw some of them here. The house really has a roof made of this kind of leaves, which can probably be used to prevent rain.”
Kumoyev said: “This is the so-called rain forest. It’s really hard to believe that it has been here for so many years. It has not been developed, I heard, The East Africans only took over here later.”
“I can’t believe how backward the indigenous civilization was before the arrival of the East Africans. I have always heard that Russia is a relatively backward country in Europe. Far inferior to Britain, France and Germany, but when we get here, I feel that the indigenous people here are definitely more miserable than we thought."
"It's no wonder that European countries can grab so much land overseas at will."
Kumoyev does not believe that the rainforest here cannot be developed. The indigenous people here have lived for thousands of years without any civilization development. He cannot imagine how desolate Davao used to be.
Lebulia said: "Faced with such a huge rainforest, it is estimated that only the country can develop it on a large scale. This requires strong organizational capabilities. Obviously, this is the difference between us and the indigenous people."
"I heard that many places outside Europe did not have countries, but small tribes. This was also the case in East Africa."
"Although those primitive people were also developing, the speed was very slow. , before I I don’t understand. Now that I see this huge rain forest, if there are few people, it is really difficult to develop it. I heard that tropical vegetation grows very fast. Without a certain population, I am afraid that the speed of felling cannot match the regeneration of vegetation. Speed. ”
“Also in terms of tools, the tools of the East Africans are of good quality, but without efficient tools, it would be even more difficult to develop this kind of natural rainforest, and many indigenous people do not even know metallurgy. ”
"Coupled with the bad weather, it's very hot and it rains easily. I'm already soaked to the skin now. I used to hate the cold in winter in Russia, but now I miss that kind of weather."
“After all, when it’s cold, working can still keep you warm. , and here, the harder you work, the more you sweat, it’s like a small waterfall, and your whole body feels uncomfortable.”
Bad weather is indeed one of the difficulties in developing in Nanyang. It was definitely not so difficult to develop in East Africa. , after all, it doesn’t rain anytime in East Africa, and the temperature is relatively comfortable.
In Mindanao, it rains almost every once in a while. While it rains, the temperature does not drop at all, just like a big steamer.
Not to mention that there are a lot of mosquitoes, dirt, plant leaves, and fluff on the body for various reasons, making it hot, itchy, and very uncomfortable.
For the Slavs living in Ukraine, whose climate tends to be cold for a long time, the climate in Mindanao is simply life-threatening.
Visible sweat flowed down their clothes and into the ground. After a while, everyone's mental state seemed very depressed, and they were feebly holding axes and hatchets to chop.
Betzdorf had already expected this, and he did not rush it. After all, this group of Slavs had just arrived here not long ago, and if they really did too much work, there might be big problems.
It will not be too late to consider these issues after they arrive at the distribution area, and by then this group of people will no longer be under their control.
Of course, not all Slavs are treated this way. For example, female Slavs are still very popular in places like Mindanao where bachelors are everywhere.
(End of this chapter)