Chapter 1320 East African Military Reform
The fundamental purpose of East African military expansion is to cope with the great changes in the world. Now we are in a critical period of great changes in the world. This is why the East African government wants to expand its army to more than one million the root cause.
Pripyat said: "Whether we eventually join the war or not, we need to prepare in the military field in advance to deal with any risks."
"Although European countries are fighting It is very intense, but it also means that they already have huge military power in their hands, and they have been baptized by the battlefield. When this power is used in war, After that, if we invest in areas outside of Europe, there will be no force that can compete with it in the short term.”
“So, the navy is a key issue. Only by guarding the sea areas can our military maintain the strategic initiative. , we can advance, attack, retreat or defend. On the one hand, we must strengthen the scale of the navy, and on the other hand, we must be ready to transform our production capacity into a wartime economy.”
"The same is true for the army. We must strengthen the management of reserves and logistics systems so that when war breaks out, the empire can raise a huge army base that is not inferior to that of European countries."
Assuming that East Africa is eventually involved in the war, there is only one possibility, which is to join the Allied camp. This is the consensus of the East African government, and it is also the fundamental reason why Britain and France are trying their best to throw out chips to win over East Africa.
It is impossible for East Africa to join the Allied Powers camp. This is determined by comprehensive factors such as East Africa’s ethnicity, culture, and interest relationships.
But not joining the Allied Powers does not mean that you must join the Allied Powers. Especially now, the East African government still needs to look at the performance of the European war situation after the United States joins the Allied Powers. If the United States' joining still cannot change the situation in Europe, Then there is a high probability that the East African government will make a political shift.
So, the East African government’s current round of discussions on the topic of military expansion was finally approved by Ernst, who came up with the military expansion plan he had prepared long ago.
Ernst said: "Based on the current East African army base and army composition and other factors, the army expansion target is 400,000, which will be completed within two years."
"In terms of the army, the local armored force will be expanded. Mobile force, information force, biochemical department "
"As for the Navy, it strengthened the construction of aircraft carrier formations. By the end of 1920, three new aircraft carrier combat formations were established to add naval aviation to external combat missions, focusing on deployment in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. , Red Sea, Persian Gulf and the construction of combat readiness airports in Nanyang and other regions. "
"Vigorously develop the air force to achieve a number of more than 50,000 in the air force before 1920. At the same time, we will fully develop the development of military aircraft, improve the local pilot training system, etc. After this round of military expansion is completed, , the total strength of the National Defense Force will reach more than 1.2 million. "
It seems to be a large number, but this must take into account the large number of colonial garrisons currently present in East Africa. Most of these colonial garrisons are not equipped with infantry. Mainly, that is, bullying the local indigenous people.
If compared with the armies of various countries in Europe that have been tested by long-term large-scale wars, their combat effectiveness is very doubtful.
So Ernst emphasized: "From this year to next year, the military and overseas governments must speed up the purge activities of the colonies. Before the arrival of 1920, they must basically solve the current population structure problem of the colonies. After 1920, the overall stability of overseas territories must be achieved. "
" Troops fighting overseas must also speed up their withdrawal into the country, especially those in areas that have been stabilized. After sufficient personnel are reserved, they can return home for rest and reorganization. ed."
"The returning troops, combined with the European war experience, will be organized into a new combat force. In accordance with the standards of the modern army, they will comprehensively upgrade their weapons and equipment and form a large corps combat experience."
Why do you say this? The main reason is In the past, the armies in East Africa can actually be regarded as two types. One is a new army composed of armored forces, mobile forces, information forces, etc., and the other is still based on the military configuration of European countries in the last century without transformation. Old style troops. The latter are mainly East African traditional cavalry and light infantry.
The reason why a large number of old-style troops were retained in East Africa in the past is actually very simple, that is, to save money.
Since the South African War, East Africa has basically fallen into a long-term state of peaceful development. Even if wars have become more frequent in recent years, they are all security wars in overseas colonies. In response to the security war in the colonies, the old military uniforms were more cost-effective. After all, it was not worthwhile to dispatch new arms and weapons such as armored forces or air force to deal with the indigenous people.
However, the overseas security war in East Africa has actually come to an end. With the exception of the Kra Isthmus territory, the purge activities in most colonies have basically been completed.
So at this time, many of the East African troops in Togoland, East Kalimantan, and Mindanao can return home, while the East African overseas colonies reserve less than 200,000 troops, basically Peace of mind is guaranteed.
In this way, the three parts of the East African mainland, the returned troops, and the newly formed troops after the expansion can basically be maintained at more than 500,000.
And Ernst planned to reorganize all of these at least 500,000 troops into a new army, eliminating traditional cavalry, infantry and other old armies.
In other words, in the future, in addition to a small number of overseas colonial troops stationed in East Africa, the national army will improve its weapons and equipment and form new combat units.
For example, the light infantry will be adapted into a mobile unit and fully equipped with a large number of cars, motorcycles and other motor vehicles. The artillery will also fully implement power towing such as cars and railways, changing the model of people pulling and horses pulling... This is A major military reform in East Africa.
So Ernst said: "Army expansion and military reform should be carried out simultaneously to comprehensively improve the military's combat capabilities to cope with any risks that may arise in the future and join in the mechanization and informatization development of the army."
"This military reform must fully absorb the experience on the European battlefield, especially the application of tanks, vehicles, aircraft and other new weapons and equipment that have appeared on the European continent."
"Research on the application of various new weapons and equipment by European countries. The application model of large corps combat is to ensure that after the reform of our country's new infantry, it can quickly form combat effectiveness to deal with various war situations and emergencies."
"Finally, it is to strengthen the cooperation between the navy, land and air forces. For example, how does the Air Force deploy It can cooperate with the army to suppress local firepower and support on the ground battlefield, and help the army clear out hostile targets in the front, or the air force can assist the navy to achieve blockade of straits, bays and other places in the air. "
Subsequently. With the emergence of various strange weapons on the European battlefield, the East African National Defense Force no longer needs to be as secretive as in the past. Instead, it should study how to further improve the combat system and tactics, so as to realize the dimensionality reduction of the East African Army against the armies of other countries. blow.
At present, the East African Army has achieved the world's best level in terms of weapons and equipment, but it is precisely because of this that the current and future development of the East African National Defense Force can only be explored on its own, and there is no reference in the world. Contrast.
Even though new weapons such as aircraft and tanks have appeared on the European battlefield, there is a huge gap between these weapons and the East African National Defense Force, which has been exploring since the last century.
Through this round of military expansion, if the size of East Africa's military had been before the war, it would have been ranked among the top two in the world.
At that time, only Russia's standing army maintained more than one million, and the specific number was about 1.42 million. This means that after the expansion of the East African army, the number of troops was only two times less than the Russian army before the war. About 100,000.
Based on the population sizes of the two countries, although the number of East African troops is still small in number, the economic and industrial level of East Africa is higher than that of Russia, and the naval strength of East Africa has also surpassed that of Russia through the development of these years. Russia before the Russo-Japanese War.
So, after the military expansion, the number of East African troops is still less than that of pre-war Russia, but the military expenditure may be several times that of the Russian army. That is to say, East Africa’s economy and industry have developed now, otherwise it would be impossible to achieve this goal. The army reformed.
(End of this chapter)