African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1170: Austro-Hungarian Battlefield
The last point that Cabrillard talked about was somewhat beyond Kuhnmann's expectations. After all, East Africa's artillery was not considered backward before the war, and the quantity was sufficient to use. At least before the war, East Africa's artillery was not inferior to any major power in Europe and the United States.

But after thinking about it, he felt that there was some truth in it. Kuinman said: "Now that the military industry and heavy industry of European countries are fully exerted, artillery warfare is indeed developing rapidly."

Kabril continued, "Yes, before the war, some artillery commonly equipped by various countries could no longer meet the needs of the battlefield. More and more large-caliber artillery with a caliber of more than 200 mm began to appear on the battlefield, and even rail guns with a caliber of more than 300 or 400 mm also joined the battlefield. The role of artillery in the war is obvious."

Railguns can also be said to be railway guns. As early as the end of 1914, the French army temporarily designed the first batch of railway guns, which consisted of outdated coastal defense guns and naval guns installed on existing commercial railway freight cars. Britain, as an ally, quickly followed suit. The German Army's more common method was to convert existing long-range artillery installed on fixed ground-based gun positions into railway guns that could be fired directly from the rails.

"Therefore, the role of heavy artillery cannot be ignored. Of course, we in East Africa do not have the conditions to learn from European countries, but we should also be prepared," said Cabrill.

After all, the funding for the East African Army is limited, and while it is vigorously developing new forces such as armored forces and aviation forces, it is naturally unable to develop traditional military weapons.

However, Gabriel also knew that many things could not be achieved at the same time, and military development would inevitably require some trade-offs. For example, a war of the scale of Europe would rarely occur in East Africa.

After all, there is no powerful force around East Africa that can engage in firefights with the East African Defense Force. Europe is now desperate, so it has no choice but to do so.

Kuinman said: "That's right. Just taking the application of rail guns in the European battlefield as an example, it may not be suitable for my country's national conditions. After all, the railway density in Germany and France is much greater than that in my country. They can use the railway system to transport large-caliber artillery to the front battlefield. We have to pay more costs to achieve this step."

"At the same time, our country is located in Africa, and there are no powerful countries around us that deserve our army to treat us this way. In fact, the main threat comes from the sea, so our army's positioning is obviously not as high as Germany's."

"On the contrary, road transport has great potential. Cars and tractors can be used as good carriers for transporting artillery. This is also a bright spot on the European battlefield."

After the outbreak of the war, East African tractors became popular commodities in European countries. This was the first time that East Africa exported large quantities of tractors to Europe on a large scale.

It is generally used for the transportation of artillery. Before the war, artillery in European countries was mainly pulled by people and horses. However, after the outbreak of the war, even qualified livestock were in short supply, so the troops of various countries had to purchase strategic materials such as horses and tractors from East Africa and the United States.

However, American tractors were far inferior to those in East Africa in terms of performance, so both the Allies and the Entente prioritized East African tractors as their primary purchasing target.

It can be said that the European battlefield has even become a "battlefield" for many local East African companies to compete. You supply to France, I sell to Germany, you occupy the Russian market, I choose the Austro-Hungarian Empire...

In addition to East African state-owned enterprises, many private enterprises are also making a fortune on the European battlefield. Although the East African economy is still dominated by state-owned enterprises, the supply chain is also open to the market. Many East African private enterprises have also begun to sell their patchwork "unique brands" to Europe.

There is no way around this. It has only been a few years since East Africa opened up its market. Most of the country's most basic industrial chains are controlled by state-owned enterprises, and many private enterprises have not yet developed.

However, with the great opportunity provided by World War I, the private economy of East Africa was able to complete initial primitive accumulation. By the end of the war, the overall economy of East Africa would reach a new level.

Of course, Kuynmann and other Wehrmacht personnel did not know much about this. After speaking to Gabriel for a few words, Kuynmann began to question other people, and the final result made Kuynmann feel very satisfied.

He said to everyone: "The battlefield is the best teacher. It can especially break our inherent cognition. After all, in order to win the war, both the enemy and us will do whatever it takes, and any changes in technology and other factors may have a major impact on the battlefield." "So this time you must study and summarize the various experiences and data of the two major military groups. Before returning home, record your feelings about the war one by one. This is the spark, the future spark of the National Defense Force, illuminating the past, present and future."

Just as Kuhnmann finished speaking, a shell fell again not far from the crowd, stirring up a cloud of dust in the bunker again. However, this time no one panicked, but instead recalled what had just been discussed in their minds.

……

The battle on the Western Front was in full swing, but the battle on the Eastern Front was not as big. For Germany, the Eastern Front was a secondary battlefield, and the industrial capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia were relatively limited.

Therefore, the battlefield on the Eastern Front seemed rather dull, especially the Austro-Hungarian and Tsarist Russian fronts, which seemed not much more powerful than the South African War of more than 20 years ago, except for the larger number of people.

Even military observers in East Africa believed that the performance of Russia and Austria in this war was not as good as that of Britain and Portugal in the South African War. Although the Anglo-Portuguese forces were ultimately defeated, the war sentiment they showed was in no way inferior to that in East Africa.

After all, the South African War was promoted in East Africa as a great war of "defending the country", but in the eyes of Britain and Portugal it was not the case at all. After all, the result of the war was that Portugal lost Angola and Mozambique, while Britain lost the land north of the Orange River.

This is not a slander against East Africa. After all, although the South African War was instigated by the two countries, East Africa had made a lot of preparations before that. For example, it deployed troops on the border between the Portuguese colony and the Boer Republic, always revealing a momentum to annex the entire southern Africa. No country would remain indifferent.

It can even be said that the war launched by Britain and Portugal played into the hands of the East African government at the time, allowing it to take Angola and other places into its possession in advance. Given the national strength of East Africa at the time, unless Britain adopted the same attitude it has now towards Germany, the final scenario would have to follow the plan of the East African government.

Both sides regarded the other as an "aggressor", so their will to fight was naturally very high. In fact, if the British government had not called a halt, it would have been impossible for the British army to negotiate peace with East Africa.

On the other hand, on the Eastern Front, soldiers from both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia were already showing signs of war-weariness, and after being deadlocked on the front lines, they were even blatantly slacking off.

Of course, this is also closely related to the industry and logistics of the two countries. Although the two governments have been urging, they must also ensure the basic supply of materials! Especially the Russian troops on the front line, who could not even guarantee basic guns and ammunition, and had to face the hail of bullets from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Moreover, because the performance of the German army in the north is too outstanding, in order to stabilize the front line, the Russian military has to give priority to supplying supplies to the northern battlefield. The Russian army in the south, including some generals, is psychologically unbalanced and has no ability and motivation to advance.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered a great loss before the war began. Although the overall situation has been stabilized now, it still needs time to integrate war resources, especially the mobilization of the army. Therefore, after pushing the Russian army back to the border area, it did not take the next major move.

There was also the influence of the Serbs. Although Potiorek had been dismissed for his mistakes in the war, the adverse effects he caused continued. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had to provide more troops and supplies to support the Serbian battlefield, and the Serbian people's determination to resist obviously exceeded the expectations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Coupled with the complex terrain on the Balkan Peninsula, a large number of Austrian troops advanced slowly on the Serbian battlefield. However, compared with the previous life, the situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was obviously much better.

(End of this chapter)