Chapter 1320 East African Military Reform
The fundamental purpose of East Africa's military expansion is to cope with the great changes in the world. We are now in a critical period of great changes in the world. This is also the fundamental reason why the East African government wants to expand its army to more than one million people.
Pripyat said: "Whether we end up joining the war or not, we need to be prepared in the military field in advance to deal with any risks."
"Although European countries are fighting fiercely, it also means that they already have huge military power in their hands, and they have been baptized on the battlefield. After the war, this power is invested in areas outside Europe. In a short period of time, There is no force that can compete with it.”
"Therefore, the navy is a key issue. Only by guarding the sea frontiers can our military maintain the strategic initiative. It can advance, attack, retreat and defend. On the one hand, it must increase the scale of the navy, and on the other hand, it must be ready to transform its production capacity into a wartime economy. Prepare."
"The same is true for the army. We must strengthen the management of the reserve and logistics systems so that when war breaks out, the empire can build up a huge army base that is not inferior to the size 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 camp. This is determined by comprehensive factors such as East Africa's ethnicity, culture, and interest relationships.
However, not joining the Allied Powers does not mean that you must join the Allied Powers. Especially at the moment, the East African government also depends on the performance of the European war situation after the United States joins the Allied Powers. If the United States' participation still cannot change the situation in Europe, then the East African government will most likely There's a political turn.
Therefore, the current round of discussions by the East African government on the topic of military expansion was finally approved by Ernst, who came up with the military expansion plan that he had prepared long ago.
Ernst said: "Based on the current East African military base, military composition and other factors, the military expansion target is 400,000, which should be completed within two years."
"In terms of the army, we will expand the local armored force, mobile force, information force, biochemical force, army aviation and other important services."
"As for the navy, it will strengthen the construction of aircraft carrier formations. By the end of 1920, three new aircraft carrier combat formations will be established. In adding naval aviation to external combat missions, it will focus on deploying the construction of combat readiness airports in the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia."
"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 the completion of this round of military expansion, the total strength of the National Defense Force will reach more than 120 Ten thousand."
It seems that there are a lot of people, but this must be taken into account that there are currently a large number of colonial garrisons in East Africa. Most of these colonial garrisons are poorly equipped and are mainly infantry, which means they bully 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.
Therefore, Ernst emphasized: "From this year to next year, the military and overseas governments must speed up the purge activities of the colonies. Before 1920, the current population structure problems of the colonies must be basically solved. After 1920, overseas The overall stability of the territory.”
"The troops fighting overseas must also speed up their withdrawal into the country, especially the troops in areas that have been stabilized. After sufficient personnel are reserved, they can return home for rest and reorganization."
"The returning troops will be organized into new combat forces based on European war experience. They will comprehensively upgrade their weapons and equipment in accordance with modern military standards and form large-scale combat experience."
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.
Therefore, during this time period, many of the East African troops in Togoland, East Kalimantan, and Mindanao can return home, while the East African overseas colonies have approximately less than 200,000 troops reserved, which can basically guarantee peace of mind.
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, except for a small number of overseas colonial troops stationed in East Africa, the national army will improve its weaponry and equipment and form new combat units.
For example, the light infantry will be adapted into a mobile unit, fully equipped with a large number of cars, motorcycles and other motor vehicles. The artillery will also be fully equipped with power towing such as cars and railways, changing the model of people pulling horses. This is a large-scale military reform in East Africa.
Therefore, 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 to join 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."
"Study the application models of large corps operations in European countries to ensure that after the completion of my country's new infantry reform, combat effectiveness can be quickly formed to cope with various war situations and emergencies."
"Finally, it is to strengthen the cooperation between the sea, land and air forces. For example, how the air force cooperates with the army to suppress local firepower and support on the ground battlefield to help the army clear hostile targets ahead, or the air force assists the navy to achieve in the air and across the strait, Blockades in places like the bay and so on.”
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 achieve the lower level of the East African army against the armies of other countries. dimension blow.
At present, the East African Army has achieved the world's best level in terms of weapons and equipment, but precisely because of this, the current and future development of the East African National Defense Force can only be explored on its own, with no reference in the world.
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 a standing army of 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 about 200,000 less than the Russian army before the war.
Taking into account 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 exceeds that of Russia, and the naval strength of East Africa has developed over the years, surpassing that of Russia before the Russo-Japanese War. .
Therefore, after the military expansion, the number of East African troops is still less than that of pre-war Russia, but military expenditures 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 realize this round of military reform.
(End of chapter)