Dalton and Mallory are all too familiar with the situation of not wearing the clothes even if they are given them. Many officers and soldiers of the Northern Rhodesian Division also wear old uniforms all year round and save new uniforms to give to family or friends.
The situation is actually better, but the shoes are even worse. The military boots issued in southern Africa are both beautiful and durable. Sometimes the new ones are not as good as the old ones. Each soldier has four pairs of military boots a year, and some people can wear a pair of military boots for four years.
The Ministry of National Defense is also aware of this situation, but it does not lower the standards and continues to issue them. It simply regards this as a special benefit for military personnel.
When the troops from southern Africa came to Egypt, they were issued uniforms of khaki shorts and military shirts. Although some clothes were not even cleaned in time due to the rush of production, the styles were beautiful, simple, convenient and of high quality. These Egyptian workers were indeed
Not willing to wear it.
Interestingly, the raw material used for these uniforms is long-staple cotton produced in Egypt, which is also one of the few cash crops in Egypt.
Franklin slept soundly that night, just like in Cairo, and did not realize that El Alamein was a battlefield.
While the soldiers were having breakfast, the Egyptian workers who had been busy all night were going to take a rest, but they had to take a shower before taking a rest, which immediately caused many workers to complain.
"You can only eat if you take a shower, and you can't eat if you don't take a shower -" Dalton made the workers willing to take a shower with a simple sentence. Southern Africa implemented this very well, and would not blindly exploit the workers, but give them
The work assigned to the workers was indeed very hard, but the pay was decent. After a hard night's work, each worker was given a can of luncheon meat.
"You are really too extravagant. The Royal Navy is still eating wormy bread, but you are giving this to the workers. Last night I saw that many soldiers were still unwilling to eat it. No wonder your military expenses are so high." Franklin finally understood why.
There are more than a dozen soldiers in southern Africa, and their annual military expenditure is more than 20 million.
"Haha, we also want the Royal Navy to eat canned food, but that only requires the Royal Navy to be willing to purchase it." Dalton hehehehe didn't say anything, and Mallory was rude. Don't think that just using the banner of "royal" is enough.
Enjoy the royal treatment and know how you feel.
Franklin was stunned and speechless. The Royal Navy has established its own system for hundreds of years. The procurement job is a job no matter where it is. There are a lot of tricks in it. You really can't just buy whatever is good.
There is also a chain of interests, and there is nothing Winston can do about it.
On the contrary, southern Africa is much better. The Northern Rhodesian Division was originally formed in the name of Xiaosi. It is natural to purchase supplies from South African companies. South African companies will not cut corners on military procurement issues. On the one hand, the strict requirements of the Ministry of National Defense are
The self-discipline of South African companies is also an important reason.
To put it bluntly, Rhodesia's interests also depend on the protection of the National Defense Force, so making dirty money on this issue is a short-circuit in the brain. Stoudemire is not one of those procurement managers in the Department of the Navy who make money from various gray incomes. There are many ways to make money.
Very well, why bother offending hundreds of thousands of soldiers on this issue.
Breakfast was still sumptuous, and the much-loved salted duck eggs were finally freshly cooked, which was much more popular than canned food. However, the broken ones were still uneaten, and were dumped into large buckets to be distributed to the workers who had finished their baths later.
This made Franklin frown again. The price of eggs in Egypt was also very expensive. One egg cost about one penny, a larger duck egg cost three pence, and the pickled egg cost about five pence.
This situation is similar to that in southern Africa. No matter what it is, as long as it is manually processed, the price will at least double.
Franklin frowned because during the time that the Southern African troops were in Egypt, all the expenses had to be paid by the Egyptian government, so he must frown when he saw this situation.
When Southern Africa sent troops to Egypt, it originally required Egypt to supply various materials. However, because many of the materials needed by the Southern African army could not be supplied in Egypt, it was simply converted into cash and paid to the Ministry of National Defense of Southern Africa, and the Ministry of Defense was allowed to purchase them uniformly before shipping.
to Egypt.
The two regiments in Southern Africa have to be paid according to the troops of a division. The monthly cost is as high as 300,000 pounds. When the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa quoted this price, it shocked the Ministry of War. They did not know the estimate of the situation.
Everyone would think that the Ministry of National Defense of Southern Africa is taking the opportunity to extort money. Now it seems that 300,000 per month is understandable.
Before Franklin had time to speak, gunshots suddenly came from the sand dunes not far from the camp.
Franklin was startled. Looking at the soldiers around him, most of them acted as if they had not heard anything and were eating and drinking coffee. They were almost unaffected.
Look at this person's psychological quality, tsk tsk, 300,000 yuan is worth the money.
Ordinary officers and soldiers were not affected because the battle order had not yet been issued, but the sound of gunshots was an order, and many officers and soldiers also began to speed up. Dalton immediately sent people to investigate the situation, and news came back immediately that it was the sentry who discovered
I saw unidentified armed men approaching in the distance, so I fired a warning shot.
El Alamein had been attacked by guerrillas before, so the identities of these armed men were obvious.
Dalton was not in a hurry. He tore the bread into strips and soaked them in coffee to drink together. This kind of behavior would be incomprehensible to the Egyptians, but to Dalton it was a distinctive personality. After hearing the report, Dalton just said, "
Oh," he said, and then continued talking slowly, which made Franklin anxious and angry.
The sentries have already fired warning shots, shouldn't they take the initiative?
"Don't worry, you can't run away -" Dalton is really not in a hurry. Company B and Company D have just arrived in El Alamein and haven't even had time to familiarize themselves with the terrain. Attacking rashly at this time is courting death. What if they are ambushed by the guerrillas?
What should I do if I get lost in the desert? What should I do if I am transferred away from the mountain?
The two companies occupied favorable terrain and relied on fortifications to face an enemy ten times their own. Dalton was not afraid. They just took the initiative to attack. They couldn't afford to fight and they couldn't afford to lose.
"They have run away -" Franklin was very dissatisfied with Dalton's conservatism. Although he was well-equipped, well-trained and well-trained with sufficient logistics, he was so conservative in the face of the enemy's situation. He did not have the aura of being invincible at all.
"That's not good. We didn't have any losses. Their expedition not only consumed physical strength and supplies, but also the fighting will of the soldiers." The order Dalton received was to defend Alamein, which did not include taking the initiative to attack.
Later, troops will gradually occupy other coastal areas, gradually shrinking the guerrillas' activity space, and eventually drive the guerrillas out of Egypt.
Unless necessary during this process, the military in southern Africa will try to avoid fighting. Even if they have to fight, they must do it in their own way and cannot let the guerrillas take the initiative.
"Okay, what you said makes sense." Although Franklin was dissatisfied, he did not dare to say more. Franklin was a layman in military affairs and had to respect the command rights of Dalton and Mallory.
"We need to repair the port and need more workers and building materials, otherwise we will not be able to supply through the port." Mallory requested, and this was Franklin's scope of work.
One thing is very frustrating. The infrastructure level of many cities in this era is really poor, including Alexandria, the largest port in Egypt. There are also many unreasonable places by the standards of southern Africa.
After all, Egypt is not southern Africa. Alexandria has nothing to do with the soldiers in southern Africa. Alamein is different. Company B and Company D still don’t know how long they will be stationed in Alamein. The port still needs to be repaired as soon as possible to facilitate the replenishment of supplies through the port.
.
Although it is said to be a port, it is actually not much better than a fishing village. Only Alexandria and Cairo have relatively large docks in Egypt.
"Workers can be recruited from the village, and building materials requires time and scheduling." Franklin, the liaison officer, has great or small rights. It involves money and materials. No matter how big or small, they must be reported, but the workers don't care. Alamein
Local people can be recruited at will, and it doesn't matter whether they are paid or not, as long as they are hungry or not.
This can also explain why the workers in Egypt did not work hard and let the horses run and not eat grass. How could such a good thing happen?
Then report it.
While Mallory and Dalton were preparing for their long stay at Alamein, McMahon was hunting with Rock.
Rock also finally realized the so-called "noble life". Hunting is an important activity for the nobility, just like ladies and ladies are keen to attend banquets. Before setting off, Rock was curious about why there are hunting grounds in Egypt, a place full of deserts. After leaving Cairo
Later I learned that there is a hunting ground covering an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers in a suburb not far from Cairo. It is also an amusement park for Cairo's upper class.
The entire Nile Delta only covers an area of 24,000 square kilometers. The value of land near Cairo is even higher. More than a thousand square kilometers of fertile land is wasted just for a few people to hunt and entertain themselves for a limited few days each year. Roque does not
Know how to evaluate this behavior.
There are also hunting grounds in Nyasaland, but they are all wilderness that cannot be cultivated and utilized. Except for the Eagle Mountain where Eagle Fort is located, almost all of the surrounding areas around Little Rock have been developed and utilized. The waste of natural resources is punishable by God in southern Africa.
In fact, Egypt will also be punished by God, but the colorful surface conceals all kinds of raging fires. Now the British can dominate Egypt. In a few years, when the Egyptians' national consciousness awakens, the British will be in trouble.
.
In fact, the so-called "Egyptians" here are mostly the descendants of British immigrants, and they are also standard British people. Just like the United States now, they no longer want to accept the leadership of London, so they demand more power in the name of "colony"
.
At this time, if there is another force to fan the flames, they will hit it off immediately.
