Before French set off with his expedition, Kitchener wrote a letter to French.
In the letter, Kitchener clearly wrote: Troop casualties must be reduced to a minimum with the utmost caution. I hope you understand that your troops are independent and you do not have to accept the command of anyone.
In other words, the British and French Allied Forces had their own agendas at the beginning of their establishment. The French troops and the British Expeditionary Force were not under each other. This caused many problems in the collaboration between the British and French Allied Forces in the early stages of the war. Many of the defeats of the British and French Allied Forces in the early stages of the war were related to this.
Relatedly, this problem was not basically solved until late in the war when Ferdinand Foch became commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, but that was already four years later.
In order to organize more cannon fodder, the Ministry of National Defense of Southern Africa not only mobilized Africans in southern Africa, but also began to recruit troops in the Kingdom of Mozambique, the Kingdom of Congo, and the Republic of Congo.
"If you join the army, you will be exempted from paying war tax. Your monthly salary is two rands. The salary is divided into two parts. One part is paid to you and the other part is paid to the government. If we want to build an army of 500,000 people, then every month
The expenditure is one million, but we do not need to be fully responsible for this million, but it is jointly borne by London and the federal government. London is responsible for 60%, three pounds per person per month." Roque explained to the cabinet.
At that time, it caused bursts of snickers from the cabinet members.
Now the rand is still pegged to the pound, and the exchange rate with the pound is one to one. London pays everyone a salary of three pounds. Southern Africa gives one pound of it to the soldiers themselves, and then gives one pound to the Kingdom of Mozambique and Congo.
Kingdom, and the governments of the Republic of Congo, then there is still one pound left in southern Africa.
If the army was recruited in southern Africa, then there would be two pounds left.
"Lord, I think you should be the Minister of Finance. I have always believed that if you serve as the Minister of Finance, then our finances must be very healthy." Finance Minister Bob Giles is making rainbow farts. When it comes to making money, Luo
If Ke takes second place, no one in southern Africa would dare to take first place.
It seems that a few hundred thousand per month is a little less, but when you add up, it adds up to several million every year. Add in the tax revenue generated by exported goods, and the federal government's financial turnaround is just around the corner. The Ministry of Finance is digging.
After so many years of being embarrassed, he finally felt proud. Bob Giles wanted to hold Rock and kiss him twice.
"This money should be given to our Ministry of Education. We are having more and more newborns and need more and more schools. We need to provide better education for our children. This is related to the future of our southern Africa." Money.
Before it arrived, Douglas, who had just succeeded Young Smoots as Secretary of Education, began to calculate the money.
"No, money should be given to our Ministry of Health. We need more hospitals and more medical staff. The annual infant mortality rate is still very high. We must reduce the infant mortality rate to an acceptable level. This
Already affecting the natural growth of our southern African population." Health Minister Derek Gibson also echoed the demand.
"The Ministry of Justice also needs more funding. We are in the middle of a war and the Ministry of Justice has a heavy task -" Henry also complained, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was jointly attacked by several ministers.
"Lord Fawalt, that's enough. Your Ministry of Justice already has the most funding!" Douglas was the first to fire.
"Nonsense, the Department of Defense only has the most funding," Henry argued, while Roark kept his gun.
"The Ministry of Justice is the only department with money to pay bonuses, and Lord Fawalt is also qualified to be the Minister of Finance -" Derek Gibson quoted strangely, and Bob Giles was innocently shot.
"When will the farms confiscated by the Ministry of Justice during this period be prepared for auction?" Louis Botha finally found an entry point. Among those arrested by the Ministry of Justice during this period, many of them had thousands of acres of farms in their names. These farms were
It is stipulated that everything must be auctioned.
"The review work is not over yet, and we have to wait until it is over to conduct a unified auction." Henry argued with the crowd. It is not the Ministry of Justice's fault that the Ministry of Justice has money. This is determined by the nature of the work.
"Gentlemen, calm down, I haven't gotten the money yet -" Ade is also helpless. As long as he gets the money, the ministers who are usually well-dressed and gentle will be like hungry wolves after seeing their prey, and their eyes will be filled with tears.
It's red.
Roque was also helpless. If possible, none of the ministers would be willing to go shirtless and start a fight. They were really scared.
"Who will pay for the cost of setting up the army?" Ade doesn't care where Rock gets the people, he only cares about who pays for the start-up costs.
To form an army, you need the minimum weapons and equipment. In short, the personnel can be in place within a month, and after three months to half a year of training, the troops can be sent to Europe to participate in the war.
However, the cost of this weaponry is a big problem. For 500,000 people, a set of clothes and a gun for each person would cost tens of millions. The federal government will definitely not provide this money.
"Of course it will be paid by London, and London promised that all the materials needed to build the army will be purchased in southern Africa." Roque was confident. The ministers then understood why Roque didn't just open up. With an order worth tens of millions in hand, Roque finally
I don’t care about the small profit every month.
Henry was also very excited. Part of this batch of orders also belonged to Favalte Steel Company.
"Then act as soon as possible and end the war in Southwest Africa as soon as possible. The Ministry of War sent four telegrams yesterday, requesting the deployment of troops from Southwest Africa to Europe. You can explain this issue. I don't even know how to explain it. Why does the South
Out of hundreds of thousands of African troops, only one division was sent to France." Ade used to think that the number of troops was too many, but now it seems that it is far from enough.
"No need to explain, we are already in a state of war with Southwest Africa. Before the war in Southwest Africa ends, there will be no extra troops sent to Europe. Our army is seriously insufficient. In the territory of three million square kilometers, there are only more than 300,000 troops.
, it is simply impossible to cover the entire territory. We must first ensure the security of our homeland before we can provide more assistance to Europe." Roque will not change the established plan, and he must have a begging attitude when asking for help. He cannot be arrogant and arrogant with other overseas ministers.
Comparatively, Southern Africa is already outstanding.
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have all stated that they will not be able to send troops to Europe until next year. Only India has a very positive attitude, saying that its troops can set off at any time.
Although India's attitude was positive, it did not receive an enthusiastic response from London.
Like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, India's army was also hastily and temporarily formed, and India also spent a lot of money to form two million troops in one fell swoop, vowing to save the British Empire from the fire.
Just say this, no one believes it. Let alone India's inefficient mobilization capabilities, the training of two million troops cannot be completed in a short period of time. In less than half a year and a few months, it is impossible for the Indian army to form combat effectiveness.
At present, the British do not know enough about the combat effectiveness of the Indian army. It will not be until the Indian army actually joins the war that India will reveal its true nature, and then the large number of Indian troops will be used as porters.
Even as porters, the Indian army was not qualified, because there would be a more outstanding group of porters, laborers from the Qing Dynasty.
"What about the engineering troops, which also number more than 200,000?" Ade asked. This is also the reason why the War Department sent four telegrams a day. In addition to the standing army of two divisions, there are also more conscripts in southern Africa.
These compulsory troops have been issued with weapons and have gone to the states of the federal government to maintain local stability. In the view of the War Department, so many troops are not actually needed to maintain stability. In addition to the standing army and compulsory soldiers, there are also a larger number of militia troops in southern Africa, that is,
The National Guard, the National Guard is sufficient for this work. Several northern states such as Nyasaland, Rhodesia, and Transvaal do not even need the National Guard. The police system is sufficient to ensure local stability.
"The engineering force is our last resort. If France falls and the war spreads to the British mainland, then I will send all the troops to the British mainland to support it. There is no need for it now. The war is not serious enough yet. France has the ability to protect itself.
Capability, we can't throw away all our chips." Rock firmly disagreed. Even if the war spread to the British mainland, Rock would never send out engineering troops, but he couldn't say this clearly.
In fact, many people understand this fact, but most of the senior officials qualified to participate in the ministerial meeting are officials appointed by the British mainland. It is not easy for them to accept this fact.
"We can serve the British Empire, but we have no obligation to fight for the French." Unexpectedly, the first person to speak out in support of Roque was Louis Botta.
This is also the reason why Roque strives to maintain a relationship with Louis Botha. On the issue of whether to support Europe, Roque and Louis Botha have the same interests. Others, such as Adé, Philippe, and even Henry, even if they don’t want to
Support the UK and will not take a clear position on this issue.
"France is our ally after all, and we must work together -" Adé was half-sent, sighed and simply shut up.
Britain and France formed an alliance because they were threatened by Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was not because of how good their relationship with France was. George V and William II were cousins, so Britain and France were strangers in this war, so
After the war, Britain would spare no effort to help Germany get back on its feet.
While Southern Africa was launching an all-out attack on Southwest Africa and Tanganyika, France's war situation was deteriorating.
On August 12, Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary.
On August 16, Russian troops invaded East Prussia.
On August 23, Germany invaded France through Belgium. The French army was completely defeated. In Mons, the expeditionary force led by French finally encountered the main force of the German army head-on.
