When Roque left Europe, there were still approximately 250,000 officers and soldiers of the Southern African Expeditionary Force stranded in France, waiting to be evacuated in batches. The Southern African federal government mobilized all ships capable of ocean navigation to fully cooperate with the evacuation of the expeditionary force.
The evacuation of troops is not as simple as imagined. The heavy weapons used by the Southern African Expeditionary Force belong to Britain and France. Fortunately, these heavy weapons do not need to be brought back to Southern Africa, otherwise the evacuation work will be more complicated.
At the end of the World War, Southern Africa had 4 artillery divisions, one armored division, and 15 infantry divisions in France. The entire army was equipped with a total of 1,100 tanks and armored vehicles, 5,500 artillery pieces, and 1,300 aircraft. If all these heavy weapons were transported back to the south,
All ocean freighters in Africa and Southern Africa would take a year to transport.
Roque No matter what the British and French governments do with these heavy weapons, when the officers and soldiers of the Southern African Expedition left France, in addition to the self-defense weapons they carried with them, there were also various trophies and souvenirs obtained during the world war, which were sold by the Military Service Agency
Various bags and bags were in short supply, and soldiers sold large items that were inconvenient to carry directly to military service agencies. Many French people also went to military service agencies and exchanged valuable gold and jewelry for necessary daily necessities.
Although the Allied Powers had established the Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and appointed Stoudemire and Hoover to take direct charge, the work of the Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was progressing slowly due to the efficiency of the Allied government agencies.
But the French and Belgians who had been devastated by the war were crying for food. After the end of the world war, people who fled their hometowns during the war gradually returned to their homes. Only then did they find that they were homeless, their houses were destroyed by the war, and their land
Because there has been no farming for several years, the harvest has been completely lost. Many roads and bridges have been completely destroyed due to repeated fighting between the Allied forces and the German army. Many cities have turned into huge ruins, and it is impossible to rebuild homes on the ruins.
During the World War, in order to alleviate the financial crisis of the government, the participating countries were desperately printing banknotes. The gold standard implemented before the World War was completely cancelled, gold coins stopped circulating, and the exchange between currency and gold was also forced to stop. Both the pound and the franc appeared.
Due to varying degrees of depreciation, the pound is considering returning to the gold standard, but due to insufficient gold reserves, this is unlikely to be possible in the short term.
When the value of currency is unstable, bartering becomes the most common method, but this raises another problem, that is, the problem of value judgment of items.
For example, the value of a gemstone worth 100 pounds before the outbreak of the world war is now in the hands of the Military Service Society.
"Mrs. Tamara, your necklace, based on its value before the outbreak of the World War, is about 150 pounds, but I can't give you 150 pounds. You know, the price of jewelry has depreciated very much now, so I can only
Here you go—" Lieutenant Tom from the Military Service Agency looked at Mrs. Tamara's expectant eyes. He hesitated before making a cruel offer: "—I can only give you 30 pounds. You can also directly choose to exchange the value at the Military Service Agency.
For £30, trust me, this is the best option.”
Recently, more and more people have come to the Military Service Agency to sell mortgages. During the World War, many people placed their hope that everything would be fine after the war. But now it seems that although the war is over, there is still a long way to go.
There is still a long way to go before society can return to normal. On the contrary, compared with the war period, the situation has deteriorated to a certain extent, so more and more people are pessimistic and disappointed.
During the war, although life was equally difficult, because there were a large number of soldiers with relatively abundant supplies of supplies, overall supplies were not too scarce. After all, many soldiers would sell uneaten individual food on the black market.
Now that more and more troops are leaving France and the French government is beginning to disarm, millions of people are taking off their uniforms and returning home, taking their supplies with them.
"Mr. Lieutenant, this necklace is not 150 pounds. When I bought it, it cost me 400 pounds. Do you know 400 pounds? Now you only give me 30 pounds. This is shameful blackmail!" Tamar
Mrs. Tamara was very emotional. If the value of 150 pounds depreciated to 30 pounds, then Mrs. Tamara might be able to accept it, but now the value of 400 pounds depreciated to 30 pounds, which is really too much.
"Mrs. Tamara, don't be excited. You should know that there will be a certain premium when the product is sold. So just because you spent 400 pounds to buy this necklace does not mean that the actual value of the necklace is 400 pounds.
——" Lieutenant Tom is patient. Many people always think that the value of something is how much they spend on it. In fact, it is not. For example, the diamonds sold by Yitenuo, no matter what the price at the time of sale, Yitenuo is worth it.
It is not recycled.
In other words, even if a customer purchases a diamond ring from Itno's store for 10,000 pounds, if the customer wants to sell the ring to Itno, then Itno will only recycle the precious metal part.
, diamonds are not needed.
For a ring worth 10,000 pounds, the price of the diamond itself may be 9,990 pounds, but when recycled, the ring may only be worth 10 pounds.
Of course, if the customer feels that he is at a disadvantage, he can take off the diamond and keep it for himself. For the customer, the value of this diamond is 9,990 pounds, but for Itno, the diamond itself is worthless, it is just a stone dug out of the ground.
It’s just that there are so many companies in South Africa that even the cost of the diamond itself is not as high as the processing cost.
"So how much do you think it is worth? The price of 30 pounds is too low -" Mrs. Tamara did not accept this price, but she would not walk away, so the Military Service Society only gave the price of 30 pounds.
When I walked into the door of the Military Service Society, the necklace I originally bought for 400 pounds could not even be sold for 30 pounds.
There is a pawn company opposite the Military Service Institution. Mrs. Tamara had just left the pawn company before coming to the Military Service Institution. The price offered by the pawn company for the necklace was only 20 pounds.
"Mrs. Tamara, this 30 pounds already includes the price of the gem itself. If the gem is not included, then the approximate value of this necklace is - 15 pounds!" Lieutenant Tom did not let go. Itno did not recycle the gem. Military Service Society
For recycling, of course, don’t expect the price to be that high.
Gemstones are actually non-renewable resources, but due to different processing techniques, some gemstones with low craftsmanship cannot be sold at high prices.
Just like the gems on this necklace, because the previous processing technology was not advanced enough, from the current technical point of view, if the gems are re-processed and polished using newer technology, they can be put on the counter and sold again. As for the price,
——
It will definitely be higher than 400 pounds.
So delicious!
According to Itno's salesperson, in 1917, the world's gem mines were on the verge of being exhausted, so gems, a non-renewable resource, had to be mined as little as possible, and the opportunity must not be missed before it comes back——
This is just like oil. In 1917, oil experts predicted that the world's reserves would be enough for 30 years.
Then ten years later, with the emergence of new oil fields, experts were surprised to find that the existing oil was enough for the world to use for 40 years.
And one fact that experts never say is that even if all the oil in the world is exhausted, new energy sources will replace oil.
So the value of oil—
Also Schrödinger’s cat.
"More, sir, I have four children to support, my husband died during the World War, and this is the only property I have -" Mrs. Tamara begged, hoping that Lieutenant Tom would give him more.
.
Perhaps in Mrs. Tamara's view, begging is the ultimate that Mrs. Tamara can achieve. After all, for a person of status, begging is very unseemly.
But for Second Lieutenant Tom, every guest he faces will beg in the end, so it is not that Second Lieutenant Tom is ruthless. If Mrs. Tamara's situation is an exception, maybe Second Lieutenant Tom will give Mrs. Tamara a
Relatively satisfactory price, but everyone is like this——
It's really too pitiful.
"Mrs. Tamara, I really can't offer you a higher price. We also have regulations -" Lieutenant Tom's eyes were still sincere and his words were still cold.
"Okay, 30 pounds is 30 pounds, but I want to exchange it all for canned braised pork, not a box less!" The plea was ineffective, and Mrs. Tamara immediately put away her tears, and the speed of her face change was breathtaking.
"Sorry Mrs. Tamara, our food also has a quota. If you want to exchange supplies with a total price of 30 pounds, it cannot be all braised pork. You know, canned braised pork is always very popular." This request was made by Lieutenant Tom.
The same cannot be done. At the end of the World War, the British Expeditionary Force still had nearly 2.5 million tons of surplus materials in France. These surplus materials must be digested in France as much as possible.
"What about canned beef? Chicken or luncheon meat can also be used. In short, it must have enough nutrition." Mrs. Tamara stopped insisting this time. She knew that this was also a rule of the Military Service Association, but everyone hoped that a miracle would happen.
.
"I will try my best to arrange it for you. In fact, canned green beans and canned fruits also taste good -" Lieutenant Tom strongly recommended. In the British Expeditionary Force, canned vegetables are actually more popular.
"If I want to eat green beans, do I need to use shopping coupons to redeem them?" Mrs. Tamara is not fooled. Nutrition must be balanced, but for today's French people, balanced nutrition is not the most important thing. Filling the stomach first is the most important thing.
.
When Mrs. Tamara walked out of the Military Service Club, her box was filled with all kinds of food. Canned food was of course essential. There was the canned braised pork that Mrs. Tamara requested, but the quantity was not large.
The canned vegetables that my wife does not want must be exchanged, otherwise they cannot be exchanged for the canned braised pork. The Military Service Society also has a quota for canned food.
: I just suddenly discovered that four years have passed since I wrote my first book. I wrote 3.21 million words in 1,494 days. I’m really embarrassed to see anyone——