If Douglas Haig thought that coming to southern Africa with an order in hand would give him superior treatment, he was wrong.
Southern Africa is no longer the Southern Africa it was ten years ago. The aura of the local suzerainty is gradually fading. Even the most staunch patriots must face up to the achievements of southern Africa in economic construction. The current gap between southern Africa and the mainland
Mainly due to hundreds of years of accumulation, given time, southern Africa will shine even brighter.
Douglas Haig certainly didn't think so. His impression of southern Africa was still during the Boer War, and he had no idea how far southern Africa had developed now. It's not terrible to be blocked from information, but it's really hopeless to refuse to understand new things.
Rescue.
Compared with his extreme conservative thinking, Douglas Haig's efficiency was even more intolerable to Rock.
Rock was used to high efficiency and fast pace, and he wished he could split one day into two days. Douglas Haig was not nervous. After staying in Pretoria for a week, the purchasing group set off for Nyasaland.
After stopping and stopping along the way, it took another ten days for the purchasing group to arrive in Port Edward. It was already June 20th.
After the completion of Port Edward, Nyasaland's external exports of materials will be carried out through Port Edward and will no longer be transshipped to Durban or Cape Town. If the export destination is the Far East, Port Edward has a huge advantage. Even if it is exported to Europe, it will be bypassed.
Crossing the Suez Canal will not increase the distance much, it is only over a thousand kilometers further than Cape Town.
Roque did not stay in Pretoria to accompany Douglas Haig, but returned to Nyasaland early to handle official duties. This made Haig very dissatisfied, but Roque's reasons were very good.
The Ministry of National Defense is reorganizing the Northern Rhodesia Division into a semi-mechanized force. The main equipment is tanks and armored vehicles. All infantry will also be transported by cars, completely eliminating the cavalry organization.
Rock was not fighting against Douglas Haig, but with the opening of the new factory, tanks and armored vehicles were finally mass-produced, and there was a foundation for the establishment of a mechanized force.
Of course, Rock didn't need to explain to Douglas Haig. Douglas Haig didn't even care about machine guns, let alone tanks and armored vehicles. He should have lived in the Middle Ages, when cavalry dominated the battlefield.
"Welcome to Nyasaland, I hope Nyasaland can leave you with a good memory." Roque really didn't mean to say anything wrong. The memory left for Douglas Haig in southern Africa was definitely not that pleasant.
Now Rock doesn't have to be careful and consider other people's thoughts with every word. If he is facing Winston Kitchen, Rock will still have some scruples. Forget about Douglas Haig. His status is not as high as Rock's. His military rank
There is no Rockegaard, and he doesn't even have a knighthood. If there is no order in hand, Martin or Derek Dodd would be more suitable to receive Douglas Haig.
"I believe so. Nyasaland is such a beautiful place, with neat fields, beautiful buildings, blue sky and white clouds, it's really unimaginable -" Douglas Haig was a little at a loss for words, but Rock also heard another meaning.
, Douglas Haig probably wondered why London would seal such a beautiful and rich place like Nyasaland to the Rockdown Territory.
According to published information, Nyasaland is 200,000 square kilometers. In fact, it must be more than that. After multiple expansions, Nyasaland now covers an area of more than 600,000 square kilometers.
Roque also did not explain what Nyasaland was like when he took over. There was no need to explain to Douglas Haig. After arriving in Port Edward to rest for two days, the purchasing team officially entered work.
Although Douglas Haig is more traditional, in order to win more orders, Rock has prepared a centralized exhibition hall for Douglas Haig so that the purchasing group can have a deeper understanding of southern Africa's industrial capabilities.
Not surprisingly, what Douglas Haig is most interested in is not the endless variety of new weapons, but the various comprehensive supply packages after integration, especially the individual medical package.
However, after learning about the medical kit in detail, Douglas Haig immediately gave up. Although Douglas Haig also valued battlefield medical care, the biggest problem in the UK was that ordinary soldiers did not know enough about battlefield medical care and did not understand battlefield first aid at all.
Even if medical kits are distributed, soldiers will not use them.
It was only then that Roque realized that the professional military system was too far ahead of its time. Southern Africa could not afford to supply tens of thousands of professional soldiers despite all its efforts. European countries often had millions of troops. It would be a disaster to popularize this knowledge.
"Then we should strengthen the education of soldiers and regard it as part of the training. We do not require all soldiers to become doctors. At least they must know how to save the lives of their companions when they are in danger." Rock has a way.
In fact, it is not difficult to strengthen education. The main thing is the change in ideological concepts. Southern Africa also faced many difficulties when it first started to popularize field first aid. However, as time goes by, the difficulties have been overcome one by one.
"It is the doctor's job to treat the wounded. Soldiers should fight wholeheartedly. Sacrifice for the country is the most glorious destination for soldiers." Douglas Haig was worthy of being a butcher. These words made Rock shudder.
"I'm afraid the soldiers and their parents won't think so." Rock partially agreed with Douglas Haig. Soldiers should indeed have the courage to sacrifice for their country, but they cannot take this sacrifice for granted. That would be too cold-blooded.
.
"Lord Nyasaland, if you think so, then the fighting will of your southern African army will be questionable." Douglas Haig also didn't like Rock. Perhaps in Douglas Haig's view, Rock was too much.
weak.
"Will is part of combat. Our goal is to win the greatest victory at the lowest cost, so we will continue to improve military materials to make them more suitable for the current war situation and provide better protection for soldiers.
, if a medical kit worth five pounds can save a life, then why not do it?" Rock was not angry at this time and explained patiently. Although Douglas Haig disagreed, other members of the purchasing group had nodded frequently.
.
To put it bluntly, although the price of five pounds is still a bit expensive, it is much less than the pension of fallen soldiers. However, people like Douglas Haig will not consider this issue. He is only responsible for fighting.
He doesn't even care about the outcome of the battle.
In the Battle of the Somme, the British troops commanded by Haig suffered 420,000 casualties, and the cooperating French troops suffered 200,000 casualties. The battle line only advanced 12 kilometers. This became the biggest stain on Haig's military career. Compared with this,
The 17th Lancers are simply not worth mentioning.
"Lord Nyasaland, if the Ministry of War purchases medical kits in bulk, can your Ministry of Defense in Southern Africa be responsible for training soldiers?" Edward Kitchener, a member of the procurement team, interjected. He is the nephew of the Minister of War, Kitchener.
, works in the Ministry of Finance.
"Of course, if you are willing to bear the overseas subsidy for training the training personnel -" Rock didn't mean to be humorous, but unexpectedly it actually attracted a few chuckles. This is probably British humor.
As colonial troops, the military in Southern Africa originally received overseas subsidies, so the salary was higher than that of the local army.
Now that soldiers from Southern Africa have returned to their homeland, overseas allowances should have been cancelled. However, because the homeland is also an overseas country for Southern Africa, it is indeed a bit absurd to have to receive double overseas allowances.
Procurement cannot be decided in one or two sentences. After reading the medical kit, Rock introduced the grenades to the purchasing group.
Hand grenades in southern Africa are divided into offensive grenades and defensive grenades. The difference lies in the amount of charge and fragments. Offensive grenades have a larger charge and less fragments. They mainly rely on impact to cause an instant blow to the defending enemy, and are more
Conducive to offense.
Defensive grenades have smaller charges and their projectiles are made of steel balls, which can cause greater damage to attacking enemies.
"Soldiers have to charge with all their strength when attacking, so if an offensive grenade has a lot of fragments, it will cause certain casualties to the attacking troops, so offensive grenades and defensive grenades must be distinguished, especially when fighting in cities.
When launching an attack against an enemy holding a stronghold, defensive grenades are very limited at this time, and the shock wave erupted by offensive grenades will play a huge role in a small space." If the medical kit has shortcomings, it is subject to conditions in its promotion.
Limitation, then the grenade is perfect in this era. In this era, the British Mills grenade and the German M24 grenade have no difference between offense and defense.
"What's the difference? Will it be so detailed that it will bring greater disaster to logistics? Moreover, soldiers don't have time to distinguish between offensive grenades and defensive grenades on the battlefield. The grenade that can destroy the enemy is the best.
Grenade." Unexpectedly, Haig could still find an entry point. It would be great if he used this spirit to direct operations.
"You are right. The problem is that grenades are often restricted by terrain and cannot work well. We divide grenades into offensive and defensive types in order to better destroy the enemy." Rock still has some ideas.
Patience, Hege probably means that there is no need to go to such trouble, the lack of skills can be filled with life.
"Superfluous!" Haig was really shameless. With just one sentence, Rock's face turned black, and the atmosphere immediately solidified.
"Whether it is redundant or not has to be tested by war. Maybe in your opinion, many things in Southern Africa are redundant, and the fighting will of the troops is not strong enough. But I want to tell you that since the establishment of Southern Africa, the military of Southern Africa has never lost.
Abort any regional conflict, including Tanganyika!" Roque said loudly. Unlike Haig's arrogance in Pretoria, Roque's confidence was accumulated from victory after victory.