African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 29: Chapter 25: Primary Ticket for Military Industry

As a supplement to the agreement, Ernst specifically obtained an entry ticket to the arms industry from Prussia, first resolving the issue of going from nothing to something.

This time, Ernst clarified the purpose in advance, which was to address the weapons equipment issue for the East African colony under the management of the Heixinggen royal family.

After all, in mainland Europe, there’s no problem with assembling weaponry itself, but setting up a production line is another matter. Even relatively outdated technology would be prevented from spreading.

Since Ernst emphasized the purpose was for colonizing East Africa, the Prussian government wouldn’t need to worry much about its use, only that they send people to check the accounts and pay reasonable taxes.

The Prussian royal family and government were quite generous this time, providing not just a small arms factory but also several flintlock gun production lines that were about to be retired, along with bullet production lines. They also promised Ernst could order other necessary materials from Prussian military companies such as Krupp in the future, of course, for a price, and not to be used in Europe.

At this time, influenced by the Second Schleswig War, Prussia increased the retirement of front-loading flintlock guns in favor of producing rear-loading rifled guns, which is why they generously gave Ernst the production lines of front-loading flintlock guns, just in time to make room for new production lines.

Ernst was already very satisfied to obtain these old weapon production lines. He planned to equip the East African colony with these soon-to-be-outdated weapons.

The number of Chinese immigrants in the East African colony is increasing, and future bases will expand. In East Africa, Ernst has only employed Germans for armament, numbering just over two thousand, while Chinese immigrants already number nearly three thousand.

In fact, having more than two thousand is not insignificant. In the aftermath of World War I, near the outbreak, German East Africa’s forces included 68 white officers, 60 white non-commissioned officers, 132 white medical officers and administrative personnel, 2 black officers, 184 black non-commissioned officers, and 2,286 black soldiers.

Such a small army suppressed an area of more than 900,000 square kilometers, but Ernst’s investment in the East African colony now is incomparable to what Germany did in the previous life.

Purely in terms of the military, there are two thousand white troops of his own nationality, and there will be an organization of Chinese troops in the future.

In the previous life, German East Africa was viewed as Germany’s most valuable colony, yet it wasn’t held in high regard in Germany’s eyes. The main crop operations were cotton, rubber, and sisal.

Germany mainly pinned its hopes on going all-in on the European continent. Winning in Europe meant being able to freely divide the world’s dominance, and by then, they’d have all the colonies they wanted.

So during World War I, Germany voluntarily abandoned overseas colonies to focus on fighting the Allies in Europe.

However, Ernst views East Africa as his fallback, so he pays more attention to population, agriculture, and industry.

Increasing immigration currently is to avoid potential situations like that in South Africa later on, creating room for maneuvers. It’s like learning from Americans, but Ernst wouldn’t do it so crudely; massacre is impossible, there’s a good chance they’d be transported elsewhere by ship.

Agriculture is currently what Ernst is focusing on in East Africa. Besides planting cash crops, Ernst maintains the main position of food crops, not postponing the development plan of the colony for a little immediate interest. Only with enough food, immigrants can be settled in place.

Industry is somewhat distant. Present-day East Africa’s basic conditions are too poor, with no space for industrial development, primarily mining for such basic industry; Ernst also does not intend to pursue it.

Without completely controlling East Africa, discovering any significant mineral resources could spark disaster. Thus, Ernst acts cautiously.

And controlling East Africa requires a sizeable army. Almost no Germans are willing to go to East Africa for development, so Ernst plans to organize a small number of Chinese to establish a Chinese army.

It’s used to control East African land. As the colonial scope expands, it’s inevitable to collide with those tribes and other colonizers.

Ernst doesn’t want to relive German East Africa’s experience in World War I, being mobbed by surrounding countries’ colonies. Even with the outbreak of war, his side should have several times the opposing force. Rather than a fair confrontation, being outnumbered is the key strategy.

Using natives to form an army is certainly unreliable. In the previous life, Britain assembled a native army of as many as 250,000 from colonies all over Africa to deal with German East Africa, initially toyed with by a few thousand German colonizers.

Thus, the combat effectiveness and willingness of the natives are imaginable. Perhaps they knew they were going to die, so they directly slacked off. However, Ernst is more inclined to believe this is their daily state.

Changing these natives’ lazy and nonchalant disposition is not impossible. Just fixing education, starting with the next generation, should correct it.

But who can bear the costs of money and time? And colonizers are there to make money, not provide aid. The wealth of society has a fixed quantity. Hoping to extract money from colonizers is less feasible than letting them fight desperately.

Of course, not all colonies are like this, such as the United States, Canada, those colonies which have completed ”clearance,” where only ”their own people” are left, and can’t be treated like natives.

So turn towards the status of a regular country. Currently, the East African colony hasn’t achieved this goal, hence there’s no capacity to pack up and send off all the natives.

Constrained by population numbers, Ernst plans to build a Chinese army of 50,000 in East Africa over the next three years.

To keep this army under control, all officers will be Germans, with students from the Heixinggen Military Academy serving as staff officers and other adjunct roles to assist in management.

Ernst also wants to expand the German population in East Africa, but currently, there’s no good way. Who is willing to develop in such a ”savage” place?

Only when the infrastructure construction in the East African colony is completed, and Europe is in great turmoil, under the threat of the cloud of war, can Ernst extend his hand into Europe and attract those ordinary people over.

As the first Chinese army formed in the East African colony, their weapons naturally depend on these old front-loading flintlock gun production lines.

This envisioned force isn’t a standing army, but a special force similar to a militia, which must participate in production and construction daily.

After all, the current opponents of the East African colony are just those uneducated native tribes, most still using stone and wood to craft spears and bows with a few metal weapons.

Such opponents are not worth forming a professionally trained standing army to deal with. As long as Chinese immigrants learn how to fire and aim with flintlock guns retired from Europe, for those native tribes, it’s a dimensional reduction attack.