African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1529 The 19th Route Army

The German National Party's sudden halt to its offensive caught the German Workers' Party somewhat off guard. However, they didn't have time to consider what kind of conspiracy Adolf might be plotting. At this point, the German Workers' Party had suffered considerable losses and needed to recover as soon as possible, in addition to dealing with the upcoming elections.

The German Labor Party is divided on whether to overthrow the German government by force or through parliamentary competition, so they have chosen to pursue both paths simultaneously.

While a new wave of undercurrents was brewing in Germany, in the southern Austro-Hungarian Empire, with the support of the Soviet government, the Workers' Party in Austria and other regions was also quietly plotting a major operation. Meanwhile, the lessons learned from the German Workers' Party made their actions even more covert, to prevent any unforeseen events.

……

1932 1 Month 14 Day.

The Far Eastern Empire, Shanghai.

Recently, the East African government's consulate in Shanghai donated a batch of weapons to the Far Eastern Empire's army, the 19th Army, in the name of military aid.

The Far Eastern Empire's army has always lacked heavy weapons and its ability to imitate them is also relatively weak. In particular, the Nanjing government has not paid much attention to heavy industry.

The Nanjing government's solution to the weapons shortage was simple and brutal: to purchase them from abroad. For example, in 1930, the Far Eastern Empire government purchased a small number of artillery pieces from Germany.

Undeniably, under the halo of World War I, Germany's military strength was formidable, a fact that was almost universally acknowledged, making German arms extremely popular in the global arms market.

The leaders of the Nanjing government also highly admired the German military system, such as the staff system and the discipline of the Prussian army, and believed that the German model was more suitable for the Far Eastern Empire. However, for the Far Eastern Empire, German weaponry was not without its advantages, especially its exorbitant price.

Unlike its previous life where Germany was a defeated nation, Germany's defense industry in this timeline is more arrogant. Therefore, even on the international market, German weapons are by no means cheap. In the same period of its previous life, Germany's weapon exports to the Far Eastern Empire were even about 30% lower than those to the United States.

The reason is simple: in the previous life, Germany's military power was restricted, so its military factories naturally paid more attention to overseas markets. At the same time, as a defeated country, Germany lacked confidence in its attitude. Furthermore, Germany's economic crisis in the previous life was more severe than in this timeline, so it needed to export to earn foreign exchange even more, and was even willing to accept barter.

Therefore, in this timeline, the scale of military cooperation between Germany and the Far Eastern Empire has shrunk considerably.

While East African weapons, also "German-made," are cheaper, their availability is limited, and in the last decade or so, East Africa has had almost no large-scale military contracts with Far Eastern empires.

Britain and the United States, which have close ties with the Nanjing government, also adopted similar practices to those in East Africa for political reasons.

Of course, they are fundamentally different from East Africa. The East African government was influenced by Ernst and was unwilling to interfere in the internal affairs of the Far Eastern Empire. Even now, the Far Eastern Empire is only nominally unified.

Britain and the United States also took Japan into consideration. Britain itself was a partner of Japan, and the two countries maintained a tacit understanding in the Far Eastern Empire. Therefore, Britain could not support the development of the Far Eastern Empire's military industry, and would not even export highly lethal heavy weapons to the Far Eastern Empire.

The United States has similar ideas, but this is also related to the current US foreign policy, namely the prevalence of "isolationism," and arms deals with Far Eastern empires are obviously not in line with the spirit of isolationism.

In short, the Nanjing government not only neglected the defense industry, but also had very few international allies. Currently, its main imports of heavy weapons come primarily from Germany and Austria-Hungary.

At this moment, East African Consul Cruz was sizing up the rather "shabby" Far Eastern Empire's army.

He said to Commander Cai beside him, "It's hard to imagine that your unit is stationed in the largest city in the Far East."

At that time, Shanghai was the largest city in the entire Far East, with a very prosperous economy. At least on the surface, it was probably only comparable to Tokyo, Japan.

At the same time, Shanghai was not only the leading economic city of the Far Eastern Empire, but also an important gateway, especially as it guarded the mouth of the Yangtze River. If this place were occupied, the enemy could sail up the Yangtze River and bring their warships into its heartland.

Of course, at this time, Shanghai was not much different from a colony. For example, the East African Consulate was located next to the French Concession in Shanghai, and British, American, German, French and Japanese warships were patrolling the Yangtze River.

From Shanghai, the port city, to Nanjing, the seat of the Nanjing government, and finally to Hankou, there were foreign concessions and more than a dozen treaty ports, all the way to the mountain city upstream.

Britain had a dedicated Yangtze River Fleet, permanently stationed in Shanghai and Hankou. Japan's Third Fleet was stationed in Shanghai, followed by the United States' Yangtze River Patrol.

Therefore, rivers like the Yangtze in this era were not under the control of the Far Eastern Empire at all, and were humiliatingly made into "international rivers".

In other major world powers, such a situation would be absolutely unacceptable, such as the Zambezi River in East Africa, the Mississippi River in the United States, the Thames River in the United Kingdom, and the Seine River in France...

The Rhine and Danube are the truly international rivers, since they belong to different countries.

Commander Cai dared not neglect Cruz, but he was also puzzled by his words. He asked, "I don't know which aspect your consul is referring to?"

Consul Cruz bluntly stated, "I mean, the equipment and treatment of the 19th Army seem somewhat out of place in the city of Shanghai."

"Shanghai's prosperity and dazzling lights are among the best in the world, but your army stationed in such an important economic and military location is really quite shabby."

Hearing such blunt words, Commander Cai looked somewhat embarrassed. He wanted to explain, but didn't know how to begin.

"Commander Cai, please forgive my harsh words, but Shanghai is the most economically developed and concentrated region in your country, and it is also the gateway to the Nanjing government. It is only about 300 kilometers away. With the help of the Yangtze River waterway, if Shanghai falls into enemy hands, it can directly threaten the safety of your country's capital, Nanjing."

"Therefore, I believe that your country should deploy a large number of troops in Shanghai, or strengthen the weapons and equipment of your local garrison."

"However, based on my experience traveling here, I can only say that the condition of your military camp is truly appalling."

It's no wonder Cruz said that. The Far Eastern Empire's army was already of poor quality at that time, not to mention that the 19th Army was only considered a second-rate army in the Far Eastern Empire.

The 19th Army was not a direct descendant of the Nanjing government, nor was it a central army. It originally belonged to the local Guangdong army and later submitted to the Nanjing government, but was always regarded as a "miscellaneous army" by the Nanjing government.

In terms of equipment, weapons, supplies, and treatment, they were inferior to the central army, only slightly better than the local warlord forces. However, the tasks they undertook and the degree of freedom they enjoyed were far less than those of the warlord forces, and they were frequently dispatched by the Nanjing government to dangerous or harsh areas to carry out missions.

Just like their current base—Shanghai, which was the most economically developed city in the Far East at the time, it was undoubtedly a tempting target in the eyes of many people, with rich local profits.

There's something fishy going on about why the top officials of the Nanjing government were willing to let the 19th Army garrison this place.

At this time, the Nanjing government was well aware that Shanghai was not safe, and they were not entirely unaware of some of the actions taken by the Japanese government.

On the contrary, it was precisely because the high-ranking officials of the Nanjing government were aware that Japan had designs on Shanghai that they transferred the 19th Army, a "miscellaneous" force, to this economically and militarily important city at the end of 1931.

This also illustrates to some extent that when faced with Japan's wolfish ambitions, the top leaders of the Nanjing government not only lacked the determination to defend the country, but also wanted to shift the blame.

If Japan were to actually attack Shanghai and succeed, then Commander Cai and the 19th Route Army would be the "criminals" and the "scapegoats."

Otherwise, the troops stationed in Shanghai should be the elite of the Central Army, not this malnourished, poorly equipped, and poorly equipped ragtag force.

Cruz continued, "Shanghai, as an economic hub and gateway, is much like Dar es Salaam in East Africa back then, while Nanjing is like our former East African capital, the First Town."

"Back when the First Town was still the capital, not to mention Dar es Salaam, we deployed heavy troops in Bagamoyo and Zanzibar, and we did not hesitate to invest heavily in military resources. We built a coastal defense fire network, organized a fleet, and had countless weapons such as machine guns and artillery. We also had ample logistical support."

"This is still the military investment during the majority of the time East Africa is at peace. The only time that the British and Portuguese forces threatened the waters near East Africa was during the South African war in the last century."

"On the other hand, your country's naval strength is very weak, and the Yangtze River, an inland waterway, is not under your control. Under such circumstances, to put it bluntly, our East African Fleet can easily sail into the Yangtze River and threaten the safety of the Yangtze River and your country's capital, Nanjing."

"Therefore, at present, your country has no sea power or inland water rights, and the investment in the navy is huge. We can understand your country's economic difficulties."

"However, your country's investment in the army is really unreasonable. As the saying goes, you should play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses. Since you are unable to support the development of the navy, you should pay more attention to the investment in the army. Even if you equip your country with more artillery, it will strengthen your national security."

"Especially now that your country and Japan are at war, your government's actions are even more despicable. If it were me, not to mention the front lines, I would at least order the Japanese troops in Shanghai to be wiped out without hesitation."

In fact, the Far Eastern Empire and Japan were already at war in 1931. However, to the astonishment of the world, the Nanjing government actually issued an order to the Northeast Army not to resist, handing over this important agricultural and industrial base to the enemy.

It should be noted that in 1931, the Far Eastern Empire suffered severe flooding in the south, resulting in a large-scale reduction in grain production. At that time, the Nanjing government even requested the Northeast region to allocate grain for disaster relief. Now, the Northeast is being given away by the Nanjing government for free.

Furthermore, the Northeast region's industry, in this era, could be said to be the most developed area of ​​the Far Eastern Empire in terms of heavy industry and military industry, which also benefited the enemy.

Faced with Cruise's criticism and humiliation of the Nanjing government, Commander Cai clenched his fist. Of course, he wasn't targeting Cruise, but rather the incompetent Nanjing government.

He said with a bitter expression, "Consul, although you don't have any nice words, you are right. Some high-ranking officials in the government are indeed short-sighted."

"Unfortunately, soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders. I am but a nobody and cannot influence the country's decisions. Otherwise, we might have already wiped out the enemy in Shanghai."

Cruise patted him on the shoulder and said, "I understand your predicament, but I must say, this situation is hard to bear."

"After all, a soldier's mission should include another: the responsibility to defend the territory. Your government's actions are too abstract, and I imagine you're quite angry about it."

"Unfortunately, I am just a foreigner and cannot interfere in your country's internal affairs. However, East Africa can still offer some assistance to your army in its current predicament."

"This time, we in East Africa have decommissioned a batch of 75mm infantry guns from our warehouse. Generally speaking, these cannons from the last century should be scrapped and melted down for remanufacturing. However, our government has decided to send these cannons, along with some ammunition, to the 19th Army."

The 75mm infantry gun was mass-produced in East Africa in the last century and played a significant role in the South African war. However, East Africa no longer needs many of them, so a small portion of the stockpile, totaling more than thirty guns, was transported to Shanghai.

More than thirty 75mm infantry guns would be nothing more than scrap metal to East Africa, but they were a completely different story to the 19th Army.

At that time, the 19th Army had fewer than 80 artillery pieces.

The 19th Army was equipped with three main types of artillery: approximately thirty 75mm mountain guns (copied from German models), around forty 85mm mortars, and fewer than ten field guns.

In other words, this batch of 75mm infantry guns sent from East Africa to aid the 19th Army was almost equivalent to half of the original artillery firepower of the 19th Army.

In addition, among the "scrap metal" donated by East Africa were a considerable amount of Maxim machinery and ammunition, which greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the 19th Army.

Commander Cai had reservations about the generosity of the East Africans. He said, "What your country is doing might not be in accordance with the rules. I'm worried about Nanjing..."

Cruz reassured him, saying, "Commander Cai, there's no need to worry. It's just a dozen or so artillery pieces. I don't think your government will care. Anyway, we in East Africa don't need you to pay any price."

"As for the issues you are concerned about regarding Nanjing, we in East Africa will step in to resolve them. You can respond with our stance. Of course, if they do not find any problems, they do not have to do this."

The 19th Army had more than 30,000 men. The sudden addition of 30 artillery pieces was unlikely to attract the attention of anyone with ulterior motives. It all depended on what Commander Cai did.

East Africa naturally didn't want to get into trouble either. Although East Africa itself wasn't afraid of trouble, to be honest, East Africa's targeted military aid this time was itself a sign of distrust of the Nanjing government. If the thirty cannons were handed over to the Nanjing government, they would definitely not be used by the 19th Army.

According to information from East African intelligence, Japan is highly likely to launch a war against Shanghai. Therefore, the East African side hopes that the 19th Army stationed there will cause some trouble for Japan.

Therefore, Kruser specifically reminded him: "Commander Cai, if you believe some of the intelligence we have obtained in East Africa, then we hope you remember that Japan is very likely to attack this city soon. At that time, this batch of military aid may play a certain role."

(End of this chapter)