June 14, 1869.

Prince Constantine presided over the first military conference of the East African colonies.

The officers and staff officers led by Yarman and Sirt sat on either side of the conference table, and due to Yarman's age, his physical energy was getting worse and worse.

Although Yarman was only in his fifties, he had suffered a lot on the European battlefield in the past, and Konstantin had also served in the Prussian army, but the treatment of the two was very different, one was on the front line and the other was in the rear, so Yarman, who was in his fifties, was a little older than Konstantin, who was nearly seventy years old.

However, the more Yarman did this, the more Ernst attached importance to Yarman, and the more comfortable he was about to hand over the East African army to him.

The worse his health, the less ambitious he became, and Yarman himself did not know how many years he had to live, and his seniority and official position in the East African army were good.

Therefore, the previous expansion plan for the Yeke Kingdom was carried out by Situ, and this time the work report of the military was also completed by the young and strong Situ.

"As of March of this year, there were 98,000 standing troops in the East African royal territory, and in addition to field troops, there were garrisons in various cities, as well as river and lake troops, which were temporarily divided into eight military regions according to their orientation and location.

Among them, the three military regions in the east have a total of 23,000 people, and the five ports and two islands along the coast are the focus of defense, and at the same time, they include coastal defense troops and are equipped with various artillery, so their strength is the strongest in East Africa.

The Eastern Military Region includes four important cities: Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, Tanga, and First Town, especially First Town, which is the current political center of East Africa, so the headquarters of the Military Region is also set up in First Town.

The Northeast Military Region is mainly responsible for military security in the area where Mombasa and the northern Somalia border, and the focus of defense is mainly Mombasa.

The South-Eastern Military Region and the Southern Military Region correspond to the two administrative regions of the Lower Coastal District and the Lake East Malawi District, mainly to prevent the Portuguese from moving northward.

However, the two colonies were bounded by the Rufuma River, and the defense pressure was not great, and the main area to guard against was the plain area on the east bank of Lake Malawi, where there were flat rivers, so we built a lot of pillboxes along the border, and placed 5,000 men there.

The Northern Military District, currently garrisoned with a total of 10,000 troops, has no need for expansion except for the Omo River Valley, and is currently on the defensive as a whole.

The Western and North-Western Military Regions have Lake Tanganyika and the Mitumba Mountains as natural barriers, and there are no strong enemies in the west, so there are more than 5,000 people in total.

Now the military region with the largest number of people is the Southwest Military Region, the southwest is now the main direction of expansion, recently we have basically mastered the Yeke Kingdom, and the expansion in the southwest direction will definitely continue in the next few years, so more than 25,000 people are arranged.

In addition to these, all that remained were the city garrisons of East Africa, and the river and lake troops...... "Witt gave Konstantin a detailed description of the number and distribution of the East African non-reserve forces.

As of April this year, the population of East Africa has officially exceeded 2 million, and the population of East Africa as a whole is about 3.5 million.

The East African non-reserve army is basically fed by these more than 3.5 million people, and there is also a large militia force.

However, the East African government has not counted the specific number of militias, because the fluctuation is too large, but according to the storage of guns and ammunition in East Africa, the East African government can pull up a militia force of 300,000 people at any time.

"Well, the East African army is still quite considerable in terms of numbers, but for political reasons, as well as the complex situation in Africa, the army in East Africa is relatively chaotic.

For example, there are eight military districts, in my opinion, too many, but bloated, and the jurisdiction is not very reasonable, you are all the elite of the East African army, how do you think about this problem. Konstantin asked.

"Report to His Majesty the Prince, I think that the military districts of East Africa should be reclassified according to their functions and importance.

For example, the northern part of the Northeast Military Region should be included in the Northern Military Region, and Mombasa and the southern part should be included in the Eastern Theater.

The south was facing the Portuguese, and it should be organized into a military region to facilitate the management and movement of troops.

There is also the Western Military District, which now the troops do not know what to do, since crossing Lake Tanganyika and the Mitumba Mountains, to the west is all rainforest, almost uninhabited. Sith was the first to speak.

At this time, Yarman also proposed: "Your Majesty, it seems to me that the military power of the Central Region should also be strengthened.

The first town is still too close to the coast, only a day or two away from the seaports of Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam, which is dangerous for the security of East Africa.

Therefore, we should focus on the important position and location of the first town, and strengthen the military defense of the first town.

Although we have a relatively mature defense system in Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam, we are not afraid of 10,000, but we should build a new fortification in the first town, and at the same time strengthen the military force of the first town, and build a central security force. ”

"Excellent! Anyone else can make any suggestions. Prince Konstantin said.

Felix, who was promoted to deputy military chief of East Africa, said: "Your Majesty, East Africa should also reform the army, divide and clarify the functions and powers of various departments, and introduce the relevant regulations of the Prussian army, as well as the ranks and numbers of the army.

We all know that Prussia has achieved great achievements in the army through reforms over the years, and has the prestige of a strong army in Europe, and most of us are from Germany, so we should learn from the Prussian army......"

Everybody summed up and summed up the various ills of the East African army, and at the same time called for strengthening the management of the army and bringing the scattered military power to the center.

Ernst not only mixed sand into the army, but also the rest of the government, and now Prince Constantine sorted out the affairs of East Africa and strengthened the central power is the general trend.

The Heixingen royal family is sparsely populated by Prince Constantine and Ernst, and there is no need to worry about any court drama for power.

……

"Your Excellency, this is the first telephone line in East Africa, from Europe to East Africa, with a telephone, you will be able to speak directly to His Royal Highness Ernst in the future." Technicians from Europe told Konstantin.

The "three-line" plan was not only the construction of a telegraph line, but also the invention of the telephone of the Berlin Electric Power Company.

At the same time, the original telegraph line was renovated and upgraded, and when Prince Konstantin arrived in the first town, it was just completed, and Konstantin could discuss anything directly with Ernst in the future.

"Connect me to Hohenzollernberg." Konstantin said.

Soon.

"This is Hohenzollernberg, who are you looking for?" Tom answered the phone.

"Tom! I'm Konstantin, isn't that kid Ernst there? ”

"Master, the prince is in Trieste now, you wait a minute, I'll have someone transfer the call!"

After a while.

"Hey, father, I'm Ernst. How have you been in Africa lately? ”

"It's not bad here, I'm used to it, why are you in Trieste?"

"I'm inspecting the construction of a food factory here."

"Well, I know, by the way, I have already held a military conference in East Africa today, and I want to discuss with you about reforming the army......"

"That's it! What they say does have a point, but you can't put all your eggs in one basket, and I don't think we can ignore Austria except for Prussia, which has always been a military power and has a lot of experience that is valuable......"

"By the way, I sent you a telegram yesterday about your father-in-law's naval proposal, what do you think?"

"You already know that there is a river and lake force in East Africa! This is the initial prototype of the East African Navy, but it is not a navy in the true sense of the word, and my opinion is that the navy can be carried out, but we should experiment first, and we should not be ruthless when we come up, and first select a group of good water quality from the river and lake troops to form a team......

In terms of equipment, I am short of money in Europe right now, but next year I can get a few small boats to try, and the old ships left by Zanzibar will be used for troop training! ……”

(End of chapter)