June 1875.

Central Province of the Kingdom of East Africa, Mikumi region.

Mikumi is a transitional area of the plateau plain of the Central Province, where mountains, hills, plains and terrain meet, and forests and steppes meet.

Just after the rainy season, the soil is still wet, and a hazy mist fills the mountains and forests, and the Central Railway passes through this place, slowly disappearing from the coastal plains into the East African plateau like a long steel dragon.

There are East African villages and fertile fields on either side of the railway, but this year the villagers watched a good show, the Royal Army held a huge military exercise in Mikumi, and from five o'clock in the morning, the rumbling of artillery and gunfire broke the calm of the area, and the smoke of gunpowder could even be seen rising from the crops of the plains.

With the help of the railway, the East African Guards Division quickly projected troops into the Mikumi area, where a major battle was fought in the southern military district, where the Boers had fought in the south.

"The third battle squad of the Blue Army, the enemy enters the jungle, don't act rashly, enter in the form of a squad, keep a combat distance, and don't be broken by each one!"

"25 degrees to the left, there is an abnormal movement in the bushes, which may be a potential enemy."

"Grenade ready!"

As a smoke grenade ignited, the Blues' third combat squad was entangled in the fog.

The referee who followed the 3rd Combat Squad decided: "Hit by the Red Army's attack, the explosion point was in the center of the center, and the casualties were determined to be 40% lost." ”

"It's not fair, how can grenades be so powerful in actual combat? Shady! ”

"The command of this exercise stipulates that the damage range of small explosive ordnance will be expanded by two meters, not only for you, but for all participating troops, so the punishment is valid!"

"That's not right, since it's a casualty, it can't all be killed! If you are injured, you can fight, in the western rainforest, our grenades did this to the natives, even if they explode at close range, the survival rate of the natives is still very high, and they still have the ability to fight. ”

"Hehe, this exercise is formulated according to the most cruel standards, saying that your casualties are waiting for death, regardless of the state of injury, and if you are injured in a bad environment, it is basically equivalent to being helpless, and the enemy will not give you a chance, so any decision must be made carefully, and any tiny detail may become the key to victory or defeat in the war."

The Blue Army soldier was still a little unconvinced and said: "Then since we are dead, are we lying here now?" ”

"Yes, now hand over the life mark to me, you can wait for the end of the exercise, and the remaining survivors will continue to participate in the battle."

After the referee and the others left, the Blue Army sacrifice soldier said a little unconvinced: "The exposure of the position just now was a complete accident, originally we usually hid it well, but now we have added a referee with the army, who is tied up, and can't let go at all." ”

"Hemp, maybe it was the stuffing that the referee exposed, is it a spy sent by the Red Army?"

"Impossible, the referee of this exercise is from other military regions, and there can be no cover-up, just take us as an example, which of you will be convinced by the so-called Guards Division? So the drill referee may instead lean towards us. ”

"Let's not talk about the referee, we do have a lot of problems in this tactical exercise, bastard, I'm angry when I talk about this, there must be a big problem with so many people hiding in such a small bush, I'm the first to hide here, won't you go to hide elsewhere?"

"Isn't this just the right place? So everyone has a tacit understanding to choose this point, and other places are empty! ”

"So we didn't lose unjustly, and we must retreat separately next time......"

When the Blue soldiers summed up their experience, the captain of the Red Army soldiers was also dissatisfied: "Look what you guys look like!" Fortunately, I discovered the enemy's abnormal movement just now, otherwise I would have waited to be shot by someone else? The next time you enter the jungle, you must line up, if you encounter a well-trained army, we will definitely suffer! ”

……

The soldiers had different views on the exercise, and there was already a lot of noise in the exercise headquarters.

"Leonard, are you embarrassed? What equipment do you have, what equipment do we have, if you want me to say that in this exercise, compared with your guards division, our troops are like being raised by a stepmother. ”

"Coriolis, don't you spew blood, although the Guards Division is indeed a bit excessive in terms of weapons, but being able to gain an advantage is also the result of our efforts, besides, our Guards Division is not limited by a small amount, all kinds of high-quality terrain have been judged to you from the beginning, you are still the defender, so the gap between the two sides is not big."

"Not big? Your 12-pounder guns are too shameless! Originally, it was a 6-pounder gun, a 12-pounder gun, a 24-pounder gun, our 3-pounder gun or a 3-pounder gun, and a machine gun, which was more than ten times ours, I don't care about these, we are lower than you in the number of bullets and other basic parameters set, how to fight this kind of battle! ”

"Hehe, there is no way, this time our Red Army is simulating a European army power, the gap between the East African army and the European army in terms of equipment is so big, besides, a lot of our heavy equipment can not be effective, the road conditions here are so poor, heavy artillery is not as flexible as light artillery."

The commander-in-chief of the exercise headquarters, Siute, said: "Okay, don't make any noise, this exercise is a rehearsal, that is, what mistakes will occur in confronting the European powers at the level of our East Africa, so the gap in equipment is so outrageous, our army must demand itself with the highest standards, and can give full play to its strength even in a desperate situation." ”

"General Staff, I know this, but I really can't figure out which country in Europe has the ability to invest such a large army in East Africa, and it is equipped with so many weapons, I'm afraid the British can't do it, right?"

"Maybe this is very difficult for the great powers, but the strength of the great powers is undoubted, especially those European naval and army powers, if we really deal with East Africa with all our strength, then we will definitely be very uncomfortable."

"That's right, we can't take the enemy lightly, especially the great powers, needless to say the strength of the country, some of the great powers take out one-third of their strength is enough for us to have a headache, maybe a million troops can't do it, and hundreds of thousands of troops still have the ability to send them to Africa." Ernst walked into the command and said.

"Your Highness!" Several men gave Ernst a military salute.

Ernst waved his hand and said, "Alright, sit down!" I have taken the time to inspect the exercise area this time, and you continue to work, how is the current situation of the exercise? ”

"Report to Your Highness, the exercise is not over yet, but judging from the situation of the exercise, the Red Army has a greater advantage, and the Blue Army is still a little difficult to deal with the Red Army's attack. ”

"Well, after the exercise, the Red Army should sum up more experience, the Red Army can better represent the real level of our East African army, after all, the Guards Division is a bit special, so the problems faced by the Red Army are also problems that we may encounter in East Africa, we are in Africa, we belong to the defensive side, so we must be fully prepared."

"Your Highness, is it really possible for Europe to invade Africa!"

"I can give you an accurate answer, yes, now all countries are ready to move, in the Far East, a number of major powers have launched aggression in the East, South America is also in constant conflict, and this economic crisis has a far-reaching impact, and the previous British economic crisis is different, almost all European industrial countries have been impacted, they are bound to launch more fierce disputes than before in order to transfer the crisis, this time not a place and a country, but the whole world."

"The size of our East Africa is also inevitable?"

"Can't avoid it! It is only a matter of time before Africa is targeted, and Italy and Belgium, and France have already launched operations, and if other countries also enter the market, it is absolutely impossible for us in East Africa to be left alone, so in order to prevent the fate of other backward countries from falling on our heads, we must be more ferocious and stronger than the enemy, and only the strong can be respected, so the purpose of the military exercise is to adapt our military to the pressure of potential enemies in East Africa under this great crisis. ”

(End of chapter)