In March, Ernst inspected the troops of the Guards Division, the main task of which was responsible for the defense of the Central Province and the First Town, and was also the most inspected East African army.

This time to the Guards Division, you can see that the most intuitive change in the division is that it is equipped with helmets, which is the first time in the East African army.

Therefore, the commander of the 101st Guards Division, Ledlistter, introduced the origin and characteristics of this military helmet to Ernst.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, this helmet, also known as the Type 1885, is designed to deal with the potential danger caused by stray bullets and shrapnel in positional warfare to military personnel in the battlefield environment.

The visor adopts the traditional German scheme, so that the whole helmet body looks similar to the traditional military helmet in the German region, the spiked helmet, and the overall appearance has some similarities. ”

Ernst naturally knew what a nail helmet was, and it was a feature of the armies of the entire German region, and a German Imperial proclamation of 1871 made it mandatory for all German troops, including police and firefighters.

The main feature of the nail helmet is the conspicuous "nail" on it, and the main saying about the spire on the nail helmet is that the ancient Teutonic Knights and other European armies used to wear ornaments to hang to distinguish the troops.

It is also said that cavalry units can be used as a stand for wearing feathers and horsehair, and secondly, adding a spire can effectively offset the stabbing aimed at the head, because in cavalry warfare at that time, swords were a regular tactic.

German military and political figures such as Wilhelm II, Otto von Bismarck and Paul von Hindenburg liked to pose for photos with spiked helmets.

From Ernst's point of view, the aesthetics of the nail helmet are there, at least in the European armies, which greatly improves the "appearance" level of the German army, and looks very gorgeous and majestic.

Of course, there are also people who disagree, for example, the famous German poet Heinrich Heine thought that the nail helmet was very pompous and superficial, and wrote a satirical poem that compared the nail helmet to a lightning rod: "Yes, yes, I like this helmet, it shows the highest intelligence!" King's Inspiration! I'm only afraid that when the storm hits, the romantic crown will attract lightning! ”

Of course, Ernst did not comment on this, and such trivial issues did not need to be discussed, as a pragmatist believed that the first function of the helmet was to provide protection to the soldier on the battlefield.

It was not until after the outbreak of World War I that German front-line soldiers were horrified to find that the protection they provided was almost nil.

In brutal trench warfare, leather helmets are unable to withstand shell fragments and shrapnel, and to make matters worse, the glittering spikes make an ideal target for snipers.

So in order to cope with this, by September 1915, the German military had to finally issue an order: the new helmet no longer had nails!

Then, from 1916, the German army officially replaced the nail helmet with a new German steel helmet, the new steel helmet does not look imposing, but can provide better head protection from shell fragments, this change has reduced the head injury mortality rate of German soldiers on the front line by 70%.

Therefore, the nail helmet is not used, which is related to his material, the early nail helmet uses leather as the main raw material, and the leather naturally can not resist stray bullet fragments, and later the nail helmet was replaced with tin alloy because of the problem of raw materials, but the hardness of tin can be imagined is also not ideal.

Sure enough, in response to this, Ledlis made a special explanation: "The biggest difference between our steel helmet and the nail helmet in Germany is that steel is used as the main raw material, and the hardness is quite high, although it is not as comfortable as the nail helmet, and the appearance is more ugly, and the practicality is stronger." ”

However, Ernst has a different view, people in this era like bells and whistles, after all, they are not as abundant as in their previous lives, and the aesthetics of this era like to be colorful, bright and bright.

For example, the "flower clothes" of the Far Eastern Empire are very old-fashioned in the 21st century, but they are ostentatious capital in the old society.

So Ernst said: "Don't be presumptuous, in the same type of military helmet, I think our 1885 Wehrmacht steel helmet is the best-looking, you don't compare it with the nail helmet, the ornamental value of the nail helmet is greater than the actual combat value, and our first goal is to achieve the actual combat value, and the war is to see the record, never an ornament." ”

Because the East African 1885 steel helmet uses the shape of the nail helmet as a reference, it is not out of shape as a whole, and the shape is basically the same as the M35 helmet equipped by the German army during World War II.

There is naturally Ernst's aesthetic influence in this, so Ledleys's complaint is a negation of Ernst's aesthetics.

Ernst, of course, would not have given him small shoes for such a trivial matter, and Ledlis's words probably represent the opinion of most East African soldiers of this era.

However, Ernst believed that over time, more and more people would accept the style of the Wehrmacht helmet, which had been tested in previous lives.

"To increase its comfort, we have used a blend of cotton and linen for the lining, which is durable and more comfortable, made from our East African homegrown materials, including sisal and cotton from cotton plantations in the South of East Africa (Matabele province)."

The advantages of sisal are that it is durable, absorbent, and soft with the woven fabric made of cotton.

However, Ledlis said that he was actually very dissatisfied with the comfort of the 1885 Wehrmacht helmet, after all, compared to the nail helmet or the military cap of the previous East African army, the steel helmet alone was uncomfortable and very breathable.

In this kind of weather in East Africa, it is actually not pleasant to wear a steel helmet, especially in the central province where the defense area is more humid and hot, and it may be more suitable if it is a highland area, where the climate is cooler.

And the fierce war experienced by the East African Defense Forces for more than ten years does not reflect the advantages of steel helmets, after all, the trench warfare like World War I The East African Army basically did not experience, and the only actual combat was the last East Portuguese War, but the firepower of the Portuguese colonial army was very weak at that time, not to mention artillery, even rifles were not worthy of all troops, and the number of machine guns was also very rare.

"The design and production of the 1885 type of national defense military helmet actually reflects the improvement of the conditions of our army, if there is no explosion of steel production capacity in East Africa, our army will not be equipped with this helmet that uses steel as the main raw material, in fact, including East African cotton, the same is true for the increase in sisal production." Ledlis said.

Cotton is good to say, and the supply of sisal to the army is indeed the result of the continuous expansion of sisal production and cultivation in East Africa over the years.

Because East African sisal is an important export product, or used in more high-end products such as East African currency, commodities, special ropes, etc., even now it is a high-quality cash crop that is not in demand.

The explosion of steel production capacity is the main reason why the East African army is equipped with steel helmets, if it is placed ten years ago, East Africa has no basis for equipping steel helmets, and it also includes the improvement of scientific and technological means such as steel smelting technology and forging technology in East Africa.

However, the current 1885 type national defense military steel helmet also has many shortcomings, and the reason is that the technology is not up to par, so the yield rate is not high, and the output is relatively limited, and it is currently only equipped in the Guards Division.

(End of chapter)