Chapter 1183: Chapter 192: Austria-Hungary Battlefield
The last point Cabriel mentioned was somewhat beyond Kuymann’s expectations. After all, viewed from before the war, East Africa’s artillery was not considered backward, and the numbers were sufficient; at least compared with the prewar period, East African artillery was in no way inferior to that of any Great Power in Europe and America.
But after a moment’s thought, he felt it made some sense. Kuymann said, "Now that the military and heavy industries of the European countries have gone into full gear, artillery warfare has indeed developed rapidly."
Cabriel picked up the thread: "Exactly. Before the war, the commonly issued guns in all countries were already unable to meet battlefield needs. More and more large-caliber guns over 200 millimeters have begun appearing on the battlefield; even railway guns over three or four hundred millimeters have joined the fight. The role of artillery in war is very obvious."
Railway guns can also be called rail guns. As early as the end of 1914, the French Army had hastily designed the first batch of railway guns, made up of obsolete coastal defense guns and naval guns mounted on existing commercial railway freight cars. Their ally the United Kingdom quickly followed suit, while the German Army more often chose to convert existing long-range guns that had been installed on fixed emplacements into railway guns that could fire directly from the tracks.
"So the role of heavy artillery cannot be ignored. Of course, we in East Africa certainly do not have the conditions to emulate the European countries, but we should still make some preparations," said Cabriel.
The East African Army’s budget is ultimately limited, and with heavy investment in new arms such as armored units and air units, there is naturally not enough strength left for developing traditional army weapons.
But Cabriel also knew that you can’t have everything; the development of the military inevitably requires trade-offs. For example, a war on the scale of Europe’s is something East Africa basically has little chance of encountering.
After all, there is no powerful force around East Africa to engage the East African Defense Army in firepower duels. Europe is fighting in a frenzy now and thus has no choice but to go down this path.
Kuymann said, "That’s right. Just taking the use of railway guns on the European battlefield as an example, it may not suit our national conditions. After all, the railway density in Germany and France is far greater than in our country. They can use the railway system to transport large-caliber guns to the front. For us to reach that point would require much higher costs."
"At the same time, our country is located in Africa, with no powerful states nearby deserving such treatment from our army. Our main threat in fact comes from the sea, so the status we assign to the army is clearly not as high as in Germany."
"On the contrary, there is great potential in highway transport. Automobiles and tractors can both serve as excellent carriers for hauling artillery, and this has also become a major highlight on the European battlefield today."
After the outbreak of war, East African tractors also became hot commodities among the European countries. This was also the first time East Africa exported tractors to Europe on a large scale.
They were generally used mainly for hauling artillery. Before the war, the guns of the European countries depended primarily on manpower and horse-drawn transport. But after hostilities began, even qualified draft animals fell into short supply, so the various armies had no choice but to purchase horses, tractors, and other strategic materials from East Africa and the United States.
Yet American tractors were far inferior to East African ones in performance, so whether Allies or Allies, they all gave priority to East African tractors as their primary procurement target.
You could say that the European battlefield even became a "battleground" for many East African domestic enterprises. You supply France, I sell to Germany; you occupy the Russian market, I choose Austria-Hungary...
In addition to East African state-owned enterprises, many private firms also made a killing on the European battlefield. Although the East African economy was still dominated by state-owned enterprises, the supply chain was likewise open to the market, and many East African private companies began selling assorted "mixed-brand" products pieced together and shipped to Europe.
This was something that could not be helped. East Africa had only opened its markets for a few years, and most of the most basic industrial chains in the country were still controlled by state-owned enterprises, while many private firms had yet to develop.
However, with this major opportunity of the Great War, East Africa’s private economy could also complete an initial stage of primitive accumulation. Once the war ends, the East African economy as a whole will rise to a new level.
Of course, people like Kuymann in the Defense Army did not know much about this. After a few more words with Cabriel, Kuymann began questioning the others, and the final outcome left him very satisfied.
He said to everyone, "The battlefield is the best teacher; it is particularly good at breaking our fixed preconceptions. After all, in order to win, both sides will stop at nothing, and any changes in technology or other factors may have a major impact on the battlefield."
"So this time you must carefully study and summarize the various experiences and data of the two great military blocs. Before returning home, record all your insights about the war one by one. This is the spark—the future spark of the Defense Army, illuminating the road of the past, the present, and the future."
Just as Kuymann finished speaking, another shell landed once again not far from them, stirring up another cloud of smoke and dust in the bunker. But this time no one panicked; instead, they replayed in their minds the contents of their discussion just now.
...
The Western Front was ablaze with fierce fighting, but the Eastern Front did not have such a grand spectacle. For Germany, the Eastern Front was a secondary theater, and the industrial capacities of Austria-Hungary and Russia were also relatively limited.
So on the Eastern Front, things actually seemed rather subdued, especially on the front between Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia. Apart from having more men, it did not feel much more advanced than the South African War over twenty years ago.
East African military observers even believed that in this war, the performance of Russia and Austria-Hungary was not as good as that of the United Kingdom and Portugal in the South African War back then. Although the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance ultimately lost by a narrow margin, the wartime morale they displayed was in no way inferior to that of East Africa.
After all, in East African propaganda the South African War was portrayed as a great "war to defend the homeland." But in the eyes of the United Kingdom and Portugal, it was nothing of the sort. The result of the war was that Portugal lost Angola and Mozambique, while the United Kingdom lost everything north of the Orange River.
This was not slander against East Africa. Although the South African War was indeed instigated by those two countries, East Africa had made ample preparations beforehand—for example, stationing troops on the borders of Portuguese colonies and the Boer Republic, constantly projecting an air of intent to swallow all of southern Africa. No country would sit idly by.
It could even be said that the war launched by the United Kingdom and Portugal played right into the hands of the East African Government of the time, allowing it to incorporate places like Angola ahead of schedule. Given East Africa’s national strength back then, unless the United Kingdom had adopted the same attitude it now shows toward Germany, in the end the script could only unfold according to the East African Government’s plan.
Both sides regarded the other as an "aggressor," so their will to fight was naturally very high. In fact, if the British Government had not called a halt in the end, the British Army would have been in no position to negotiate peace with East Africa.
In contrast, on today’s Eastern Front the war-weariness of Austrian and Russian soldiers has already begun to appear. Once the front stabilized, they even brazenly started coasting and slacking off.
Of course, this also had a great deal to do with the two countries’ industry and logistics. Although their governments kept pressing them, they still had to ensure basic supply of materials! Especially for the Russian troops at the front, even basic guns and ammunition could not be guaranteed—how were they supposed to smash themselves against Austria-Hungary’s hail of bullets?
Moreover, because the German Army in the north has been performing too brilliantly, in order to stabilize the front line the Russian military has had no choice but to give priority in supplies to the northern theater. The southern Russian forces, including some of their commanders, felt psychologically unbalanced and had neither the capability nor the motivation to advance.
Austria-Hungary, for its part, had taken a serious beating even before the war really got underway. Although the overall situation has now stabilized, it still needs time to integrate its war resources, especially for mobilizing the army. So after pushing the Russians back to the border once more, it did not undertake any further major offensives.
Part of this was due to the influence of the Serbians. Although Potiorek had already been removed from his post for wartime blunders, the negative impact he had caused was still lingering. Austria-Hungary has had to allocate more troops and supplies to the Serbian front, while the determination of the Serbians to resist has clearly exceeded Austria-Hungary’s expectations.
Coupled with the complex terrain of the Balkans, large numbers of Austrian troops have been advancing slowly on the Serbian front. Compared with the previous timeline, however, Austria-Hungary’s situation is still noticeably better.
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