African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 453: Chapter 131: So Beautiful, Vienna!

The overall effect of this military parade was still somewhat positive. Ernst underestimated the conservatism of people in the current era. In the eyes of the older generation, the East African army uniforms were too much of a break from tradition.

In fact, the military uniforms of this era are not unattractive, and can even be quite splendid. However, this kind of splendor typically only stands out for officers. The quality of uniforms for ordinary soldiers is somewhat uneven. The East African army, overall, is fairly unified, and there isn’t a significant breakthrough in appearance. In fact, because they removed the distinct tall hats unique to European military uniforms, they seem somewhat less imposing.

In other words, European uniforms still retain features of the cold weapon era, while the East African army is transitioning toward something more akin to the World War II era, focusing more on practicality. If compared individually, East Africa might be a bit lacking in artistic flair, but this set of East African ceremonial uniforms is very suitable for presenting a team image, primarily exuding a solemn and austere sense of oppression.

After a moment of silence, intense applause erupted from both sides of the streets in Vienna. The East African army is not the Austrian military and naturally didn’t receive cheers, but the strict discipline demonstrated by the East African army won the praise of many Viennese citizens.

”The Kingdom of East Africa has such a warlike gene flowing in its bones, much like Prussia. This must be a tradition of the Hohenzollern family!” one citizen commented.

To say East Africa is as warlike as Prussia is not valid because the East African army includes yellow faces, which means they’re not even German. Thus, we must also consider the influence of the Heixinggen royal family. Since the Heixinggen royal family also bears the name Hohenzollern, the East African army must also be influenced by the Hohenzollerns.

”Uh, how do you know the Kingdom of East Africa is warlike? Just based on a performance parade!”

”You can easily surmise that from some details. Look at the look in the eyes of the East African soldiers—a look I’ve seen before, and only soldiers who’ve seen blood can naturally exude that. You don’t need to refute me; I once served in the kingdom’s army and was fortunate enough to experience several wars, so I have a keen sense for soldiers.”

As the elite of the kingdom, soldiers of the East African Guard Division are selected from various units, so it’s not surprising they’ve experienced warfare. Although the indigenous people lack an advantage in weaponry, they also allow the East African army to broaden its horizons.

”Secondly, look at their rifles; it’s very obvious they aren’t new. Although well-maintained and even refurbished, you can tell they’ve been through multiple wars.”

This is quite normal, as the East African Dreyse Rifle production line has been dismantled and sent to the Far East, leaving only a few to keep running. Therefore, the soldiers in the parade still carry old guns, and will replace them with the 1873 Mauser rifles when they return to East Africa. Additionally, due to the high-intensity training of the Guard Division, even without engaging in warfare, the guns would undergo significant wear and tear.

It should be emphasized that the East African Kingdom’s army possesses a complete and substantial military-industrial system that meets the trend of the times. Firstly, because the weaponry of the current era is not as outrageous as in the past, with lower technical difficulty and fewer types of weapons, East Africa also has the capability and technology for military manufacturing.

Secondly, although Ernst always claimed that East Africa was backward and the residents’ education level was low, in reality, the education level in East Africa can be ranked globally, with a literacy rate above 20% and a semi-literate population exceeding 40%. According to the standards of the time, the truly illiterate population in East Africa accounts for less than 140, so East Africa does not lack a reserve of basic workers, which also creates conditions for East Africa to build its own military-industrial system.

The main reason for this situation is still the benefit of compulsory education from the German regions. Approximately 45% of East African residents are genuinely from the German regions (includes all of Austria-Hungary), with the majority being Southern Germans and Austrians, and a small portion from Hungary and the Slavic ethnicities.

In 1870, the illiteracy rate in Germany was only 2%, so there were virtually no illiterates among Southern Germans who immigrated to East Africa. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had a much higher rate (still as high as 22% during WWI), but Austria’s compulsory education level was still quite high.

As for the semi-illiterate, it was the result of East Africa’s forced promotion of the German language. A unified language required teaching non-German immigrants, and teaching inevitably involved vocabulary and grammar, so many immigrants, though they may not fully write, can understand some German texts.

Of course, a high literacy rate does not equate to a high cultural level. Currently, East Africa focuses on promoting language, and lacks much in areas such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

Furthermore, learning is a matter of progress or regression; even German residents, having received full compulsory education, if they don’t go to a factory to drive screws or work on a construction site, current agricultural applications aren’t sufficient to support their knowledge digestion. Traditional experience suffices.

So many Germans, after stepping into society, might forget their elementary education within a few months. Additionally, the quality of compulsory education varies internally; the economic levels of various German regions develop differently. Some places lack excellent teachers, leading to concerns about teaching quality.

East Africa also equates various Slavic ethnic groups immigrating within the Austro-Hungarian Empire to East Africa with Germans. This leads to East Africa’s literacy rate not aligning with the German population, and being lower than the German population level.

Finally, and most importantly, East Africa truly has a vast and resource-rich territory, providing a foundational condition for the development of East African military industry.

The current core region of East Africa (the developed land), which was the former East African Federation region, covers an area of over 1.2 million square kilometers, almost the combined area of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

In terms of resources, the iron ore and coal resources in Germany and Austria are highly abundant, forming a basis for these countries to become world powers, as steel and energy are symbols of national strength.

The combined coal reserves of Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Botswana in East Africa can surpass those of both countries, and the reserves of other regions can only be compared to Austria-Hungary. However, being comparable to Austria-Hungary means East Africa has already won.

This means that by relying solely on the resources of East Africa’s eastern region, East Africa can reach the industrial level of Austria-Hungary. Therefore, East Africa spares no effort in the development of resources needed for military industry.

In the future, for even more intense competition, leaning on South Africa, one of the five major mining countries in the world, will suffice.

For East Africa to control and develop the coal and iron resources in the south, the completion of the Central Railway is required. After the Central Railway is completed, the Kingdom of East Africa’s strength will rise to a new level.

There wasn’t much of interest after the parade, at least Ernst wasn’t particularly interested, but Karina hadn’t gotten enough of it yet.

”Brother Ernst, I heard there’s a light show tonight. Can you tell me what the effects are like? Are they as amazing as advertised?”

”Hmm, it should be quite dazzling!” Ernst replied somewhat perfunctorily.

Ernst really didn’t know how to describe the light show. Yes, it was arranged by him, but primarily for advertising purposes. With this light show as a demonstration, any other city planning a celebration or event will need to include something similar to make it noteworthy, allowing the Heixinggen Electric Company to receive large orders. It’s akin to the ’City That Never Sleeps’ project from last time.

As for how dazzling the light show is, Ernst probably can’t feel it, given that it’s far behind compared to the past world, which reduces some of the fun for Ernst in this time travel.

At night, eight o’clock.

It was completely dark outside.

With the Vienna Heixinggen Electric Company powering on, colored lights and lightboxes lit up in all streets and alleys, instantly turning Vienna into a place of vibrant nightlife, brilliantly colorful.

”How beautiful, Vienna!”