Chapter 716 Surprise Inspection
In the eastern part of Matabele Province, East Africa is actively building a new eastern defense line to protect the strategic security of the entire Matabele Province.
As the most important industrial province in East Africa, Matabele Province’s status in East Africa is second only to the Central Province, and its status is one level higher than the Oriental Province, which has a single city (Mombasa).
The Eastern Defense Line is based on the borders of Matabele and Hechingen Provinces and is a military defense line deployed to guard against Mozambique.
The entire defense line is more than 1,300 kilometers long, extending from the city of Tete in Mozambique to the Republic of Swaziland.
With such a long border, it is naturally impossible for East Africa to fortify everywhere, but many fortifications have been built on important military roads and important transportation nodes.
Taking full advantage of the terrain advantages of East Africa, a certain amount of troops were deployed in river valleys, mountain passes, and the gentle intersection of plateaus and plains.
At this time, Glade, the special commissioner of the East African military, was leading people to inspect the construction of the entire Eastern Defense Line to prevent anyone from messing up.
At present, Glade has arrived at Chipinga Fortress, which was an important commercial route for Portuguese merchants from Mozambique to complete transactions with the interior of Africa and the indigenous people. It was originally a commercial stronghold. Later, East Africa expelled the local Portuguese merchants. The magpie's nest gradually evolved into a military fortress.
To this day, it is also an important commercial port, and merchants are very profitable. Although East Africa has offended them before, East Africa can bring them greater benefits, especially with the construction of East Africa, the productivity of the African interior has been further improved. This This saves them the cost of commercial colonization.
Normally, there is no danger to this commercial route. However, once the relationship between East Africa and Portugal deteriorates, this commercial route may become a strategic channel for the two to compete. Therefore, Chipinga Fortress is important for controlling this commercial route. Military stronghold.
At the same time, some products abundant in East Africa, especially tobacco, wine, leather, etc. in Matabele Province, can also be transported to various parts of the world through Portuguese traders.
Driven by commerce, a new commercial route from Mozambique to Matabele Province has also been formed.
The current place where Portuguese merchants conduct transactions with East Africa is less than three kilometers east of the Chipinga Fortress, forming a large-scale trade market.
Glade has a standard Austrian appearance, with a high nose bridge and deep-set eye sockets. His eyes have a murderous look that has been battle-tested for a long time. He is not angry and intimidating. The surrounding air seems to be a few degrees colder. In the warm weather in East Africa, It gives people a chilling feeling.
After all, there are too many places bordering Mozambique and East Africa, and Mozambique’s population is far smaller than that of East Africa. Therefore, Mozambique does not pay attention to the construction of defense lines except for places that cannot be ignored.
“Look what I’m doing, not taking the officers on a tour?” Eugene shouted guiltily.
As the deep voice came, the soldiers stationed in the Chipinga Fortress Company felt a little uneasy, and they turned their attention to the company commander Eugene.
“Let’s start testing!”
ˆThrough cheap commodities from East Africa, the upper echelons of the indigenous people in Mozambique can be bribed, and economic benefits can be obtained by further exploiting the indigenous people at the bottom. This is a model for the development of plantations in Mozambique.
However, East Africa has the ability to build a fortress and control the first half of the trade route, but the Portuguese do not have the ability, or the idea, to build a tit-for-tat military stronghold to compete with East Africa.
Eugene really did not expect that the "inspection team" would come to Chipinga Fortress to inspect today, so he was not prepared at all to deal with this surprise inspection.
The inspection process was very simple and meticulous. Several military policemen used various professional instruments to start measuring parameters and at the same time inspected the layout of various facilities to find loopholes and non-compliance.
Time passed by little by little. Glade looked at his watch. Ten minutes had passed before he knew it, and Eugene, who was standing next to him, was already sweating coldly due to the pressure. "Captain Eugene, are you worried?" Glade's devilish voice came from Eugene's ears.
This made Eugene shudder, and then he pretended to be calm and said: "Sir, it's okay, it's okay!"
But his tone had betrayed him, and now Eugene could already imagine himself being scolded to death.
Glade added: "Don't worry, if you follow the division headquarters' orders and do your usual work well, I will naturally report it truthfully, and your contribution will be indispensable."
hehe! Eugene thought with disdain, if he really did his job according to the regulations, would he still be frightened?
My family knew about their own affairs, because the Chipinga Fortress was rarely inspected, and the logistics would come regularly to deliver supplies. Eugene's company was a little slack, and he did not expect that his superiors would suddenly drop in for an inspection.
So this inspection is probably a dead end. As Eugene expected, the results of the inspection will be released soon.
“Reporting to Colonel Glade, we found a total of seven violations, including trench blockage, fortress drainage system problems, firearms maintenance, ammunition storage, etc. There are big loopholes.”
Colonel Glade said coldly: "Captain Eugene, do you want to explain?"
Eugene lowered his head and did not defend himself.
Glady criticized with hatred: "Look what you have become now? Can you escape without speaking? Then what's the use of military law and discipline! We are all soldiers, supported by the country and the people." , you should reflect now, with this kind of shoddy construction and laziness, how can our army protect our country?"
Eugene could only say: "It's all my fault. I didn't strictly follow the requirements of the army."
Glade emphasized: "This is not a request of the army, but a request of the country and the people. The army is a sacred place, and our East African Defense Force is the umbrella of the people, so no details can be ignored. Any army that does not pay attention to details is doomed." fail."
"There are only a few months left before the rainy season. All the debts owed before must be paid. There are also problems between you and your company. I will report them truthfully."
"By the way, the new instructor should take office immediately. I remember that the instructor in your company has been vacant for various reasons. Now it seems that the lack of instructor supervision is indeed a big problem. This situation does not happen in other companies."
Eugene said shamefully: "I will definitely correct my mistakes actively next."
Glade said: "It's useless to promise me. I don't know what punishment you will receive. Temporary demotion is not impossible, but you must clean up your mess before the new instructor arrives. At the same time, you must not forget the border guarding work. Here It is a border, and it may become a front line at any time. We have great conflicts with Portuguese businessmen, so you frontline troops must be prepared at any time."
After inspecting the Chipinga Fortress, Glade continued to patrol southward and inspected combat troops and units within the entire 411th Division jurisdiction.
Chipinga Fortress also accepted the regular staff again after the new instructor was in place, especially to correct the unhealthy habits of the company and establish the "correct" political concept of the East African country. This is one of the important features of the professionalization of the East African army.
As for Eugene, he was warned by the battalion headquarters and given one demerit, but was not demoted. At the same time, he had to reflect on this incident.
(End of this chapter)