Chapter 937 Countdown to War

After preparing relevant materials and documents, Mansk took Cruz and his party to the military restricted area northwest of Dar es Salaam, accompanied by the Guards Division and security departments throughout the process.

After all, Dar es Salaam is close to the first town in the capital of East Africa. Therefore, for the safety of the first town, not everyone can enter and exit the city of Dar es Salaam at will, especially those of the Guards Division. Military jurisdiction.

This is also the first time that Cruz and other Spaniards have gone deep into East Africa. Except for Spanish diplomats who can reach the first town, their usual area of ​​activity is limited to the urban area of ​​Dar es Salaam.

The weapons exercise venue is a training base of the Guards Division. Here, Cruz and others got a preliminary glimpse of the appearance of East African soldiers. It is now three o'clock in the afternoon, so there are many troops in the training base organizing regular training in the afternoon.

"It is indeed a powerful army that can defeat Portugal and the United Kingdom. Whether it is the tightness of the organization or the appearance of the soldiers, it can be seen that this is a force with strong combat effectiveness." Cruise praised without exaggeration.

This made the accompanying Guards Division officer Falkid very comfortable. After all, it felt more fulfilling to be praised by a country like Spain that was also a great power.

Falkid introduced: "Mr. Cruz, our East African army has always restrained itself with the strictest requirements and attached great importance to discipline and training. This effect can be achieved day after day."

Cruz continued to praise: "If our Spanish army can be like the East African army, then I believe that even the Americans may not be able to overwhelm us on the battlefield, but it is a pity..."

For Cruz, he still knows the Spanish army's moral integrity relatively well. The more he knows about it, the less optimistic he is about the outcome of this war.

Falkid comforted: "Spain, as a long-established power, may not be worse than the United States. There may be some gaps between the two navies, but that is caused by the gap in economic strength. The U.S. Army may not be able to see it, so it is equipped with advanced weapons. As well as being fully prepared, I believe Spain will definitely teach the Americans a profound lesson in land battles.”

The main battlefield of the colonial war was the ocean. The Spanish Army had little chance of performance, and there was a huge gap between the colonial army and the Spanish mainland army. However, the Spanish colonial army's opponent was probably the U.S. Navy.

Mansk said at this time: "As the saying goes, sharpening the sword will not waste time cutting wood. Advantages in equipment can often change the direction of war, so you should introduce this rifle in large quantities in the colonies. Of course, no matter how much I brag, it will not be as good as Demonstrate directly.”

Soon the group came to the rain forest combat terrain simulated by the Guards Division. The rain forest combat environment was basically replicated here, with dense jungles, rivers and other wetland types.

The soldiers of the Guards Division operated the m1895c jungle rifle and began various targeted demonstrations, including immersing the gun in water and shooting at targets in the dense forest.

Manske explained on the side: "We have made detailed modifications to the gun holding area. Sweat and rain can quickly flow away along the lines, and it has an anti-slip function to ensure that you will not miss it."

"When facing an enemy in a dense forest, surrounded by vegetation, the enemy can easily blend into the terrain. It is not easy to lock the target at this time, so the bullet is more powerful, which can effectively increase the damage effect after hitting the target..."

At the same time, Manske also promoted other products by the way: "Look at this pair of rain boots, we designed them specifically for tropical jungle terrain. East Africa is a big rubber producer, so we also have certain advantages in raw materials. If you are interested in buying it, you can give us Certain discounts...tarps...canned food..."

The performance and quality of most of these military products have been recognized by Cruise. After all, many of them are mature products of active military equipment in East Africa.

After the demonstration, Cruise said to Mansk and others: "Very good, I can decide to increase the purchase quantity of rifles to two thousand, but I can only decide the purchase quantity of rifles. Although other military products in East Africa are good , but I don’t have the relevant authority. At the same time, I am more interested in the East African Army’s clothing. I wonder if you can give me a set?”

Cruise's words made Mansk a little surprised. It is well known that the style of military uniforms in East Africa is "unique" in the world. It was even called "tramp troops" by the British and Portuguese in the early days of the South African War. It was mainly because it was too plain and unflattering. , of course, as the war progressed, this mainly gray and black military uniform became a nightmare for the British and Portuguese armies.

Of course, the outside world recognizes the combat effectiveness of the East African National Defense Forces, but other countries are still not interested in East African military uniforms. To put it bluntly, the East African military uniforms are disliked by their own people because of the gap in early craftsmanship. However, as time goes by, the craftsmanship has improved. Upgrades and improvements in details. Although the East African military uniforms are still mainly "simple", the details are well handled and they are no longer as crudely made as in the past.

In addition, the Guards Division is the most well-equipped unit, and their clothing is also the most cutting-edge in the East African army, so it can attract Cruz's attention.

For Cruise's request, Mansk naturally agreed directly. After all, he could complete the sales promotion work and sending a set of military uniforms was simply a small problem.

This time, the weapons sold by East Africa to Spain are not only limited to the m1895c jungle combat rifle, but also the conventional Mauser rifles equipped by the Spanish army, as well as some machine guns and small-caliber artillery.

The procurement of weapons and equipment is not all. The Spanish government ordered a large amount of military supplies from East Africa, mainly food, medicine, tobacco, etc.

Most of these goods were sent directly to the Philippines, while the Cuban region was under the responsibility of Spain. After all, East Africa had a distance advantage from the Philippines, and Spain itself was closer to Cuba.

In this way, before the Spanish-American War began, East Africa had already made a fortune from Spain. Of course, Spain did not lose money either, after all, the quality of the products provided by East Africa was very reliable and the price was relatively reasonable.

While East Africa and Spain were trading, the US government was not idle and actively prepared for war. In addition to domestic public opinion using the Maine incident to further pressure Spain, it also intervened in Spain's rule in the Philippines and demanded that the Spanish government carry out democratic reforms in the local area according to its own ideas.

This was actually to stand up for the local resistance forces and let them continue to increase their efforts to fight against the Spanish colonial government, which further attracted the attention of the Spanish government to the Philippines. After all, Ernst had already buried the nails before.

At that time, the Spanish government naturally did not believe Ernst's words. After all, the Philippines was not like Cuba. Cuba was close to the United States, while the distance between the Philippines and the United States was not close.

But now the United States is directly interfering with Spain's rule over the Philippines, which confirms what Ernst said before that the United States has wolfish ambitions for the Philippines. At least many people in the Spanish government believe it, so the Spanish government has to increase its attention to the Philippines.

At the same time, under the mediation of the international community led by France, the negotiations between the United States and Spain are not smooth. For example, Britain is completely on the side of the United States in terms of public opinion, and has clearly expressed its support for the United States. In this case, the United States naturally cannot listen to France's advice.

So the Spanish government already has the idea of ​​​​going to war, but at this time, Ernst naturally does not want Spain to go to war too early, at least until the Philippines is armed. So under the persuasion of East Africa, the Spanish government, which was originally prepared to declare war on the United States in April, postponed the time to mid-May and continued to haggle with the United States in negotiations to buy time.

In this tense atmosphere, the East African government fully supported Spain's preparations for war. A large amount of military supplies were transported from Dar es Salaam and Beira to Manila and other Philippine regions. East Africa even gave more than a dozen coastal defense artillery. This is also Ernst's hope that Spain will not be as embarrassed in Manila as in his previous life.