CHAPTER 253: CHAPTER 242: TYPE 70

June 17, 1870 (half a month ago).

"Clang, clang..."

In the sweltering boiler room, workers stripped to the waist began shoveling coal into the boiler. As the temperature continued to rise, the flywheel began to operate with a loud, grinding noise.

The pressure gauge needle rose rapidly, finally stabilizing in a reasonable range, with the steam engine continuously conveying power throughout the factory.

With tracks and shafts, each steam engine drove more than 1,500 machines to operate rapidly.

The Jiaozhou Textile Factory, one of Heixinggen Daily Necessities Company’s only two textile plants, differs from the Berlin Textile Factory, featuring a complete set of British-imported textile machines.

The Berlin Textile Factory, or Heixinggen Textile Factory, was remodeled from a textile enterprise acquired in Berlin, using Prussian-made equipment. It was not large in scale, with only around a hundred machines, but before the Jiaozhou Textile Factory was completed, it had been the largest "Prussian" military uniform producer in East Africa.

During the East African colonial period, Prussian military uniforms were not only military attire but also civilian clothing for men, women, and children, unless they were European immigrants. It was the primary clothing option.

Now that the Kingdom of East Africa has been established, this approach can no longer continue; otherwise, it would truly become the "Prussian Army" Kingdom.

Recently, Ernst has been preparing for the Franco-Prussian War, starting the production of Prussian standard military uniforms and stockpiling a batch for the Prussian army. Therefore, the Berlin Textile Factory abandoned its East African business to focus on selling its products directly in the German region.

The Jiaozhou Textile Factory in the Far East began to take over its operations. The Jiaozhou Textile Factory was restructured from the original three small factories, mainly to facilitate management and improve production efficiency. It was also to support related infrastructure, such as the privately owned fire station, employee family buildings, the road from the factory to the dock, the factory-owned power plant (mainly for lighting), and the factory repair shop.

The reason for using British equipment for textile machines is simple: cost-effectiveness. Britain is the world’s leading textile power, with an accumulated knowledge in this field far surpassing Prussia, resulting in lower machine failure rates. While machine failures in Europe are easier to manage with accessible maintenance personnel and spare parts, in the Far East it is fatal if a stockpile of parts is not available, as the machines would cease operation until parts are shipped from Europe. Skilled technicians are also highly paid professionals.

The Jiaozhou Textile Factory employs about 7,000 workers, with a production capacity of 700,000 bolts of fabric. Besides supplying East Africa, the rest is mainly sold across the East Asian region.

The benefits of setting up the factory in this location are clear, beyond the excellent port conditions, a plentiful labor supply is the main reason, along with low wage expenses, no shortage of raw materials, and proximity to markets (Far East, Korea, Japan).

...

The Jiaozhou Garment Factory next to the Jiaozhou Textile Factory. As a matter of fact, the Jiaozhou Garment Factory and the Textile Factory share the same factory premises and infrastructure.

"What kind of clothes are these? They look really strange!"

"These are Western clothes worn by Westerners."

"I’ve seen these; they’re called suits, usually only worn by high-ranking officials among Europeans. Look at our factory; only the manager and technicians wear them."

"But I haven’t seen this thing beside it, though it looks somewhat like what the factory guards wear, but better looking. Look, there’s something on this hat... what’s that?" At first it seemed like a dog, but that wasn’t it.

"It looks a bit like the stone lions at rich people’s gates."

"It can’t be! It doesn’t look like it at all. This thing has something on its head, and it’s standing. I’ve seen stone lions, they’re very beautiful, and they’re squatting. This thing’s two front legs are extended forward, and the color isn’t festive at all."

"Whatever it is! We’re not the ones wearing it anyway."

Before them, the produced item was the 70-style military uniform (1870) independently designed by East Africa, with a strong European style. As for the animal on the hat being discussed, it was actually the emblem on the hat, featuring the lion from the Heixinggen royal coat of arms with a crown naturally on its head. Such lions are too common in Europe, with many noble families and kingdoms having this element, similar to the double-headed eagle.

The 70-style military uniform comes in two versions, prairie and desert types, distinguished only by color: the prairie version is light blue, while the desert version is tan.

The most significant change is in the hat. The military caps of German states and Europe generally resemble barrels or wide-brimmed hats, while the East African military hat combines the characteristics of both, unlike the exaggerated top of a wide-brimmed hat. It resembles the cylindrical hat of Austria-Hungary but is less structured and somewhat looser, with a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the front, top to bottom.

The East African military cap features a centrally placed shield-shaped hat emblem, similar to the national flag, with black, red, and yellow colors made from brass.

Besides saving on cloth, this hat is focused on providing sunshade, better preventing the sun from affecting vision.

The military uniform jacket is not very different from European styles, featuring five pockets: four large outer pockets and one inner pocket. It is paired with a belt produced locally in the Tanzanian city of Tanga, made from canvas, and this time the belt has added holes reserved for future attachments.

The military uniform pants have no design differences from European ones, keeping the original form intact.

The East African-designed military uniform resembles the past Prussian military uniform overall, which is not due to copying Prussia but because the entire German region adopted a similar style, like Austria-Hungary, Bavaria, and even the previously independent Heixinggen.

The Jiaozhou Garment Factory, besides producing suits and military uniforms, also focuses on producing work clothes and women’s clothing as East Africa seeks to change the dominance of Prussian military uniforms.

Surely, large-scale production means very few styles, with just four options for the average East African to choose from, available for purchase at specialty stores using Heixinggen Bank vouchers.

East Africa is planning to expand its military by 100,000 troops, so it produced a massive quantity of military uniforms, all being the 70-style military uniforms, which in the next few years will gradually replace the currently equipped Prussian military uniforms.

...

Heixinggen.

"Cousin Leopold, I’m entrusting my men to you for the next few months, so please take care of them," Ernst said to Leopold, who had returned to reorganize the Heixinggen Military Academy.

"Rest assured, I won’t assign them harsh tasks. How about letting them handle logistics?" Leopold openly suggested.

"That won’t be necessary. I chose to hand these cadets over to you to ensure they are not subjected to unfair treatment. You know many came from the Far East, and if placed under other commanders, they might be used as cannon fodder. These are high-quality troops, well-trained in regular military training, and I plan to take most of them to East Africa. I want to use this war to hone their skills, so just treat them as ordinary soldiers under your command without discrimination," Ernst explained.

"Oh, so that’s what you mean. But with that request, I can’t casually agree. I need to assess their military skills to assign tasks accordingly on the battlefield," Leopold straightforwardly replied.

"No problem. Although they haven’t been in combat, their military training and exercises have never been skipped, and they have a good command of German for normal communication, along with writing abilities. They are familiar with Prussian military regulations and orders," Ernst confidently assured.

"Without proof, have them assemble, and I’ll see what they’re like," Leopold stated.

Soon, all students at Heixinggen Military Academy were urgently gathered, totaling 2,247 individuals (third-year), organized neatly on the parade ground.

"Judging by their reaction speed and assembly speed, they’re indeed impressive! Even better than typical kingdom troops, comparable to some elite forces. I just wonder about their practical abilities," Leopold commented.

"That’s easy to arrange. I have a military exercise ground in Heixinggen’s west region. We can organize an exercise today for you to refer to."

"That sounds great! But aren’t you going too big? You even have an exercise ground?"

...

Evening, as the exercise concluded.

Leopold remarked with satisfaction, "Very good, this batch of cadets has strong organizational skills and proficiency with firearms, and their physical fitness is top-notch. From the exercise process, there are no issues. I have a hunch that, after battlefield baptism, they can absolutely compare to Prussian elite forces."

"So, make good use of them, lead them to military achievements. These are the fruits of my years of cultivation."

"Rest assured, honestly, I initially thought Ernst designated me as the leader to pull strings and have me take care of them, but now I see I misunderstood you."

"Not exactly a misunderstanding. It’s kind of pulling strings; otherwise, it’s not every day a newly formed unit gets to be led by a future Prussian marshal, hahaha!" Ernst teased.

"That day will come," Leopold said, confident that as his father reached the position of commander-in-chief, he would not lag far behind.