African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 713 - 17 Dragoons

South Prussia Province.

Nairobi was a town in the southwest of former Kenya and the capital of Kenya's Central Province. It was a distribution center for regional coffee, tea, sisal, grains, and livestock products. As before, Nairobi was also an agriculturally developed region in East Africa.

The largest military horse farm in East Africa was built on the vast grasslands 35 kilometers southeast of Nairobi, breeding over thirty thousand horses.

The director of the Neri Military Horse Field, Herman, received personnel from the East African military. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Major General Mars: "According to the government's order, establish two new cavalry divisions on-site, and we will conduct a six-month military training here."

South Prussia Province enjoyed geographical advantages, with East Africa's largest livestock base to the north. South Prussia Province was located on the northern edge of the East African highlands, with Nairobi as its capital and Kisumu, a prosperous city by the Great Lake (Lake Victoria), in its territory. The province's economy was very developed, even within all of East Africa, and together with the eastern Eastern Province (capital Mombasa), formed the core of the northern industrial belt.

Horses selected from northern ranches could receive highland training nearby. After all, the highland climate is somewhat different from the plains, so South Prussia Province has always been an excellent training ground for East African cavalry.

In fact, South Prussia Province also had its own highland military horse farm, but the plantation industry was more advanced there, so it was not as well known.

The tropical highland terrain of South Prussia Province was very suitable for breeding and raising military horses, with temperatures maintaining around ten degrees all year round, which was cooler and more suitable for warhorses.

Just like in previous generations, Kenya had the world's best environment for marathon training. Though it was unclear if this kind of environment affected horses, the conditions at the Neri Military Horse Field were much better than those of the northern pastures.

"The newly established two divisions are assigned to the Northern Military District, with the new designations of the 221st and 222nd regiments. They are mounted infantry modeled on European dragoons, new mobile units formed by combining infantry training methods with cavalry mobility."

In fact, the 221st and 222nd regiments were the European "dragoons," generally speaking, infantry on horseback.

East Africa previously had four cavalry divisions; the Eastern Military District had three, and the Western Military District one, while the Guard Division had a separate cavalry brigade. So, practically, East Africa had five cavalry divisions before 1887.

The previous East African cavalry belonged to the traditional cavalry category, while the new 221st and 222nd regiments are mobile infantry, fundamentally different.

Previously, the purpose of East Africa's cavalry divisions was to deal with the natives in the cold weapons era. Now, East Africa's enemies have transitioned from cold to hot weapons modern armies, prompting adjustments by the East African military.

There are also significant differences in weaponry between the two. Most noticeably, the East African dragoons are equipped with engineer shovels. When they advance to strategic locations and switch to defense, they can use these shovels to build fortifications.

The pickaxe, a traditional tool of European dragoons, dates back to ancient Rome and is still mainstream in Europe, which values tradition.

The engineer shovel gained importance in 1869 when Danish Mads Linnemann invented a military shovel, which was subsequently used on a large scale by the Russian army.

Influenced by previous generations, East African engineer shovel designs are quite "bold," made with various "improvements" to adapt to the needs of different units.

The new battlefield environment demands that each soldier carry trench-digging tools, allowing them to quickly build shelters to save their lives. However, this new mode of operation still requires an adaptation process, and armies with long-standing traditions are particularly resistant to trench construction.

The East African Defense Army does not have such "conservative" views. As a newly formed army built from the "bottom," it actively absorbs the practicality of the Prussian military; thus, East African weapons and equipment also emphasize practicality and convenience.

Herman: "Rest assured, General, we will certainly cooperate with your work. However, we can only provide the training ground since the related infrastructure is not complete. Especially providing living and training facilities for two divisions at once is quite difficult for us."

"You don't need to worry about that point. We have enough manpower to solve these things ourselves. However, we will need guidance and cooperation from the horse farm staff; otherwise, turning this place chaotic would be hard to explain," remarked Major General Mars.

Major General Mars brought over eight thousand recruits; they were the main workforce, along with two thousand veterans drawn from the 123rd Division and the Guard Division. They would form the core of the two new cavalry divisions, leading these recruits to grow quickly.

With the cooperation of the Neri Military Horse Field and the Nairobi City Government, the living problems were solved in just one week, as the northern part of Nairobi was a forest area, making it easy to obtain materials locally. Other lacking materials and equipment could be supplemented via the northern railway.

The "domestication" of these new recruits also began here.

Major General Mars: "As military technology develops, with improvements in rifle performance and the advancement of machine guns and artillery, the role of traditional cavalry is being greatly diminished. Our country's existing five cavalry units are actually transitional cavalry divisions. The two cavalry units being formed this time are moving towards the European cavalry model."

"Although dragoons are different from traditional cavalry, their role on the European battlefield is increasingly prominent, and they can better adapt to the development of the times. This was the important reason why the previous five cavalry divisions were not built according to European cavalry standards."

After all, apart from the Transvaal people, the East African Defense Army had not faced other cavalry divisions before. Boers also did not have a formal cavalry; they faced robust Zulu infantry.

"So, you should not think of dragoons as inferior to traditional cavalry. At least that is not the arrangement in East Africa. Naturally, you should cherish your horses just as traditional cavalry units do and pay attention to hygiene work.

Warhorses are your partners, comrades in life and death; horse management must follow the regulations and procedures strictly. Clean stables and replenish forage and water troughs on time daily; maintain and care for saddles regularly, keep storage rooms dry and ventilated, and ensure the living areas of horses are clean and hygienic to prevent disease transmission. Horse manure must be cleaned in time to ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of the horse farm."

In Europe, the status of dragoons varies by country, but in major continental countries like Germany and France, their status is below that of cuirassiers, lancers, and hussars.

In Britain, the status of dragoons has significantly risen, falling under heavy cavalry; however, as an island nation, Britain differs from the European continent, which is easy to understand. Sweden's dragoons are also quite unique, as Swedish dragoons are used tactically in practice as light cavalry and musketeer cavalry.

Dragoons are generally in a rather awkward state, similar to when airborne and marine forces were first formed.

However, by the end of the 19th century, dragoons finally started receiving attention from various countries and were greatly developed, a situation that continued until after World War I.

However, cavalry development is seen as the "twilight glow." In the future, with the development of vehicle technology and various weapons and tactics countering cavalry, it will no longer be needed by the era. But this is not a concern of the current times for various countries. For example, the East African Defense Army wants to replace horses with cars. However, based on current technology, quality, and production capacity, it is not feasible.