Chapter 42: New Military Uniforms

“This is good, but it’s not very meaningful for the Guangdong campaign,” Chen Sigen said. “There are fresh vegetables available all year round on the ground in Guangdong.”

Xi Yazhou shook his head. “You can’t say that. Do you remember the Danzhou work team annihilation incident? Procuring vegetables locally also has its risks. Besides, the navy can use them.”

Next, Yun Suji had the naturalized citizens bring out many large and small boxes and bags, all placed on the large table in the middle of the room.

“This is dried meat,” Yun Suji said, opening a box. Inside were neatly stacked rectangular paper packages. “There are five types in total: horse, pork, poultry, fish, and squid. Each piece is 50 grams. After being packed in standard packing cases, they can be transported with the army’s main luggage for use by field kitchens.”

“Why is there a separate item for squid?” Xi Yazhou asked. “Aren’t squid and cuttlefish considered sea fish?”

“They are indeed not fish, and the texture and dishes they are cooked in are also different,” Yun Suji said. “In my experience, dried meat is more suitable for making soups or casserole dishes like curry rice and rice bowls.”

“Transported with the main luggage? These can’t be eaten directly by the soldiers, right?”

“The logistics headquarters’ instruction to us is to use these products to equip camp instant rations. One box contains a company’s meal: dried meat, dried vegetables, and seasonings are proportioned, and can be directly poured into the pot for cooking when camping,” Yun Suji said, pointing to the large and small wooden boxes. “These are all standard military packing cases. Different sizes of packing cases are used according to the supply unit and the dishes.”

“Very convenient,” Xi Yazhou nodded frequently. “Much better than cooking the grassland ration gruel back then.”

“In this time and space, our supply standard can be called the best in the world.”

Next, he introduced a variety of “military foods”: soy sauce powder, fruit candy, rice cakes, pickled plums, dried rice balls…

“And toffee?” Chen Sigen suddenly cried out as if he had discovered a new continent.

“This is what we plan to use to quickly replenish the troops’ energy, roughly equivalent to chocolate,” Yun Suji said. “Our cocoa cultivation industry is not yet sufficient to establish a chocolate industry.”

“I remember that toffee needs cream, right? Do we have that much milk?”

“This isn’t real toffee,” Yun Suji said, taking out a piece. “It’s made from waste molasses. The waste molasses left over after sugar production from sugarcane transported from Leizhou and Taiwan is melted and mixed with peanuts and sesame seeds. Then it’s poured into molds to cool and becomes Lingao toffee.”

Waste molasses contains a large amount of sugar, enough to quickly replenish physical energy. It also has a certain nutritional value. After adding nuts, it has become a rapid energy supplement for the Fubo Army.

Before he could finish, Xi Yazhou let out a groan. “It stuck to my teeth!”

Next, they tried “quick-cook rice,” which was made by flattening cooked rice and then drying it with hot air in a drying room. By adding water and simmering, it could be restored to its original state in a very short time. In an emergency, it could also be eaten directly.

“The disadvantage is that it’s difficult to chew and swallow. I’m afraid you can’t eat it without drinking water.”

Then there was fried noodles. Of course, no flour was used. This was inspired by the “fried noodles” of the Volunteer Army in the Korean War, but the main ingredient was changed to rice flour, with nuts, dried vegetable powder, and salt as ingredients. It was then fried with bone marrow oil, a by-product of the bone glue factory. Compared to the “grassland dry ration” which used similar ingredients but was pressed into blocks, the fried rice flour contained a certain amount of fat, had a better texture when eaten dry, and required less water, making it easier to chew and swallow. In fact, in practical use, the compressed grassland dry ration was called a “teeth grinder” and was generally boiled into a paste to be eaten. Unless absolutely necessary, few people ate it directly, which defeated its original purpose as an “instant food.” In comparison, Yun’s fried noodles were much more convenient to carry and eat.

Xi Yazhou had led troops before and naturally recognized that this was more valuable than the pile of things Yun Suji had shown him earlier. No matter how you hyped a product, whether you could produce enough of it, and whether the soldiers could carry and eat it conveniently, that was the core of the problem.

“This fried noodle is good. Very good,” he nodded vigorously. “We must concentrate on producing it.”

“Come and try this, it’s also something I newly developed…”

Leaving the food factory, the two men felt their stomachs were heavy, stuffed with all kinds of “military food.”

“Accompany me to see the situation at the clothing factory,” Xi Yazhou said.

“I can’t. I have to go to the special reconnaissance team and lead the new recruits in a five-kilometer sea swim. Otherwise, I’ll gain at least three kilograms tomorrow,” Chen Sigen was a person who was extremely focused on weight management.

The two parted ways at the intersection. Xi Yazhou got into his “official carriage” and drove straight to Ma Niao Fort. This was the garrison of the First Infantry Battalion. The First Battalion not only shouldered the important task of defending the capital but also served as the training corps for the entire army. The new recruit training brigade, the army’s non-commissioned officer training corps, and the officer training corps were all located here. The barracks construction was therefore the most complete.

The bamboo fence that marked the boundary of Ma Niao Fort enclosed the entire Ma Niao Peninsula. As the first pilot project for the army’s “base-based” deployment, Ma Niao Fort not only had barracks, training grounds, canteens, offices, and warehouses, but also supporting living and cultural facilities. The logistics department had set up a series of logistical support institutions here, such as a repair shop, a stable, and a hospital.

The sentry at the gate of the base checked their documents, and the carriage quickly entered the Ma Niao Fort base. Adhering to the PLA’s tradition of planting a large number of trees in their barracks, the roads were shaded by green trees, with red brick houses hidden among them. Neatly dressed soldiers came and went on the roads paved with coal cinders. When their carriage, flying the one-star major general’s flag, passed proudly on the road, the passing soldiers and officers all stopped to salute.

Xi Yazhou lowered the window curtain and looked with satisfaction at the crease on his crisp woolen uniform: it had been five years, and he had finally gotten a general’s uniform.

The uniform he was wearing was the Type 5 uniform that had been in small-scale trial use since the start of Operation Engine. It was mainly used to replace the simple Type 1 uniform. With the unfolding of the mainland campaign, the Fubo Army needed to present a new image of soldiers to the people of all of China. For a new type of army that did not wear armor or battle robes, a gorgeous uniform with high recognition not only helped to boost morale but also served to show off military might.

Although the old Type 1 uniform also had rank insignia, the style was simple and uniform. The identity of officers and soldiers was identified only by the number of pockets on the clothes. The cotton uniforms were not crisp, and the clothing factory only made three sizes: large, medium, and small. If many soldiers didn’t wear a belt, they looked like they were wearing flour sacks.

Now, the Senate was no longer what it used to be. The hard work of the Yuanlao over the past six years had led to a huge leap in productivity. They were no longer the poor bastards who had to consider whether making shorts would save more cloth when making trousers for the security forces.

The warehouses of the Senate were filled with coarse and fine woolen cloth, cotton cloth, and linen cloth shipped in large quantities by the British and the Dutch. The once-strained dye problem had also been solved—although the chemical department could not yet provide chemical dyes on a large scale, the Senate’s dyeing and weaving industry had mastered enough natural dyes through trade to make new uniforms for an army of tens of thousands.

Although many of the uniform enthusiasts were fans of the gorgeous uniforms of the line infantry era, indulging in colorful feathers of various shapes, trouser stripes, gold threads, decorative cords, pom-poms, horse tails, Minerva-style helmets, bearskin hats… and some had even privately made so-called “personal uniforms,” such as a certain Yuanlao cavalry officer on Jeju Island. However, most people still realized that overly gorgeous decorations were not only wasteful but also impractical in marching and combat, except for showing off on the parade ground.

After a hard march or a fierce battle, no matter how gorgeous the uniform, it would turn into a dirty grayish-brown color. In combat, the uniform would lose many accessories, become rough, and be stained with blood, dust, and mud.

Therefore, the design concept of the Type 5 uniform was to adopt a simple and practical style, choose more gorgeous colors, and add a small number of accessories to balance appearance and practicality.

The carriage stopped in front of a red brick building. The guard on the footboard jumped down, quickly unfolded the folding footboard, and opened the car door.

Xi Yazhou slowly stepped down from the carriage. Amidst the sentry’s “Salute!”, he strode proudly into the gate, the sound of his boots echoing, the chain of his command sword clanking.

He did not go upstairs but went directly into the conference room on the right side of the small building. There were already several officers waiting in the conference room. With a “Attention!”, all the military personnel present stood up straight with a snap.

“At ease!” Xi Yazhou shouted with feigned authority. There were several Yuanlao officers present, so he couldn’t put on too much of an air. He unfastened his command sword and handed it to the guard. “We are all comrades, so let’s not be so formal. Let’s get straight to the point.”

The Yuanlao present were Zhu Mingxia, the commander of the First Mixed Brigade, who was still wearing the old Type 1 uniform, and another was Yuanlao Hong from the logistics department, who had already changed into the Type 5 uniform. It had to be said that the Type 5 uniform looked very imposing on Yuanlao with larger stomachs.

Apart from them, they were all naturalized citizens, both military officers and civilians in cadre uniforms.

In the conference room, there were several wooden mannequins dressed in uniforms. The height and body shape of the mannequins were set according to the average of the current Fubo Army officers and soldiers.

Yuanlao Hong took out a folder, cleared his throat, and said, “Comrades, now I will introduce the new version of the Type 5 military uniform. Strictly speaking, this uniform is not newly designed. During Operation Engine, the Shandong detachment had already begun to use this uniform. At that time, it was a trial style for the winter uniform in the northern regions.”