Chapter 92 Preparation (Part 2)
After the end of the European War, Germany will no longer be troubled by lack of raw materials as in history. The dividends obtained in the war are enough for the German government to spend several years, and government buyers are now placing orders all over the world with checks waving around.
Cotton, wool and various leather raw materials produced in the Americas are constantly passing through the Atlantic Ocean to land in the European market. Europe's agriculture and animal husbandry suffered serious losses in the war, resulting in a huge gap in the supply of raw materials on the Old Continent. Coupled with the need for land reconstruction and military expansion to prepare for war, Europe has become a huge black hole, greed swallowing cheap resources and materials from all over the world.
The British textile industry is the fastest recovery among all industries. One of the main reasons is that they have received massive orders from Germany. Now many of the newly received winter clothes by German soldiers are made of woolen fabrics produced in Manchester and even London.
Although the German local textile industry has made every effort to complete the massive orders generated by the expansion of the army, because they still have to meet the needs of the domestic civilian market. The Germans now have a few spare money, and the demand for various domestic commodities has begun to rise rapidly. Even the luxury goods field that the Nazis have resisted has shown signs of recovery.
The topic is too far off. Let's take a look at the winter clothing that the German Army is now equipped with. A set of linen wool blended woolen uniforms with wool and cotton linings. The inner fabric is still artificial silk, which can prevent fleas and other parasites from entering. Of course, there are also natural silks, which are limited to personal customized officer uniforms. After all, silk is expensive and sufficient military expenses cannot be wasted.
In addition to the pants and coats on the outside, each soldier can also get two sets of thick cotton underwear, which are both breathable and sweat-absorbing, and are very comfortable and close to the body, which can effectively retain the soldier's body temperature.
A turtleneck cashmere sweater replaced the original sweater, but it still retained the traditional German ultra-long sleeve tube. This design is to provide soldiers of different sizes of body wear. If you think the sleeves are long, you can roll it up and it will not hinder your daily combat and work.
The German army also equipped soldiers with trousers for the first time in history, and the trousers would grow slightly. The reason was the same as the sweater, which satisfies the needs of soldiers of all sizes as much as possible.
In addition to these standard clothing, soldiers can purchase additional warm clothing by themselves according to their personal circumstances, but only allowed to wear it in uniforms. The basic military appearance must be guaranteed.
Each soldier also got a ski mask, which is a wool product that covers the entire head and only exposes the eyes and mouth and nose. It can be used on both sides of the front and back. The reverse side is dyed white and the front side is dyed green. The soldiers can choose by themselves according to the environment at that time. If this mask is rolled up, it will become a small wool hat, which can be used as the second layer of padding for the M40 steel helmet, and can also protect both ears in the cold wind.
The army also prepared a new winter warm hat for the soldiers, which was very similar to the "Shapuka" ear-protecting hat that the Soviet Red Army had just changed into, but the German side made more beautiful and sophisticated. The Soviet Red Army only began to change the ear-protecting military hat in July 1940, which is the famous "Lei Feng hat" in later generations. This military hat was actually not invented by the Soviets. It was imitated by the Finns' winter military hat. The Soviet Union introduced this military hat style in three years, but it was limited to a few special military regions. Now the Soviet Red Army has made some improvements to this winter hat, thickened the lining and extended the ear protection, and replaced the Budonnie-style winter hat with a warming effect and a shape.
The German head of state has worn this kind of ear-protecting military cap, and of course he knows how powerful the warmth of this hat is. Even in the severe cold of tens of degrees below zero, it can effectively retain the heat on the head. Although this ordinary hat, in a special environment, whether there is or not is almost the difference between life and death. Seventy percent of the body temperature lost in cold areas is emitted from the head. A good cold-proof hat is even more important than a weapon in a sense.
Germany's "Shapuka" has been shaped as a 40-type cold-proof military cap. The outer fabric is made of sturdy and durable wool wool. The ear and forehead guard are blended wool wool. Non-commissioned officers and officers can choose high-end wool wool or animal fur products, such as lambskin and rabbit skin. If you have money, you can also choose mink and sea otter skin. However, no matter what material you choose, the color of the military cap must be consistent with the military uniform. This is the most basic requirement. At the same time, the German standard hat badge must be nailed to the forehead guard. The commander recommends knitted products, but no one minds if you insist on installing a metal.
Let’s talk about the German coats. The head of state chose a cold-proof clothing with a short windbreaker style. The collar was covered with a snow-proof hood. The collar was covered with a layer of wool velvet. The outer layer of the cold-proof clothing was made of waterproof wool fabric. The interior was a thermal inner liner with wool mixed cotton wool. The officers could change it to a fur lining. At present, the most common sheepskin produced in Europe is Australia and the United States. In addition to being a little more expensive, the thermal performance is quite good.
In fact, the best warmth effect is down materials such as duck down and goose down, but the current poultry production in Europe cannot meet the huge demands of the army.
Coldproof clothing with goose-in inner shell can only be provided to the crew of armored troops. Many people think that the tank will be warmer than the outside world. In fact, the tank often needs to open windows to observe and ventilate smoke. The internal temperature is actually not much different from that of the outside world. Moreover, the tank hands cannot move in the tank for a long time, and the temperature loss is more serious than expected.
As for when ordinary soldiers will equip down windbreakers, it seems that they can only wait for the European poultry industry to recover. Americans' agriculture has just recovered from the Great Depression. They themselves are short of duck down now, so they don't want to import it from them.
The short windbreaker style was chosen so that soldiers could move freely in snowy environments and no longer be dragged down by heavy coats. However, the military coat was not crossed out of the equipment bar by the head of state. After all, this clothes were indeed very handsome and could be used as regular clothes and dresses for soldiers to go out.
The German short windbreaker style retains the spirit and handsomeness of the German uniform, and adopts a double-breasted inner placket overlapping design, which is more convenient to resist the invasion of wind and snow on the front.
As for the pair of marching boots, Xu Jun felt that there was not much room for modification. Although the leather material is abundant now, Xu Jun was not planning to lengthen the boot again. However, the new marching boots no longer use leather steel nail soles, but use rubber as a material, and the anti-slip pattern designed by the head of state himself. Not only does the anti-slip effect not decrease, it is also much lighter than the original one. At the same time, it can effectively isolate the surface temperature and prevent the rapid loss of foot temperature.
As for felt boots and wooden sentinel boots, the German army did not have an urgent need yet, but only produced some in advance and conducted use tests in the polar regions as a logistics technical reserve.
The German military's standard military socks have not changed at all, but the soldiers have two pairs of velvet socks in their hands to put them outside the original socks. When wearing military boots in winter, they may feel a little pinched, but it is better than freezing their toes.
PS: Chapter 1 is presented, and the second chapter is written after dinner. It may be late. Friends who go to bed early can read it again every day.
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Chapter completed!