"You mean a mule?" The German head of state was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yes, mule." Sir Fay raised two fingers on his head for fear of misunderstanding.

"I know mule, Sir Fay, we use it to pull artillery and vehicles." Xu Jun said he understood what the other party was saying.

At present, at least 80% of the army troops still retain the mule and horse structure in the German Wehrmacht. As mentioned in the previous article of this book, the reasons are very complicated. In addition to the number of vehicles being purchased cannot keep up with the speed of expansion, there are mainly logistical problems. Germany obtains extremely limited fuel, and large-scale motorcycleization will inevitably increase the burden on this. Now the fuel problem of the German army has been temporarily solved, and all troops have begun to increase the proportion of motorcycleization, but it will take a certain amount of time to fully replace it.

Mule and horse vehicles are mainly equipped to company-level infantry units. As a logistics transport tool for grassroots troops, in addition to the rations and ammunition carried by soldiers, almost two-thirds of the supply supplies of a company are loaded on these standard logistics carriages.

In the written organization of the German army, each infantry company would be equipped with three to four double-driving logistics carriages, as well as a small motorized kitchen led by mules and horses, that is, a company-level field kitchen. Like other European countries, the military carriages of the National Defense Forces are standard equipment, and the design can be traced back to before World War I. Although they look old, they are quite solid and durable.

In the early German army, a conventional infantry division was equipped with 3,500 to 5,000 mules and horses, and almost every four soldiers could get one. This ratio can be said to be quite amazing.

Of course, in reality, the distribution of horses cannot be calculated like that, because in addition to traction of baggage carriages, the German artillery units had to occupy more than 80% of the horses. A heavy division-level artillery often required six to twelve strong horses to be dragged.

Before the war, most of the German troops were equipped with tall and strong horses or war horses, but the number of mules in the army was not very large, because the German army had a long history of nurturing and using horses. The generals had a special liking for military horses, and mules could only be used as a backup for some logistics horses. Another reason was that at that time, the German rural areas did not raise donkeys very much, and of course the output of mules was insufficient.

During the European War, the German army suffered a lot of horse loss, and even suffered from the loss of maneuver power due to the death of a large number of horses. After the war, the German army had to requisition horses in the occupied areas and at the same time supplemented a large number of mules, which finally restored the number of mules and horses equipped by the army to the level before the war.

At present, the mules in the German army are mainly produced in Austria and Hungary. The Magyars have the habit of raising mules. The French army also provided a large number of mules for the German army. The French began to breed Egyptian donkeys very early and developed a unique mule breed of France. In comparison, the Italian army prefers donkeys because small donkeys are more suitable for maneuvering on narrow mountain roads in the mountains of Italy. The German mountain troops are also equipped with some donkeys. This kind of livestock is indeed very suitable for the mountain environment, and is more cold-resistant than ordinary horses, and can move on the snow line for a long time.

"My Lord, I don't understand what you mean. Are you suggesting that we add a batch of mules?" Weirler couldn't help but interrupt.

"Yes, Your Excellency General." Fay nodded and replied.

"This is indeed a way to replenish capacity, but the problem is that if horses and mules are transported here from Europe, the journey will be consumed a lot, and we don't have that much time," Weirler said with a frown.

"You are right, General, but you obviously don't understand what I mean." Fey said to Weiller with a smile, then he looked at the German head of state: "Dear head, you don't actually need to draw livestock from Europe. I know there is a place with many mules and it takes only a few days to transport it to the front line of the peninsula."

"It's very interesting, please continue, Sir Fay." The head of the empire sat upright.

"The place I'm talking about is India." Sir Fay's tone was a little proud, and finally found that the German head of state still had unknown areas.

"Eric, map." Xu Jun raised his head and ordered. Soon a large-scale map was spread out on the short table in the middle of the carriage.

"You know that the British Empire had a large number of troops stationed in India, and its bases were almost spread throughout the subcontinent. You see, the distance between major Indian cities is very far, especially in some Turkish states near the northeast. The local environment and road conditions are very harsh, and the logistics supply difficulties are quite great." Fay followed the German head of state to the map, pointing to the Indian Peninsula on the map and began to explain.

"So the British Empire established a special baggage transport force in India. Because of its outstanding achievements, it was given the title "Royal" by the king five years ago." Fei said.

"Are you referring to the Royal Indian Army Bagship Regiment?" Xu Jun smiled and said, "He should have thought of this for a long time. The moment Fei mentioned India, he had a vague premonition.

The Royal Indian Army Bailout Regiment, officially named the Royal Indian Army Order Corps, is the predecessor of the Indian Army Logistics Corps in the future. This is a professional transport force, currently organized with six transport regiments, with a command center in Madras and Mumbai.

The Royal British-Indian Packet Regiment once participated in World War I. These Indian Packet soldiers fought side by side with the British Army on the European battlefield. Because they were always at the forefront of the positions, they were often jointly attacked by the German air-grounds, and the losses of personnel and equipment were quite serious. In order to commend the achievements of the Indian Packet Team, the British officers leading the team often received commendations and medals from superiors.

By the mid-1930s, because nationalist thoughts began to emerge in India, in order to win over the British and Indian troops, which were mainly Indian soldiers, George VI gave some British and Indian troops the honor of "Royal" prefix. The British and Indian troops, which had always been hardworking and loyal, became gloriously one of them.

This baggage unit is a pure mule-horse unit, not equipped with a transport truck, and of course it will be equipped with some cars for command departments and officers, as well as two-wheeled motorcycles for commanders.

Speaking of which, Indian soldiers had already started riding motorcycles before World War II. Under the harsh road conditions in the Indian countryside, all the messengers had mastered good driving skills. However, Indian motorcycle soldiers at that time had no courage to play acrobatics. The commander was a British master, and no one could violate military regulations under their noses.

All the livestock equipped by the British and Indian Royal Bailout Regiment were mules. The British army cultivated a large number of mules in India, mainly providing them to South Asian colonial forces to transport supplies. The hard-working mules are more suitable for moving in tropical jungles than horses.

The British and Indian Royal Bag Regiment mainly operates in plains and low hilly areas. They use the British and Indian army's special double-driving and single-mile carts. These mule carts made of angle steel are very light and have a simple structure. They are pulled from one to two mules according to their size. The double-driving mule carts can usually carry one ton of cargo, while the smaller ones can load half a ton of cargo. The British army generally use two types of baggage mule carts.

A transport team usually has three hundred mules and is equipped with one hundred Indian baggage soldiers. Each soldier is responsible for caring for three mules. The regiment has a dedicated person to handle and distribute fodder. The baggage soldiers only need to be responsible for drinking water, feeding and cleaning the bodies of livestock. This job is not very heavy.

Each mule will be assigned a set of British-style pack horse harnesses, including leather saddle pads and cable harnesses with shiny metal buckles. This well-made harness may be the most expensive equipment in the hands of these baggage soldiers, so they can only be collected from the military warehouse after obtaining the official mission.

Xu Jun estimated that the current supply corps has at least 15,000 to 20,000 mules, and about 5,000 to 7,000 mule carts. Even if only half of them are transferred, it will be enough to make up for the current capacity gap of the African Legion.

"This matter involves the British and Indian army, and we need to communicate with London first." Xu Jun looked at Fay.

"If you believe me, Master Head, I am willing to do my best in this matter." Fei lowered his head slightly and looked up at the young head of state.

"The Third Reich will not forget your friendship, Sir Fay." The head of state nodded slightly to thank him.

"Just, if London agrees, how long will it take to assemble the troops." Xu Jun turned around and looked down at the map on the short table.

"Your Excellency, I need to contact the British and Indian Army Command first, and before that, I think I can prepare a ship to transport personnel and livestock first." Fei quickly put away his smile and began to discuss the specific implementation steps with the German head of state.

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Chapter completed!