Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 164 Export Ban
A pair of nylon stockings might just be a product of a laboratory, which means the empire has mastered the production of nylon fibers and textile technology.

Perhaps displaying a hundred pairs of nylon stockings is an attempt to show others that I am capable of producing this kind of thing to a certain extent and have a relatively mature ability to control quality.

But what about thousands of pairs?
Renn dared not think about it.

Because this thing would take 24 years to develop on Earth.

It wasn't until thirty years later that this thing truly had the opportunity to be rolled out worldwide.

But on second thought, it's not really a big problem.

Because this place is quite different from Earth.

The Junkers Grandma, which was originally supposed to be deployed in 1935, had already completed its design in 1907 and was put into use by the army the following year.

Although the military has not yet been able to equip itself with trucks and cars on a large scale as transportation tools, each city can easily gather more than one hundred 10-ton or even 15-ton trucks whenever the military needs them.

Even airships can easily reach speeds of over 300 kilometers per hour.

Therefore, the technological level here is actually much higher than that on Earth.

It's just a matter of time that some materials and technologies haven't been officially discovered or promoted yet.

Beside Ryan, Kenneth and Brinkman were both puzzled by Ryan's reaction.

The other soldiers were basically the same.

Especially Kenneth.

Kenneth, who wasn't very talkative under Schneider, became just as talkative as McVay after meeting him. And because he was a soldier borrowed by Ryan, he was unusually bold. So much so that as soon as Ryan finished speaking, he asked him, "Colonel, what do you mean by that?"

But Ryan was already used to it, so he ignored him and just looked at Brinkman, because he seemed to find that Brinkman was actually very familiar with the stockings: "When did the Lord make this thing?"

"It's been around for quite a few years."

Brinkman rested his hand on his chin, looking thoughtful: "He gave me a pair of these socks as a celebration gift when I first got into military academy, that was five or six years ago."

"But back then, my father could only save up one pair a year. I never expected that after these few years, he would be able to produce so many stockings in one go."

Brinkman's words left Renn stunned, but he quickly recalled that he hadn't seen any noble ladies or wives wearing nylon products when he was in Stuttgart.

Since even the wealthiest people couldn't get their hands on this, it at least shows that the number of people who know the Empire can produce nylon fiber isn't so widespread yet.

"So, the Lord specifically sent these things to the regimental headquarters before mass production?" he asked Brinkman instinctively.

"Pretty much?" Brinkman neither confirmed nor denied Ryan's statement. "My father always comes up with some strange things. I was wondering why there hadn't been any news about him this year, but now it seems like it's probably being combined with Christmas presents."

"It's just that we came at a bad time," Renn said with a somewhat helpless tone.

After saying that, he looked at Kenneth beside him and said, "Go and see which families in the army have girls who are fifteen or sixteen years old or close to that age, and tell them that they don't need to worry about what to buy for New Year's gifts this year."

Kenneth was taken aback by these words, but Ryan then added, "Oh no, tell them to remember to buy two skirts for the girls. The new socks are for them, not for you bunch of big, burly men."

After he finished speaking, Kenneth and the soldiers around him let out a unified "Oh~".

These days, who has an only child? Medical technology is underdeveloped, and there is a constant shortage of various medicines. Antibiotics, deworming drugs, and other medications are ineffective and hard to buy. Therefore, the situation that Renn remembers, where every household has an only child, is almost nonexistent.

Especially those young men and women who choose to join the army.

They usually have three or four older brothers or sisters. To put it bluntly, only families with many members would be willing to let one of their children join the army.

After all, families with fewer members have fewer hands to work in the fields compared to other families. It's better to have more mouths to feed than fewer hands to work. That's the point.

As a result, most people, upon hearing that Ryan said they no longer needed to think about buying gifts for their sisters or other female relatives, would jump up and cheer unless they were truly unable to put down their work.

Brinkman felt that Rein's proposal could solve many problems later on. After all, many soldiers in the Imperial Army had a gambling habit. Every year around Christmas, there would be a group of poor people and a group of rich people, but after Christmas, they would all become poor people, so that there were people who were short of money and borrowing money everywhere.

Brinkman didn't understand at first, which is why Schneider still owes her twenty marks, and it's been several years since then.

The stockings provided were meant to ensure that these people could have a peaceful New Year without having to worry about all sorts of messy things.

"If we calculate the time, there are only ten days left."

Brinkman stuffed the socks he had into a bag, stood up and looked at the soldiers who were spreading the news: "When the war started this year, some people said it would only last three months at most."

"They're just a bunch of idiots who only know about the Imperial War and the Russo-Japanese War," Rein said irritably.

When he was in the capital, he was often called to meetings of the Ministry of National Defense or the General Staff because of military matters. But even in the General Staff, where more than half of the staff had experience in frontline combat command, the prevailing view was that the war could be completed within the year.

The Ministry of Defense is in a more dire situation than the General Staff, but fortunately, many of its members have backgrounds in economics and are well-versed in the economic strength of the Empire, Farland, and the Kingdom.

They initially supported the argument that the war would end in three or four months, but when they realized that the Empire would occupy a portion of Farland's territory in each battle and thus gain considerable revenue, they immediately changed their minds and believed that the war would not end so quickly.

There are two main foundations supporting their argument. First, the Empire's victory did not actually bring it substantial revenue from Farland; in fact, it cost the Empire a great deal of money. Second, the war boosted the productivity and output of all sectors of the Empire's industry, and the resulting accelerated export of goods and circulation of various resources, in a sense, invigorated the Empire's market environment.

Many people are saying that this is what happens when the cannons fire.

Raine didn't think much of this argument, but he knew very well that this was why the Empire's shipping lanes hadn't yet been blocked by the Kingdom's fleet.

If the kingdom breaks the treaty, the empire will soon be in decline.

But now it seems there's no need to worry about the kingdom breaking the treaty.

He looked at the stockings that Brinkman had put back in the box, already calculating in his mind when Lord Brinkman would choose to put nylon into the manufacture of parachutes and various equipment.

The current parachutes are still made of silk, and the price of a single parachute is comparable to the price of a kilogram of gold. Even if the military only needs to consider the cost of materials and the labor cost of weaving, it is still a terrifying expense.

This is why it took the Empire several months to successfully assemble two thousand parachutes.

Firstly, there wasn't enough production capacity, and secondly, it cost too much money; the cost could have been enough to equip an entire division with a full set of infantry gear.

But now with nylon fiber, things have completely changed. The excellent mechanical properties and low cost and high production rate of nylon fiber are enough to allow it to quickly penetrate into various industries, especially parachutes, which are currently extremely difficult to produce.

However, that's not actually the most important thing.

Looking at the supplies in front of him, Renn already had an idea in mind.

"Lieutenant."

He called out to Brinkman, who had already packed his things and was about to leave: "Help me write a letter to the General Staff, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Equipment Development Institute in the capital."

"Do you also want a development lab?" Brinkman asked, puzzled. "What kind of content is it?"

"Nothing else, we just hope that before the war ends, they can force that the raw materials for those stockings can only be used for the production of military equipment and prohibit their export to any country or colony."

"It's just a pair of stockings, is it really necessary to make such a big deal out of it?"

Brinkman said this, but he had already taken out his notebook and pencil and made a clear note: "The Equipment Development Institute doesn't have a telegraph machine, but they do have a telephone. Can we inform them by telephone?"

Ryan shook his head: "No, phone calls aren't safe. You should write a letter. It's only a two-day train ride from Ostend to the capital. It's better to be safe."

"Is it?"

Brinkman was still somewhat confused by what Ryan said.

But she was, after all, an adjutant, and no matter how outrageous her demands were, as long as it was a serious matter, she had to ensure that they were carried out.

Brinkman put away his notebook, nodded to Ryan, and then ran towards the military post office in the distance, leaving Ryan alone in place.

aside.

Lieutenant Kenneth, who had relayed Ryan's words to everyone in the unit, reappeared in Ryan's sight, swaying unsteadily. However, compared to his previous appearance, he no longer seemed as neurotic as McVay.

He walked up to Ryan, gave a lazy salute, and panted, "The message has been passed down, Colonel."

"How did you become like this?"

Looking at the neat rows of scratches on Kenes's face and his somewhat disheveled uniform, Renn couldn't help but feel a little strange.

"He was beaten by the female soldiers of the Third Battalion."

A sergeant following behind him said, "Because you only said it was to be given to the female relatives of the soldiers, not whether it was to be given to the female soldiers, the second lieutenant said in front of them that they wouldn't get any..."

Upon hearing this, Kenneth immediately received an admiring look from Renn.

The surrounding sergeants also covered their eyes, pretending they didn't know Kenneth.

Meanwhile, Renn also noticed that in the more distant camp area, dust had already risen in many places, and the crowds of people almost all had some hair left on their heads, clearly indicating that the group of female soldiers were still searching for Kenes's whereabouts.

After thinking for a moment, Ryan grabbed two packs of socks from the supply shelf, stuffed them into Kenes's hands, and said:

“One person does the work, one person takes the blame, Lieutenant. This is their ration, but they can only use it when they are on leave to go home. Go, remember to each person get two pairs, and bring back any extras.”

Before he could finish speaking, Kenneth's face turned deathly pale, and the surrounding officers scattered like birds and beasts, as if they had no desire to get involved in this mess at all.

Kenneth looked at Renne with the same expression he had when he saw the Phoenix Jeep.

After a while, he finally took the two bags of socks and stepped out with the air of someone about to be executed.

Suddenly, a light, airy voice came from all around, reaching everyone's ears: "Hey, let me tell you, this is called reaping what you sow, you know?"

"Who! Who said that! Come out!"

Kenneth was so angry he was practically fuming, but no matter how he looked at it, everyone around him had their backs to him. Only Ryan was looking at him: "What's wrong, Lieutenant?"

"..."

Rein's words immediately shut Kenneth up. He had countless words stuck in his throat, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single one. He could only squeeze out, "It's nothing, Colonel," and then silently returned to the barracks.

Seeing that Kenneth had left, the people around relaxed and walked towards the cafeteria, chatting amongst themselves.

Before they had even finished walking, Ryan shouted, "McQuay! You stay here!"

Hidden in the corner, McQuay, who had thought he was well hidden, was suddenly startled and his heart tightened: "No, I didn't even show my face, how did they find me?"

But it's too late to run now.

Before he could even get up, Ryan was already standing in front of him: "Why didn't you come straight to me after your vacation? What were you thinking?"

"I……"

McQuay squatted on the ground, looking at Ryan with his back against the wall: "No, I just got back, how did you know?"

Ryan turned off the system map and looked at McQuay: "Only a deaf person wouldn't recognize your voice. How's things at home?"

McQuay had been injured multiple times and had already received several medals for his service, but because he hadn't taken leave, he was given leave last month. He was allowed to take leave from November 20th to December 10th, and was also given five days to travel. So today is exactly the day he's on leave.

When he saw that Renn was asking about things, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Things are fine at home, except that our dog died of old age. We spent money to buy a sheepdog and a bicycle. Apparently, because of the war, bicycles are much more scarce than before, and the price has doubled."

"But it's better than having nothing at all, isn't it?"

Raine took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, looking at Z331 on the mooring tower by the sea.

"Captain Schmidt is waiting for you to report for duty. The new parachutes have arrived. You missed a month of training, so go and jump twenty times today."

McQuay:

(End of this chapter)