Chapter 160: Reform
Professor Anton Perutz's ideas would be tested in East Africa over the coming years. However, while continuing his scientific research, he also had to take on the responsibility of finding ways to increase agricultural yields and improve crops in East Africa.
This was the task Constantin assigned to Anton Perutz's team—otherwise, who knew how far these scientists' research might deviate. Conducting scientific research was acceptable, but contributing to the East African colony was a must. Constantin funded the Agricultural Research Institute ultimately to serve his own colony, not truly out of dedication to the cause of human scientific advancement.
...
November 7, 1868.
Europe, Prussia, Hechingen.
As time passed, the Hechingen Military Academy grew larger in scale, with increasingly complete facilities and teaching staff.
The current enrollment had reached over 3,700 students, with most coming from Europe, the Far East, and South America.
Originally, when Constantin established the Hechingen Military Academy, the intention was to develop it into a specialized military academy.
However, things didn't go as planned. The development of the East African colony required a large number of language translators and technical military personnel, resulting in the Hechingen Military Academy turning into a crash course German language school.
Now that East Africa had developed to its current stage, there was no longer a need to assign language translators to immigrants to enforce instructions and policies.
With the significant increase in European immigration and the initial success of German-language education in East Africa, many non-German-speaking immigrants had already learned to communicate in German, which in turn pressured the remaining individuals to actively learn the language.
In the past two years, the Hechingen Cultural School had begun to replace the Hechingen Military Academy by providing East Africa with professionally trained, lower-education personnel. As the East African regular army no longer sought expansion, demand for the Hechingen Military Academy had sharply decreased.
All these factors led Constantin to consider bringing the Hechingen Military Academy back to its original purpose—becoming a cradle for training professional military personnel for his own needs.
To restore the Hechingen Military Academy to what it was meant to be, Constantin planned to work on four aspects:
First, the academic system. Cancel the crash courses and restore normal teaching order by implementing a three-year program.
At present, East Africa had a surplus of military talent, and its enemies were all indigenous tribes, making large numbers of professional military personnel unnecessary.
With the establishment of the Hechingen Cultural School supplying German-speaking students, the Military Academy no longer needed to teach German to non-German-speaking students.
Think of the Hechingen Cultural School as primary school, and the Military Academy as secondary school. Over the past two years, students taken in by Hechingen were first sent to the Cultural School for basic training.
Graduates of the Hechingen Cultural School were categorized into three tiers:
Tier 1: Outstanding students who could apply or be assigned by Constantin to study within the German educational system for further education—typically reserved for true prodigies.Tier 2: High-performing students who stood out within the Cultural School and would enter the Military Academy or intern at enterprises under the Hechingen Consortium.Tier 3: Average or underperforming students who would be sent to work in East Africa in fields such as education and translation.
This system ensured that the Military Academy received relatively strong student intake.
Second, textbook reform. Seek professionals to revise the Military Academy's textbooks, adding more specialized knowledge and courses.
The first edition of the textbooks had been compiled by Constantin himself, and while not particularly professional, the ideological indoctrination content was not to be removed. However, the professional content could be updated.
Third, faculty improvement. Hire a batch of professional retired officers from the Prussian military as instructors.
Currently, the Hechingen Military Academy's teaching force was too weak. A new group of highly qualified senior teachers was needed.
Fourth, build specialized training grounds.
A military academy couldn't do without extensive training. At the moment, the Military Academy was confined to campus and lacked proper training facilities.
Constantin planned to designate a large, relatively complex terrain in western Hechingen to be developed as a training field for student use.
That area was sparsely populated and featured a mix of hills, plains, and vast forests—perfect for training.
Without delay, Constantin—having just returned from France—immediately began reforming the Military Academy.
First, he conducted a thorough evaluation of the students. Due to age differences, some students had not progressed from the Cultural School, resulting in uneven student quality.
Constantin kindly prepared an exam for them. Those who passed could stay; those who failed were split into two groups: the younger ones were sent back to the Cultural School for retraining, and the older ones were dispatched to East Africa for employment.
Those who remained now had similar educational backgrounds and generally healthy physiques, making it easier to implement unified instruction.
As for materials and instructors, Constantin planned to recruit from the German states. Poaching from Prussia might be difficult, but some smaller states had promising talent.
Especially after Prussia integrated the northern German military forces, individuals with differing military philosophies were purged from the army.
Though their philosophies differed, their military skills remained solid. Constantin planned to use his connections to hire them to teach at Hechingen.
Diverging military philosophies weren't a problem. The Hechingen Military Academy was a school, not an army. As long as those philosophies didn't influence students ideologically, Constantin could tolerate them.
Building the training field would be the easiest part. Nominally, all of Hechingen belonged to Constantin's family, so he could simply ask his father to allocate land.
Then, by setting up a security perimeter and support facilities, students could conduct live-fire exercises.
Training within the school was no longer enough. Constantin couldn't set up a firing range on campus. Originally, for ease of supply and construction, the academy had been built on the outskirts of Hechingen Town, not far from residential areas.
It was impossible to distribute weapons for unrestricted training in such proximity.
Moreover, with crash courses being the norm in the past, there was no focus on students' professional levels, and no need for live-fire drills. As long as they had some book knowledge, could fire a gun, and were physically fit, they could be sent to East Africa to join the military.
Now that Constantin aimed to turn the academy into a professional military institution, live-fire exercises were a must.
Combat is always the only standard by which to measure a military's effectiveness. Since students currently had no chance to experience real war, simulated battlefield environments would have to do to enhance their military competence.
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