Chapter 350 05.0349: "Front-line meals for Astra Militarum soldiers"

Horatio gracefully toured the camp holding Louise's arm.

It was called an "inspection" of the camp, but in fact he and Louise were just taking a walk in the camp during their free time before the chef of the brigade's mess prepared a celebratory banquet.

At this time, the soldiers in the camp also began to prepare for dinner. Each class was a "group". Soldiers who had no tasks gathered in front of their respective tents, chatting and waiting for the meal to start.

Each class will send someone to the company's kitchen to help prepare today's dinner. Although the main step of cooking is completed by the cooks, preparation steps such as peeling potatoes, soaking and washing ingredients in water, adding firewood, etc. are all done by each class according to the shift schedule, and they take turns sending people to help.

Preparing dinner for nearly two thousand people is not an easy task, and the grassroots soldiers are also happy to have the hot food delivered to them as soon as possible.

The two companies of cooks gathered together their 'stew cannons' - a standard Astra Militarum cooking vehicle.

Although the two companies came from different battalions of different regiments, they were both British.

They don't mind working together and dividing the work, handling different meals to improve efficiency.

"Hello, sir." Seeing two naval officers holding each other's arms intimately coming to inspect, the soldiers in the kitchen squad saluted one after another.

In their eyes, the officers of the Imperial Navy were "outsiders to be kept at a distance" and were people they could not afford to offend.

Every Astra Militarum soldier who has traveled on a naval ship knows the navy's complicated and headache-inducing rules and its strict and dogmatic discipline.

As passengers, they also had to follow the rules set by the Imperial Navy on their territory.

After all, they knew very well that they were just sent by the Imperial Navy and were the nth batch of passing passengers.

And those who make the rules are the real masters of those steel behemoths in the void above their heads.

"Please continue, soldiers, we are just here to take a look." Looking at the Astra Militarum soldiers whose eyes were filled with curiosity and awe, Horatio returned a nod of greeting.

At his signal, the soldiers continued to work, but they still glanced at the two people from time to time, somewhat absent-minded.

"Wow, look, an officer of the Imperial Navy. Look at his outfit, so impressive. What rank do you think he is?" A line private with his sleeves rolled up was wielding a demolition axe, splitting the firewood into pieces in a cross shape, while whispering to the person next to him.

"Lieutenant Colonel? Major? I don't know much about naval ranks. Their ranks are said to be different from ours." His companion said, shaking his hands as he moved the sawed logs aside.

"Idiot, how can a person who can stay in the brigade headquarters and ride the same horse as our brigadier general have a low status?" The private who was throwing firewood into the bottom of the stove in the 'stew cannon' cooking car wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his dirty work gloves, his tone showing off.

"You don't understand, right? That male officer is a captain in the Imperial Navy, the head of a department on a certain warship above us. See, did you see the gold tassel shoulder plates on his shoulders? That's the insignia of his rank. As for the female officer, she is a reserve officer, a trainee officer of the Imperial Navy.

Unlike us, they only have one officer on a ship. My brother is a hired chef on a naval warship. No one here knows the navy better than me. Hmm~ Today's potato soup is good, the taste is really good~"

A cook who was cooking soup proudly scooped up the thick white soup with a large spoon and poured it into his own hidden small porcelain plate beside him. He took a sip, smacked his lips and explained to others.

"My goodness, look at the white-collar female officer he's holding. She's so tall and cool, and has a nice figure. The women in the Imperial Navy are prettier and more attractive than those in our Astra Militarum.

"Tsk, look at this clean and neat style, her skin looks whiter and smoother than the old fat man's precious porcelain plate, tsk, tsk, tsk, this tall woman is really fascinating." Another cook crossed his arms, pinched his chin, and commented on Louise in the distance, saying in admiration.

"Full granary and a big butt. Hehehe, if I had a Cardinal wife like this, I could give birth to 20 children for my family!" A private soldier squatting on the ground peeling potatoes laughed.

"Peel the potatoes properly. It's not even dark yet, but you're already dreaming. After lights out, go do your own work. If you don't finish peeling these potatoes in half an hour, your brothers will have to eat late. You won't be allowed to work the day shift tomorrow." His corporal deputy squad leader kicked him in the butt.

Listening to the envious whispers of the Astra Militarum soldiers, Horatio adjusted his bicorne hat and straightened his back.

For officers of the Imperial Navy, it is part of their duty to maintain the navy's respectable, noble and distant image in front of outsiders.

"Yes, it's minced meat with white sauce." Louise leaned lightly against him, sniffed, identified the fragrance in the air, and then said with certainty.

"Hmm? What is that?" Horatio was a little curious. "Hmm... a canned meal commonly found in the Astra Militarum." Louise raised a finger and tapped the corner of her rosy lips. Her purple eyes drifted upwards, recalling her military life in Cadia.
"I remember it was minced meat pressed into thin flakes and canned biltong, mixed with white sauce and canned peas and cooked."

It's a shame to think that, as a superior person who lived a standard of a wealthy life as an Imperial Navy officer not long after arriving in this world, Horatio has not yet tasted the overly strange, relatively simple but worldly food of this world.

"Hmm, it sounds delicious."

"What about this?" Horatio asked, looking at a pot of brown soup that was already simmering with a fragrant aroma, but no trace of meat was in the pot.

"This is 'beef tea', sir." The squad leader of the kitchen squad who was boiling the soup straightened up reflexively, waving a spoon in one hand and wiping the sweat from his head with the sleeve of the other hand.

"Oh?"

"Yes, this is a specialty of our Britain. We have a kind of carnivorous cattle in our area, which has a high meat yield.

In Britain, we use a ratio of 30 catties to 1 catties to make beef essence from this kind of cattle for easy transportation and storage.

When the fire is on, dilute it with water and cook it into broth, which becomes beef tea, which tastes delicious. It is perfect for this cold weather and very nourishing. Would you two officers like a bowl to warm your body?"

Horatio looked at Louise, who nodded with a curious look in her eyes.

The man used the Star Army's signature insulated plastic steel bowl to scoop a bowl of steaming beef tea for each of the two men.

Horatio held the bowl in his hand, and after blowing it slightly to cool it down, he took a sip. The meaty aroma was rich and the delicious taste spread on the tip of his tongue, which was no different from drinking a bowl of real broth.

He looked at the soldiers next to him who were eating on the ground after getting their meals. They did not drink the beef tea in big gulps right away after receiving it.

Instead, he poured out some shriveled and hard bread slices from the bread can, and soaked them directly in the beef tea without cutting them. After chatting and boasting with his comrades around him, he forked out the bread that had been completely softened after absorbing the soup and ate it.

This makes the canned noodles, which originally had a monotonous taste but have been canned and sealed for countless decades or even hundreds of years, taste delicious.

This can also be said to be a reflection of the soldiers' creativity on the battlefield.

A sip of beef tea with canned bread and a bite of minced meat salad and stewed beans were a relatively hearty dinner for these soldiers, but they were going to eat more than that tonight.

After a while, the dinner bell rang again, indicating that the extra meal to celebrate today's victory was freshly prepared.

The 'baked meat rolls' were made by stacking several layers of stringy canned meat scraps, then a layer of flour crust, wrapping them up and putting them in the oven. They were stacked in a baking tray and brought out by a big man from the kitchen wearing thick heat-insulating gloves.

After it came out of the oven, the cook scooped a full spoonful of thick sauce made from beef broth, canned soups and sauces, and thickening flour paste from the large stew pot and poured it generously on the food.

When the bright golden-red sauce is poured on the baked meat rolls, the aroma of the baked pasta and soft minced meat is fully stimulated and fills the air. The delicious and mellow sauce soaks the meat rolls, making everyone who sees it salivate.

The soldiers in the camp swallowed unconsciously, and then cheered. For a moment, Horatio's ears were filled with the unique sound of spoons and forks hitting the plastic steel lunch boxes.

These crude foods, which were looked down upon by naval officers, were rare delicacies for the soldiers of the Astra Militarum.

When the war situation was more urgent, these soldiers could not even eat such hot meals. Being able to scoop up canned meat covered with yellow wax grease in the trenches with a spoon was considered a good treatment.

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(End of this chapter)