Holy Roman Empire

We also have no plan to maintain the alliance for a long time. Since the British come in to disrupt the situation, it may not be a bad thing to tear up the alliance earlier. "

Franz nodded. The purpose of forming an alliance is to win time for peaceful development.Now that the French have been brought into the pit, they are simply unable to do things in the European continent in a short period of time, and the original purpose has been achieved.

At this time, the importance of the alliance to Austria has become dispensable.That being the case, there is no need to stick to it.It is also a good choice to carry out the final waste utilization and improve Austria's reputation in the world.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to negotiate with the British, and try to delay the alliance until the second half of next year without affecting the outcome of the negotiations.

The South African War has reached the present, and it is difficult to end it in a short time.The people below have invested so much, it is necessary for us to create an opportunity for them. "

As a good leader, Franz is clear about his devotion to the African nobles.For this war, many nobles are doing their best.

Even though the Vienna government is bearing the military expenses, wars will kill people, and the losses of the cronies and private troops cannot be made up for in a day or two.

Not to mention some unlucky nobles who fell directly on the battlefield.In any case, they all sacrificed for the national interest, and now the Vienna government needs to give them an explanation.

If they are incompetent and have not been able to conquer Cape Town, then there is no way to dig a hole and bury it by themselves, and no one will have an opinion.

If for diplomatic reasons, the Vienna government forcibly stopped the war, wouldn't their efforts be in vain?

Without military merits, there would be no rewards. If they could not go further, they would not even be able to recover the cost with the government's military salary alone.

Franz would never do chilling things.It is very worthwhile to delay for a few months to increase the loyalty of the African nobles.

Anyway, these expenses can be recovered with South Africa's mineral resources.The better the fight on the battlefield, the stronger the confidence in the post-war negotiations.

As for the decline in the local population due to the war, there is no way, everything needs to be paid.

Weisenberg replied: "Yes, Your Majesty. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try its best to buy time for the front line, and blood will not be shed in vain."

The war has progressed to the present, and the losses on the South African battlefield are also astronomical.The Boer Republic side lost a total of 34.15 troops. Well, the fraction after that is the real casualty of Austria.

Otherwise, everyone in the Boer Republic would have to die twice to barely get enough people.

The British army was not much better, with 10,000+ casualties, and it was also dominated by cannon fodder troops.White soldiers lost more than 2 people, including a large number of prisoners, and only 8000 to [-] died in battle.

The main factor causing the disparity in casualties, in addition to the British army's defeat at the beginning, was more the reason for the offensive and defensive battle in Cape Town.

On average, it now takes more than a dozen cannon fodder to fight off a British soldier, and the casualties of the two sides naturally distanced themselves.

This situation is estimated to continue until the arrival of the Indian colonial army, and then the two colonial empires will have a big cannon fodder PK.

Viscount Fickney was still aware of the high-level decisions of the two countries, and the rising number of casualties shocked him, the colonial leader.

At this moment, he had some admiration for the Russians, who were able to rely on human lives to pile up, but the French couldn't bear the casualties and were forced to abandon Constantinople.

You must know that the South African battlefield is filled with indigenous people, and the Russians use their own people as cannon fodder. This is not a concept at all.

As Christmas approaches, Cape Town remains motionless.After so many days of war, the Boer Republic Army only knocked out the outer fortifications of the British.

This is all filled with hundreds of thousands of cannon fodder troops. If the fight continues like this, there will definitely not be enough young and strong people in South Africa.

Viscount Fickney said wearily: "Everyone is aware of the situation on the battlefield. I have already contacted the Governor of Congo. They promised to send 5 cannon fodder over in the near future, and the Governor of East Africa also agreed to send [-] people.

There is no need to count on the farther West African region. There are not many indigenous people there, and the distance is too far, and it will take too long.

Not to mention the South African region, except for the indigenous tribes in the deep mountains and old forests, the rest have been conscripted, and there are not many young and strong.

There is no way to continue to consume like this. Even if we use up the 10,000+ cannon fodder in our hands, and then finish the cannon fodder troops aided by various places, we may not be able to conquer Cape Town.

The plan to conquer Cape Town before Christmas was now bankrupt, and it would not be long before British reinforcements arrived.

At this time, we need new tactics, at least to reduce the casualties of the attacking troops, otherwise it will be difficult to kill the British. "

It would be too much loss for the main force to attack head-on, and Viscount Fickney could not afford such a loss, so he chose the tactic of using cannon fodder troops to fight a war of attrition.

No matter how disparate the exchange ratio is, the besieged British will suffer.Once the loss exceeds the tolerance limit, the British will admit defeat.

Of course, this is the most ideal state. Given the importance of the Cape of Good Hope, it is impossible for the British to give up easily.The war is all about money and food, and if it lasts too long, Austria can't afford it either.

Chief of Staff Jacob thought for a while and said: "There is no way, but if you use it now, it will be difficult to play a role later. It is impossible to end this war before Christmas."

Blindly attacking is the most stupid way. At the beginning of doing this, the logistics did not keep up. There is not much food in the army, so they can't afford so much cannon fodder, so they can only send it up for consumption.

With the passage of time, the logistical problems have been gradually solved, and the number of cannon fodder troops has also plummeted, so there is no need to continue to die.

After all, there are still many places that need cannon fodder in the future. Even if the British line of defense is torn apart, a lot of lives will still be needed to fill it up.

Viscount Fickney shook his head and said: "Don't worry about so many, use the method first, the worst thing is that after the arrival of the British reinforcements, we will use the second plan.

The British have supplementary sea transportation channels. This kind of fortified battle has lost too much, and the chances of conquering Cape Town are not high.

In the last few days, even if the main force is pulled up, it is impossible to end the war before Christmas. "

It's not that Viscount Fickney is reluctant to be killed or injured. The main reason is that the number of main forces is limited and he really can't afford to lose.In case of heavy losses, even if the line of defense is torn, it may be pushed back by the British.

Otherwise, there is an advantage in firepower, suppressing the firepower of the British, and the cannon fodder troops alone may not even be able to touch the hair of the British.

Jacob nodded and said, "Then dig trenches, get as close as possible, and then dig tunnels to blow up the enemy's fortifications.

The British never thought that there would be enemies in the inland areas. Most of these fortifications were built temporarily. As long as the foundation was loosened, ordinary artillery could solve it. "

In fact, it can be broken directly with artillery, but heavy artillery is needed.However, the number of heavy artillery in the army of the Boer Republic is limited, and it is impossible to take care of it while suppressing the enemy's firepower.

This was an underestimation in advance. It was taken for granted that the cement in the Cape Town area was limited, and a large number of reinforced concrete fortresses could not be built in a short time, and the number of heavy artillery prepared was not enough.

Viscount Fickney wanted to end the war before Christmas on the premise that the British did not build a modern fortress, and he did not expect that the old fox in Delphi would be prepared in advance.

Just after breaking into the gate of Cape Town, they were greeted by rows of temporary bunker fortresses.Although not perfect, this also shattered Viscount Ficney's dream of a quick victory.

Now the combat objective has also changed. Viscount Fickney no longer fantasizes about ending the war before Christmas, but instead consumes as much of the British troops as possible before reinforcements arrive.

In order to implement the second set of plans, lure the enemy to go deep, and change the battlefield before a decisive battle.

The biggest problem with the second plan is that the British have to dare to come out, otherwise, more deployments will be useless.

This requires enough reinforcements from the British to bring enough confidence to the governor of Delphi, so that this frightened bird can come out.

Now it is to keep putting pressure on the British in the city to ask the London government for reinforcements.The more reinforcements there are, the more likely the British will be tricked.

As for the question of whether there are too many enemies and whether they will choke to death, it is simply not within the scope of Viscount Fickney's consideration.

The British can increase their troops, and Austria can also increase their troops.On the African continent, the British had little chance of winning.

Viscount Fickney made a decision without hesitation: "Then try it first and see the effect."

……

Maybe God doesn't like war, South Africa is extremely hot this summer.The sun is like a fireball, scorching the earth, the air is sultry, and the ground is scorching hot, people feel hot when walking on the ground.

The hot summer brought great trouble to the siege army.If it weren't for the coolness brought by the wind that blows from time to time, I don't know how many people would suffer from heat stroke under the scorching sun.

Major Hanks, who was commanding the troops, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, and cursed helplessly, "This damn weather."

The roaring artillery sounded again, which was the signal to attack. Without any hesitation, Major Hanks immediately urged: "Get up quickly, it's time for you bastards to assemble."

While talking and kicking, it was not only Major Hanks who acted at the same time, but also some black officers.

About a quarter of an hour passed before the mob team assembled.It took another quarter of an hour, with the help of the black officers, before Major Hanks managed to send the unit to the battlefield.

For this cannon fodder unit, Major Hanks is already desperate.But anyone who is a bit self-motivated is an officer, and the role of an officer is to assist in the management of this cannon fodder unit, and there is no need to charge forward in person.

War is the best teacher. After experiencing the baptism of blood and fire, Major Hanks has completed his transformation.

At the beginning, he planned to train this cannon fodder unit to serve as the main auxiliary corps.

After all, the combat effectiveness of the untrained cannon fodder troops is too poor to undertake real combat missions. The Boer Republic army also needs an auxiliary corps with certain combat effectiveness, perhaps advanced cannon fodder.

Facts have proved that Hanks is not a military god, and he does not have the power to turn decay into magic.After two months of trying, he was forced to give up his original fantasy.

Since there is no training value, it can only be sent up as primary cannon fodder.Routinely launch an attack every day. If you die, you will be done. If you are alive, you will continue to repeat this unskilled work.

As long as you kill an Englishman, you can be promoted to an officer, provided that you can come back alive and bring back evidence of military exploits.

There are only a few lucky ones like this, most of them fell on the road of charge, and some of them fell on the battlefield while killing the British.

After a delay of more than half an hour, this army with no future, under the deterrence of the supervisor team, launched an attack on the enemy.

The scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere can no longer move Major Hanks, and now he only cares about one thing, and that is to estimate the outcome of the battle.

As soon as the generals were successful, in the blood and fire, I don't know how many young Austrian officers were baptized and grew up.

Chapter 58 Christmas

Vienna, covered in silver, once again ushered in the annual Christmas.The severe cold did not dispel everyone's enthusiasm, and the festive atmosphere has filled Vienna.

The shop windows display a variety of Christmas gifts, and around the Gothic fountain in the center of the square, colorful game sheds for the Christmas market have been set up.

There are also many artists on the street who started their performances, full of warm, sweet, sentimental and melancholy music melodies and pleasing dances.

The charm of an international metropolis is fully revealed, and Vienna is well-deserved as the capital of music and art.Here you can enjoy European music with different characteristics, dances and magic in different styles.

Franz still hasn't received any good news from South Africa, and it seems that the war will not end before Christmas.There was no accident, all of this was expected by Franz.

It is also a good thing to encounter a little setback, which can make people calm down.Over the years, Austria has expanded so smoothly that many people have drifted away.

Occupy Cape Town before Christmas would not be shouted if it were not for hubris.Now that it's failed, it's time to rein in the Austrian wagon.

The era of great colonial expansion is over, and what remains are some dispensable leftovers.The next step is to develop yourself and turn the spoils into your own strength.

There are no successful examples to refer to in this regard. The performance of the major colonial empires in the original time and space failed.Without being able to transform it into its own strength, a world war broke out.

Then there was no more, the strength was greatly damaged in the world war, and new competitors rose up, making them lose their last chance.

The British imperial federation plan and the French provincial strategy were carried out too late and failed under the external intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union.

The troublesome question temporarily left Franz's mind, and Christmas was still to be celebrated.This day is World Peace Day, and European countries will not engage in trouble at this time.

The ongoing Anglo-Boer war has also ceased, and the two sides can enjoy this special festival without worrying about the other party launching a surprise attack.

The Christmas gifts prepared by Franz have been distributed to every soldier. Although they are just some ordinary candies, everyone is very happy.

Shoddy Santa Clauses appeared in the barracks, covered with cards.This is also a benefit of compulsory education. Soldiers can write their own Christmas wishes.

The temporary church also opened for business on this day, and the military priest became busy.

Viscount Fickney sighed helplessly. The soldiers were celebrating the festival, but the officers were frowning.

The war has progressed to the present, and victory is still far away.The country has given a final answer. If Cape Town cannot be conquered within the deadline, then the war will cease.

I dug the hole myself and filled it myself. The original plan was to end the war within half a year. Now that the time has been extended to one year, the war still cannot be ended. Naturally, there is no need to continue.

If it weren't for the later siege battles, where cannon fodder troops were used to attack, the morale of the army might have collapsed long ago.

Even so, soldiers became war-weary.Perhaps it is due to self-esteem, or the relationship between cultural traditions, these emotions have not been shown.

But the officers had noticed it.Watching the scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere every day, without a mental breakdown, is considered a strong heart.

At this time, the officers can only act as psychological doctors to appease everyone's uneasy emotions.Christmas is a good spice to relax the tense nerves, and it is very good for relieving mental stress.

Compared with the lost Viscount Fickney, the governor of Delphi in the city is really living like a year.Suffering consecutive defeats, Cape Town's morale fell to the bottom.

The supply of military supplies can still be guaranteed, but the large number of war refugees will be miserable.After losing their livelihood, they simply cannot bear the high food price and can only rely on government relief.

The colonial government of Cape Town was not rich, and after being deducted layer by layer by the bureaucrats, even the distribution of supplies became a problem.Even if it is Christmas, there is only an extra 300 grams of fish.

It is caught by fishermen from the sea and is now the main meat in Cape Town.The price of beef and mutton transported across the ocean is sky-high, and ordinary people simply cannot afford it.

The "Boer Republic Army" never stopped refugees from entering the city, and even deliberately led the surrounding British people to gather in Cape Town.From Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope, there are now refugees everywhere.

If the army is included, the total population of this small palm-sized place has exceeded 40.This number would have been even greater if it hadn't been for Governor Delphi's decisive order to expel blacks and mixed races.

More people do not necessarily mean more power, but more people must consume more.To feed so many people, at least 1500 tons of living materials are consumed every day.

In addition to various strategic materials, the Cape Colony needs to send at least 3000 tons of materials from the outside world every day to meet its basic needs.

The actual demand is much greater than this.The building materials for building fortifications are an astronomical figure.

If the war continues, Cape Town will become the most densely fortified city in the world.

What is even more tragic is the lack of water in Cape Town, which will be the most water-deficient city in the world in future generations, and it is no exception now.

The external tap water supply was cut off by the enemy early on, and they could only find a way in this small area between Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope.

The largest source of fresh water resources is the rain from the sky.There is no hope for groundwater at all, otherwise why desalinize seawater?

There is nothing to be short of water. Now the British can only buy water from the Portuguese. If a few thousand tons of water are not sent someday, the crisis will erupt immediately.

In order to save water, seawater is now used to build fortifications.Governor Delphi can no longer take care of the sequelae, as long as he can make do with it right now.

It can be said that Cape Town now lacks everything except population.Water, food, fuel, building materials... none of the local areas can be self-sufficient.

Even for Britain, it seems a bit difficult to supply so many supplies.

In order to reduce the pressure on supplies, every time a ship carrying supplies comes over, it will take away a boatload of refugees.

The population is decreasing, and what to do with the future development of Cape Town is no longer a concern.