Chapter 321

The setting sun was like blood, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on the ground, illuminating the wreckage. The air was filled with the smell of blood and smoke.

From time to time, dark brown centipedes would descend from the sky and snatch a piece of meat from the ground. The atmosphere was particularly strange, as if they were in hell.

The soldiers were busy cleaning up the battlefield and had no time to care. After a big battle, everyone was a little tired. They just wanted to quickly collect the bodies of their comrades and send them back to God's embrace.

As for the enemy's bodies, they didn't have to worry about them. They could just let the recruited Zulu deal with them and dig a hole to bury them.

There was no other way. There were always all kinds of accidents on the battlefield. For example, fainting in an accident, or being shot. If this situation was left to the unreliable Zulu people, they could all be buried alive.

It didn't matter if it was the enemy, but if their comrades were dealt with in the same way, it would be a tragedy.

So when it came to cleaning up the battlefield, it was the Boer Republic soldiers and Zulu laborers. The former was in charge of inspection and command, while the latter was in charge of carrying the stretcher.

Not far away, a Boer officer came over with a few soldiers. He was a middle-aged man of about forty or fifty years old. He was slender and slightly thin, with a head of golden hair and a pair of eyes that made him look particularly vigorous.

The man was Viscount Ficney, who was inspecting the battlefield. They had to go all the way, so all the participants in the battle had changed into Boer Republic uniforms.

This batch of uniforms had been made in a hurry. Because of the tight time, many of the uniforms were ordinary clothes that had been dyed and used.

Do not underestimate this change. On the battlefield, a bright uniform was a living target. Although the yellow-green uniform of the Boer Republic was not very good-looking, it was more practical.

If you climbed on the ground, it would look like the color of the ground from afar, making it easier to hide.

In comparison, the British army on the other side was very flashy. Their red military uniforms were beautiful, but they were beautiful. Their red uniforms were beautiful, but they did not fit in with the local environment.

For Viscount Ficney, who spent most of his time on the African continent, what was beauty? Could it be eaten?

As a pragmatist, Viscount Ficney never cared about the aesthetics of the military uniform.

Even in daily life, except for attending banquets or certain events, he wore a military uniform the rest of the time, and it was a camouflage uniform suitable for the jungle in Africa.

This was the experience of living in Africa for many years. The closer the clothes were to the natural environment, the easier it was to survive.

In fact, during this period, the Austrian military uniforms were the same. The garrisons in different regions had different colors. For example, the troops in Libya and the Sinai Peninsula wore khaki uniforms, while the troops in the Congo region wore camouflage uniforms of various colors.

In South Africa, the yellow-green uniforms of the Boer Republic were more suitable. In the war in Africa, the yellow-green uniforms of the Boer Republic were more suitable.

Viscount Fickney took advantage of the British's dazzling military uniform and ambushed them many times in the forest.

After a few battles, the British had now learned not to enter the forest. They took the initiative to shrink the battle line and only fought them head-on on the battlefield.

Viscount Ficney to the beginning. This was just the the beginning. of of of the beginning the beginning of of the beginning.

This was decided by the exchange ratio between the two sides on the battlefield. On the battlefield, it was usually seven to one or eight to one. In the forest, it was common for ten to one.

. of. on and to to was to time to to to to to Africa to to to to. Unfortunately, the fighting power of the native army was limited. Other than being killed, they were useless on the battlefield.

It was a pity that the native army's combat strength was only this little. Other than sending themselves to death, they were just bystanders on the battlefield.

If it wasn't for the British soldiers, they wouldn't even be able to fight. It wasn't that these soldiers weren't brave. In fact, they were braver than most of the British soldiers.

However, this wasn't the era of cold weapons. Bravery didn't equal fighting power. Military discipline was lax, orders were ignored, and they often fired at the air without checking to see if there was an enemy.

Not only in the 19th century, but even in the 21st century, many African armies fought like this. When the two armies fired at each other, they didn't even look at the enemy's position. The muzzles were raised high, and the bullets flew into the sky.

When they charged, they swarmed forward without any formation. They didn't have Maxim guns now, but Austria didn't lack Gatling guns. They were the most suitable to deal with this kind of random charge.

If they didn't care about their own lives, the British commander wouldn't care about the casualties of this group of cannon fodder. At the beginning of the war, they used the lives of the British and the native as cannon fodder.

Compared to the war in Europe, this was more like child's play. Therefore, even though this war was very intense, most of the casualties were caused by this group of cannon fodder.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was worried about wasting ammunition and increasing the logistical pressure, Viscount Fickney was also prepared to form a cannon fodder army to fight the British.

Viscount Fickney had experience with this kind of thing. When he was cleaning up the native tribes, in order to reduce the losses, he formed a native army to fight.

When it came to killing their own people, these people weren't lenient. Viscount Fickney was sure that the number of Africans who died at the hands of the colonists wasn't even one-fifth of the number who died at the hands of their own people. It wasn't even one-tenth.

After all, labor was also money. The colonists still valued their wallets. Only the native army didn't care. When the war was over, the native army was almost depleted.

Even so, Viscount Fickney still formed a native cold weapon army. Every time there was a melee, he would send them out.

In the Anglo-Boer War, it wasn't strange to find two black troops fighting while two white troops watched the show from the back. This was all normal.

This was a tacit understanding between the two sides. The British also hoped to use this kind of battle to equalize the casualty ratio between the two sides.

Viscount Fickney also didn't want to end the war immediately. Just driving the British out of the Boer Republic wasn't enough to satisfy his appetite. He now had his eyes on British South Africa.

This kind of small victory was not enough to make the British admit defeat. Only by giving them hope of victory would the war continue.

When the battlefield was pushed into the heart of British South Africa, it would be the time for the decisive battle. At that time, the Boer Republic recruits would also become veterans. In one move, they would directly occupy Cape Town and become an established fact.

At that point, it would be time for the foreign ministries of the two countries to wrangle. Regardless of the final outcome of the negotiations, their military merits would be in their hands. On this issue, all the nobles who participated in this war had an unprecedentedly unified position.

Ever since this new mode of battle was activated, the exchange ratio between the two sides rapidly decreased. From the super high number of seven to one, it quickly decreased to within two to one. Occasionally, it would even overtake the ratio.

In any case, it wasn't their own people who died, so there was no pressure on either side.

Whether it was Governor Delphi or Viscount Fickney, the battle reports they sent would never mention the casualties of the native troops. Even the organization of the troops could be brushed aside.

In just a few months, the total number of casualties in the Anglo-Boer War exceeded 100,000. If they were all white soldiers, no one could bear it.

Now, it was easy for everyone to report. It didn't matter if they lost the battle. They just had to catch a cannon fodder troop and beat them up. Once they had enough heads, they could write the battle report.

With just a brush, even a great defeat could be turned into a draw. The reason why they had to retreat was to change their strategy so that the enemy wouldn't be able to take advantage of them.

Governor Delphi's battle report was written in this way. On one hand, news of victory kept coming, while on the other hand, he kept asking for reinforcements. There was nothing wrong with this. They just had to find an excuse, such as: the enemy had increased their troops.

This was the African continent, and the members of parliament couldn't personally go to the front lines to check. The Government of London was full of their own people. If they lost the battle at the front lines, the cabinet would also be questioned by the parliament.

A burly young officer with a smile on his face ran over and reported to Viscount Fickney, "General, the casualties have been counted. 76 of our troops were killed and 84 injured. We defeated more than 3,000 enemy troops, killed 156 of them, and captured 98."

This data automatically filtered out the casualties of the native troops on both sides. Even if it was recorded, it would be useless. The Government of Vienna wouldn't recognize it.

Killing the white soldiers was a military achievement. Annihilating the native troops was just a bonus, so it could only be counted as 100 to 1.

Even with this data, after subtracting the casualties of their own cannon fodder troops, there was nothing left at all.

This was not because the Government of Vienna was harsh, but because it was a practical necessity. If there were no such restrictions, these nobles would be able to kill millions of people within a year. Then there would be marshals everywhere, and dukes everywhere.

What was moral integrity? It didn't exist at all, okay? Even if they had to turn all the native people into military achievements, the colonists would still do it.

With this restriction, things would be different. If someone really relied on the natives to earn military achievements, they would have to kill at least hundreds of thousands of people to be conferred a noble. It was basically impossible to rely on a few hundred colonists to do it.

It didn't matter if they couldn't earn military achievements. Other than military achievements, the spoils of war and seized land could also be converted into military achievements.

Most of the nobles were conferred titles by expanding their territory, so the spoils of war were naturally kept for themselves. After all, it was too expensive to exchange for military achievements.

This was legal. All the spoils of war could be dealt with by themselves, whether it was exchanging them for military achievements from the government or dividing them among themselves.

Because of this, the South African war became so popular. After all, this was a real military achievement. Not only could they be conferred a noble, but they could also be promoted in military ranks.

Although military ranks were useless, in fact, in the German Region, it was a symbol of glory, especially when it was achieved with real swords and guns. It was the most respected.

Even if he was a commoner, he would still be respected by everyone if he rose to power through his military exploits. On the contrary, the nobles without military achievements would be looked down upon by the older nobles.

Up until now, there was an increase in the number of nobles reporting to Viscount Ficney. Some joined as individuals, some led their family's private army, and even the armed forces under the colonial company joined. If the war continued, the number would continue to increase.

If not for the participation of these people, it was unknown how long it would take for the new "Boer Republic Army" to form a combat force.

After all, soldiers could be trained in a few months, but officers were not so easy to train. An army without a qualified officer to command would also be very limited in terms of combat power.

This result was not out of Viscount Ficney's expectations. The British were still as slippery as ever. They brought up the rear with the cannon fodder troops and ran away first.

He ordered in high spirits, "Got it. Pass down the order, each unit will first settle the wounded. The main force will rest for a day, then continue forward. "

The young officer replied, "Yes, General!"

Viscount Ficney frowned slightly and said calmly, "Don't call me General. I'm just a colonel now. If word gets out, I'll be a joke."

He had no choice. Even though he commanded tens of thousands of troops, his military rank was still a colonel. Even if he wanted to be promoted, he would have to wait until he returned to Vienna after the war.

Before that, he could only command the entire army with the status of a colonel. This was the rule. If he impatiently called himself General before the war, he would be laughed at for being uneducated and unruly if word got out.

Viscount Ficney was also a noble. Even though he was just a small noble, it was still a noble family that had been passed down for hundreds of years. He could barely be called an older noble.

Viscount Ficney had always attached great importance to the rules, especially when it involved the family's reputation. He could not be careless.

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