Chapter 330

In this era, John Bull's influence was still extraordinary. Although it was not comparable to the same period in history, it was still a call for response.

The Italian Revolutionary Party, the French Revolutionary Party, and any organization that could be named, sent representatives to London.

Looking at the information in his hand, Franz's first reaction was: the British are really rich!

In other countries, it would not be easy to find these revolutionary organizations, not to mention whether they would give face or not.

Revolutions also lost their heads. If they were not careful, Napoleon Iii would have killed them long ago. The British could find them in such a short time unless the two sides had been in contact.

In addition to the "money ability," what else could make these revolutionaries cooperate? The Italian Revolutionary Party was fine, but Britain and France were enemies. Why would the French Revolutionary Party pay the British?

Anyway, Franz could not afford this money. Instead of using it to support this motley crew, it was better to invest it in the domestic economic construction and increase their own strength.

It was not that he discriminated against the revolutionaries. In this era, the French Revolutionary Party was the white glove of the bourgeoisie, and the value of its existence was for the benefit of the bourgeoisie.

Except for a few people, most of them were losers in the struggle for power and fought for their own interests. In addition to bearing the banner of the revolutionary party, they were not real revolutionaries.

The Italian Revolutionary Party was relatively better. At least they were fighting for national independence. Although the internal organization was chaotic and mixed with good and bad people, they could also be called a revolutionary party.

Since it was a revolutionary party, it was naturally impossible to play with the emperor, Franz. In the face of national interests, it was a fallacy to talk about justice or not.

The sacred mission of funding the revolutionary party was handed over to the British. Originally, the Americans also had a share. In order to promote the republic, they also worked hard to spend money.

However, after the end of the Civil War, they experienced a social beating. Whether it was the federal government or the confederation government, they became obedient and did not dare to reach out to Europe.

Without a financial backer, the revolutionary momentum in Europe was much lower than in the same period of history, and social security was clearly better than the original time and space.

Except for the Regions of Italy, the Italian people who were unwilling to be ruled by the French were still rising up. It was understandable that the French were busy suppressing the rebellion and neglected social security.

Soldiers were trained for a thousand days to be used in a single day. It was not easy to take the British's money. Now was the time to work for the British.

Perhaps they were also willing. Anyway, it was not them who bled and sacrificed, and the success rate was higher with the support of the British. In case they succeeded, they would make a big profit.

In contrast, the European countries' response was much more subtle. Perhaps the diplomatic activities of the French had worked, or perhaps Austria's lack of intervention had given them a different idea.

In short, everyone was denouncing the French and shouting slogans that shook the earth. When it came to actual action, all of them seemed to have changed. They came up with all sorts of reasons, but they just didn't want to send troops.

Franz was not surprised at all by the choices of the countries. The French were not pushovers. Napoleon III had already shown that he would not hesitate to go to war. All the governments were weighing the pros and cons, and no one wanted to stand out.

To put it bluntly, everyone wanted to be the fisherman, unwilling to lose their own strength. At the end of the day, it was all about interests. If the British, the anti-French leader, did not take the lead, how could he expect his followers to work hard?

What they were doing now was just letting the other countries isolate France. The French country did did, but. The France.,. isolated France.

In this respect, the French had chosen a good time. Prussia and Russia were recovering. Austria had an alliance with the Government of Paris. None of the remaining countries could fight.

As the situation in Europe became more stable, the situation in Africa changed. In order to support the war in South Africa, the British had increased their troops three times. So far, the number of British troops in the Cape Town colony had exceeded 180,000.

Of course, after removing the cannon fodder, the number was reduced by half. Even so, it was still shocking.

After the Near East War, this was the battle where the British invested the most troops. The total number of troops on the Austrian side was almost the same. Franz used this war as a training ground.

No, it should be an officer training camp. The regular army could not appear on the battlefield. Otherwise, Austria's neutral status would be in danger.

The soldiers could not go to war, but it did not mean that the officers could not go to war. If they took off their uniforms and participated in the war as individuals, it would have nothing to do with the Government of Vienna.

Including the nobles who volunteered, they were actually members of the Austrian reserve officers. According to the rules of the German Region, the nobles could join the army unconditionally during the war.

Increasing the combat ability of these people would also increase Austria's defense forces. Opponents like the British were not easy to find. Of course, they had to make full use of them.

The indigenous cannon fodder troops formed on the spot were for the officers to practice. Now, many of the battles were fought by the officers sent by the General Staff to command these indigenous troops to conduct tactical experiments.

Although the data was not representative, the final results would be different if it was implemented by different troops.

But no matter what, it was better than armchair strategizing. If they could command the cannon fodder troops to win, wouldn't that prove their commanding ability?

Reality was very embarrassing. More than 90% of the tests ended in failure. Most of the time, the cannon fodder troops were defeated. Then, Viscount Fickney would command the "Boer Republic Army" to deal with the aftermath.

Up until now, the combat ability of the Boer Republic Army and the Austrian army was similar. They were originally trained by the same system. Including the soldiers and officers, they were all from the German Region.

This army now had about 38,000 people. With the addition of more than 100,000 cannon fodder troops, they were evenly matched with the British. This was enough to prove their combat ability.

Of course, this also had something to do with the British army being a mix of good and bad. Many of the white troops from the colony were actually just idling around.

In the original timeline, the Boers had even fewer troops. The British attacked with ten times the number of troops. Both sides fought for two to three years. If it wasn't for the cut off of supplies and the Boers' lack of support, the war might have continued.

The situation in the South African war was different. It was impossible for the British to blockade it. No matter how good the Government of London was at dancing, the Austrian African colonial government could not cut off their own people's supplies.

The war was expensive. It didn't matter. Franz, the Emperor, was not afraid. Why would the officers at the frontlines be afraid? In many people's eyes, this was a game between Britain and Austria. It was related to Austria's hegemony in the African continent.

By the end of 1870, the casualties in the South African war could no longer be completely calculated. Even the number of their own casualties could not be accurately calculated.

On the battlefield in South Africa, Franz delegated as much power as he could. All the officers could recruit cannon fodder troops. The losses of the indigenous troops had always been calculated as an approximate number.

After all, if they lost 10,000, they could replenish 20,000. If the Boer Republic did not recruit enough, they could ask the colonial government in the rear to send people over.

On the British side, there was already a lack of cannon fodder troops. A large number of young and strong men were sent to the battlefield. It was unknown how many tribes would perish because of this.

Christmas was not far away. At this time, the "Boer Republic Army" had already pushed the battle line into the heart of the British South African colony. It was only about 200 kilometers away from Cape Town.

Viscount Fickney did not intend to continue dragging it out. Everyone wanted to end the war for Christmas. If they dragged it out for too long, the British reinforcements would come again. When that time came, the war would not be easy to fight.

Attacking from inland areas, logistics would always be the biggest constraint. If it weren't for the few rivers in South Africa, this war would have ended long ago.

Pointing to the hand-drawn military map on the wall, Viscount Fickney said, "Everyone, this is the map of the British troop deployment. As the battle line moves forward, the British resistance is getting stronger.

If we can't end the war within the year and drag it out until next spring, then the fourth batch of British reinforcements will arrive. At that time, it will be difficult for us to capture Cape Town.

There is not much time left for us to fight. If we can't end the war quickly, I'm afraid it will be difficult to occupy all of South Africa before the two countries negotiate. "

There was no other way. At this point in the war, one side had to admit defeat if they wanted to end it. The British were not like Iron Head, who admitted defeat if they couldn't win. John Bull had never been afraid of anyone.

It was just a local war. It was hard to say how firm the Government of Vienna's position on taking South Africa was. Even Emperor Franz was only prepared to take the gold mine first.

No one cared so much about how much land they would eventually take from the British. The main thing was that only by taking Cape Town and occupying all of South Africa could they maximize their military achievements.

Although the war had been going on for more than half a year, and everyone had achieved great military achievements, the actual results were very limited.

Putting aside the cannon fodder troops that were annihilated, the losses of the British troops definitely did not exceed 10,000. Every time the two sides fought, they were only defeated and not completely annihilated. Naturally, the results were not good.

This could not be helped. The British commander-in-chief, Governor Delphi, was an old fox. Every time, he would let the white soldiers go first and use the cannon fodder troops to bring up the rear.

If throwing 10,000 was not enough, he would throw 20,000. After all, the cannon fodder troops were not worth much. These were all hidden dangers. If they escaped to the residential areas in the rear, the losses would be great. Viscount Fickney had to send people to clean them up.

It would take time to catch tens of thousands of pigs, not to mention humans. After getting rid of these shrimp soldiers, the British main force built another line of defense.

If they could not annihilate the main force of the British army, this war would naturally not end in a short time.

A middle-aged staff officer frowned and said, "I'm afraid this will be a little difficult. We still don't have enough troops to take Cape Town. These indigenous troops can't be counted on at all.

When we reach the port of Cape Town, the British still have naval firepower support. We lack heavy artillery, so it will be difficult to take the city in a short time. Once the war is dragged on, the situation will change again.

The British's latest reinforcements will only take a week to arrive from Ethiopia, and the local reinforcements will also only take a month. "

This was a practical problem. Austria did not lack soldiers, but the number of troops that could be sent to the battlefield in South Africa was very limited.

On one hand, it was logistics. The regular army was different from the indigenous cannon fodder. As long as they were given food, they could also go to the battlefield with large knives and spears.

The problem of food was easy to solve. South Africa was also rich in resources. The Boer Republic could provide part of it, and the rear could provide part of it.

When necessary, they only needed to ensure the logistical supply of the regular army. It was not impossible to send the cannon fodder out to eat the enemy.

Weapons and ammunition had to be provided by the rear, and this supply line was very long. Part of it would be sent through the Congo region, and the other part would be sent through Egypt via the Nile River.

On the other hand, this war was fought in the name of the Boers. It was already very heaven-defying for the small Boer Republic to be able to come up with 38,000 troops. It would not be justifiable to have 80,000 troops.

Although the Great Powers were shameless, the Government of Vienna was not so thick-skinned. If they really angered the British, it would not be good for anyone.

Now, both sides were still playing within the rules of the game. If they were defeated on the battlefield, it would only prove that the British army's combat power was not good. If they were incompetent and still wanted to start a war, then they could not blame others for taking revenge.

Viscount Fickney tempted, "It's not easy to fight, but we still have to fight. I'm sure everyone wants to see the post-war summary to say that we have annihilated 100,000 British troops and seized British South Africa.

Not to say that we have crushed the British conspiracy to take over the Boer Republic, annihilated 10,000 enemy troops, and forced the British to admit defeat!

If we win this most crucial battle, it will not be a problem for everyone to be promoted. If we stop now, most of us will only get a commendation order. "

…