Chapter 358

The war was still ongoing. Franz had already prepared a plan for the post-war development of Africa. At this point, the Anglo-Boer War had evolved into a confrontation between Britain and Austria.

In the entire international situation, the South African battlefield was only a part of it. Now that the world had been divided up, it was very difficult for everyone to continue to maintain restraint.

It was conceivable that the colonial conflicts would continue in the future. The South African war was just a warm-up, and it could be considered as a new way to solve international conflicts.

The strong preyed on the weak, that would be the theme of this world. The competition between the great powers was also becoming increasingly intense. The strong would get more of the cake and become stronger; the weak would be squeezed, and their living space would be further reduced.

West Victoria, South Africa.

The endless supply wagons raised rolling gray balls, as if they were enveloping everything. The wagons creaked as they moved forward, winding for dozens of miles on the temporarily opened road.

Bathed in the morning light, the quilts thrown on the wagons glinted red; rakes, shovels, and small wooden barrels were all erected, as if they were sentries …

In the distance, there were busy people clearing the obstacles on the road. In this era, South Africa was vast and sparsely populated. There were only a few indigenous tribes along the way, and there was almost no road traffic.

The road they were on was built by the British when they attacked the Boer Republic, and many places along the way had been destroyed.

The infantry could overcome these difficulties, but the supply wagons could not. They had to build a road first.

The original cannon fodder troops had now become laborers, struggling hard. From time to time, there were also supervisors waving leather whips, urging them to speed up.

Viscount Fickney, who was moving with the main force, looked at the time and asked, "How long will it take for the supply wagons to arrive?"

Like most wars, the "Boer Republic Army" was also waiting for supplies. There was no other way. To fight deep into enemy territory, the main force had to open the way, and the supply wagons followed closely behind.

As the advance was too fast, the logistics gradually could not keep up.

The original plan was to transport supplies through the river, but unfortunately, it was the summer flood season, and the British had destroyed the river during their retreat, making water transportation a dream.

In this war, the biggest enemy was time. Viscount Fickney had already arrived in Worcester with his troops. They were not far from Cape Town, and could reach the city in two days at most.

At this point in the war, the British had already abandoned the line of defense along the way and focused on the defense of Cape Town.

Cape Town was now heavily guarded, and the British reinforcements were still coming. If the war could not be ended within the year, it would mean that the battle plan was ruined.

The advantage of sea power was that great. John cows transported supplies by sea, so it was not a problem at all.

Austria, on the other hand, had to rely on horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts to transport supplies. The number of troops that could be put into this battle was extremely limited.

If they could not make use of the time difference and end the war before the main force of the British army was assembled, the offensive and defensive positions would change.

"The first batch of supplies will arrive tomorrow night, and the second batch is expected to arrive in a week."

The one who answered the question was a young officer in his twenties. His voice was sonorous and powerful, and his military uniform made him look especially spirited, as if it was tailor-made for him.

After calculating in his heart, Viscount Fickney ordered, "Urge the logistics department again. They must transport the supplies here at all costs.

"Order Engineer regiment to clear the river as soon. Allow them to recruit native laborers on the spot. Don't worry about losses, I only want speed! "

Viscount Ficney was no longer a teenager. The credit of conquering Cape Town was tempting, but this war was not going to be easy to fight.

If the previous war had not destroyed the morale of the British, he would not have launched this summer offensive.

The British were now concentrating their forces around Cape Town. They had gathered more than 85,000 troops on this land of more than 1,000 square kilometers.

Most of them were white troops. The cannon fodder had been exhausted in the previous battle and had not been replenished.

In this respect, the Governor of Delphi was qualified. Although they had lost the city and the land, they had preserved the main force.

It wasn't a good thing for Viscount Fickney. The enemy was a slippery old fox. They would not fight a decisive battle with him.

In a war, the first to win was not the winner. The final winner was the real winner. In order not to be overturned by the British, Viscount Fickney was also preparing for the aftermath.

Dredging the river was one of them, as long as the logistics and transportation were ensured. Even if the British won the defense of Cape Town, they would at most be able to keep a corner of the Cape of Good Hope.

If they wanted to counterattack, they had to expand the British Army by two or three times! Otherwise, the pocket-sized army would not be enough to fill this hole.

"Yes, Sir Commander."

As soon as he finished speaking, a young officer got up, walked dozens of meters away, and picked up the phone to convey the order.

Yes, the telephone had appeared in the army. Like many countries, the most advanced technology was usually first used in the army before it appeared among the people.

Because of the war, the telephone had also been brought into the "Boer Republic" army. However, it had only appeared for a short time, so it was only used as a short-distance message transmission tool. Long-distance communication was still done by telegraph.

The communication within the headquarters had now been replaced by the telephone. What used to require a messenger to make a trip was now communicated directly by phone.

"Beep beep beep …" After the beeping sound, the phone of the logistics department was connected. The young officer quickly conveyed the order and then connected to the engineer headquarters …

After a pause, an army staff officer suggested, "Sir Commander, the attack and defense of Cape Town this time will not be easy. In order to reduce losses, I suggest that we recruit as many cannon fodder troops as possible.

If the attack is blocked, we will use human lives to fill the gap. We can also learn from the experience of Russia's attack on Constantinople. "

This was not the best method, but it was the most effective. The Government of Vienna had long prepared the heavy artillery and was already on the way.

While using the heavy artillery to attack the city, it was natural to use human lives to fill the gap. Don't be fooled by the fact that they were wearing the "Boer Republic" army armor, they were still Austrian troops.

It was impossible to use these troops to fill the gap. Moreover, there were not enough of them. Even now, there were only about forty thousand people.

Fortunately, the British army on the other side was not much better. It looked like they had a lot of people, but in fact, there were only about 20,000 to 30,000 regular soldiers.

The rest were either young and strong men recruited temporarily or colonial troops from various places. The situation of making up the numbers was very serious.

In addition, they had suffered a series of defeats in the early stages. The continuous defeats had caused the morale of the army to drop, which was why they were being suppressed by Austria.

Without any hesitation, Viscount Fickney gave the order, "Order the third division to go out and recruit young adults from all the tribes that appear within their line of sight. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without question. Remember to collect some food to reduce the logistical pressure as much as possible. "

Ruthlessness was a necessary quality for a colonist. Viscount Fickney did not care what the consequences of this order would be. It was enough as long as they could win this war.

…

The people in Cape Town were now in a state of panic. Governor Delphi gave many speeches to boost morale, but with their past achievements, his words were not convincing at all.

The "200,000" Boer Republic troops were about to reach the city. How could the people in the city not panic? The rich had already left by boat.

Those who had no money were also prepared to take their families with them to the Cape of Good Hope to avoid disaster. Although the two places were not far apart, if Cape Town fell, the Cape of Good Hope would be difficult to protect.

But it was always better to stay away from the enemy. At least it could guarantee temporary safety.

Pringle's family was also among the people who were avoiding disaster. Because they were too poor to buy a carriage, they could only rely on manpower to push the wheelbarrow forward.

There were many families like this on the way to escape. They took their few belongings and fled Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope.

"Pringle, you have been recruited. Hurry up and report to our troops!"

A familiar voice sounded. Pringle felt as if he had fallen into hell. It was this voice that made his three sons walk onto the battlefield. Now, it was unknown whether they were alive or dead.

Pringle hurriedly explained, "Dear Sheriff Amble, I am already 48 years old. I have long passed the age of military service and am not within the scope of recruitment."

His sons had already entered the army to serve, so he could not go now. If the backbone of the family was gone, what would happen to his three young grandchildren?

In this era, women's salaries were much lower than men's, and it was difficult to rely on them to support their children.

Sheriff Amble sighed, suppressed the trace of conscience in his heart, and sternly scolded, "200,000 enemy troops are pressing on the border. Cape Town is in danger.

In order to protect Cape Town, the Governor's Office has just issued a new decree extending the age of service to 55.

If you don't want to serve, you will have to pay 50 pounds for immunization. If you don't have the money, then don't talk nonsense. It's useless to tell me. "

This was obviously not an order from Governor Delphi. As a qualified politician, he could not have issued such a crazy order.

People in this era grew old quickly, and it was difficult for them to play a role on the battlefield once they were old. The Governor's Office's recruitment order was only for young and strong people between the ages of 18 to 40. They were not interested in the old and weak.

It was just that the officials had changed the rules in order to amass money. The rich had spent money to avoid military service, and this gap needed to be filled by others.

Pringle, who could not afford it, could only be forced to enlist. This was also his bad luck. If he had run fast enough, he might have escaped the disaster.

In this chaotic era, without Pringle, there would be other unlucky people to fill in the gaps. In short, it was enough to make up the numbers. It did not matter who the people serving were at all.

"200,000." This was what Viscount Fickney said. It was unknown how the Boer Republic, which had a population of less than 200,000, could gather an army of 200,000 soldiers.

In any case, Governor Delphi had solemnly guaranteed that there were 200,000 enemies. That's right, the Boers had relied on their numbers to defeat them. There was absolutely no doubt about this.

The telegram sent to the Government of London said so, so naturally, the Cape Town Colony was no exception. As long as he did not want to become a scapegoat for the failure of this war, he had to make sure this number was real.

It was not that the people of Britannia could not tolerate failure. In a situation where the enemy was strong and they were weak, it was forgivable to fail once in a while.

This would depend on publicity. Governor Delphi was obviously good at self-promotion. Most of the blame for the failure of the war had been pushed aside.

Otherwise, the Government of London would have been replaced long ago. No one could tolerate a governor who constantly failed. Especially a governor who was restless and took the initiative to provoke a war.

The middle-aged officer reported, "Your Excellency, the new round of recruitment has been completed. This time, a total of 8,000 soldiers have been recruited."

Governor Delphi nodded and said with compassion, "Very good, you have done a very good job. It's just that the people of Cape Town have suffered. This time, they need to make sacrifices for the Empire. "

At this moment, Governor Delphi did not look like a treacherous politician. Instead, he looked more like a compassionate Virgin Mary.

An official immediately cooperated and said, "There's no other way. The enemy is coming in aggressively. Once Cape Town is lost, no one can hide.

Now the people are joining the army to protect their families from the suffering of war.

Your Excellency, don't be too sad. The sacrifices of the people are worth it. I believe everyone will understand your painstaking efforts. "

Governor Delphi, who seemed to have been possessed by an actor, shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter what the people think of me. This is all for the Empire.

As long as Cape Town can be saved, I won't frown even if I have to die right now.

I've made up my mind to live and die with Cape Town. This is my will. If I am unfortunate enough to die on the battlefield, please help me pass it to my family. "

The scene was very emotional, and everyone was moved. However, this was only on the surface. Everyone knew that once Cape Town was lost, Governor Delphi, who had started the war, would be finished.

Even if he returned to London alive, he would still have to go through a military court. He would have to spend the rest of his life in prison, and even his family would not be able to hold their heads high.

The best choice was to die on the battlefield. Then, the situation changed in an instant. Even if it was for the sake of political propaganda, the Government of London would turn him into a "tragic hero."

Governor Delphi was well aware of this situation. He even knew that even if Cape Town was saved, he would not have a good ending.

In order to reduce his responsibility, he now had to play this tragic drama and portray himself as a "hero."