Chapter 466

The sudden outbreak of the plague made the situation even more complicated. It was fine if it was limited to South Africa, but if it spread to the entire African continent, Franz would cry.

A colony was a colony. Even though Austria had been operating on the African continent for more than a decade, they still couldn't change the situation of backward medical conditions.

Although the number of people infected was not high, the mortality rate was high. Many patients went to see God before they knew what was going on.

Franz couldn't see the situation clearly. If he looked at the information carefully, he would understand why the mortality rate was high.

At present, the most infected were the cannon fodder troops. Because they didn't pay attention to hygiene and didn't carry out effective treatment, the mortality rate was naturally high.

Other than ordering to strengthen the epidemic prevention work, Franz couldn't do anything else.

Since there was an epidemic in the "Boer Republic Army," the surrounding indigenous tribes wouldn't be able to escape. The number of deserters in the cannon fodder troops had always been high, so it was normal for them to leave with the virus.

Viscount Fickney had a total of thirty to forty thousand troops, and he had to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops. He couldn't leave any chances for the British. The number of soldiers that could be used to watch over the cannon fodder troops was at most a few thousand.

With a few thousand people watching over a hundred to two hundred thousand people, it wouldn't be noticeable if a hundred or eighty people ran away. In addition to the battle, there were many casualties every day, which made it even more difficult to supervise.

Unless they ran in groups, the officers usually wouldn't care if one or two people went missing.

There were patrols outside, and if they ran into them, it was their bad luck. If they escaped, it was God's blessing, even if they didn't believe in God.

Franz's judgment was not wrong. An epidemic had indeed broken out in South Africa, and the consequences were more serious than imagined.

However, the highest mortality rate wasn't the local indigenous people, nor the colonists, but the Indian colonial soldiers in the city.

The poor hygiene conditions created good conditions for the virus to breed. The small territory, high population density, and insufficient medical resources, all these bad conditions collided together and accelerated the spread of the virus.

The real culprit that caused the death rate of the Indian soldiers was the lack of acclimatization. Of course, it was also directly related to the diet. The bureaucrats in the Government of London didn't consider the Indian living habits and directly gave them potatoes and bread.

This couldn't be helped. The officials in the Government of London didn't even care about their own people, let alone these cannon fodder.

Compared to the Near East War, the British logistics system hadn't changed much, and they still followed the rules.

Relatively, the Cape Town area at least had fresh fish to supplement them, which was much better than eating beef jerky every day.

Of course, most Indians did not eat beef, but the logistical supply standard that the British gave them was not enough to supply beef.

Even the worst beef jerky was much more expensive than potatoes. The Indians would never encounter this problem. The bureaucrats in London would always treat them as cheaply as possible. Otherwise, how would they be able to make money?

As the epidemic continued to worsen, the governor of Delphi was having a hard time. Because the interests of both sides were too different, the negotiations had reached an impasse.

The plague spread in the city again. Looking at the increasing number of deaths every day, Governor Delphi was in a bad mood.

From zero until now, the number of deaths caused by the plague had accumulated to 3,817 people, and this number was gradually increasing at the rate of 500 people every day. If this went on, they would be tormented by the plague even before the enemy attacked.

The biggest problem was the lack of water. Unfortunately, since the news of the plague broke out in Cape Town, the number of supply ships coming every day had decreased.

People were afraid of death, and no one was willing to get involved in the plague. If he had a choice, Governor Du Delta himself would want to run away.

Even with a 50% increase in freight, not many people were willing to take the risk to transport supplies, which worsened the situation in Cape Town.

There were now 150,000 troops in the Cape Town area, half of which were the Indian colonial army. It was with these cannon fodder that the two sides fought to a stalemate.

Don't look at the fortress in the rear that was made of tofu, the buildings in the city were the real deal. The Indian colonial army was evenly matched against the African Dispatch Army.

Governor Du Delta was disgusted when he saw the Red Cross flag hanging outside the city. At one point, he wanted to order the troops to fight.

If they won, it would be a good situation. If they broke the enemy's siege, got rid of the water crisis, and reduced the population density, the epidemic prevention work would be easier.

If they lost, it wasn't too bad. Through the war, the population was consumed, the population density was reduced, and the demand for freshwater resources was reduced. It had a very positive effect on the epidemic prevention work.

Although he thought about it, Governor Du Delta still didn't dare to do it. Now the two sides were still negotiating. If they rashly provoked a war, it would be fine if they won, but if they lost, they would have to go to court.

Could they win? Governor Du Delta already had an answer to this question. With the current morale of the army, if they went out of the city to fight the Austrians, the chance of a mutiny was greater than the chance of victory.

In fact, since the outbreak of the war, Governor Du Delta had suppressed five mutinies, and he really didn't dare to provoke the fragile nerves of the soldiers.

There was no other way. This was how a mob was. Most of the white soldiers in the city were temporarily recruited from the colonies, or reinforcements from the Government of London. The regular army was only a small number.

In the eyes of many people in the Government of London, suppressing the army was more important than this war. The Anglo-Boer War in the original world was so badly fought, and it was actually the result of the Government of London suppressing the army.

If it was the regular army, and they had twice the number of troops, Governor Du Delta would not have fought so badly, being suppressed and beaten from beginning to end.

From a military point of view, to be able to retain the majority of the troops in a situation of constant failure, the commander's ability was also passable. Of course, he didn't count as a long-distance running general; he just didn't know how to run.

Although the North was passive, this sudden plague still pushed the process of the Anglo-Boer War negotiations forward. The deteriorating situation was also constantly refreshing the bottom line of the British.

The Cape Town colonial government was leading the negotiations this time, and they understood the situation very well, so they didn't dare to drag it out.

Because of the plague, the number of transport ships decreased, and the supplies in Cape Town not only didn't increase, but continued to decline. Freshwater resources, in particular, were even more scarce.

There was no way around it. It was not easy to keep a large amount of freshwater, so they could only put it in reservoirs or storage tanks. Now that it was a time of war, there was no need to think about reservoirs.

The cannons outside the city were not to be trifled with. From time to time, shells would explode in the reservoirs. Even if they didn't care about gunpowder and heavy metal poisoning, the reservoirs couldn't store water!

Left with no choice, the British could only build a large number of storage tanks, which was not easy to accomplish. It was not a small project to solve the drinking water problem for so many people.

This was not a problem that could be solved by simply digging a pit. If the leakage problem was not solved, it was estimated that the water would leak out before winter.

In order to save water, the British army in Cape Town had long begun to limit the supply of water. The white soldiers had five liters of water a day, and the Indian soldiers had three liters of water a day.

Drinking water alone was almost enough, and the rest could probably be used to wipe one's face. If the British soldiers used it sparingly, it could probably be used to wipe their bodies.

This was only in theory. Water for daily use was not just for drinking. It was impossible for people not to wash their clothes, wash their hands, and take a bath all the time. Of course, in this era, Indians really didn't bathe much.

This supply was only enough to ensure survival, and there was no hope for anything else. Unless the British played the game of desalination at sea, it would not be able to meet the demand at all.

There was no way to investigate the internal situation in Cape Town, but the number of ships entering the port every day could not be kept a secret.

The number of ships entering and leaving Cape Town every day decreased. This was a mathematical problem that was easy to calculate. Everyone knew that this was because the transported supplies were decreasing.

Without enough supplies, Cape Town would fall sooner or later. This made the "representative of the Boer Republic" in the negotiations even more confident.

Of course, this was only in theory. In reality, as long as the plague did not end, the "Boer Republic Army" outside the city would not dare to attack the city.

The Cape of Good Hope was important, but its importance to Austria was only so-so. It was not enough for Franz to take it at all costs.

The lack of supplies was not impossible to solve. They just had to reduce the number of troops stationed there. In any case, the plague was the best barrier.

If they braved the plague to attack the city, by the time they occupied the Cape of Good Hope, the Boer Republic Army would be almost crippled. This "crippled" did not only refer to the casualties, but also the morale of the army.

When the soldiers were tired of war and unwilling to work for the country, the army, no matter how powerful, would instantly become a soft-footed shrimp.

Seeing that winter was approaching, the British could not hold on any longer and had to make a major concession.

On June 18, 1871, the British and Boer countries signed an armistice treaty in the barracks outside Cape Town, announcing the end of the war that had lasted for more than a year.

The contents of the treaty:

1. The war between the United Kingdom and the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State was a complete accident. For the sake of world peace, the two sides will end the war on the date of the signing of the treaty;

2. The British side will pay a ransom of 3.6 million pounds to buy back the land within 200 miles of Cape Town;

3. The two sides will exchange prisoners of war with each other, and the excess will pay a ransom according to international practice. The agreed price is: 180 pounds per person for the soldiers, and 300 to 20000 pounds for the officers according to their rank and rank.

There was no investigation of who was responsible for the war, and no mention of the outcome of the war. It was as if it was an insignificant conflict that was not worth mentioning.

Reality was cruel. Britannia also wanted to save face. It was not so easy to make them admit that they had lost the war. Even if the colonial government in Cape Town was willing to accept it, the officials in London would not agree.

It was absolutely impossible to cede land and pay reparations. The Government of London could not bear the political impact of losing the war. On the contrary, ransoms for land and prisoners of war were more acceptable.

Anyway, most of the lost land belonged to the South African Colonial Company, not the Government of the United Kingdom.

If they were more thick-skinned, they could pretend that the colonial company's colonial activities had failed, and the Government of London would buy back a colony from the Boers.

Ransoms for prisoners of war were simpler, and European society did not reject this. If the number of prisoners this time was a little high, the ransom paid was relatively large, and the words "exchange of prisoners" could be overshadowed.

If they were really shameless, they could also announce that this was a great victory. Strategically, the enemy's plot to occupy the Cape of Good Hope was crushed, and the enemy was forced to give up this unrealistic fantasy.

Politics had always been like this, including the Anglo-Boer war, which could be blamed on the South African Colonial Company. Anyway, this unlucky company had already gone bankrupt during the war, and no one would come out to defend it.

In fact, Governor Delphi had already started to do so. As a qualified politician, even if they lost the war and signed an unfavorable treaty, they still had to minimize the responsibility for the war.

In any case, the Cape Town colony was saved. Although it was a smaller version, the British people would not know, and no one would care how big the Cape Town colony was thousands of miles away.