After defeating the French, there was no trace of joy on the faces of the rebel army's higher-ups. Other than a group of British generals led by Lieutenant General Jarrett who were in a good mood, the rest of them were glaring at Mahdi.
A bearded officer took out his gun, placed it on the table, and questioned, "Mahdi, what's going on? Why didn't you inform us when you blew up the dam? Do you know because … "
Before he could finish, Mahdi hurriedly explained, "Leiting, it's not that I didn't want to inform you, but there wasn't enough time.
Our main force at the frontline was defeated in the decisive battle. The only way for the rebel army to defeat the French was to blow up the Aswan Dam.
The facts have proven that our decision was correct. The French army has suffered heavy losses and is now fleeing in panic. "
Leiting sneered and said sarcastically, "I think it's not that there wasn't enough time, but that you didn't even prepare to inform us.
Anyway, the ones who were lost were our men. Your Sixth Division and First Division are still intact, so you naturally don't feel the pinch. "
From everyone's expressions, it could be seen that this was the real reason why everyone was angry.
They had already lost on the battlefield, so blowing up the dam to turn defeat into victory was not a problem from a military point of view. Doing so for the sake of the overall situation was barely justifiable.
However, the problem was that the ones who were lost were their own troops, while Mahdi's armed forces had escaped. This made everyone feel unbalanced.
Seeing that his kind words had no effect, Mahdi was also angry. He immediately retorted, "Don't you know the situation of the First Division and Sixth Division?
You said that I was conserving my strength, but don't forget that it was my men who fought the previous battle. If it wasn't for the heavy losses, I wouldn't have retreated to reorganize. "
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Lieutenant General Jarrett said, "Everyone, no one wants this to happen.
War requires sacrifice. The frontline has been defeated, and the soldiers who participated in the battle can't escape the French's pursuit. To be able to drag the French down with them, they died a worthy death.
Instead of blaming each other here, it's better to think of a way to recover their strength. The army has suffered heavy losses, so we can just recruit more people.
The French have suffered heavy losses, so they won't be able to organize a second military encirclement in Egypt in a short period of time. You can act freely from now on.
In view of the heavy losses suffered, Britannia is willing to furnish you with thirty thousand rifles and some ammunition to help you overthrow the French. "
The tables had turned. The French had helped the Americans back then, causing the British to lose the foundation of dominance in North America. Now, it was the British's turn to make a move.
However, compared to the generosity of Louis XVI, who even went to the extent of participating personally, the British were really too stingy.
There were only thirty thousand rifles, not even cannons or machine guns. With John's moral integrity, these were most likely obsolete goods used by the British army.
Thirty thousand retired rifles in Britannia would definitely not be sold for thirty thousand pounds. Even ten thousand pounds would not be enough to find a buyer in Europe.
However, to the Revolutionary Army, this was already an astronomical figure, far exceeding the sum of the aid provided by Britain and Austria.
Everyone's expression eased up when they heard the news of 30,000 rifles providing assistance. The rebel army was a mix of good and bad people. There might be people who loved their soldiers like their own children, but there were definitely not many of them.
To most of the upper echelons, the army was just a tool for them to obtain power and wealth. It was a consumable item.
In any case, there were as many rifles as there were soldiers. If soldiers were lost, they could just recruit new ones to replace them.
The British had provided a batch of weapons, and the Austrians would probably provide a batch as well. In addition to the leftovers from the battlefield, recovering their strength was not a problem at all.
Thunder hurriedly argued, "For the sake of Lieutenant General, I'll let this matter go. However, the Second Division has suffered heavy losses. I need ten thousand rifles to replenish them. "
Mahdi rejected, "No! Everyone has suffered heavy losses. The Second Division is still considered good. At least one regiment was preserved. I can at most replenish you with 5,500 rifles. "
Suppression was necessary. Thunder himself was a powerful figure in the rebel army, second only to Mahdi. For power, the two of them had more than one conflict.
It was not easy to use the opportunity on the battlefield to heavily injure the Second Division. How could Mahdi let him recover so easily?
Thunder slammed the table and cursed, "Mahdi, don't go overboard.
If you want to do this, then everyone should just disband. No one is willing to be bullied by you here. "
…
Lieutenant General Jarrett was happy to see an internal conflict in the rebel army. If the rebel army was monolithic, how would he, the British dispatcher, be able to show the importance of him?
For example, this time, everyone knew that the order to blow up the dam was actually given by Lieutenant General Jarrett. However, everyone pretended to be ignorant, and Mahdi had no choice but to take the blame.
This was the result after Hutier and the others left. Otherwise, it would be even more lively here. The loser of the power struggle would most likely jump out with Austria's support to compete with Mahdi, who was supported by the British.
Seeing that everyone was arguing endlessly and the command center was in a mess, Lieutenant General Jarrett picked up his baton and slammed it on the table.
He directly reprimanded, "All of you, sit down. Look at how you look now.
Don't forget that you are now the leaders of a country, not hooligans on the streets.
Arguing endlessly over such a small matter, aren't you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out? "
Seeing that everyone had returned to their seats, Lieutenant General Jarrett nodded in satisfaction.
He knew that it wasn't because he was highly respected that everyone was willing to give him face. It was because he had all the weapons and equipment in his hands, and no one present could afford to offend him.
After a slight pause, he softened his tone, "The main force of the French army has been defeated. Now is the time to expand the results of the battle. If you continue arguing like this, you will delay the battle.
Everyone is a soldier, so let's use the rules of the army to decide. Whoever makes the most contributions in the war will get the bigger share.
Now, I will make the decision for you. Pursue the routed French, and whoever takes the most heads and prisoners will get the most of the spoils.
Don't waste resources if you're just waiting to die. Don't say that I'm unfair. Although the frontline troops have suffered great losses, you are the closest to the French.
Even if you don't have the ability to continue the pursuit, there will be many French soldiers who will come knocking. "
Without a doubt, this distribution plan was the most beneficial to Mahdi. Although Jarrett made it sound easy, the rebel army at the frontline was actually no better than the French after being hit by the flood.
Capture the French soldiers?
In fact, they were a bunch of defeated soldiers themselves. The only advantage they had was that they barely won and could regroup on the spot after the flood receded.
Without morale, these troops wouldn't be able to fight in a short period of time. Just as Lieutenant General Jarrett had said, they could capture the French soldiers who were alone, but that was all they could do.
…
Outside Ugsur, Huteer was watching the army attack the city with binoculars. Siege weapons didn't exist. The rebel army didn't know how to build them, nor did they need them.
For the sake of the city's development, Ugsur's walls had long been demolished by the French. As a hinterland city, the French had never thought that there would be a threat from foreign enemies.
Pillboxes and strongholds didn't exist either. The battle went into urban warfare mode as soon as it began.
Taking advantage of the fact that the rebel army didn't have cannons, the French relied on the buildings to prevent the rebel army from entering the city.
Huteer frowned as he watched the troops rush forward in a chaotic manner and the soldiers being blasted into pieces.
After all, they were his troops, and he still had some feelings for them. If possible, he still hoped that these soldiers could survive.
On the side, Fajinhan was much calmer, seemingly unaffected by the atmosphere of the battlefield. He commented with relish, "The defenders' firepower is very messy, and they don't look like regular troops.
Now that the main force of the French army isn't in the city, if we don't care about the cost, our chances of capturing Ugsur are very high. "
Huteer shook his head. "Vienna isn't ready to fall out with the French yet. Even if we occupy Ugsur, we can't take it.
Even if we give it to the rebel army, they won't be able to keep it. We just have to pretend to attack and scare the French in the city.
Instead of wasting precious troops here, it's better to take the troops around Egypt and cause more trouble for the French. "
At this moment, Steuhausen walked over from the rear with a happy face and said with a smile, "Lieutenant Colonel, order the attack to stop. We can go all out next."
Huteer boldly guessed, "Oh, could it be that the main force of the French army was completely wiped out by the flood, and now Egypt is empty, waiting for us to reap the fruits of victory?"
Steuhausen nodded, then shook his head. "Although the army wasn't completely wiped out, it's almost there.
According to the intelligence gathered by the scouts, the senior leaders of the rebel army used the main force as bait and suddenly blew up the Aswan Dam during the decisive battle. The flood directly hit the troops that were fighting.
Both sides suffered heavy losses, and now Adolf's rebel army has become stray dogs and is fleeing in panic.
Perhaps it won't be long before we meet them. If we give them another blow, I reckon that this rebel army of the French can be disbanded. "
Ambushing the defeated French army was far more cost-effective than attacking Ugsur. If Adolf's rebel army was lucky enough to stay here, it wasn't impossible for them to parade in Cairo.
Fajinhan retorted, "Major, you're too optimistic. If the French run back in disorder, we can indeed make them stay.
But if Adolf had any brains, he would reorganize his troops halfway and continue to retreat.
He didn't need much, just a regiment of troops would be enough to defeat the 8th Division.
Even if the morale of the French army was greatly reduced, two regiments of troops would be enough if they doubled their strength.
If Adolf was brave enough, he wouldn't need to retreat at all. The frontline troops suffered heavy losses, and the rebel headquarters only has two half-crippled infantry divisions left. As long as there are 5,000 French troops, they can break through. "
There was no doubt that the final conclusion was based on an ideal situation. Even if Adolf had the courage to go all out, the French soldiers had to be willing to fight with their backs to the wall.
The French army's valiant combat strength was based on their morale. Without the desire to fight, the French army might not be much stronger than the rebel army.
Steuhausen smiled. "You overestimate the French. Most of the soldiers who participated in this battle were colonial troops, not the core elites of the French army.
After being attacked by the flood, the fighting spirit of the defeated soldiers was at its lowest point, and the combat strength they could exert was very limited.
Of course, this wasn't the key point. The real key factor that allowed us to win was that the French army had lost almost all of their logistics and heavy firepower.
The small cities and colonial strongholds along the way could at most provide them with some food supplies, and they couldn't replenish the lost weapons and equipment.
The French army was hit by the flood during the battle, which meant that the French soldiers didn't have time to replenish the bullets they used in the battle before they fled in panic.
As long as the last of the French's ammunition is exhausted, we will win the war. "
After hesitating for a moment, Hutier made a decision. "Pass down the order, all troops immediately stop attacking the city.
Inform all officers above the regimental level to hold an emergency military meeting in the afternoon. "
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