The chaotic international situation did not affect the outbreak of the war in Central Asia. With the end of the arms race, the British also let go of their hands and feet.
On March 26, 1888, with the order of Governor Lytton, two Indian colonial divisions launched an attack on the Regions of Afghanistan, opening the prelude to the war in Central Asia.
In the Palace of Vienna, after receiving the news of the start of the war in Afghanistan, Franz once again became a spectator.
There was no need to worry. Looking at the way the British fought, the bureaucrats in London didn't take Afghanistan seriously at all.
The two Indian colonial divisions seemed to be powerful, but in fact, they were a group of motley crew.
In terms of real combat power, they were probably not as good as the two British main forces. Such a force could barely maintain law and order. On the battlefield, they could only compete with the enemy.
Franz asked, "Are the weapons and equipment to aid the Afghans in place?"
If they wanted to use the war in Afghanistan to bleed the British, weapons and equipment were indispensable.
Without international assistance, the Afghans with big knives and spears, no matter how brave they were, would not last long.
Foreign Minister Wesenberg said, "The first batch of supplies has been secretly delivered. Based on the time, the Government of Afghanistan should have already distributed it.
Our intelligence network in the Regions of Afghanistan is not perfect. After the war broke out, we were completely at a loss. We know nothing about the specific situation there. "
This was the inevitable result. Not to mention that the intelligence network was not perfect, even if all the Afghans became intelligence personnel, there was no way to spread the news.
The British's diplomatic methods were not just for show. The neighbors in Afghanistan had already pulled up the blockade, and the only way to communicate with the outside world was through smuggling.
It turned out that smuggling channels were also not suitable for transmitting information.
Whether it was Persia or the Central Asian Khaganate, they were all poor. Most of the areas had neither railways nor telegraphs.
Before the war broke out, the Government of Vienna received news from Afghanistan more than a week late. After the war broke out, it was even more so.
Hearing the bad news, Franz frowned, "In other words, we have lost contact with the Government of Afghanistan.
The original plan to airdrop supplies has now lost the possibility of implementation because we have lost the target. "
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Wesenberg replied.
"From the current situation, to re-establish contact with the Government of Afghanistan, we can only pin our hopes on the Russians.
They have been operating in the local area for a long time and should have hidden information transmission channels. Now due to the impact of the war, it was temporarily interrupted.
The Tsarist government is trying to find a way to recover. It may take some time to recover. "
"Count on the Russians" and "recover after a period of time", these answers made Franz immediately give up the idea of airdropping supplies.
Although Afghanistan was a small country, its territory was not small at all, and it was mostly mountainous.
If there was no receiving signal from the ground, who knew where to take over? How could the airship soldiers airdrop supplies?
After all, they couldn't just throw them away. If they were thrown into the deep mountains, forests, rivers, or lakes, the worst that could happen was a loss of resources.
If he was unlucky and happened to fall into the hands of the British army and become a transport captain, then it would be embarrassing.
After a moment of contemplation, Franz made a decision. "Forget it. The Government of Afghanistan is unlucky for something like this to happen.
Didn't they send a liaison officer? Let them find a way to get in touch with the country. We can't do anything now. "
Anxious?
No way. Even if the Government of Afghanistan fell, the Russians would replace it.
Moreover, even if the British won, what could they do?
Occupying a place full of guerrillas and religious fanatics was not a good thing. The high cost of governance would sooner or later make the British realize the reality.
Minister of War Fislav suggested, "Your Majesty, our troops stationed in the colony have not changed their weapons and equipment for many years.
In view of the current serious international situation, we must prepare in advance. The Ministry of War suggests a major change of equipment and increase the colony's defense capabilities. "
Fislav's words reminded Franz that although the colonial armed forces of various countries were their own second-rate and third-rate troops, recruiting the worst soldiers, holding the oldest weapons, and undergoing the simplest training, Austria was an exception.
The colonial army was only a little behind in terms of weapons and equipment, but other aspects were still in line with the domestic main forces.
In the past few years, the Government of Vienna also sent the main forces out to conduct rounds of combat exercises.
It was only later that the enemies in the colony were wiped out, and this practical training program was forced to end.
In normal times, it was naturally not a problem for the colonial forces to maintain their current state.
Anyway, the colonial forces of various countries were competing against each other. As long as they were stronger than their peers, it was fine.
Now that the international situation had changed, no one could guarantee when a mishap would occur.
In this context, it was particularly important to increase the strength of the colony, especially in the Austrian African region.
Once the European war broke out, they were not expected to capture all of Africa in one go, but they still had to capture strategic locations such as Egypt, the Cape of Good Hope, and Djibouti.
This was the core of Austria's national policy. If they captured these key locations, not only would the mainland and Africa be connected, but Britain and France would have to travel tens of thousands of kilometers to enter the Indian Ocean.
The time it took to run two routes was now only enough to run one. Not only did the transportation cost increase, but it also meant that the enemy's maritime transportation capacity was reduced by half.
"Not only do we have to change our equipment, but we also have to increase the colony's weapons reserves. Taking Austrian Africa as an example, the local storage should be enough to arm one million people for a year.
Once the European war breaks out, the colony must be prepared to capture the entire African continent with its own strength. "
It was not that Franz had a big appetite, but that Austrian Africa already had such strength.
Today, the total population of Austrian Africa had reached more than 20 million, several times more than the immigrants of the other major colonial empires combined.
Once the war broke out, it was destined to attack in all directions. Even if the Government of Vienna did not order, the local military nobles would pull their own troops to do it.
The nature of war had been implanted in everyone's bone marrow since the beginning of the Austrian Africa.
If it were not for the conditions and the intentional suppression of the Government of Vienna, they would have already caused friction in Africa.
It would be stupid not to take advantage of the conditions. Not to mention taking the entire African continent, as long as they captured a few key locations, Austria would be assured of victory.
Prime Minister Carr questioned, "Your Majesty, this is too much! Our several important colonies have very strong military forces. The surrounding countries can't shake them at all.
Even if the European war breaks out, the strength of Austrian Africa is enough to deal with any enemy. Now that we are shipping so many weapons and equipment to the colonies, it is easy to cause international tension. "
The weapons and equipment for one million people to fight for a year was not just a little bit. If it was calculated in units, it would be millions of tons.
It was almost impossible to keep it a secret with so many resources being transported over. In this day and age, who didn't plant a few spies on the other side!
If they couldn't get any important military information, who could they fool with a ship full of firearms?
Franz nodded. This was indeed a problem. Not to mention the transportation, just the organization of production could attract the attention of the European world.
"Then do it in batches. First, increase the supply in the name of changing equipment, then increase a portion every month when supplies are replenished. After a few times, it will not be so conspicuous.
The war in Central Asia is the best cover. Order the state-owned arsenal to double the production of weapons from now on, and announce to the public that it is an order from the Russians.
Do not disclose the specific number to the public. The arsenal is scattered all over the country, ordinary people will not notice. "
This was the advantage of state-owned enterprises. The government could control the production and did not need to disclose any information to the outside world.
As long as the Government of Vienna did not say how many weapons and ammunition were produced and how many were exported, no one would know.
Even if someone investigated, they would have to investigate all the arsenal factories together to get an accurate number. It was meaningless to investigate the data of one or two arsenal factories.
It was not that Franz was boasting, but it was impossible for the outside world to know how many arsenal factories there were in Austria and how many companies had military production capacity.
The reason was very simple, there were too many related companies. Many machinery factories could immediately become a military factory as long as the production equipment was modified.
Anyway, it was a streamlined construction, and there was no need for one company to produce all the spare parts. It was enough as long as they could produce a part.
Put together the spare parts produced by everyone, and a weapon was born.
The current military factories only had a more complete industrial chain and did not need to buy spare parts everywhere.
From the beginning to the end, they were all parts produced by the same company. Naturally, they would have an advantage during assembly, and the quality would be relatively more guaranteed.
However, in the era of war, these were all small problems. Many times, quantity was more important than quality. As long as it could be used, a few flaws were not worth mentioning.
