Chapter 923

The battle was still going on. The sunlight shone on the blood-red surface of the river. The atmosphere was strange, like the River Styx.

The rafts used to cross the river were mostly destroyed in the previous battle, but the enemy's position was still as stable as Mount Tai.

Even though a small group of soldiers completed the crossing mission, they were defeated by the French army and were forced to retreat.

This was not desertion. According to European culture, soldiers who ran out of ammunition could surrender, and the Austrian army was no exception.

The soldiers who participated in the sneak attack were all trained in swimming, so the Suez Canal couldn't stop them.

Moreover, the scattered rafts could be used as escape tools, so there was no need to surrender.

However, the return journey wasn't smooth. From time to time, French soldiers fired at the river. Fortunately, the French army didn't have a large number of machine guns, or else they wouldn't even have the chance to retreat.

Colonel Vorderman put down the binoculars in his hand and gave up his last hope. His face became ruthless, as if he was having a fierce internal struggle.

"Order the artillery to aim at the opposite embankment, change to solid bullets, and attack with full force!"

For the sake of the canal's safety, the Fao and Austria had been using explosive bullets since the beginning of the battle. Occasionally, solid bullets were used, but they were aimed at the fortress.

The chief of staff reminded, "Colonel, if the embankment is destroyed, the canal will be blocked, and then …"

Colonel Vorderman waved his hand and interrupted, "Wrong, we are only attacking the enemy's fortress. The damage to the embankment was deliberately destroyed by the French when they saw that the situation was hopeless."

This reason was very far-fetched, but Colonel Vorderman didn't care that much. Anyway, it was better than nothing. Since the headquarters couldn't make the decision, he would make the decision for the headquarters.

Political issues weren't something a colonel should consider. From a purely military point of view, Colonel Vorderman's order was completely correct.

As for the follow-up problems, it would be a test of the Government of Austria's diplomatic ability and how thick the government's skin was.

After struggling for a while, the chief of staff chose to compromise. The same order, given by different people, would have a completely different political impact.

"When a general is outside, he can't follow the orders of the emperor."

This was not an empty statement, and it was also applicable in Austria. Moreover, the emperor didn't order the destruction of the canal. It was the Government of Austria that requested the protection of the Suez Canal.

The war zone headquarters was a special wartime organization. During the war, the frontline military was in charge. As the commander, General Vislav naturally had to consider all issues and couldn't ignore the government's request.

However, it was different for the middle-level officers like Colonel Vorderman. They were only loyal to the emperor and didn't need to answer to the government.

No matter how unhappy the government was, they could not bypass the emperor and directly interfere with the military.

As long as the war was won, the government could only keep their opinions to themselves. No one in Austria could target the heroes on the battlefield for no reason.

In the truest sense, the risk was to suffer defeat on the battlefield.

However, the enemy on the other side gave Colonel Vorderman confidence. More than half of the defenders were natives. If he couldn't win, then he wouldn't have the face to stay in the army.

.

With a new round, the bombardment, the river, the artillery, the river, and, and, and, and, began.

By the time the headquarters received the news, it was already too late. They had no other choice but to continue.

General Vislav wanted to cry. Just an hour ago, he had just asked the emperor if he should fill in the passage, and this happened immediately.

It was too late to retreat. The emergency telegram from the frontline arrived as soon as possible. Now, Vislav had to send another telegram to explain.

As for whether Colonel Vorderman was a hero or a sinner, it would depend on the development of the war. Vislav wasn't in the mood to find out who was responsible.

Without any hesitation, General Vislav made a decision. "Order the troops at the frontline to not be afraid anymore. Let go of your hands and feet.

Now, I only have one request. Cross the river in the shortest time possible, defeat the French on the other side, and seize the Suez Canal. "

If a soldier wanted to have a strong backbone, he still had to prove himself with his military achievements. As long as they won on the battlefield, these problems could only be considered as dust in the past.

…

In the Palace of Vienna, looking at the two different telegrams in his hands, Franz didn't know whether to praise General Vislav for being obedient or criticize him for being stubborn.

After thinking about it, Franz still felt that it was better for the high-ranking officers at the frontline to be obedient. After all, he could trust them!

As for the presumptuous Colonel Vorderman, that was even less of a problem. As a pure soldier, he only considered problems from a military point of view. This was what Franz wanted.

He would rather deal with the aftermath of these simple fellows than let the officers at the frontline become overcautious politicians. The latter would mean disaster.

Before Franz could reply, the cabinet came to him. Looking at their faces, it was obvious that they were in a bad mood.

Thinking about it, the international political advantage that they had painstakingly built was now completely disrupted. No one would be happy if it happened to them.

"Your Majesty, what happened in the Middle East …"

Before Wesenberg could finish, Franz interrupted, "Okay, I already know what happened in the Suez Canal.

At this point, it was useless to talk about it. Even if they wanted to investigate who was responsible, it would be after the war.

The most urgent thing now was to think of a way to wait! The French are not scary. With the people in Paris holding them back, even if someone in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs discovered the problem and wanted to take the opportunity to cause trouble, it would be ruined by those guys.

The troublesome one is the British. Don't forget that not long ago, they were still encouraging the European countries to unite together to jointly manage the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal is a fat piece of meat that everyone has been drooling over for a long time.

It's just that the Suez Canal has always been controlled by us and the French, so the countries had to hold back their ambitions.

After what happened now, the British have even more reason to ask for international co-management. I don't know how many countries will be persuaded by the British next. "

Changing the topic was a basic skill that Franz had learned from his many years as an emperor. Since he was the emperor, it was impossible for his subordinates to not give him face and insist on a problem.

It was now a time of war, and internal conflicts must not break out, so it was better to provoke external conflicts.

At this point in the war, Franz could see that no matter how strong the butterfly effect was, it could not change the fact that this was a bad world.

Looking at the performance of the French, they had created so many opportunities for them, but they still had not gotten rid of Belgium and reached the hinterland of the German Region.

In that case, there was no harm in accusing the British again. Anyway, they were still PKing with the Russians. Even if they personally went down, they could not abandon India to help the French.

Moreover, this might not be an injustice. With John Bull's style, this kind of thing was almost inevitable.

After changing the topic, the Foreign Affairs Minister, who was originally angry and wanted to find trouble with the Middle East war zone, had to calm down and think of countermeasures.

After a while, Foreign Affairs Minister Wesenberg slowly said, "Your Majesty, the Government of the United Kingdom has always been eyeing the Suez Canal. They will most likely not let go of this opportunity to launch an attack.

Judging from the current international situation, Belgium, Germany, Montenegro, and Greece are our allies and will certainly not respond to the British's call.

Switzerland and the Netherlands are limited by their geographical location and will not take sides before the outcome of the war against France is clear.

The French want to monopolize the Suez Canal. Before the defeat of the European War, the Government of France was also mostly opposed to international joint management of the canal.

In a short period of time, the British will at most stir up some public opinion and give us some trouble, but it is not enough to form an absolute advantage. "

The international situation was still so chaotic. In the face of interests, there were no absolute friends or enemies, there were only common interests.

Russia and Austria were still allies, but on the issue of the Suez Canal, Wesenberg was not sure if the Tsarist government would support Austria. After all, it was impossible for the Government of Vienna to share the benefits of the canal with them.

On the contrary, the French, who were at war, had the same position as Austria on this issue and would definitely oppose international joint management of the Suez Canal.

Prime Minister Carr: "As long as we can delay until we defeat the French on the battlefield, all of this is not a problem.

At that time, we can use the interests of the French to buy Spain, Switzerland, plus the independent Italy and our current allies. The European continent will be ours to call the shots.

But before that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still can't relax its vigilance, especially since the war in Afghanistan has recently eased. We have to be extra careful. "

There was no other way. In international politics, there were no eternal friends, only eternal interests. There was no betrayal, only because the bargaining chips to prompt betrayal were not enough.

Now that the Fao was competing for the European hegemony, the Government of Austria had to be vigilant because there were enough chips on the gambling table.

Putting aside France, who directly went to war, the United Kingdom and Russia, who were qualified to compete for hegemony, were also likely to jump out at the critical moment to pick the peach.

Looking at Austria's military actions, the African battlefield and the battle for the Suez Canal, the mainland did not transfer troops. The colonial troops were responsible for implementation, or the troops mobilized in Africa.

More than three million troops were mobilized one after another. Only a few hundred thousand troops on the southern front were actually sent to the battlefield. The rest of the troops, except for the million troops to reinforce Central Europe, were still holed up at home.

Logically speaking, as long as these troops were sent out, it would be enough to meet the current combat needs. However, the follow-up mobilization work was still in progress.

Of course, there were concerns about the French's overcapacity and the frontline's failure, but there was also a lack of trust in Russia.

…

The government's decision did not affect the frontline battle. There was no turning back. Since it was done, it had to be done.

Filling the Suez Canal by bombardment was too time-consuming. In order to speed up, the frontline troops had to fill the river and create land under the threat of the enemy's artillery.

Colonel Vorderman frowned as he looked at the car that was hit by the enemy's artillery and was crawling on the road with black smoke.

One had to know that cars were rare. In addition to the main force in the country, only the logistics department of the overseas army had a small amount of equipment.

The garrisons in the Middle East were considered lucky because they produced oil. Austria also had an oil refinery here, and the fuel supply was convenient. That was why each regiment had a car company.

However, this was only limited to before the war. When the expansion of the army began, such a good thing ended.

The newly produced military cars had to be prioritized to meet the needs of the local troops. There were only a few assigned to the Middle East Theater of Operations.

Without any exception, Colonel Vorderman's infantry division was also expanded. It expanded from a regiment before the war to a division.

Other weapons were opened in the warehouse, and the number of cars was still the original car company, mainly used to transport logistics.

Looking at these treasures on the battlefield, Colonel Vorderman's heart was constantly bleeding.

After hesitating for a long time, Colonel Vorderman seemed to have made a difficult decision and said fiercely, "Order the car company to suspend operations and wait until night!"

There was no other way. The cars were too big of a target. On average, one car died bravely every three to five times.

As long as they could win, it was worth it no matter how many cars were lost. The problem was with the current speed, the car company would be finished before the Suez Canal was filled.

It was fine to wait for reinforcements, but the problem was that time had passed. It wasn't just Colonel Vorderman's division that started the river filling operation at the same time. The Austrian army was attacking from multiple locations.

Since the French army would blow up the canal if they lost, it wasn't a big deal to fill a few more roads.

"Colonel, if we stop now, I'm afraid it will be difficult to be the first to complete the mission with animal transportation." The chief of staff reminded.

As the first unit to blow up the Suez Canal and start the river filling operation, if they couldn't fill a road in time for the army to cross the river, Colonel Vorderman's future would really be bleak.

"There's no other way. The cars are too big of a target. It's difficult to avoid the enemy's artillery. The enemy built a complete fortification, and we can't destroy their firing points in a short period of time.

If we continue to persist, our losses will be very high. Unlike these exiled criminal laborers, the car company is a technical unit. If we lose their seeds, there's no way to replenish them. "

Thanks to Franz's Great Greening Strategy, a large number of criminals were exiled to the Middle East every year. When the war broke out, these fellows naturally turned into laborers.

Labor was a valuable asset to Austria, but once the word "criminal" was added to it, their value would instantly plummet, turning from a valuable "asset" to a "cancer" of society.

…

At the French command center in Cairo, ever since the news of the Austrian army filling the river came, Governor Jacob's mood became terrible.

Originally, he planned to seize the Sinai Peninsula and occupy the Suez Canal to make a name for himself for France.

Unfortunately, the plan didn't change fast enough. As soon as he took action, the Austrian army from the African continent attacked. For a moment, Egypt was in a predicament with enemies on all sides.

In the face of the ferocious enemy, the troops at the border couldn't withstand it. Governor Jacob had to shrink the line of defense and get reinforcements from everywhere to support the front line.

It was inevitable that he would get the troops at the canal. After all, Egypt had just experienced a major upheaval a few years ago, and the population suffered heavy losses. Even if Governor Jacob wanted to be aggressive, he didn't have enough young men.

Originally, Governor Jacob had hoped that the Austrian army would be wary of international pressure and wouldn't easily destroy the "eternally neutral Suez Canal."

As long as they could hold on for a few months, when the outcome of the war was decided, Egypt would have no choice but to win.

Unfortunately, the deterrence of "international pressure" was too weak. It was only delayed for a few days, and it was already seen through.

Although he was worried, Governor Jacob still had some confidence in the canal defense line that he managed. Even if they couldn't defeat the enemy, it wouldn't be broken in a short period of time.

"Order the troops at the canal line to rely on the fortifications to defend. Attack the enemy head-on, and show the power of the French army …"