Chapter 990

While the international community was in turmoil, the Fao's battle for Egypt also came to an end. Once again, it was proven that modern warfare could no longer be won by numbers alone.

Looking at the increasing number of telegrams on his desk, Governor Jacob began to despair. It was impossible to get reinforcements. Ever since the port fell, the French army in Egypt could only rely on themselves.

Originally, Governor Jacob planned to use his troops to stall the Austrian army for a year and a half to buy time for the final battle on the European continent. However, it hadn't even been a month, and the situation was already hopeless.

It couldn't be helped. Ever since the Austrian armored forces came online, all of Governor Jacob's strategic plans were ruined.

In the face of this unfamiliar enemy, Jacob was completely dumbfounded. The fortifications that the French army had painstakingly built in Egypt were completely vulnerable in front of the flood of steel.

Originally, they were only meant to stop the enemy's infantry, but now they were facing airplanes, airships, and armored tanks on the ground. Instead, the infantry had to cooperate with these steel lumps.

Needless to say, flesh and blood couldn't withstand the flood of steel. Every time they encountered it in the field, the French army would end up in tragedy. The original 800,000 strong army was now scattered and scattered.

Even though he gathered the scattered soldiers, Governor Jacob didn't dare to order his troops to gather because it would only cause the French army to lose faster.

In order to delay as much time as possible, Governor Jacob was forced to order his troops to find a city nearby and set up camp in dangerous terrain to avoid a direct confrontation with the enemy's steel flood.

Dodging the steel flood didn't mean that everything was over. The French army that entered the city was fine. The colonial government had stockpiled supplies in advance, so they wouldn't starve for a while. However, the French army that was scattered outside the city was a tragedy. The dangerous terrain limited the enemy's armored forces, but they still had to eat!

The enemy's air force was keeping a close eye on them. How to deliver the supplies to the French army had become a huge problem.

In a sense, this wasn't a problem. After all, Governor Jacob didn't have many supplies. Without the support of the mainland, he could only last a few months at most.

Now that there were fewer people, the French army stationed in the city could actually last longer. It had to be said that this was ironic.

If it was only the collapse of the Egyptian battlefield, Governor Jacob wouldn't have collapsed. After all, this was within his expectations, and he was mentally prepared. Even at home, he only asked him to stall for time and didn't fantasize about defeating the enemy.

What really caused Jacob to collapse was the loss of hope. Not only did he lose hope for the Egyptian battlefield, but he also lost hope for France.

Jacob had personally experienced the power of the armored forces. Not only were these iron lumps slaughtering the infantry in the field, but they were also very effective in attacking fortresses and fortresses.

There might be a way to restrain it, but it had nothing to do with Jacob, who was trapped in Cairo. At this point, the Egyptian region of Egypt had lost their ability to fight.

"Have our people in Ethiopia yet?"

Jacob asked.

Perhaps it was out of duty, or perhaps it was out of patriotism. After encountering the Austrian armored forces, Governor Jacob immediately sent people back to his country to deliver the news.

The telegraph network to the outside world had long been cut off by Austria. If the Austrians wanted to, they could even cut off the telegraph network between the cities in Egypt.

The only way to communicate with the outside world was to pass through the Austrian blockade into British Ethiopia and use the British's channels to send messages.

The African continent was too big. It was densely forested and sparsely populated. In theory, as long as someone was careful, it wasn't impossible to avoid the Austrian blockade.

What really limited the spread of news was the distance. It was more than a thousand miles from Cairo to British Ethiopia. Now that these areas were in chaos, the chances of accidents happening were too high.

Major General Aristide, Jacob's trusted aide and the executor, replied, "Judging from the time, the messengers we sent should have entered the British territory by now.

To be on the safe side, I sent out more than two hundred messengers. Even if something were to happen along the way, someone would complete the mission.

But Mr. Governor, is this really useful? If the enemy can use these secret weapons in Egypt, they will only deploy more in Europe.

Let's not talk about whether our report will attract the attention of the country. Even if we know in advance, I'm afraid we won't be able to solve it in a short time. "

This was the truth. Discovering the problem didn't mean that they could solve it. If they could solve this threat by just discovering the armored forces, then the armored forces wouldn't be able to shine in the original space and time.

"Sigh!"

Governor Jacob sighed and said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. This news is too important. The country doesn't know the power of the enemy's iron lumps. Our troops in Central and Southern Europe are still looking for the Austrian army.

You've experienced it yourself. If you're not prepared in advance and suddenly encounter these iron lumps in the field, the impact will be great.

Now we can only hope that the Austrians aren't ready and that there aren't enough armored forces in Europe. If the country receives the information we provided, it will attract attention.

Otherwise, this European war will be the burial of France. If we lose this war, the great France Empire will become history. "

Jacob was able to stand out from many competitors and become a powerful governor. Other than his personal ability, it was more because of Napoleon Iv's trust.

It wasn't easy to be a trusted aide. In other words, his personal fate and the fate of his family were tied to the Bonaparte Dynasty.

France might not perish if it was defeated in this European war, but the Bonaparte Dynasty would definitely be finished. As a die-hard supporter of the Bonaparte Dynasty, Jacob naturally wouldn't have a good ending.

If it weren't for the deep ties of interests, Governor Jacob wouldn't have chosen to stubbornly resist after the general situation in Egypt was lost. After all, he only had one life.

"Woo …"

The air defense alarm sounded again, and the mood of everyone in the command center became heavier. Air defense was equivalent to no. The main force in Europe didn't even have enough anti-aircraft artillery, and the colonial troops, as stepmothers, naturally had even fewer.

The anti-aircraft weapons assigned to the Egyptian theater were mainly anti-aircraft rifles. Although the domestic arms dealers bragged about the anti-aircraft rifles, their real value was not even comparable to chicken ribs.

Apart from the long range and the ability to shoot directly into the air, the rest were all shortcomings, such as: low hit rate, high recoil, easy to explode …

The air defense alarm sounded, but the expected bombing didn't come. There was no familiar explosion, but a sense of unease spread in the command center.

Time seemed to be silent. No one spoke. The atmosphere in the room was extremely tense, so oppressive that it was about to make people collapse.

"Your Excellency, this is the leaflet thrown by the enemy outside, please take a look."

The voice of the guard broke the silence. After taking a glance, Governor Jacob's eyes widened, and the horrified expression on his face had already betrayed his inner thoughts.

After a long while, Governor Jacob, who had recovered, said bitterly, "The enemy has begun to threaten and tempt us. They have started to clearly mark the price on it.

If ordinary soldiers voluntarily surrender before the battle, each person will be rewarded with a shield. If officers lead the troops to surrender, the company platoon will be increased by 20%, the battalion by 30%, and the regiment by 40% …

The increased rewards will be freely distributed by the officers, and personal property will be guaranteed. All officers and soldiers who surrender will enjoy the corresponding treatment as prisoners of war.

If you stubbornly resist, you will no longer receive prisoners after the outbreak of war. There is only one chance: live or die. "

There was no doubt that this leaflet was to break the last morale of the French army and force them to surrender.

No one wanted to die, and it was not popular in Europe to fight to the death. If there was still a chance of victory, Jacob still had a way to mobilize everyone to fight.

Now that they were trapped in a isolated city without any reinforcements, there was no hope at all. It would be difficult for everyone to fight to the death again.

Hearing this bad news, everyone in the command center had different expressions, but they quickly returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

Major General Aristide suggested in a panic, "Your Excellency, we must immediately order for the leaflets to be confiscated. If the news spreads, we will be in a very passive position."

There was no other way. Everyone present was sure that even if war broke out, the Austrians would still accept prisoners, or force them to fight to the death. However, the low-ranking officers and soldiers didn't think so.

Up until now, the feeling of defeat had already spread among the French army. Many people didn't want to continue this hopeless war.

According to the European tradition, the nobles would definitely receive preferential treatment when they surrendered, but it was different for the low-ranking officers and soldiers. It was normal for them to work hard and starve, and they might even be killed directly.

Even the Austrians would accept prisoners later on, but if they angered the enemy, they wouldn't have a good ending.

Killing people didn't necessarily require a knife. Working hard day and night could also tire people to death.

The morale of the French army was already low. At this time, the Austrians' leaflets could be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Since the situation was already set, they would have to surrender sooner or later. Instead of fighting to the death, wouldn't it be better to surrender earlier and receive a sum of money?

Jacob shook his head. "It's too late. We have all received the leaflets, and the soldiers outside will only get them earlier.

By this time, the news has already spread. Confiscating the leaflets will only intensify the conflict and have no other meaning.

The enemy's promise is very deceptive. We won't fall for it, but it doesn't mean that the low-ranking officers won't fall for it. The most important thing now is to find a way to stabilize the army's morale. "

"Fall for it" and "fall for it." Jacob wouldn't believe it even if he said it out loud. The enemy had indeed tempted them, but the problem was that they didn't offer a high price.

At the very most, there were only four to five hundred thousand French soldiers in Egypt. Even if they surrendered en masse, the so-called bribe fee would only be 1.8 million BDH. Such a small amount of money wasn't worth the Austrians breaking the contract.

Moreover, the prisoners of war weren't taken for free. At worst, they could just add it to the ransom. In the end, all the expenses would still be paid by the French government.