The bigwigs in Cairo were still making their final struggle, but the French soldiers scattered outside were different. They knew that Egypt was powerless on the battlefield, and their retreat was blocked. Only a fool would fight to the end.
The terms of surrender promised by Austria were just a catalyst. What made everyone make up their minds was that they were running out of supplies.
Some strongholds that had fallen into the encirclement had begun to limit their food supplies. If they continued to drag on like this, they would be finished before the enemy could launch an attack.
Aswan, located on the east bank of the Nile River, was just an inconspicuous small city. It was only known because of the great uprising a few years ago.
The rebels blew up the "Aswan Dam" and flooded the delta downstream. This attracted the attention of the European media, and it became famous.
A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. After wiping out the rebels, the Egyptian colonial government deployed a large number of troops in the Aswan area. The inconspicuous small city of Aswan instantly became a military stronghold.
After the outbreak of the European War, the French increased their troops in the Aswan area to avoid a repeat of the tragedy of the delta. The total number of troops in the Aswan area exceeded 80,000.
With their strong military strength, the garrison in the Aswan area crushed the Austrian attacks many times. Unfortunately, it was useless. A large-scale war could not be turned around by the loss of a city or a place.
As time passed, the surrounding allies fell under the enemy's guns, and the French army in the Aswan area gradually became isolated.
…
The French army command center in Aswan was now full of stars. Basically all the high-ranking officers of the French army were here.
"The garrison in Kaom Omb surrendered five days ago. The enemy's encirclement has been completed. The situation in the other areas is not optimistic. There won't be any reinforcements. What should we do now? "
No one was willing to bear the political disaster of surrendering, and Lieutenant General Armand, as the commander of the garrison in Aswan, was no exception.
In order to avoid being court-martialed after the war, the best way to deal with such a situation was to make a collective decision and bear the responsibility together.
"Lieutenant General, the military commanders gave us the order to defend Aswan to the death. They didn't consider the actual situation at all.
Since the start of the war, we have already suffered more than 30,000 casualties. The total number of troops has also decreased from 80,000 at the peak to 50,000 now.
What's worse is that we don't have enough strategic supplies. The medicine is almost depleted, and the weapons and ammunition can only last one battle at most.
In order to reduce food consumption, we even expelled the civilians in the area. But this is still not enough. Even with the lowest ration, we can only last for a month at most.
We don't have what it takes to defend Aswan to the death. Even if the enemy doesn't attack, we will still starve to death.
The population of Aswan was limited. In the future, there would only be about two hundred thousand people, let alone now. After the war broke out, the number of troops exceeded that of civilians.
As France's cotton field, Aswan was no exception. A large amount of farmland was used to grow cotton.
During normal times, it was fine, but during was, it, it was. Even, of the garrison, of Aswan were. s and Ass.
All kinds of strategic resources were lacking, so the days of the quartermaster were naturally not good. While the other quartermasters were enjoying themselves, Major General Artil, the quartermaster of the Aswan garrison, was so worried that he was about to go bald.
After a day, the war, the war, the war were....... Even filling the stomachs of the soldiers had become a problem, not to mention fishing for profits.
Artil was not being conscientious. In fact, he was a standard French quartermaster, and he would not hesitate when it came to making money.
Ass. Ass. Ass. Ass. He was a standard French officer. He would not hesitate when it came to making money. If they didn't have enough food, they would turn on him.
On the other hand, he knew that if he wanted to make money, he had to be alive to spend it. At this point, Ass had lost confidence in the Aswan army.
If they couldn't win, they would either be annihilated or surrender. Ass. Ass. Ass. Ass. He didn't need to be responsible for defeat or surrender.
Although the Austrians promised to protect the lives and property of the soldiers, if they really became prisoners of war, the huge amount of wealth would be a death sentence.
In times of war, it was normal to lose a few people, especially if they were prisoners of war. No one would care.
Major General Artil's wealth was not low, and he was not sure if he could keep it. Any more and he would become a fat sheep, so he did not dare to take the risk.
Ass. Ass. Ass. Ass. Everyone was smart. They all knew what Ass was trying to say. The war could not hold on any longer. It was a good excuse to surrender.
As for whether the war was really that stressful, whether they really ran out of ammunition, or whether they were running out of supplies, it was not important. Everyone agreed.
A middle-aged officer agreed, "Major General Artil is right. We don't have what it takes to defend Aswan right now. Without reinforcements and supplies, it's only a matter of time before Aswan falls.
It's said that the enemy has a car covered with steel plates. It's very powerful and invincible in the field. Our main force was defeated by them. It's our failure in the last battle that led to the collapse of the situation.
Now we don't know how to deal with these iron blocks. It's almost impossible to restore the supply line in a short time.
Besides, we have limited strategic supplies in Egypt. Even if we break through the enemy's blockade, the GCH can't provide us with supplies.
Since the Aswan region is doomed to fall, there is no need for us to make unnecessary sacrifices. In order to defend Egypt, France has sacrificed more than 200,000 people. There's no need to continue.
The key to the outcome of this war was in Europe, not Aswan. Even if we lose Aswan, as long as we win the war in Europe, what we lose now will be in our hands in the future. "
"Sir, you are trying to change the concept. The territory of Aswan would not affect the outcome of the war, but the ownership of Egypt would affect the balance of victory.
Once Aswan falls, the enemy can blow up the dam, flood the delta, and destroy the social order in Egypt.
When that happens, the homeless Egyptians will rise up and strike a fatal blow to our rule. This will cause the whole of Egypt to fall.
For the sake of France, we have to hold on. Even if we can hold on for one more day, it will be a great help to the war at home. "
There were no lack of hot-blooded men in any country, and France was no exception. Major General Antoine could not refute the previous statement about the lack of strategic supplies. Now, he could not help but say that they were going to surrender.
One had to know that surrendering was contagious. The French army in Aswan wanted to surrender because they were influenced by their allies.
The first to surrender was the Italian division that came as reinforcements. The Government of Paris originally sent them to cut off their connection with the Italian independent organizations and reduce the security risk.
After all, the Italians did not have a good relationship with Austria. Under the deliberate propaganda of the Government of France, many Italians hated Austria.
However, all of this could not stop their determination to surrender. After being beaten by the Austrians, these guys decisively chose to follow their hearts.
In comparison, this was not bad. If they were to stay in Europe, the Government of Paris would not dare to use these pure Italian divisions.
Once they were mixed with the independent organizations, it would not be a matter of surrendering, but a mutiny.
So far in the war, three pure Italian divisions had changed sides on the battlefield, almost collapsing the southern front that the French had painstakingly built.
Fortunately, there were not many pure Italian divisions. They were the historical legacy of France's annexation of the Italian states. Over the years, they had been eliminated by the Government of France.
Using the opportunity of this war, the Government of Paris directly seized the military and political power of several Italian states. The former Kingdom of Two Sicilies, Tuscany, and other state governments had become rubber stamps.
If France won this war, these Italian states would probably completely become history. They would not even have the chance to be rubber stamps.
The internal problems were solved, but the French army in Egypt was miserably tricked. They came with the main force, but achieved results that were not even as good as the colonial forces.
In the previous battle, the French army was defeated so quickly. Other than the powerful armored forces, these guys who held them back also took great credit.
Although they were not good at fighting, they were the best at escaping.
If someone did statistics, they would find that in the previous battle, the Italian division not only collapsed the fastest, but also had the lowest casualty rate.
After the war, they were scattered and stationed in various places. These guys did not stop and continued to play tricks. Not only did they surrender themselves, but in order to sell for a good price, they often mobilized their teammates to surrender together.
As for the hatred between them and Austria, was national independence more important or the Divine Shield more important?
Seeing that someone came out to oppose them, everyone's face became gloomy. Everyone wanted to be a hero. No one wanted to be a coward, but the price of being a hero was too heavy.
Seeing that the situation on the battlefield had changed, the Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Armand, tried to persuade him, "Major General Antoine, calm down first. No one wants to see Egypt fall, but we really can't fight anymore.
Maybe you don't want to believe it, but it's the truth. Including the telegrams we used to communicate with the outside world, they were deliberately left by the enemy.
Up to now, two-thirds of the cities in Egypt had fallen into the hands of the enemy. More than 200,000 French soldiers had laid down their weapons and surrendered. The remaining cities that were still resisting, including Cairo, were on the verge of collapse.
The enemy had taken the initiative on the battlefield. They didn't need to blow up the dam at all. The strategic value of the Aswan region had disappeared.
If it weren't for the Nile, the enemy wouldn't even need to occupy the Aswan region.
For this war, France had sacrificed too much. If we include the domestic casualties, I'm afraid the death toll has exceeded one million.
This is close to two percent of our total population, but the end of the war is still far away. No one knows the final number of casualties.
Since the Aswan region is destined to be lost, as the commander, it's my duty to bring the lads back safely. We can't kill this generation just for a moment of anger. "
The first part was an excuse, but the last part was Lieutenant General Armand's heartfelt words.
The French Empire seemed to have a population of 60 million, but the Italians were not on good terms with them. The real population was only about 37 million.
After the outbreak of the war, although the Italians were also drafted into the army, the main force was still the French, and the French also suffered the most casualties on the battlefield.
When the time came, they regretted not having enough manpower. Up until now, the Government of France had clearly felt the lack of manpower, and the elites had also realized the importance of population.
But it was all too late. The population couldn't be increased in a day or two. Even if they were to immediately create a human, it would take at least twenty years before they could be used.
Faced with the cruel reality, Major General Antoine fell into a fierce struggle in his heart. After a while, he said fiercely, "If that's the case, then we'll blow up the Aswan Dam first and then surrender. Since we can't protect Egypt anyway, we might as well leave a mess for the enemy. "
As soon as he finished speaking, Lieutenant General Armand hurriedly retorted, "No! There are still our troops downstream. If we blow up the dam suddenly, our army will inevitably suffer heavy losses.
Every soldier is a hero of France. They can die on the battlefield, but never in the hands of our own people. "
There was no doubt that this was just an excuse. The telegraph was not cut off, and the garrison in the Aswan region still had contact with the outside world. It would be fine as long as they reported the news in advance.
However, in this way, the defenders at the lower reaches of the river could reasonably surrender, and the responsibility of losing the city and land would fall on their heads.
As the commander in chief, Lieutenant General Armand was naturally the first person responsible. After the war, not only would he be held accountable by the military court, but he would also be shot.
Not only would the commander be finished, but everyone present would also be finished. No one would be able to escape. Patriotism was one thing, but if they had to pay with their reputation, they would still politely decline.
