Chapter 487: Grow in fire

Changes in British foreign policy quickly caused a ripple effect. The French still did not resist the temptation, accepted the British to join the alliance, and the pressure turned to Austria.
Vienna was extremely cold this winter, and before Christmas, Schönbrunn Palace was covered with silver.
The sound of creaking is still so pleasing on the snow.
Franz, who was in a good mood, didn't have a headache for diplomatic changes. Since the French dared to let the British join the alliance, he didn't care about having one more ally.
Originally, France and Austria were unstable. Now that there is an extra-hearted Englishman, Franz has seen the future of the collapse of this alliance.
Of course, it is good for everyone in a short time. The alliance of Britain, France, Austria and Austria can pull everyone's reputation to the peak, and all countries in the world will tremble under this alliance.
Stepping into the conference room, Foreign Minister Weissenberg had already appeared in the room, and there was a cup of coffee on the table with a trace of hot air, apparently he had been here for a while.
The purpose is self-evident, of course, to communicate with Franz in advance, whether to form an alliance with the British.
Thanks to the good reputation of the British, the Vienna government's enthusiasm for alliance with them has not been high. Even the pro-British in the government do not consider the British to be a good ally.
After the courtesy greeting, Franz asked directly, "What do you think?"
Foreign Minister Weissenberg paused, seemingly to organize the language, and replied after a moment of effort: "His Majesty, the French have compromised, and we do not need to continue deadlocked.
The British joined the alliance, the life of this alliance is doomed not to be long. However, the French-Austrian alliance was originally a combination of interests, and it only took a few years to expire.
We also have no plan to uphold the alliance for a long time. Since the British are here to disrupt the situation, it is not necessarily a bad thing to tear up the covenant earlier. "
Franz nodded, the purpose of the alliance was to win time for peaceful development. Now that the French are brought into the pit, they will not be able to do things on the European continent in a short time, and the original purpose has been achieved.
By this time the importance of the alliance to Austria had become dispensable. That being the case, there is no need to stand still. It is also a good choice to carry out the final waste utilization and increase Austria's popularity in the world.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to negotiate with the British and, as long as it does not affect the outcome of the negotiations, try to delay the time of alliance until the second half of next year.
Now that the South African war has hit, it is difficult to end it in a short time. The people invest so much, we need to create an opportunity for them. "
As a good leader, Franz's devotion to African nobles is clear. For this war, many nobles did their best.
Although the Vienna government is bearing military expenses, the war is also going to be dead. The loss of the credible private army cannot be made up for two days a day.
Not to mention that some unlucky eggs and nobles fell directly on the battlefield. In any case, they were sacrificed for national interests, and now the Vienna government needs to give them an account.
If they are incompetent and have not been able to conquer Cape Town, then they will not be able to dig their own pits and bury them, and no one will have an opinion.
If, for diplomatic reasons, the Vienna government forced the war to be stopped, wouldn't their efforts be futile?
Without military merits, there will be no rewards. If they cannot go further, they will not even be able to recover the costs based on the military puppets issued by the government.
The chilling thing Franz doesn't always do. It takes a few months to increase the loyalty of African nobles. It is still very worthwhile.
Anyway, these expenses can be recovered from South Africa's mineral resources. The more beautiful the battlefield, the more confident the post-war negotiations will be.
As for the local population decline caused by the war, there is no other way. Everything has to be paid for.
Weissenberg replied: "Yes, Your Majesty. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try to give the front line time as much as possible, without blood."
Now that the war has gone on, the loss on the South African battlefield is also an astronomical figure. A total of 341,500 troops were lost on the side of the Boer Republic. Well, the fraction behind it is Austria's real casualties.
Otherwise, everyone in the Boer Republic would die twice before they could barely make up enough.
The British army was not much better, and there were more than 100,000 casualties. It was also mainly a cannon fodder. White soldiers lost more than 20,000 people, including a large number of captives, and only 7,000 or 8,000 died.
The main cause of the disparity in casualties, in addition to the defeat of the British army at the beginning, is more the reason for Cape Town's offensive and defensive wars.
On average, it now takes more than a dozen cannon fodder to fight off a British soldier, and the number of casualties on both sides naturally widens.
This situation is expected to continue until the arrival of the Indian Colonial Legion, and then the two colonial empires have a cannon fodder.
Viscount Fickney was also informed of the high-level decisions of the two countries. The rising number of casualties made his colonial leader shocking.
At this moment he admired the Russians a bit, and was able to rely on human life to pile up, but he couldn't stand the casualties of the French and was forced to give up Constantinople.
You must know that the South African battlefield is filled with indigenous people, and the Russians use their own cannon fodder. This is not a concept at all.
As Christmas approaches, Cape Town remains motionless. After so many days of war, the Boer Republic Army just knocked out the British fortifications.
All of these are filled with hundreds of thousands of cannon fodder troops. If they continue to fight like this, the South African region is certainly not enough.
Viscount Fickney said tiredly: "Everyone on the battlefield is clear. I have contacted the Governor of the Congo. They promised to send over 100,000 cannon fodder in the near future. The Governor of East Africa also agreed to send 50,000 people over.
Farther west Africa, there is no need to count, there are not many indigenous people there, the distance is too far, and it takes too long.
Not to mention the South African region, with the exception of the indigenous tribes in the deep forests and old forests, the rest have been recruited once, and they are not very young.
It is not a way to continue to consume it this way. Even if we use up more than 100,000 cannon fodder in our hands, and then finish the cannon fodder troops assisted in various places, it will not necessarily be able to capture Cape Town.
The plan to capture Cape Town before Christmas is now bankrupt, and the British's reinforcements will soon arrive.
At this time we need new tactics, at least to reduce the casualties of the offensive forces, otherwise it is difficult to consume the British. "
Let the main force lose too much in the onslaught, and Viscount Fickney could not afford such a loss, so he chose the tactic of attrition with cannon fodder.
No matter how disparate the exchange ratio is, the besieged British people suffer. Once the loss exceeds the tolerance limit, the British will also give in.
Of course, this is the most ideal state. With the importance of the Cape of Good Hope, the British cannot easily stop. The war fought money and food, and if it lasted too long, Austria would not be able to afford it.
Chief of Staff Jacob thought for a while and said, "The solution is not without, but it is used now, and it will be difficult to play a role later. I am afraid that it is impossible to end this war before Christmas."
Blind assault is the most stupid way to do it. At the beginning, it did so. It was because the logistics did not keep up. There was not much food in the army, and it could not afford to raise so much cannon fodder.
Over time, logistical problems have been gradually resolved, and the number of artillery fodder has plummeted. There is no need to continue sending them to death.
After all, there are still many places where cannon fodder is needed. Even if the British's defense line is torn apart, a lot of human life will be required to fill it up.
Viscount Fickney shook his head and said, "No matter how many things are, use them first if there is a way. After the arrival of the British reinforcements, we will start the second plan.
The British have a maritime transport channel to supplement. This loss of tackling the battle is too great, and the chance of conquering Cape Town is originally small.
In the last few days, even if the main forces were pulled up, it would not be possible to end the war before Christmas. "
It was not Viscount Fickney who was reluctant to suffer casualties, mainly because the number of main forces was limited, and he really could not afford to lose them. In case of heavy losses, even if the defence is torn, the British may be pushed back.
Otherwise, there is a firepower advantage that suppresses the British firepower. The cannon fodder alone is unlikely to touch the British hair.
Jacob nodded and said, "Then dig trenches, get as close as possible, and then dig tunnels to blow up enemy fortifications.
The British never thought that there would be enemies in the inland areas. Most of these fortifications were temporarily built. As long as the foundation was loosened, ordinary artillery could be solved. "
In fact, it can be attacked directly with artillery, but it only needs heavy artillery. However, the number of heavy artillery in the army of the Republic of Boer is limited, which cannot suppress the enemy's firepower at the same time.
This is an insufficient estimate in advance. It is assumed that the cement in the Cape Town area is limited, and a large number of reinforced concrete fortresses cannot be constructed in a short time.
Viscount Fickney wanted to end the war before Christmas, based on the premise that the British did not build a modern fortress, and did not expect Delphi's old fox to be prepared in advance.
Just rushed to the door of Cape Town to meet them in rows of temporarily built bunkers. Although not perfect, it also shattered the dream of Viscount Fickney.
Now that the goals of the battle have changed, Viscount Fickney no longer dreams of ending the war before Christmas, but instead consumes as much of his strength as possible before the British reinforcements arrive.
In order to implement the second plan, entice the enemy to go in depth, change the battlefield and then conduct a decisive battle.
The biggest problem with the second plan is that the British must dare to come out. Otherwise, more deployment is useless.
This requires the British to have enough reinforcements to bring enough confidence to Governor Delphi, and this bird of surprise can only come out.
It is now constantly putting pressure on the British in the city to ask the London government for reinforcements. The more reinforcements there are, the more likely it is that the British will do the trick.
As for whether the number of enemies is too large, whether it will be strangled is beyond the consideration of Viscount Fickney.
The British can send more troops, and Austria can send more. On the African continent, the British have little chance of winning.
Viscount Fickney made the decision without hesitation: "Then try it first and see the effect."
...
Maybe God doesn't like war, South Africa is exceptionally hot this summer. The sun is like a fireball. It burns the ground, the air is sweltering, and the ground is hot. People feel hot on the ground.
The hot summer day brought great trouble to the siege army. If it weren't for the wind blowing from time to time that brought a touch of coolness, I don't know how many people would suffer heatstroke in the hot sun.
Major Hanks, who was directing the troops, reached out and wiped the sweat on his forehead, reluctantly cursing: "This ghost weather."
The roaring artillery sounded again. This was a signal of attack. Without any hesitation, Major Hanks immediately urged: "Get me up soon, you guys should get together."
While talking and kicking, not only Major Hanks, but also some black officers were acting at the same time.
About a quarter of an hour later, the Uzbek congregation gathered. It took another quarter of an hour, and with the help of black officers, Major Hanks reluctantly sent this unit to the battlefield.
Major Hanks was desperate for this cannon fodder. Anyone who is a little bit motivated is an officer. The role of the officer is to assist in managing this cannon fodder, and there is no need to personally charge.
War is the best teacher. After the baptism of blood and fire, Major Hanks has completed transformation.
Initially, he also planned to train this cannon fodder as a main auxiliary corps.
After all, the untrained cannon fodder troops are too poor to bear the real combat missions. The Bur Republic Army also needs a supplementary corps with a certain combat effectiveness, perhaps advanced cannon fodder.
It turns out that Hanks is not a of war and has no power to turn decay into magic. After two months of trying, he was forced to give up his original fantasy.
Since there is no training value, it can only be sent as a primary cannon fodder. Every day, the offensive is routinely launched. If it dies, it will be a hundred, and continue to repeat this non-technical work.
As long as you kill an Englishman, you can be promoted to an officer, provided that you can come back alive and bring it back as evidence of military success.
Such lucky people are only a few. Most of them fell on the road of charge, and some of them fell on the battlefield while killing the British.
Delayed for more than half an hour, this unfutured unit launched an attack on the enemy forces under the deterrence of the oversight team.
The scene of flesh and blood has been unable to move Major Hanks, and now he only cares about one thing, that is to estimate the results.
One will succeed, and in the midst of the blood, I don't know how many young Austrian officers have been baptized and grown up.
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