The bigwigs in Cairo are still making their last struggles, and the French officers and soldiers scattered outside are different. Knowing that the Egyptian battlefield is powerless to return to the sky, and the back road is blocked, the fool will stumble to the end.

The terms of surrender promised by Austria were only a catalyst, and what prompted everyone to make up their minds was that there were not many supplies in hand.

In particular, some of the fortress strongholds that were caught in the encirclement had begun to supply limited quantities of food. If it drags on like this, they will be finished on their own before the enemy attacks.

Aswan, on the east bank of the Nile, is a small and unassuming city that is known for the great uprising a few years ago.

The rebels blew up the "Aswan Dam" and flooded the delta downstream, attracting the attention of the European media.

Eat a trench, grow a wisdom. After the suppression of the rebels, the Egyptian colonial government deployed heavy troops in the Aswan region, and the humble town of Aswan became a military stronghold.

After the outbreak of the European War, in order to avoid repeating the tragedy of the flooded delta, the French once again increased their troops to the Aswan region, and the total number of troops once exceeded 80,000.

With strong forces, the defenders of the Aswan region repeatedly crushed the Austrian offensive. Unfortunately, this is useless, and large-scale wars cannot be reversed by the gains and losses of one city and one place.

As time passed, friendly forces in the surrounding area fell to the enemy's guns, and the French army in Aswan gradually became alone.

……

The headquarters of the French army in Aswan is gathering stars at the moment, and the high-ranking officers of the French army who can come are basically here.

"The defenders of Kom Ombo had surrendered five days earlier, and the enemy's encirclement had been completed. The situation in other areas is also not optimistic, there will be no reinforcements, what should we do now? ”

No one wants to afford the political catastrophe of surrender, and Lieutenant General Armand, the commander of the Aswan garrison, is no exception.

In order not to go to court-martial after the war, the best way to deal with such a situation is to decide collectively and share the responsibility.

"Your Excellency, the order given to us by the officers and men of the Theater Commander's Department is to defend Aswan to the death, and they have not taken into account the actual situation at all.

So far, we have paid more than 30,000 casualties, and the total number of troops has dropped from 80,000 at its peak to 50,000 now.

To make matters worse, our reserves of strategic materials are insufficient, the medicines are almost exhausted, and the weapons and ammunition can support one more campaign at most.

In order to reduce food consumption, we have even expelled civilians from our jurisdiction. But this is still not enough, even if the ration is according to the minimum standard, it will last for a month at most.

We simply don't have what it takes to stick to Aswan. Even if the enemy doesn't attack, it won't be long before we starve to death. ”

The population of Aswan is limited, and there are only about 200,000 people here in later generations, let alone now. After the outbreak of war, the army outnumbered the civilian population.

As the cotton field of France, the Aswan region is no exception, and a large amount of farmland is used to grow cotton.

It doesn't matter in normal times, it's tragic in times of war. Even after the expulsion of civilians, the defenders did not raise enough food.

There is a shortage of all kinds of strategic materials, and the life of the quartermaster is naturally not easy. The other quartermasters were all big fish, but as the quartermaster of the Aswan garrison, Major General Arthur was about to go bald.

Within a few days of the good days, the enemy cut off the logistical supply. Not to mention fishing for oil and water, how to fill the stomachs of soldiers has become a problem.

It's not that Arthur is dutiful, in fact he is also a standard French quartermaster, and he is absolutely not soft when it comes to making money.

On the one hand, the reason for stopping now is that there is a precedent for the fear of mutiny among the soldiers, and the French army does not have a tradition of starving to death without making trouble. If you don't eat well, forget it, if you can't eat enough, you will turn your face in minutes.

On the other hand, he knows that to make money, he must first ensure that he has a life to spend. By now that the war had progressed, Major General Arthur had lost faith in the Aswan defenders.

If you can't win, the final result is nothing more than annihilation, or surrender. Major General Arthur did not have honorable determination, he was only a quartermaster and was not responsible for the defeat and surrender.

Don't look at the Austrian army's promise to ensure the safety of people and property, if you really become a prisoner, the huge wealth is a life-threatening charm.

During the war years, it was normal for people to die, especially when it was prisoners of war who died, and no one would care.

Major General Arthur's net worth is already not low, and it is unknown whether he can keep it, and if he has more, he will become a fat sheep, so he naturally does not dare to take risks.

Those who can sit here are smart people, and everyone understands the intentions of Major General Arthur, and the logistics cannot be supported, which is undoubtedly a good excuse to surrender.

As for whether the logistical pressure is so great, whether there is really no ammunition, or whether it is about to run out of cooking, this question does not matter at all, anyway, everyone defaults to it.

A middle-aged officer chimed in: "Major General Arthur is right, now we really don't have the conditions to hold the Aswan region. Without reinforcements and logistical supplies, it was only a matter of time before the Aswan region fell.

It is said that the enemy also has a kind of car with steel plates all over its body, which is very powerful and invincible in field battles. Our main forces were defeated by them, and it was the defeat in the last battle that led to the collapse of the situation.

Now we have no way to deal with these iron lumps, and there is almost no hope for the restoration of logistical supply lines in the short term.

Moreover, the strategic materials we have hoarded in the Egyptian area are already limited, and even if the enemy's blockade line is opened, the general command will not be able to provide materials to support us.

Since the Aswan region is doomed to be untenable, there is no need for us to make unnecessary sacrifices. France had already sacrificed more than 200,000 people to defend Egypt, and there was no need to continue.

The key to the outcome of this war is in Europe, not Aswan. Even if we lose here, as long as the European War is won, what we have lost now will also return to us in the future. ”

"Your Excellency, you are stealing concepts. It is true that the Aswan region does not affect the outcome of this war, but the ownership of the Egyptian region affects the balance of victory.

As soon as the Aswan region fell, the enemy was able to blow up the dam, flood the delta region downstream, and destroy the social order in the Egyptian region.

When the time comes, the homeless Egyptians will rise up and revolt, dealing a fatal blow to our rule, which will lead to the fall of the entire Egyptian region.

For the sake of France, we must hold on, even if it is one more day, which will be of great help to the domestic battlefield. ”

There is no shortage of hot-blooded men in any country, and France is no exception. It was said earlier that there was a shortage of strategic materials, and Major General Antoine had no way to refute it. Now just say surrender, he can't help it.

You must know that surrender is also contagious, and the French army in Aswan wants to surrender, in fact, it is also influenced by friendly forces.

The first to surrender were the Italian divisions that came to reinforce them, and the Paris government originally sent them in order to cut off their ties with the Italian independence organization and reduce the security risks.

After all, the Italians did not have a good relationship with Austria, and many Italians hated Austria under the deliberate propaganda of the French government.

However, none of this could stop their determination to surrender. After being beaten by the Austrian army again, these guys decisively chose to follow their hearts.

That's not bad in comparison. If the European continent is left behind, this kind of purely Italian division, the Paris government will not dare to use it at all.

Once it gets involved with the independent organization, it is not a question of surrender, but a direct mutiny.

By the time the war had progressed, three purely Italian divisions had defected on the battlefield and almost collapsed the southern front, which the French had painstakingly managed.

Fortunately, there are not many such pure Italian divisions, and they are all historical remnants of France's annexation of the Italian state, which have been almost abolished by the French government one after another over the years.

Taking advantage of this war, the Paris government directly seized the military and political power of several Italian states, and the governments of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Tuscany became rubber seals.

If France had won the war, these Italian states would have become history altogether, and they would not even have the opportunity to make rubber stamps.

The internal troubles were solved, but the French army in the Egyptian area was miserably pitted. came with the bright head of the main force, but it played a record that was not even as good as the colonial troops.

In the previous battle, the French army was defeated so quickly, in addition to the armored forces, these guys who dragged their feet also contributed a lot.

Although it is not possible to fight, running away is the first place.

If someone counts it, they will find that in the previous battles, the Italian division not only had the fastest rout, but also had the lowest casualty rate.

After the war, they were scattered and stationed in various places, and these guys also did not give up and continued to play the attributes of pit goods. Not only did he surrender himself, but in order to sell it for a good price, he often mobilized his teammates to surrender together.

As for the hatred with Austria, is it important to have national independence, or is it important to have Aegis?

Seeing that someone came out to disagree, everyone's faces became gloomy. Everyone wants to be a hero, no one wants to be a coward, but the price of being a hero is too heavy.

Seeing the change in the situation on the field, the coach Lieutenant General Armand persuaded bitterly: "Major General Antoine, you calm down first." No one wants to see the Egyptian region fall, but we really can't fight anymore.

Maybe you don't want to believe it, but it's what it is. The telegrams we sent to the outside world were deliberately left behind by the enemy.

So far, two-thirds of Egypt's cities have fallen into enemy hands, more than 200,000 French troops have laid down their arms and surrendered, and the remaining cities that are still resisting, including Cairo, are crumbling.

The enemy has already seized the initiative on the battlefield, there is no need for them to blow up the dam at all, and the strategic value of the Aswan region has disappeared.

If it weren't for the Nile, the enemy wouldn't even need to occupy the Aswan region.

France has already paid too much for this war. If you include the country, the number of dead is probably more than a million.

That's nearly two percent of our population, but it's still far from the end of the war, and no one knows the final number of casualties.

Since the Aswan region is no longer destined to be saved, it is the duty of the commander to bring the lads back safely. We can't just run out this generation for the sake of a moment. ”

The first is an excuse, but the last sentence is the sincere words of Lieutenant General Armand.

The French Empire seems to have a population of 60 million, but the Italians are separated from Germany, and the real population is only about 37 million in the main department.

After the outbreak of the war, although Italians were also conscripted, the main force of the conscription was still the French, and the French were also the most killed on the battlefield.

People hate less when they use it. By the time the war had progressed, the French government had clearly felt the lack of manpower, and the elites had realized the importance of population.

But it's all late, and the population can't increase in a day or two. Even if it were to create a man immediately, it would take 20 years to be able to use it.

Faced with the cruel reality, Major General Antoine fell into a fierce psychological struggle, and after half a sound, he said fiercely: "Since this is the case, then we will blow up the Aswan Dam first and then surrender." Anyway, the Egyptian region can't be saved, so it's just a mess left for the enemy. ”

As soon as the words landed, Lieutenant General Armand hurriedly retorted: "No! There are still our troops downstream, and if the dam is suddenly blown up, our troops will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

Every soldier is a hero of France, they can die on the battlefield, but never at the hands of our own people. ”

Undoubtedly, this is just an excuse. The telegram was not cut off, and the defenders of Aswan still had contact with the outside world, so it was enough to inform the news in advance.

It's just that in this way, the defenders downstream can surrender reasonably, and all the responsibility for losing the city and land will fall on their heads.

Lieutenant General Armand, as the coach, is naturally the first person responsible. After the war, it was not just a matter of being held accountable by military courts, but of being shot.

Not only the coach is finished, but everyone present must also be finished, and no one can run away. Patriotism is patriotism, and if you want to lose your name before and after, everyone is still insensitive.

……