No matter how much political drama is played, it still can't change the situation that is constantly deteriorating. The contradictions that were covered up in the past have also emerged.

Law and order in Cape Town has deteriorated rapidly, with killings, robberies, rape ...... All kinds of vicious criminal incidents have emerged one after another, causing panic among the people.

The colonial government in Cape Town was very weak in this regard, and the bureaucratic police did nothing. It is not completely inactive, they concentrate their police forces on defending the interests of the elite.

The deterioration of law and order is a trivial matter, but it is nothing more than an increase in firefights. The people of the colony were not soft persimmons, and even if men entered the army, women could also kill people with guns.

After the initial chaos, the populace also learned to huddle together to keep warm. Anyway, the colony has a tradition of guns for everyone, and most ordinary people basically have hunting rifles in their homes.

Without external interference, the future Cape Town would be a gang mecca. After this wave, it is difficult for the gang forces not to develop and grow.

A middle-aged official reported worriedly: "Your Excellency, since the outbreak of war, the price of food in Cape Town has tripled, and it has exceeded the limits of many ordinary people.

Not only grain, but also the prices of most daily necessities have risen to varying degrees, and some commodities have even been out of stock. ”

It is difficult to make a fortune in the country, and this is the basic quality of a good capitalist. Of course, this is an exception, and the capitalists should not be solely responsible for the price surge.

As a result of the war, Cape Town lost South Africa's food and had to rely entirely on imports. This cost naturally went up, and the price increase became inevitable.

Governor Delphi's face changed, and he sternly ordered: "The order is to calm down the price as soon as possible, and it is absolutely impossible to let the price of food rise again."

Forget it, don't embarrass you, I'll go out personally. Tomorrow night I will hold a banquet at the Governor's Palace, and invite these bastards, and whoever does not cooperate with the government to stabilize prices will be sacrificed to the flag. ”

Governor Delphi would not have been able to do such an extreme thing under normal circumstances. But isn't it an abnormal situation now?

He had already made it clear behind the London government that if he lost the war, the Governor of Delphi would be dead. The difference is how to die, whether you die on the battlefield or are killed by someone.

His life was about to be gone, and the Governor of Delphi was naturally not afraid of offending people. Anyway, even if he wins this war, he, the one who started the war, will go home to retire, and he is not afraid of their revenge at all.

There is still a bottom line in the political struggle in the London government, and it is rare for them to be wiped out. With the Governor of Delphi in the background, it is not difficult to get out.

A middle-aged man in military uniform spoke: "Your Excellency the Governor, our quartermaster reserves are seriously insufficient. Due to insufficient prior preparations, we only stockpiled 20,000 men of war materiel for three months.

Judging from the current situation, these supplies will last for a month at most. At present, we can only issue new recruits with retired rifles and make do with them. ”

Because of the war, most of the people in the British colonies of South Africa, except for the indigenous tribes, were concentrated in the Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope, and there were four or five hundred thousand people, old and young.

So many people can't ignore eating, drinking, and Lazar. Even if sea freight can meet material needs, the pressure is still high.

Before the arrival of Austria, the colonial government of Cape Town did not take into account the threat from the interior, and the Royal Navy was the world hegemon enough to ensure that the sea routes were open.

Against this backdrop, the colonial government of Cape Town naturally did not take into account the strategic reserves, and the indigenous tribes of Africa could not threaten them.

The Governor of Delphi was arguably one of the first to anticipate the Austrian threat, and the main purpose of this attack on the Boer Republic was to eliminate Austria's advantage in South Africa.

Unfortunately, the plan did not change quickly, but fell into the trap of the enemy, which directly led the Boers to throw themselves into the arms of Austria.

The Governor of Delphi replied calmly: "I have already asked for help from the country, and it will not be long before it can be solved." ”

How long is it going to be? This question will test the discipline of the British bureaucracy, which can be as fast as three to five days, or as slow as three or five months.

There are so many processes in the UK government that if there is a problem in one of them, it can be delayed indefinitely.

You must know that not everyone wants to see him win this war, and there are many people in the London government who want Delphi to lose this war.

The internal enemy in a political struggle is always more terrible than the external enemy. In the eyes of many, Cape Town is a backwood, and the outcome of this battle is simply irrelevant.

To put it bluntly, the greatest value of the current existence of the British South African colonies is to hold the Cape of Good Hope and provide supplies to the Royal Navy.

If the sacrifice of Cape Town can make the London government replaced, it is estimated that many opposition parties will not mind.

What is lost on the battlefield can be taken back from the negotiating table. The British, who are unprecedentedly confident, do not think that anyone dares to threaten them.

Of course, it is not the top of the government who has this kind of vision, otherwise the Governor of Delphi would have really been killed.

As soon as Britain and Austria compromised, the war ended. However, as the culprit of the loss of the city and land, the governor of Delphi had to stare at the infamy of court-martial, and he did not even have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

Even his backstage had to be implicated, and the colony fell, and the colonial ministry naturally bore the brunt. Without back-office support, Delphi would be dead.

This terrible situation did not happen, and the politicians in the London government were still on the line of IQ and did not listen to the rhetorical rhetoric.

Austria is a big country on the African continent, and if it loses Cape Town, it is completely unknown whether it will be able to regain it in the future.

If the Vienna government doesn't buy it, will it be possible to seize it by force?

Not bragging: at sea, even if the Austrian Navy doubled in size, the Royal Navy could still be beaten; On land, it was the opposite, the British Army doubled and sent to the African continent was not enough to die.

Relying on "maritime deterrence" to force Austria to make concessions exists ideally. Even if the London government tried its best, at most it would have seized a few Austrian colonies, and the African continent would not be able to defeat them.

Sending the Royal Navy to the Adriatic Sea to block the gates was originally the most deterrent way. It is a pity that this time is different from the past, and if the Royal Navy dares to enter the Mediterranean, it must be prepared to go and never return.

The French occupied Sicily, and the Mediterranean Sea was essentially already divided in two. At this time, the risk of sending the Royal Navy into the Mediterranean Sea is greatly increased, and if France and Austria join forces with their hammering sticks, the Royal Navy will be buried.

This possibility is not just a problem, but an inevitable one. The main reason why Fao did not join forces with the British was that they did not encounter the opportunity to attack.

Otherwise, in the face of interests, the two would have done it a long time ago. The Franco-Austrian alliance was originally aimed at the British, and there were similar plans from the very beginning.

……

The roaring artillery fire was deafening and kicked off the war. After the artillery fire, the black-pressed crowd with a variety of weapons launched a charge on the British position.

Dense gunfire rang out, and the charging crowd kept falling. The heavy casualties demoralized the charging team, and many even turned and fled.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Viscount Fikney's brows were about to wrinkle. Obviously, he was very unhappy with this tentative attack.

After a sigh, Viscount Fikney gave the most cruel order: "Send a team of warlords to supervise their attacks, and those who flee from the battlefield will be killed."

From now on, the offensive will be launched day and night. Unless the cannon fodder troops in our hands are dead, the offensive cannot be stopped. ”

This is the most typical tactic of costing people's lives, and it is also known as the worst tactic.

Attacking the city in this way is completely hurtful to people. Even if you win the war in the end, you will lose too much of your own side, and the results will be bleak.

Viscount Fickney is not worried about this problem at all, anyway, he is using cannon fodder troops, and he is not distressed by how many deaths he has.

In Viscount Fikney's opinion, as long as Cape Town can be captured, even if all the 100,000 cannon fodder troops are consumed, it will be worth it.

A young officer immediately replied: "Yes, Your Excellency Commander." ”

This tentative offensive was not completely fruitless, at least it exposed the enemy's firepower.

Without Viscount Fikney's order, the front-line commander had already made minor adjustments during the second round of artillery fire.

This time, instead of blooming on all sides, it was changed to a focused bombardment, specifically picking up the areas with the most firepower to attack.

For a time, the British positions suffered heavy losses, and the Colonial Sixth Division, stationed north of Cape Town, became the first victims.

Colonel Berding, who hid in the fortress, scolded angrily: "Our artillerymen have gone to eat shit, and they don't know how to fucking fight back!"

The guards connected me to the general headquarters and asked for fire support. It has to be fast, no matter how it goes down, the sixth division will be gone. ”

The Sixth Division is going to be wiped out, which is an exaggeration. Even after two rounds of bombardment, the casualties of the 6th Division were only 180.

It was only the passive beating that hurt morale very much, which made Colonel Erding angry.

It was not that the British artillery did not launch a counterattack, but they suffered a small loss in the front artillery fire.

After all, the area of Cape Town is limited, and there are many buildings in the city, so there are not many places suitable for artillery erection.

The army of the "Boer Republic" attacking from the outside was different, and some were local, so that artillery positions were scattered and erected.

Although it is more difficult to command after dispersion, it is not a big problem to have a telephone. It was totally worth it, taking into account the increased security of the artillery positions.