The battle continued, and the sunlight had already fallen sparsely, reflecting the blood-red river, and the atmosphere looked eerie, like the Hell Styx.

The raft that crossed the river had already lost seventy-seven or eighty-eight in the previous battle, and the enemy's position was still as stable as Mount Tai.

Even a small force that completed the task of crossing the river was defeated by the stubborn resistance of the French army and was forced to return.

It's not about being a deserter. According to European cultural tradition, soldiers who ran out of ammunition could surrender, and the Austrian army was no exception.

The soldiers who participated in the sneak attack were all trained in swimming, and a Suez Canal could not stop everyone's footsteps.

Moreover, there are rafts that have been destroyed and scattered by shells, which just serve as a tool for escape, so naturally there is no need to surrender.

However, the return journey was not all smooth sailing, and from time to time French soldiers fired at the river. Fortunately, the French army was not equipped with machine guns on a large scale in these years, or there was no chance of retreating.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Colonel Boardman let go of the last luck and his face became fierce, as if he was engaged in a fierce mental struggle.

"Order the artillery, adjust the muzzle of the gun to aim at the river embankment on the opposite side, and replace it with solid shells to attack with all your might!"

For the safety of the canal, from the beginning of the battle to the present, France and Austria have been using flowering shells, and occasionally solid shells, which are also aimed at the opposite fortress.

The chief of staff on the side reminded: "Colonel, breaking the embankment on the opposite side will block the canal, and it will ...... then."

Colonel Boardman interrupted with a wave of his hand: "Wrong, we are just attacking the enemy's fortress, and the damage to the river embankment was deliberately blown up by the French before they fled. ”

This reason is very far-fetched, but Colonel Boardman doesn't care so much, anyway, something is better than nothing. The headquarters can't make up their minds, so it's up to him to make up their minds for the headquarters.

Political issues are not something that he, as a colonel, should consider, and purely from a military point of view, Colonel Boardman's order is completely correct.

As for the follow-up question, it will be a test of the Austrian government's diplomatic ability and how thick-skinned the government is.

After struggling for a while, the chief of staff chose to compromise. The same order, given by different people, has a completely different political impact.

"Will be outside, the king's order will not be affected."

This is not an empty phrase, but it also applies in Austria. Moreover, the emperor had not yet issued an order prohibiting the destruction of the canal, and it was the Austrian government that demanded the protection of the Suez Canal.

The theater command is a special wartime organization, and the military and political power at the front line during the war period is grasped by one hand, and General Fislav, as the commander, naturally has to consider the problem in an all-round way, and the requirements of the government cannot but be taken into account.

But this was not the case with Colonel Boardman, who were loyal to the emperor and were not accountable to the government at all.

No matter how unhappy the government is, it can't go past the emperor and directly intervene in the army.

As long as the war is won, the government can only hold back its opinions, and no one in Austria can target the heroes on the battlefield for no reason.

The real risk is still defeat on the battlefield.

However, the enemy on the opposite side gave Colonel Boardman confidence that more than half of the defenders were native, and if he could not win, then he would not have the face to blend in with the army.

……

As a new round of bombardment began, the embankment on the opposite side gradually began to crumble under the heavy fire of artillery shells.

By the time the command received the news, it was already in a boat, and there was actually no choice but to go on hard.

Admiral Fislav wanted to weep for this ending, and just an hour earlier, he had sent a telegram asking the Emperor to fill in a passage, and the result was imminent.

It was too late to withdraw, urgent telegrams from the front were delivered as soon as possible, and now Fislav had stubbornly sent another telegram to explain.

As for whether Colonel Bodeman, the initiator, was a hero or a sinner, the question still depends on the development of the war situation, and Fislav has no intention of holding him accountable now.

Without any hesitation, Admiral Fislav made a decision: "Order all the troops on the front line, stop being timid, and give me a free hand."

Now I have only one request, to cross the river in the shortest possible time, to defeat the French on the opposite side, and to take the Suez Canal in its entirety. ”

Soldiers want to have a hard waist, but they still have to talk about their achievements. As long as the battlefield is won, these problems can only be regarded as the dust of the past.

……

At the Vienna Palace, looking at the two telegrams in his hand, which were completely different, Franz did not know whether to praise Admiral Fislav for his obedience or criticize him for being dead-headed.

After thinking about it, Franz still felt that the high-level generals on the front line were still a little obedient, after all, they were safe to use!

As for the self-asserted Colonel Boardman, this is even less of a problem. Being a purely military man, thinking only militarily, this is exactly what Franz wanted.

He would rather deal with the aftermath of these simple guys than the generals on the front line to become forward-looking politicians, which means disaster.

Without waiting for Franz to call back, everyone in the cabinet came to the door, and they knew by looking at their faces that everyone was in a very bad mood.

It's right to think about it, the international political advantage that has been painstakingly created has now been completely disrupted, and no one will be happy if they are left on it.

"Your Majesty, what happened in the Middle East theater ......"

Before Wesenberg could finish speaking, Franz interrupted: "Okay, I already know about the Suez Canal."

At this point, it is useless to say that these are all things, and even if they want to be held responsible, it will be a post-war matter.

It's imperative that everyone find a way to wait a minute! The French are not terrible, there are those old men in Paris who are dragging their feet, and even if someone in the French Foreign Ministry finds a problem and wants to take the opportunity to do something, they will be bad by these guys.

The trouble is the British, and don't forget that not long ago they were agitating the countries of Europe to unite them to jointly manage the Suez Canal.

The interests are moving, and everyone has long coveted the fat of the Suez Canal.

It's just that the Suez Canal has always been controlled by us and the French before, and countries have to hold on to their ambitions.

Now that the incident has happened, the British have more reason to ask for international condominium, and it is not known how many countries will be moved by the British. ”

Changing the topic, Franz has already practiced the basic skills of his years as emperor. Anyway, he is the emperor, and it is impossible for his subordinates not to give face, and bite a problem.

Now is a time of war, and internal contradictions must never break out, so it is better to provoke external contradictions.

So far, Franz has seen that no matter how strong the butterfly effect is, it can't change that this is a worse world.

Looking at the performance of the French, you can see that they have created so many opportunities, and now they have not killed Belgium to the heart of the German region.

In this case, it doesn't hurt to wronged the British again, anyway, they are still pkking with the Russians, and even if they end up in person, it is impossible to abandon India and help the French.

Moreover, this is not necessarily wrong, and in John Bull's style, it is almost inevitable that this kind of thing will happen.

Derailed from the topic, the foreign minister, who was originally angry and wanted to find bad luck in the Middle East theater, had to calm down and think about countermeasures.

After a moment, Foreign Secretary Wesenberg said slowly: "Your Majesty, the British government has always been eyeing the Suez Canal, and most of them will not let go of this opportunity to attack.

Judging from the current international situation, Belgium, Germany, Montenegro, and Greece are our allies and will certainly not respond to the call of the British.

Switzerland and the Netherlands are limited by their geographical location, and they should not take sides until the outcome of the war against France is unknown.

The French wanted to monopolize the Suez Canal, and before the defeat of the European War, the French government was mostly opposed to international condominium of the canal.

In a short period of time, the British will at most set off some public opinion momentum, adding a little trouble to us, and it is not enough to form an absolute advantage. ”

The international situation is still so chaotic, and there are no absolute friends or foes in the face of interests, but only common interests.

Russia and Austria were still allies, but on the issue of the Suez Canal, Weisenberg was not sure whether the tsarist government would support Austria, after all, it was impossible for the Vienna government to share the benefits of the canal with them.

On the contrary, the French, who were at war, took the same position as Austria on this issue, and would certainly oppose the international condominium of the Suez Canal.

Prime Minister Karl: "As long as it can drag on until we defeat the French on the battlefield, none of this is a problem."

When the time comes, we will be able to buy Spain and Switzerland with the interests of the French, plus the independent Italian states and our current allies, and the European continent will be up to us.

However, until then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must not let its guard down, especially since the war in Afghanistan has eased recently. ”

There is no way, there are no eternal friends in international politics, only eternal interests. There was no betrayal, it was only because there were not enough chips to promote the betrayal.

Now that France and Austria are vying for continental supremacy, the Austrian government has to be vigilant, because there are more than enough chips on the table.

Leaving aside France, which is directly at war, Britain and Russia, which are qualified to compete for hegemony, are equally likely to jump out and pick peaches at a critical moment.

If you look at Austria's military operations, we can see that in the African theater and the battle for the Suez Canal, no troops were sent to the mainland, and the troops responsible for the implementation were all colonial troops, or troops mobilized from Africa itself.

Of the more than 3 million troops mobilized one after another, only a few hundred thousand troops on the southern front were actually put into the battlefield, and the rest of the troops were still nesting at home, except for the million-strong army that reinforced Central Europe.

It stands to reason that as long as all these troops are dispatched, they will be able to meet the current operational needs. However, the follow-up mobilization work is still ongoing.

Of course, there was a fear of the French overbursting and the defeat of the front, but there was also a distrust of the Russians.

……

The government's decision-making did not affect the fighting on the front. There is no turning back when you open the bow, and since you have done it, you have to do it.

Filling the Suez Canal by artillery bombardment alone was too time-consuming, and in order to speed up, the troops on the front line had to face the threat of enemy artillery fire to reclaim the river.

Looking at the car that was hit by enemy artillery and crawled in the middle of the road emitting black smoke, Colonel Boardman frowned.

You must know that automobiles are rare objects, and in addition to the large number of preparations of the main forces at home, only the logistics department has a small amount of equipment in overseas armies.

The garrisons in the Middle East were lucky, because they produced oil themselves, and Austria also had oil refineries here, so it was convenient to supply oil, so there was a grand occasion of one car company per regiment.

However, this was only before the war, and from the beginning of the great expansion of the army, such good things came to an end.

The newly produced military vehicles have to give priority to the local troops, and very few have been allocated to the Middle East theater.

Without exception, Colonel Boardman's infantry division was also expanded, from a pre-war regiment to a division.

Other weapons have been opened in the warehouse, and the number of cars is still the same as the original automobile company, which is mainly used to transport logistics materials.

Looking at these treasures, just falling on the battlefield, Colonel Boardman's heart was constantly dripping blood.

After hesitating for a long time, Colonel Boardman seemed to have made a difficult decision, and said fiercely: "Order the car company to suspend its operation and wait until the evening!" ”

There is no way, the goal of the car is a little too big, on average, three or five times, there is a car heroic.

As long as you can win, no matter how much you lose the car, it's worth it. The problem is that at this rate, the car company will be finished before the Suez Canal is filled.

Waiting for follow-up reinforcements is certainly possible, the problem is that time has passed. At the same time, the troops that launched the river reclamation operation were not only Colonel Boardman's division, but the Austrians attacked from many points.

Anyway, the defeat of the French army will blow up the canal, and it is not a big deal to fill in a few more roads to get out.

"Colonel, stop now, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the task first by relying on animal transportation alone." The chief of staff reminded

As the first unit to blow up the Suez Canal and launch a river reclamation operation, if it could not fill out a road in time for the army to cross the river, Colonel Boardman would really have no "bright" future.

"There is no way, the target of the car is too big, it is difficult to dodge the enemy's artillery fire. The enemy has built well-built fortifications, and in a short time we have no way to destroy their points of fire.

If we keep going, we will lose a lot. Unlike these exiled convict laborers, the car company is a technical branch, and if the seeds are gone, there is no way to replenish them. ”

Thanks to Franz's Great Greening Strategy, a large number of criminals were exiled to the Middle East every year, and when the war broke out, these guys naturally turned into laborers.

Laborers are a valuable asset of Austria, but once the word "criminal" is added, its value plummets in an instant, and it turns from a valuable "wealth" into a social "cancer".

……

The French command in Cairo, since the news of the filling of the river from the Austrians, Governor Jacob was in a bad mood.

Originally, he planned to seize the Sinai Peninsula, all of which were based on the Suez Canal, and establish a great war for France.

Unfortunately, the plan did not change quickly, and as soon as he took action, the Austrian army on the African continent was killed, and for a time Egypt fell into an embarrassing situation of being surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Faced with a wolf-like enemy, the troops on the border could not be parried, and Governor Jacob had to shrink the line while drawing reinforcements to support the front line.

The troops drawn to the front line of the canal have also become inevitable. After all, there had been a major upheaval in Egypt a few years ago, and the population had suffered serious losses, and even if Governor Jacob wanted to use all his troops, he was not strong enough.

Originally, Governor Jacob also pinned his hopes on the Austrian army to be afraid of international pressure and not dare to easily destroy the so-called "eternal neutrality of the Suez Canal".

As long as it lasts for a few months, and when the local region decides the winner, the Egyptian region will win.

It is a pity that the deterrent effect of the tiger skin of "international pressure" is too low, and it has only been delayed for a few days before the tiger power has been punctured.

Bad luck is bad heart, Governor Jacob still has some confidence in the canal defense line he operates, even if he can't defeat the enemy, it can't be broken through in a short time.

"Order the troops on the front line of the canal to defend on the spot with the fortifications, give the enemy a head-on blow, and play the prestige of the French army......

(End of chapter)