South Africa, the British army, which had swept all the way, finally ran into trouble. After penetrating deep into the Transvaal, they were met by the private army of the Austrian nobility, which had been prepared for a long time, and the forward troops suffered heavy losses.

This is also the arrogance of the British, and the successive victories made them proud, ignoring that the previous victory was carried out with the help of the leading party, otherwise they would not have divided their forces and advanced.

In fact, information was provided to the British after the outbreak of the war, but it was not taken seriously by the British.

What is a mere caravan, who doesn't have a few lives in Africa this year? In the British concept, the aristocratic private army is a caravan escort.

When I heard that there were only two or three thousand people, and they were divided into more than a dozen families, I was completely relieved. In their opinion, when they encounter this kind of thing, of course, they will run away for the first time.

The news was not reported at all, and although the Boers defected, their status was not high, and they were not qualified to contact the British high-level.

The Governor of Delphi did not receive any information from the end. Of course, if you receive it, you may not pay attention to it, after all, the difference in numbers between the two sides is too big to pose a threat.

It was not until the defeat at the front that the Governor of Delphi received the information. At this time, there were no longer two or three thousand people.

Under the threat of the British, Viscount Fikney smoothly took over the military and political power of the Boer Republic, and by the way, sent the top brass of the Boer Republic to the rear of Central and South Africa (Zimbabwe).

took over the power, and the first time was naturally to expand the army. The Boer Republic is also an all-people soldier, and although training has been abandoned in recent years, the militia system is still on the shelf.

By the time the British came all the way, the number of troops in the hands of Viscount Fickney had exceeded 15,000, and although the gap between the two sides was still huge, the balance of strength had changed.

Playing the forward 5,000 British troops became the first victims of information asymmetry. These losses the Governor of Delphi did not care, and most of the deaths were indigenous cannon fodder.

What gave him a headache was how to fight the next battle, with the participation of the Austrian aristocracy, the enemy he had to face was no longer the Turkish Republic, but Austria, a European army power.

The high-spirited Major General Friedman now also bowed his arrogant head. Don't look at the nearly 26,000 troops under his command, in fact, there are less than 8,000 white soldiers, and the rest are indigenous troops.

The training of these indigenous armies was originally intended to be used to cause trouble against the Austrians, in retaliation for their expulsion of the indigenous tribes into South Africa.

You must know that the South African colony has not been able to expand for so many years, in addition to the fact that the London government does not pay enough attention to investing too little, the most important thing is the indigenous tribes expelled by the Austrians at the beginning.

In the mid-19th century, the number of white people in Cape Town exceeded 100,000, but by now, the number of white people in Cape Town is still so large that there is almost no growth.

In addition to the opening of the Suez Canal, which weakened the economic value of the port of the Cape of Good Hope, it was the loss caused by the influx of indigenous tribes that year.

In an effort to stabilize the situation, the colonial government of Cape Town had been provoking civil wars among indigenous tribes, occasionally personally suppressing large tribes, and it took years to resolve the issue.

This is also the reason why the South African colonists hated Austria, and they suffered heavy losses from a major event at the beginning, and many colonial teams were forced to change their direction.

The island of Madagascar fell into the hands of the British in this context, and this is one of the few achievements of the British on the African continent in recent years.

However, this achievement had nothing to do with the Governor of Cape Town, and the British also established a colonial government on the island of Madagascar, which was not incorporated into the Colony of Cape Town.

Governor Delphi said with a gloomy face: "Major General, I wonder if you will fight?" If you can't fight, I can apply to the London government for someone who can take over your command. ”

Don't blame him for being angry, but this battle was a mess. Not even knowing the enemy's situation, they divided their forces and launched an attack. Even if you win, you still lose.

Major General Friedman did not speak, and everything he said was wrong after losing the battle. Purely from the perspective of military deployment, his performance is also decent.

The defeat at the front line is not only a matter of command, but more importantly, the combat effectiveness of the troops.

After all, now in the hands of Viscount Fikni, there are also mostly new recruits, and they are in the run-in period. If the British army was strong enough, it might still be a big victory.

Venting his frustration, Governor Delphi softened his tone and said, "Major General Friedman, what are you going to fight next?"

The enemy is not the natives that have been encountered in the past, and this war will be very difficult to fight. It can be said to be the most difficult battle since the opening of the Cape Colony, but you must win! ”

Governor Delphi really wanted to change people, he had long seen that Major General Friedman was unhappy, and he was usually awesome and coaxing, but when he arrived on the battlefield, he actually had a silver gun wax gun.

However, it is also necessary to find a replacement for the replacement, the combat effectiveness of the colonial troops is not strong in the first place, and most of the colonial officers are defective.

The kind of officer who is super powerful, offends people because of his unruliness, and then exiles to the colony, just exists.

In reality, if you really offend people and rush home directly, how can you leave you with a chance to make a comeback.

Although the conditions of the colony were not good, it was a good place to seek military merit. There are quite a few noble children who have come to gild the gold, how can they give the opportunity to the enemy?

Napoleon IV and the British royal family were married in the original time and space, and before getting married, he ran to the colony to gild and was unlucky to receive a box lunch.

Those who are capable of commanding tens of thousands of troops are high-ranking talents, and they are also treasures in Britain, and no matter how bad they are, it is impossible to deign to serve as a colony in Cape Town.

Now South Africa does not yet have a dazzling halo. Before the discovery of the gold mines, it was a normal colony.

Major General Friedman, although a little annoying, is still passable, at least a little better than the others. Governor Delphi couldn't possibly change a wine bag and rice bag to go up, that was to pit himself.

Regardless of the ability to send people from home, it will be too late for time alone. This war is fought in a matter of time, and if it drags on for three or five months, it will eventually become a war of attrition.

At that time, the two sides will have to fight for manpower and financial resources, and if the British are not cowardly, it will be difficult to say if they fight for manpower.

As long as tens of thousands of people died, he had no way to explain to the people in the country. You must know that their enemy is the "Boer Republic", and it is difficult to go to court martial to attack a small country with such a price to pay.

Major General Friedman hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency the Governor, the situation has exceeded expectations, I did not expect that the Austrians would be so shameless, pretending to be the army of the Boer Republic to fight against us.

No one knows how hard they put into it, there are 30,000 enemies in front of us alone, and it will not be easy for us to defeat them. If the enemy continues to increase its troops, I am afraid that the final outcome will be unpredictable. ”

This answer to the blame was very dissatisfying to the Governor of Delphi. But he didn't say anything, everyone is now in the same boat.

It is always right to exaggerate the strength of the enemy first, and it is even more remarkable to win everyone's war exploits, and if you lose, it is the enemy who is too strong, and it is not a crime of war.

Governor Delphi said with an unchanging face: "Yes, the Austrians are so shameless that they actually pretend to be the army of the Boer Republic to enter the war, and we must crush their plot."

Cage, immediately send a telegram to London asking for help, explain the difficulties we are facing, and ask the Foreign Office to protest to Austria. ”

If it weren't for the fear that the numbers would be too large and could easily arouse suspicion from the outside world, the Governor of Delphi would not mind doubling the number of enemy troops.

As for getting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest, that's all a joke. It is impossible for the Viennese government to admit that the Boer government has fallen into the hands of Austria, and they have taken full responsibility for it.

In any case, as long as the Boer Republic insists that it is their own army, this lawsuit will not be able to continue.

Unless you catch a big fish, but that's a zero chance. None of the Austrian nobles who commanded the war were active officers and did not have much international popularity.

From beginning to end, the Viennese government was not involved in the war. As for the arms and ammunition provided by merchants, they were all bought by the people of the Republic of Boer.

Austria is a member of the free trade world, and it is normal for Austria to sell arms.

Even the origin of the military spending of the Boers is clear, the Vienna government did not sponsor a penny, and the Boer Republic borrowed 300 million Aegis from the Reichsbank with land mortgage.

Don't talk about risk, this is usury, and the interest rate is 18 percent per month. Since the interest rate is so high, the risk is naturally not small.

All the aftermath work, Franz handled it properly, and he was not afraid that someone could pick out the problem.

It is inevitable that the Boer Republic will not be able to pay back after the war, and without this reason, how can Austria annex the Boer Republic after the war?

As an emperor, Franz did not want a republic in the Empire. If you don't pay the money to collect the collateral, it is also the right thing to dissolve the Boer Republic.

It can be said that this Anglo-Boer war provided Austria with an excellent excuse, and even the cost of buying the local magnates was greatly reduced.

If Franz is not embarrassed at all, he can choose to pay his debts. Since the agreement was not completed, the conditions promised at the beginning were naturally null and void.

It can be said that Viscount Fikney packed the top brass of the Boer Republic and sent it to the rear, which was simply a stroke of genius, completely cutting off their bargaining chips for negotiating conditions.

Of course, the people who chose to cooperate with Austria in the first place would certainly not be so tragic. Franz, who has always been atmospheric, would not do that skinless thing.

The unfortunate thing is that there are no good conditions to negotiate, and there is no need to talk about it now. There are only three paths left: either follow Austria; or go to the British; Or run away.

Anyway, Viscount Fikney is not reluctant, if he doesn't kill a group of interest groups, how can he place the heroes?

This war was not fought in vain, and the more you invest now, the greater the benefits you will gain after the war. There weren't enough benefits, but not so many nobles brought their own dry food.

The land in South Africa is still very good, not only the land is fertile, but the climate is very livable, and these plantation owners have long wanted to come and enclose the land.

Fortunately, they didn't know that there was a gold mine underground, otherwise there would be more than a dozen nearby nobles, and it is estimated that the local nobles would not be able to help but participate.

Don't talk about these people, think about the terrifying gold reserves of the Rand gold mine, even Franz was moved, but he could bear it.

More money is a number, and the gold mine is too aggressive, and it is easy to pull hatred. Even if it's gold mining, it's going to be hidden.

Buying gold is a good business, and the money you make is not necessarily less than that of the mine owners, and it is not noticeable.

On the face of it, it doesn't seem that the profit from buying gold is very large, and it is slightly lower than the market price.

In fact, if you roll around the financial market, and then process it into artwork and flow into the gold consumer market, the profit is completely different.

What's more, the cost of funds for banks to acquire gold is negligible, and gold is also a type of currency, which is more reliable than any other currency when it is placed there as a reserve.

Even in the event of a run, no one will refuse to accept gold payments.