At the Vienna Palace, Franz is frolicking with his grandson who is a few months old.

Recently, Britain, France and Russia have been very busy, and everything is running normally in the country, and Franz, who is idle, can only toss the little guy.

A cry of "wow" rang out, which made Franz scramble.

At this time, a maid hurriedly ran over and said eagerly: "Your Majesty, there has just been news from outside the palace that Prime Minister Felix fainted just after going out today, and he is currently being rescued. ”

Hearing this bad news, Franz couldn't care about his crying little grandson anymore, and handed little Charlie directly to the maid.

Ordered: "Prepare the car immediately, I want to leave the palace!" ”

People are not plants and trees, who can be ruthless.

Felix has been the prime minister of Austria since the era of the Revolution, and the two worked closely together for more than 30 years to bring the Habsburg dynasty, which had fallen into hell, back from the brink of death.

In terms of merit, Felix can be said to be the first contributor to the revival of the Habsburg Empire.

Felix born in 1800? Schwarzenberg is now 85 years old, which is more than double the average life expectancy of this era.

Thinking of this, Franz's heart sank suddenly.

The years are unforgiving, even if he is already the emperor, he can only watch the people around him leave one by one, and there is nothing he can do.

At the age of 85, not to mention now, even in the 21st century, once you fall ill at such an age, it is difficult to recover.

……

As the prime minister of Austria, Felix naturally has a personal doctor at all times, and even various medical equipment is always available at home.

Mainly in these years, there are not many medical devices. If it's like the 21st century, there are a lot of instruments, and you can't always have them.

Everything is ready-made, and the treatment is naturally carried out directly at home. When Franz arrived, Vienna's medical experts had almost all arrived.

The Viennese aristocracy also came in large numbers, but not many government colleagues came. There is no way this is the rule, it is working time, and even if there is no prime minister, the government still has to operate normally.

The crowd was not surprised to see Franz arrive in person. Almost every important minister was critically ill, and he had to visit him personally.

Facing the unconscious Prime Minister Felix, Franz swallowed back a thousand words and waited quietly outside the ward.

There was no such thing as entertainment, and Franz was in a troubled mood, where could he bother with so much effort.

Seeing the emperor's gloomy expression, everyone knew that they were definitely looking for a scolding at this time.

As the minutes passed, the weather had gradually darkened, and the chief of the guard reminded: "Your Majesty, it's not too early, it's time to go back to the palace." ”

Franz nodded, looked at a large group of nobles and officials outside, waved his hand and ordered: "Disperse!" ”

At this moment, Franz reacted, because because he, the emperor, stayed, and the others could only wait.

Returning to the palace in a depressed mood, Franz knew that a new round of political reshuffle was about to begin.

With Prime Minister Felix's current physical condition, even if he recovers, it will be difficult for him to continue to be competent as prime minister.

Not only is the prime minister older, but many high-level dignitaries in the government are over 70 years old. Before you know it, the Vienna government has also entered old age.

Lying on the bed, Franz couldn't help but think about how good it would be if he traveled to an era of revival of spiritual energy and could pursue immortality.

As time passed, Franz turned on fantasy mode in his dreams.

……

In Egypt, at the urging of Napoleon IV, Governor Adolf's counterinsurgency army was finally assembled in Cairo.

One French infantry division + two Egyptian colonial divisions + one cavalry battalion is the entire composition of the counterinsurgency army.

Without an artillery regiment, it would be superfluous to suppress the colonial rebellion, and the field artillery carried by the infantry division would be enough.

In these years, artillery is a high-tech branch, and it is not able to shoot shells, even if it is artillery, the hit rate is the key.

Even if Britain and Austria were willing to provide artillery at their expense, the rebels could not find a gunner who could operate it.

On a sunny day, Governor Adolphus led a 36,000-strong counterinsurgency army from Cairo.

In the face of the menacing French, the rebels were already in a panic. France's reputation as the world's number one army power was too strong, and there were people within the rebels who were shaken before the fighting began.

Mahdi has held several mobilization meetings to boost morale, but with little success.

As a representative of Austria, Lieutenant Colonel Hurtier also attended a meeting, and when he saw the ugliness of the top brass of the rebel army, he decisively refused to attend.

At the headquarters of the Eighth Division, the newly appointed division commander Huthier said worriedly: "The composition of the rebel army is too complicated, there are a lot of internal contradictions, and neither training nor combat awareness is enough.

Judging by the current situation, it is only a matter of time before the French collide head-on and lose.

The perfect strategy that the British helped them devise completely ignored the execution of the rebel army. It's been a long time, and it hasn't been determined where to intercept the river.

Now a group of people are still arguing, and it is estimated that when the French call, they may not be able to determine the place. ”

The volume of the Nile River is not as large as it is all year round, and it is simply impossible to intercept the river impoundment in the dry season to impact the downstream.

Unfortunately, it has only just entered April, and the Nile River is dry season in January ~ May, and the water level will begin to rise in May at the earliest, and August is the peak.

This means that the rebel army, at least under the attack of the French, will be supported for more than 40 days, and the "perfect strategy" formulated by the British will have a slight possibility of being realized.

If you want to rely on the floods to destroy the delta downstream, it is best to wait until August.

Floods downstream in August every year wash away farmland, and occasionally even reach the city of Cairo.

Falkingham: "The plans of the British simply won't work, the French won't give them enough time."

If Mahdi had been clever enough, he would have chosen a suitable spot to blow up a small mountain and block the river.

Although it was the dry season, the destructive power downstream was limited, but it was better than nothing, and no matter how bad it was, it could delay the French counterinsurgency army. ”

The upstream itself occupies an advantageous position, and once the river is blocked, the approaching French will have to take a detour.

If they continued to march down the Nile, in case the rebels suddenly watered, they would have to feed the fish, and the French could not have taken any chances.

It's just that once the plan is advanced, the destruction of the delta becomes a dream. After all, there is not enough water, and the destructive power is limited.

Huthier shook his head: "Don't count on it, the rebels have been fooled by the British.

Perhaps Lieutenant General Geret thought that the rebels, like the British army, could do what they ordered. ”

There was a strong sense of contempt, and if it were not for the fact that Lieutenant General Geret could not have betrayed Britain, he would have wondered if it was a spy sent by the French.

It seems that the total strength of the rebels is nearly 100,000 men, almost three times that of the French, and they have an absolute superiority in numbers.

However, superiority in forces does not mean victory. In the battle to suppress a colonial rebellion, it is nothing new, not to say that one against three, even with one against hundred.

Poeolek proposed, "Since the top brass of the rebels are already stupid, it's better to leave them alone."

Find a chance to part with them. Then each fights its own, let them drag the main force of the French army, and we go deep into the heart of Egypt to wreak havoc.

If we can't defeat the main force of the French army, can't we still bully the plantation owners? Burn the cotton fields of the French and let the Adolf guy cry! ”

Expectations were so low, despite the airship airdrop of a batch of equipment, the arming of the 8th Division, and the conduct of simple training. Poteaurec still had no expectations for a decisive battle with the French.

In his opinion, even if it is to bully the plantation owner, it depends on the superiority of troops. In the case of equal numbers, this rabble is no longer able to do the thugs of the plantation owners.

Falkingham frowned and asked, "Sounds good, but after entering the heart of Egypt, how do we evacuate?" ”

This is a real problem, it is easy to go behind enemy lines, but it is easy to enter and difficult to get out.

Once the French found out that someone had burned their cotton fields, they would not be beaten to death.

Poteaurec shook his head: "The French are not stupid, when they react, they will soon send troops to surround us, and it is simply impossible to evacuate."

But our mission is to wreak havoc, so why do we have to evacuate?

As soon as the troops were fighting, the momentum was not right, and the troops were thrown away, and a few of us dressed up in disguise and ran away. ”

Although it is a little spicy, it is indeed very feasible. In these years, there was no ID card, and a few strangers in the colony came out, and they could not be identified at all.

Even if they were caught by the French, they could pretend to be Austrian expeditions and strayed into the Egyptian region.

There has never been a shortage of road idiots in this world, and every year there are many expeditions that get lost and strayed into other countries' colonies.

It's okay to be caught, it's nothing more than to notify the Austrian colonial government to lead the people, and ask for a ransom by the way.

This is a common practice, and in the absence of a conflict of interest, colonists do not kill people at will.