Jacob's diplomatic protest is, in fact, an angry remark. Asking for help from the international community, France could not afford to lose this man.

If you can't win on the battlefield, you can hope for the intervention of the international community, which is the behavior of the weak, and it is not in line with France's status as a great power.

The main thing, of course, is that protests are useless. The four referees on the European continent beat each other up in pairs, and they can't expect a group of small countries to act as cheerleaders to interfere, right?

Since it is a war, there will inevitably be casualties. The civilian casualties in France were large, and the civilian casualties on the side of the anti-French coalition were not small.

In particular, in the occupied regions of Belgium and the Rhineland, civilian casualties can be determined to be in the five-digit range, although no specific statistics are available.

This is the peak of the colonial empire, and it is also the peak of racial discrimination, and not all ethnic groups have human rights.

It's good that this lid is not lifted, but if it is revealed, the final outcome will be "self-inflicted damage of 1,000 and killing of 300 enemies".

In case the operation is not good, so that European countries mistakenly think that France is not good, and run to hug Austria's thigh one by one, it will be a big trouble.

The current anti-French alliance is difficult enough to deal with, and if the Austrians are allowed to fool a few more allies, there will be no need to fight the battle in the future.

In fact, the greatest threat posed by the Austrian Air Force to the French army was not direct casualties on the battlefield.

Whether it is airship bombing or aircraft strafing, what kind of results can be achieved depends on luck.

On a lucky day, a wave of air strikes can kill thousands of people; When you're unlucky, the results aren't enough for gas money.

Compared with the direct results of the Austrian Air Force on the battlefield, Governor Jacob was more worried about the impact on the morale of the army.

After a series of blows, the arrogance of the French army was gradually worn out, and more and more people lost confidence in the next war.

Fortune and misfortune do not go alone, just when Governor Jacob was worried about the Austrian Air Force.

A burly young officer ran in from outside and said breathlessly, "The Governor... Your Excellency, a big deal... Oh no! ”

Governor Jacob's heart tightened, and just by looking at the young officer's nervous expression, he knew that something big was coming.

After all, he had seen strong winds and waves, Jacob quickly adjusted, and pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Oren, speak slowly." The sky has not yet fallen, and where has the enemy bombed again? ”

Compared to other bad news on the battlefield, Governor Jacob still hoped that the next bad news would be a bombardment by the enemy's air force.

Airships have been in the military field for so many years, and Austria is the first to put airships into the military field, although the French are proud but not stupid, it is impossible not to be unguarded in the face of such an enemy.

When setting up the storehouse of supplies, Governor Jacob had long thought about the threat from heaven. This is also the reason why the French army only suffered heavy casualties after the loss of air supremacy.

The young officer of Oren hurriedly shook his head: "It's not an air raid!" The enemy has again torn through our eastern defense, and the Aswan region is in danger. ”

At the sound of the word "again", Governor Jacob only felt a toothache. There is no way, from the beginning of the war to the present, the defensive line deployed by the French army in the Sudanese region has been broken through three times.

Fortunately, the colony was large enough for the French to have the opportunity to rearrange their defensive lines in the rear. Unfortunately, the colonial army was always useless, and every line of defense could not hold out for a few days.

In Jacob's view, it was not so much the French army on the front line that was resisting the Austrian invasion as the poor geographical conditions and poor transportation environment were slowing down the enemy's advance.

"Order Lieutenant General Parker to gather the rout on the front line and build a new line of defense in the Aswan area.

The 17th and 24th Divisions were ordered to immediately go for reinforcements.

Order the defenders of Kom Ombo, Edfu and other areas to be ready for battle......"

A series of orders were issued, and it was clear that Governor Jacob had no hope for the French army at the front. Active defense is only to buy time, not to expect them to be able to hold off the enemy.

Otherwise, it is to concentrate on building a defensive line to block the enemy's troops, instead of preparing for war in different regions to resist step by step, and exchange space for time.

There is no best tactic in this world, only the most suitable tactic.

According to the plan of the Paris government, the task of the African colonial government was to hold on, delay time, and wait for the French army to win victory on the European continent.

There is no doubt that Governor Jacob is strictly implementing this plan. Except for the initial period of the war, when several offensives were organized on their own initiative, they entered a state of full-scale defense.

However, the plan did not change quickly, the European war was deadlocked, the French army was unable to break through the Rhine defense line, and the situation in Egypt became worse.

……

The Aswan region has now become a battlefield. The sound of artillery fire and shouts of killing were intertwined and resounded in the sky.

Lowering the telescope in his hand, Major General Hezendorf smiled with satisfaction. After laughing, there is a deep sorrow.

There is no doubt that the increased role of the Air Force on the battlefield is also an impact on the Army.

Although the dominant position of the army cannot be shaken yet, the air force is developing rapidly, and if nothing else, the country will certainly increase its investment in the air force after the war.

If it is only the Air Force that is growing, Major General Hezendorf is still worried, after all, the Air Force has just started, and no matter how it develops, it will not be able to keep pace with the Army in a short period of time.

The problem is that Austria still has a large navy, and now the international situation is very obvious, and after the war, the Vienna government will definitely increase its investment in the navy and compete with the British for supremacy at sea.

In contrast, the Army is much more struggling. Everyone knew that Austria could not raise five or six million troops for a long time, and that once the war was over, disarmament was imperative.

It is impossible for the navy to be downsized, and the size of the air force is limited, and even if it is disarmed, according to the usual practice, the airship units will be directly transferred to logistics and transportation, and only the army will be really dismantled.

With one increase and one decrease, the superiority of the army will be neutralized, and the future military pattern of Austria will be that the army, navy, and air force will check and balance each other, and the army will no longer be dominant.

This is what the Vienna government wants to see the most, and the vigorous development of the navy in the last decade or so and the ability of the airship unit to become an independent army from the army have all made great efforts.

Of course, the emperor's acquiescence is indispensable behind this. At the heart of the political game is checks and balances, and the emperor doesn't want his subordinates to be monolithic.

As an army general, I naturally don't want to see this happen. Even if Austria has a big business, the amount of money to be invested in the military is limited, and the rise of the navy and air force will inevitably divide the resources of the army.

It's useless to know, this is originally a conspiracy. From the day the Austrian Air Force was created, a new pattern was already predestined.

It stands to reason that the rank of Major General Hezendorf should not be known.

After all, it hasn't happened yet, the government just deliberately promoted it, and no one has put it forward in any place, let alone implemented it. All the while, no news came out.

However, there is never a shortage of smart people in this world, and Major General Herzendorf is one of them, drawing conclusions from a few clues.

Sometimes knowing too much is also a frustration. Major General Hezendorf is like this now, originally he still did not believe that the Air Force could grow, but after witnessing the Air Force in combat, he had to accept the reality.

Now the performance of the aircraft is still limited, and the bombing still depends on the airship, but the technology has been updated quickly in recent years!

Soon Hezendorf dispelled the messy thoughts in his mind, and when the sky fell, the tall man was the first to stand up, and there were so many bigwigs in the army's upper echelons, and it was not his turn to worry about the young man.

In any case, Austria's geographical location determined that it was necessary to develop land power, and no matter how much it belonged to the army, it could not be missing.

After all, the cake is getting bigger and bigger, even if there are more people, each person still gets more than the original.

Looking at his watch, Major General Hezendorf instructed the officers in front of him: "Pass the order, and in half an hour the 225th Division will attack from the front, the 236th Division will attack from the right flank, and the 241st Division will attack from ......."

A major general commanding more than two dozen infantry divisions to fight, which is impossible under normal circumstances. According to the establishment of the Austrian army, the officers at the division level are basically major generals.

Those who are qualified to command more than 300,000 troops to fight are at least generals.

However, these so-called conventions were all broken after the great expansion of the army.

Including the colonial troops, the Austrian Army swelled from more than 500,000 before the war to more than 6 million.

Since the completion of the military reform, the ranks of Austria have become precious, especially the number of generals has been controlled very strictly.

Before the outbreak of the war, the army numbered less than 700 people, including retired generals. The strength of the army swelled more than ten times at once, and Franz naturally couldn't take out so many generals.

Without military exploits, it is difficult to cross the threshold of generals, but there are many colonel-level officers in reserve. If there are not enough generals, colonels are used to make up the numbers, and even the division commanders of some units are low-ranking to lieutenant colonels.

It's a war year now, and if you don't control it, you won't be flying all over the sky after the war.

In order to avoid the embarrassing situation of more generals than soldiers, Franz decisively adopted the measure of low rank and high allocation. Anyway, after a few battles, I will catch up with the merits.

Against this background, it is not surprising that such a commander of the army group as Major General Herzendorf appeared.

……

As the Battle of Aswan began, letters for help continued to fly from Cairo to Paris, and at most Napoleon IV received three telegrams from the governor of Egypt in a day.

Not only Egypt, but also other parts of Africa were receiving telegrams asking for help. Even though the government of Paris had decided to temporarily abandon large areas of the colony, it had not been able to reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield.

The withdrawal of the colonial government was not a simple task, not only because the government offices had to be relocated, but also because a large number of people had to leave.

Others can throw it away, but the families of soldiers can't also throw it away, right?

If the families of the soldiers were really lost to Austria, there would be no need to fight the rest of the battle.

In order to cover the retreat of government agencies and soldiers' families, the French troops on the front line still had to continue to stand up. Therefore, the reinforcements promised to the governor of Egypt only existed in theory.

Whether it can be in place in the end depends on how many troops are withdrawn from the front line. After it was determined that the security of the Algerian region could be guaranteed, Egypt was brought to Egypt with surplus troops.

Don't look at the African battlefield seems to be less important, it does not affect the final victory or defeat of the European war, and the French government does not pay much attention to it.

On the contrary, the African colonies provided France with one-third of its industrial raw materials, as well as one-fifteenth of its agricultural products, which was strategically important to France.

From the very beginning, the French government has attached great importance to the African continent. However, their strength in Africa is limited, and they are faced with a two-front battle on their own soil, so they simply cannot afford to invest a large number of troops in the African colonies in a short period of time.

In desperation, the Paris government deliberately acted as indifferent, so that the outside world would think that they did not pay attention to Africa, not that France could not win against Austria in Africa.

There is no way, this is politics. The complex international situation dictates that France must remain strong, but any hint of fatigue may trigger a chain reaction.

Faced with the deteriorating situation in Africa, Napoleon IV finally could not sit still. The Rhine defense line has not yet been broken through, and if Africa falls first, it will be a lot of fun.

Not to mention the loss caused to France by the fall of Africa. Strategically alone, once French Africa fell, Austria would have almost unified the entire continent.

At that time, even if the French army broke through Vienna, the war would continue. There's no way, the capital is too strong, and I really can't find a reason to admit defeat.

Even if it had been defeated on the battlefield, Austria was able to rely on the consumption of resources and drag France to death.

Having learned from the Russo-Prussian War, Napoleon IV had to consider the horrific consequences of the fall of French Africa.

"The situation in Africa is completely broken, what is the War Department going to do?"

The Minister of War Luskinia's face turned red, and he replied with a little embarrassment: "Your Majesty, our disadvantage on the African continent is too obvious, even if we send reinforcements from within the country, it will be difficult to turn the situation around.

At present, there can only be a strategic retrenchment, concentrating forces to keep the most important Egypt and Algeria, and other regions can only be temporarily abandoned. ”

It is impossible to increase the number of troops, and the European war has consumed almost all the strength of France, and it is simply not capable of carrying out labor expeditions.

Even if the War Department gritted its teeth and put together hundreds of thousands of troops, what would happen to the logistics materials?

You must know that the cost of labor expeditions is far greater than the cost of domestic operations, and French Africa is not as deep as that of Austrian Africa.

After the outbreak of the war, the Vienna government invested only in weapons and equipment and medicines in the African theater, and other strategic materials were handled by the local government itself.

In French Africa, the colonial government simply could not afford such a large expense. The ability of the natives to create wealth is not comparable to that of the Austrians.

Napoleon IV's face sank, and it was clear that this statement did not satisfy him.

If the most important Egypt and Algeria can be defended, then it is acceptable, but the problem is that the Egyptian region will not be able to defend it.

If you open the map, you can see that France's territory on the African continent is shrinking day by day. At the current rate, in a year and a half, there will be nothing to do on the African continent.

"Is that all?"

Faced with the emperor's soul torture, a cold sweat broke out on Luskinia's forehead. There is no way, this question is too embarrassing.

"Your Majesty, although the deterioration of the situation on the African continent cannot be reversed, it will not collapse immediately.

In any case, we still have nearly a million troops on the continent, and it is possible to delay it.

As long as we win the war on the European continent, what the Austrians have eaten now will have to be returned with interest. ”

If the "army of millions" falls into the ears of uninformed people, it is estimated that it will be able to frighten many people.

It's a pity that all the people present are insiders, and they know very well what kind of goods those troops are. However, if the colonial troops had half the combat strength of the main force, the situation would not have collapsed so badly.

Napoleon IV waved his hand: "Enough, I don't want to listen to these clichés anymore."

Everyone knows that the European war is the key to victory, provided that we can win the war on the continent.

If the stalemate continues as it is now, once French Africa falls, what will I do with Austria? Count on the British? ”

It's not that Napoleon IV couldn't hold his breath, it's that the situation on the battlefield was too bad. The African theater was completely defeated, and the European theater was not going well.

As time went on, more and more Austrian troops were thrown into the Rhine line, and the hope of the French army breaking through the line became less and less.

For the sake of this war, France pressed too many chips, and now they simply cannot afford to lose.

After hesitating for a moment, Luskinia said slowly, "Your Majesty, we need allies. Real allies are needed, not the British who stab in the back at any time! ”

This is the lesson of blood, and if you open the history books, you will know that most of the time France is fighting alone.

Many times, it is clear that it has the strength of the first power on the European continent, but it is miserable to be beaten by the enemy.

It's not that no one has discovered this problem, the main thing is that by the time they react, the countries of the European continent have already been offended.

Now it is no exception, Napoleon IV also longed for allies, how could he not find it!

If he hadn't been forced to do it, he wouldn't have conspired with his old enemy, the British.

……