The change in foreign policy of the British soon caused a chain reaction. The French did not resist the temptation to accept the British into the League, and the pressure turned to Austria.

This winter in Vienna is exceptionally cold, and before Christmas, Schönbrunn Palace is already covered in silver.

Stepping on the snow, the creaking sound is still so pleasing to the eye.

Franz, who was in a good mood, was not bothered by changes in diplomacy. Since the French dared to let the British join the alliance, he didn't care about having one more-stirring club.

France and Austria were already unstable, but now that there is an Englishman with evil intentions, Franz has seen the future of the collapse of this alliance.

Of course, it is still good for everyone in a short period of time. An alliance between Britain, France and Austria can bring everyone's prestige to the peak, and the nations of the world will tremble under this alliance.

Stepping into the room, Foreign Secretary Wessenberg was already in the room, with a steaming cup of coffee on the table, apparently having been there for a while.

The purpose is self-evident, naturally it is to communicate with Franz in advance whether to form an alliance with the British.

Thanks to the good reputation of the British, the Vienna government was not very enthusiastic about forming an alliance with them, and even the pro-British wing of the government did not consider the British to be a good ally.

After the courtesy greeting, Franz asked directly: "What do you think?" ”

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg paused, as if to organize the language, and after a moment replied: "Your Majesty, the French have compromised, and there is no need for us to continue the stalemate.

The British joined the League, which was destined to last long. However, the Franco-Austrian alliance is originally a combination of interests, and the left and right will expire in just a few years.

We also have no plans to maintain the alliance for a long time, and since we let the British in and stir things up, it is not necessarily a bad thing to tear up the alliance sooner. ”

Franz nodded, the purpose of the alliance was to buy time for peaceful development. Now that the French have been brought into the pit, they will not be able to do anything on the European continent for a short time, and the original purpose has been achieved.

By this time the importance of the alliance to Austria had become dispensable. In that case, there is no need to hold on to it. It is also a good option to make a final use of waste and increase Austria's prestige in the world.

"The Foreign Office continues to negotiate with the British, and without affecting the outcome of the negotiations, try to delay the formation of an alliance until the second half of next year.

The war in South Africa has been fought until now, and it is difficult to end it in a short time. The people at the bottom are so invested that we need to create an opportunity for them. ”

As a good leader, Franz was clear about his dedication to the African aristocracy. For the sake of this war, many nobles did their best.

Although the Vienna government is bearing the military expenses, the war also kills people, and the losses of the cronies and private troops cannot be made up for in a day or two.

Not to mention some unlucky nobles who fell directly on the battlefield. In any case, they were sacrificed for the good of the country, and now the Vienna government needs to give them an account.

If they are incompetent and have not been able to conquer Cape Town, then they will not have an opinion if they have no way to dig a pit and bury it themselves.

If, for diplomatic reasons, the Viennese government had forcibly halted the war, wouldn't their efforts have been in vain?

If they can't go further, they won't even be able to recover their costs with the government's military salaries.

What is chilling, Franz has never done. It would be worth it to delay a few months to increase the loyalty of the African aristocracy.

Anyway, these expenses can be recovered from South Africa's mineral resources. The more beautiful the battle on the battlefield, the more confidence there will be in post-war negotiations.

As for the decline of the local population because of the war, there is no way to do it, everything has to be paid.

Wessenberg replied, "Yes, Your Majesty." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try its best to buy time for the front line, and there will be no blood in vain. ”

The war has been going on until now, and the losses on the battlefield in South Africa are also astronomical. The Boer Republic's side lost a total of 341,500 troops, well, the fraction of the back is the real casualties of Austria.

Otherwise, all the people of the Boer Republic would have to die twice before they could barely get enough of them.

The British army was not much better, with hundreds of thousands of casualties, and they were also mainly cannon fodder troops. The white soldiers lost more than 20,000 men, a large part of whom were taken prisoner, and only seven or eight thousand were killed in the battle.

The main factor contributing to the disparity in casualties, in addition to the defeat of the British army at the beginning, was more due to the offensive and defensive battles of Cape Town.

On average, it now takes a dozen cannon fodder to fight out a British soldier, and the casualties on both sides are naturally far apart.

This situation is estimated to last until the arrival of the Indian colonial legion, and then the two colonial empires have a cannon fodder PK.

The high-level decision-making of the two countries, Viscount Fikney was also aware, and the rising number of casualties shocked him, the colonial chief.

At this moment, he admired the Russians a little, and they were able to pile up on human lives, so that the French could not stand the casualties and were forced to abandon Constantinople.

You must know that the battlefields in South Africa are filled with natives, and the Russians are using their own people as cannon fodder, which is not a concept at all.

Christmas is approaching, and Cape Town is still in motion. After so many days of war, the Boer Republic Army only knocked out the outlying fortifications of the British.

This is filled with more than 100,000 cannon fodder troops, and if we continue to fight like this, the young and strong in South Africa will definitely not be enough.

Viscount Fikney said a little tiredly: "Everyone knows the situation on the battlefield, I have contacted the Governor of Kongo, and they promised to send 100,000 cannon fodder in the near future, and the Viceroyalty of East Africa has also agreed to send 50,000 people over."

Further afield, there is no need to count on West Africa, where there are not many indigenous people, and the distance is too far and it will take too long.

Not to mention the South African region, except for the indigenous tribes in the deep mountains and old forests, the rest have been conscripted, and there are not many young and strong.

Even if we exhaust the hundreds of thousands of cannon fodder in our hands and finish the cannon fodder troops from all over the country, we may not be able to conquer Cape Town.

The plan to capture Cape Town before Christmas was now bankrupt, and it would not be long before British reinforcements arrived.

At this time, we need new tactics, at least to reduce the casualties of the attacking troops, otherwise it will be difficult to wear down the British. ”

The loss of the frontal assault of the main force was too great, and Viscount Fikney could not afford this loss, so he chose the tactic of fighting a war of attrition with cannon fodder troops.

No matter how disparity in the exchange ratio, the besieged British suffered. Once the losses exceeded the limit of bearing, the British would also admit defeat.

Of course, this is the most ideal state, and with the importance of the Cape of Good Hope, the British could not easily give up. The war was fought for money and food, and if it lasted too long, Austria could not afford it.

Chief of Staff Jacob thought for a while and said: "It's not that there is no way, but it's just that it's used now, and it will be difficult to play a role later." If you want to end this war before Christmas, I'm afraid it's impossible. ”

Blind assault is the stupidest way, when I did this at the beginning, it was because the logistics did not keep up, there was not much food in the army, and I couldn't afford to raise so much cannon fodder, so I could only send it up and consume it.

Over time, the logistical problems have been gradually resolved, and the number of cannon fodder units has plummeted, so there is no need to continue to send them to death.

After all, there are still many places that need cannon fodder in the back, and even if the British defense line is torn apart, it will still need a lot of lives to fill it.

Viscount Fikney shook his head and said: "No matter how much, if there is a way, use it first, but after the British reinforcements arrive, we will use the second plan."

The British had sea transport channels to replenish it, and the losses in such a storming were too great, and the chances of capturing Cape Town were not very good.

In the last few days, even if the main forces are pulled up, it is impossible to end the war before Christmas. ”

It's not that Viscount Fickney is reluctant to suffer casualties, the main thing is that the main force is limited in number and really can't afford to lose. In case of heavy losses, even if the defense line is torn apart, it is possible that the British will push it back.

Otherwise, there is a firepower advantage, which suppresses the firepower of the British, and it is estimated that the cannon fodder troops alone will not even be able to touch the hair of the British.

Jacob nodded and said, "Then dig a trench, close the distance as much as possible, and then dig tunnels to blow up the enemy's fortifications."

The British never thought that there would be enemies in the interior, and most of these fortifications were built improvised, and ordinary artillery could be solved as long as the foundations were loosened. ”

In fact, it can be broken directly with artillery, but it requires heavy artillery. And the limited number of heavy artillery in the army of the Boer Republic could not be taken into account while suppressing enemy fire.

This was an underestimation in advance, and it was taken for granted that the cement in the Cape Town area was limited, and it was not possible to construct a large number of reinforced concrete fortresses in a short time, and the number of heavy artillery prepared was insufficient.

Viscount Fickney wanted to end the war before Christmas, on the premise that the British did not build a modern fortress, and he did not expect that the old fox of Delphi would prepare in advance.

As soon as they burst into the gates of Cape Town, they were greeted by rows of makeshift bunker fortresses. Although it was not perfect, it also shattered Viscount Fikney's dream of a quick victory.

Now that the objectives of the battle had also changed, Viscount Fikney no longer fantasized about ending the war before Christmas, but was trying to exhaust the British reinforcements as much as they could before they arrived.

In order to implement the second set of plans, lure the enemy into depth, and then conduct a decisive battle on a different battlefield.

The biggest problem with the second plan is that the British must dare to come out, otherwise, no matter how much deployment is in vain.

This required enough reinforcements from the British to give Governor Delphi enough confidence for the frightened bird to come out.

Now it was time to put pressure on the British in the city to ask for reinforcements from the government in London. The more reinforcements, the more likely it is that the British will be tricked.

As for the question of whether they will choke to death if there are too many enemies, it is not in the scope of Viscount Fikney's consideration at all.

The British could increase their troops, and Austria could also increase their troops. On the continent, the British had little chance of winning.

Viscount Fikney made a decision without hesitation: "Then try it first and see the effect." ”

……

Perhaps God doesn't like war, but South Africa is exceptionally hot this summer. The sun is like a fireball, scorching the earth, the air is stuffy, the ground is so hot that people feel hot when they walk on the ground.

The hot summer days brought great trouble to the besieging army. If it weren't for the cool wind that blows from time to time, I don't know how many people would suffer from heat stroke under the scorching sun.

Major Hanks, who was commanding the troops, reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and cursed helplessly: "This damn ghost weather."

The roaring artillery rang out again, this was the signal for the attack, and without any hesitation, Major Hanks immediately urged: "Get up quickly, you bastards should gather." ”

As he spoke, he kicked and kicked, and it was not only Major Hanks who acted at the same time, but also some black officers.

It took about a quarter of an hour for the rabble to assemble. It took another quarter of an hour, and with the help of the black officers, Major Hanks barely got the unit to the battlefield.

Major Hanks has despaired of this cannon fodder unit. But anyone who is a little self-motivated is an officer, and the role of an officer is to assist in the management of this cannon fodder force, and there is no need to charge into battle in person.

War is the best teacher, and after a baptism of blood and fire, Major Hanks has completed his transformation.

At the beginning, he was also ready to train this cannon fodder unit to act as the main auxiliary corps.

After all, the combat effectiveness of the untrained cannon fodder units is too poor to take on real combat missions, and the army of the Boer Republic also needs an auxiliary corps with a certain combat effectiveness, perhaps high-level cannon fodder.

As it turns out, Hanks is not a god of war and does not have the power to turn decay into magic. After two months of trying, he was forced to give up his initial illusions.

Since there is no cultivation value, it can only be sent as primary cannon fodder. Launching an attack every day as a routine, if you die, you will be gone, and you will continue to repeat this unskilled work alive.

Killing an Englishman can lead to promotion to officer, provided that he returns alive and brings back as evidence of his exploits.

This kind of lucky people were only a few, most of them fell in the way of the charge, and some of them fell on the battlefield themselves while killing the British.

After a delay of more than half an hour, this unit, which had no future, launched an attack on the enemy under the deterrence of the warlords.

Major Hanks was no longer moved by the bloody scenes, and now he only cared about one thing, and that was to estimate the outcome of the battle.

In the midst of blood and fire, I don't know how many young Austrian officers have been baptized and grown up.