Chapter 497 Accident

The news that the British proposed to negotiate was sent back to Vienna, and Franz approved it immediately. Although the losses on the battlefield are not large, it hurts money!

Since Cape Town cannot be conquered, it would be a waste of time to continue fighting. Looking at the information from the front line, Franz was also helpless.

The arrogance of the British Empire in this era is completely beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Millions of pounds were smashed into it, and there were dense fortifications at a glance. How could the battle be fought?

The original Cape Town strategy, under the tactics of the local tyrants of the British, simply could not play its due role.

Don't look at the British being at a disadvantage. In fact, they still showed off their strength to the world fiercely. The funds invested by the British before and after the South African war will probably exceed 100 million.

No other country in the world can afford this amount of money except Britain. Franz would have flinched early if he had moved from another place, and he was so short-minded without money.

Even if it gained the upper hand on the battlefield, the price paid by the Vienna government was also not small. The war has come to the present, and more than 40 million Aegis has been smashed into it.

Franz summed up the reason for not being able to conquer Cape Town. It was not that the soldiers were incompetent, nor that the front-line commanders were incompetent. The main reason was that they lacked money and arrogance.

Otherwise, no matter the cost, thousands of eight hundred heavy artillery pieces will be transported and 1.8 million tons of artillery shells will be fired, and no amount of fortifications will be blown up.

Oh, it seems like the road needs to be built first. Otherwise, the logistics on the battlefield cannot be guaranteed. If there are guns and no shells, it will be useless.

Based on a preliminary estimate of these expenses, it is estimated that there are 200 to 300 million Aegis, which is almost enough.

This is not what the Vienna government can afford, otherwise the construction of railways in Africa would not be so slow. If the railway had been extended to the Transvaal early, the British would not have dared to start a war.

The Anglo-Boers War was not without its benefits. The reality once again taught the world a lesson: war is a beast of gold, don't fight if you don't have money.

Gold has not yet been mined on a large scale in South Africa, and the war is widely believed to have no winners. Austria defeated the British with the Boers' vest, but did not capture the Cape of Good Hope, and the strategic goal was not achieved.

Economically, South Africa, which has not been developed, is not worth more than 50 million Aegis. The British bought Cape Town back then because the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa without this strategic location, is worth nothing in itself.

Compared with Austria, which is a small loss, the British are blood loss. This war was launched on the initiative of the Boer Republic for the common value of the colony.

The British spent a lot of war funds and paid tens of thousands of casualties. Not only did they fail to achieve their goals, they were also pushed back to Cape Town by the enemy.

Negotiations also need to pay a price. It is easy to start a war, but difficult to end a war. If nothing else, whether the lost land should be recovered or not is a headache.

Even if this is a colony and worthless, the strategic security of the Cape of Good Hope must be considered, right? If there is a conflict, the enemy will come to the city, that day will not pass?

Even if the fight does not start, the daily necessities are in the hands of others, and the price increases every three to five, and no one can stand it.

Therefore, other places can not, the water, coal, farms outside the city, these urban necessities, the British must take back.

It is obviously impossible to make empty promises. Wearing the vest of the Boer Republic does not mean that the enemy outside the city is the Boer Republic. To get all this at the negotiating table, you have to pay a price.

Franz doesn't care what kind of result he talks about. In any case, there is no loss. If the British are not in a hurry, it will be fine to just stand still.

The Boer Republic can provide most of Austria's living supplies, and the food problem of the front-line troops can be solved nearby.

It was a tragedy for the British in the city. Even fresh water had to be shipped from Madagascar or bought from the Portuguese. Not to mention other living materials, all have to be shipped from the outside world.

Don't look at the convenience of shipping, but also consider where it is. The Cape of Good Hope is not a good place. It has always been a high-incidence area for shipwrecks. In a month or two, the arrival of the monsoon will be the world of killing waves.

There were two paths before the British, either to stockpile enough winter supplies now, or to end the war before winter came.

The plan never changes quickly, and at the same time as the "Yingbo Negotiations" started, a sudden plague broke out.

It first appeared in the Indian colonial army, and the British didn't pay attention.

In the course of the war, the plague was also brought into the cannon fodder of the Boer Republic. In this battlefield where there are dead people every day, it is also normal for a few people to fall ill, not to mention the cannon fodder troops that are not taken seriously.

The poor sanitation conditions in the military camps accelerated the spread of the epidemic. Soon a large number of soldiers fell ill, the plague did not recognize people, and the white soldiers were also not immune.

The British were the first to be discovered. As the defender of the city, the density of the British army was much greater, because the lack of water in the city further exacerbated the deterioration of sanitary conditions.

These conditions have brought convenience for the spread of the plague. A large number of British soldiers fell ill, which attracted the attention of the military doctor Horace, and it was only after an investigation that the plague was discovered.

Not daring to neglect, Horace immediately reported the news of the outbreak. The escalation was made to the Governor of Delphi, and it was May 18, 1871.

When the epidemic first appeared, it is impossible to verify. The British medical system has not been perfected to the point where full-time doctors are assigned to Indian soldiers.

a bolt from the blue

This is, for the Governor of Delphi, one of the worst news ever. Without any hesitation, Governor Delphi immediately convened a high-level meeting and issued an epidemic prevention order:

"Isolate all the patients immediately, and request the local power generation to send professional plague prevention experts. Epidemic prevention work must be done now, and you should consult a doctor on what to do."

This is all he can do, the plague is out of control, the medical technology in this era is limited, and it can only be left to fate.

Shortly after the British discovered the outbreak, the Boer Republic army outside the city also discovered the outbreak.

The first to be infected was Second Lieutenant Merx, who was sent to command the cannon fodder unit. He chatted while seeing a doctor, complaining that many of his subordinates were sick, which aroused the curiosity of an intern.

Curiosity didn't necessarily kill the cat. Doctor Luke went to the black barracks to check on the spot. He didn't know if he didn't check it, and he was shocked when he checked it.

This is clearly a plague, but a plague that has spread. The number of people infected by a single unit is not terrible, the total number is terrible.

After the news was reported, Viscount Fickney immediately sent people to investigate. As a result, it was discovered that the number of confirmed infections was as high as 2,000, including 87 Boer soldiers.

This is only the case of the disease, and there are no virus carriers without disease, and it is unknown how many there are. Looking at the data in his hand, Viscount Fickney was speechless for a long time.

Fortunately, the cannon fodder troop and the main troop were stationed separately, and apart from the officers who managed this troop, the main troop had little contact with them.

Needless to say, the epidemic prevention work started automatically. There is a special epidemic prevention department in the Austrian army, usually part-time by military doctors, and this unit wearing the vest of the Boer Republic army is no exception.

All troops have carried out epidemic prevention work in an orderly manner in accordance with the promulgated epidemic prevention regulations.

Viscount Fickney asked with concern: "Has the type of epidemic been determined? What caused this plague?"

Plagues are also divided into three, six, nine, and so on. The most lethal is naturally the plague, including the Black Death, which almost wiped out Europe, which is a type of plague, followed by smallpox, cholera, malaria, and influenza.

All of them are afraid of killers, no matter how high or low they are, they are all killed without fail.

The military doctor Leissner who presided over the epidemic prevention work thought for a while and said: "The transmission route of the plague is still uncertain, and there are two situations in the preliminary judgment of its origin.

The biggest possibility is the poor handling of corpses on the battlefield, which led to the breeding of viruses and finally caused the plague.

Another possibility is that it was brought from outside. According to the information we collected, a plague broke out in India not long ago, and it is very likely that it was brought by Indians.

If the virus originated in India, then the plague would not be difficult to solve. It has been proved that the plague outbreak in India is not very contagious.

From the current situation, the former is more likely. If the virus originated in India, then the virus has mutated. "

Wars are often accompanied by disease. This South African war may seem inconspicuous, but the death toll is definitely one of the highest in human history.

Not only are there dead people on the battlefield, but people who die outside the battlefield are not necessarily much less than those on the battlefield. After this war, the total population of South Africa is less than 30% of the pre-war population.

With so many dead, body disposal becomes a problem. On the surface, most of the corpses on the battlefield were incinerated or buried in deep pits.

But the bloody parts are always left behind. It seems that the harm is not big, but after adding up, what will happen is unknown.

At the beginning of the war, Franz secretly issued an order to do a good job in epidemic prevention. Therefore, the Boer Republic Army was not unprepared, but did not expect the plague to break out at the end of the war.

The source of the plague, this is only the concern of professionals. Viscount Fickney is more interested in prevention, no matter how it came, as long as the epidemic can be controlled.

After some thought, Viscount Fickney made a decision: "Order the main force to withdraw from the occupied streets first, and the Seventh Division of the South African Special Expeditionary Force will take over the defense."

In the face of the plague, all victories are clouds. In such a street with broken walls and remnants, no one knows where there are corpses that have slipped through the net.

It is too dangerous to have the main force stationed in such a place, and it is safer to be stationed outside the city.

The Seventh Division of the South African Special Expeditionary Force is the unit that suffered the worst outbreak of the epidemic. To let them take over defense is to use waste.

If the British run to attack, give it to them. Viscount Fickney has decided to put the isolation camp at the forefront to see if the British can add a few more patients.

Even if it doesn't work, disgust the British. To vent the grievances in your heart, the war has hit now, and the two sides have long forged a blood feud.