Chapter 906 Fill in the Channel

The battle is still going on, and the sun's rays have fallen sparsely, reflecting the blood-red river surface, and the atmosphere is strange, like a hell river.

The raft that crossed the river had already been lost in the previous battle, and the enemy's position was still as stable as Mount Tai.

Even if a small group of troops completed the task of crossing the river, they were defeated by the stubborn resistance of the French army and were forced to return.

This is not being a deserter. According to European cultural traditions, soldiers who are out of ammunition can surrender, and the Austrian army is no exception.

The soldiers who participated in the sneak attack were all trained in swimming, and a Suez Canal could not stop everyone.

Moreover, there are also scattered rafts that were destroyed by shells, just as a means of escape, so naturally there is no need to surrender.

However, the return journey was not all smooth sailing. From time to time, French soldiers shot at the river. Fortunately, the French army did not have large-scale equipment of machine guns these days, otherwise there would be no chance to retreat.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Colonel Boardman put down his last fluke, and his face became ruthless, as if he was engaged in a fierce inner struggle.

"Order the artillery, adjust the muzzle to aim at the opposite embankment, and put on solid bullets to attack!"

For the safety of the canal, from the beginning of the battle to the present, both the French and Austrian countries have been using blooming bullets, and occasionally using solid bullets, which are also aimed at the opposite fortress.

The chief of staff on the side reminded: "Colonel, if the river embankment on the opposite side is broken, the canal will be blocked. Then..."

Colonel Boardman waved his hand and interrupted: "Wrong, we are just attacking the enemy's fortress. The damage to the embankment was deliberately blown up by the French before they escaped."

This reason is very far-fetched, but Colonel Boardman doesn't care so much. Anyway, it's better than nothing. Headquarters can not make up their minds, let him make up their minds for the headquarters.

Political issues are not something he should consider as a colonel. From a purely military point of view, Colonel Boardman's order is completely correct.

As for the follow-up issues, it is necessary to test the diplomatic ability of the Austrian government and how thick the government is.

After struggling for a while, the chief of staff chose to compromise. The same order, issued by different people, has completely different political influences.

"The general will be outside, and the king's life will not be accepted."

Not an empty phrase, it also applies in Austria. Moreover, the emperor has not issued an order prohibiting the destruction of the canal, and it is the Austrian government that requires the protection of the Suez Canal.

The theater command is a special organization during wartime. During the wartime, the military and political power on the front line is a grasp. As the commander, Admiral Feslav naturally has to comprehensively consider the problem, and the requirements of the government cannot be ignored.

However, the middle-level army such as Colonel Boardman is different. They are only loyal to the emperor and do not need to be responsible for the government at all.

No matter how unhappy the government is, it cannot bypass the emperor and directly intervene in the army.

As long as the battle is won, the government can only hold back if it has an opinion. No one in Austria can target the heroes on the battlefield for no reason.

The risk in the real sense is still losing battles on the battlefield.

However, the enemy on the opposite side gave Colonel Boardman confidence. More than half of the defenders were indigenous people. If they couldn't win, then he would have no face to mix in the army.

...

As a new round of bombardment began, under the fierce attack of artillery shells, the opposite river bank gradually began to collapse.

By the time the headquarters received the news, it was done. In fact, there was no choice but to bite the bullet and go on.

Admiral Feslav was on the verge of crying about this ending. Just an hour ago, he had just sent a call to ask the emperor whether to fill in a passage, and it happened immediately.

It was too late to withdraw. The emergency telegrams from the front lines were delivered as soon as possible. Now Feslav is biting the bullet and sent another telegram to explain.

As for whether Colonel Bodman, the initiator, is a hero or a sinner, this question still depends on the development of the war situation, and Feslav is not in the mood to hold him accountable now.

Without any hesitation, Admiral Feslav made a decision: "Order the troops on the front line to stop being timid and let me go.

Now I only have one request, to cross the river in the shortest time, defeat the French on the opposite side, and take full control of the Suez Canal. "

Soldiers want to have a tough waist, but they still have to talk about their achievements. As long as the battlefield is won, these problems can only be regarded as the dust of the past.

...

At the Vienna Palace, looking at the two very different telegrams in his hands, Franz didn't know whether to praise Admiral Feslav for being obedient or to criticize him for being dead-headed.

After thinking about it, Franz still thinks that the high-level generals on the front line should be more obedient. After all, it is safe to use it!

As for the self-assured Colonel Boardman, that's even less of a problem. As a pure soldier, thinking only of military matters, that's exactly what Franz wanted.

He would rather take care of the aftermath for these simple guys than turn the front-line generals into politicians who look forward to the future, and the latter means disaster.

Before Franz called back, everyone in the cabinet came to the door, and it was obvious from the look on their faces that everyone was in a very bad mood.

If you think about it, it is right. The international political advantage that has been painstakingly created has now been completely disrupted, and no one will be happy if it is placed on it.

"Your Majesty, what happened in the Middle East theater..."

Before Weissenberg could finish speaking, Franz interrupted: "Okay, I already know about the Suez Canal.

At this point, after all, these are all

It's useless, even if you want to be held accountable, it's still after the war.

It's a matter of urgency, we still think of a way later! The French are not to be feared. If the masters in Paris are holding them back, even if someone in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs finds a problem and wants to take the opportunity to do something, they will be bad for these guys.

The trouble is the British. Don't forget that they were still agitating European countries not long ago, and they wanted to unite all countries to jointly control the Suez Canal.

The benefits are touching, and everyone has long coveted the fat of the Suez Canal.

It's just that the Suez Canal has always been controlled by us and the French together, and all countries have to hold on to their ambitions.

After the current incident, the British have more reasons for asking for international co-management, and it is not known how many countries will be persuaded by the British. "

Changing the subject, Franz has already acquired the basic skills during his years as an emperor. Anyway, he is the emperor, and it is impossible for his subordinates to not give face and stick to a problem.

Now is the time of war, internal conflicts must never break out, so it is better to provoke external conflicts.

The war has been going on until now, Franz can be considered to see it, no matter how strong the butterfly effect is, it can't change this is a rotten world.

Looking at the performance of the French, you can see that they have created so many opportunities, and now they have not killed Belgium and killed the hinterland of the German region.

That being the case, it doesn't matter if the British are wronged again. Anyway, they are still poking with the Russians. Even if they end up in person, it is impossible to abandon India and help the French.

Moreover, this is not necessarily wrong, in the style of John Bull, this kind of thing is almost inevitable.

Getting off topic, the foreign minister, who was originally angry and wanted to find bad luck in the Middle East theater, had to calm down and think about countermeasures.

After a while, Foreign Minister Weisenberg said slowly: "Your Majesty, the British government has always been eyeing the Suez Canal, and most of them will not miss this opportunity.

Judging from the current international situation, Belgium, Germany, Montenegro and Greece are our allies and will definitely not respond to the British call.

Switzerland and the Netherlands are limited by their geographical location, and should not stand in line until the outcome of the anti-French war is unknown.

The French wanted to monopolize the Suez Canal. Before the defeat of the European Continental War, the French government was mostly opposed to the international joint management of the canal.

In a short period of time, the British will at most raise some public opinion and cause us a little trouble, but it is not enough to form an absolute advantage. "

The international situation is still so chaotic, there is no absolute friend or foe in front of interests, only common interests.

Russia and Austria are still allies, but on the issue of the Suez Canal, Wesenberg is not sure whether the tsarist government will support Austria. After all, it is impossible for the Vienna government to share the benefits of the canal with them.

On the contrary, the warring French, who stand in line with Austria on this issue, will definitely oppose the international condominium of the Suez Canal.

Prime Minister Carr: "As long as we can beat the French on the battlefield, none of this is a problem.

At that time, we can use the interests of the French to buy Spain and Switzerland, plus the independent Italian state and our current allies, and the European continent is what we can say.

But before that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still cannot let down its vigilance, especially since the war in Afghanistan has eased recently, it should be more careful. "

There is no way, in international politics there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. There was no betrayal, it was only because there was not enough leverage to prompt the betrayal.

Now that Fao is competing for hegemony on the European continent, the Austrian government has to be vigilant, because there are enough chips on the gambling table.

Leaving aside France, which went to war directly, Britain and Russia, which are qualified to compete for hegemony, may also jump out to pick peaches at a critical moment.

If you look at Austria's military operations, you can see that in the African battlefield and the battle for the Suez Canal, the mainland did not mobilize troops, and the colonial troops were responsible for the implementation, or the troops mobilized from the African mainland.

Of the more than three million troops that were mobilized one after another, only the hundreds of thousands of troops on the southern front actually entered the battlefield. The rest of the troops, except for the reinforcements of one million troops in Central Europe, were still at home.

It stands to reason that as long as these troops are sent out, it can already meet the current operational needs. However, follow-up mobilization work is still in progress.

Of course, there are concerns about the French being overwhelmed and the frontline losing, but there are also factors of distrust of the Russians.

...

The government's decision did not affect the battle on the front line. There is no turning back when the bow is opened, and once it is done, it must be done.

It took too much time to fill the Suez Canal by shelling alone. In order to speed up, the front-line troops had to face the threat of enemy gunfire to fill the river and make land.

Looking at the car that was hit by enemy artillery and was crawling on the road with black smoke, Colonel Boardman frowned.

You must know that cars are rare items. In addition to the large preparations of the main domestic troops, the overseas troops only have a small amount of equipment in the logistics department.

The garrison in the Middle East is lucky, because it produces oil itself, and Austria also has an oil refinery here, and the oil supply is convenient, so there is a grand occasion of one car company per regiment.

However, this is limited to the pre-war period, starting from the large expansion of the army, such a good thing will come to an end.

The newly produced military vehicles must give priority to satisfying the local troops, and very few are assigned to the Middle East theater.

Without exception, the infantry division of Colonel Boardman was also expanded.

, swelled from a regiment before the war to a division.

Other weapons were opened in the warehouse, and the number of cars was still the original car company, which was mainly used to transport logistics materials.

Seeing these treasures fall on the battlefield like this, Colonel Boardman's heart kept bleeding.

After hesitating for a long time, Colonel Boardman seemed to have made a difficult decision, and said fiercely: "Order the car company to suspend work, and then talk about it at night!"

There is no way. The goal of the car is too big. On average, after three or five runs, one car died heroically.

Losing a lot of cars is worth it as long as it can be won. The problem is that at the current rate, before the Suez Canal is filled, the car company will die first.

It is possible to wait for follow-up reinforcements, but the problem is that time has passed. At the same time, the troops that launched the river reclamation operation were not only the division of Colonel Bodman, but the Austrian army attacked more points.

Anyway, the defeat of the French army will blow up the canal, and it is no big deal to fill in a few more roads.

"Colonel, stop now, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the task first by relying on animal transport alone." the chief of staff reminded

As the first force to blow up the Suez Canal and initiate the river reclamation operation, if a road cannot be filled in time for the army to cross the river, Colonel Boardman will really have no "bright" future.

"There is no way, the target of the car is too large, and it is difficult to avoid the enemy's artillery fire. The enemy has built a perfect fortification, and we have no way to destroy their firepower in a short time.

If we persist, our losses will be enormous. Unlike these exiled criminal laborers, the auto company is a technical arm, and if the seeds are lost, there is no way to replenish them. "

Thanks to Franz's big greening strategy, a large number of criminals are exiled to the Middle East every year. When the war breaks out, these guys are naturally converted into laborers.

Labor is Austria's precious wealth, but once the word "criminal" is added, its value plummets in an instant, from a precious "wealth" to a social "cancer".

...

The French army headquarters in Cairo, since the news that the Austrian army filled the river, the mood of the governor of Jacob has been bad.

Originally, he planned to seize the Sinai Peninsula, based on the Suez Canal, to establish a splendid military exploit for France.

It is a pity that the plan did not change quickly. Just as he took action, the Austrian army on the African continent was killed. For a time, Egypt fell into a dilemma of enemies on all sides.

In the face of the wolf-like enemy, the troops on the border could not resist, and Governor Jacob had to shrink the defense line while drawing reinforcements to support the front line.

The troops drawn to the front line of the canal have also become inevitable. After all, a major turmoil broke out in Egypt a few years ago, and the population loss was serious. Even if Governor Jacob wanted to use force, he did not have enough young people.

Originally, Governor Jacob also hoped that the Austrian army would be afraid of international pressure and dare not easily destroy the so-called "eternal neutrality of the Suez Canal".

As long as it lasts for a few months, and the victory or defeat is determined in the homeland, the Egyptian region will be victorious.

It is a pity that the deterrent effect of the tiger skin of "international pressure" is too low. After a few days of delay, the tiger's power was pierced.

It's bad, bad, Governor Jacob still has some confidence in the canal defense line he manages, even if he can't defeat the enemy, it can't be broken through in a short time.

"Order the troops on the front line of the canal to rely on the fortifications to defend on the spot, attack the enemy head-on, and play the prestige of the French Army..."