Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 484

Chapter 484: Chapter 57, Growing Up in Blood and Fire
 

The British’s changes in foreign policy quickly triggered a chain reaction. The French, in the end, couldn’t resist the temptation and accepted the British into the alliance, shifting the pressure onto Austria.

This winter in Vienna was exceptionally cold, and Belvedere Palace had already donned a layer of silver garb before Christmas had even passed.

Stepping on the snow, the crunching sound was still as delightful to see as ever.

Franz, in great spirits, no longer had a headache over the changes in diplomacy. Since the French dared to let the British join the alliance, he also didn’t care about having one more troublemaker ally.

The alliance between France and Austria was unstable to begin with, and now with a British person harboring ulterior motives, Franz had already foreseen the collapse of this alliance.

Of course, in the short term, it was beneficial for everyone. The alliance of England, France, and Austria could elevate everyone’s prestige to its peak, and countries around the world would tremble beneath this union.

Upon entering the conference room, Foreign Minister Weisenberg was already inside, and there was a steaming cup of coffee on the table, clearly indicating that he had been there for a while.

The objective was self-evident, naturally, it was to communicate with Franz in advance about whether or not to form an alliance with the British.

Thanks to the British’s good reputation, the Vienna Government’s enthusiasm for aligning with them had always been low; even the pro-British faction within the government did not think the British were a good ally.

After a polite greeting, Franz directly asked, “What do you think?”

Foreign Minister Weisenberg paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts, and after a short while, he replied, “Your Majesty, since the French have compromised, there’s no need for us to continue to be inflexible.

The British joining the alliance means that the lifespan of this union is destined not to be long. Besides, the France-Austrian Alliance was always a combination of interests; its expiration would have come in just a few years anyway.

We didn’t plan to maintain the alliance in the long term, so letting the British in to stir things up, it might not be a bad thing at all if the treaty is torn up a bit earlier.”

Franz nodded. The purpose of the alliance was to win time for peace and development. Now that the French were lured into a trap, they presently had no power to cause trouble on the European Continent, achieving the initial objective.

At this point, the importance of the alliance for Austria had become negligible. Given this, there was no need to cling to it desperately. Making the last of this waste through utilization, and improving Austria’s prestige in the world was also not a bad choice.

“The Foreign Ministry should continue negotiating with the British, and as long as it doesn’t affect the outcome, try to delay the timing of the alliance until the second half of next year.

The South African War has been dragging on up to now and will be hard to conclude quickly. With so much invested by those below, we need to create an opportunity for them.”

As a good leader, Franz was well aware of the efforts of the African aristocrats for the war. Many nobles had expended their utmost strength.

Although the Vienna Government was bearing the military expenses, war meant casualties, and the loss of private armies loyal to them was not something that could be made up for in a day or two.

Not to mention certain unfortunate nobles, who fell directly on the battlefield. In any case, they sacrificed for the national interest, and now the Vienna Government needed to give them an explanation.

If they were inept on their own and failed to capture Cape Town, then there’s no choice, one must bury the pit they dug themselves; no one would have any complaints.

If the war were forcibly halted by the Vienna Government due to diplomatic reasons, wouldn’t their sacrifices be in vain?

Without military achievements, there would be no rewards, and without advancing further, relying solely on the government’s military pay, they wouldn’t even be able to recoup their costs.

Disheartening affairs like these were always avoided by Franz. Postponing for a few months could increase the loyalty of the African nobility, which was very much worth it.

After all, these expenses could be recouped with the mineral resources of South Africa. The more impressive the battlefield performance, the stronger the bargaining power would be after the war.

As for the decrease in the local population due to the war, there was nothing that could be done; everything comes with a price.

Weisenberg answered, “Yes, Your Majesty. The Foreign Ministry will do its best to secure time for the frontlines and ensure that the blood spilled isn’t in vain.”

The war had progressed to this point, and the casualties on the South African battlefield were astronomical. The Boer Republican Army alone accounted for a total loss of 341,500 soldiers; the true Austrian casualties were tucked away in the decimal points.

Otherwise, it would mean that every single member of the Boer Republic would have to die twice over to make up the numbers.

The British weren’t much better off, with casualties also in the hundreds of thousands, predominantly from the cannon fodder army. White soldiers lost more than 20,000 men, a large portion of whom were prisoners, with actual combat deaths only around seven or eight thousand.

The main factor causing the disparity in casualties, aside from the British suffering defeats from the outset, was mainly due to the Cape Town Siege.

On average, it now took over a dozen cannon fodder soldiers to take down one British soldier, naturally leading to a significant gap in casualties between the two sides.

This situation was expected to continue until the Indian Colonial Army arrived, after which the two colonial empires would engage in a colossal cannon fodder showdown.

The decisions made by the higher echelons of both nations, Viscount Feckney was well informed, and the continuously escalating casualties were a sight that even shocked this colonial leader.

At this moment, he had some admiration for the Russians; they actually managed to overwhelm the French with sheer loss of life, forcing them to give up on Istanbul.

Keep in mind that the South African battlefield was filled with natives, while the Russians used their own people as cannon fodder, which was not the same concept.

As Christmas approached, Cape Town remained immovable. After so many days of warfare, the Boer Republican Army had only managed to knock down the British’s outer defenses.

Just this had cost over a hundred thousand cannon fodder troops; continuing like this, the able-bodied of the South African region surely wouldn’t be enough to fill the ranks.

Viscount Feckney, somewhat exhausted, said, “Everyone is clear about the situation on the battlefield. I’ve already contacted the Governor of Congo, who promised to send a hundred thousand cannon fodder soon, and the East African Governorate agreed to send fifty thousand men.

As for the more distant West Africa region, we can’t count on them; not many natives are there to begin with, and the distance is too great, requiring too much time.

It also goes without saying for the South African region; apart from the native tribes in the deep mountains and forests, the rest have been conscripted through and through, leaving hardly any able-bodied men.

Continuing this attrition is not sustainable; even if we deplete our control of the hundred and fifty thousand cannon fodder and exhaust the reinforcements from all regions, it’s still uncertain whether we can capture Cape Town.

The plan to capture Cape Town before Christmas has already gone bankrupt, and the British reinforcements will arrive soon.

At this time, we need a new tactic, at the very least to reduce the casualties of the attacking forces. Otherwise, it will be very hard to exhaust the British.”

Using the cannon fodder army to wage a war of attrition was a tactic chosen by Viscount Feckney because he couldn’t afford the heavy losses that would come with a direct frontal assault by the main forces.

No matter how disproportionate the exchange, it was the encircled British who were at a disadvantage. Once the losses exceeded their limit of endurance, the British would concede defeat.

Of course, that was the ideal state of affairs. Given the importance of the Cape of Good Hope, it was unlikely that the British would back down easily. Warfare is a matter of money and provisions; if the conflict dragged on for too long, Austria wouldn’t be able to bear the cost either.

The chief of staff, Jacob, thought for a moment and said, “There are measures we can take, but using them now would mean they’ll have less effect later on. Hoping to end this war before Christmas is probably impossible.”

A blind offensive was the dumbest strategy. If it had been done at the beginning, it would have meant that the logistics hadn’t kept up, there wasn’t much food in the military, and they couldn’t support so many cannon fodder, who had to be sent to be used up.

As time passed, logistical issues were gradually being resolved, and the number of the cannon fodder army was also sharply declining, there was no longer any need to continue the senseless sacrifice.

After all, there would be many more places where cannon fodder would be needed later on. Even if they managed to break through the British lines, it would still require a massive number of lives to fill the gap.

Viscount Feckney shook his head and said, “Never mind all that. If there’s a method available, we’ll use it now. At worst, when the British reinforcements arrive, we’ll activate our second plan.

The British have their sea transport corridors for resupply, and this kind of siege warfare is too costly. The chances of taking Cape Town were not great to begin with.

Just for these last few days of effort, even if we deployed the main forces, we couldn’t end the war before Christmas.”

It wasn’t that Viscount Feckney was averse to casualties; it was mainly because the number of the main forces was limited, and they truly couldn’t afford heavy losses. If the casualties were devastating, even if they broke through the lines, the British might still manage to push them back.

Otherwise, with the advantage in firepower, suppressing the British firepower, it would be unlikely for just the cannon fodder to even touch a hair on the British.

Jacob nodded and said, “Then we’ll dig trenches, to get as close as possible, and then mine under their fortifications and blow them up.

The British never imagined there would be enemies in the inland areas, so most of these fortifications are temporary. As long as we undermine the foundations, ordinary artillery should be able to do the job.”

In fact, using artillery directly would also be possible, but that would require heavy guns. The Boer Republican Army had a limited number of heavy guns, and they couldn’t both suppress the enemy’s firepower and focus on the task at hand.

This was a miscalculation, naively thinking that Cape Town region had limited concrete, and wouldn’t be able to build lots of reinforced concrete fortifications quickly, resulting in an insufficient number of prepared heavy artillery.

Viscount Feckney’s desire to end the war before Christmas was based on the presumption that the British hadn’t built modern fortifications. He hadn’t anticipated that the old fox, Governor Delf, had made preparations well in advance.

Just as they broke through to Cape Town’s gates, what greeted them was a row upon row of hastily constructed bunker fortifications. Although they were not perfect, this dashed Viscount Feckney’s hopes for a quick and decisive battle.

The objectives of the battle had now changed; Viscount Feckney no longer fantasized about ending the war before Christmas, but aimed to deplete as much of the British forces as possible before their reinforcements arrived.

That would facilitate the implementation of the second plan, which was to lure the enemy deeper and choose another battlefield for a decisive battle.

The biggest problem with the second plan was that it required the British to dare to come out. Otherwise, no matter how much they prepared, it would be in vain.

This required the British reinforcements to be substantial enough to give Governor Delf enough confidence for this startled bird to possibly come out.

Now, it’s just a matter of continuously exerting pressure, making the British inside the city request reinforcements from the London Government. The more reinforcements they seek, the greater the possibility that the British will fall into the trap.

As for the question of whether the enemy numbers are too many to be choked by, it wasn’t even within Viscount Feckney’s consideration.

The British might increase their forces, but Austria could do the same. On the African Continent, the British had almost no chance of victory.

Without hesitation, Viscount Feckney made a decision, “Then let’s give it a try, see what happens.”

…

Perhaps God dislikes war, for this summer in South Africa was extraordinarily hot. The sun, like a fireball, grilled the earth, the air was stifling, and the ground scalding hot, making people’s feet burn as they walked on it.

The sweltering summer days brought significant trouble to the siege army. If it weren’t for the occasional breezes bringing a hint of coolness, who knows how many might have succumbed to heatstroke under the blazing sun.

Major Hanks, who was directing the troops, wiped the sweat from his forehead and cursed helplessly, “This damned hellish weather.”

The roaring of the cannon fire rose again, signaling an attack. Without any hesitation, Major Hanks urged them on, “Get up quickly, you damned bunch, it’s time to assemble.”

While talking, he was also kicking around, and it wasn’t just Major Hanks who was acting at that time, but also a portion of the black officers.

About a quarter of an hour passed before this ragtag group was assembled. It took roughly another quarter of an hour, with the help of the black officers, for Major Hanks to barely manage to send this troop to the battlefield.

Major Hanks had already given up on this cannon fodder army. Anybody with a bit of ambition was already an officer. The role of an officer was to assist in managing the cannon fodder army, not to charge into battle personally.

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

Initially, he had planned to train this cannon fodder army to act as a supporting corps for the main force.

After all, a cannon fodder army without training had poor combat effectiveness and couldn’t undertake real combat tasks. The Boer Republican Army still needed some sort of capable supporting corps, perhaps what might be called advanced cannon fodder.

As it turned out, Hanks was no God of War and lacked the power to turn decay into magic. After two months of trying, he was forced to give up on his initial illusion.

Since there was no value in training them, they could only be sent up as basic cannon fodder. They would launch attacks as a matter of routine daily; if they died, it was over, and if they lived, they would continue to repeat this unskilled work.

Anyone who managed to kill a British soldier could be promoted to an officer, provided they survived the return and brought back evidence of their military exploits.

Such lucky individuals were few and far between, with most falling on the path of the charge. Others managed to kill a British soldier but also fell on the battlefield themselves.

After a delay of almost half an hour, this army with no future launched an attack on the enemy under the intimidation of the Supervisory Team.

The scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere no longer affected Major Hanks; now, he only cared about one thing, and that was to estimate the battle results.

For one general’s success, a myriad of bones are strewn. Amidst the flames of war, countless young Austrian officers were baptized and grew in stature.