Chapter 471 Boer Republic

In South Africa, the British army that swept all the way finally ran into trouble. After going deep into the Transvaal region, they were attacked by the Austrian aristocratic private army that had been prepared for a long time, and the vanguard suffered heavy losses.

This is also the arrogance of the British, and the consecutive victories made them proud, ignoring that the early victories were carried out with the help of the Leading Party, otherwise they would not have divided their troops and rushed forward.

In fact, after the outbreak of the war, someone gave the British information, but it did not attract the attention of the British.

What is a mere caravan, who is running a business in Africa this year, who doesn't have a few lives in their hands? In the British concept, aristocratic private armies are caravan escorts.

I heard that there were only two or three thousand people, and after they were divided into a dozen families, I was completely relieved. In their opinion, when encountering such a thing, of course, they ran away at the first time.

This news was not reported at all. Although the Boers defected to the past, their status was not high and they were not qualified to contact British high-level officials.

Governor Delphi has not received relevant information from beginning to end. Of course, if you receive it, you may not take it seriously. After all, the difference in quantity between the two sides is too large to pose a threat.

It was not until the front was defeated that Governor Delphi received information. At this time, it is no longer two or three thousand people.

Under the threat of the British, Viscount Fickney successfully took over the military and political power of the Boer Republic, and by the way sent the top officials of the Boer Republic to the rear Central South Africa (Zimbabwe).

Taking over the power, the first thing is to expand the army. The Boer Republic is also a soldier, although training has been abandoned in recent years, the militia system is still on the shelf.

When the British came all the way, the number of troops in the hands of Viscount Fickney had exceeded 15,000. Although the gap between the numbers of the two sides was still huge, the strength ratio had changed.

The 5,000 British troops in the vanguard became the first victims of information asymmetry. The Governor of Delphi did not care about these losses, and most of the deaths were indigenous cannon fodder.

What gave him a headache was how to fight the next battle. With the participation of the Austrian nobles, the enemy he had to face was no longer the Turbul Republic, but Austria, a powerful European army.

The high-spirited Major General Friedman also lowered his arrogant head now. Don't look at the fact that there are nearly 26,000 troops under him. In fact, there are less than 8,000 white soldiers, and the rest are indigenous troops.

The training of these indigenous troops was originally intended to be used to cause trouble for the Austrians in retaliation for their expulsion of indigenous tribes into South Africa.

You must know that the South African colony has not been able to expand for so many years. In addition to the fact that the London government does not pay enough attention and invests too little, the most important thing is the indigenous tribes that were expelled by the Austrians.

In the mid-19th century, the number of whites in Cape Town exceeded 100,000, yet to this day, the number of whites in Cape Town is still so large, with little growth.

In addition to the opening of the Suez Canal, which has weakened the economic value of the port of the Cape of Good Hope, it is the loss caused by the influx of indigenous tribes.

In order to stabilize the situation, Cape Town's colonial government has been provoking civil war among indigenous tribes, and occasionally it will personally suppress large tribes. It took years to solve the problem.

This is also the reason why the South African colonists hated Austria. The original big event directly caused them heavy losses, and many colonial teams were forced to change their development direction.

Madagascar fell into the hands of the British under this background. This is one of the few achievements of the British on the African continent in recent years.

However, this achievement has nothing to do with the Governor of Cape Town. The British also established a colonial government on Madagascar, which was not incorporated into the Cape Town colony.

Governor Delphi said with a gloomy face: "Major General, I want to know if you will fight? If you can't, I can apply to the London government for a competent person to take over your command."

Don't blame him for getting angry, but this battle was a mess. Not even knowing the enemy's situation, they split up and launched an attack. Even if you win, you still lose.

Major General Friedman did not speak, and it was wrong to say anything after the defeat. From a purely military deployment point of view, his performance is also quite satisfactory.

The failure of the front line is not only a problem of command, but more of a lack of combat effectiveness of the troops.

After all, now in the hands of Viscount Fickney, there are also many recruits, and they are in the running-in period. If the British army is strong enough, it may still be a big victory.

After venting his depressed mood, Governor Delphi calmed down and said, "Major General Friedman, what are you going to do next?

The enemy is not the indigenous people we encountered in the past, and this war will be very difficult to fight. It can be said to be the most difficult battle since the Cape Town colony was established, but you must win! "

Governor Delphi really wanted to make a replacement. He had long been unhappy with Major General Friedman, who was usually arrogant, but it turned out to be a silver gun wax head on the battlefield.

However, a replacement must also be found. The combat effectiveness of the colonial troops is not strong, and the officers of the colonies are mostly defective.

That kind of super-powerful officer who offends people because of his recklessness and is then exiled to the colony only exists in novels.

In reality, if you really offended people and hurried home, how could it be possible to leave you with a chance to make a comeback.

Although the conditions of the colony are not good, it is a good place to seek military merit. There are many noble children who come to gild, how could they give the enemy a chance?

Napoleon IV of the original time and space married the British royal family. Before marriage, he went to the colony to gild the process and got a box lunch.

Those who are capable of commanding tens of thousands of troops are all high-level talents, and they are treasures in Britain, no matter how bad they are, they cannot be.

To be able to deign to serve as a colony in Cape Town.

Now South Africa, there is no dazzling halo. Before the gold mines were discovered, this place was just an ordinary colony.

Although Major General Friedman is a bit annoying, his ability is still passable, at least stronger than others. It is impossible for the Governor of Delphi to go up with a wine bag and a rice bag, that is to pit himself.

Regardless of the ability to send people from China, it is too late. This war is a matter of time, and if it drags on for three or five months, it will eventually turn into a war of attrition.

At that time, the two sides will have to fight for human and financial resources. Maybe the British are not cowardly to fight for financial resources, but it is hard to say if they fight for human resources.

As long as tens of thousands of people died, there was no way he could explain it to the people in the country. To know that their enemy is the "Boer Republic", attacking a small country will pay such a price, and it is difficult not to go to a military court.

Major General Friedman hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency Governor, the situation exceeded expectations, I didn't expect that the Austrians would be so shameless, pretending to be the army of the Boer Republic to fight with us.

No one knows how much investment they have put in. There are 30,000 enemies in front of us, and it is very difficult for us to defeat them. If the enemy continues to increase troops, I am afraid the final outcome is unpredictable. "

This answer of shirking the responsibility made the Governor of Delphi very dissatisfied. But he didn't say anything, everyone is now on the same boat.

It's always right to exaggerate the strength of the enemy first. If you win, everyone's military exploits are more prominent. If you lose, the enemy is too strong, not a crime of war.

The Governor of Delphi said without changing his face: "Yes, the Austrians are too shameless to pretend to be the army of the Boer Republic to participate in the war, and we must smash their conspiracy.

Cage, immediately sent a call to London for help, explaining the difficulties we were facing, and asked the Foreign Office to protest to Austria. "

If it weren't for fear that the data would be too large and would easily arouse suspicion from the outside world, Governor Delphi would not mind doubling the number of enemy troops.

As for asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest, that's all a joke. It is impossible for the Vienna government to admit that the government of the Boers has fallen into the hands of Austria, and they take full responsibility for it.

In any case, as long as the Boer Republic insists that it is their own army, this lawsuit will not go on.

Unless it's a big catch, but that's zero chance. None of the Austrian nobles who commanded the war were active officers, nor did they have much international reputation.

From beginning to end, the Vienna government did not participate in the war. As for the weapons and ammunition provided by the merchants, they were all bought by the Boer Republic.

Austria is a member of the free trade world, and selling arms is all too normal.

Even the origins of the Boers' military spending are clear. The Vienna government has never sponsored a penny. The Boer Republic used land as collateral to borrow 300 million Aegis from the Imperial Bank.

Don't talk about risks, this is a usury loan, and the monthly interest is only 18%. Since the interest rate is so high, the risk cannot be small.

Franz handled all the aftermath work properly, not afraid that someone could pick out the problem.

It is inevitable that the Boer Republic will not pay after the war. Without this reason, how could Austria annex the Boer Republic after the war?

As an emperor, Franz did not want a republic in the empire. If the money is not collected and the collateral is taken away, it is also the righteousness to dissolve the Boer Republic.

It can be said that this Anglo-Boer War provided an excellent excuse for Austria, and even the cost of buying local dignitaries was greatly reduced.

If Franz is shameless, he can choose to default. Since the agreement has not been fulfilled, the conditions originally promised are naturally voided.

It can be said that Viscount Fickney packaged the high-level officials of the Boer Republic and sent them to the rear.

Of course, those who choose to cooperate with Austria from the beginning will certainly not be so tragic. Franz, who has always been grand, will not do that skinless thing.

The unfortunate thing is that the conditions were not negotiated, and there is no need to discuss them now. There were only three paths left: either follow Austria; go to the British; or run away.

Anyway, Viscount Fickney is not reluctant. If you don't kill a group of interest groups, how can you place the heroes?

This war was not fought in vain. The more you invest now, the greater the benefits you will get after the war. There is not enough interest, but there are not so many nobles who bring their own dry food.

The land in South Africa is still very good. Not only is the land fertile, but the climate is very livable. These plantation owners have long wanted to come here to enclose the land.

Fortunately, they didn't know that there were gold mines underground, otherwise there would be more than a dozen nearby nobles, and it is estimated that the local nobles could not help but participate.

Don't talk about these people, thinking about the terrifying gold reserves of the Rand Gold Mine, even Franz was moved, but he couldn't hold it back.

Too much money is just a number. Gold mines are too popular, and it is easy to draw hatred. Even if it is mining gold, it has to be hidden behind the scenes.

Buying gold is a good business. It may not make less money than mine owners, and it will not attract attention.

On the surface, it seems that the profit from the acquisition of gold is not very large, and it is slightly lower than the market price.

In fact, if you go to the financial market and roll it around, and then process it into art and flow into the gold consumer market, the profit will be completely different.

More importantly, the cost of capital for banks to acquire gold is negligible. Gold is also a kind of currency, and it is more reliable than any currency to put it there as a reserve.

Even in the event of a run, no one will refuse to accept gold payments.