Chapter 476: Fickney, the Disciplined
The setting sun was like blood, and the afterglow of the setting sun swayed on the ground, reflecting the debris on the ground, and the air was filled with blood and gunpowder.
From time to time, a dark brown buzzard descended from the sky and snatched a piece of meat from the ground. The atmosphere is extraordinarily weird, like being in hell.
Soldiers who are busy cleaning the battlefield have no psychology to know so much. After a war just now, everyone was a little tired physically and mentally, but they just wanted to hurry up and collect the corpses of their comrades and send them back to the arms of God.
As for the enemy's corpse, they don't have to worry about it, just hand it over to the recruited Zulu people, just dig a hole and bury it.
There is no way, there are always various accidents on the battlefield, such as: fainting in an accident, or being shot and injured and unconscious. If this situation is handed over to the unreliable Zulu people, they can all be buried alive.
It doesn't matter if the enemy is buried, and if his comrades are treated like this, it will be a tragedy.
Therefore, when cleaning the battlefield, the soldiers of the "Boer Republic" brought Zulu laborers to do it. The former was responsible for the inspection and command, and the latter was responsible for carrying the single rack.
Not far away, a "Boer" officer walked over with a few soldiers. This was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. He was slender and a little thin, with blond hair. A pair of eyes looked particularly vigorous and powerful.
The person who came was Viscount Fickney, who was patrolling the battlefield. He had to do a full set for the show, and all those who participated in the battle changed into the uniforms of the Boer Republic.
This batch of military uniforms was made on a temporary basis. Due to the lack of time, many of the military uniforms were ordinary clothes that were dyed and used just fine.
Don't underestimate this little change. On the battlefield, the bright military uniform is a living target. Although the yellow-green uniform of the Boer Republic is not very good-looking, it is more practical.
Climb up to the ground casually, and it looks like the local color from a distance, making it easier to hide.
In contrast, the British army on the opposite side is very coquettish, and the red military uniform is beautiful and beautiful. It is a pity that it is out of tune with the local environment, and it is a living target.
For Viscount Fickney, who has been in the African continent all the year round, what is beauty, can you eat it?
As a pragmatist, Viscount Fickney never cared about the beauty of military uniforms.
Even in life, except for banquets or certain events, he only wears a dress, and the rest of the time he wears a military uniform, and it is also a camouflage uniform suitable for the jungle in Africa.
This is the experience summed up by years of life in Africa. The closer the clothes are to the natural environment, the easier it is to survive.
In fact, Austria's military uniforms during this period were also of various styles, and the colors of the garrison uniforms in different regions were different. For example, the army in Libya and the Sinai Peninsula is in khaki uniforms, while the garrison in the Congo region is in camouflage uniforms of various colors.
In South Africa, the yellow-green uniform of the Boer Republic is more appropriate. Ugly is a little bit ugly, but it is practical, so there is no need to be unconventional.
The dazzling weakness of the British uniforms was also exploited by Viscount Fickney, who repeatedly attacked them in the jungle.
After several battles, the British have now learned to be intimidated by Lin, and voluntarily retracted the front line and fought them on the frontal battlefield.
Viscount Fickney knew that this was just the beginning, and it wouldn't be long before the British wouldn't even come out to fight.
This is determined by the exchange ratio between the warring parties on the battlefield. On the frontal battlefield, it is usually seven to one, eight to one, and ten to one in the jungle is a common thing.
If this goes on, it won't be long before the British's superior force ceases to exist. The Governor of Delphi has worked very hard, and the British soldiers have also worked very hard.
It's a pity that the combat effectiveness of the indigenous army is only so little. In addition to sending people's heads, they are playing soy sauce on the battlefield.
If it weren't for the British soldiers, even this exchange ratio would not be possible. Not that these soldiers were not brave, they were actually braver than most British soldiers.
However, now is not the era of cold weapons, bravery does not mean strong combat effectiveness. Military discipline is lax, and orders are ignored.
Not only in the 19th century, but even in the 21st century, many African armies fought like this. When the two armies were shooting at each other, they didn't look at the enemy's position at all.
When charging, there is no queue at all. There is no Maxim machine gun now, but Gatling Austria is still not lacking, and it is the most suitable for dealing with this kind of random charge.
They don't take their own lives seriously, and the British commanders don't care about the casualties of these cannon fodders. At the beginning of the war, the British took the lives of indigenous cannon fodder to fill up.
This is more of a child's play than the war in Europe. So although the war was very fierce, the main casualties were provided by these cannon fodders.
If it wasn't for worrying about wasting ammunition and increasing the logistical pressure, Viscount Fickney was also preparing to form a cannon fodder force to send it to the door to compete with the British.
Viscount Fickney has experience in this kind of thing. When cleaning up the indigenous tribes, in order to reduce the losses, they formed the indigenous army to fight.
When killing their own people, these people are not soft-hearted. Viscount Fickney can be sure that the Africans who died at the hands of the colonists were definitely not one-fifth, not even one-tenth, of the Africans who died at the hands of their own.
After all, labor is also money, and the colonists still value their wallets, and only these indigenous troops don't care. When the war is over, these indigenous troops will be almost exhausted.
Even so, Viscount Fickney still
Is the formation of an indigenous cold weapon army. Send them on every melee fight.
If you find that during the Anglo-Boer War, two black troops were fighting, and there were two white troops watching a play at the rear, don't be surprised, this is a normal operation.
This is a tacit understanding between the two sides, and the British also hope to level the casualty ratio of the two sides through this kind of battle, so as not to look bad on the data.
Viscount Fickney didn't want to end the war immediately, just driving the British out of the Boer Republic was not enough to satisfy his appetite, and he was now eyeing British South Africa.
These small victories, which are advancing steadily, are not enough to convince the British, leaving them with hope of victory, and the war will continue.
After the battlefield has been advanced to the hinterland of British South Africa, the time for the decisive battle will be. At that time, the new recruits of the Boer Republic also became veterans, and they directly occupied Cape Town in one fell swoop, creating an established fact.
At that point, it's time for the foreign ministries of the two countries to quarrel. Regardless of the final negotiation outcome, their military exploits are in hand. On this issue, all the nobles who participated in this war have an unprecedented unanimous position.
Since the opening of this new combat mode, the exchange ratio between the two sides has rapidly approached. From the super figure of seven to one to eight to one, it quickly shrinks to within two to one, and occasionally it can even surpass it.
Anyway, neither of them died, and neither of them had any pressure.
Whether it is the Governor of Delphi or Viscount Fickney, there will be no casualties of the indigenous army in the battle reports they send, and even the establishment of this army can be taken in one stroke.
In just a few months, the total number of casualties in the Anglo-Boers War exceeded 100,000. If they were all white soldiers, no one could stand it.
Now that everyone is good at dealing with each other, it doesn't matter if they lose a battle, they just catch a cannon fodder and beat them hard, and when they have enough heads, they can write a battle report.
Spring and Autumn brush strokes have been passed in one stroke, and a big defeat can become a tie. The reason for retreating was a strategic shift, so as not to leave opportunities for the enemy to take advantage of.
The battle report of the Governor of Delphi was written in this way. On the one hand, the news of victory continued, and on the other hand, he continued to ask for reinforcements from the country. There is nothing wrong with this, just find an excuse, for example: the enemy has increased his troops.
This is the African continent, and it is impossible for the gentlemen of Congress to come to the front to check. The London government is all its own. If the front line is defeated, the cabinet will also be questioned by Congress.
A burly young officer with a smile on his face ran over and reported to Viscount Fickney: "General, the casualties have been counted. Our army killed 76 people and injured 84 people; defeated more than 3,000 enemy troops and annihilated them. 156 people, 98 prisoners."
This data automatically filters the casualties of the indigenous armies on both sides. Even if it is recorded, it has no effect. That thing, the Vienna government will not recognize it.
The killing of the white soldiers is military merit, and the annihilation of the indigenous army can only be regarded as a leader, and it can only be regarded as one hundred to one.
With this data, after subtracting the casualties of our own cannon fodder troops, there is nothing at all in the end.
This is not the harshness of the Vienna government, but a practical need. If there is no such restriction, within a year, these nobles will be able to create a record of millions of people, and then the marshals will fly all over the sky and the dukes will go everywhere.
What kind of thing is integrity, it doesn't exist at all! Even if the local indigenous people are all turned into military exploits, these colonists can still do it.
With this constraint, it would be different. If someone really relied on the indigenous people to gain military merit, they would have to kill hundreds of thousands of people to be able to be knighted. Basically, it is impossible to rely on a colonial team of hundreds of people to do it.
There is no way to ruin the record, it doesn't matter. In addition to the military record, the loot captured and the land captured can all be converted into military exploits.
Most of the nobles were canonized by expanding their territory, and the spoils of war were naturally stolen, after all, it was too expensive to exchange military merit.
This is legal, and all seizures in colonial activities can be handled by themselves, whether they are exchanged for military merit from the government, or they can be divided by themselves.
Because of this, this South African war has become popular. After all, this time is a real record. Not only can you be knighted, but your military rank can also be improved.
Don't look at the rank is useless, in fact, it is a symbol of glory in the German region, especially the most respected ones killed by real swords.
Even if it is a civilian who rises by military exploits, he will also be respected by everyone. On the contrary, the kind of nobles who have no military achievements will be despised by the old nobles.
The war has been going on until now, and there have been more nobles who have reported to Viscount Fickney. Some of them participated in the name of individuals, as well as private armies of noble families. If the war continues, this number will continue to increase.
If it weren't for the participation of these people, this new "Boer Republic Army" would like to form a fighting force, and I don't know when it will wait.
After all, soldiers can be trained in a few months, but officers are not easy to train. A unit without the command of a qualified officer is also very limited in its combat effectiveness.
The result of this victory was not beyond Viscount Fickney's expectations. The British were still so slippery, they took the cannon fodder in the rear and ran away by themselves.
High-spirited, he ordered: "I see. The order goes on. Each unit will place the wounded first, and the large unit will rest for a day before continuing to move forward."
The young officer replied, "Yes, General!"
Viscount Fickney frowned slightly, and said calmly: "Don't call me a general, now I'm just a colonel, and it will make people laugh when I spread it out."
There is no way, despite commanding tens of thousands of troops to fight, his rank is still colonel. even if
Promotion, it would have to wait until after the war to return to Vienna.
Before that, he could only command the entire army as a colonel. This is the rule. If you call yourself a general in a hurry in advance, if you spread it out, you will be ridiculed for being uneducated and ignorant of the rules.
Viscount Fickney is also a nobleman. Although he is only a small nobleman, he is a noble family that has also been passed down for hundreds of years. It can barely be called a veteran nobleman.
Viscount Fickney has always attached great importance to the rules, especially when it comes to the family reputation, it is not sloppy at all.
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