Chapter 488 Christmas

Silver-clad Vienna, once again ushered in the annual Christmas. The severe cold did not dissipate everyone's enthusiasm, and the festive atmosphere has filled Vienna.

The shop windows display a riot of Christmas gifts, and around the Gothic fountain in the center of the square, a colorful playhouse has been erected for the Christmas market.

There are many artists on the street who started to perform, classical, pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, dance, alternative, country, Latin, folk...

The charm of an international metropolis is undoubtedly revealed. Here, you can enjoy music with various European characteristics, as well as dance and magic of different styles.

Franz still did not receive good news from South Africa, and it seemed that the war could not be over by Christmas. No accident, all this was expected by Franz.

It is also a good thing to encounter a little setback, which can make people calm down. Over the years, Austria's expansion has been so smooth that many people have drifted away.

Wouldn't have shouted Occupy Cape Town before Christmas if it wasn't hubris. Failed now, just to tighten the reins of the Austrian carriage.

The era of Great Colonial Expansion is over, and all that's left is some optional leftovers. The next step is to develop yourself and turn the spoils into your own strength.

There are no successful examples in this regard to refer to, and the performance of the major colonial empires in the original time and space failed. Without being able to convert it into its own strength, a world war broke out.

Then there was no such thing as a loss of power in a world war, and the rise of new competitors, depriving them of their last chance.

The British imperial federation plan and the French provincial strategy were carried out too late and failed under the external interference of the United States and the Soviet Union.

Annoying questions temporarily left Franz's mind, and Christmas is still to come. This day is the World Peace Day, and no European country will do anything at this time.

The ongoing Anglo-Boers War has also ended, and both sides can enjoy this special festival to the fullest without worrying that the other side will launch a surprise attack.

The Christmas gifts prepared by Franz have been distributed to every soldier. Even though it was just some ordinary candy, everyone was very happy.

A bunch of shoddy Santas appeared in the barracks, covered with cards. This is also a benefit of compulsory education, and soldiers can write their own Christmas wishes.

The temporary church was also open for business on this day, and the military priest became busy.

Viscount Fickney sighed helplessly. The soldiers were celebrating the festival, but the officers were frowning.

The war is going on now, and victory is still a long way off. The country has given the final answer. If Cape Town cannot be captured within the deadline, then the war will be stopped.

The hole dug by oneself was filled by oneself. The original plan was to end the war within half a year, but now the time has been relaxed to one year, and the war still cannot be ended. Naturally, there is no need to continue the war.

If it weren't for the siege battle in the later stage, they were all attacking with cannon fodder troops, and the morale of the army would have collapsed long ago.

Even so, there was war weariness among the soldiers. Maybe it's because of self-esteem, or because of cultural traditions, these emotions don't show.

But the officers have noticed. Watching the scene of blood and blood flying every day, without a mental breakdown, is considered a strong heart.

At this time, only the officers can act as psychiatrists to appease everyone's uneasy emotions. Christmas is a good spice to relax tense nerves, which is very good for relieving mental stress.

Compared to the lost Viscount Fickney, the Governor of Delphi in the city really lived like a year. After consecutive defeats, Cape Town's military morale dropped to rock bottom.

The supply of military supplies can still be guaranteed, and a large number of war refugees will be miserable. After losing their livelihood, they simply cannot afford high food prices and can only rely on government relief.

Cape Town's colonial government was not wealthy. After being deducted by the bureaucrats, the distribution of materials even became a problem. Even at Christmas, it's just an extra 300 grams of fish.

It is caught by fishermen from the sea and is now the main meat in Cape Town. The price of beef and mutton shipped across the ocean is sky-high, and ordinary people can't afford it at all.

The "Army of the Boer Republic" has never intercepted refugees from entering the city, and even deliberately led the surrounding British to gather in Cape Town. From Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope, there are now refugees everywhere.

If the army is added, the total population of this small place the size of a palm has exceeded 400,000. The number would have been even greater had it not been for the decisive order of Governor Delphi, which expelled blacks and mixed races.

A lot of people does not necessarily have a lot of power, but a lot of people will definitely consume a lot of energy. To feed so many people, at least 1,500 tons of living materials are consumed every day.

In addition to various strategic materials, the Cape Town colony needs to transport at least 3,000 tons of materials from the outside world every day to meet basic needs.

The actual demand is much larger than this. The building materials for building fortifications are an astronomical number.

If the war continues, Cape Town will become the city with the densest number of bunkers and fortresses in the world.

What is even more tragic is the lack of water in Cape Town. In future generations, this city will be the most water-deficient city in the world, and now it is no exception.

The supply of tap water to the outside world was cut off early by the enemy, and they could only find a solution in the small area between Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope.

The biggest source of fresh water resources is the rain from the sky. Groundwater can't be counted on at all, otherwise why should seawater be desalinated?

What's missing

There can be no shortage of water. Now the British can only buy water from the Portuguese. If they don't send thousands of tons of water one day, the crisis will break out immediately.

In order to save water, all fortifications are now built with sea water. The Governor of Delphi, who has the sequelae, can no longer take care of it, as long as he can make do with it for now.

It can be said that Cape Town lacks everything except population. Water, food, fuel, building materials... none of the local can be self-sufficient.

Even Britain is struggling to supply so many supplies.

In order to reduce the pressure on supplies, every time a ship carrying supplies comes, it will take away a boat of refugees.

With the population decreasing, what to do with the future development of Cape Town is no longer a concern.

By Christmas Eve, the local population had successfully dropped by 120,000, easing the pressure on supplies. Otherwise, even this little fish may not be able to be taken out.

It's still summer, the rain is relatively plentiful, and there's no need for fuel for heating. If winter comes, the pressure on this material will be even greater.

Considering the impact of the monsoon, killing waves of more than ten meters in height are not uncommon in winter. In July, August and September every year, the route to the Cape of Good Hope is hardly navigable.

Even now, the British have paid a large price to transport supplies, and almost two percent of the ships are lost halfway.

There is no way, the wind resistance of wooden boats in the sailing era is too weak, various natural disasters are not so easy to resist, and sometimes man-made disasters occur.

Recently, the Royal Navy has attacked pirates many times, and there are still pirates who don't have long eyes.

Sometimes the Governor of Delphi wanted to pry open the pirate's head to see what was inside. Why didn't he even know before the investigation, and the ships that transported fresh water and stones were robbed.

In a high position, he does not know the suffering of pirates. It is easy to collect intelligence. Except for individual pirate groups, most pirates rob merchant ships when they encounter them.

After learning that the next batch of reinforcements was the Indian colonial army, Governor Delphi was ready to go home to avoid the limelight. As for the counterattack of the Boers to atone for their sins, he was not so ambitious yet.

Like most of the British, Governor Delphi also looked down on the Indian colonial army. In his eyes, the combat effectiveness of this army was about the same as that of the black cannon fodder outside.

The only value is to use cannon fodder against cannon fodder, which can reduce the casualties of the boys. The army in the Cape Town area needs to rest, and if it goes on like this, the army will be abolished.

For details, you can refer to the Near East War. At that time, the British army performed well. However, because the rear was not replenished in time, there was no effective rest and recovery, and most of the British soldiers who participated in the battle after the war were abandoned.

This kind of "waste" is not physical, but spiritual. Mainly manifested as war-weariness, fear of war, and anti-war, especially the British soldiers who mixed with the Italians brought back a lot of bad problems.

The subsequent failure of the Persian War, the delay in suppressing the Indian rebellion, and the difficult performance of the expedition to Ethiopia are all proofs of the decline of the British army's combat effectiveness.

Not to mention the war in South Africa, the Governor of Delphi was embarrassed to say the results.

On the one hand, the colonial troops were pampered, and even the most basic training was not guaranteed;

Neither the colonial army nor the regular army can fight, so it is not surprising that they fail on the battlefield.

Otherwise, the original time and space would not have made a joke that hundreds of thousands of people besieged the Boer Republic and won only three years before and after.

The more that is known, the greater the pressure on Governor Delphi. The British Empire, which is beautiful on the surface, has begun to decay inside.

In this state, can Britain meet the challenge of France and Austria? Deep down, Delphi already had doubts.

The failure of this war was also a heavy blow to his body and mind, and he no longer had the arrogance of the past.

It was late at night, and the laughter and laughter outside had ended. Deep in thought, Governor Delphi, thinking farther and farther.

Initially worried about the war in Cape Town, then worried about his own personal future, and then worried about the future of Britain.

This Christmas Eve, Delphi stayed up all night.

...