The Cape of Good Hope, as the fuse of this world war, is now coming to an end.
Witnessing that the lines of defense were constantly being breached by the enemy, but there was nothing he could do, the tormented Lieutenant General Stad was completely emaciated.
Unlike the last South African war, where the British had naval fire support, the Cape of Good Hope is now an isolated island.
Every time the Royal Navy came over, the enemy air force followed, and there was no room to play.
In order to reinforce the Cape of Good Hope, in just two months, Britain has paid a heavy price of sinking 3 warships and 18 merchant ships.
It's not how powerful the enemy's air force is, the key is that the enemy's assists are powerful. Of the many ships that sank in Britain, not a single one was directly sunk by the enemy.
Including the three warships that sank, they all died under the waves after being wounded by the enemy.
There is no way, the wind and waves in the Cape of Despair are more than two meters all year round, and the waves of six or seven meters are also commonplace, and there are typhoons exceeding the eleventh level from time to time.
It is dangerous to drive a ship in an intact condition. If the hull is injured, let alone, it is God's blessing to save a life.
In order to avoid the attack of the Shinra Air Force, the logistical supply was forced to be carried out at night, and the waves during the day were dangerous, not to mention at night.
Fortunately, it is summer in the southern hemisphere. If it catches up with winter, the Bofa monsoon and the elusive "killing waves" will make the scene suffocating.
Rubbing his forehead, the exhausted Lieutenant General Stade instructed the guard, "Let's send electricity to the country and ask, when will the reinforcements arrive?"
Since the war has been going on, the Cape of Good Hope has received three waves of reinforcements, with a total strength of more than 200,000.
Regrettably, most of these reinforcements are Indian colonial troops. It's okay to be cannon fodder, not to mention the combat effectiveness.
The only ones with a bit of combat power are the two Aoxin divisions. Unfortunately, this combat power is also very limited.
Anyway, they were all suppressed and beaten by a group of noble private troops, and they were completely desperate for the colonial army Lieutenant General Stad. Now the only hope is to send reinforcements from the mainland.
The telegram for help has been sent many times, but it has been rejected by the country under the pretext of "expanding the army".
Lieutenant General Stad fully understands the domestic difficulties. The army is just that large, and after the expansion of the army, it has directly expanded by a dozen times. There is a serious shortage of grass-roots officers, and basically all veterans have become officers.
All of them are newly formed troops. Without running-in training, there is no way to enter the battlefield at all.
Understandable and understandable, time waits for no one on the battlefield. Only relying on a group of colonial troops to confront the enemy, there is no way to fight back.
Although the combat effectiveness of the newly formed troops in the country is equally worrying, the officers are veterans, no matter what, they are stronger than the temporary cannon fodder pulled out of the colony.
There is no way, most of the British colonial troops came from India, but India is also the front line.
The colonial troops with a little combat effectiveness were all left by the Indian governor, and those sent to reinforce other areas were temporarily pulled out to make up the number.
These troops are used to do miscellaneous things, and they must be watched. When they are put on the battlefield, they are giving the enemy a head.
Lieutenant General Stad is also not a master of moral cleanliness. If the Cape of Good Hope can be kept by sending only the head, he doesn't mind using cannon fodder troops to fill the pit.
It cannot be said that it was completely ineffective. The cannon fodder troops still delayed the enemy's attack speed, but unfortunately failed to stop the enemy's attack pace.
Looking at the shrinking defense line, Lieutenant General Stad was "seeing it in his eyes and anxious in his heart", for fear that he would lose this strategic location in his own hands and become a sinner in Britain.
The only gratifying thing is that there is not only one unlucky person, and there are even worse backs.
The Far East Fleet lost Malacca, and Cam Ranh Bay was in jeopardy; the British East Africa next door was also trapped in an isolated city, and no reinforcements could get in. It was estimated that the fall would only happen in the past few days.
Everyone is losing the battle, and the people's mental endurance has been tempered. As long as they perform better than their colleagues, it is estimated that the possibility of escaping the disaster is very high.
In particular, London was still trembling under the bombardment of the enemy, which attracted the attention of the public, and the firepower was attracted by the domestic bigwigs.
Without the cooperation of his colleagues, Lieutenant General Stad, who has fought a series of defeats according to past practice, is either in the military court or on his way to the military court.
It is different now, unless the Cape of Good Hope falls, or the London government will not be able to change at all.
On the one hand, there is a lack of British officers, and on the other hand, no one wants to jump into this huge pit.
The absolute strength gap cannot be changed by individual strength. Even with Geoffrey Amherst, the result couldn't be changed.
Quiet moments are always short-lived. With the sound of the alarm, the Cape of Good Hope once again entered a state of "airplanes hanging in the air and artillery roaring".
The flames of war ignited again, and without waiting for a reply from the country, Lieutenant General Stad turned around and walked to the headquarters.
After a series of defeats, the morale of the defenders has fallen to the bottom. As for the source of the Indian colonial army, there has never been morale, and naturally it is not a fall or a fall.
Various negative emotions such as panic, hostility, hatred, pessimism, etc., were spread among the defenders.
At the moment, the Cape of Good Hope seems to be a dynamite bag. It only needs a little spark and it will explode in a "boom".
It's not easy at the top, and the officers and soldiers on the front line are even worse. Fighting for days has long exhausted them both physically and mentally.
War is full of danger, but also full of opportunity. Just like Berland, after the outbreak of the war, he changed from a big head soldier to a captain and company commander.
Although no formal title has been awarded, the appointment has been announced. Rules are meant to be broken, special treatment in special times, and simplicity in times of war.
Bertrand is not an isolated case in the British army, there are many similar promotions in the line of fire. It is not that the promotion system of the British Army has changed, it is mainly that the death rate of officers at the company and platoon ranks is too high.
Because of the emergency expansion of the army, there is a severe shortage of grass-roots officers, and they can only promote "talents" from veterans.
It's just that Berrant doesn't want this promotion at all. There is no other way. When you become an officer, you have to take the lead in the charge, and the supervising team is watching from behind, and there is nowhere to hide.
In just two months, Bertrand's company has changed five commanders, and it is impossible to be the sixth without pressure.
Perhaps it was cursed. Of the five seniors in front, one was promoted during the expansion of the army, two were still lying in the hospital at the rear, and the other two had already seen God.
Such a terrifying casualty rate is simply "death company commander". It is a pity that the appointment is mandatory, and Berrant cannot be refused.
Continuing to guard the position despite the hail of bullets, Captain Berrant no longer had any panic, only numbness remained.
To the east, there were extremely violent explosions, to the south, bullets flew horizontally, and at the zenith, there were rows of explosive bombs, like a volcano without feet.
Lying in the temporarily dug trench, Captain Bertrand buried his head deeply, without any intention of looking around.
The ground had begun to tremble, and from his own experience, Captain Berrant knew that the enemy tanks were coming.
"The enemy is about to come up, prepare to fight!"
In any case, the accusation still has to be fulfilled. Although I don't think that the rabble I brought with me can do much to the enemy's tanks, resistance is still a must.
…
Compared with the tension of the defenders, it is much easier to be the offensive side. Shinra implements the national reserve system, and the private armies of nobles have returned to the team according to the reserve establishment.
Now that the battle has progressed, it is not only the private armies of the nobles who participated in the battle, but the regular army stationed in Africa also appeared on the battlefield.
The tank troops that launched the attack in front of them were the best among them. Since joining the war, it has been "God blocks killing gods, Buddha blocks killing Buddha", and it is a rival in every direction on the battlefield.
The bully is that the British army lacks anti-tank weapons and does not have enough armored troops. There are tanks to cooperate with the enemy's infantry, and it is difficult to think about it.
After all, it is a colony, no matter how important the strategic position is, the British cannot put two tank divisions in the Cape of Good Hope, but the Holy Roman Empire can.
In the big African continent, let alone two tank divisions, no one would object even if there were a few more.
The British army is different. A pocket version of the army will naturally have less armored troops.
It is also a tank division, and the establishment of each country is also very different. One Shinra tank division can almost top two British tank divisions.
However, there are not many tank divisions in the British Army. It's not that I don't want to do it, but the military budget is really limited, and I can't afford such an expensive toy.
Although the armored force also belongs to the army, in terms of expenses, it is directly on par with the navy and the air force.
If it is infantry, the cost of a battleship can support a division; but when it comes to the armored department, even the most advanced battleships today cannot keep up with the daily cost of a tank regiment. (According to the three-three-four system, a regiment of 108 tanks is calculated)
All are forced out by reality. If the British Army does not save, how can the Royal Navy dominate the world.
If the land, sea and air were to play an arms race together, no matter how rich the British Empire was, it would not be able to withstand it.
This is determined by the size of the economy. The upper limit of the British Isles is stuck there, and it is impossible to explode if you want to explode.
The command can't keep up, the equipment can't keep up, the training can't keep up, and the morale can't keep up either. It's an asymmetrical war.
At the front command of the enemy, Baron von Reuters, as the top commander of the front line, was no longer on the battlefield at this moment.
British South Africa is really too small. Although the Cape of Good Hope is famous, it is the same for the Holy Roman Empire that sits on the Suez Canal.
The economic value is average, and the strategic value is also average. "Important" is only for the British, and if you control this place, you won't be caught in the neck by Shinro.
Perhaps with the continuous development of economy and technology, the tonnage of merchant ships will gradually increase, and the importance of the Cape of Good Hope in the future will become prominent.
But that is only a possibility. The current Suez Canal route is enough to meet the needs of commercial trade.
Even in the Holy Roman Empire, when calculating military merit, it is also inevitably affected by economic and strategic values.
Generally speaking, the higher the strategic value of the economy, the greater the credit for conquering the city, and vice versa.
The importance of the Cape of Good Hope to the Holy Roman Empire is not high, which does not mean that everyone has invested too little. For this war, African aristocrats really did their best to contribute money and strength.
Even if the war has been going on until now, many strategic materials on the battlefield in South Africa are privately raised and paid in advance.
Although the government will pay for these expenses in the future, it also needs to be converted into military merit. If there is no benefit, who is so warmhearted
According to the practice of the Holy Roman Empire, everyone worked together to seize British South Africa, so after the war, the land and property of British South Africa should be divided.
The problem now is that everyone has contributed to this war. There are too many people who are qualified to share the pie, but the pie of British South Africa is not big enough.
Uneven distribution of spoils has always been a taboo. If a great effort is made and the corresponding returns are not obtained, then everyone will have to weigh the pros and cons of participating in the war in the future.
In the end, it will appear: if there is meat, everyone will swarm, but no one will care if it touches the bone. Then, it was the turn of the military knighthood system to collapse.
Similar cases have happened in history. The most typical example is the ploughing and warfare system of the Daqin Empire, which collapsed because the latecomers had no land to divide.
Now, the Holy Roman Empire has also come to this crossroads. The only difference is that now we have entered the industrial age, and there is still a chance to choose again.
Of course, this issue is something that needs to be considered at the top of the government. As the supreme commander of the front line, Baron von Reuters has not thought so much.
Now, the problem he faces is: when there is not enough spoils, how to distribute the spoils so that most people can be satisfied.
Although titles and fiefs were ultimately determined by the emperor, it was Baron Von-Reuters who was responsible for the verification of military exploits, including giving detailed disposal plans.
Generally speaking, as long as the front-line military exploits are determined to be accurate, the division of fiefs and the granting of titles will take into account the opinions of the front-line commanders.
Of course, this is only a part, and there are more issues that need to be considered in actual operation. For example, the wishes of individuals who are rewarded should also be taken care of as much as possible.
Relatively speaking, nobles have less choice for fiefs, and the bigger the fief, the less choice.
On the contrary, ordinary soldiers, who have obtained a dozen hectares or dozens of hectares of land, basically respected their personal wishes.
Even if it cannot be placed, it will be arranged in the surrounding area, and the distance will not be too far away.
Baron von Reuters has carefully calculated that the total number of all armed forces involved in this war is as high as 230,000****** According to the military merits counted on the battlefield, British South Africa is a big slap in the face. It would be nice to be able to place ordinary soldiers who have won military exploits in the place.
There is no way, there are only 20,000 to 30,000 square kilometers in total, and after deducting cities, forests, and land unsuitable for farming and grazing, the land that can be used to build farms is really limited.
Soldiers are actually easy to handle. There is not enough land in British South Africa. It is enough to resettle in another area. The war was so high that the Vienna government would not be short of land after the war.
The real trouble is still the nobles. According to the traditional tradition, whoever wins the land will give priority to who, and those who have not participated in the war are naturally not eligible to reach out.
In the anti-French war before that, the entire African continent was considered a battlefield, and naturally there was no such trouble.
But this battle of the Cape of Good Hope is independent and not connected to any other battlefield. If the hero is divided into other regions, it will violate the unspoken rules of the game, and it will be boycotted.