Vienna, covered in silver, has once again ushered in its annual Christmas. The severe cold has not dispelled everyone's enthusiasm, and the festive atmosphere has filled Vienna.

The store’s windows display Christmas gifts competing for beauty, and the Gothic fountain in the center of the square has already set up a colorful game shed for the Christmas market.

There are still many artists on the street who started performing, classical, pop, rock, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, jazz, dance music, alternative, country, Latin, folk songs...

The charm of international metropolis is undoubtedly revealed, where you can enjoy various European music, dances and magic in different styles.

Franz still did not receive the good news from South Africa. It seemed that the war could not end before Christmas. No surprise, all this was expected by Franz.

It is also a good thing to encounter a little setback and can make people calm down. Over the years, Austria has expanded too smoothly and many people have already become arrogant.

If it weren't for being arrogant, I wouldn't have called for the occupation of Cape Town before Christmas. Now it's failed, just tightening the reins of this Austrian carriage.

The era of great colonial expansion has ended, and what remains is some dispensable scraps. Next, it is time to develop oneself and convert the spoils into one's own strength.

There are no successful examples in this regard to refer to. The performance of major colonial empires in the original time and space was not up to standard. If they could not be transformed into their own strength, the world war broke out.

Then there was nothing. The strength was greatly damaged in the world war and the rise of new competitors made them lose their last chance.

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

The troublesome question has temporarily left Franz's mind, and Christmas is still to be celebrated. This day is a world peace day, and no European country will cause trouble at this time.

The ongoing British-British War is also halted. Both sides can enjoy this special festival to the fullest without worrying that the other side will launch a sudden attack.

The Christmas gifts prepared by Franz have been distributed to every soldier. Although they are just some ordinary candies, everyone is still very happy.

A series of shoddy Santa Claus appeared in the military camp, full of cards. This was also a benefit of compulsory education, and soldiers could write their own Christmas wishes.

The temporary church also started to open on this day, and the priests became busy.

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

The war has gone on now, and the victory is still far away. The country has given a final reply. If Cape Town cannot be conquered within the deadline, then a truce will be required.

I filled the pits I dug by myself. I originally planned to end the war within half a year, but now I have relaxed the time to one year, and I still cannot end the war, so naturally there is no need to continue.

If it weren't for the later siege, cannon fodder troops were used to attack, and the morale of the army would have collapsed long ago.

Even so, the soldiers also developed war-weariness. Perhaps it was caused by self-esteem or cultural traditions, these emotions were not shown.

However, the officers had already noticed it. Looking at the scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere every day, without a mental breakdown, they were all considered to be strong inside.

At this time, the officers can only act as psychological doctors to calm everyone's uneasy emotions. Christmas is a good adjustment product. Relaxing your tense nerves is still very beneficial for relieving mental stress.

Compared to the lost Viscount Ficney, Governor Delphi in the city really lived like years. After continuous failures, Cape Town's morale dropped to the bottom.

The supply of military supplies can be guaranteed, and a large number of war refugees will be miserable. After losing their livelihoods, they are unable to bear the high food prices and can only rely on government relief.

The Cape Town colonial government was not rich, and after being deducted by bureaucrats, even the supplies distributed became a problem. Even on Christmas, there was only an extra 300 grams of fish.

This is what fishermen fished from the sea and is the main meat food in Cape Town now. The beef and mutton transported from across the ocean are all sky-high prices and ordinary people can't afford it.

The "Boer Republic Army" has never intercepted refugees into the city, and even intended to guide the surrounding British people to gather in Cape Town. Now from Cape Town to Cape Hope, there are now refugees everywhere.

If the army were added, the total population of this small place, the size of a palm, had exceeded 400,000. If Governor Delphi had not decisively ordered the expulsion of blacks and mixed-race children, this number would have been even larger.

To support so many people, at least 1,500 tons of daily necessities are consumed every day.

With various strategic materials, the Cape Town Colonial 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 greater than this. The building materials for building fortifications are astronomical figures.

If the war continues, Cape Town will become the most densely packed city in the world.

What’s even more tragic is that Cape Town lacks water. Later generations are the most water-deficient city in the world, and now it is no exception.

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

The biggest source of freshwater resources is rainwater in the sky. Groundwater cannot be counted on at all, otherwise why should seawater desalination?

There is nothing to lack of water. Now the British can only buy water from the Portuguese. If they don’t send thousands of tons of water to come one day, the crisis will break out immediately.

In order to save water, the people who build fortifications are now all sea water. Governor Delphi no longer cares about the sequelae, as long as he can make do with it now.

It can be said that Cape Town is short of everything except the population. Water, food, fuel, building materials... there is no local area that can be self-sufficiency.

Even in Britain, it seems a bit difficult to supply so much supplies.

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

With the decline in population, what should I do if Cape Town develops in the future? I don’t care about so much now.

On Christmas Eve, the local population successfully dropped by 120,000, alleviating the pressure of feeding. Otherwise, even this little fish would not be able to be taken out.

It's still summer, with relatively sufficient rainfall and no fuel is needed for heating. If it comes to winter, the pressure on this material will be even greater.

Considering the impact of the monsoon, killing waves that are more than ten meters high are common in winter. In July, August and September every year, the Cape of Good Hope route is almost impossible to open.

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

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

In recent times, the Royal Navy has launched many attacks to eliminate pirates, and there are still pirates with no eyes coming up.

Sometimes Governor Delphi wanted to pry open the pirate's head and see what was inside. Why didn't even know about the preliminary investigation? There were people robbing the ships that transported freshwater and stone.

He was in a high position and didn't know the suffering of the pirates. It was so easy to collect intelligence. Except for some pirate groups who could do it, most of the pirates robbed when they encountered merchant ships.

Since he learned 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, he was not that determined.

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

The only value is to use cannon fodder to reduce casualties among young men. The army in the Cape Town area needs to rest, and if this continues, the troops will be abolished.

For specific reference, we can refer to the Near East War. The British army performed well at that time. However, because the rear was not replenished in time and there was no effective restoration and restoration. After the war ended, most of the British soldiers who participated in the battle were abandoned.

This kind of "waste" is not physical, but mentally. It is mainly manifested as war-weariness, fear of war, and anti-war, especially the British soldiers who mingle with the Italians, which have brought back a lot of bad habits.

The subsequent Persian war was defeated, the delay in suppressing the Indian rebellion was delayed, and the difficulty in expedition to Ethelbia was proved by the decline in combat effectiveness of the British army.

Not to mention the South African War, Governor Delphi was embarrassed to say the results of the battle.

On the one hand, the colonial forces have become more pampered and even the most basic training cannot be guaranteed; on the other hand, the combat effectiveness of the main forces has declined, and many tactics have remained in the era of the rogue gun.

Neither the colonial army nor the regular army can fight, so it is no wonder that the battlefield will fail.

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

The more you know, the more pressure you will be on Governor Delphi. The British Empire, which was on the surface, has begun to decay inside.

In this state, can Britain meet the challenges of France and Austria? Delphi has already developed doubts.

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

It was already late at night, and the laughter outside had ended. Governor Delphi fell into deep thought, and his thoughts were getting farther and farther away.

From initially anxious about the war in Cape Town, then worrying about his personal future, and then worrying about the future of Britain.

This Christmas Eve, Delphi couldn't sleep all night.

...
Chapter completed!