The battle continued, and the sun had already scattered and fell down, reflecting the blood-red river surface, and the atmosphere seemed strange, as if it were Hell.

The rafts crossing the river have already lost all the losses in the previous battles, and the enemy's positions are still as stable as Mount Tai.

Even if a small group of troops completed the mission of crossing the river, they were defeated under the stubborn resistance of the French army and were forced to return.

This is not a deserter. According to European cultural traditions, soldiers who have exhausted ammunition can surrender, and the Austrian army can no exception.

The soldiers who participated in the sneak attack all had swimming training, and a Suez Canal could not stop everyone's footsteps.

Moreover, there are rafts scattered by shells that are just used as tools for escape, so naturally there is no need to surrender.

However, the journey back was not smooth, and French soldiers were shooting at the river from time to time. Fortunately, the French army did not have large-scale equipment of machine guns these days, otherwise there would be no chance to retreat.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Colonel Boardman put down his last chance, his face became cruel, as if he was in a fierce mental struggle.

"Order the artillery, adjust the muzzle and aim at the river bank opposite, and replace it with solid bullets to attack with all your strength!"

For the safety of the canal, France and Austria have used flowering bullets since the beginning of the battle, and occasionally solid bullets are used to go to the opposite fortress.

The chief of staff on the side reminded: "Col. If you break the river bank on the opposite side, you will block the canal. At that time..."

Colonel Boardman waved his hand and interrupted, "Wrong, we are just attacking the enemy's fortress. The river bank was damaged and the French deliberately blew up before they escaped when they saw that the situation was hopeless."

This reason is very far-fetched, but Colonel Boardman doesn't care about so much. Anyway, there is better than nothing. The headquarters can't make up his mind, so he can make up his mind for the headquarters.

Political issues were not what he, as a colonel, should consider. From a military perspective, Colonel Boardman's order was completely correct.

As for the follow-up issues, it will test the Austrian government's diplomatic capabilities and how thick the government is.

After struggling for a while, the Chief of Staff chose to compromise. The same order, brought by different people, had completely different political influences.

"They will be outside, and the king will not accept any orders."

It is not just empty talk, it also applies in Austria. Moreover, the emperor has not issued an order to ban the destruction of the canal, and it is the Austrian government that demands the protection of the Suez Canal.

The theater command is a special wartime organization. It is a grasp of military and political power on the frontline during the war. As the commander, General Feslav naturally had to consider the issues comprehensively and must not ignore the government's requirements.

But the middle-level troops of the army like Colonel Boardman are different. They are just loyal to the emperor and do not need to be responsible to the government at all.

No matter how unhappy the government is, it cannot pass the emperor and directly intervene in the army.

As long as the war is won, the government can only hold back if there is any objection. No one in Austria can target the heroes on the battlefield for no reason.

The real risk is to suffer a defeat on the battlefield.

However, the enemy on the opposite side gave Colonel Boardman confidence that more than half of the defenders were natives. If he could not win, he would not have the shame to keep going in the army.

...

As a new round of bombing began, under the fierce attack of artillery shells, the river bank on the opposite side gradually began to collapse.

When the command center received the news, it was already done, and there was actually no choice but to bite the bullet and walk on.

Admiral Feslav was crying and tears were gone. Just an hour ago, he had just generated a power to ask the emperor whether to fill out a channel, but it happened immediately.

It was too late to withdraw, and the emergency telegrams on the front line were delivered as soon as possible. Now Feslav gritted his teeth and sent another telegram to explain.

As for whether Colonel Bodman, who was the initiator, was a hero or a sinner, this question still depends on the development of the war. Feslav is not in the mood to hold him accountable now.

Without any hesitation, General Feslav made a decision: "Article the frontline troops to stop being timid and let me go.

Now I have only one requirement, to cross the river in the shortest time, defeat the French on the opposite side, all based on the Suez Canal."

If a soldier wants to be strong, he still has to speak out for his record. As long as he wins on the battlefield, these problems can only be regarded as dust in the past.

...

At the Vienna Palace, looking at the two completely different telegrams in his hand, Franz didn't know whether to praise General Feslav for being obedient or criticize him.

After thinking about it, Franz still felt that the front-line senior generals would be better to be obedient, after all, it would be safe to use it!

As for Colonel Bodman, that's even more of a problem. As a pure soldier, only considering the problem from a military perspective is exactly what Franz wants.

He would rather cure the aftermath for these simple guys than to become politicians who look forward to the forefront, which means disaster.

Before Franz could call back, everyone in the cabinet came to him. You can tell from his face that everyone was in a very bad mood.

It’s right to think about it. The international political advantages created by hard work have been completely disrupted now, and no one will feel happy about it.

"Your Majesty, what happened in the Middle East War Zone..."

Before Wesenberg could finish his speech, Franz interrupted, "Okay, I already know about the Suez Canal.

At this point, these are useless. Even if you have to hold them accountable, it will be a matter of post-war.

It is urgent, so everyone should find a way to find a way later! The French are not scary. With the masters of Paris, even if someone in the French Foreign Ministry finds a problem and wants to take the opportunity to make trouble, these guys will be bad things.

The trouble is the British. Don’t forget that they were inciting European countries not long ago to unite with other countries to jointly manage the Suez Canal.

The interests are touching, and everyone has been salivating the fat piece of Suez Canal.

However, the Suez Canal has always been controlled by us and the French before, and all countries have to hold on to their ambitions.

This is the case now, and the British have more reasons for demanding international co-management. I don’t know how many countries will be motivated by the British in the future.”

To change the topic, Franz has mastered the basic skills that he has mastered in many years of his career as an emperor. Anyway, he is the emperor, and his subordinates cannot give him face and insist on one problem.

Now is a war period, and internal conflicts must not break out, so it is better to provoke external conflicts.

Since the war has been going on, Franz can see that no matter how powerful the butterfly effect is, it cannot change this world that is worse.

It is obvious from the performance of the French that they have created so many opportunities for them, but now they have not killed Belgium and reached the hinterland of the German region.

Since that's the case, it's okay to be wronged by the British. Anyway, they are still pkating with the Russians. Even if they get out of the scene in person, they will not abandon India and come to help the French.

Besides, this may not be a wrongdoer. With John Bull's style, this kind of thing is almost inevitable.

The foreign minister, who was angry and wanted to find the bad luck in the Middle East War Zone, had to calm down and think about countermeasures.

After a moment, Foreign Minister Wesenberg said slowly: "Your Majesty, the British government has always been eyeing the Suez Canal, and they will most likely not miss this opportunity to attack.

Judging from the current international situation, Belgium, Germany, Montenegro and Greece are our allies and will definitely not respond to the call of the British.

Switzerland and the Netherlands are limited by their geographical location and should not take sides before the outcome of the anti-French war is decided.

The French wanted to monopolize the Suez Canal. Before the failure of the European War, the French government mostly opposed international co-management of the canal.

In a short period of time, the British will only stir up some public opinion at most, causing us some trouble, which is not enough to form an absolute advantage."

The international situation is still so chaotic. There are no absolute enemies and friends in the face of interests, but only common interests.

Russia and Austria are still ally, but on the issue of the Suez Canal, Wesenberg was not sure whether the Tsarist government would support Austria. After all, it was impossible for the Vienna government to share the interests of the canal with them.

On the contrary, the French who were fighting had the same position as Austria on this issue and would definitely oppose the international common management of the Suez Canal.

Prime Minister Carl: "As long as we can drag it to the battlefield, it's not a problem.

At that time, we can use the interests of the French to buy Spain and Switzerland, plus the Italian states after independence and our current allies, and we are just right in the European continent.

However, before this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot relax its vigilance, especially since the Afghan war has eased recently, we must be more careful."

There is no way. In international politics, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. There is no betrayal, it is just because there is not enough chips to promote betrayal.

Now that France and the Austrians are competing for continental hegemony, the Austrian government has to be vigilant because there are enough chips on the gambling table.

Putting aside France, which went directly to war, Britain and Russia, which are qualified to compete for hegemony, are also likely to jump out to pick peaches at critical moments.

If you look at Austria's military operations, you will know that the local government has not drawn troops in the African battlefield and the Suez Canal battle. The people responsible for the implementation are colonial troops, or troops mobilized by African locals.

The more than 3 million troops mobilized one after another, only hundreds of thousands of troops on the southern front were actually invested in the battlefield. In addition to the millions of troops supporting Central and European countries, the remaining troops were still staying at home.

Logically speaking, as long as these troops are sent out, the current combat needs can be met. However, the subsequent mobilization work is still in progress.

Although there are some concerns about the French being overwhelmed and the failure of the front line, there are also factors that distrust the Russians.

...

The government's decisions did not affect the battle on the front line. There was no turning back. Since you did it, you must do it.

It took too much time to fill the Suez Canal by relying solely on artillery bombardment. In order to speed up, the frontline troops had to fill the river and build land under the threat of enemy artillery fire.

Colonel Boardman frowned as he watched the car hit by enemy artillery and crawled in the middle of the road to smoke.

You should know that cars are rare objects. In addition to the main forces in China, only the logistics department has a small amount of equipment for overseas troops.

The garrisons in the Middle East are lucky because they produce oil, and Austria also has oil refineries here, which is convenient for oil supply, which is why there is a grand event for each regiment to have a car company.

However, this was limited to pre-war, starting with the expansion of the army, and such a good thing ended.

Newly produced military vehicles must be given priority to satisfy local troops, and very few are already allocated to the Middle East War Zone.

Without any exception, Colonel Boardman, the infantry division, was also expanded, from a regiment before the war to a division.

Other weapons are available in the warehouse, and the number of cars is still the original car company, which is mainly used to transport logistics supplies.

Seeing these treasures falling on the battlefield, Colonel Boardman's heart kept bleeding.

After hesitating for a long time, Colonel Boardman seemed to have made a difficult decision and said fiercely: "Order the car company to suspend its work and wait until evening!"

There is no way, the car has a little too big goal. On average, one car will be killed after three or five trips.

As long as you can win, no matter how much you lose, it is worth it. The problem is that at this current speed, the car will be finished before the Suez Canal is filled.

It is certainly OK to wait for the subsequent reinforcements, but the problem is that time has passed. The troops that launched the river-filling operation at the same time were not only Colonel Bodman, but the Austrian army attacked multiple points.
To be continued...