Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 913 - 176: Crisis in Egypt

When the Central European Battlefield had reached a stalemate, the Egyptian battlefield was also at a critical moment.

Since the Austrian army had set aside political burdens, the canal, once a natural barrier, had turned into a thoroughfare, no longer hindering the Austrian advance.

Once close combat ensued, the problems with the French Army began to gradually surface.

There was no choice, France’s manpower was limited, it was impossible to deploy regular troops to the Egypt Area without limits. With an insufficient number of main force troops, they could only make do with the Colonial Army.

While they might look similar, their combat effectiveness was worlds apart.

The rebellion in Egypt had just passed a few years ago, and French rule was not that stable. Watching France and Austria fighting like dogs, the Egyptian people really had no interest in getting involved.

If it weren’t for the guns pointed at their necks, Egyptians would definitely not be willing to go to the battlefield to be cannon fodder.

Inside the Cairo Governor’s Office, Governor Jacob stared solemnly at the map. From the various brightly colored arrows, it was clear that the strategic situation of the French Army was very unpromising.

If it weren’t for the French Navy performing well, holding the coastline of Egypt, they would really be surrounded by the enemy now.

Not being surrounded is merely a step away from being surrounded. Facing an encirclement on three sides by the enemy, it was certain that the Egyptian Colonial Government alone could not hold on.

After a while, Governor Jacob turned around and asked, "When can the reinforcements from home arrive?"

If they couldn’t win, naturally, they could only ask for help from back home. Anyway, France was being defeated across the whole African Battlefield, and it wasn’t shameful for the Egyptian Colonial Government to ask for reinforcements too.

"Your Excellency, the Army Department has denied our request for reinforcements, ordering us to carry forward the excellent traditions of the French Army and overcome the difficulties..."

Before the middle-aged officer could finish speaking, Governor Jacob swept the documents off the desk in front of him and roared, "Enough, no need to continue."

"Damned bureaucrats, they must have smashed their brains on women’s bellies, forgetting even the most basic military knowledge.

Everyone knows what Egypt means to France, even a three-year-old child. Once Austria occupies Egypt, they can just wash their necks and wait to be slaughtered!

...

Looking at a Eurasian map, it’s clear that Egypt not only has the world’s most important Gold Canal but also represents the last barrier preventing Austro-Africa from connecting with the homeland.

Once Austria holds Egypt, a behemoth far surpassing any empire in history will appear.

By then, France would be in danger. With its strong human and material resources, Austria could wear down any enemy.

Such an obvious issue, anyone with a bit of military knowledge would understand, so naturally, the Army Department should be aware of it.

Knowing the problem does not equate to solving the problem. The best solution would naturally be to send troops to reinforce Egypt, but sending reinforcements is not child’s play.

The enemy is Austria, not a Native Tribe; simply sending more troops would be meaningless. Along with increasing troops, firepower support must be ensured, otherwise, it’s merely delivering heads over a thousand miles.

The stronger the firepower, the higher the consumption of resources. France had deployed over two million troops on the Central European Battlefield and another one and a half million on the southern line, while also needing to provide logistics for millions of troops in Africa, including Egypt.

Such logistic pressure was already a replay of World War I in the original timeline. Even though France’s scale far surpassed that of the original timeline, allowing for more mobilization of manpower and resources, the Allied Powers’ support wasn’t in place!

The only Britannia ally was not lending aid like it did in the original timeline. Now, they were leisurely drinking coffee at home, watching a drama called "The Storm of Europe."

Of course, profiteering from war was also an indispensable operation. From the outbreak of the war to now, tariffs between England and France had increased by fifty-seven percent, and the export of strategic materials had even doubled.

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You see what to do about it—after all, this era’s industrial powerhouses are so few, what they run is a monopoly business.

With the war progressing to this point, the French government was enduring both the high costs of materials and myriad issues like substandard quality and delayed transactions.

If the war continues, it won’t be the battlefield but finance and logistics that could lead to France’s failure.

To break through the Rhine Defense line as soon as possible, the Paris Government had just decided to reinforce the front lines, and the originally planned reinforcements for the Egypt Area naturally fizzled out.

Seeing that Governor Jacob’s venting had almost subsided, the middle-aged officer added, "Your Excellency, the homeland has decided to retract the colonial territories in the Region of Africa. They are preparing to temporarily give up areas like Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania.

After retracting the colonial territories, the troops from these areas will retreat into the Algeria Region to hold their ground. The Army Department indicated that if needed, they could send over twenty infantry divisions to reinforce us."

Governor Jacob was very clear about the situation in Africa; the so-called temporary abandonment was merely a fig leaf.

These areas, mostly bordering Austro-Africa, had faced the fiercest attacks from the Austrian army when the war first erupted—scenes were dismal.

Even without pulling back the defense lines, it was only a matter of time before they fell. The Paris Government couldn’t even take care of Egypt, let alone build a continuous defense line spanning thousands of miles for North Africa.

The Colonial Empire was collapsing, and for colonists like Governor Jacob, it was a complete internal breakdown.

For the Egypt Area, this was begrudgingly good news. Regardless of the combat effectiveness of these reinforcements, at least it showed that the homeland hadn’t given up on them.

Although this outcome wasn’t satisfying for Governor Jacob, in the absence of other choices, having reinforcements was better than having none.

"Tell the Army Department that we are facing the Austrian regular army, not some colonial cannon fodder army.

If we want to hold off the enemy’s troops, the reinforcements must all be of French descent; don’t send Native Troops just to waste food," he said.

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After the outbreak of war, to preserve the Colonial Empire, the French government also sent reinforcements to the colonies.

The main armed force in the colonies now consists of the troops dispatched from the domestic armed forces supplemented by local French-descended units.

They were several notches above the Native Troops in combat effectiveness due to their training and better equipment, yet still a few notches below the metropolitan troops, barely passable for use.

Before the middle-aged officer could speak, he suddenly remembered the sound of "whooosh…" followed immediately by "boom, boom…".

This is Cairo, hundreds of kilometers away from the front lines; it was impossible for artillery to reach this far.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rang out beside him, Governor Jacob immediately realized something was wrong and hastily ordered, "Send the order down, have the airship troops take off immediately to intercept the enemy airships, and the anti-air units to coordinate."

In those days, anti-air units were essentially tasked with dealing with, or rather scouting, low-flying airships. Against high-flying airships, only more airships would suffice.

Of course, after the Rhine Air Battle, this knowledge had become outdated.

Whether for secrecy, bureaucratic malfeasance, or because it was deemed unnecessary, this shift in military doctrine had not reached Governor Jacob in a timely fashion.

As this order was issued, a scene once witnessed on the banks of the Rhine reoccurred in the skies over Cairo, albeit on a much smaller scale.

In a sense, Governor Jacob’s order was correct. The destruction of the airship troops also reduced the logistical pressure on Cairo’s defenders.

After all, since the advent of airplanes, airship troops without fighter escorts were merely sitting ducks once airborne.

To remain grounded was also a waste of resources. Maintaining an airship was very expensive; the maintenance costs for one could rival that of a destroyer.

France might have had the capacity to produce airplanes, but to produce fighter planes in a short amount of time was a pipe dream.

...

After the "tat tat tat…" a French airship’s envelope was punctured and it began to plummet rapidly.

After casually dropping a special bomb to ensure the enemy’s demise, the excited Lieutenant Wade was finally satisfied.

Looking around, French airships were either falling or exploding; those that hadn’t yet fallen had become targets for comrades.

Aircraft massacring airships didn’t need assistance. At such a time, squeezing in to rob peers of their glory was something Lieutenant Wade would not stoop to.

"It seems today’s bounty ends here. I envy those deployed to the Central European Battlefield. I hear that in the air battles over the Rhine River, someone racked up three consecutive kills.

It’s not possible here, too many monks and not enough soup. Damn French, claiming to be the foremost power in Europe, yet not provisioning enough ships to go around."

The young man piloting the aircraft couldn’t resist mocking, "Well, brave Lieutenant Wade, I know you are the bravest warrior.

To massacre enemy airships like this is really beneath you, utterly unbefitting your stature.

A fight on equal footing would really highlight your bravery, like now, going down to capture French general Jacob and creating another military miracle.

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Annoyed and embarrassed, Lieutenant Wade scolded, "Shut up, Adolf! That joke isn’t the least bit funny. I’ve explained many times that words spoken when drunk shouldn’t be taken seriously."

Undoubtedly, this was a dark chapter in Lieutenant Wade’s history.

Theoretically, suddenly dropping from the sky had a chance of landing right at the enemy’s headquarters. If the enemy was foolish enough, it might even be possible to capture the enemy’s supreme commander.

A similar case occurred when a lucky U.S. pilot mistakenly landed and captured an Italian unit.

However, such instances were extremely rare. Although there were Italians among the French soldiers below, most were French.

Lieutenant Wade, having had his judgment impaired by alcohol, concocted this ludicrous plan. Now sober, he naturally would not seek his own death.

Adolf gave a slight smile, "Alright, my bad, enough of the jokes. We have completed our mission, and just sitting here isn’t helping.

Shall I lower our altitude a bit so you can sweep the area with the machine gun, see if there’s an unexpected windfall?"

Austria had been engaged in aircraft research for many years, yet their air force’s combat experience was virtually nonexistent.

In this area, even the capable Franz couldn’t help. An army’s growth requires a vast accumulation of experience.

Franz’s knowledge about air forces was very limited, mostly derived from online memes. Relying on them for air force training was tantamount to suicide.

"You’re not joking?"

Wade asked incredulously. His facial expression revealed his astonishment as if Adolf’s suggestion had completely rewritten his understanding.

"Of course!"

Adolf affirmed, pausing before adding, "The enemy, daring to let airships take off, shows that the lessons from the Rhine battlefront haven’t reached them.

Since the enemy has never encountered airplanes, they naturally lack countermeasures. Using tactics designed for airships against us just won’t cut it.

Let’s try it at five hundred meters; if there’s any danger, I’ll fly away immediately. The enemy’s response time couldn’t possibly keep up with us.

If we’re lucky and take out a few big fish, we hit the jackpot."

...