Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 690 Africa does not stop

  Saigon Governor’s Mansion

  "General alone, what do you think?" Saigon Governor Montapello raised the letter in his hand and asked with interest.

General Guba once led the French Expeditionary Force to participate in the Battle of France 11 years ago. He fought against the New Army of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Black Flag Army, the Green Camp soldiers, the defenders of Taiwan, Penghu and Fujian Matsu. He knew very well about the strength of the Qing army. deep.

"I can only say that the Fusang people have good luck. The Qing army they encountered in North Korea or the Three Eastern Provinces can at best be equal to the black flag army, but the fighting will is too much different, so they are at the right time. Picking the right opponent, won an easy victory." General Gupa shrugged helplessly.

  In comparison, the luck of the French is much worse.

  In Madagascar, I was forced to share the interests with the African Expeditionary Force of the Ocean Kingdom. The two sides are currently negotiating that they will use a formal treaty to delimit the borders and fix them in their respective spheres of influence on the island of Madagascar, so as to avoid major conflicts.

War is extremely expensive. In the first French War, the French government added 2.8 million francs in the first time, 3 million francs in the second time, and 50 million francs in the third time, in order to win the war three additional budgets. With a military expenditure of 55.8 million francs, the Fejuli cabinet fell, but in the end nothing was obtained.

The French originally proposed 200 million francs of war indemnity, which was later reduced to 80 million francs of war indemnity, but the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi who participated in the negotiation, Gu Yanchuan, was extremely tough. After the war, France did not even receive a franc of indemnity, which can be said to be miserable. NS.

  So in the fight for colonies in Africa, the French government wisely ruled out the option of war. Two-thirds of the island of Madagascar can satisfy the appetite of the French colonists, and it is impossible to fight another battle for the remaining colonies.

  This is not to be afraid of anyone, but unnecessary.

  The military strength of the Ocean Kingdom has been widely recognized by the Western powers. It is believed that its military strength has reached the level of an army of the same size as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it is almost in the second most popular rank in Europe.

  In the Viet North area

Now the admiral Gu Zhiwen of the North of Vietnam has become the de facto king of the North of Vietnam. He has a new army of 20,000 full troops, 12,000 black flag troops, and also governs dozens of green battalions. The military strength can be described as very strong. It is not comparable to those of the imperial court's armies in the three eastern provinces.

  Faced with this tough bone, the French Saigon Governor’s Mansion also felt unable to start.

   "According to the general's opinion, we can't take advantage of the time when the Qing Dynasty has no time to visit south, and solve the Qing army entrenched in the Beiqi to achieve the unification of the Indo-China Peninsula?"

   "No, my dear governor, the French army is never afraid of any enemy. The question is... how much the cabinet is willing to pay for this."

  "Please be more specific, General."

"What I mean is General Gu, a great warlord who is entrenched in northern Vietnam. His 20,000 new army is a powerful army trained by military instructors from the Ocean Kingdom, and the grassroots units are full of professionally educated officers. Their strength must not be small. Look, to defeat such a strong army, France must produce an army of the same size, plus the Black Flag Army and other auxiliary forces. It is initially estimated that the size of the French Expeditionary Force will not be less than 25,000. Considering that it may get the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. Support, the number of the French army should be 30,000 people. We also need the support of the fleet to block the bay. We can achieve the above points. It is only a matter of time before the French expeditionary force wins."

   "Oh, it's impossible!" Saigon Governor Montapello exclaimed.

  As the supreme ruler of the French Colonial Ministry stationed in the Indochina Peninsula, the Governor of Saigon, Montapello, is an experienced colonial official. He knows what the general’s request means?

   means a huge military expenditure of more than 50 million francs, and it may not necessarily be able to win.

  A very simple arithmetic problem;

  The Saigon Governor’s Mansion has stocked 12,000 troops in Hanoi. In other parts of the Indochina Peninsula, the number of French soldiers is less than 8,000.

If the second Qing-French War really happened, and just gnawing on this great warlord entrenched in northern Vietnam, it would be necessary to mobilize no less than 4,000 people in the Indo-China Peninsula colony, and send more than 14,000 expeditionary troops from the French mainland. It will be a huge expense.

  Calculated at a one-way cost of 400 francs (20 pounds) per soldier, the shipping cost of personnel, weapons and equipment alone exceeds 6 million francs, which is only the minimum standard.

If the French army mobilized in the colonies of the Indochina peninsula is added, this figure will exceed the ten million franc mark, and the preliminary war preparations will require no less than 18 million francs of war military expenses. As for the money rushing after the start of the war, there is no count. NS.

  For every month the war is delayed, it costs millions of francs.

  One thought to this

Montapello shrugged helplessly and said: "The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Anotto, is very concerned about the situation in the Indochina Peninsula. The letter raised the issue of Beiqi. It seems that we must report the true situation to the country and it is up to them to make decisions. All right."

  "I think this is a very wise decision, Your Excellency."

   "Yes, dear general, we can't do anything now. We have to wait for the further development of the situation. This is a frustrating reality."

   "Where are the Russians?"

"They are also waiting for the news to be clear. Compared with our transcendent status, Tsarist Russia is almost certain to gain the three northeastern provinces of the Manchu and Qing dynasties. At this point, Fuso State's attempts are bound to be strongly blocked by the Tsarist Empire, and we, as allies, No matter how reluctant he is, he can only stand on the side of Tsarist Russia."

“I understand very well, Mr. Governor, that France’s core interests are in Europe, and the Franco-Russian alliance is the government’s core policy. We have paid too much for this. The Far East policy can only be subordinated to the government’s core European interests and must not harm the law. Russian alliance relations."

"You said very well, Mr. General, this is exactly where our problem lies." Saigon Governor Montapello waved his hand gloomily and changed the subject. French authentic luxury products, including very good vintage French wine, champagne and dry cheese, Spanish ham and Arabian thoroughbreds. I heard that they are all imported goods organized by the Normandy House. Are you interested in Mr. General?"

   "Of course, I am very interested."

  "Wait a moment, the general will go with me to meet the Chinese taipan of the Normandy Foreign Company. I believe I will definitely gain something."

   "No problem, Your Excellency, I am happy to accompany you."

  As the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was in full swing, European and American powers frequently held formal and informal diplomatic meetings in East Asia, communicated their positions privately, declared their bottom lines of interest, and staged a silent diplomatic game.

  Ocean Kingdom is naturally in it, adhering to a neutral attitude, and following up as a participant.

  Horn of Africa

  Humen, Somalia

Thanks to its superior port location on the edge of the Red Sea, Humen City has developed very fast. In just a few years, it has become an emerging trading city with a population of more than 130,000. The marine fishing and seafood processing industries in the city are very developed. The pasture and plantation economy has become a port city dominated by agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery.

However, the economy of Humen City is far more developed than that of ordinary agricultural and animal husbandry cities. The ancient castle-style buildings and tall buildings can be seen everywhere in the city. Wealthy Chinese urban residents walk through the streets in elegant clothes, often following a few behind them. A masked Arab concubine, it seems that there is no shortage of silver in her pocket.

  The city guard soldiers with live ammunition consisted of 12 people, patrolling the streets and alleys of the city to maintain the city’s security, which greatly deterred unruly adventurers.

  The insider knows;

Humen City is the king of smuggling in North Africa and the Arab region, and the home of Baron Li Yong, known as the "Lion King of Africa". He was named a nobleman for life because of his outstanding contributions to the construction of Humen City. Please note that this is no fief Lifetime aristocracy of the benefice, not hereditary aristocracy.

  During the Civil War in Australia

An army of tens of thousands of tens of thousands rushed to the Red Sea Sky Fortress to make the coastal defense fortress on the Great Hanish Island intact, and mobilized black indigenous laborers to build a small Hanish Island fortress on a large scale. It has taken shape after more than 4 years. scale.

  Since last year

  This army of tens of thousands of people began to decommission and demobilize. In one year, more than 3,000 soldiers were retired, all of which were arranged in Humen City and suburban towns to enrich the landlord's armed forces in the area.

  At the end of October this year, more than 3,000 soldiers were retired again. Except for some of them in the surrounding areas of Humen City, other soldiers were successively arranged to Xi'an, Ede and other places, adding thousands of small and medium-sized planters to the area.

  The core of Somalia is in Xi’an, Ede, and Humen. The 603-kilometer main railway line has long been completed, extending westward from Djibouti to Eritrea, ending in Humen.

  A more than 20-kilometer railway branch line extending from Humen City has been repaired until Humen Pass, which closely connects the Xiongguan, which stands proud among the mountains, with the city behind, greatly enhancing the defense resilience of the Pass.

   Really speaking

  The fundamental reason to support the prosperity of Humen City lies in the large-scale smuggling trade and the transit trade at the Red Sea port, which has given this emerging city a huge development impetus.

  Now, a new development opportunity has arrived.

  On February 12, 1893, the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II informed the Italian government that from May 2, 1894, he would no longer perform all the rights and obligations of the "Ucial Treaty".

  After the news went back, the Italian suddenly exploded.

  From Rome to Sicily, there is a sound of shouting and killing. As a country with a history of using black slaves for thousands of years, the Kingdom of Italy has absolute confidence in the indigenous black Africans.

  Filled with outrage, the government of the Kingdom of Italy immediately sent a 15,000 corps to Africa and handed it over to General Baratieri to command an armed invasion of Ethiopia, preparing to completely destroy the Kingdom of Ethiopia in one fell swoop and let them taste the power of the Italians.

  The war broke out, but the result was surprising.

  On July 17, 1894, the first Italian legions arrived in Kassala and launched their first battle there. They defeated the thousands of troops assembled by local African chiefs and won the first victory.

  The total number of the Ethiopian army is about hundreds of thousands, and more than 70% are equipped with breech rifles, including 10,000 cavalry. Under the training of British and Ocean Kingdom mercenary instructors, their combat effectiveness is not weak.

The indigenous lords of Ethiopia are also commanders of the army. In order to defend their territory, they are generally tenacious in fighting. Moreover, as an ancient kingdom in North Africa, Ethiopia has been in frequent contact with Western missionaries, caravans, and mercenary groups in modern times. The ignorant African indigenous kingdom.

Menelik II’s direct line of troops is the core of the kingdom. This force hired high-paying Chinese instructors from Xi’an and Humen to train. The rifle equipment rate reached 100%. It even possessed more than 30 field artillery smuggled from Humen. It is relatively strong among Uncle Black.

  In January 1895, the Italian army defeated the indigenous chiefs of various places eight times in a row, winning eight straight victories.

  In March, the Italian army began a full-scale offensive and successfully captured Adigrat.

  In the face of the harsh battle situation, the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II could not sit still, and at the heavy price of ceding part of the territory of Eritrea, he invited the king of mercenaries, Baron Li Yong, to join the war.

  For mercenaries, they have no standpoint, and only value interests.

  So, Baron Li Yong readily accepted the invitation, and with a shout, he organized an army of 1,800 mercenaries into the battlefield.

  At this time, the Kingdom of Ethiopia has mobilized 150,000 troops, and smuggled a large number of rifles and other munitions troops from Xi’an, gritted their teeth and prepared to win this war no matter how difficult it is.

  After the Humen mercenaries entered the battlefield, the battlefield situation quickly began to reverse.

On April 7, 1895, Li Yong led his troops to cooperate with Duke Marconieno of Ethiopia. In the battle between Anba and Araghi, he carried out a frontal feint attack, focused on the flanking tactics, and broke through the Italian artillery defense line in one fell swoop. 3000 Ethiopian knights cooperated. 1,800 mercenaries launched a charge and completely defeated the 3,500-man Italian army and won the first major victory.

  After the news came out, the hearts of the Italian Legion were shaken, and General Baratieri realized that he had encountered a strong enemy and quickly asked for reinforcements at home.

In mid-April, the reinforcements of 6,000 Italian troops arrived in Casalla, bringing the total number of Italian expeditionary troops back to 18,000. Every soldier was armed to the teeth, and 68 iron-clad tractors entered service in the expeditionary army. A brigade of armored chariots.

  What you see is right, it is the "Iron Bull" heavy four-wheel tractor imported from Australia, and the armored chariot modified by the Italians themselves.

Nowadays

  The equipment of the army and navy of the Kingdom of Italy is quite advanced, with active military thinking, strong ability to accept new ideas, and even creative thinking.

As an example, the pillar of the Italian Navy's "Durio"-class battleship, which not only has 4 twin 450mm 20-caliber Armstrong cannons and 3 360mm torpedo tubes, and a large deck can carry 10,000 people. Soldiers crossed the Mediterranean Sea. Which country’s main naval warship can do it?

  (End of this chapter)