Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 903 - 166: The Filled Passage

The battle raged on, the sunlight sporadically fell, casting a blood-red reflection on the river surface, creating an atmosphere as eerie as the mythic river of hell.

The wooden rafts used for crossing the river were mostly destroyed in prior combat, and the enemy’s position remained as stable as Mount Tai.

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Even small units that managed to complete the crossing fell to the fierce resistance of the French Army and were forced to retreat.

This wasn’t about desertion. According to European cultural traditions, soldiers who had run out of ammunition could surrender, and the Austrian Army was no exception.

The soldiers involved in the stealth attack had undergone swimming training, so even the Suez Canal couldn’t stop their advance.

Moreover, the rafts destroyed by artillery fire served as perfect tools for escape, so surrender was unnecessary.

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However, the journey back was far from smooth, as French Soldiers periodically shot at the river surface. Thankfully, the French Army had not yet equipped machine guns on a large scale, otherwise there would have been no chance for retreat.

After setting down his binoculars, Colonel Bodman abandoned his last hope, his facial expression becoming fierce as if embroiled in a fierce inner conflict.

"Order the artillery" he commanded, "adjust the aim to the opposite riverbank, switch to solid shot, and attack with full force!"

For the canal’s safety, both France and Austria had been using shrapnel shells since the battle began, reserving solid rounds for attacking the fortifications across the river.

The chief of staff cautioned, "Colonel, breaking the opposite riverbank could block the canal, and then..."

Colonel Bodman waved his hand to interrupt, "Wrong, we are only attacking the enemy’s fortress. Any damage to the riverbank would be because the French, seeing the trend turning against them, deliberately destroyed it in their escape."

It was a far-fetched justification, but Colonel Bodman could not bother with that anymore, as something was better than nothing. If headquarters couldn’t make a decision, then he would make it for them.

Political issues were not for him, a colonel, to consider. Purely from a military standpoint, his command was completely correct.

As for the repercussions, they would test the diplomatic capabilities of the Austrian Government and just how thick their skin was.

After struggling for a while, the chief of staff eventually chose to compromise. The same command, issued by different people, carried entirely different political implications.

"He who commands from afar may not obey imperial commands."

It wasn’t just an empty saying, and it applied in Austria as well. Furthermore, the Emperor had not issued a command forbidding the destruction of the canal. It was the Austrian Government that had requested the Suez be protected.

The war zone command was a special wartime institution. During the war, the military and administrative powers at the frontline were tightly held, and as the Commander, General Feslav had to consider all aspects, including the government’s demands.

But it was different for middle-ranking officers like Colonel Bodman; they were loyal only to the Emperor and had no responsibility towards the government.

Even if the government was displeased, they couldn’t bypass the Emperor and intervene directly in military affairs.

As long as the battle was won, the government would have to withhold its complaints, as no one in Austria could arbitrarily target a war hero without cause.

The real risk lay in suffering defeat on the battlefield.

Yet, the enemies gave Colonel Bodman confidence; more than half of their defending troops were natives. If they couldn’t win against them, he wouldn’t have the face to continue in the military.

...

With the new round of bombardment starting, the riverbank on the opposite side began to crumble under the ferocious artillery attack.

By the time the command headquarters received the news, everything was set in stone, and there essentially was no other choice but to keep going.

General Feslav wanted to cry but had no tears; just an hour before, he had sent a telegraph to the Emperor asking whether to clear a passage, and then the incident happened immediately.

It was too late to retreat, and the urgent telegraphs from the front line were delivered immediately; now Feslav had to send another telegram to explain despite feeling apprehension.

As for whether Colonel Bodman, the instigator, was a hero or a criminal, that would depend on the developments of the battle; Feslav was not in the mood to pursue responsibility at the moment.

Without any hesitation, General Feslav made a decision, "Order all troops at the front, no more hesitancy, let everyone act boldly.

Now I have only one demand, to cross the river in the shortest time possible, defeat the French opposite us, and take the Suez Canal entirely."

If soldiers wanted to stand tall, they needed to speak with their battle achievements. As long as they won on the battlefield, these issues would merely be bygones.

…

In the Vienna Palace, looking at the two completely different telegrams in his hand, Franz didn’t know whether to praise General Feslav for his obedience or to criticize his stubbornness.

After thinking it over, Franz still felt it was better for the high-level generals at the front to be more obedient, after all, they were more reliable that way!

As for the presumptuous Colonel Bodman, that was even less of an issue. Being a pure military man, solely considering issues from a military perspective, was exactly what Franz wanted.

He would rather deal with the aftermath for these simple-minded fellows than have generals at the front turn into hesitant politicians, the latter spelling disaster.

Before Franz could reply, members of the Cabinet came knocking, and from their expressions, it was clear they were in a very bad mood.

Thinking about it, it made sense; the carefully cultivated international political advantage was now thoroughly disrupted, a situation that would upset anyone.

"Your Majesty, the incident in the Middle East War Zone..."

Before Foreign Minister Weisenberg could finish, Franz interrupted, "Enough, I already know about the Suez Canal.

At this point, discussing these things is useless, and even if we were to assign blame, that would be a matter for after the war.

The pressing issue now is figuring out what to do next! The French are not frightening, with the Parisian old masters dragging their feet, even if someone in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs notices the problem and tries to take advantage, these folks will spoil their plans.

The trouble is with the British, don’t forget that not long ago they were inciting the countries of Europe, wanting to unite them to jointly manage the Suez Canal.

Interest moves people, and the Suez Canal, this piece of fat meat, has long been coveted by everyone.

Before, the canal had been jointly held by us and the French, forcing other countries to restrain their ambitions.

With the current incident, the British have even more grounds to demand international management, and who knows how many more countries the British might persuade next."

Changing the subject was a basic skill that Franz had honed over his many years as Emperor. After all, he was the Emperor, and his subordinates were unlikely to disrespect him by dwelling persistently on one issue.

Now, during a war, internal conflicts must absolutely be avoided, so it was better to provoke external conflicts instead.

As the war progressed, Franz had come to see that no matter how powerful the butterfly effect, this world was still a competition of the least awful.

From the French’s performance, it was clear; despite being given so many opportunities, they had now failed to strike Belgium and push into the heart of the Germany Region.

Since that was the case, putting a bit more blame on the British would do no harm, as they were still competing with the Russians. Even if they entered the fray personally, they could not afford to ignore India to assist the French.

Moreover, this might not necessarily be a miscarriage of justice, considering John Bull’s style, such situations were almost inevitable.

The topic had been diverted, so the Foreign Minister, initially furious and eager to find fault with the Middle East War Zone, had to calm down and think of a strategy.

A moment later, Foreign Minister Weisenberg slowly said, "Your Majesty, the British Government has always been covetous of the Suez Canal, and they will likely not miss this opportunity to cause trouble.

Given the current international situation, Belgium, Germany, Montenegro, and Greece are our allies and will definitely not heed the call of the British.

Switzerland and Netherlands, limited by their geographical locations, are unlikely to take sides before the outcome of the anti-French war is clear.

The French want to monopolize the Suez Canal, and before the failure of the war in Europe, the French government is mostly against the international co-management of the canal.

In the short term, the British can at most stir up some public opinion to trouble us, but this is not enough to form an absolute advantage."

The international situation remains chaotic, and in the face of interests, there are no absolute friends or enemies, only common interests.

Although the Tsarist and Austrian governments are still allies, Weisenberg could not be sure if the Tsarist Government would support Austria on the Suez Canal issue, after all, the Vienna Government couldn’t possibly share the benefits of the canal with them.

On the contrary, the French, currently at war, would definitely oppose the international co-management of the Suez Canal as they stand united with Austria on this issue.

Prime Minister Carl said, "As long as we can delay until we defeat the French on the battlefield, none of this will be a problem.

By then, we can use the French interests to win over Spain and Switzerland, in addition to the independent Italian countries and our current allies, and the European Continent will be under our control.

However, before that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must not relax its vigilance, especially since the Afghan war has calmed down recently, we need to be even more cautious."

There was no way around it, in international politics there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. If there was no betrayal, it was only because the incentives for betrayal were not sufficient.

Now as France and Austria compete for dominance in Europe, the Austrian Government had to be more vigilant, as the stakes at the gambling table were high enough now.

Not to mention directly warring France, Britain, and Russia, who are qualified to vie for dominance, might as well seize the opportunity at a critical moment.

Looking at Austria’s military operations, one can see that on the African battlefield and in the struggle for the Suez Canal, no troops from the mainland were reassigned there; instead, colonial troops or, in other words, local troops from Africa were responsible for implementation.

Of the more than three million troops slowly mobilized, only a few hundred thousand on the southern front were actually engaged in battle; the rest, apart from a million reinforcing Central Europe, were still nesting at home.

Logically, dispatching these troops should have been sufficient to meet the current operational needs. However, the mobilization continued.

This was partly due to concerns about French forces overwhelming the frontlines and facing defeat, but also due to distrust of the Russians.

...

The government’s decisions had no impact on the front-line fighting. Once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back, what was done had to be seen through to the end.

Relying on bombardment to fill the Suez Canal was too time-consuming, so to hasten the pace, the front-line troops had to build landfills under the threat of enemy fire.

Watching vehicles hit by enemy artillery, smoking and stalled mid-route, Colonel Bodman’s brow furrowed deeply.

It’s important to realize that vehicles were rare commodities; besides the main domestic forces that were heavily equipped, overseas forces had only a few in logistics.

The troops stationed in the Middle East were lucky because it was an oil-producing region, and Austria had refineries there, making fuel supply convenient, which allowed each battalion to have a company of vehicles.

However, this was only prior to the war; since the major expansion of the army, such benefits had ended.

The newly produced military vehicles were prioritized for the local troops; very few were allocated to the Middle East War Zone.

Without exception, Colonel Bodman’s infantry division was also expanded, swelling from a single regiment to a division before the war.

While other weapons were available from the armories, the number of vehicles remained the same as in the original motor transport company, mainly used for transporting logistics materials.

Watching these treasures fall on the battlefield, Colonel Bodman’s heart kept bleeding.

After hesitating for a long time, Colonel Bodman seemed to make a difficult decision and said firmly, "Order the motor transport company to cease operations temporarily, we’ll discuss this again in the evening!"

There was no way around it—the vehicles were simply too large a target, and on average, after three to five trips, one vehicle would heroically perish.

As long as victory could be achieved, the loss of many vehicles was deemed worthwhile. However, at this rate, the motor company would be finished before the Suez Canal could be filled.

Waiting for reinforcements was certainly an option, but time had passed. The forces initiating the canal-filling operation were not limited to Colonel Bodman’s division alone; the Austrian army was attacking from multiple points.

After all, if the French Army was defeated, they would destroy the canal; creating a few extra pathways was no big deal.

"Colonel, if we stop now and rely solely on animal transport, it will be very difficult to be the first to complete the mission," the chief of staff warned.

As the force that took the initiative to destroy and fill the Suez Canal, if they could not promptly create a path for the army to cross, Colonel Bodman’s future would indeed have no "brightness."

"We have no choice; the vehicles are too large a target and it’s hard to evade enemy artillery. The enemy has constructed well-fortified fortifications, and in a short time, we are unable to destroy their fire points.

If we persist, our losses will be substantial. Unlike these exiled criminal laborers, the motor company is a technical unit; if we lose our ’seed’ force, we cannot replenish it," he said.

Thanks to Franz’s Major Reforestation Strategy, large numbers of criminals were exiled to the Middle East every year, and naturally, these individuals were transformed into laborers as war broke out.

Laborers are a valuable asset of Austria, but once labeled as "criminals," their value plummets instantly, transforming from a precious "asset" into a societal "cancer."

...

At the Cairo French Army Command, since the news of the Austrian army’s canal-filling operation reached him, Governor Jacob’s mood had soured.

Originally, he had planned to take the Sinai Peninsula and secure the Suez Canal to establish a resounding military achievement for France.

Unfortunately, plans change faster than situations; just as he began to take action, the Austrian army from the African Continent arrived, plunging Egypt into a dire situation surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Facing fierce enemies, the troops on the border couldn’t withstand the pressure, forcing Governor Jacob to both contract his defense lines and desperately pull in reinforcements to support the frontline.

Pulling troops to the frontline of the canal also became inevitable. After all, the Egypt Area had just suffered major turmoil a few years ago with heavy population losses; even if Governor Jacob wished to engage in total warfare, he didn’t have enough of a workforce.

Initially, Governor Jacob had hoped that the Austrian army would be deterred by international pressure, afraid to easily destroy the "eternally neutral" Suez Canal.

If only it could hold out for a few months, once the homeland settled its battles, the situation in the Egypt Area would turn from defeat into victory.

Unfortunately, the "international pressure" proved to be a weak deterrent, punctured just a few days into the delay.

Though he was frustrated, Governor Jacob still had some confidence in his own managed canal defense line; even if it was impossible to defeat the enemy, it wouldn’t be breached quickly.

"Order the troops along the canal to rely on their fortifications for local defense, give the enemy a fierce counterattack, and display the might of the French Army…"