Chapter 923: Canal Battle
Chapter 905 – Canal Scramble
A shell fell from the sky and landed in the water with a roaring explosion, stirring up monstrous waves along the way.
The rafts that had just been put into the river and hadn’t had time to be useful were impacted by the huge waves.
Looking at this scene in front of him, Colonel Boardman had no hope for the next attack.
There was no way, the Suez Canal was just too narrow. Standing at the river’s edge, the naked eye can clearly see the opposite side of the river, any crossing tools can not keep secret.
It is important to know that the Suez Canal, from the beginning of navigation, has been regarded by France and Austria as the first strategic importance, in order to protect the security of the canal, the two countries have deployed a large number of artillery along the coast.
Without any surprise, the French artillery was deployed in Egypt and the Austrian artillery was deployed in the Sinai Peninsula. Each of the two countries occupied one side in order to safeguard their right to speak.
Originally, these artillery pieces and fortresses were for defense against the British, but I never thought that they would end up hitting their former allies.
After the outbreak of war, in order to all based on the Suez Canal, France and Austria both invested heavy troops to fight for it.
However, both sides of the defense is very sick, in the premise of not destroying the canal, no one has no way to complete the landing.
“Telegraph to the command, the enemy has prepared, our prepared rafts were shelled by the enemy, the plan to sneak into the Suez port is bankrupt!
In view of the present situation, it is recommended that headquarters authorize the blowing up of the Suez Canal and the filling in of a passageway.”
Colonel Bodman said helplessly.
This was not the first time he had suggested blowing up the canal, but the Suez Canal was of great strategic importance, and the technology for dredging was not available these days.
Once the canal is damaged, even if it is only a localized area, it will take a long time to repair.
In war times, time is life. Taking a canal that can’t fulfill its strategic significance is no way to form a strategic advantage over the enemy.
From the battles between the French and Austrian armies, it can also be seen that everyone’s artillery battles are artillery battles, or they are still trying to avoid the canal as much as possible.
Of course, this is not unrelated to the shareholders behind the canal company. After all, the shares of the Suez Canal have long been divided by the power elite of the two countries.
Do not look at the face of the monk to look at the face of the Buddha, even though it is a time of war, but still can not escape the interpersonal relations. It is not unlikely that the bigwigs in the command are themselves one of the shareholders of the Canal Company.
No one can make up their mind to destroy the canal unless it is absolutely necessary.
The army was comparatively simple. These complex issues were not something that Colonel Boardman needed to consider, as a frontline commander he only needed to think about the military.
……
Receiving Colonel Bodman’s telegram, the wrinkles on Admiral Fislav’s forehead became denser and denser.
In order to facilitate colonial expansion, from the beginning of the opening of the colonies, the colonial governors appointed by Austria were all military officers, mainly responsible for colonial security and foreign wars.
As the governor of the Middle East, from the outbreak of the war, Admiral Fislav automatically became the commander of the Middle East Theater, responsible for the seizure of the Suez Canal.
Behind the high position of power came the same heavy pressure. Unlike previous enemies, this time the enemy was the French.
If you open a history book, you will know that in the history of European wars, the French is a big boss, in the vast majority of the time is the first continental power, the French army is recognized as the world’s first.
Facing such an enemy, no amount of caution could be too much.
In fact, Fislav was not the only one who thought so. When the war had just broken out, the generals of the Anti-French Alliance were basically a bit wary.
But this was all in the past tense, and with the outbreak of the war, everyone’s awe of the French army quickly subsided.
Yes, the elite of the French army was indeed formidable, but there were too few such troops, and more of them were still ordinary troops with poor fighting abilities.
This was the case in the European theater, not to mention the Egyptian region. Aside from those few elite native divisions, the rest of the colonial forces were simply not good enough.
Because of the blocked canal, the Middle East theater had not achieved much, but the brother forces in East, West, and North Africa were riding high.
There was no way around it, the border line bordering France and Austria was simply too long, and even though most of the area was blocked by deserts, there were quite a few areas without deserts.
I don’t know how many thousands of miles of border line, even if the French government wants to deploy heavy troops for defense, but also not so many troops to fill in, the burden of defense naturally falls on the colonial government.
Undoubtedly, on the one hand, there were the fiefdom nobles who fought for themselves, and on the other hand, there were the indigenous troops who sold their lives for the French, and the fighting strength and will of both sides were not on the same level.
Victory is always the most morale-boosting, and Admiral Fislav, who was worried about whether the French would cross the river, now only thought about how to fight their way through.
……
Inside the command headquarters, Chief of Staff Von Franck laughed, “This is already the thirty-sixth telegram suggesting the bombing of the Suez Canal, my Lord Commander, the time has come to make up your mind.”
Admiral Fislav glared at him in dismay and rolled his eyes, “You think I don’t want to, but blowing up the Suez Canal would have too many repercussions.
Let’s forget about it if we can’t use it ourselves, we’ve prepared for it at home anyway and didn’t expect to be able to use it properly in times of war.
The problem is that when the Suez Canal was opened to traffic, we issued a proclamation of the canal’s eternal neutrality, clearly announcing that we would guarantee the free navigation of the canal at all times.
Now that the canal has been temporarily closed because of the war, the country is under very heavy diplomatic pressure.
If word gets out at this time that we blew up the canal, I’m afraid that the international opinion that was originally in our favor will be reversed in an instant.”
Whether one wants to admit it or not, war serves politics. As a high-ranking commander, Admiral Fislav had to consider the political implications.
Don’t look at the current closure of the Suez Canal, in fact, neither France nor Austria has ever publicly announced it, and all there is is a letter of proposal from the Shroud Canal Company.
Theoretically, the Suez Canal is still free to navigate, and neither France nor Austria can block it.
Of course, as long as you listen to the roar of artillery on both sides of the river, there is no head of iron dare to pass through the canal at this time.
Dare not and can not is a completely different concept, now is France and Austria together to bear the international pressure, because the war is the French provoked, everyone’s grievances are mostly directed at the French.
If the Austrian army blew up the canal, it would be a different story, and it would not be the French but the Austrian government that would cut off people’s money.
It may seem like a small problem to be scolded, but analyze it deeper. It would mean that the government’s hard-earned international credibility would be destroyed.
Loss of international credibility, will inevitably affect the post-war Austrian re-establishment of the international order, which involves the interests of a great deal.
Von Franck nodded, recognized this explanation, but the next words directly to Fislav angry a half dead.
“This is your problem, who made you the commander? The staff is only responsible for making battle plans, the political implications have nothing to do with us.”
Looking at the gloating Chief of Staff, Admiral Fislav only wanted to punch him in the face, but that could only be thought about.
Rules were rules, and the Austrian staff system had prohibited them from getting involved in politics since its inception.
If they were to think on a political level, they would not be far from getting out.
This is a part of the checks and balances of power, mainly from the lessons of the original time and space of the German army staff in the first world war to seize power, belongs to the taboo can not be touched.
In fact, Admiral Fislav, the commander, is also restricted from mixing with politics, except that the special status position determines that he must consider the problem from the political point of view.
Unable to decide the issue, naturally, to report it. Anything that might affect the future strategy of the Reich was a decision that only the government in Vienna could make.
……
In the evening, rows of rafts were quietly launched, and Colonel Boardman himself was at the front to do the final mobilization for the sneak attack.
Looking at each energetic young man, Colonel Boardman neglected to feel filled with guilt.
To risk their lives, knowing there was little hope, was in a sense murder.
But war was so cruel, and in order to win the ultimate victory, no opportunity could be spared.
Colonel Boardman’s self-reproach, which did not last long, was soon broken by a voice.
“Colonel, it’s time for action. The enemy’s searchlights have just swept through, and we only have fifteen minutes.”
The advent of the age of electricity had naturally been applied to the military, such as the searchlights on the battlefield.
With the limited width of the Suez Canal, the lights could shine directly across, and naturally became a great defense against enemy sneak attacks at night.
“Attack!”
……
(End of chapter)