Chapter 954: Surrender is also an art

  Chapter 935 – Surrender is also an Art

The big shots inside Cairo city are still making their last struggle, the French officers and soldiers scattered outside are not the same. Knowing that the Egyptian battlefield is incapable of returning to the sky, and blocked the back road, the fool will die to the end.

Austria’s promised surrender conditions, just a catalyst, prompted everyone to make up their minds, or in the hands of the supplies are not much.

Especially some of the fortresses that were caught in the encirclement strongholds had already begun to supply a limited amount of food. If they dragged on like this, they themselves would be finished without waiting for the enemy to launch an attack.

Located on the east bank of the Nile River, Aswan was just a small and inconspicuous city, and it was still able to be known because of the great uprising a few years ago.

The rebels blew up the “Aswan Dam” and flooded the delta downstream, attracting the attention of the European media, and only then became famous.

The lesson was learned. After the destruction of the rebels, the Egyptian colonial government deployed heavy forces in the Aswan region, and the small, unassuming town of Aswan became a military stronghold.

After the outbreak of the Continental War, in order to avoid a repeat of the tragedy of the flooded delta, the French once again to the Aswan region to increase troops, the total strength once more than 80,000 people.

With the strong force, the garrison of the Aswan region repeatedly crushed the Austrian army’s attack. Unfortunately, this is not useful, large-scale war is not a city or a place can not be reversed.

As time went by, the neighboring friendly forces fell under the enemy’s guns one after another, and the French army in Aswan gradually became a lonely army.

……

Aswan French army command, at this moment is the generals gathered, can come to the French army senior officers basically all came.

“The garrison of Kaoum Ombou surrendered five days ago, and the enemy’s encirclement network has been completed. The situation in other areas is not optimistic either, reinforcements will not be forthcoming, what should we do now?”

No one was willing to take on the political disaster of surrender, and Lieutenant General Armand, who was the commander-in-chief of the Aswan garrison, was likewise no exception.

In order not to be court-martialed after the war, generally speaking the best way to encounter such a situation is to make a collective decision and take responsibility together.

“Your Excellency Lieutenant General, the orders given to us by those officials at the Theater Command were to defend Aswan to the death, without even considering the actual situation.

The war has gone on so far, we’ve already paid more than 30,000 casualties, and our total troop strength has dropped from 80,000 at its peak to 50,000 now.

What’s worse is that we don’t have enough strategic supplies in reserve, medicine is basically almost depleted, and weapons and ammunition will support at most one more battle.

In order to reduce food consumption, we even deported the civilians in our jurisdiction. But that’s still not enough, even if we ration according to the minimum standard, we can only support it for a month at most.

The conditions for a deadly defense of the Aswan region are simply not there for us. Even if the enemy doesn’t launch an attack, it won’t be long before we starve to death.”

The population of the Aswan region was limited, there were only about 200,000 people here in the latter days, not to mention now. When the war broke out, the army outnumbered the civilians.

Being the cotton land of France, the Aswan region was no exception to this rule, with a large amount of farmland being used to grow cotton.

It didn’t matter in normal times, it was tragic in times of war. Even with the expulsion of civilians, the garrison still did not raise enough food.

All strategic materials were in short supply, and the quartermasters naturally had a hard time. While other quartermasters were having a good time, Major General Altier, as the quartermaster of the Aswan garrison, was about to go bald.

After a few days of good times, the enemy cut off the logistic supply. How to fill the stomachs of the soldiers has become a problem, not to mention making money.

It’s not that Altier is doing his duty, in fact, he is also a standard French quartermaster, and he is definitely not soft when it comes to making money.

Now the reason why to stop, on the one hand is worried about the soldiers mutiny, this is a precedent, the French army does not have the tradition of starvation and not make trouble. If you don’t eat well, if you don’t have enough to eat, you will turn your face in a minute.

On the other hand, he knows that to make money, you must first ensure that you have life to spend. By now, Major General Altier had lost confidence in the Aswan garrison.

If they couldn’t win the battle, the end result would be nothing more than annihilation or surrender. Major General Altier had no honorable resolve, he was only a quartermaster, and he was not responsible for the defeat and surrender.

Don’t look at the Austrian army promises to guarantee the safety of personal property, really if you become a prisoner, the huge amount of wealth is a death charm.

In times of war, it was not unusual for a man to die, especially if he was a prisoner of war, and no one would ask questions.

Altier’s family is already not low, can not keep is an unknown, more that will become a fat sheep, naturally do not dare to take risks.

To be able to sit here are smart people, Altier Major General’s intention we all understand, logistics can not support, is undoubtedly a good excuse to surrender.

As for the logistical pressure is not so big, is not really no ammunition, or that will soon be cut off, this question is not important at all, anyway, we all default is.

A middle-aged officer chimed in, ”Major General Altier is right, right now we really don’t have the conditions to die in the Aswan region. Without reinforcements and logistical supplies, it’s only a matter of time before the Aswan region falls.

It is said that the enemy also has a kind of automobile covered with steel plates all over, which is very powerful and invincible in the field. Our main forces were defeated by them, and it was the failure of the last meeting that led to the collapse of the situation.

Right now we have no way to deal with these iron pimples, and there is almost no hope of recovering our logistical supply lines in a short time.

Moreover, the strategic materials we have stockpiled in the Egyptian region are already limited, and even if we get through the enemy blockade line, the General Command will not be able to take supplies to support us.

Since the Aswan region is destined to be untenable, there is no need for us to make unnecessary sacrifices. In defense of Egypt, France has already sacrificed more than 200,000 men, and there is no need to continue now.

The key to winning this war lies in Europe, not Aswan. Even if we lose this place, what we lose now will come back to us in the future as well, as long as the European war is won.”

“Your Excellency, you are stealing concepts. It is true that the Aswan region does not affect the victory or defeat of this war, but the ownership of the Egyptian region affects the balance of victory.

Once the Aswan region falls, the enemy will be able to blow up the dams, flood the delta region downstream, and destroy the social order in the Egyptian region.

The homeless Egyptians would then rise up in rebellion, dealing a fatal blow to our rule, which would bring down the whole of Egypt with it.

For the sake of France, we must hold out, even one more day would be a great help to the home front.”

There was no shortage of hot-blooded men in any country, and France was no exception. Earlier, when he said that there was a shortage of strategic supplies, Major General Antoine had no way to refute it. Now that he was directly talking about surrender, he couldn’t help himself.

Knowing that surrender is also contagious, the French troops in the Aswan area wanted to surrender and were actually influenced by the friendly troops.

The first to surrender were the Italian divisions that came to reinforce them, originally the Paris government sent them over to cut off their ties with the Italian independence organizations and reduce the security risks.

After all, the Italians did not have a good relationship with Austria, and under the deliberate propaganda of the French government, many Italians hated Austria.

However, none of this could deter them from surrendering. After encountering the Austrian army beatings again, these guys decisively chose from the heart.

In comparison, this is not bad. If left behind on the European continent, this purely Italian division, the Paris government is even more completely afraid to use.

Once and independent organizations stirred together, it is not a question of surrender, but the possibility of direct mutiny.

So far in the war, three purely Italian divisions have already fallen on the battlefield, nearly collapsing the French’s hard-earned southern front.

Fortunately, the number of such pure Italian divisions is not large, they are the historical legacy of the French annexation of the Italian states, and have been abolished by the French government one after another over the years.

Utilizing the opportunity of this war, the Paris government is more directly seize the military and political power of several Italian states, the original two Sicilian kingdoms, Tuscany and other state governments have become rubber stamps.

If France wins this war, I am afraid that these Italian states will completely become history, not even the opportunity to be a rubber stamp.

The internal trouble was solved, but the French army in the Egyptian region was pitted against it. The top of the main force of the bright head over, but played even the colonial troops are not as good as the war.

Front engagement in the French army routed so quickly, in addition to the armored forces but is great, these dragged back guys are also to blame.

Although they are not good at fighting, they are number one at running away.

If one were to compile statistics, one would find that in the preceding engagements the Italian divisions not only collapsed the fastest, but also had the lowest casualty rates.

After the war scattered around the garrison, these guys likewise did not rest, continue to play the attribute of pitfalls. Not only do they surrender themselves, in order to sell a good price, many times they also mobilize their teammates to surrender together.

As for the hatred with Austria, is there national independence important, or is there a divine shield important?

Seeing someone come out to sing the opposite tune, the faces of the crowd were gloomy. Everyone wanted to be a hero, no one wanted to be a coward, but the price of being a hero was too heavy.

Seeing the situation on the field change, the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Armand, persuaded bitterly, “Major General Antoine, calm down first. No one wants to see the Egyptian region fall, but we really can’t fight anymore.

Maybe you don’t want to believe it, but that’s the way it is. The telegrams, including the ones we have been in contact with the outside world, were left behind by the enemy on purpose.

As of now, two-thirds of the cities in the Egyptian region have fallen into the hands of the enemy, more than 200,000 French troops have laid down their arms and surrendered, and the rest of the cities that are still resisting, including Cairo, are on shaky ground.

The enemy had taken the initiative on the battlefield, they had no need to blow up the dam, and the strategic value of the Aswan region had disappeared.

If it were not for the Nile, the enemy would not even need to occupy the Aswan region.

France had already paid too much for this war. If you count domestic, I’m afraid the number of casualties has now exceeded one million.

That’s nearly two percent of our population, and yet the end of the war is still a long way off, and the final number of casualties is anyone’s guess.

Since the Aswan region is doomed, it is our duty as commanders to bring the lads back safely. We can’t fight the entire generation just for the sake of the moment.”

The first ones were all excuses, but the last one was from the heart of Lieutenant General Armand.

The French Empire seemed to have a population of sixty million, but the Italians were so centrifuged from them that the real population was only the thirty-seven million or so in the headquarters.

After the outbreak of the war, although the Italians were also drafted into the army, the main force of the draft was still the French, and the ones who died the most on the battlefield were also the French.

People are not enough when they are used. As the war progressed, the French government had clearly felt the lack of manpower, and the elites also realized the importance of population.

But it was all too late, the population could not be increased up in a day or two. Even if they were to create people immediately, it would still take twenty years before they could be used.

Faced with the cruel reality, Major General Antoine was caught up in a fierce battle in his heart, and said fiercely after a half-loud effort, “In that case, let’s blow up the Aswan Dam before surrendering. The Egyptian region can’t be saved anyway, so why not just leave a mess behind for the enemy.”

As soon as the words landed on the ground, Lieutenant General Armand hastily retorted, “No way! There are still our troops downstream, so if we suddenly blow up the dam, our troops are bound to suffer heavy losses.

Every soldier is a hero of France, they can die on the battlefield, but they absolutely cannot die at the hands of our own people.”

No doubt this was only an excuse. The telegraph hadn’t been cut off, and the defenders in the Aswan area still had contact with the outside world, so it was just a matter of communicating the news in advance.

Only then, all the defenders downstream could surrender sensibly and reasonably, and all the responsibility for losing the city and land would fall on their heads.

As the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Armand was naturally the first person responsible. After the war it wouldn’t just be held accountable by a court-martial, it would be a direct shot.

Not only will the commander-in-chief be finished, but all the people present will also be finished, no one can escape. Patriotism is patriotism, to lose the name of the body before and after, we are still grateful.

……

I’m not sure if you’re going to be able to get the best out of this, but I’m sure you’re going to be able to get the best out of this, and I’m sure you’re going to be able to get the best out of this. The actual fact is that it’s a historical book. Why is it called that?

(End of chapter)