Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 848 - 111: Sneak Through Chen Cang

The chaotic international situation did not affect the outbreak of the war in Central Asia. As the arms race ended, the British also let loose.

On March 26, 1888, with an order from Governor Lytton, two India Colonial Divisions launched an attack on the Afghan Region, marking the beginning of the Great Central Asian War.

In the Vienna Palace, upon receiving the news of the war in Afghanistan, Franz once again became an onlooker.

There was no need to worry, one could tell by the way the British fought that the bureaucrats in London didn’t take Afghanistan seriously at all.

The two India Colonial Divisions, seemingly imposing, were actually a rabble.

In terms of real combat power, they probably weren’t even a match for two main battalions of the British Army. Such troops could barely maintain peace; on the battlefield, they could only compete with the enemy in who was worse.

Franz asked, "Have the weapons and equipment to aid the Afghans been delivered?"

If they wanted to bleed the British through the Afghanistan war, weapons and equipment were indispensable.

Without international support, the Afghans, armed only with swords and spears, no matter how brave, wouldn’t last long.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg said, "The first batch of materials has already been secretly transported there, and by time calculations, the Afghan Government should have already distributed them.

Our intelligence network in the Afghan Region is imperfect. After the outbreak of the war, we were completely in the dark about the situation there."

This was an inevitable result. It wouldn’t matter if you turned every Afghan into an intelligence agent; information just couldn’t get out.

The diplomatic skills of the British were not to be underestimated; the neighbors of Afghanistan had already set up blockades, and the only means of external contact left was through smuggling.

As it turned out, smuggling channels were also unsuitable for transmitting intelligence.

Both Persia and the Central Asian Khanate were destitute; most of their regions had neither railways nor telegraphs.

Before the outbreak of the war, the Vienna Government received messages from Afghanistan with more than a week’s delay. After the outbreak of the war, it was needless to say.

Hearing this bad news, Franz furrowed his brows, "That is to say, we have lost contact with the Afghan Government.

The air-drop of supplies that was originally planned is now impossible due to the loss of a target."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Weisenberg answered.

"From the current situation, to reestablish contact with the Afghan Government, we can only hope for the Russians.

They have been operating there for a long time and should have hidden channels of message transmission. It’s just temporarily disrupted due to the war.

The Tsarist Government is trying to restore it, and it may be back in operation after a while."

"Hoping for the Russians," "restoration after a while," such answers made Franz dismiss the idea of air-dropping supplies.

Though Afghanistan is a small country, its territory is not small at all, with much of it being mountainous.

If there is no signal to receive below, who knows where to coordinate, how are the airship troops to air-drop supplies?

It surely can’t be just thrown randomly, into dense forests or rivers and lakes at worst, it’s just losing a batch of supplies.

If luck runs out and it happens to fall on the British Army, taking on the role of the transport corps, that would be really awkward.

After pondering for a moment, Franz made a decision, "Well, with such events, we can only consider the Afghan Government unlucky.

Didn’t they send a liaison officer? Let them figure out a way to establish contact with their government, we are powerless now."

Anxious?

Nonexistent, even if the Afghan Government falls, the Russians will fill in.

Moreover, even if the British win, what can they do?

Occupying a land full of guerrillas and religious zealots is not a good thing. The high cost of rule will eventually make the British face reality.

Army Minister Feslav suggested, "Your Majesty, our troops stationed in the colonies have not had their weapons and equipment updated for many years.

In view of the current severe international situation, we must prepare in advance. The Army Department recommends a major rearmament, starting with increasing the defense capabilities of the colonies."

Feslav’s words reminded Franz, although at this time the colonial armies of various countries were all second or third-rate troops, recruiting the worst soldiers, using the most outdated weapons, and conducting the simplest training, Austria was an exception.

The Colonial army was only slightly behind in terms of weaponry equipped, but in other respects, they conformed to the standards of the domestic main forces.

In previous years, the Vienna Government had even deployed the main forces for rotating combat drills.

However, as time went on and the enemies in the colonies were eradicated, this plan for combat training was forcibly terminated.

In ordinary times, maintaining the current state of the colonial troops wasn’t an issue.

A slight disadvantage in equipment was trivial, as all colonial armies were comparing shortcomings, and it was sufficient to be stronger than one’s peers.

Now with the shift in international relations, no one could guarantee when an accidental discharge might occur.

In this context, strengthening the colonies had become particularly important.

Especially in the Austro-Africa region, should a war erupt in Europe, it wasn’t expected that they would seize the entire African continent at once, but capturing strategic locations like Egypt, Cape of Good Hope, and Djibouti was essential.

This had been the core of Austria’s national policy from the outset, securing these strategic locations not only connected the homeland with Africa but also forced England and France to travel tens of thousands of miles extra to reach the Indian Ocean.

What used to be covered in two voyages could now only be covered in one, not only doubling the transportation costs but also halving the enemy’s maritime transport capabilities.

"We must not only refit but also increase the weapon supplies in the colonies. Take Austro-Africa as an example; the region should store enough arms to equip one million people for a year of combat.

Once a war in Europe breaks out, the colonies must be prepared to capture the entire African Continent using their own strength."

It wasn’t that Franz was overly ambitious, but that Austro-Africa had already possessed such capabilities.

Up to this day, the total population in Austro-Africa had reached over twenty million, several times more than the combined immigrants of the other large colonial empires.

Once the great war erupted, it was inevitable to attack on all fronts. Even if the Vienna Government didn’t issue the command, the local military nobility would form their troops and engage.

The bellicose nature had been ingrained in everyone’s marrow since the establishment of Austro-Africa.

If not for restrictions and the intentional suppression by the Vienna Government, they would have already caused friction in Africa.

It was foolish not to utilize the favorable conditions; capturing the entire African Continent aside, just securing a few strategic locations would ensure Austria’s victory.

Prime Minister Carl questioned, "Your Majesty, isn’t this too much? Our several key colonies have very strong military forces and are fundamentally unshakable by surrounding nations.

Even if a war in Europe breaks out, the strength of Austro-Africa is sufficient to handle any enemy. Shipping so many weapons and equipment to the colonies now could easily trigger tensions in the international situation."

A year’s worth of weapons and equipment for one million people is no trivial matter, amounting to millions of tons.

Transporting such a massive amount of materials without secrecy was nearly impossible. Nowadays, who doesn’t place a few spies in the other side?

Important military intelligence couldn’t be obtained, but such boatloads of arms, who could they possibly deceive?

Franz nodded his head, acknowledging the issue. It wasn’t just about the transportation, even the organization of production could attract the attention of the European world.

"Then let’s do it in batches, start by increasing supply under the pretext of refitting, then each month when we replenish materials, add a little more. After many times, it’ll be less conspicuous.

This war in Central Asia is a perfect cover. Command the state-owned arms factories to double their production capacity starting now, and announce externally that it’s an order from the Russians.

Do not disclose specific figures. With arms factories scattered throughout the country, ordinary people won’t take notice."

Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

That’s the advantage of state-owned enterprises: the government can control production capacity without revealing any information to the outside world.

How many weapons and ammunitions were produced and exported, as long as the Vienna Government keeps silent, nobody really knows.

Even if someone investigates, they would need to inspect all the arms factories to get the accurate data, investigating just one or two factories’ data would be meaningless.

It’s not Franz boasting, but the actual number of arms factories in Austria, and how many enterprises had military production capacity, was truly impossible for the outside world to know.

The reason is simple, there are too many related enterprises. Many machine factories could immediately turn into arms factories just by modifying some production equipment.

Anyway, since production is streamlined, there’s no need for a single enterprise to produce all the parts; producing a fraction is sufficient.

When all the manufactured components are assembled together, a weapon is born.

The current arms factories simply have a more comprehensive industrial chain and don’t need to purchase components elsewhere.

Being able to produce all parts from start to finish gives an enterprise a natural advantage during assembly, and the quality is relatively more assured.

However, during the war years, these are minor issues. Often, quantity matters more than quality, as long as it functions, minor flaws are negligible.