NOVPUBWithout any surprises, after Austria took the blame, the relationship between France and Austria deteriorated rapidly, with their foreign ministries engaging in daily verbal disputes.
For a time, Europe was clouded with suspicion, with Britain and Russia locking horns over Central Asia, while France and Austria were entangled over Central Europe.
Roughly rounding up, it was almost equivalent to: the Anglo-French Alliance and the Russian-Austrian Alliance facing each other.
This was clearly the prelude to the outbreak of a war in Europe.
The most anxious were Prussia and Germany, which had been forced to choose sides due to the aggressive stance of France.
It seemed that Austria had intervened to break their encirclement, but in reality, it also pushed them to the opposing side of France.
Originally, there was still hope for France, Belgium, and Germany to reach an agreement on the coal export issue and avoid escalating conflicts. Unfortunately, Austria’s meddling left no possibility for easing tensions.
Due to interests, French capitalists would not tolerate their government making concessions; nationalism was already on the rise in Prussia and Germany, which now also could not afford to yield.
The issue had become a vicious circle, and no matter what solutions were proposed, they could not satisfy all parties. The contradictions were temporarily suppressed, merely accumulating strength for an eventual outbreak.
...
In the Afghan Region, the sweeping British Army finally encountered trouble.
At some point, Afghan Guerrillas had emerged, continuously attacking the supply lines of the British Army.
Especially over the last month, not only were the logistical transport teams attacked, but the main forces were also struck numerous times.
The loss from a single attack wasn’t great, but the number of attacks launched by Afghans was high!
The situation had gotten to the point where the British Army dared not move independently; any unit with fewer than a company would be ambushed upon departure.
You wouldn’t realize the severity until you crunched the numbers. Just last month, under the attacks of the Afghan Guerrillas, there were 112 British soldiers killed and 313 wounded.
And that was just the casualties among British-born soldiers; losses among Indian soldiers were not even included yet.
If summed up, in just the last month, the British Army suffered the loss equivalent to an entire regiment.
These casualty figures were in no way inferior to the losses during a decisive battle with the Afghan government forces; the daily loss exceeded that of the battles.
Seeing the casualty numbers increasing day by day, General Patrick nearly collapsed. He had no idea how to report this to London.
Kabul, British Army Headquarters
A middle-aged officer, his arm wrapped in a bandage, indignantly proposed, "Commander, the guerrilla activities have become rampant, and we must take the initiative to strike."
Without doubt, this officer was one of the unlucky yet lucky ones, having been wounded in a guerrilla attack.
Generally, high-ranking officers like him were well-protected and beyond the reach of guerrillas.
Unfortunately, Colonel Macau was unlucky; an Afghan-made artillery shell had hit his temporary command post, and a shrapnel shard struck his arm.
Compared to several officers who died on the spot, he was undoubtedly lucky to be the only survivor.
General Patrick nodded slowly and said, "Colonel Macau, calm down. Everyone knows the importance of eradicating the guerrillas.
However, we have launched dozens of proactive strikes without achieving the anticipated results.
The enemy simply won’t give us a decisive battle. Every time we start a suppression operation, those guys head into the mountains.
When we retreat, they stick to us like a rash, and as soon as we turn our backs, they’re on the run again.
If we don’t find the guerrillas’ weak spot, no matter how many times we attack, it will all be in vain.
According to the news from Central Asia, our allies, the Central Asian Khanates, are unlikely to hold out much longer, and by the end of the year, we may be neighbors with the Russians.
Before then, we must eradicate these pests hiding underground; otherwise, if they join forces, we’ll be in serious trouble."
In fact, Patrick had more to say, for the troubles in the Afghan Region weren’t just the guerrillas.
The bigger issue was actually the religious zealots. These were the main assailants, founded on local religions, and they particularly enjoyed attacking solitary British soldiers.
The newcomer Britons had not yet fully grasped the complexities here, attributing most of their troubles to the guerrillas.
Of course, this wasn’t entirely wrong, as they were all part of one entity—the Afghan Resistance Organization.
Their nominal leader was King Amir, although the unfortunate king hid in the deep mountains and forests, not daring to show his face.
Another officer proposed, "I think we should first capture the King of Afghanistan. Without Amir as a leader, these resistance organizations will be nothing but scattered sand."
Colonel Macau wasn’t buying it, "Forget it, Herds. The Afghan people loathe us deeply, we have no foundation there at all.
Who knows where the hole of Amir, that rat, is located. We can’t possibly trek over mountains and valleys to wage war everywhere, can we?
Besides, the Afghan Resistance Organization is already disorganized; with or without Amir as a leader, it doesn’t make much difference.
This can be seen by their attacks on us. There are many, but the number of people they deploy each time is limited.
Since defeating the Afghan government forces, when has anyone encountered resistance armed groups exceeding three thousand in number?
They are all just scattered soldiers, easily defeated on the open battlefield, only capable of taking pot-shots from behind."
This is precisely the difficulty, although the resistance organizations are a ragtag bunch, this bunch is slippery and cunning!
Herds sneered, "So what? Even these rats need to eat. At worst, we implement a dragnet blockade to trap them to death in the mountains.
If pushed to extremity, we can even set fires to burn through the forests.
Experience tales at freewebnovel
If that’s not enough, we impose heavy taxes on the local populace, depriving them of supplies to support the guerrillas.
We can also employ collective punishment. Anyone colluding with guerrillas will result in the execution of all residents within a five-mile radius.
I refuse to believe, after we’ve annihilated all Afghanistan, there will still be guerilla squads we can’t eradicate."
It sounded quite good, but putting it into practice was never that simple.
A dragnet-style blockade, as you can tell, requires a massive deployment of troops.
Afghanistan isn’t small and it’s covered with dense forests; it’s not something a few infantry divisions could blockade.
Setting fires may seem easy, but not all forests can be ignited with a single spark, and a lot of fuel would be needed to start the fires.
As for heavy taxation, that’s even more unlikely. That would require establishing a local government first. Expecting British soldiers to collect taxes would probably drive the local people to join the guerrillas.
The only truly intimidating measure seems to be collective punishment, but that too isn’t simple to implement and could easily lead to more people joining the guerrillas.
Seeing no one object, after weighing the pros and cons, General Patrick slowly said, "If no one has a better idea, then we might as well give it a try!
I will seek reinforcements from home, but we all must be on the same page. We’re only dealing with Afghan guerrillas, not something the lords in London would take seriously."
Shifting blame is a traditional skill all bureaucrats master without a teacher. Since the Afghan guerrillas don’t carry enough weight, the blame had to be shifted onto the Russians.
After a bit of artistic modification, the achievements of the Afghan guerrillas in attacking the British Army fell on the Russian Army.
...
The Russians, on whom the scapegoat had abruptly fallen, must have had mixed feelings, but the London Government was enraged.
If the Russians were making covert moves, it might have been overlooked, but such an outright attack on the British Army was a violation of the rules of the game.
Upon receiving the news, Prime Minister Gladstone immediately roared, "The Russians are provoking Britain; we must retaliate."
With no doubt cast on the authenticity of the front-line battle reports, was Prime Minister Gladstone a fool?
The answer is: No!
Feigning ignorance is a politician’s basic skill. Well aware that the Russians couldn’t possibly fly to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Gladstone still had to bite the bullet and accept it.
Otherwise, the losses of the British forces at the front could not be explained to the public. Although the military bore the main responsibility, the Cabinet couldn’t escape blame either.
The proud British public could tolerate the loss of hundreds of thousands in a war against the great powers but could not bear being defeated by a native guerrilla force that killed a thousand.
This blame had to be laid on the Russians, to minimize political fallout and, incidentally, to ensure that the Parliament would willingly allocate funds and dispatch reinforcements to the Afghan region.
As for wronging the Russians, that wasn’t an issue at all. In Central Asia, Britain and Russia were destined to be enemies; how much worse could their relations get from a little more estrangement?
...
