Holy Roman Empire

Fidos: "The rebels outside the city are a mob, and it only takes one regiment to defeat them.

I have calculated that there are more than 3000 regular troops in Cairo, [-] colonial troops, and [-] young men who have just been recruited.

Send out a regiment of regular troops to look for opportunities to attack the enemy. Even if it fails, the remaining troops will be able to keep Cairo. "

No one likes to fail, and Fidos is no exception.Redemption is also applicable in France.

Defeating the rebels outside the city and breaking the siege of Cairo, even if it can't make up for the previous defeat in Aswan, can still give everyone a decent ending.

After hesitating for a moment, Adolf said slowly: "Based on the time, the reinforcements should have just arrived in Egypt.

If you want to gain military exploits and wash away your shame, it is best to wait another three to five days before launching. "

Governor Adolf agreed so readily, which still surprised Fidos.In the eyes of the French government, defeating the rebels should be done, and it is not a great credit.

At most, it would be able to make the generals like Fidos retreat completely. For Governor Adolf, this little achievement is not enough to make up for one-tenth of his fault.

Unless the rebellion can be extinguished before reinforcements arrive, Governor Adolf's fate will not change.

If you win the bet, you will not get any benefits. If you lose the bet, Governor Adolf will bear the greatest responsibility.

This kind of self-sacrificing spirit really moved Fidos, the words he had prepared were useless now, and it was the first time he discovered that Governor Adolf was so...

After dismissing the uninvited guest, Governor Adolf was lonely again.He had no choice but to promise Fidos to take the risk.

Before suppressing this rebellion, many nobles in France came to gild.For this reason, Adolf also gathered a large wave of favors, which turned into hatred after the defeat.

The nobles who survived had their future ruined, let alone those who died in battle, the families behind them would definitely hold grudges.

Adolf is also dragging his family and being a bachelor. If these hatreds cannot be resolved, the bad days of his family will begin after returning to China.

Agreeing to Fidos' plan is actually creating an opportunity for these related households to get out.

……

Also trying to find a way to get out, there are Hu Tier and others.There is no way, the war has progressed to the present, and the few of them are almost unable to control the troops.

From less than 20 at the beginning, it rapidly expanded to more than [-] in just over a month.

The command system has been messed up for a long time, and it is no longer possible to control this mob by mixing fish and dragons.

"Soldiers don't know their generals, and generals don't know their soldiers." This is a normal operation here.In many cases, when officers gather troops, they will bring in those who are closest to them.

Anyway, they are all rebels, so there is no need to worry about that much.Every day, people run away, and people come to seek refuge every day. Even Huthier can't figure out the exact number.

Frankly speaking, this huge mob is not even as good as some rogues.At least the rogues and the old battalion are more capable of fighting. This army is rubbish inside and out.

Potiorek: "The French reinforcements have landed on the coast, less than 150 kilometers away from us. Anyway, the mission has been completed, and there is no point in staying any longer."

Shopping does not exist, this time the French government made a ruthless move and assembled a full 15 troops.As far as the strength of the rebel army is concerned, it is easy for others to do so.

Falkenhayn nodded: "The enemy is coming fiercely, we really should consider getting out.

It's just a pity that I have the opportunity to fight the French head-on this time. If possible, I really want to fight the French on the battlefield. "

After thinking about it, should I run or run.If they are caught, they, the chief culprits of the disaster in Egypt, will definitely not escape.

Houtier made a decision: "Re-plan the evacuation route, the original plan can no longer be implemented."

No one knew in advance that the main force of the rebel army would be able to counterattack, let alone disrupt Egypt so easily.

Now there are rebels all over Egypt. At this time, a disguised expedition team sneaked into the city. If they were wiped by the rebels on the way, it would be a laughing stock.

Stehausenburg objected: "It seems that we don't need to run now, we can fight France first, and just retreat if we lose.

Anyway, the telegraph line had been cut off a long time ago, and the French army huddled in the city didn't dare to come out to intercept us before they were sure about their safety.

As long as the luck is not too bad, we can retreat while fighting, at worst, go back to Austrian Africa. "

Hutil, who fell into a misunderstanding of thinking, suddenly realized that the situation is different now.

The original Eighth Division had less than 1 people, so of course it had to run away.

Now there are more than 20 people. Even if the battle is defeated, there are so many people in disorder, and the French will be too busy to capture prisoners for a while.

As long as you react quickly and run away with tens of thousands of defeated soldiers, everyone's safety is still guaranteed.

Hutier immediately said: "Then seize the last time and continue to carry out meaningful things."

"Meaningful things" naturally destroy the Nile.If it weren't for the scruples about the Egyptians' reaction, Houtir would have ordered the river to be filled.

It doesn't matter now, anyway, I can't stay in Egypt anymore.The strategic significance of blowing up the mountains on both sides of the river and artificially creating barrier lakes to block the waterway is very important.

Flooding is only a small problem. Anyway, the essence of the delta has been almost destroyed by the rebels.

The key is the subsequent military operations. Without the logistics supplies transported by the Nile, the French army would lose the possibility of using troops quickly.

From Egypt to Sudan all the way, thousands of kilometers, all rely on manpower and animal power for transportation, logistics alone is enough for the French to drink a pot.

Not only the river course, but also the railways, roads, and bridges along the way are also in the scope of damage.

As long as the guerrillas are a little bit stronger, there will be an embarrassing situation where one soldier fights on the front line and five or six soldiers transport food in the rear.

Chapter 69 Oil Fields

Of course, Franz didn't know what happened in Egypt. It was such a trivial matter that the emperor didn't need to ask himself.

In recent times, apart from the gloomy outlook for agriculture, Austria's economy has been doing well in general.

If nothing else, it will be able to return to the peak level before the outbreak of the economic crisis by the end of the year.

Looking at the latest economic report, Franz breathed a sigh of relief.The Near East development plan is essentially spent on money, and there is no return in the short term.

In order to raise funds, the Vienna government has successively issued construction bonds of 5 million Aegis, and the interest expense of each monthly fund is as high as 186 million.

This is just the beginning. With the continuous advancement of the Near East development plan, the government's debt will continue to increase in the days to come.

In addition to the old debts before, Franz was surprised to find that the total government debt surpassed that of the Russians, and it was already just around the corner.

"How far has the oil field development in Iraq progressed?"

There is no way, the project that can see returns in the Near East in the short term is the oil field discovered in Iraq.

There are so many oil fields in the Middle East, and Franz can't figure out which oil field it is in later generations.

These are all small problems. Anyway, if the oil is discovered first, it will be mined first, and if it is discovered later, it will be mined later. The oil will not escape if it is buried in the ground.

Prime Minister Karl replied: "The extraction equipment has been installed, and the oil pipeline is currently being erected, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

It is estimated that the oil in Iraq will be enough to meet domestic demand within one year after it is put into production.

In order to cut expenses, Austrian oil companies are already considering shutting down some small oil fields in the country to reduce the cost of crude oil extraction. "

Undoubtedly, looking at the construction period, we know that the oil pipeline is not laid directly to Austria, but to the two river basins, and then transported into the Persian Gulf by small boats, and then replaced by oil tankers to transport it back to Austria.

Although the Vienna government allows individuals to exploit oil, the super-large oil fields discovered by the government in Iraq are still the food of state-owned enterprises.

Since the second industrial revolution, Austria's demand for oil has been increasing day by day.Even in times of economic crisis, double-digit growth rates have been maintained.

By 1884, Austria's oil consumption had reached an unprecedented 1586.45 million barrels per year.

This number is not worth mentioning in later generations.It is almost the same as the daily consumption of some big countries, but in this era, it is completely record-breaking.

Affected by the sharp increase in Austria's demand for oil, international oil prices have climbed to historical peaks, at 5.6 Aegis per barrel.

The price of crude oil of equal weight actually exceeds the price of grain.The high net worth made the originally inconspicuous oil become "black gold".

If that's all it is, then oil remains a niche commodity.After all, Austria's oil consumption exceeds the sum of all other countries.

The entire crude oil market is only more than 1 million Aegis, and the total international crude oil trade is only a pitiful 3000 to [-] million Aegis, of which the Russians account for half.

The really promising reason is the growth rate of oil demand.

From 1884 to 1885, Austria's oil demand increased by 23.3%, and the global oil demand also increased by 15.4%. Such a terrifying speed is naturally self-evident.

The growth of the market is caused by many reasons. The first thing that bears the brunt is the advent of diesel generators. Although the cost of power generation is higher than that of coal, this gadget is small, portable and easy to operate.

Human beings have just entered the electric age, and even Austria, where the electric power industry is the most developed, cannot avoid power outages every now and then.

Ordinary people endure it and let it go. Anyway, the gas lamps that have just been eliminated are not unusable.Even if it has been lost, it can also light a candle.

But the factory can't do it. It can't just shut down if the power is off, right?

In this context, diesel generators with independent power generation capabilities have become a necessity for many factories.

Not only factories, but nobles and capitalists also have them in their homes.Including Franz is no exception, the Palace of Vienna cannot guarantee non-stop power supply.

The seemingly inconspicuous little machine has actually become a big gas guzzler, and the growth rate is still very fast.

Followed by tractors, since 1880, the world's first tractor powered by an internal combustion engine came out in Vienna, and then it was out of control.

In just five years, this new tractor has been updated twice, and its performance has been greatly improved.

With the advantages of lightness and easy operation, it quickly defeated the competitor's steam tractor and began to be popularized in industrial and agricultural production.

So far, there are more than 15 tractors in Austria, 60.00% of which are powered by internal combustion engines.

This is just the beginning, as the development of the Near East continues, the demand for tractors is also increasing day by day.

If it were not limited by production capacity, it is estimated that the number of tractors in Austria would have exceeded the 20 mark long ago.

Manufacturers are expanding their production capacity, and after one or two years at most, the number in Austria will exceed this number.

Not to mention all kinds of engineering equipment, they are all oil tigers anyway.

In contrast, the family car is only a child's play.After all, this is only the patent of a few wealthy people, and it has not been popularized nationwide.

Judging from the current situation, Franz's original prediction of doubling fuel consumption in five years is actually a bit too conservative.

After all, the oil industry has just started. Before the second industrial revolution, the main function of oil was mainly oil lamp lighting.

The market is limited in the first place, and gas lamps and candles will compete for the market, so the demand will naturally not increase.The base is small, and the growth rate is naturally fast.

Affected by this, there has also been a wave of small upsurges in the search for oil all over the world.

But all of this will end soon.As soon as Iraqi oil is developed, the international crude oil supply shortage situation will be fundamentally improved.

As for other areas, Franz is not going to start for the time being.Once the outside world discovers that the Middle East is full of oil, not to mention hatred, it will also lead to a decline in oil prices.

From the start of the Near East Development Plan, Franz made up his mind to use the dividends from oil exploration to make up for the government's financial investment.

"The government must pay close attention to this work. Judging from the current situation, domestic crude oil consumption will double in the next four years.

Oil fields in Iraq will soon become an important source of income for the government.Relying on this oil field, it is not a problem to support the interest in the Near East development plan. "

There is nothing wrong with it, it is capital interest.If you want to support the principal investment, this cannot be done in a short time.

No matter how high the profit of oil extraction is, the size of the market is there, directly locking the profit ceiling.

The growth rate seems to be very fast, but this growth rate cannot be sustained. As the total base increases, the growth rate will gradually decrease.

Austria's oil demand can double within four years, but within eight years it is difficult to double on the basis of four years later.

Moreover, this kind of finance that relies heavily on resources is not what Franz wants.

From the beginning, he made up his mind to limit oil production capacity, and a small amount of exports would be enough to meet domestic demand.

Well, it's also a means of cracking down on competitors.Driving up international oil prices, relying on high costs to delay the development of the oil industry in Britain and France.

Chapter 70 Reaction

News of success in London and Egypt is frequent, but Prime Minister Gladstone is not happy.

The rebel army did not fight all the way to the Suez Canal area as they expected, threatening the safety of the canal, and they didn't even touch the edge of the canal.

There is no way, the top leaders of the rebel army are not all fools.At least the leader Mahdi is very sober, knowing that before the French are not driven away, running to the canal will be fatal.

Coupled with the strict defense of the French, even they would rather watch the cities in Egypt fall, and give priority to ensuring the safety of the Suez Canal.

This hurt the British government who wanted to intervene in the Suez Canal.

The canal was not threatened, and the British naturally had no excuse to intervene in the canal affairs.No matter how powerful Britain is, France and Austria will not buy it.

Now that the French reinforcements have arrived in Egypt, even if the rebel army wants to fight by the canal at this time, they have no chance.

The ultimate goal has not been achieved, and no matter how much you weaken the French, it is useless. After all, France is no longer the primary target of the British government's suppression at this time.

Gladstone: "The Egyptian plan has failed, and we have lost the opportunity to intervene in the Suez Canal. If we continue, we will have a direct confrontation with France and Austria.

In view of the current situation, we must now consider the aftermath.Continuing to weaken France is only helping Austria, which is not conducive to the balance of the continent. "

As much as I hate to admit it, facts are facts.The name of Lieutenant General Jeres is very loud. In fact, he is able to command the troops, mainly based on the trust of Mahdi.

But this kind of trust is not unconditional. At least the rebels blocked the Suez Canal, but Mahdi refused.