Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 485: Christmas

Chapter 485: Christmas

Adorned in silver and white, Vienna welcomed its annual Christmas celebration. The severe cold didn’t dampen everyone’s enthusiasm, as the holiday spirit permeated the city.

Shop windows displayed a dazzling array of Christmas gifts, and around the Gothic fountain at the center of the square, colorful Christmas market stalls had been set up.

Street performers began their shows, offering classical, pop, rock, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, jazz, dance, alternative, country, Latin, folk music, and more.

The charm of this international metropolis was on full display. Here, one could enjoy various European musical styles, along with diverse dances and magic shows.

Franz had yet to receive any good news from South Africa. It seemed this war wouldn’t end before Christmas. Unsurprisingly, everything was as Franz had anticipated.

Encountering some minor setbacks was a good thing, as it could make people more rational. Austria’s expansion had been too smooth in recent years, and many had become overconfident.

If it weren’t for this arrogance, they wouldn’t have claimed they could capture Cape Town before Christmas. Now that they had failed, it was time to tighten the reins on Austria’s chariot.

The era of great colonial expansion had ended, leaving only some insignificant leftovers. Next, it was time to develop internally and convert the spoils of war into national strength.

There were no successful examples to follow in this regard. In the original timeline, the major colonial empires performed poorly. They couldn’t convert their gains into national strength, and then World War I broke out.

And that was the end of it. Their strength was greatly diminished during the world war, and new competitors emerged, causing them to lose their last chance. The British Commonwealth plan and the French provincial strategy were both implemented too late and failed due to external interference from the US and the Soviet Union.

For the time being, Franz put aside his worries as Christmas still had to be celebrated. This day was World Peace Day, and no European country would cause trouble at this time.

The ongoing Anglo-Boer War also had a truce, allowing both sides to fully enjoy this special holiday without worrying about surprise attacks.

The Christmas gifts Franz had prepared were already distributed to each soldier. Although they were just simple candies, everyone was very happy.

Roughly made Santa Claus figures appeared in the barracks, adorned with cards. This was another benefit of compulsory education: the soldiers could write their own Christmas wishes. Temporary chapels also opened for the day, and the accompanying chaplain became busy.

Viscount Falkner sighed helplessly. While the soldiers celebrated the holiday, the officers frowned and worried.

The war had progressed to this point, but victory still seemed far away. The final word had come from the homeland: if Cape Town could not be captured by the deadline, the war would have to stop.

They had dug their own grave. The original plan was to end the war within six months, but even with the extended timeline of a year, the war could not be concluded, so there was no point in continuing.

If it weren’t for the later siege battles being fought by cannon fodder units, the morale and discipline of the troops would have likely collapsed long ago.

Even so, the soldiers were showing signs of war weariness. Perhaps due to pride or cultural traditions, these feelings weren’t openly expressed. However, the officers had already noticed. Watching scenes of blood and carnage every day without a mental breakdown was already a testament to their inner strength.

At this point, the officers had to act as mental health counselors, soothing the soldiers’ unease. Christmas was a great way to relax their tense nerves and alleviate some of the mental stress.

Compared to the disheartened Viscount Falkner, Governor Delf in the city was truly living through a nightmare. After a series of defeats, morale in Cape Town had hit rock bottom.

While the military’s supply of materials could still be guaranteed, the situation for the many war refugees was dire. Having lost their livelihoods, they could not afford the high food prices and had to rely on government aid.

The Cape Town colonial government was not wealthy either. The distributed materials were barely enough to stave off hunger after being siphoned off by corrupt officials at various levels. Even on Christmas, the only extra treat was a 300-gram portion of fish.

Caught by local fishermen from the sea, fish had become the primary source of meat in Cape Town. Beef and mutton shipped from afar were exorbitantly priced, far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The “Boer Republic Army” did not intercept refugees from entering the city. In fact, they seemed to encourage the surrounding British to flock to Cape Town. Now, from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope, the area was teeming with refugees.

Including the military, the total population in this small area had already surpassed 400,000. If not for Governor Delf’s decisive order to expel black and mixed-race people, the number would be even higher.

More people did not necessarily mean more strength, but it definitely meant greater consumption. To feed so many people, at least 1,500 tons of supplies were needed daily.

Including various strategic materials, the Cape Town colony needed at least 3,000 tons of supplies daily from external sources to meet basic needs.

In reality, the demand was much higher. The building materials for constructing defensive fortifications alone amounted to astronomical figures.

If the war continued, Cape Town would become the city with the most densely packed bunkers and fortifications in the world.

To make matters worse, Cape Town had a severe water shortage. It was already one of the most water-scarce cities in the world in later times, and the situation was no different now.

The external water supply had long been cut off by the enemy, leaving them to find solutions in the small area between Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope.

The largest source of fresh water was rainwater. Groundwater was not reliable; otherwise, why would there be a need for seawater desalination?

Lacking anything else was manageable, but a water shortage was critical. The British had to buy water from the Portuguese. If thousands of tons of water were not delivered on any given day, a crisis would erupt immediately.

To conserve water, the defensive fortifications were being built with seawater. The long-term effects were of little concern to Governor Delf. As long as it worked for now, it was acceptable.

In Cape Town, everything was in short supply except for the population. Water, food, fuel, building materials—none of these could be locally sourced.

Even Britain found it challenging to supply such vast quantities of materials.

To alleviate the pressure on supplies, every ship that delivered supplies also took a load of refugees away. How to develop Cape Town in the future with a reduced population was not something they could worry about now.

By Christmas Eve, the local population had successfully decreased by 120,000, easing the supply pressure. Otherwise, even the small amount of fish would not have been available.

This was still summer, with relatively abundant rain, and there was no need for fuel for heating. In winter, the pressure on supplies would be even greater.

Considering the impact of the monsoon, with deadly waves as high as ten meters not uncommon in winter, the Cape of Good Hope route was almost impassable during July, August, and September every year.

Even now, the British were paying a high price to transport supplies, with nearly 2% of ships being lost en route.

There was no other way. The wooden ships of the sail era had limited wind resistance and could not easily withstand natural disasters, not to mention occasional man-made disasters.

Recently, the Royal Navy had launched several operations to eliminate pirates, but there were still some who dared to challenge them.

Governor Delf sometimes wondered what was in the pirates’ heads, as they didn’t even bother with reconnaissance and would directly attack ships carrying fresh water and building materials.

As a high-ranking official, Delf was unaware of the difficulties faced by pirates. Gathering intelligence was not as easy as it sounded, and apart from a few organized pirate groups, most pirates attacked any merchant ship they encountered.

Upon learning that the next batch of reinforcements was coming from the Indian colonial army, Governor Delf was already preparing to lay low. As for counterattacking the Boers to redeem himself, he wasn’t so optimistic.

Like most Britons, Governor Delf also looked down on the Indian colonial army. In his eyes, their combat effectiveness was about the same as the black cannon fodder outside.

The only value they had was using cannon fodder against cannon fodder, which could reduce the casualties among the young and able-bodied men. The troops in the Cape Town area needed to rest and recover; otherwise, they would be rendered useless.

For reference, look at the Near East War. The British performed well at first, but due to the lack of timely reinforcements and effective rest and recovery, most British soldiers who participated in the battles were psychologically “ruined” by the end of the war.

This “ruin” wasn’t physical but mental, manifesting as war-weariness, fear of battle, and anti-war sentiments. Especially those British soldiers who mixed with Italians, bringing back a host of bad habits.

The subsequent failures in the Persian War, the prolonged suppression of the Indian rebellion, and the strenuous efforts in the Ethiopian expedition all proved the decline in British military effectiveness.

The Anglo-Boer War was even worse; the results were so embarrassing that Governor Delf was reluctant to mention them.

On one hand, the colonial troops were too pampered, even failing to maintain basic training. On the other, the combat effectiveness of the main forces had declined, with many tactics still stuck in the muzzle-loading gun era.

With both the colonial troops and the regular army being ineffective, battlefield failures were no surprise. Otherwise, in the original timeline, it wouldn’t have taken the British a laughable three years to defeat the Boer republics despite having hundreds of thousands of troops.

The more Governor Delf knew, the greater his pressure. The outwardly glorious British Empire had already begun to decay internally.

In this state, could Britain withstand the challenge from France and Austria? Deep down, Delf had his doubts. The failure of this war was a heavy blow to his body and mind, stripping away his former arrogance.

The night grew late, and the outside merriment had ended. Lost in thought, Governor Delf’s mind wandered further. He was initially anxious over the Cape Town battle, then worried about his personal future, and finally became concerned about Britain’s future.

This Christmas night, Delf remained sleepless.