By evening, four to five officers sat around a campfire in silence. No one spoke for a long while, and the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. These were Hutier and his men. Just from the scene alone, it was clear they had suffered a defeat. They had fled in a hurry, so much so that there wasn’t even a temporary command post set up. The ever-energetic Potiorek was the first to break the silence saying, “Say something, will you? You all look like you’re at a funeral, as if someone close to you just died. So what if we lost the battle? We planned from the start to fight while retreating. It’s just that this time we were a bit more embarrassed than usual.” Among the rebel forces, the only real insiders were the few sitting there. The rest were cannon fodder. Whether they lived or died wasn’t something anyone really cared about. Their sorrow wasn’t over the loss of those expendables. The real reason for their dejection was that they had been defeated and not just any defeat. In hopes of achieving a greater victory, the rebel army had taken full advantage of the initiative and set up an ambush for the French vanguard forces. Everything had gone smoothly at first. The French were caught completely off guard and fell straight into the trap. Hutier and the others had anticipated the beginning but failed to predict the ending. Even with a successful ambush, the element of surprise, and a clear numerical advantage, the rebels still could not escape defeat in the end. A defeat was still a defeat. Wins and losses on the battlefield were nothing unusual. What was unfortunate was that the French, chasing down the fleeing soldiers, pushed all the way into the rebel camp. Even the Eighth Division, which had prepared in advance, was routed and scattered. Seeing the tide had completely turned, Hutier and the others decisively chose to flee. Luckily, there were so many deserters that the French didn’t notice them, allowing them to slip away unscathed. Once they were out of danger, they realized the once 200,000-strong rebel army had been reduced to less than a tenth of its peak. The rest were either killed in action or captured by the French. Of course, most had simply scattered into the countryside after the collapse of the division. Lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag, Hutier said slowly, “This is my responsibility. I knew the French wouldn’t be easy to deal with, but I still got greedy and tried to take more than we should’ve. That led to massive losses for the rebel army, shattered morale, and left us unable to continue fighting the French.” Naturally, Hutier wasn’t the only one guilty of overreaching. The smooth progress in the early stages had made everyone overestimate their own command abilities. The decision to ambush the French vanguard had been made collectively. But in the face of overwhelming strength, no tactic or strategy could really change the outcome. Falkenhayn said, “Lieutenant Colonel, there’s no need to blame yourself. The ambush plan was something we all agreed on. If responsibility needs to be taken, then all of us here share in it. Before we were sent out, Governor Friedrich made it very clear that our priority was to stay alive first, and then create trouble for the French. Back home, no one ever had much faith in the rebel army. We were never tasked with saving them. In fact, with how things have played out, we’ve already completed our mission. There’s no such thing as failure here. As for this defeat, it was something we had anticipated. We just didn’t expect it to be this devastating, and we didn’t even get a chance to put our backup plans into action. But thinking about it, it makes sense. Two months ago, the main rebel force ambushed the French vanguard, and their outcome was only slightly better than ours. Considering this time it was elite troops transferred directly from France, whose combat effectiveness is far superior to that of the colonial forces, in reality, we...” The reasoning made sense, but even Falkenhayn himself couldn’t relax. The mood was still heavy. It was like investing in the stock market and hitting three consecutive price surges. Just when you were about to cash out, you got greedy and held on a little longer, only for the market to crash. You ended up selling in a panic, and although you technically still made a profit, the gains had shrunk so much that no amount of self-consolation could make it feel right. Before long, the mature Hutier had collected himself. “Alright, what’s done is done, and there’s no use dwelling on it. This time we only ran into the French vanguard. Their numbers were limited, and although they technically won, they couldn’t stop the rebel soldiers from scattering across the region. We all know how destructive routed troops can be. Among those tens of thousands fleeing, there are bound to be some with deep hatred toward the French. If they can’t beat them head-on, who’s to say they can’t cause trouble from the shadows? We were originally considering leaving behind a portion of the troops to wage guerrilla warfare, but morale was too low to organize it effectively. Now the French have helped us carry out that plan. Next up...” This wasn’t just empty self-consolation. Since the failure was already a fact, they had no choice but to look for any possible advantage hidden within the defeat. … In the temporary palace in Paris, ever since receiving news of the great victory in Egypt, the gloom on Napoleon IV’s face had completely disappeared. Lately, he had been under immense pressure. Internationally, a bunch of grain-exporting countries had been constantly causing him trouble; domestically, the public wasn’t much better, protesting and demonstrating every few days. The news of a major victory on the Egyptian front couldn’t solve the international issues, but it was more than enough to calm the country’s people. Foreign Minister Terence Bourquin said, “Your Majesty, due to Britain’s grain self-sufficiency plan, relations between the British and the Russians have sharply deteriorated. Not long ago, the Russian government threatened to withdraw from the free trade system in an attempt to pressure the British government into compromise. The opportunity we’ve been waiting for has arrived.” It hadn’t been easy living as an outsider. As the only country in continental Europe remaining outside the free trade system, France had endured countless suspicious and judgmental glances. Although the French government had outwardly adopted an attitude of indifference, the bitterness and hardship they faced were things only they truly understood. Tariff barriers came with their own price. While restricting the entry of foreign goods, France also inevitably faced restrictions in return. As a result, France’s total import and export volume had dropped by nearly three-quarters. Rejoining the free trade system was out of the question, at least not until France’s industrial sector had gained the upper hand. The French government wouldn’t even consider it until then. So the only option was to bring the entire system down, drag everyone back into the era of tariff barriers, and then secure a relatively fair competitive environment. Napoleon IV asked in confusion, “The British are still discussing this in Parliament and haven’t made any resolutions yet. Why are the Russians in such a hurry?” Foreign Minister Terence Bourquin explained, “Your Majesty, the Russian Empire is the world’s leading grain exporter. Our agricultural development plan have already caused them significant losses. If they lose the British market as well, Russian agriculture will be severely impacted. Moreover, without the revenue from grain exports, Russia’s finances will soon face a serious shortfall. It’s only natural for the Russian government to act swiftly.” After thinking for a moment, Napoleon IV slowly said, “So you’re suggesting we take advantage of this opportunity to court the Russians and undermine the free trade system?” Terence Bourquin shook his head and elaborated, “It’s not just about the free trade system, Your Majesty. It’s also about the Russian-Austrian alliance. Once the British plan comes into effect, the grain export alliance led by Austria will immediately collapse, and the major grain-exporting countries will be thrown into fierce competition. No matter how strong the bond between Russia and Austria, Austria is still a grain-exporting country. In the context of shrinking international markets, they won’t be able to absorb Russia’s vast production capacity. At this time, if we extend an olive branch, the Russian government won’t be able to refuse. After all, our large-scale agricultural development plan isn’t something that can be completed overnight. If necessary, we can scale back some of the later projects. We can strike a deal with Russia to import a certain amount of grain from the Russian Empire each year in exchange for allowing our industrial products into the Russian market. If the shared interest chain begins to falter, the Russian-Austrian alliance, no matter how strong, will face difficulties. If we can separate Russia and Austria, the strategic crisis we face will cease to exist.” The French government’s large-scale agricultural development initiative, in reality, sounds good in theory, but to implement it would require a massive investment of human and financial resources. Given the French government’s financial situation, it is simply unable to launch such a major plan in the short term, which means that the large-scale agricultural development initiative is destined to be scaled back. Using a plan that is already bound to shrink, to drive a wedge between Russia and Austria, or even break up this alliance, and to escape France’s strategic isolation in continental Europe, would undoubtedly be a huge win. Napoleon IV nodded. Such a move, which achieves multiple objectives at once, was hard for him to refuse. “However, how do we convince the British? The success of all this depends on the British government cooperating and putting enough pressure on the Russians,” he said. The key to the problem was that breaking the Russian-Austrian alliance would come at a heavy cost. The Russians would never do so unless absolutely necessary. Foreign Minister Terence Bourquin answered calmly, “Your Majesty, the Russian-Austrian alliance isn’t just a threat to us, the British are also feeling the pressure. Don’t you think Russia and Austria are a little too close to India? In the eyes of the British, India is the best colony, and any country would be tempted. The British government has already done quite a bit to break up the Russian-Austrian alliance. Now that the opportunity has presented itself, I don’t believe the British government will refuse.” Even if the Russian-Austrian alliance isn’t yet a common enemy for both Britain and France, it is certainly a shared threat, and their interests align on this matter. *** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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