The turbulent international situation did not affect the outbreak of the Central Asian War. With the arms race having ended, the British were now free to act. On March 26, 1888, following the order of Viceroy Lytton, two Indian colonial divisions launched an offensive into the Afghan region, marking the beginning of the Central Asian War. At the Vienna Palace, upon receiving the news that war had broken out in Afghanistan, Franz once again took the role of a bystander. There was no concern on his part. Judging by how the British were waging war, it was clear that the officials in London didn’t take Afghanistan seriously at all. Two Indian colonial divisions might appear impressive, but in reality they were nothing more than a ragtag group. In terms of actual combat power, they probably weren’t even on par with two mainline British regiments. Such troops might barely be able to maintain public order, but on the battlefield, it would just be a contest of who could do worse. Franz asked, “Has the military aid for the Afghans been delivered?” If the goal was to use the Afghan war to bleed the British, then supplying weapons and equipment was essential. Without international support, no matter how brave they were, Afghans armed only with swords and spears wouldn’t last long. Foreign Minister Wessenberg replied, “The first batch of supplies has already been secretly delivered. Judging by the timeline, the Afghan government should have distributed them by now. Our intelligence network in Afghanistan is underdeveloped. Once the war broke out, we lost all contact, and we now have no knowledge of the situation on the ground.” This was an inevitable outcome. Even if the intelligence network had been perfect, even if every Afghan had been turned into an informant, there still would have been no way to get messages out. The British diplomatic means were no joke. Afghanistan’s neighboring countries had already established a blockade. The only remaining link to the outside world was through smuggling. As it turned out, smuggling routes were also not suitable for transmitting intelligence. Whether in Persia or the Central Asian khanates, most of the regions were impoverished, lacking both railways and telegraph lines. Before the war broke out, any message from Afghanistan to the Austrian government would already be delayed by over a week. After the war began, the situation became even worse. Upon hearing this bad news, Franz frowned and said, “So what you’re telling me is that we’ve lost contact with the Afghan government. The planned arms aid can no longer be delivered now that we’ve lost the target.” “Yes, Your Majesty,” Wessenberg replied. “Given the current situation,” he continued, “our only hope of reestablishing contact with the Afghan government lies with the Russians. They’ve been operating in the region for a long time and should have hidden communication channels. The war has temporarily disrupted them, but the Russian government is trying to restore the network. With some time, it may be operational again.” Relying on the Russians and waiting for communications to be restored… such an answer made Franz immediately abandon the idea of airdropping supplies. Although Afghanistan was a small country in terms of power, its territory was vast and mostly mountainous. Without a signal from the ground to indicate drop zones, how would the airship crews know where to deliver the supplies? They couldn’t just throw them out at random. If the supplies landed in remote mountains, forests, or rivers, the worst-case scenario would be the loss of some materials. But if luck was particularly bad and they ended up in the hands of British troops, turning Franz into an accidental supply officer, that would be truly embarrassing. After thinking for a moment, Franz made a decision: “Forget it. With things the way they are, the Afghan government can only blame its own bad luck. Didn’t they send out liaison officers? Let them figure out how to reestablish contact with their homeland. There’s nothing we can do right now.” Worried? Not at all. Even if the Afghan government collapsed, the Russians would step in to fill the gap. Besides, even if the British emerged victorious, so what? Occupying a region filled with guerrilla fighters and religious fanatics was no prize. The high cost of governance would eventually force the British to face reality. Minister of War Veitslauf proposed, “Your Majesty, the troops stationed in our colonies haven’t had their weapons and equipment replaced in years. Given the current tense international situation, we must prepare in advance. The Ministry of War recommends a major rearmament, starting with bolstering colonial defenses.” Veitslauf’s words reminded Franz that although colonial forces in this era were generally made up of second and third-rate units recruited from the lowest-quality manpower, equipped with outdated weapons, and given only the most basic training, Austria was an exception. The colonial army might have lagged behind in terms of equipment, but in all other aspects, it still followed the standards of the main domestic forces. In previous years, the Austrian government even deployed its frontline troops to the colonies for live combat training in rotation. It was only later, after all the enemies in the colonies had been wiped out, that this real-combat training program had to be suspended. Under normal circumstances, maintaining the colonial forces in their current state was not an issue. Inferior equipment was tolerable, since all colonial armies were competing at the bottom. As long as Austria’s colonial forces were better than the rest, that was good enough. But now that the international situation had shifted, no one could guarantee when a misfire might lead to war. In this context, strengthening the colonies became especially important. This was particularly true for Austria’s African territories. If a European war broke out, Austria might not be expected to conquer the entire continent in one go, but taking strategic locations like Egypt, the Cape of Good Hope, and Djibouti was absolutely essential. These objectives had been central to Austria’s national strategy from the beginning. Seizing these key points would not only connect the homeland directly to Africa but would also force the British and French to take a far longer route into the Indian Ocean. A voyage that used to take two trips would now take the same time for one. This would not only raise transport costs significantly but also cut the enemy’s maritime transport capacity in half. “Upgrading equipment alone is not enough. We must also increase the colonies’ stockpiles of weapons. Take Austrian Africa as an example. There should be enough arms stored locally to equip one million soldiers for a full year of combat. If a European war breaks out, the colonies must be prepared to rely entirely on their own strength to take over the entire African continent.” It wasn’t that Franz had overly ambitious desires. Austrian Africa already had the capability to support such a plan. By now, the total population of Austrian Africa had reached twenty million, several times more than the combined settler populations of the other major colonial empires. Once a major war erupted, a four-front offensive would be inevitable. Even if the Austrian government gave no orders, the local military aristocracy would raise their own forces and act on their own initiative. That aggressive nature had been ingrained in them since the founding of Austrian Africa. It was in their bones. If conditions had allowed it, and if the Austrian government hadn’t deliberately suppressed such tendencies, they would have already started skirmishes across the continent. Not taking advantage of such conditions would be sheer stupidity. Even if Austria couldn’t conquer all of Africa, seizing a few key positions would be enough to secure victory. Prime Minister Karl voiced his concerns: “Your Majesty, isn’t that a bit too much? Our major colonies already have strong military forces that the surrounding countries can’t possibly threaten. Even if a European war breaks out, Austrian Africa has enough strength to handle any enemy. Sending such a large stockpile of weapons there now could easily raise international tensions.” Enough weapons and equipment to support one million people in combat for a year is no small matter. In terms of weight, we’re talking about millions of tons. Transporting that much material makes secrecy nearly impossible. These days, who doesn’t have a few spies placed in the other side’s territory? You might not be able to uncover important military intelligence, but shipments of arms by the boatload? Who could be fooled by that? Franz nodded. This was indeed a problem. Never mind the shipping, just organizing production would draw attention across Europe. “Then we’ll do it in batches. Start by increasing supply under the pretense of upgrading equipment. Later, each month when new materials are sent, we’ll include a bit more. After enough shipments, it won’t seem suspicious anymore. This Central Asian war is the perfect cover. Order the state-owned arsenals to double their current weapons output, and announce to the public that it’s to fill a Russian order. Don’t disclose any specific numbers. The factories are scattered across the country, and most people won’t notice.” This was the advantage of state-owned enterprises. The government could control production capacity without revealing anything to the outside world. Unless the Austrian government made it public, no one would ever know how many weapons and how much ammunition had been produced or exported. Even if someone tried to investigate, they’d have to check every single arsenal to get accurate figures. Checking just one or two would be meaningless. Franz wasn’t exaggerating. The number of arsenals in Austria, and the number of enterprises with military production capability, simply couldn’t be known to outsiders. The reason was simple: there were just too many. Many mechanical factories could become military factories by simply retooling their equipment. After all, this was all assembly-line work. No single company needed to produce an entire weapon from start to finish so just manufacturing a few components was enough. By putting together the parts produced by various companies, a complete weapon could be made. Modern arsenals merely had a more complete supply chain and didn’t need to purchase components from elsewhere. Since the parts were produced by a single company from start to finish, the final assembly had a natural edge in consistency and reliability. But in wartime, those things were minor concerns. In most cases, quantity was more important than quality. As long as it worked, a few flaws didn’t matter.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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