Chapter 267: Battles on Many Fronts
"Marshal, word just came from Rome that General Karl has beaten back the Italian forces attacking the Papal States. They're preparing to march on Florence!" An intelligence officer rushed into Archduke Albrecht's command post, handing him a telegram. Albrecht glanced over it to confirm.
"Excellent. Pass my orders: Cross the river—launch a full assault," the Archduke declared excitedly. "Now we'll see how Victor Emmanuel II responds. If he withdraws troops, his front lines will be thrown into disarray. If he doesn't, our expeditionary force can strike Florence directly. Hahaha!" Albrecht burst into laughter.
Of course, the Kingdom of Italy could try hastily assembling more troops to defend Florence, but the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force consisted of the empire's finest soldiers—"the best of the best." How could any ragtag group of newly conscripted farmhands resist them? Besides, nobody knew how many such recruits Italy could muster, and if the number was small, it wouldn't accomplish much.
Albrecht had waited these past few days for news from Rome. This Austro-Italian War had three major theaters: not only the eastern front and Rome but also the naval front at sea. The easiest place to break the stalemate had been Rome. Now that word had arrived, Albrecht held nothing back.
Following his orders, the Austrian forces, which had long been itching to move, advanced from their forward outposts on the west bank of the Isonzo River. They targeted the Italian fortifications already reduced to rubble by artillery, swiftly demolishing the first line of defense.
…
On the same day Austria-Hungary launched its full-scale offensive against Italy, the Battle of Sedan began. Prussia deployed 248 infantry battalions, 189 cavalry squadrons, and over 800 artillery pieces—some 200,000 troops in total—striking the French Army of only 120,000. Napoleon III's situation was even direr than it had been historically.
"Sire, the Prussian artillery is just too intense. Our own guns aren't making a dent against them!"
"Sire, Marshal MacMahon has been hit by shrapnel—his injuries look serious."
"Our casualty numbers are skyrocketing…"
Bad news continually poured into Napoleon III's bunker, fueling despair among the French. Meanwhile, Wilhelm I and Bismarck stood on a distant hill, watching Prussia's assault on the French lines with satisfaction.
"Those Bavarian troops—there may be quite a lot of them, but their organizational skills need improvement. We'll have to train them more once this is over," Wilhelm I commented.
"The Hechingen Brigade is performing well—young and energetic, but they're too few," someone else observed.
"As for Baden and Württemberg, their quality is poor. They've gone too long without fighting, so they've gone soft. Their officer corps is still decent, but the rank-and-file soldiers are lacking."
"In general, our own units are competent, though the French still fight hard. Technically they've done little wrong—but in war, only one side can win."
Wilhelm I offered his critiques of the forces spread out in the distance.
"If nothing unexpected happens," Bismarck said from behind him, "the kingdom's victory is assured. The last obstacle to German unification will be removed."
"Indeed. By the way, I hear the Hechingen Brigade is pulling out after the Battle of Sedan?"
"Yes. The Hechingen Brigade is made up of students. Other armies can replace losses, but that brigade can't. So Prince Ernst plans to withdraw them for rest once this battle ends," Moltke explained.
"That's probably for the best," Wilhelm I agreed. "But given that France's defeat now seems imminent, the other states want to march on Paris and carve off a piece for themselves. It's a shame Hechingen is leaving."
As things stood, the French homeland was on the brink of disaster. In truth, some French soldiers already in full retreat had gone "into business" pillaging their own countryside. Military discipline was in ruins, with their emperor trapped at Sedan, unable to move.
…
While Europe's battlefields erupted on every front, the conflict that started first—East Africa's war—proceeded at a glacial pace. With its supply lines long and roads terrible, East Africa's expansion was stuck.
A success story, however, belonged to the tiny Southwestern Army of about 1,000 men. Its objective was the Okavango Delta in present-day Botswana, near Zambia. They had only to move a hundred-odd kilometers beyond the Zambezi River in a southwesterly direction.
Botswana sits in the Kalahari Basin. Most of the region has a hot desert climate, over 70 percent of it classified as desert—particularly the western half, more barren than even Somalia. The Kalahari Desert is an odd sort of desert: plants abound, mostly succulents and shrubs, with some trees in the east and north. It does get rain during its rainy season, but otherwise remains extremely dry. The desert's area is enormous—over 600,000 square kilometers. Looking at modern Botswana and Namibia with a combined population of barely five million spread over about 1.3 million square kilometers, it becomes obvious how inhospitable the region is. By comparison, tiny Burundi, under 30,000 square kilometers, has over 10 million people. Consequently, East Africa had long decided not to explore the desert interior. The territory near Zimbabwe's eastern border has some ecological value, but that was left to the Southern Army's conquest. Farther south lies South Africa.
"Man, these mosquitoes are everywhere!" grumbled one East African soldier.
Even after spending so much time in Africa, the Okavango Delta's bloodthirsty insects were practically capable of carrying a man away.
"It's basically a marsh," said Karl, swatting at them with his hat. "The Great Lakes region has plenty of mosquitoes too, but this place is over the top."
"Quit complaining. Let's finish building some huts so we have proper shelter—otherwise, we'll be drained of blood," advised another soldier.
"It can't be that bad! Although our tents aren't keeping them out. Yesterday I got bitten a few times right through the rain fly. Luckily it's not super hot right now—late winter or early spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but still low-latitude. If it were any warmer, we'd be miserable."
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