The first update

The morale of the British collapsed on all fronts, and the troops sent from other colonies would never have imagined that the French army, which had been thought to be weak, could make such an exaggerated record.

The British were unable to break through the defensive line they had set, and the Boers held on to it.

And the arrogant German volunteers could not believe that it was the Second Reich army that they had encountered that had just ended the war. When they saw the disparity in numbers, their first thought was to retreat, but the French volunteers did the opposite, they did not retreat but even divided part of their forces and flanks, and the British were no match for each other in terms of weapons and camps, although perhaps they also adopted the method of attacking with a skirmish. However, their single-shot rifles were not at all comparable with the weapons of the French rate of fire.

Even after the collapse of the morale of the British, the French launched a direct charge attack. German volunteers tried to prevent them from doing so, fearing that the British were pretending to retreat and were actually designing traps for them to step into. The French, however, turned around and gave them a look of contempt.

After so many firefights, they already knew what the British were, although the lobster soldiers of that year were also harder than the cuirassiers of the emperor, and the quality of the British soldiers was not bad, but Napoleon had long anticipated the shortcomings of the British, and encountered the rigid strategic and tactical command, the Boers took the trenches, skirmishers and guerrilla warfare to the extreme, and the British were still using the large corps of line infantry to fight, which was equivalent to telling others that they were targets.

Under the cover of rifle guns and machine guns, they chased the British, who outnumbered them by far outnumbering them, until they drove them out of Pochevstrum.

In the eyes of the Germans, however, the madness of the French turned their perception of how to fight on the battlefield. Especially the use of the Maxim machine gun, the Germans also began to study this new type of machine gun, but they were more equipped with artillery support, and the infantry still used the old hand-cranked machine gun for the attack.

The war has brought them a different feeling.

Shocking, unspeakable fear.

The performance of the French illustrates a new way of warfare, they are no longer the backward line infantry phalanx of the past, and a single Maxim machine gun can hit a company.

There is nothing that cannot be solved by one Maxim, and if there is, then two Maxims.

The wind bent the weeds of the wasteland, and the English shed their last drop of blood in the land.

Crows and vultures hovered around the battlefield, smelling death and enjoying a celebratory feast.

Once again, the British were defeated, believing that a blockade of the coastline and encirclement tactics would keep the French and Germans out of the woods, but the poor performance of the British army at the Transvaal still left Prime Minister Gladstone in disgrace.

And the Foreign Secretary has been busy going back and forth these bad things these days. By this time, rumors were already circulating in London that the British army had failed to suppress bandits in the Transvaal, and that what had started as a simple colonial war had turned into a tug-of-war.

The vast majority of these rumours came from Reston's political opponents, who wanted to embarrass him and get Congress to stop supporting his cabinet.

Far from stopping the rumors, the results intensified. Even Buckingham Palace knew all this.

After Queen Victoria learned about this, she went to the Prime Minister and asked what was going on?

She didn't know it would be such a bad situation.

But the Prime Minister has been explaining that this is all to be expected.

"Her Majesty Queen Victoria, it was just an accident. Don't worry that everything is under our control, the army of Great Britain may be defeated by a group of peasants from the countryside. How could our holy army lose. ”

Prime Minister Gladstone laughed dryly, saying a fact that he didn't even believe. If the deal against this group of Boers is lost, where should Her Majesty's face go? What kind of eyes will France and Germany look at the British army? Great Britain, the world's No. 1, was pressed and beaten by farmers in the South African countryside, and it was a shame to say it.

When the British delegation visited Berlin before, Bismarck ridiculed it and ridiculed the British Army for its inadequacy.

"It will not be defeated by a group of peasants from the countryside, but how did I hear that the British army suffered heavy losses in the whole county, and even the commander was directly captured. Originally, I didn't intend to ask about these things, after all, this is a matter for your cabinet and Congress, and I am not qualified to ask about it. But as you know, as the head of the Commonwealth, I can't afford to lose face. ”

Queen Victoria sighed deliberately, she looked calmly at the rococo-decorated sofa, and said coldly, "If the people lose faith in your cabinet, you should know that it will happen." I'm not going to stop you, but the British need dignity. This turmoil must be resolved as soon as possible. I don't want to hear anything like that again. ”

Although Queen Victoria was only the nominal head of state and did not have any powers. But in 19th-century England, Queen Victoria was always a symbol of power, and everyone was expected to treat her with respect, even Prime Minister Gladstone.

Obviously, this time Queen Victoria is playing on the topic, because the British government accidentally killed Napoleon IV, the Bonaparte family pointed all the fingers at themselves, and Queen Victoria has always liked Eugène Bonaparte very much, so prejudice against Gladstone arises.

"Of course, we will solve these problems, in fact these are not problems, and now the British fleet is blocking the coastline. The Germans did not have enough ocean-going troops to support, and if they were to set out from the continent, it would only be outrageously inefficient, and the French did now have a colony in the Congo, but they did not have enough troops to support South Africa, and this is our chance, and the encirclement will win one day. That gold mine belongs to Great Britain! ”

Queen Victoria sneered, and she said calmly, "I hope you can take the Transvaal as you wish, I don't want to see the British lose face in Africa without taking South Africa at the end." Okay, I don't have anything to say, so you can step back first. ”

Gladstone nodded, and he slowly exited the room. When he walked out into the hallway, he also met Eugenie.

The other party still looked at the murderer who killed his son with indifferent eyes, of course, he also knew that he couldn't do anything drastic. After all, he maintained a friendly relationship with Queen Victoria, but in fact, since the death of Napoleon IV, the Bonaparte family has become a vulnerable group under the fence. Even if there are fanatics who shout for a counterattack on Paris, it is only rhetoric. In fact, by opposing Napoleon, they were questioning the legitimacy of Bonaparte's rule.

Gladstone knew he was wrong, but he just nodded to her and hurried away.

However, Eugenie stopped him from behind.

"Heard that the British suffered a crushing defeat in South Africa? Beaten back by a bunch of French volunteers, right? ”

It seems like everyone who meets the British Prime Minister has to bring up this issue.

"It's none of your business, how the British army is in the Transvaal is our internal problem, and it is not the turn of a French outsider to intervene."

Eugenie gave him a disdainful look in return, and said coldly, "Of course I am not qualified to meddle in your problems, and I don't want to interfere, I don't care what happens to you anyway." But there is one thing I must warn you of. ”

Gladstone stopped, he turned to look at Eugenie, and asked in a calm tone, "What's the problem?" ”

Like a mysterious witch, Eugénie said to Gladstone, "You won't win this war, and the French won't let you win anyway." You only have a stop loss, no end. Remember this sentence of mine, please keep it firmly in mind. ”

Gladstone couldn't tell if it was a sad mother's angry curse or a real piece of advice. But in the end, the prime minister only nodded slightly and said, "Britain will not lose, absolutely not." ”

"You never know who you're up against."

Eugenie said disdainfully, "You are not qualified to be his opponent." ”