Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 495: Treaty of Cape Town

The sudden plague complicated the situation even more. If it was confined to the South African region, it would be manageable, but if it spread across the entire African continent, Franz would be devastated.

There was no way around it. A colony was still a colony. Despite Austria’s efforts in Africa for over a decade, they still couldn’t change the backward medical conditions.

Although the number of infected people wasn’t high at the moment, the mortality rate was high. Many patients didn’t even know what hit them before they were on their way to meet their maker.

Franz was too close to the situation to see clearly. If he reviewed the data, he would understand why the mortality rate was high.

The majority of the infections were in the cannon fodder units. Due to poor hygiene and lack of effective treatment, the mortality rate was naturally high.

Apart from ordering stricter epidemic prevention measures, there was nothing else Franz could do.

Since an epidemic had appeared in the “Boer Republic Army”, neighboring native tribes were also unlikely to escape it. The cannon fodder units had a high rate of deserters, and it was only natural that some would leave carrying the virus.

Viscount Falkner had only about 30,000 to 40,000 troops under his command. He needed to maintain their combat effectiveness and couldn’t leave the British an opening, so he could spare only a few thousand soldiers to monitor the cannon fodder units.

Using a few thousand to oversee tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands was challenging. If a hundred or so escaped, it was hardly noticeable. With the daily casualties from battles, supervision was even harder.

There were also patrols outside. If they encountered them, it was bad luck for the deserters. If they managed to escape, it was God’s will, although they might not necessarily believe in God.

Franz’s judgment was correct: an epidemic had indeed spread in South Africa, with consequences more severe than imagined.

The highest mortality rate wasn’t among the local natives or the colonists but rather the Indian colonial troops in the city.

Poor sanitary conditions provided a perfect breeding ground for the virus. The small, densely populated areas, combined with a lack of medical resources, created a perfect situation for the virus to spread.

The real culprit behind the high mortality rate of Indian soldiers was their inability to adapt to the local environment. Of course, it was also directly related to diet. The bureaucrats in the British government hadn’t considered the dietary habits of Indians and directly forced potatoes and bread on them.

This was unavoidable. The bureaucrats in the British government didn’t even care about their own people, let alone these cannon fodder troops.

Compared to the Near East War, the British logistics system hadn’t changed much and still operated by the book.

The situation was slightly better in Cape Town, as there was at least fresh fish and meat available, which was far better than eating dried beef every day.

Of course, most Indians didn’t eat beef, but the British logistics supply standards weren’t sufficient to provide them with beef anyway.

Even the worst dried beef was much more expensive than potatoes. The Indians wouldn’t encounter this worry. The British bureaucrats had always provided them with the cheapest options possible, otherwise how could they make money?

With the worsening epidemic, Governor Delf was having a tough time. The negotiations had reached an impasse due to the vast differences in interests between the parties.

The plague continued to spread in the city, and watching the daily increase in the death toll, Governor Delf was in distress.

From the start until now, the death toll due to the plague reached 3,817, and this number was increasing by about 500 people per day. If this continued, they would be finished off by the plague before the enemy could.

The biggest obstacle to curbing the epidemic was the lack of water. Unfortunately, since the news of the plague in Cape Town spread, the number of supply ships arriving had decreased rather than increased.

People are afraid of death, and no one wants to approach a plague-ridden area. If he had a choice, even Governor Delf would have fled.

Even with a 50% increase in transport fees, few were willing to risk bringing supplies, worsening the situation in Cape Town.

Currently, there were 150,000 troops in Cape Town, half of whom were Indian colonial troops. It was with these cannon fodder units that both sides reached a stalemate.

Despite the shoddy fortifications in the rear, the buildings in the city were solid. The Indian colonial troops and the African expeditionary force were evenly matched.

Looking at the Red Cross flags hung outside the city, Governor Delf was disgusted and at one point wanted to order the troops to attack.

If they won, the situation would significantly improve. Breaking the siege would alleviate the water crisis, reduce the population density, and make epidemic prevention easier.

If they lost, it wouldn’t be too bad either. The battle would eliminate some of the population, reducing population density and the demand for fresh water. This would have a positive impact on epidemic prevention.

But thinking was one thing, actually doing it was another. Governor Delf still didn’t dare. The two sides were still negotiating, and rashly provoking a war would be risky. If they won, it would be fine, but if they lost, he would truly end up in a military court.

Could they win? Governor Delf already knew the answer to that question. With the current morale, the chances of mutiny were higher than the chances of victory if they went out to fight the Austrians.

In reality, from the start of the war until now, Governor Delf had already suppressed five mutinies and didn’t dare to further strain the fragile nerves of his soldiers.

There was no way around it, a motley crew was just like that. Most of the white soldiers in the city were either temporarily recruited from the colonies or reinforcements drawn from various colonies by the British government, with regular troops being in the minority.

In the eyes of many in the British government, suppressing the army was more important than this war. In the original timeline, the poor performance in the Anglo-Boer War was actually a result of the British government suppressing the army.

If they were regular troops and had a twofold advantage in manpower, Governor Delf wouldn’t have fought so miserably, being beaten down from start to finish.

From a military perspective, managing to preserve most of the forces despite continuous defeats showed that the commander was at least competent. But just being good at retreating wasn’t good enough.

Despite the passive stance, the sudden plague accelerated the Anglo-Boer negotiations. The worsening situation continuously pushed the British to their limits.

The Cape Town colonial government was leading the negotiations this time. Fully aware of the situation, they didn’t dare to delay any longer.

Due to the plague, the number of supply ships had decreased, and the reserves in Cape Town were not increasing but steadily declining. Especially fresh water, which was extremely scarce.

It was challenging to store large amounts of fresh water, which needed to be kept in reservoirs or storage tanks. During wartime, reservoirs were out of the question.

The artillery outside the city wasn’t for show. With shells occasionally exploding in the reservoirs, even if they disregarded gunpowder and heavy metal poisoning, the reservoirs couldn’t hold water!

With no other choice, the British had to build numerous storage tanks, which was no easy task. Solving the drinking water problem for so many people wasn’t a small project.

This wasn’t something that could be solved by just digging a hole. If they didn’t address the leakage problem, the water would be gone before winter arrived.

To conserve water, the British forces in Cape Town had already started rationing. White soldiers received five liters of water per day, while Indian soldiers only received three liters per day.

This amount was just enough for drinking water. The remaining amount might be used for washing faces, and if British soldiers were frugal, they might be able to wipe down their bodies.

This was only theoretical. Daily life requires more than just drinking water. People can’t go without washing clothes, hands, or bathing. Of course, in this era, Indians didn’t bathe much anyway.

This amount could only ensure survival, and nothing more. Unless the British could magically desalinate seawater, they simply couldn’t meet the demand.

While the internal situation in Cape Town couldn’t be investigated, the number of ships entering the port each day couldn’t be kept secret.

The daily reduction in the number of ships entering and leaving Cape Town was easy to calculate mathematically, and everyone knew this meant the supply of materials was decreasing.

Without sufficient supplies, Cape Town would inevitably fall sooner or later. This gave the “Boer Republic representatives” more confidence in negotiations.

This was the theory, but in reality, as long as the plague continued, the “Boer Republic Army” outside the city wouldn’t dare to attack.

The Cape of Good Hope was important, but not so important to Austria that Franz would spare no expense to capture it.

There were ways to solve the supply shortage, such as reducing the number of troops. After all, the plague was the best barrier.

If they attacked the city during the plague, by the time they captured the Cape of Good Hope, the Boer Republics’ forces would be nearly decimated. This “decimation” referred not only to casualties but also to morale.

When soldiers become war-weary and unwilling to fight for their country, even the most powerful army can become ineffective.

As winter approached, the British couldn’t hold out any longer and had to make major concessions.

On June 18, 1871, the British and the Boers signed a ceasefire treaty in a military camp outside Cape Town, ending the year-long war.

Treaty terms:

One: The war between Britain and the Republic of Transvaal and the Orange Free State was an accident. For world peace, both sides would end the war from the date the treaty was signed (June 18, 1871).

Two: The British side will pay 3.6 million pounds as a buyback fee for the land within a 200-mile radius of Cape Town.

Three: Both sides will exchange prisoners of war. For numbers exceeding the agreed amount, a ransom will be paid according to international conventions. The agreed price was 180 pounds per soldier, and for officers, the price would vary and start from 300 pounds depending on rank and title.

There was no assignment of war guilt or mention of victory or defeat as if it were a trivial conflict not worth mentioning.

Reality was harsh. Britain still cared about face and wouldn’t easily admit defeat. Even if the Cape Town colonial government accepted it, the officials in London wouldn’t.

Ceding territory and paying reparations was out of the question. The British government couldn’t bear the political impact of a war defeat. Land repurchase and prisoner ransom were more acceptable.

After all, the lost land mainly belonged to the South African Colonial Company, not the British government.

With a thicker skin, they could just say the colonial company’s colonization activities had failed, and the British government was buying back a piece of the colony from the Boers.

The prisoner ransom was simpler as European society didn’t reject this. If the number of prisoners this time was a bit high and the ransom amount paid was large, it could all be covered up with a sentence about exchanging prisoners.

If they were really shameless, they could even declare this a great victory. Strategically, they had crushed the enemy’s plot for the Cape of Good Hope and forced the enemy to give up this unrealistic fantasy.

Politics had always been like this. Even this Anglo-Boer War could be blamed on the South African Colonial Company. The company had already gone bankrupt in the war, so no one would come out to defend it.

In fact, Governor Delf had already started doing this. As a qualified politician, even after losing the war and signing an unfavorable treaty, he minimized the war’s responsibility.

In any case, the Cape Town colony was still preserved. Although it was a shrunken version, the British public wouldn’t know and wouldn’t care about the exact size of a colony thousands of miles away.