Complex Politics

Political struggle was brutal. This Ethiopian War had been pushed forward single-handedly by Benjamin's cabinet; having dug their own pit, they had to bury themselves in it.

The British public was proud. They could tolerate losing to any European great power, but they could not accept defeat at the hands of African natives.

To avoid giving the opposition ammunition and triggering a storm of public criticism, Benjamin's cabinet could only swallow the military's false battle report whole.

"Remove the losses of the Indian colonial troops from the casualty figures. Also, do not publish all the deaths for now; spread the losses out over the subsequent war.

Mobilize all our resources to guide public opinion as much as possible and suppress the impact to the lowest level. If the situation cannot be controlled, then create some major news to divert the public's attention."

There was no other choice. Benjamin did not want to be driven from office in disgrace just after taking power.

After hearing Benjamin, Army Minister Fox said, "My apologies, Prime Minister. I took the wrong battle report just now—that was from the previous Anglo-Boer War.

This is the report sent back from the front. After a month of bitter fighting, our forces wiped out 9,568 enemy troops at the cost of 351 dead and 1,126 wounded.

However, Ethiopia is simply too vast, and France and Austria are eyeing it like tigers watching their prey. To occupy Ethiopia before France and Austria do, the frontline troops have requested reinforcements of 80,000 men from home."

Seeing the Army Minister produce yet another battle report, no one found it strange anymore. There were countless bizarre things in politics; how could one get by without making several preparations?

Fox was already serving as Army Minister for the third time. Even after the