The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria’s Mandate of Heaven - Vol 3 Chapter 36

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Metternich was shocked by the news that Archduke Albrecht was leading the army. His bodyguards and Franz’s Royal Dragoons disappeared together, as well as the thousand elite drawn from the garrison near Vienna.

To attack Belgium and Holland with only 5,000 men is extraordinary; no matter how well equipped the army is and how brave the soldiers are, it is logically equivalent to sending them to death.

Another point is that as a member of the royal family, Albrecht led the army to have other meanings-representing the attitude of the royal family.

Although Metternich tried to suppress militant speech through the position of public opinion, the spectacular scene of thousands of officers and soldiers boarding the train at the railway station was clearly captured by the citizens of Vienna.

This is more lethal than 100,000 newspapers, not to mention that the flag of the German Confederation Volunteer Army is simply a magic weapon for bluffing and deceiving.

Austria itself had a tradition of volunteers; here it is, news of soldiers from all over the world and the corresponding calls set off for Luxembourg in droves soon spread to the other German states, and the locals followed suit so much that the government wanted to Can’t stop it.

Albrecht was an impulsive but not reckless young man. The reason why he acted so resolutely must be the Archduke Franz behind the scenes to make him so resolute.

“Your Highness, what did you say to Grand Duke Albrecht? Do you know? You have triggered an armed conflict in Europe. Originally, this was a war within the German Confederation, but now our country is also involved. ”

Metternich had a very helpless expression. This sudden change obviously made him very embarrassed. It seemed that the clever student did not convince the teacher before.

“I just told him that speed is the most important thing in soldiers.”

Franz replied frankly, since he couldn’t convince the other party of his own judgment, he should prove it with practical actions.

“But now this is a lonely army going deep. Once Grand Duke Albrecht is defeated and captured, it will be a political disaster for the empire.”

Metternich spoke earnestly. He still appreciates Franz’s previous strategy of combining vertical and horizontal. Although it seems to be a powerful and unconstrained style, it still has some maneuverability.

But acting rashly at this moment is an extremely stupid behavior, which really makes him feel very sorry. Is the empire really going to fall into the hands of a reckless man?

However, the seemingly naive diplomatic strategy and the seemingly reckless recklessness are actually a combination of punches.

But Franz was not interested in starting a new story with an old man who was nearly seventy years old, so he replied calmly.

“Master Prime Minister, the way you want to avoid political disaster now is neither to complain nor to question me. Instead, you should fully support the actions of Grand Duke Albrecht.”

Metternich was unavoidably displeased at such a child’s remarks, but due to the identity and situation of the other party, he really had no time to delay, and he had to fully support this reckless and stupid war.

“I also want to solemnly remind you that Britain is indeed powerful, but not invulnerable. If you don’t even have the courage to challenge, you might as well swim to the other side of the strait and become a British.”

Franz’s sarcasm made the old prime minister stop, but he still didn’t choose to turn back but left.

After Metternich walked away, Franz turned to the dark and said, “Archbishop, there are 1.6 million German-speaking Catholics in Belgium. If they don’t want to live in the Netherlands, I hope they can reach the Empire safely. You can do it ?”

“Educating the world and protecting believers, this is the duty of the church, and we will definitely do our best.”

Franz nodded, unexpectedly, at the critical moment, the most unreliable person is the most reliable.

Due to the activities of the church, the resistance of the people in the Belgian area was not fierce.

Of course, Franz also explained to Grand Duke Albrecht the three major disciplines, the eight points of attention, preferential treatment of prisoners of war, and the like.

Franz and the group of Showa staff officers and Junker officers who like to gamble are not the same kind of people. Regardless of whether Albrecht wins or loses, the goal of knocking the mountain and shaking the tiger has been achieved, and the rest is garbage time.

Of course, he doesn’t think his uncle will have any accidents. If he can be defeated by an unsuspecting opponent while taking advantage of the right time, place and people, then he should pack up and give up fighting for hegemony.

Gather carefully selected elite troops in the country, equipped with one of the most advanced weapons at the moment, rely on the tactics of rapid troop movement to attack unsuspecting enemies, coupled with a large amount of detailed intelligence, even if the Belgians ask God to put on a helmet, they will fight Do not win this battle.

To the eagle-eyed few, this was the first time railroads had been used in warfare.

According to common sense calculations, it will take 13 months for the German Confederation to mobilize and increase its troops; it will take about two months for such a large-scale operation to Luxembourg; and it will waste another 12 weeks for unified scheduling and assignment of tasks.

At this time, Austria’s rapid marching speed was 1520 kilometers per day, and the forced marching speed was 3040 kilometers per day, but most of the time the marching speed was around 10 kilometers.

During the Battle of Solferino, during the Second Italian War of Independence, the Austrians also achieved the miracle of marching 1.5 kilometers a day.

With the transportation capacity of the empire at this time, there is no problem at all in sending 30,004,000 soldiers to Luxembourg every day. It is not impossible to double this number if we go all out, but that will affect the economy and trade.

However, this number is exaggerated when it is enlarged to the entire German Confederation, and more than 20,000 troops can be delivered every day.

Therefore, in a very short period of time, more than 100,000 volunteers from the German Confederation gathered in the Luxembourg area~www.mtlnovel.com~ After reviewing the information and investigation by Franz and his men, it was found that although France had 150,000 troops in the north, However, only 20,000 people under General Jean Durde could go to the front line within a week, and it would take at least half a month for other troops to enter the French-Belgian border.

Theoretically speaking, the French should not send troops to go deep alone, after all, there are hidden dangers that are too risky; and when their troops are assembled, they will suddenly find that the number of opponents exceeds their imagination, and there is a high probability that they have completed the battle. established goals.

By that time, unless the French are crazy, it will be too late to intervene. After all, the tens of thousands of troops entrenched in Wallonia and Flemish are not for nothing.

From another perspective, even if the French really wrestle with the German Confederation regardless of the consequences, the Russians and the British will not share their fate with it.

At this moment, the Russian economy has been bound to the Austrian market, and the Carpathian Mountains are separated between the two sides, and the Russian army is obviously insufficient to fight in Poland. It may take three to deploy troops from South Russia and Siberia. months or even half a year.

As for the Anglo-Saxons, they are natural merchants; they will most likely attack their neighbors across the sea and confiscate the colonies of the French. This is the choice that maximizes the interests of Britain, and even the unification of the Netherlands cannot threaten their interests.

Pu and Austria are both powerful countries on land, and both are members of the German Confederation. The two sides are in a competitive relationship. Although this move has weakened France, it has also made the military power of the European continent more balanced.

At this time, Pu’ao was inferior to France both economically and militarily.

However, the development of the war did not proceed completely according to Franz’s estimation. The appearance of Jean Durd and old Moltke’s gambling tactics changed the situation.