Holy Roman Empire

The general army intended to open up the situation in the southwest, which did not affect the strategic layout of the tsarist government. Marshal Ivanov continued the previous strategy.

For a war involving millions, the gains and losses on the local battlefield are no longer so important.

As long as the Southwest Front did not collapse completely, it was within the tolerance of the Tsarist government, and now they have a more important goal-Smolensk.

No matter how well-prepared the generals are, the war will always kill people.

Smolensk has become a meat grinder. Every day, thousands of people fall. The brutal casualties are a difficult test for the Russian army and the general army.

Within a month of the war, in order to compete for Smolensk, the number of casualties of the Russian army has exceeded 100,000; the general army as a defender did not take much advantage, and the number of casualties was as high as 70,000.

Half of these were killed or disabled, and left the battlefield permanently. It can be said that both Russia and Russia suffered heavy losses.

The cold figures in the battle report did not shake the will of Marshal Ivanov, but strengthened the previous judgment.

The war of attrition is the cruelest and also the safest.According to the current situation, it will certainly not be Russia that will be the first to persevere.

Marshal Ivanov's acceptance does not mean that others can accept it. The heavy casualties have caused doubts within the tsarist government.

Winter Palace, at a high-level government meeting

The Minister of the Interior Mikhail took the lead: "My Excellency Marshal, it has been more than a month since the beginning of the war. We have paid hundreds of thousands of casualties. The battle line has hardly moved forward. Should you explain it?"

Ivanov was unimpressed: "Your Excellency, to be precise, we have killed 65,863 people and injured 97,684 people from the war until now.

Oh, this is the statistics two days ago, and now this number should have increased a lot.The total number of casualties exceeded the 200,000 mark within this month without any problems.

However, you can't just see our loss, the enemy's loss is not small.Judging from the statistical data, the number of civilians killed in the general army is also approaching 60,000."

The water-filled "Kamen Victory" contributed a quarter of this figure and directly brought the exchange ratio between the two countries to Russia.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Christian Tanval: "My Excellency Marshal, no one denies your record. The problem is that our loss is so great that the war has only begun for more than a month!"

Ivanov sneered: "Where there is an undead in war, as long as you can win, any sacrifice is worth it.

Of course, it is not impossible to end this war as soon as possible, but it will do great harm to our international reputation."

It's time to think about fighting for power. Ivanov hated these politicians and didn't save face.

Is it really dissatisfaction, or is it for the tsar to show that this question requires the benevolent to see the benevolent and the wise.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Christanval, asked excitedly: "What way, as long as we can fight this war, we can slowly recover our international reputation."

It ’s not that Christenval does n’t value international reputation, it ’s because their international reputation was originally at the bottom of Europe.

Everyone turned their attention to Ivanov, looking forward to his answer.

After a pause, Ivanov pretended to be relaxed: "It's very simple, you can imitate the Tatars. Send troops to the enemy's territory to destroy and minimize their war potential."

Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. Where is this destruction? Is it clearly slaughter?

Foreign Secretary Chris Basham hurriedly opposed: "No, doing so will provide Britain and France with an excuse to interfere in this war. I am afraid that even Austria will not support us."

It is now the nineteenth century, and it is outdated to play the Holocaust on the European continent.

Through the eyes of everyone, Ivanov knew that no one supported the plan.It ’s not that everyone does n’t want to, but it ’s mainly because they dare not. Russia cannot bear the consequences of the massacre.

Ivanov: "If that's the case, then we can only alleviate it, only to destroy, not kill."

When he said this, Ivanov himself did not believe it.It is completely idealistic to only engage in destruction and not to kill people.

During the actual operation, the enemy will definitely resist. How can it not be possible to kill after the conflict?Red eyes were killed on the battlefield, and the military discipline of the Russian army could not be stopped.

Moreover, Ivanov is preparing to send Cossack cavalry to carry out this plan, the situation is even more uncontrollable.

Alexander II shook his head: "It is impossible not to kill, but to kill selectively. To resolve the enemy's strength and weakness, leave the old and weak, and give the international community an explanation.

Talk about your plan.The enemy is not a fool. It is not so simple for the lone army to penetrate the enemy's territory. If it is bitten by the enemy, it will be in trouble."

The famous Alexander II didn't care anymore. Since he is already an enemy, he should naturally be weakened as much as possible.If he did not take into account the reactions of European countries, he would not mind a massacre.

Ivanov: "Your Majesty, this plan is a sea and land move. The saxophone cavalry on the land is dressed as robbers, crossing the border to engage in destruction.

The sea attack is the same as the last war, but this time we have a special mission. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, some troops may need to be dressed as pirates.

We can issue private piracy permits and encourage civilian armed forces to participate in robbing enemy coastal areas. It would be even better if we could attract real pirates to participate.

Taking into account the position of the Vienna government, the hostages taken by the pirates can be sold to Austrian colonial merchants."

Mercy does not lead the soldiers, in order to win the war, Ivanov has given up his morals.

After weighing the pros and cons, the room became quiet.There is neither support nor opposition.Obviously everyone is an elite in the bureaucracy, and the responsibility is not to come forward.

Alexander II glared fiercely at everyone: "Why are you dumb? Whether you support or oppose, you must have a clear attitude today."

After a pause, he added: "If you oppose it, then come up with a better plan. The situation on the battlefield is in crisis, and there is not so much time for you to waste."

As a matter of urgency, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kristanvar stood up: "Your Majesty, Marshal Ivanov's proposal is very good, but some details need to be improved.

It's not easy to penetrate the enemy's border. If you are not careful, the whole army will be wiped out. How can we ensure the safety of the troops you send?"

agreed.No way, fighting Kristanwal is not good at making him come up with a combat plan is completely embarrassing.

Ivanov was confident: "This is very simple. On the frontal battlefield, we have pinned the main force of the general army, and the enemies in the rear will not be too strong.

Moreover, there are also airship investigations, which can grasp the movement of the enemy's large forces and make timely adjustments.

Troops attacked by land and sea can be evacuated before the enemy arrives as long as they are not too deep into the inland area.We are only engaged in destruction and do not need to occupy the place.

Cossack cavalry is mainly on land. The only thing that can threaten them is the Polish cavalry, but their number is too small.

Because of logistics, we will control the scope of our activities and will not stay away from the main force."

This is all theoretical, and in actual combat, Ivanov must not be so simple.Not to mention, as long as the generals acted at night, the airship could not be detected.

Even if the general military movement is found, high-altitude reconnaissance has no way to distinguish the main force from the cannon fodder.If the general army is willing, it is entirely possible to put military uniforms on the civilians and pretend to be the army.

These problems, Marshal Ivanov will naturally not speak out, otherwise there will be moths.He has no expectations of the military level of his colleagues.

...

The resolution was passed, and Ivanov was relieved.Once this plan is opened, blood will flow into the river, and the reputation of the Russian Empire will again fall to the bottom.

No matter how beautified, it will be a black history.