Holy Roman Empire

One wave has not settled, another wave has risen.

Without waiting for the Vienna government to complete the aftermath of the destruction of the canal, the battlefield in China and Europe has changed again.

After 27 days of hard work, and after paying the tragic price of nearly 50,000 casualties, the French army still tore through the Luxembourg defense line that the German Confederation had painstakingly managed, opening the door to the German region.

The pit teammates are also skillful. If earlier, Archduke Albrecht would naturally not mind the French army galloping in the German region, anyway, the Austrian reinforcements are still beyond reach, no one can say anything.

It doesn't work anymore. The Austrian reinforcements have arrived on the front line. The nearest force is less than 30 kilometers away from the Luxembourg front line. If you look at the ally is finished, it will not be justified.

But rescue is not easy. You must know that these troops also have tasks. The Belgians are waiting for them to rescue.

Unlike the German Confederation, Belgium is the real small country with small bullets. Up to now, the whole country has been in battle. It can be said that the full potential of the war has erupted.

There is no way, this is the fault of geographical location.After the war broke out, the Belgian Kingdom, the weakest kingdom, passively assumed the heaviest combat mission in the anti-French alliance.

Austria is too far away, and the German Federation has been slow to act and failed to provide them with timely support. The Kingdom of Belgium can only grit its teeth, and now it has reached its limit.

Since Belgium has persisted to the present, Grand Duke Albrecht naturally cannot watch them die. After the reinforcements arrive, he immediately ordered reinforcements to Belgium.

As for the Luxembourg and Rhineland front lines, the German Federation has more manpower after all, and its strength is relatively sufficient.

However, the reality is such a comedy, the crumbling Belgian kingdom has not yet collapsed, and the more powerful German Confederation has been breached first.

"Luxembourg is defended by 350,000 troops, and more than 400,000 German troops in the Rhineland region can also support them. Why did the defense suddenly collapse?"

Grand Duke Albrecht asked angrily.

But he was not angry. The Luxembourg line of defense did not fall early and late, but collapsed when it shouldn't.

A few days earlier, the defense line collapsed, and the Austrian reinforcements were still on the way, so naturally there was no need to take responsibility for it; a few days later, when the main forces of the Austrian army came over, they were not afraid to fight with the French.

It just doesn't work right now. The Austrian army's vanguard arrived at the front line with only 15 divisions. Reinforcing Belgium to help stabilize the line of defense is okay.

If you want to fight the French, there is no hope at all if you don't double it up. Grand Duke Albrecht doesn't think that the Austrian army can be overwhelmingly outnumbered.

Admiral Adrian, who is in charge of coordinating the work, explained bitterly: "Your Excellency Marshal, this is an accident.

As you know, there are many states in our country. This is the first joint operation between states and states. It is inevitable that there will be some problems with the military command, so..."

The command system "something's wrong", it was all Admiral Adrian putting gold on his face.

In fact, the issue of commanding power of the German Federation has never been straightened out.

The armies of all states have independent command power. The commander-in-chief appointed by the central government is more like a coordinator of a military alliance and has no mandatory binding force on the troops of all states.

Even the battle plan was formulated by representatives of various states.Even in the event of an emergency, everyone has to meet together to make a decision, otherwise the army of each state will not be the headquarters.

Fortunately, the German army has always relied on the fortifications for defense, and there is not much military mobilization needed, otherwise the chaotic command system would have been killed by the French long ago.

Can not hide past the first day of the first year, but not the fifteenth.The consequences of the chaotic command system broke out, and the German Confederation lost the Luxembourg defense at the price.

Grand Duke Albrecht waved his hand and interrupted Admiral Adrian's tirade: "Well, it's not time to be held accountable, and I'm not interested in knowing those bad things.

Tell me now, where did the French hit, and the loss of the frontline troops, or how many troops you can control?"

After a defeat, chaos will inevitably occur.In particular, the German Federal Army is still going its own way, and the situation is even more critical.

At this time, Grand Duke Albrecht only hopes that these guys can burst out of potential when they run, and retain their vitality as much as possible in order to delay the French's advance in the next battle.

Adrian replied in a deep voice: "For days of battle, the frontline troops have long been exhausted physically and mentally. Suddenly they suffered a big defeat and many troops were disbanded.

We are now gathering the routs, and it is estimated that the troop loss this time will exceed half.

After the enemy had broken through the line of defense, the troops marched in two ways, marching all the way to Belgium and all the way to the Rhineland region.

We have built a second line of defense in the Rhineland area, but the incident happened suddenly and the frontline forces were insufficient..."

Having said this, Adrian stopped abruptly.There is no way, it is too shameful.Not only did its own defense line open, even Belgium was smashed by the Germans.

Pit teammates are nothing, Adrian is not the Virgin, the problem is that once Belgium falls, the German Federation will not escape.

The Austrian allies did come, but the Austrian forces arriving at the front were limited in strength and could not close this gap at all.

Looking at the map, Grand Duke Albrecht said coldly: "There will be no reinforcements. The front line is gone, and the dozen or so divisions in my hand can't take care of the two lines.

The top priority is to find a way to defend the Rhine and create conditions for the counterattack in the future.As for other areas, if you give up at this time, you must give up.

Your Excellency should be aware of the importance of the Rhine. If you do not want to see the French army galloping in the hinterland of the German region, then immediately shrink your troops and stick to it."

It seemed embarrassed, but in fact, Grand Duke Albrecht was already happy in his heart.

A decisive battle against the French army in the German region and a battle against the French army in France are two completely different concepts.

In addition to military gains, political gains are more important.The defeat of the German front will inevitably awaken the sense of crisis among the German people.

In a sense, the harder the frontline loses now, the higher the call for reunification after the war.

Especially the people who have experienced this war firsthand are able to appreciate the importance of a strong country.

Little Germany, led by Hannover, obviously cannot meet everyone's needs.At that time, public opinion will spontaneously promote the unification of the German region and form a general trend.

As for a group of state governments with ghosts, after this war, it is almost time to recognize the reality, especially the states that have suffered directly from the war, and they need Austria’s help after the war.

After a pause, Grand Duke Albrecht added: "By the way, you have to explain yourself to the Belgian side."

Explanations are at this point, and any explanation is futile.No matter how bad the ceiling is, it will not change the reality of Belgium being pitted.

If you don't want to lose all the money, the Belgian government can only abandon most of its land and stick to a few military fortresses.

If you are lucky, you can survive until the main Austrian forces arrive; if you are not lucky, they will have to go into exile.

It is conceivable that for a long time in the future, the relationship between Derby and the two countries will not get better.In the war that followed, the two countries could not count on cooperation.

But this has nothing to do with Grand Duke Albrecht. It is inevitable to make some sacrifices for the great cause of reunification of the German region.

It is better to use the hands of the French to resolve the force of these vassals than to defeat the vassal shirtless by the Vienna government.

"Your Excellency Marshal, now there is hope to close the gap when sending troops, and even..."

Before Adrian could finish speaking, Grand Duke Albrecht interrupted strongly: "Your Excellency, all of this is your wishful thinking.

If the gap could be closed, the Rhineland Army would have acted long ago.But until now, I haven't seen them take any action. Are they waiting for my order?

At this stage, the most important thing is to stabilize the situation and create opportunities for the counterattack in the future, not to gamble for that possibility.

Your Excellency should be clear that we cannot afford to lose now.If the front line encounters another defeat, the international situation will be reversed, and countries that are originally inclined to us may all switch to the arms of the French."

Excuses can never be used up. Grand Duke Albrecht decided to pay attention to murder with a knife, so he would naturally not be persuaded.

...

The Royal Palace of Brussels, just waking up from a nap, before Leopold II had time to wash away, he received the terrible news of the collapse of the Luxembourg defense.

Anyone with a little bit of military knowledge knows that once Luxembourg fell, the Belgian flanks were exposed to the French front.

Up to now, the Kingdom of Belgium has used its strength to feed milk, and in a short period of time it simply cannot produce enough troops to build a left-wing defense line.

"waste!"

"It's all a bunch of waste!"

"Nearly 800,000 troops, even a Luxemburg can't hold the distance. Do the generals of the German Federation eat shit..."

...

In the face of the king’s constant curses, no one corrected the German army guarding Luxembourg. There was no small problem of 800,000.

"Your Majesty, the German army is retreating. Our left wing is directly exposed under the enemy's eyelids. Now we can only..."

Prime Minister Auguste was politically savvy, and before he was uncertain about Leopold II's position, he did not make any suggestions for exile.

Perhaps the vent just now eased the mood, or perhaps the Prime Minister’s persuasion played a role, and Leopold II calmed down and said in a deep voice:

"Didn't Albrecht send reinforcements to us? Send these troops up, they will never be a waste!"

"Your Majesty, these troops will not come. Just now the Allied Forces Command sent a telegram that Grand Duke Albrecht was preparing to build the Rhine Defense Line.

It is recommended that we shrink our forces, abandon unnecessary lines of defense, only guard a few key areas, and wait for the next major counterattack."

General De Smet replied.

"Humph!"

"Waiting for the big counterattack, he said it easily. Since the battlefield is not in Austria, it doesn't matter how you fight.

But what should we do?

What about six million Belgian citizens?

Stick to Brussels or go into exile in Austria?

..."

Leopold II raised a series of questions, constantly impacting everyone, and carrying out a soul torture doomed to be fruitless deep in everyone's heart.

...