Holy Roman Empire

At the beginning of a new day, the snow is still flying in the sky.Generally speaking, in this kind of weather, neither the coalition nor the French army will attack.

Captain Hoegg, who was patrolling, did not dare to take it lightly. There was no large-scale attack, which did not mean that a small-scale attack would not happen.

The 25th Division, where Captain Guang Hoeger was located, was attacked seven times by the French in just half a month, causing hundreds of casualties.

Of course, the coalition forces also organized a number of retaliatory counterattacks. In general, they were mutually successful, and the Austrian forces had a slight advantage.

Against the biting cold wind, Captain Hoeger sneezed, and an unknown premonition came into being.

"All cheer me up, and be careful of being shot by the French."

The battlefield is the best teacher, and experience is learned slowly.I don't know since when the two sides fell in love with sniper games.

Four to five hundred meters away, three or five soldiers with good marksmanship were ambushed, and they carried out sneak attacks on the enemy's patrol, and did not seduce the previous platoon.

Constrained by the accuracy of guns, those who can hit more than 30% at a distance of 200 meters are elite soldiers.

At a distance of four to five hundred meters, with the exception of sharpshooters, ordinary soldiers rely entirely on luck, and they can't effectively kill.

Soldiers in ambush fight when they are completely won, or run away if they fail.In recent times, most of the casualties on both sides of the war came from this way.

"Don't worry, Captain. The terrain is flat, and you can see everything from three to five miles away. There is no way to hide.

You see, there is a vast expanse of whiteness ahead, it does not look like someone is passing by, unless the French lie in ambush in the snow in the middle of the night."

It was a middle-aged veteran who returned to the army after the war broke out.It can be seen from the eyes of everyone that his position in the patrol team is not low.

The army worships the strong, and it is naturally respectable because of its ability.Here is no exception. The middle-aged veteran is respected, naturally because he has rich combat experience and has won a medal of military merit.

Almost all the Austrian army companies will have such veterans. The value of their existence is to impart battlefield experience.

Captain Hoeger took out his binoculars, glanced forward, and after confirming that there were no signs of pedestrians, he breathed a sigh of relief.

There is no ambush overnight. The temperature in the middle of the night is more than ten degrees below zero. In the ice and snow, without any heating facilities, it would be deadly.

As for digging holes and setting up shelters, that only exists in the drama.It's impossible in reality. Frozen soil is not so easy to dig. How can it be dug out silently overnight?

Just about to put down the telescope, a looming figure suddenly appeared in the distance, and Captain Hoeger's expression suddenly became solemn.

"Send a signal, the enemy has appeared."

The distance is too far, and you can only see it roughly through the binoculars.Although it is unreasonable for the French to launch an offensive in such weather, the battlefield is not a reasonable place.

Captain Hoeger attended the military academy, and countless classic battles tell him that classic battles are won by breaking the rules.

Not feasible in theory does not mean that it will not happen in reality.For the French army, launching an offensive in icy and snowy weather is certainly disadvantageous, but it is not entirely unprofitable.

In such spooky weather, the Austrian planes and airships can only rest at home, and there is no need to worry about threats from the sky.

The task of the patrol is to find the enemy and report in time.Perceiving the change, Captain Hoegg would naturally report it.

"Captain, are you sure that it is the French army? It is not good for the French to launch an offensive now. You must know that fighting in such a ghostly weather will cause very high casualties for soldiers!"

In normal times, soldiers were injured. When the corpses were collected in the evening, they could also be taken back for treatment.

This kind of icy and snowy weather is different. The wounded lay in the snow for a few hours, and the wound has already been frozen and the possibility of recovery is greatly reduced.

Anyone with a little bit of military knowledge knows that the number of wounded on the battlefield is usually several times the number of soldiers killed in action, and it may even be more than ten times as many.

If these wounded cannot be rescued, the battle damage will go up all at once.France is not a populous country, and they cannot bear such a loss.

Hoeger shook his head: "Lieutenant Hans, do you think in such a ghostly weather, besides the French, there will be people running to our side in groups?

Don't forget, now is the time of war.This is the battlefield where we fought with the French army again. I don’t think there is a normal person who would not want to run to death!"

There were no guns on the battlefield, and there was no innocence in front of the two armies. They ran to join in the fun, and died in vain.

The nearby residents had run away long ago, and no one stayed to be bombed.Captain Hoegg directly ruled out the possibility of being the people.

Hans's middle-aged man shook his head: "No, Captain. Don't forget that the mines and factories in the Rhineland area are closed. After losing their livelihoods, ordinary people can't hold on for long.

In this icy weather, it is difficult for the French to protect their logistics, and it is impossible to provide relief.

According to past experience, every war will produce a large number of refugees.For example, in the last Near East War, we created a large number of refugees for the Ottoman Empire."

It can be seen that it is not that Lieutenant Hans has strong analytical ability, but mainly participated in it personally. The impression in his mind is really too deep.

There are ready-made success stories, and the French have no reason not to follow suit.As for the sequelae, this is what Lieutenant Hans can consider.

Hearing this explanation, Captain Hoeger gave up his plan to withdraw immediately. Anyway, the distance between the two sides is still far, so it doesn't matter if they stay longer.

"Sending the signal, the scouts go one kilometer to observe, and first determine if the team in front is the French army."

Oolong on the battlefield, the consequences are very serious.In case the refugees were mistakenly regarded as enemies, and the artillery greeted them, it would be another tragedy.

Captain Hoeger has a conscience and does not want to direct a tragedy himself.

...

The command of the coalition forces, at this moment, the high level of the three-nation coalition forces in Vidéo gathers together.

Grand Duke Albrecht said with a serious look: "Everyone, just received the news from the front line that the tide of refugees is coming to us.

Unlike the scattered refugees before, the number of refugees this time may be as high as nearly 10 million, and our pressure is very high.

There are indications that this time it was the French who were artificially creating a famine and forcing the people to leave.

The French are now poorly skilled and cannot defeat us on the battlefield, so they try to use such despicable means to bring us down."

Fortunately, the Austrian officers, the officers from the two countries directly fry the pot, especially Leopold II, who participated in the meeting, was even more panicked.

On the surface, a large number of refugees will consume coalition supplies and increase the logistical pressure on the anti-French alliance.

If analyzed in a deeper level, this is the prelude for France to completely annex Belgium and the Rhineland region.The locals are gone, so naturally there is no way to prevent the French from occupying these areas.

As long as the French government placed a batch of immigrants on it, the substantial annexation was completed.Even after the war, European countries intervened together, and there was no way to restore Belgium. After all, they were all French.

A similar routine was used during Austria's annexation of the Ottoman Empire.When European governments reacted and wanted to interfere, the Ottomans were almost gone.

As a result of the established facts, European countries have no way to send the Ottomans back from Russia, and in the end they can only watch Austria annex the Ottomans.

After reacting, Leopold II took the initiative and said decisively: "Marshal, we must help the refugees anyway."

There is no way, Leopold II’s basic rule of Belgium is now a refugee.

A country exists because of people, and where there are talents, there is a country.If Leopold II wanted to regain his country, he had to keep these refugees.

Otherwise, after a famine, Belgium, which is already a small population, will be completely cold.

To help refugees, it is better to count on Austria than the anti-French alliance.

There are many members of the Anti-French Alliance, but only Austria, and only the world’s number one exporter of agricultural products, can provide so much food.

Grand Duke Albrecht nodded: "Of course, the relief of refugees is what the Alliance should do. But how to do it is a problem.

Belgium plus the Rhineland region has a total population of more than 11 million.Even if the local population declines due to war, it will not be less than 10 million.

Since the French have made a move, they will certainly not make a fuss.If nothing happens, the number of refugees we will accept is between 9 million and 10 million.

It is not so easy to solve so many people's eating, drinking and sleeping.Proper resettlement must be carried out, or there will be a mess.

Fortunately, the refugees did not come on the same day, and we can still evacuate the refugees."

"Evacuation" is obviously not that simple.As the saying goes, evacuation is easy, but gathering is difficult.Once these refugees are scattered and resettled, it is not so easy to gather them back.

Regardless of allies or allies, Austria will naturally not be a vegetarian if it can become a member of the great powers.

With so many high-quality labors, once Austria has eaten it, it will be difficult for them to vomit.

The phrase "go and stay free" can block everyone's mouth and make everyone have to suffer this dumb loss.

Not to mention keeping everyone, it is still possible to keep half of them.Only those who have experienced war know the value of peace.

Being a neighbor with France is too dangerous, and a small country like Belgium is too insecure.If you can get a better life in Austria, why leave?

This is still based on the fact that Austria has to face the situation. In case the Vienna government has a benevolent face and deliberately set up some obstacles to prevent refugees from leaving, it will be more troublesome.

Leopold II hurriedly objected: "Marshal, this is not good! As long as we win this war, the refugees will still return home.

Taking into account your local circumstances and the convenience of returning home in the future, I propose to establish a refugee camp nearby to resettle the refugees."

If you don't jump out, you can't. The German Confederation is a mess. The Rhineland region does not belong to any state. It is impossible for the representatives of the states present to come forward.

It does not involve self-interest. For representatives of various states, as long as Austria is sure to provide money and food to resettle these refugees, other issues are easy to discuss.

Grand Duke Albrecht shook his head: "Your Majesty. In principle, I support your proposal, but the problem is that we simply cannot do it.

The logistical pressure is already very heavy just to maintain the needs of coalition operations.It is simply impossible to increase the number of refugees by nearly 10 million.

After all, refugees need to dress and eat. So many people consume tens of thousands of tons of materials every day. We simply cannot satisfy them.

If you don't want to see a large number of refugees freeze to death or starve to death, the only way is to send them to the rear for scattered resettlement.

In fact, to disperse and relocate so many people in a short period of time is also very stressful for us."

I don't know, I was taken aback.Hearing that tens of thousands of tons of materials are consumed every day, everyone present is not calm.

Although not everyone is good at math and can calculate it right away, everyone can be sure that Archduke Albrecht cannot lie on this issue.

Leopold II's face sank, and deep down he wanted to oppose it, but the cruel reality really made him desperate.

No amount of reason can be compared to a set of cold numbers.If the material problem cannot be solved, we can only accept Austria's proposal.

As for the future, you can only look forward to the food of the Vienna Palace.Belgium now has lost its bargaining qualifications.