Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 953 "A Letter to the French Citizens"

Turin's offensive and defensive battle has reached its fiercest time, and the new round of the China-Europe battle has also begun.

Unlike the war in the original time and space, this time the French did not have fortifications to rely on.In order to create conditions for the counter-offensive, the coalition forces destroyed the fortifications along the way, including the famous fortresses of Liege and Mur, which are now in ruins.

The arrogant French may not have considered failure. After occupying these areas, they did not organize manpower to repair fortifications.

Of course, this cannot be said that Marshal Patrice McMahon was negligent.After all, the local people have been driven away, and production has long since stopped.

To repair these destroyed fortifications, raw materials and labor must be deployed from the country, which is an impossible task.

In order to ensure the logistics of front-line combat troops, the French government has done its best, and there is no extra manpower and material resources to repair the fortress.

There were no fortifications available. After the failure of the last Sino-European battle, the French army was forced to emulate the coalition forces in digging trenches and constructing simple temporary defense lines.

French Command, Marshal Patrice McMahon: "When will the latest batch of artillery and machine guns arrive?"

No one dares to believe that, the arrogant French empire, fighting at the door of his own house, will have insufficient weapons and equipment.

However, this is the fact.Both the artillery and Gatlin are too bulky.After the failure of the last battle, in order to transfer troops as soon as possible, the French had to reluctantly give up.

No matter how big a family is, it can't stand a prodigal.Thousands of artillery pieces, thousands of machine guns, hundreds of thousands of rifles, and massive amounts of supplies were lost at a time, and the French could not replenish them in a short time.

War waits for no one. No matter how difficult it is, weapons and equipment must be replenished as soon as possible.

After the war, the French government immediately emptied its inventory and purchased a batch of second-hand goods from the private sector. Together with the unprocessed decommissioned goods, it barely guaranteed that the frontliners had a gun.

Guns can be collected, but artillery and machine guns cannot be refilled immediately.In addition to ordering the arsenal to work overtime, the French government is also actively purchasing.

However, distant water cannot reduce near thirst.Less than a month after the last battle ended, the enemy was ready to attack again.

The middle-aged officer replied in a deep voice: "Marshal, just received the news. The enemy launched attacks on our homeland from Spain and Switzerland, and the weapons and equipment originally allocated to us were temporarily requisitioned."

Upon hearing this news, everyone present looked different.Some were panicked, some secretly rejoiced.

For France, adding two fronts is a disaster; but for everyone present, this is undoubtedly good news.

As the so-called dead daoist friends do not die poor dao, anyway, this war is about to lose, naturally you have to consider yourself.

Two more fronts also mean that there are two more potential backers. Whoever is responsible for the front collapses first will be the scapegoat for France's defeat.

Although the Central European Theater bears the greatest military pressure, they are also the strongest. On the contrary, the two newly-added front defenders are a group of recruits, which are the easiest to break through.

Marshal Patrice McMahon frowned: "Is there no reinforcements?"

The middle-aged officer nodded helplessly. When the words came to his lips, the word "Yes" couldn't be uttered.

With this answer, the old Marshal Patrice McMahon couldn't stand the stimulation and fainted gorgeously.

...

In the coalition headquarters, Albrecht was still worrying about dealing with the French trenches. He never thought that the biggest enemy was now lying down.

Frederick: "Marshal, according to the information from the Air Force, the enemy has adopted double trenches, one wide and one narrow.

The wide trench is in the front, which is five or six meters wide. The staff has calculated it. Armored units of this width cannot make it through. If they accidentally sink in, they will become the enemy's target.

A dozen or twenty meters apart is another ordinary trench. Even if we would send infantry to fill the pit, the enemy also considered it.

Moreover, there is more than one such trench.In theory, if the French plan is completed, we must break into the French mainland, at least torn through hundreds of trenches of this kind.

If we attack head-on, our losses will be very large.

The only good news is that the enemy’s preparation time is too short. As long as our speed is fast enough, the enemy will not have time to complete the trench construction.

I propose to launch a full-scale offensive immediately, first wash the ground with artillery shells, and then press the infantry with the armored forces, and use tanks as mobile turrets to cover the infantry fill.

When necessary, the Air Force can conduct targeted bombing.One place was blown up, and a hole a hundred years away was torn open, and the overall situation was settled when the armored units were released."

In the era of pure manpower, trenches are not easy to dig.A single labor force can dig so many squares of soil every day, and infinite trench tactics are impossible to achieve.

This means that as long as the coalition forces are willing to pay the price, they can rush past.The armored unit itself is suitable for roundabouts, and once it appears behind the enemy, everything is done.

Being merciless, when it comes time to fight for his life, Albrecht will naturally not be vague: "Well, order the troops to prepare and launch a full offensive in two days."

...

The Vienna Palace, seeing that the European War was about to be determined, suddenly received a request from the Russians to send troops, and Franz rubbed his forehead helplessly.

I have to admit that the Mao Xiong is the Mao Xiong. Seeing that there is something to take advantage of, he immediately rushed over.

If it only sent troops by way, the Tsarist government would not need to spend so much effort. It would be right to send troops directly. Austria would not block any military action against the French anyway.

There is no doubt that the tsarist government chose to consult with Austria because of its desire.In addition to the distribution of benefits after the war, the Russians also wanted the Vienna government to bear the military expenses of the Russian army.

The expedition of the labor division is already very expensive. With the financial resources of the tsarist government, if supplies are delivered from the mainland, it is estimated that at most one division will be maintained.

At this point, the troops put into the European battlefield are just as free. Not to mention the right to speak for the distribution of benefits after the war, or the French will be wiped out.

If you have no money, you can only reach out to your allies.And this is not a loan. The Tsarist government will not recognize these military expenditures, and at most they will be recorded in the French accounts.

This is exactly where Franz struggled. According to the current rhythm, the French will definitely be burdened with huge indemnities after the war.No amount of war reparations can be obtained without getting it.

Today is different. If the time is pushed forward by a month or two, Franz will naturally not mind spending a sum of money to pull the Russians into the water.But now it's different. The French are gone, and it's unknown whether they can support the Russian army to the front line.

If the Russian army was still on the way, or just arrived at the front line at the end of the war, Austria would have suffered a big loss. It would have paid nothing for nothing, and would have increased the Russians’ voice in post-war negotiations. .

Want to refuse, Franz is also embarrassed.Regardless of the great momentum of the anti-French alliance, in fact, 99% of the military expenditure of the anti-French alliance is borne by the Austrian family.

Including Spain and Switzerland, which participated in the war last time, they all fought with Austrian money, otherwise they would not have such a high efficiency.

The Russians now want the same treatment that other allies have. Even for the friendship between Russia and Austria, Austria cannot treat it differently.

"The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold on first. If it really can't go on, then promise them.

However, to set up preconditions, troops must be dispatched immediately, and the Russian troops will arrive in Austria within three days after the agreement is reached, and we will send special trains to the front lines.

Order the troops on the front line to speed up and strive for a quick battle.At this point, it's time to settle down."

There is no better way, Franz can only offer procrastination.If you can kill France before the Russians send out troops, then post-war negotiations will be the Tsarist government.

Without making a substantial contribution, being able to follow up with a sum of compensation is enough to prove that Austria has enough friends and the right to share the word does not exist.

If you can't, then you can only retreat and use the Russian army as cannon fodder to reduce your own casualties and make up for the loss of interest.

Prime Minister Carl: "Your Majesty, since the war is underway, everyone knows that France is over. The French government has also indicated to us its intentions for peace talks through the British, and it is time for a political surrender.

If the war can be ended by political means and the Russians want to intervene in European affairs, it will be impossible."

After a big circle, the problem returned to the European hegemony.The discourse power of France after the war was also the establishment of Austrian European hegemony.

The Russians are anxious to get involved. In addition to fighting for the spoils, they are also fighting for the right to speak in the European continent.

Austria’s hegemony cannot be shaken, and a share of the pie is also a good choice. The tsarist government does not want to completely abandon the European continent.

After hesitating for a while, Franz shook his head firmly: "The British cannot mediate this time, and even the post-war negotiations cannot allow them to participate. We only accept the unconditional surrender of the French.

This is a matter of principle.After finally squeezing the British out of the European continent, they could not be allowed back.

The question of persuading France to be surrendered is simple. This is the "Letter to the People of France" that I prepared, and just publish it.

The news was secretly released to let the French gang of profit-seeking capitalists know that if they did not surrender, the coalition forces would confiscate all their property after entering Paris."

In Franz's view, besides defeating the French, the second major strategic significance of this European War was to squeeze out the British influence in Europe.

Looking around Europe, they are all spheres of influence of anti-French alliances, but the British are still allies of the French, and Austria is justifiably requesting that allies be separated from the British.

Including neutral countries is no exception. One of the conditions for making them neutral is: politically cut off from the British.

Rejection is impossible. The British offend too many people.On this issue, the Russians raised their hands in favor. In addition, everyone was dissatisfied with John Bull's previous behavior of selling his younger brother, and then they agreed.

Although this cut was not thorough, cracks still occurred.As long as Austria continues its efforts, it is not a dream to exclude the British from the European continent.

In this context, Franz naturally cannot let the British come out to brush up on their presence.

After receiving the "Report to the French Citizens", I scanned it briefly, and Prime Minister Karl hesitated and asked: "Your Majesty, is the content on this a bit too exaggerated?"

Exaggeration, this is inevitable.There is always someone responsible for the failure of the war. This person cannot be the emperor. Similarly, the monarchy country Franz could not send Napoleon IV to the guillotine.

Nobles are not good either. Nobles are one of the pillars of imperial power.

In addition to the nobles and emperors, there are not many who are qualified to carry the pot.So the poop can only be deducted from the capitalists.Anyway, this is not wrong. The bourgeoisie is indeed one of the driving forces behind this war.

No snowflake is innocent under the avalanche.If it really goes back to the source, then from Napoleon IV to ordinary French people, they will all be responsible for this war.

What Franz is doing now is just helping them find a scapegoat.By the way, the scapegoat was exaggerated and the responsibility of other groups was weakened.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, the contents above are all true. They all stand up to the test. I just used a magnifying glass to magnify some of the people's problems.

Next, as long as we do a good job of guiding and reminding us at the appropriate time, someone will do the rest for us."

Conspiracy to provoke war, hoard, drive up prices, resell strategic materials...

These are all real, a properly black history of the bourgeoisie.Politicians may be able to understand that if these things are not done without the cooperation of the light capitalists, ordinary people will not think so much and will directly charge this account to the bourgeois consortium.

You know, you know, but you don't have to count on who will stand up for the capitalist.When the disaster is approaching and they are flying, and it is too late to throw the pot, who will take the initiative to take responsibility for themselves?

If nothing goes wrong, the bureaucrats, nobles, and even Napoleon IV himself in the French government will follow the tide and pass the responsibilities to the domestic bourgeois consortium.

The French consortium is not weak and will certainly not sit still.Once the danger is realized, action is bound to be taken.

This is a conspiracy, even if all parties know it, they can only bite the bullet and go on.Especially for Napoleon IV and the high-level government, with such a backer, they have the opportunity to retreat.

The final victory is not important anymore, now France can't stand the toss, the result of internal fighting must be an early collapse.