Chapter 913 Influence

Compared with the mourning in the French camp, the situation of the coalition forces was completely different.

A meteor shower in the sky, a series of chug chug on the ground... The specific results have not been counted, but the French corpses all over the ground are enough to explain a lot of problems.

The coalition officers and soldiers who witnessed all this with their own eyes now have only two words in their minds - "massacre".

Whether it was an aerial battle in the sky or an offensive and defensive battle on the ground, it was a unilateral massacre by the Austrian army against the French army.

The coalition officers and soldiers, who were originally disillusioned, unstable in morale, and confused about the prospect of war, now have a new mental outlook.

...

coalition command

Admiral Adrian was eager to try: "Marshal, the French army suffered heavy losses in the battle during the day. Tonight will definitely not be peaceful. It is a good time for us to counterattack."

From a military point of view, this judgment is not wrong, and the heavy casualties have seriously affected the morale of the French army.

In particular, these casualties were caused by high-level misjudgments and command errors, which made the grassroots officers and soldiers complain about the upper levels.

"no!"

Archduke Albrecht decisively refused.

"It's not the time to fight back, the French army just suffered heavy losses today, and at least five divisions in Oudinot's hands did not take part in the battle.

The mobile troops in our hands are too small, and the newly reorganized troops are still in the process of rest and reorganization, and there is not much combat effectiveness at all.

Daytime troops were exhausted, and now no more than six infantry divisions could be put into the attack, including the three that had been withdrawn from the Belgian front last week.

The French are not fools. After suffering such a big loss, they will definitely strengthen their vigilance. With our current strength, even if we take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, it will be difficult to achieve the desired result.

Moreover, the French Third Army is less than fifty kilometers from the front, unless we can solve these enemies in front of us within a day. "

It is simply impossible to end the battle in one day. No matter how much advantage was taken during the day, it still did not change the fact that the Austrian army was insufficient, even with the addition of the troops of the two countries in Derby.

Although today's battle has restored the morale of the coalition troops, except for the Austrian troops, the combat effectiveness of other armies is still recovering.

Take the Belgian army as an example, just a few days after they lost their hometown, people are in tears. Unless it is a campaign to regain Belgian territory, it will be difficult for them to exert their peak combat effectiveness.

Not to mention the German army that was recruited, it can only be said that the command system was reluctantly straightened out, and the officers and soldiers were in a state of running-in.

Time is on the side of the coalition forces, and reinforcements from the rear are coming in a steady stream, and Archduke Albrecht can afford to wait.

The enemy's airship force has been abolished, and now as long as the Rhine defense line is held, it is a matter of time before the French fail.

Of course, there is another reason that cannot be said.

If the sneak attack was successful, the French army suffered heavy losses and directly retreated to the mainland, and the subsequent battles would not be easy to fight.

At war with the French on the territory of Derby, Austria can also hold high the banner of anti-aggression and gain the support of the local people.

If you enter the French mainland for a decisive battle, not to mention the pile of fortifications, international interference alone will be a big trouble.

You must know that the international community now supports the anti-French alliance. It seems to be just shouting slogans without any substantive action. In fact, governments of various countries are secretly causing trouble for the French.

With these small measures alone, France has to spend hundreds of millions of francs every month. Money is spent, but supplies may not arrive on time.

If the trend of strength and weakness is reversed, the anti-French alliance will suffer now. At least until the end of the Egyptian campaign, the Vienna government could not ignore the positions of the countries.

If the battle in the daytime is spread, it will definitely affect the governments of various countries' judgments of the strength of the warring parties, and may even affect everyone's foreign policy.

However, Archduke Albrecht can be sure that the French cannot report the real situation of the battle during the day, and even try to cover up the failure, otherwise they will not be able to explain to the country.

As for the news announced by the coalition forces, even if it is the truth, everyone can't help but discount it. It is impossible to believe that the casualties of the French army are so great.

The reason is naturally the amazing record announced by both sides before. According to the annihilation figures announced by the warring parties, the French have killed 3.46 million coalition troops, and the coalition troops have also killed 2.47 million French troops.

According to this figure, since the outbreak of the war, the warring sides have killed an average of 70,000 people each day, and the death toll on the entire battlefield has reached an astonishing 140,000 per day.

There are so many dead alone, and the number of casualties is calculated according to the threefold increase in the number of casualties, so the total number of casualties of the French army is 12.35 million; and the total number of casualties of the coalition forces has reached an astonishing 17.3 million.

If such an exaggerated victory really happened, the war would have ended long ago, and whoever believed it would be a fool.

In fact, at the beginning, the results announced by the warring parties were not so exaggerated. Even if they were artistically processed, everyone was restrained, at least not to the point of adding zero.

After a battle, for example, the French army was going to announce the killing of 8,000 coalition troops, but seeing that the coalition announced that they had killed 12,000 French troops, I have to say that we can't show weakness, and then with a swipe of a pen Turned into 50,000 enemies.

Seeing that the French army announced the annihilation of 50,000 coalition forces, the coalition forces could not suffer, and in a blink of an eye, they tried to find a way.

To increase the results of annihilating tens of thousands of enemies, no one wants to weaken their momentum anyway.

If it weren't for the fall of the Luxembourg line of defense and most of the Belgian territory occupied, the cowhide would not be able to go on, and the coalition would not be at a disadvantage in destroying the number of enemies.

Even so, the word game continues. And the further back, the more outrageous the results announced by everyone, and the farther and farther the truth is from the public.

No wonder, bragging is a common human problem. If you look through history books, you will know that the ancients played like this thousands of years ago.

The battle has been going on until now, and the two sides have only wiped out a few million enemies. If you cross out a zero, it is very close to the real number.

However, according to the current results announced by the warring parties, if the war continues for a few more months, it will not be a problem at all if the death toll on paper breaks through a small target.

...

Tonight is destined to be a night of insomnia. With the transmission of telegrams, many big people can't sleep.

The coalition side is fine, as the victorious side has received good news.

Except for a moment and a half of disbelief and the need to verify the information from multiple parties, the mental state of the politicians is still good.

Some of the active guys have decided to have an all-nighter to celebrate this hard-won victory.

Of course, Franz was not included here. After receiving the telegram, he replied: I know.

Then, there is no then.

I had been prepared in my heart, and this surprise was not so sudden. Naturally, I went to sleep when I should go to bed.

Without any accident, Franz's unpretentious performance added another piece to his emperor's career and left a small story for future generations.

...

Compared with the quiet Vienna Palace, the Versailles Palace is already brightly lit at this moment, and the roar can be heard faintly from time to time.

There is no doubt that anyone who dares to stay up late at night and roar in the Palace of Versailles can never find another person except Napoleon IV.

Since the Luxembourg defense line was torn apart, the French army has been galloping in Central Europe, "fighting the German Confederation and carrying Belgian children's shoes" all the way.

In Napoleon IV's plan, the French army should continue in this state, all the way to Vienna to defeat Austria.

However, the plan did not change quickly, and just as he was about to drink the horse Rhine, he suffered a blow.

It is difficult for Napoleon IV not to be angry. If anyone is in his position, there is no guarantee that he will perform better at this moment.

First came the bad news of the heavy losses of the airship troops on the front line, which announced the end of the airship era, marking that France's investment in airships over the years has all paid off.

Napoleon IV was an emperor who grew up with a new type of education, and he was barely able to accept technological changes.

Isn't it just an airplane. With the strong family background of France, it will be produced in a few months.

Anyway, the power of the aircraft is limited these days. In addition to restraining the airship, the role it can play on the battlefield is not as great as that of later generations.

Even with the loss of air supremacy, Napoleon IV still had confidence in the French Army.

In his opinion, without the assistance of the airship bombing force, the cost of winning the war would be higher, and there would still be time to push it later.

It is a pity that the French Army, which he had high hopes for and has a long history, handed him an answer sheet with only single-digit scores.

With more than 30,000 casualties and 50,000 casualties, this was not a battle, but a one-day battle.

After paying such a heavy price, the victory was very small. A conservative estimate of the casualties of the Austrian army was at most three digits.

Most of these are caused by artillery, and a small amount is caused by airship bombing. Although the airship troop did not drop a few bombs, they slammed into the street gorgeously, but when they fell, it was a giant bomb.

Of course, after the airship troops swooped down on the streets, they did not forget to visit the French camp while harming the coalition.

In this respect they are treated equally, and where they fall is entirely determined by the will of God.

As for the infantry who launched the attack, regardless of their heavy casualties, in fact, they just walked around the battlefield and sent a large number of heads.

The situation was worse than the original Somme and the battle, the British just ignored the threat of the machine gun fire network, and the bureaucracy was mechanical.

The French army didn't even know what the Maxim machine gun was, so they rushed straight up. It's not a big deal if you just don't know.

When the commanders and fighters on the front line found out that the casualties were heavy, they would definitely report to the top. As long as the offensive tactics are adjusted in time, the loss will not be so great.

It's a pity that all this does not apply to the French army, let's tell a story.

During the battle for Luxembourg, a French-Italian infantry division was ordered to launch the main attack on enemy positions.

After the battle started, the heroic French soldiers launched a charge one after another, and one of the Italian soldiers formed an infantry regiment as the main body, which was exceptionally brave in the battle.

Nearly two-thirds of the entire regiment's 2,146 people fell on the way to the charge, so frightened that the division commander immediately stopped and replaced them to rest.

As a result, after the troops were withdrawn in the evening, when the final number was counted, the regiment actually received 2,101 soldiers out of the 2,146 soldiers that were supposed to arrive.

In the missing platoon, the corpse collection team only found Qiju corpses. Whether the remaining people died in battle or escaped, there is still no way to determine.

Due to the large number of people involved, the French army command, apart from dismissing the officers involved and taking them to a military court, did not deal with the soldiers, but drove them back home.

There is no doubt that such an understatement is undoubtedly a big failure. By the time the French top brass reacted, the situation was out of control.

The power of role models is enormous. There is never a shortage of people in this world who are afraid of death, and almost all French troops follow suit.

The high-level French army who reacted naturally also took measures to severely punish these guys. However, once Pandora's Box is opened, it cannot be solved by closing it.

In order to avoid punishment, all kinds of strange excuses have appeared. Of course, more are still pretending to be wounded. Many people deliberately cause minor injuries and then hide in the rear hospital to recuperate.

It wasn't until Marshal Patrice McMahon came out, cleaned up military discipline, and changed the original punishment mode that the situation improved.

No matter how you change it, the Commander's preconceived impression still won't change for a while.

All the factors came together to make this tragedy happen.

In terms of the overall war situation, the mere tens of thousands of casualties were simply not worth mentioning to the French Empire.

The problem is that in order to open the gap as soon as possible, Marshal Patrice McMahon put the main force of the French army into the front line, so now the heavy losses happen to be the elite of the French army.

You can see the specific numbers of the units. Generally speaking, the units with smaller numbers or those at the top are standing troops. They have been established for many years, and their combat effectiveness is not comparable to that of the newly formed units.

When Napoleon IV was almost done venting, Prime Minister Terence Bourgin stepped forward and persuaded: "Your Majesty, this is the end of the matter.

Let's find a way to deal with the aftermath. Whether it's the enemy's aircraft, or the new machine guns and mortars that have just emerged, they are all worthy of our possession.

Today's battle is not entirely the responsibility of the front-line generals. The Austrians caught us off guard with these new gear, and that doesn't mean anything.

Having learned the lessons of this failure, I believe that in the following battles, our army will play its due combat effectiveness. "

Many people at the top of the French government, including Prime Minister Terence Bourgin, are not convinced by today's inexplicably lost war.

In their view, the Austrians were nothing more than taking them by surprise by relying on more advanced equipment. As long as the French army reacted, the situation would be changed.

After listening to the Prime Minister's persuasion, Napoleon IV's expression did not improve, and he immediately rebuked the Minister of War: "What does the Ministry of War eat? We invest so much military expenditure every year, why is the equipment behind the Austrians so much?

Don't tell me this is an accident. Whether it's an aircraft or a machine gun, it has been born for decades. Why is our army not equipped? "

After a series of whys, the Minister of War buried his head even lower. No calamity, this is it.

The innovation of armament technology has never been easy. The original space-time Maxim machine gun was the first to show its power, and it was used by the British to deal with the indigenous people. As a result, they still jumped into the pit in the first World War.

Not to mention this time, Austria has hidden all these belongings at home, and the outside world does not know anything about it.

Before today, in everyone's consciousness: the Maxim machine gun is just an ordinary machine gun, and there is no essential difference from Gatling; the plane is more of a flashy toy, and it is useless except for air performances.

This is a wide-ranging judgment from all walks of life. The Minister of the Army is not a traveler, and he can open it without hanging up. Naturally, he cannot jump out of this circle of thinking.