Chapter 953 "The Letter to the French National"
Turin's offensive and defensive battle was at its most intense, and it was time for a new round of Sino-European battles to kick off.
Unlike the first battle 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, when the coalition forces evacuated, they destroyed the fortifications along the way, including the famous Liege Fortress and Muir Fortress, which are now in ruins.
The arrogant French may not have considered failure. After occupying these areas, they did not organize manpower to repair the fortifications.
Of course, this is not to say that Marshal Patrice McMahon was negligent. After all, the local people have been evicted, and production has long ceased.
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 the 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, and after the failure of the last Sino-European battle, the French army was forced to follow the example of the coalition to dig trenches and build a simple temporary defense line.
French Army Headquarters, Marshal Patrice McMahon: "When will the latest batch of artillery and machine guns arrive?"
No one dares to believe it. The arrogant French Empire fights at the door of his own home, but there will be insufficient weapons and equipment.
However, this is the truth. Both the artillery and the Gatling are too bulky. After the failure of the last battle, in order to transfer troops as soon as possible, the French army could only reluctantly give up.
No matter how big the family is, it can't stand the loser. After losing thousands of artillery pieces, thousands of machine guns, hundreds of thousands of rifles, and massive supplies at one time, 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 emptied its inventory immediately, and also purchased a batch of second-hand goods from the private sector. Together with the retired goods that have not yet been processed, it was barely guaranteed that the front-line staff had a gun.
Guns can be assembled, but artillery and machine guns cannot be replenished immediately. In addition to ordering the arsenal to work overtime, the French government is also actively purchasing.
However, far water cannot reduce near thirst. Less than a month has passed since the end of the last battle, and the enemy is ready to attack again.
The middle-aged officer replied in a deep voice: "Marshal, I just received the news. The enemy launched an attack on our mainland from Spain and Switzerland, and the weapons and equipment originally allocated to us were temporarily requisitioned."
Hearing this news, the expressions of everyone present were different. Some were apprehensive, some were secretly grateful.
For France, the addition of two fronts was a disaster; but for everyone present, it was undoubtedly good news.
As the saying goes, a dead Taoist friend will not die a poor Taoist. Anyway, this war is going to be lost, so naturally you have to think about yourself.
Two more fronts also means two more potential culprits. Whoever is in charge of the front collapses first will be the scapegoat for France's defeat.
Regardless of the fact that the Central European Theater bears the greatest military pressure, they are also the most powerful. On the contrary, the two newly added defenders are a group of recruits, who are the easiest to break through.
Marshal Patrice McMahon frowned: "Is there no reinforcements?"
The middle-aged officer nodded helplessly, the words reached his lips, but the word "yes" could not be spit out.
After getting this answer, the aged Marshal Patrice McMahon couldn't stand the excitement and fainted directly gorgeously.
...
At the coalition headquarters, Albrecht was still worrying about the trenches against the French, and he never thought that the biggest enemy was now lying down.
Friedrich: "Marshal, according to the information from the Air Force, the enemy used double trenches, one wide and one narrow.
The wide trench is in front, and it is five or six meters wide. The staff has calculated that it is difficult for the armored troops to pass through this width. If they accidentally sink in, they will become the enemy's target.
A dozen or 20 meters apart is another common trench, and even we will send infantry to fill the pit, and the enemy has also considered it.
And there is more than one such trench. In theory, if the French plan is completed, we have to break into the French mainland, at least to tear up hundreds of these trenches.
If we attack from the front, our losses will be very large.
The only good news is that the enemy's preparation time is too short, as long as we are fast enough, the enemy will not have time to complete the trench construction.
I propose to launch a full-scale attack immediately, first use artillery shells to wash the ground, and then the infantry cooperates with the armored troops to press on it, and use tanks as mobile fortresses to cover the infantry filling the soil.
When necessary, the Air Force can carry out fixed-point bombing. One place at a time, one place is bombed, a hole a hundred meters away is torn open, and the overall situation is determined by letting the armored troops pass. "
In the age of pure manpower, trenches are not easy to dig. A single labor force can dig so many cubic meters of soil every day, and infinite trench tactics are impossible.
This means that as long as the coalition forces are willing to pay the price, they can rush over. The armored unit itself is suitable for detours, and once it appears in the rear of the enemy, everything is done.
Ci does not control the troops, and when it is time to fight for his life, Albrecht will naturally not be vague: "Well, order all the troops to prepare, and launch an all-out attack in two days."
...
The Vienna Palace, seeing that the European War was about to be decided, suddenly received a request from the Russians to send troops through the road, and Franz rubbed his forehead helplessly.
have to admit
A fur bear is a fur bear, and when he sees something cheap to take, he immediately rushes over.
If it is just to send troops through the road, the tsarist government does not need to spend so much effort, it is right to send troops directly, anyway, Austria will not block any military action against the French.
There is no doubt that the tsarist government chose to consult with Austria for what it wanted. 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 labor division expedition consumes a lot of money. With the financial resources of the tsarist government, if it starts to transport supplies from the mainland, it is estimated that it will maintain a division of troops at most.
This little force is given to the European battlefield for nothing, not to mention the right to speak for the distribution of interests after the war, or the entire army will be wiped out if it encounters the French.
If you have no money at home, you can only reach out to your allies. And this is not borrowing, these military expenditures will not be recognized by the tsarist government, and at most will be charged to the French.
This is where Franz is tangled. According to the current rhythm, the French will definitely carry a huge amount of indemnity after the war, which is destined to be unaffordable. No matter how much war indemnity is fought, it is useless if you can't get it.
Today is different from the past. If the time is pushed forward a month or two, Franz naturally does not mind spending a sum of money to pull the Russians into the water. But it is different now. The French are on the brink, and it is unknown whether they can hold out until the Russian army arrives at the front.
If the Russian army was still on the way, or just arrived at the front line just in time for the end of the war, then Austria would lose a lot of money, not to mention paying a sum of money in vain, and it would also increase the Russians' right to speak in the post-war negotiations. .
If you want to refuse, Franz is also in a dilemma. Regardless of the huge momentum of the Anti-French Alliance, in fact, 99% of the military expenses of the Anti-French Alliance were borne by the Austrian family.
Including Spain and Switzerland, which joined the war at the latest, they are all fighting with Austrian money, otherwise they would not be so efficient.
The treatment that other allies have, the Russians also want now, even for the sake of Russian-Austrian friendship, Austria cannot treat them differently.
"The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will delay it first, and if it really can't be delayed, they will agree to it.
However, to establish preconditions, troops must be dispatched immediately. After the agreement is reached, the Russian troops will arrive in Austria within three days, and we will send a special train to the front line.
Order the troops on the front line to speed up and fight for a quick decision. At this point, it's time to settle down. "
There is no better way, Franz can only resort to procrastination. If you can kill France before the Russians send troops, then the post-war negotiations will be nothing for the tsarist government.
Without making substantial contributions, it is enough to prove that Austria has enough friends, and the right to share does not exist.
If you can't do it, you can only do the next best thing, and use the Russian army as cannon fodder to reduce your own casualties and make up for the loss of interests.
Prime Minister Carr: "Your Majesty, the war has been going on until now, and everyone with a discerning eye knows that the situation in France is over. The French government has also expressed its intention to negotiate with us through the British, and it is time for political persuasion.
If the war could be ended politically, it would be impossible for the Russians to interfere in European affairs. "
After turning around in a big circle, the problem returned to the hegemony of the European continent. The right to dispose of France after the war was also the establishment of Austrian continental hegemony.
The Russians are eager to get involved, not only for the spoils, but also for the right to speak on the European continent.
The hegemony of Austria 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 moment, Franz shook his head firmly: "This time, the British cannot intervene in mediation, and they cannot even be involved in the post-war negotiations. We only accept the unconditional surrender of the French.
This is a matter of principle. The British were finally pushed out of the Continent, and they couldn't be brought back.
The question of persuading France to capitulate is simple. This is the "Letter to the French People" prepared by me. Just take it out and publish it.
Secretly released news to let the mercenary capitalists in France know that if they do not surrender, the coalition forces will confiscate all their property when they enter Paris. "
In Franz's view, in addition to defeating the French, the second major strategic significance of this continental war is to squeeze out the influence of the British in Europe.
Looking around Europe, all are the sphere of influence of the anti-French alliance, but the British are still allies of the French, and Austria is justifiably demanding that the allies be cut off from the British.
Including neutral countries is no exception, one of the conditions for them to be neutral is: politically cut off from the British.
Rejection is impossible, the British offend too many people. On this issue, the Russians agreed with both hands. In addition, everyone was dissatisfied with John Bull's previous behavior of selling his younger brother, and then agreed with the flow.
Although this cut is not complete, the cracks are still generated. As long as Austria continues its efforts, excluding the British from continental Europe is not a dream.
In this context, Franz naturally can't let the British come out to brush their presence.
After taking over the Letter to the French National, and after a brief glance at it, Prime Minister Carr asked hesitantly, "Your Majesty, is the content on it a little too exaggerated?"
Exaggeration, it is inevitable. There is always someone responsible for the failure of a war. This person cannot be an emperor. Similarly, Franz, a monarchy, cannot send Napoleon IV to the guillotine.
Nobles are not good either. Nobles are one of the pillars of imperial power.
In addition to nobles and emperors, there are not many who are qualified to take the blame. So the shit pot 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 an avalanche. If we really go back to the source, then from Napoleon IV to ordinary French people, they are all responsible for this war.
What Franz is doing now is just finding a scapegoat for them. By the way, the scapegoat is exaggerated and the responsibility of other groups is weakened.
"It doesn't matter, anyway, the content above is true, and all of them can stand up to the scrutiny. I just used a magnifying glass to magnify the problems of some of them.
Next, we just need to do a good job of guiding and give reminders at the right time, and someone will do the rest for us. "
Conspiracy to provoke war, hoarding, price gouging, reselling of strategic materials...
These are all real, proper black history of the bourgeoisie. Politicians may be able to understand that these things cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of the capitalists, but ordinary people will not think so much, and will directly charge this account to the bourgeois consortium.
Know what you know, but don't expect anyone to stand up for the capitalists. When it's time for a disaster to fly, and it's too late to throw the blame, who will take the responsibility for themselves?
If nothing else, the bureaucrats, aristocrats, and even Napoleon IV himself in the French government will follow the trend and pass the blame 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 scapegoat, they have the opportunity to retreat.
The final victory or defeat is no longer important. The current France cannot stand the toss, and the result of the infighting must be an early collapse.