Holy Roman Empire

At the same time, the battle was launched from three directions, and as many as 200 million troops were invested. Ivanov did not believe that the enemy had the ability to eat it all at once.

The situation changed when he couldn't eat enough. Ivanov didn't expect to be able to win all the three major battles. As long as one battle was won, it would be considered a strategic success.

To put it bluntly, the Pubo Federation is such a big place. If you win a big victory in any direction, you can drive straight in if you tear open the door leading to the enemy's rear.

Regardless of the intensified mobilization of the Pubo Federation, can a farmer who has just put down his hoe become a qualified soldier immediately?

Of course, the farmers of the Pubo Federation have participated in militia training, and their combat effectiveness is slightly better than that of ordinary farmers, but there is still a big gap between them and the regular army.

It's not that the Berlin government doesn't know how to carry out national training, the main reason is that the wallet is not big enough.Reserve training also costs money, and the cost of participating in training for one or two months a year is not something poor countries can afford.

In addition to the training gap, weaponry is also a big problem.The Pubo Federation's military industry has its own system, and the main force is all general equipment, which is all built by itself.

After the military expansion, Berlin was forced to purchase British and French equipment because its own military production capacity was not enough.The caliber of ammunition is different, and the second and third line troops of the Prussian army are all developing in the direction of Wanguo.

In contrast, the Russians are much happier. They can just buy the same equipment from Austria, and they don’t need to worry about it at all.

The combination of these factors means that as long as the Russian army tears down their defense line, it will be difficult for the newly formed troops in the rear to block the front of the Russian army.

Ivanov did not adopt this strategy before, mainly to avoid risks.The advantages on paper only exist on paper, and the war will not be known until the war is fought.

In his opinion, instead of taking the risk of a decisive battle, it is better to fight steadily, step by step, and gradually consume the enemy's strength.

……

As soon as the Russian army moved, the Prussian army would naturally follow suit.After finally mobilizing the enemy, Mao Qi naturally couldn't give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The only regret is that the enemy has stretched the front line too long, and the Prussian army has limited strength, so it is impossible to take care of the three battlefields at the same time.

In a sense, this tactic is also aimed at "Moltke is good at concentrating advantages and decisively fighting the enemy."Fighting on the third front, concentrating superior forces for a decisive battle is tantamount to suicide.

The division of troops to take care of the three battlefields happened to fall into the calculations of the Russians.Now is the era of hot weapons, and there are airships in the sky for investigation, no matter how powerful the use of troops is, it must be constrained by strength.

In order to make up for the disadvantage of insufficient troops, Moltke had to carry out military deployment while urging the Berlin government to speed up the mobilization.

I can't care about the quality for the time being, let's get the quantity out first.Recruits have no combat effectiveness, so they can be used as cannon fodder, or they can be used to buy time at critical moments.

……

The Russians are going to a decisive battle, and the eyes of all Europe are turned to the Prussian battlefield.In order to collect information about this great war, the Austrian Air Force has been busy.

If it weren't for the lack of anti-aircraft weapons these days, the hit rate is low and the cost is high; there are too many military observation teams sent by Austria, and it is easy to find clues; it is estimated that the commander below does not mind creating a few accidents.

These are all small problems. If you go to the top of someone to collect information, if you don't get knocked down, it's already a face. How can you expect people to welcome you?

In the Palace of Vienna, watching the deployment of troops from Russia and Prussia, Franz was confused and didn't know what was going on.It can be summed up in one word - chaos, whether it is the Russian army or the Prussian army, it is very chaotic.

"Albrecht, can you understand their deployment?"

After hesitating for a moment, Albrecht replied with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, Russia and Prussia are going to a decisive battle."

Looking at Franz's expression, he seemed dissatisfied with this answer, and Albrecht continued to explain: "Your Majesty, the total force invested in this war has already created a historical record.

No one has the experience of commanding millions of troops at one time. The Russians fought steadily in the early stage, and the frequency of troop mobilization was not too high.

Now it's time for a decisive battle, and both Prussia and Russia are rapidly mobilizing troops. There are too many troops involved, and some confusion is inevitable. "

This answer made Franz suddenly enlightened. Famous generals are also ordinary people. No matter how strong an individual is, it cannot guarantee that the people under him are also as strong.

The mobilization of millions of troops involves too many aspects. It is simply not something that the commander can complete alone. It also requires the cooperation of various departments.

Affected by the inconvenience of communication, many times when the commander gives an order, there will be a certain delay when it is transmitted to the troops below.

The army is not bad, it can execute orders immediately, but the logistics department is not good.Regardless of the big things, the materials in the warehouse can't be rushed to the place in a day or two.

No matter how powerful the dispatcher is, he can't change the backwardness of the means of transportation.Restricted by logistics, the troops naturally cannot run too fast.

In case of another accident and the logistics and troops get lost, it will be over.

It's not that such a thing has never happened before. Now both Prussia and Russia have learned a lesson and put great emphasis on the cooperation between combat troops and logistics departments.

Of course this is only a secondary factor.Now that the Prussian and Russian armies are in varying degrees of confusion, the main responsibility lies with the general headquarters.

The commanders have never had the experience of commanding a battle of this level, and a lot of previous experience is not applicable here, and confusion has arisen.

Franz asked with concern: "So, our army also has these problems?"

Albrecht nodded: "Our commanders don't have this kind of experience either, if we rashly command millions of troops to fight, chaos in the early stage is inevitable.

The whole world has no experience in this field. Compared with us, we are pretty good. We organize millions of reserve training every year, which can barely be regarded as a large-scale troop mobilization. "

There is really no way, experience needs to be accumulated.Austria has less than 100 million active troops. Where can they accumulate this kind of experience?

Apart from learning from the Russian military deployment, Franz could do nothing.You can't pull millions of reserve soldiers, come to a national exercise, right?

Not to mention how much money it will cost and how much material will be consumed.Just thinking about mobilizing millions of troops at once is scary.

If it does, it is estimated that the whole of Europe will be frightened.In case of bad luck, it may be directly upgraded to the European war.

European countries are very sensitive in this regard.Perhaps it is too much loss, or there are too many lessons learned from the past. As long as a country starts to mobilize, neighboring countries will increase their vigilance.If the relationship is not good, mobilization will follow.

To create tension for no reason, increase the smell of gunpowder on the European continent, and destroy good-neighborly and friendly relations is not what Franz wants to see.

Chapter 267 Little Fish

The sudden decisive battle not only disrupted the layout of the Vienna government, but also broke the British plan.

In this world, it is always "easy to make icing on the cake, but difficult to give charcoal in the snow".Prussia and Russia have begun a decisive battle, and the London government has no time to help them win allies.

It is the instinct of human nature to tend to the advantages and disadvantages, and international politics and diplomacy are no exception. After all, it is human beings who decide politics and diplomacy.

Whether it is the Central Asian countries, the Ottoman Empire, or the German Federation, they will choose to wait and see the situation at this time.

If the Pubo Federation fails in the battle, the war will end early, and the Berlin government will be unable to organize a second battle, and the Russians will not give them time.

At that point, even these potential allies combined are not enough for the Russians to beat them up, and the result is the same whether they help or not.

If the Russians are defeated, then there is no need to say that the war will continue, it's just that the power of the strong and the weak has changed, and the initiative in the war has been reversed.

Everyone doesn't mind selling the icing on the cake to Britain and Prussia, just like the first Russo-Prussian war, pounce on and tear off a piece of meat from the Russians.

No, the German Confederation is an exception.

George I did not dare to accept the Pubo Federation after the victory. Although there are few cases of usurping the throne in Europe, the emperor election system such as the "Comedy Empire" is an exception.

Of course, if Puppo really won this battle, the British would not push for the Pude merger.What the London government needs is a pawn to check and balance Austria, not to cultivate a competitor.

……

As the battlefield moves westward, winter is no longer icy and snowy, which is another big challenge for Russia's logistics system.It can be seen from the deployment of the Russian army.

The troops on the southern front are operating close to Austria, which is convenient for nearby supplies; the northern line has marine supplies, which can be transferred from St. Petersburg or purchased from the Nordic Federation; the Warsaw battlefield has the Vistula River and the Narew River, which can be transported by water .

However, the Narew River is mainly snow water, and the annual navigable time is limited, and it will be frozen in two months. Naturally, if the upstream is cut off, the downstream cannot be counted on.

Ivanov has always opposed launching the Battle of Warsaw, and has also considered this factor.If it weren't for the Vistula River being controlled in his hands, even if the Fourth Army entered, he would not initiate an attack.

From this point of view, the Russian army is much more rational than in the first Russian-Prussian War, sending troops without taking it for granted, making the frontline soldiers hungry.

It takes time to mobilize troops, especially the mobilization of millions of troops.

"Soldiers are expensive and fast" is obviously not applicable here. It's not that the soldiers don't work hard.

In this regard, the Prussian army fighting locally has an absolute advantage. The railway built by the Berlin government can play a role, and Moltke took the lead in completing the deployment of troops.

General Command of the Prussian Army, looking at the marching route marked on the map, Moltke sighed.

Ivanov was still the same Ivanov he was familiar with, and he played the word of stability to the extreme. Except for the fourth army who was greedy for success, the troops behind all walked side by side, and the distance between two similar troops was usually no more than Thirty miles.

The quick march only took one morning, and it was difficult for him to do anything in such a short time.

"Send all our cavalry out to harass the enemy as a small group of troops and slow down the marching speed of other enemy troops, but don't engage the enemy."

After a pause, Mao Qi added: "Don't worry about the enemy's fourth army that has already been sent to the door, let them in first.

Order the Seventh and Eighth Divisions to outflank from the right flank; order the Fifth Army and Seventh Army to assemble immediately, and I will attack the Russian vanguard first. "

If you can't swallow the main force of the Russian army, it is also a good choice to eat the vanguard first.This is the limit of what Moltke can do with mobile forces.

War is to compare who made more mistakes. Since the Russians made mistakes, Moltke would naturally not let them go.

Facts once again prove that running too fast on the battlefield is not necessarily a good thing.If your teammates don't keep up, you will have to accept the test of blood and fire.

The Russian Fourth Army, which acted in advance, is now about to be tested.It seemed that they just set off two days earlier, and the marching speed was not very fast. In fact, they and their teammates moved at least five days apart.

It takes time for the headquarters to make decisions, and it takes time for orders to be communicated, and it takes time for troops to move from assembly to action.

Five days is enough to change a lot of things.Even if the marching speed of the Fourth Army was not fast, the nearest Russian army was pulled away by more than 130 kilometers.

At this distance, once a war breaks out, even if the surrounding Russian troops try their best to rescue them, it will be two days later.

In reality, this only exists in theory.There are troops that march more than 130 kilometers within two days, but the premise is to discard the baggage and heavy weapons and equipment.

Without these belongings, and dragging their exhausted bodies, most of the combat effectiveness of the army was directly crippled.Don't talk about rescue, maybe I'm here to deliver the head.

No, the Russian cavalry can definitely do it. It doesn't take two days, just one day is enough.

Perhaps because of some reliance, Lieutenant General Opodo dared to take the risk of marching towards Warsaw.

Anyway, an early decisive battle is the demand of many people in the country. As the instigator of the battle, Obodo has gained a lot of favors from Xiantian.

If he makes another achievement in battle, it will be a matter of course to replace Ivanov as the spokesperson of the Russian military in the future.

"risk"?

What are you doing these days without risk?The Fourth Army is strong and strong, and no matter how weak their strength is, they can hold on to the spot and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

With consecutive victories on the battlefield, the high-spirited General Obodo has drifted away, and he didn't pay attention to the enemy at all.

There are quite a few people in the Russian army who think the same way. Many people think that the enemy's victory in the last war was a fluke, and it happened that the Russian army was at its weakest.

Now that the tsarist government has cleaned up the moths in the army and replaced them with generals who "use soldiers like gods", how could it be impossible to win?

……

In the early morning, just as there was a glimmer of light in the sky, Lieutenant General Obodo, who had just woken up and was still a little confused, heard the faint sound of artillery fire.

The fact that it was a veteran in the army immediately aroused Obodo's vigilance, and before he could figure out what was going on, the guards rushed over.

"General, the vanguard of our army encountered the enemy and requested fire support."

"Why is the enemy so fast?"

As soon as the words fell to the ground, Obodo realized that he had lost his composure. This question was simply not something the guards could answer.

"Order the artillery to provide them with fire support, and notify the officers to come over for a meeting, and I will deploy combat missions."

Along the way, the enemy did not intercept them. Now that they are almost at the gate of Warsaw, the sudden appearance of enemy troops will naturally not simply intercept them.

Since he dared to take risks, Obodo is naturally not a person who is afraid of war.If it was a waste, he would not be able to hide it from the general headquarters and lead the Fourth Army into action.

The Russian army also has checks and balances, and only strong officers can fully control the troops.The army is a place that believes in the strong, and if you want to be strong, you must have "military exploits."

If there is no convincing ability and combat exploits, and a deep control over the troops, it is estimated that the telegram of complaints flew to the headquarters as soon as Obodo took action.

……

The brutal battle began, and Obodo guessed the beginning, but not the ending.

The speed of the Pu army was much faster than he expected, and before he could react, he fell into a circle of encirclement.

It took the enemy less than two days from the outbreak of the battle to the appearance of the encirclement circle.Obviously the enemy was well prepared, otherwise it wouldn't be so fast.

Whether or not to break through has become the biggest problem facing Obodo.

A bearded officer said excitedly: "General, we can't retreat now. The enemy is obviously well prepared, and if he chooses to break out, he will definitely suffer heavy losses.

We acted on our own initiative this time, in case the troops suffer heavy losses, we will have to go to the military court when we go back.

I'd rather die on the battlefield than a worthless prison, the battlefield is the destination of soldiers!

Besides, the situation is not that bad. We have 10,000+ troops anyway, and the enemy can't eat them in a short time.

It's better to defend on the spot, wait for reinforcements to arrive, and give the enemy a center to bloom! "

The "court-martial" is the crux of the matter.It is not a crime to make up your own mind on the battlefield, and you have to wait for orders from the headquarters for everything, so how can you seize the opportunity?

To make up your own mind and lose the battle is a heinous crime.All the responsibilities must be carried on their backs, and they can't even find someone to blame.

Obodo knew that there must be loopholes in the enemy's encirclement, and now at least half of the troops can escape by ordering a breakout, but as the supreme commander, he himself is finished.

Not only will he be unlucky, but all the senior leaders of the Fourth Army will be unlucky.Whether he can go to the court-martial depends on his luck, or he may be used as a model by Ivanov and directly given to Tutu.

After analyzing the current situation, Opodo found helplessly that he would die if he ordered the breakout now.Not only will he be finished, but the family will also be ashamed.

Staying and sticking to the defense is also dangerous. The enemy is obviously prepared. The possibility of them being able to wait for reinforcements is very low. If they are not careful, the entire army will be wiped out.