Holy Roman Empire

Don't expect the enemy to be afraid. The city of Turin here has nothing to do with Austria. They don't care about the life and death of the people in the city. "

In fact, long before the start of the Turin Defense War, the French army had considered the issue of transferring the people, but there was a lot of opposition from the people.

From the standpoint of France, Turin is its own territory, and the Italians need to work hard. Naturally, the French army cannot do too much.

What's more, transferring people is easy to say, but if it can't be done in a day or two, the defenders simply don't have that much time.

Everything has two sides. A large number of civilians stay in the city. While increasing the logistical pressure on the defenders, it will also make the enemy stalk the enemy.After all, this is the European continent, and no one wants to bear the notoriety of massacring civilians.

However, the reality is very slap in the face.Judging from the enemy's unscrupulous use of artillery to attack the city, Marshal Adrian knew he had miscalculated.

Today is different from the past. Before the European war broke out, Austria was only one of the European powers, so it is natural to pay attention to the reaction of the European world.

But now it is different. Once France is defeated, Austria will be the only one.As the European hegemon, a little gossip is no longer a threat.

What's more, the main force attacking the city was the Sardinian National Independence Army.For political needs, the future Sardinian government will also stand up and endorse Austria, and put the shit pot on the head of the French army.

After hesitating for a moment, Tom said fiercely: "Marshal, since Austria uses Italians as cannon fodder, then we can use cannon fodder against cannon fodder.

Arm the young and strong in the city, put their families under house arrest as a threat, and force them to participate in the defense of the city. "

Forced recruitment of strong men is not a new tactic, it has happened from time to time in history.It's just that with the advent of the era of hot weapons, everyone found that the temporary recruits were useless.

Coupled with the rise of liberalism, the cost of forced recruitment of strong men is getting higher and higher, and it is easy to lose popular support. With the increase in population, countries no longer lack soldiers, and the situation of forced recruitment of strong men has gradually decreased.

Tom dared to make this suggestion, naturally it was not aimless.The hearts of the people are so popular, France has never owned it here, and naturally it cannot be said to be lost.

Judging from the current situation, the French army will definitely not stay in Italy for long.The contradiction between France and Italy has been deeply buried again, and there will definitely be a long-term confrontation after the war. Now that the Italians are forced to go to the battlefield, it is equivalent to weakening the enemy's strength in advance and reducing the pressure on France after the war.

After a while, Marshal Adrian shook his head: "It's useless, the Italians won't be so obedient.

Even if we capture their family members and threaten them to go to the battlefield, these guys still have ways to make trouble.

If you think about the Italian soldiers we recruited before, they are not so much fighting as they are on an outing.

The most important thing is that the law does not blame the public. Even if we develop them to be passive and sabotage, it is impossible to really get rid of their family members.

At this point, we have to think about the post-war period.The country is trying to find ways to contact the anti-French alliance. We cannot provide excuses for the enemy and increase the difficulty of negotiations. "

It is a tradition in the European world to negotiate if you can't win.The French government's secret contact with the anti-French alliance was an open secret among high-level military officials.

Now that Adrian pierced the window paper, he was actually completely desperate for this war. After all, the enemy had already entered the hinterland of France from Switzerland.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly fell silent, and Lieutenant General Tom sighed: "If it doesn't work, then the boys will have to fight with their lives.

With our strength, it is not difficult to support for a period of time.But casualties, there is no way to control. "

It can be seen that Lieutenant General Tom is not just showing off, he is really worried about the fate of France.

Making money is making money. As a member of a vested interest group, his interests have long been tied to France.

The bean curd project is not entirely his responsibility.From the very beginning, the city fortifications of Turin were built for the purpose of making money, without any consideration of being attacked by the enemy.

What's more, the European war broke out so suddenly.Building materials should be supplied to the front line first. If it is really necessary to build a genuine city defense fortification for Turin, there will be too little time.

Chapter 213 "Letter to the French Nationals"

The offensive and defensive battle in Turin is at its most intense, and the new round of the Sino-European battle is also coming to an end.

Unlike the First World War in the original time and space, the French did not have fortifications to rely on this time.In order to create conditions for the counterattack, when the coalition forces withdrew, they destroyed the fortifications along the way, including the famous Liege Fortress and Moore Fortress, which are now in ruins.

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

Of course, this does not mean that Marshal Patrice McMahon was negligent.After all, the local people have been expelled, 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 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 are no fortifications available. After the failure of the last Central European battle, the French army was forced to follow the example of the coalition forces to dig trenches and build a simple temporary defense line.

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

No one would dare to believe that the mighty French Empire was fighting at its own doorstep, and there were actually 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 afford to be prodigal.The French lost thousands of artillery pieces, thousands of machine guns, hundreds of thousands of rifles, and a huge amount of supplies at one 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. In addition to the unprocessed decommissioned goods, it was barely guaranteed that everyone on the front line had a gun.

Guns can be made up, 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 foreign goods.

However, distant water cannot reduce near thirst.Less than a month since the end of the last battle, the enemy is preparing to attack again.

The middle-aged officer replied in a deep voice: "Marshal, I just received the news. The enemy has launched an attack on our mainland from Spain and Switzerland, and the weapons and equipment originally assigned to us have been temporarily requisitioned."

Hearing the news, everyone present had different expressions.Some people are apprehensive, some are secretly glad.

For France, the addition of two fronts was a disaster; but for everyone present personally, it was undoubtedly good news.

As the saying goes, a dead fellow does not die a poor one. Anyway, this war is going to be lost, so naturally he has to think about himself.

The addition of two fronts also means that there are two more potential backers. Whoever is responsible for 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 defenders on the two new fronts are a group of recruits, and they are the easiest to break through.

Marshal Patrice McMahon frowned: "Are there no more reinforcements?"

The middle-aged officer nodded helplessly, but he couldn't utter the word "yes" when the words came to his lips.

After getting this answer, the aged Marshal Patrice McMahon couldn't stand the stimulation, and fainted gorgeously.

……

At the Allied Command, Albrecht was still worrying about dealing with the French trenches. He never thought that the biggest enemy was already lying down.

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

The wide trench is in front, which is five or six meters wide. The staff has calculated that such a width is difficult for armored troops to pass through. If they accidentally sink in, they will become the enemy's target.

There is another ordinary trench at a distance of more than ten and 20 meters. Even if we would send infantry to fill the pit, the enemy also considered it.

Moreover, there is not only one such trench.Theoretically speaking, if the French plan is completed, if we want to break into the French mainland, we must tear at least a hundred such trenches.

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 attack immediately, first use artillery shells to wash the ground, and then the infantry cooperates with the armored forces to press up, and use the tanks as mobile turrets to cover the infantry to fill the soil.

When necessary, the air force can be allowed to carry out fixed-point bombing.Blow up one place after another, tear a hole a hundred meters away, and let the armored troops go there, and the overall situation is settled. "

In the era of pure manpower, trenches are not easy to dig.A labor force can only dig a few square meters of soil every day, and it is impossible to realize the infinite trench tactics.

This means that as long as the coalition forces are willing to pay the price, they can rush over.Armored units lend themselves to weaving and weaving, and once you're behind enemy lines, you're done.

Charity does not command soldiers, and when it is time to fight for their lives, Albrecht will naturally not be vague: "Well, order all troops to get ready and launch a full-scale attack in two days."

……

The Palace of Vienna, seeing that the European war was about to be decided, suddenly received a request from the Russians to send troops through the channel. Franz rubbed his forehead helplessly.

I have to admit that Mao Xiong is Mao Xiong, and when he sees something to take advantage of, he immediately pounces on it.

If it was just an excuse to send troops, the tsarist government would not need to spend so much effort, it would be right to send troops directly. Anyway, Austria would not block any military action against the French.

There is no doubt that the tsarist government chose to discuss 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 labor force's expedition was inherently expensive, and with the financial resources of the tsarist government, if supplies were transported from the mainland, it was estimated that at most one division would be maintained for combat.

If this amount of troops is put into the European battlefield, it will be like giving it away for nothing. Let alone fight for the right to speak about the distribution of benefits after the war, if they encounter the French, the entire army 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 it will be recorded in the French account.

This is exactly where Franz struggles. According to the current rhythm, the French will definitely bear a huge amount of compensation after the war, which is destined to be unbearable.No matter how much war reparations they strive for, it is useless if they cannot get them.

Today is different from the past. If the time is pushed forward by a month or two, Franz naturally doesn't mind spending a sum of money to lure the Russians into the water.But it's different now. The French are gone, and it's unknown whether they can last until the Russian army reaches the front line.

If the Russian army is still on the way, or just arrived at the front line at the last moment of the end of the war, then Austria will lose a lot of money, not to mention a sum of money for nothing, and it will increase the right of the Russians to speak in the post-war negotiations .

If he wanted to refuse, Franz was also in a dilemma.Regardless of the huge 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 joined the war at the latest, were fighting with Austrian money, otherwise they would not have been so efficient.

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

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russians will delay it first, and if it really can't go on, we will agree to them.

However, to establish prerequisites, troops must be dispatched immediately. The Russian army will arrive in Austria within three days after the agreement is reached, and we will send special trains to transport them to the front line.

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

There is no better way, Franz can only resort to procrastination.If France can be killed before the Russians send troops, then the post-war negotiations will be nothing to the Tsarist government.

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

If you can't do it, you can only settle for 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 Karl: "Your Majesty, the war has been going on so far, and anyone with a discerning eye knows that France is doomed. The French government has also shown us its intention for peace talks through the British. It is time for political persuasion.

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

After a full circle, the question returned to European hegemony.The discourse right to dispose of France after the war is also the establishment of Austria's European hegemony.

The Russians are eager to get involved. In addition to fighting for 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 moment, Franz shook his head firmly: "The British cannot mediate this time, and they cannot even be allowed to participate 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 European continent, and they could not be allowed back.

The problem of persuading France to surrender is simple. This is the "Letter to the French People" I prepared, and it will be fine to publish it.

Secretly released news to let the profit-seeking capitalists in France know that if they do not surrender, the coalition forces will confiscate all their property after entering Paris. "

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

Looking around Europe, it is all the sphere of influence of the anti-French alliance, but the British are still allies of the French, and Austria justifiably asks its allies to cut off from the British.

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

Refusal was impossible, the British had offended too many people.The Russians were in favor of this issue with all their hands. In addition, everyone was already dissatisfied with John Bull's previous behavior of selling his younger brother, so they agreed smoothly.

Although this cutting is not complete, but the cracks are still produced.As long as Austria makes persistent efforts, it is not a dream to exclude the British from the European continent.

Against this background, Franz naturally couldn't let the British come out to gain a sense of presence.

After receiving the "Report to the French Nationals" and briefly scanning it, Prime Minister Karl asked hesitantly, "Your Majesty, isn't the content on it a bit too exaggerated?"

Exaggeration, it is inevitable.There is always someone responsible for the failure of a war. This person cannot be the emperor, and Franz, a monarchy, cannot guillotine Napoleon IV.

The aristocrats are not good either. The aristocrats are one of the pillars of the imperial power, and it can't be broken by playing like this.

Apart from nobles and emperors, there are not many who are qualified to take the blame.So the shit pot can only be buckled on the capitalists.Anyway, this is not wronged, 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 everyone from Napoleon IV to ordinary French people will be responsible for this war.

What Franz is doing now is just helping them find a scapegoat.By the way, the accusation of 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 the scrutiny, I just used a magnifying glass to magnify the problems of some of them.

Next, we only need to do a good job of guiding and reminding at the right time, and someone will do the rest for us. "

Conspiracy to provoke war, hoarding, driving up prices, reselling strategic materials...

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

You know what you know, but you don't need to expect anyone to stand up for the capitalists.When the disaster is imminent and everyone flies away, it is too late to throw the blame, who will take the initiative to take responsibility for themselves?

If nothing else, the bureaucrats, nobles, and even Napoleon IV himself in the French government will follow suit and pass the blame to the domestic bourgeois consortia.

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

This is a conspiracy, even if all parties know about it, they can only bite the bullet and go on.Especially for Napoleon IV and the high-level government, with such a back-up man, they have a chance to get out.

The final victory or defeat is no longer important. The current France cannot stand the toss, and the result of internal fighting must be an early collapse.

Chapter 214

After entering 1891, the people of Paris did not have a comfortable life.On the one hand, there is an increasingly poor material life, and on the other hand, there are rising and high prices, which make ordinary people miserable.