Daming Military Empire

Chapter 681 Borrowing Germany to Conquer the Netherlands

In the Vienna Imperial Palace of the Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand III was sitting alone in his study. At this moment, his long-silent heart finally stirred up a wave. Looking at the telegram translation in front of him, he couldn't calm down for a long time.

It turned out that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire didn't mean to send troops to other battlefields to help, but to send troops to assist the Ming Empire Army to break through the German Alliance and approach the Netherlands, the number one maritime power against the Habsburg Alliance!

As the king of a country, he naturally thinks that all princes, nobles, and common people in the entire empire can obey his orders. This is the most basic power of an emperor.

However, the Holy Roman Empire has been in civil strife for a long time, and his orders did not work in many parts of the Holy Roman Empire. This is not his fault. It was already like this before the Habsburg family ascended the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.

His father, the majestic Ferdinand II, failed to change this situation. Moreover, due to the intervention of the anti-Habsburg alliance, most of the princes of the German alliance were actually independent, and there was no Take him seriously.

Now, the Ming Empire is going to send troops to break through the German Alliance. Should we take advantage of this opportunity?

If you go all out, maybe it is really possible to subdue all the princes of the German Union!

If he had changed to before, he would not have dared to think this way at all, because he did not have the ability.

You must know that the Habsburg family is actually only one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire, but they have not come down since they ascended the throne of the Holy Roman Empire in 1474.

They are a bit stronger than the other six elector families, but their strength is limited. The other elector families have never paid much attention to them. This is the main reason why the Holy Roman Empire has been in a state of division.

The Habsburg family originally had more than [-] troops, and the troops controlled by the other elector families were a little smaller than them, but at least [-] to [-], and even more than [-]!
That is to say, if he takes action against the German Union, the enemy he will face will have at least 50 million troops. With the strength of the principalities and kingdoms he controls, they will not be able to defeat the coalition forces of other elector families. .

It is for this reason that it never occurred to him to unify the Holy Roman Empire.

It's different now. With the addition of the 30 troops sent by the Ming Empire, he already has 50 troops on his side. It shouldn't be a problem to defeat the coalition forces of other elector families.

Of course, this mainly depends on the help of the Ming Empire. If the Ming Empire only wants to fight the Netherlands and does not help him deal with other elector families, then the 20 troops he put together will still be unable to defeat other elector families. The coalition forces of the family must desperately recruit troops, and there is no hope of expanding the army to more than 40.

He thought for a long time, and finally sighed dejectedly. After nearly 30 years of war, the Holy Roman Empire has long been hollowed out. How to recruit troops without money and food!

Forget it, let's follow the Ming Empire to clean up the Netherlands first.

So, what exactly is the Ming Empire thinking?

At this time, Hou Shilu, the deputy marshal of the Ming Empire Army, was sitting on the passenger train bound for Vienna, staring at the vast wilderness outside the window in a daze.

Shi Kefa, on the other hand, was sitting upright opposite him, seemingly closing his eyes and resting his mind.

After contemplating for a long time, Hou Shilu finally turned around and said to Shi Kefa: "Xianzhi, what do you think about this battle?"

Shi Kefa heard the words, opened his tiger eyes, and said respectfully: "The last general only obeys the orders of the marshal."

Hou Shilu smiled bitterly and said: "Don't be so cautious, I really want to hear your opinion. Although the purpose of this battle is to conquer the Netherlands, most of the time will still be spent in the Holy Roman Empire. The situation is a bit too complicated. I It’s hard to make a choice at the moment.”

Shi Kefa heard the words, and then pondered: "Before the end of the future, the emperor also told the end of the complicated situation of the Holy Roman Empire."

There is such a thing?

Hou Shilu immediately asked with great interest: "Oh, what did the emperor say?"

Shi Kefa replied honestly: "The emperor said that he really doesn't want to take care of that mess."

When Hou Shilu heard the words, he immediately frowned and thought about it, and after a while he showed his face and said: "Well, I know what to do."

More than 50 special trains operated continuously for more than ten days, and the First Corps of the Expeditionary Army and the Second Corps of the Praetorian Guards finally arrived in Vienna from Kandahar.

At this time, Qin Gongming had already led the Liao army to the outside of Vienna, and the 10 troops of the Ming Empire Construction Corps had been stationed near the Vienna Railway Station for a long time. As for the prisoners of the Mughal Empire, after the Eurasian Railway was built here , They were taken back by train in batches.

The food and grass of tens of thousands of people have to be transported such a long distance, even the Ming Empire is a bit difficult. It would be fine if all the captives were smart and capable. The problem is like an abacus, you dial it, they move it, you don’t dial it, They all just lay there and rested, without any efficiency at all.

Zhu Cijiong knew that they were not of much use, so he simply sent a train to pick them up.

Forget it, the Eurasian Railway has been completed so far, let them go free, let them go back to farming, forget it, let them repair the railway, it is a bit of a waste of food!
After Hou Shilu arrived in Vienna, he was not in a hurry to march to the Netherlands. The train transport capacity is limited at this moment. The trains transferred from various places in Ming Dynasty can transport 20 troops, some weapons and equipment, food and supplies at one time. There are still a lot of supplies that have not been delivered, and it will take at least a month before they can officially set off.

Of course, Hou Shilu was not idle. It has always been the fine tradition of the Ming army to plan and then move. This month is just a good time to find out the enemy's situation, and then formulate specific tactics. Blindly marching, that is a stupid young man. If he is so incompetent, Zhu Cijiong will not promote him to be the deputy marshal of the army and let him be in charge of the army.

In fact, the situation on the side of the German Union did not require him to send out scouts to investigate, because it was originally the territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Although the princes were not obedient at all, they did not stop the civilians and businessmen from the country.

In other words, many people in Vienna have been there, and even Ferdinand III even has a detailed map there.

It was easy to have a map. Hou Shilu went to pay a visit to Ferdinand III in person, took the whole set of maps of the German Union from him, and asked him for help. He asked some businessmen who often went there to do business and asked them carefully.

At this time, the benefits of Chinese promotion are reflected.

Since the Ming Empire is now the most powerful country in the entire Daming Habsburg Alliance, and at the same time it is the most economically developed country, no matter whether they are nobles or civilians, whether they are military officers or businessmen, many of them have learned Chinese.

In order to facilitate communication, Ferdinand III basically sent people to contact the Ming army who could speak Chinese.

When these people communicated with Hou Shilu, they didn't even need to find a translator, they just spoke Chinese!
(End of this chapter)