Iron Cross Fire

Kuster leaned against the wall of the train station to relieve the fatigue of a sleepless night. His biggest hope now is that the person who awarded him the honor will come quickly so that he can go home and sleep early.

Perhaps God was favoring him. After the train stopped, three conspicuous people got off. They were wearing military uniforms, holding photos in their hands, looking for something.

Until they saw the sleepy Kuster, the three people looked at him and then at the people in the photo. Finally, one person said with certainty and a little apologetically:

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Kuster, our journey has been a bit long and we have kept you waiting for so long."

Kuster immediately brightened up and said:

"You don't need to be polite, I just got here not long ago."

"Oh? It seems that the general doesn't value honor, but why are you so sleepy?" Another person said a little bit bitterly.

"My men, Brigadier General Franz, and I spent the whole night discussing military issues. We were so excited that we didn't even notice it at noon. Fortunately, my guard reminded me in time. Thank you very much. he!"

As he spoke, Kuster also took out a pile of crumpled paper from his pocket and showed it to them.

The three people also took out a few pictures from them with great interest and looked at them alternately.

Kuster also took this moment to look at the three people carefully, and was surprised to find:

The person who just said the harsh words was General Oscar Potiorek. He was the governor-general of Austria-Hungary and was a bit nervous.

He is good at talking on paper and is an excellent staff officer. His words are very literary, so he can get the support of many officials. However, his actual combat command ability is not outstanding and his experience is not rich, so he was evaluated by Karl Kraus as:

"As long as war sheds ink instead of blood, he will always be a god of war."

He believed that heavy troops should be assembled on the Serbian border to quickly deal with them and free up part of the forces on the Balkan front.

This view impressed the emperor, as well as a group of officials and civilians. Many people supported his idea, except for his opponent-Conrad, the man who just took the initiative to greet him.

He was the Austro-Hungarian chief of staff, very shrewd but impractical.

He and Potiorek have something in common, both are good at talking on paper. But he is more like a soldier, speaks straightforwardly, and is isolated by officials.

His strategic vision was very good, but he ignored that the ethnic complexity of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers seriously affected their actual combat effectiveness. In addition, he acted on his own whim, which resulted in the death of a large number of Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers. As people say:

"His ideas are sound, but the sword in his hand is fragile."

He always believed that if war breaks out and Russia does not participate in the war, then it will use all its strength to kill Serbia.

If Russia is involved in the war, the main force should be placed on the Russian border, attack Russia together with the German army, and take a defensive position in Serbia and other areas.

The person who didn't interrupt was Archduke Friedrich, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Austria-Hungary, and he was very smart in a certain field.

Although he holds military power, in fact, most of the command power is given to Conrad, while he is just a name, rarely participates in battle command, and often appears as a mascot.

As the Prince of Austria-Hungary, he must protect his own interests. Therefore, when the generals around him discussed strategies, he laughed and did not interfere; and if any generals dared to make some "little tricks" and speak ill of him, he would send these generals to the front line without hesitation.

Kuster didn't like these three people very much. Although they were very different, they also had one thing in common, that is, they walked leisurely and watched for several hours when the Habsburg army collapsed more than 130 kilometers away. newspaper, drink some black tea, just like an uncle who has nothing to do all day long.

When the three of them finished reading, their eyes could not help but shine. Conrad took a deep breath and said politely but excitedly:

"It's really great! These ideas of yours are very wonderful. No wonder Borojevich would send a man who fought beautifully to the rear. It turns out you are also very good at this!"

Before the tired Kuster could react, he fumbled for two boxes from his pockets again, opened them, pulled out the cross-shaped medals inside, and pressed them on Kuster's uniform without any ink. and said:

"Since you are so sleepy, then rest quickly. I have prepared a train to Vienna for you. That train is free for you and your entourage. As long as you don't bring hundreds of people on it."

He looked at Potiorek again and said mockingly:

"As for us, you don't have to worry. We will stay here for a few days to get better information about the battle on the front line, so as to prove that my point of view is right."

Potiorek was a little angry, but he didn't want to leave a bad impression on Kuster, so he suppressed it in his heart.

But he didn't know that Kuster already knew what he was like.

Archduke Friedrich looked at the two people who were at war with each other, walked to the middle, and said to smooth things over:

"Gentlemen, it would be bad if we are still so contradictory. In fact, we don't have to be so persistent. The ethnic groups in our army are very complex, so what's wrong with using two combat concepts together in the army?

You know, as senior officers, what we should do is not to preserve the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. On the contrary, we must do everything possible to send soldiers to the front lines, let them fight for the Empire, implement our will, and impose this will on the enemy. Rather than fighting over a tactical idea here, we can just leave such subtle matters to the grassroots officers, and we only need to be responsible for the overall command. "

These words did not resolve the dispute between the two, until Kuster said angrily:

"This kind of irresponsible behavior is simply a disgrace to the military!"

Friedrich was taken aback for a moment, then walked up to Kuster with a smile, and turned around and said:

"Oh! I forgot, you are also a member of that group of junior officers. Sorry, you are so plain that I didn't notice you just now, and I'm sorry for that.

Of course, I want to thank you too. Your method of reorganizing the troops inspired me and made me think that this kind of matter can be left to the grassroots commanders. Our senior leaders only need to turn a blind eye to this violation of the constitution. I sincerely thank you for making me understand for the first time that the Constitution can be violated during war. "

Hearing his sinister words, Kuster's blood pressure soared so much that the world turned a little darker.

Conrad walked quickly to Kuster, put his hand on his shoulder and said:

"You have a good rest, don't care about what others say, and do your research and development of armaments with peace of mind. I have applied to the senior management to promote you to Minister of Armaments."

Potiorek also walked over slowly and said:

"It's difficult to succeed. Your reputation is not very good. Those nobles who are more concerned about face will not agree. I will try my best to help you get rid of the dilemma of rumors so that your ideas can be quickly put into actual combat."

Kuster was a little surprised that they could actually reach a consensus, but he still stood up straight and saluted them with his broken right hand. After saying some words of thanks and admiration, he left again in the same car as before.

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