Holy Roman Empire

The Prussian Army has come to the forefront of the world, but on the battlefield, their advantage is not obvious.

When the weapons and equipment are at a disadvantage, the Russian army can block the Prussian army with flesh and blood. After the change of equipment, the battle loss ratio of the two sides is gradually narrowed.

The Prussian army only relied on their training advantages to gain the upper hand, and when they encountered some elite Russian troops, they would even be at a disadvantage.

The Near East War was not fought in vain, and the Tsarist government still gained a powerful army despite the loss of nearly one million troops.

Schönbrunn Palace, at the high-level military meeting.

"You have read all the information. Judging from the information collected so far, who do you think will win this battle?"

Franz only asked about this battle, not about the victory of the war as a whole.The strength gap between Prussia and Russia is too great. As long as the tsarist government is willing to explode, the ultimate winner will be obvious.

Not to mention Prussia, in the face of the desperate Russian Empire, no country in the world can guarantee victory.

Even if Austria and Russia are facing each other, Franz must use outside moves to win.

Otherwise, the two sides fought hard based on their strength and paid millions of casualties. How can there be any victory?

People in this era dare not imagine a war in which millions of people are lost at once, but Franz understands it.

The Russian Empire is so big that it is simply impossible to push it evenly, and in the end it can only be fought with one's life.Once this situation arises, where is the winner?

Marshal Edmund, chief of the general staff, replied: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, I am more optimistic about the Kingdom of Prussia.

They seem to be preparing a big plan. Judging from the deployment of troops, the Prussian army is preparing to fight the Russian army in East Prussia.

Once they are allowed to complete the plan, at least half of the more than 30 Russian troops in East Prussia will be left behind.

The Russian commander was too arrogant and wanted to advance without considering the danger at all.In a disadvantaged situation, they still did not shrink the front. "

This is understandable. There is not much difference in the strength of the warring Prussian and Russian armies. Even if they are at a disadvantage, it is nothing more than a higher casualty of soldiers, and the Russian commander is not afraid.

Gray animals are worthless, and they took the initiative to fight a war of attrition with the Prussian army. As long as they can win the war, the Tsarist government will not care about casualties.

前面2:1、3:1的交换比俄军都敢打，现在伤亡比已经下降到了1.3:1，偶尔还有可能占到便宜，为什么不敢打？

Minister of War Albrecht analyzed: "Prussia's recent actions are somewhat abnormal. A large amount of strategic materials have arrived at the front line ahead of schedule, and these materials have exceeded the needs of the front line.

It is reasonable to store more food and ammunition, but there is definitely a problem with the extra tents and daily necessities.

According to preliminary estimates, even if there is a sudden increase of 20 troops, their material reserves are sufficient.I guess the Prussians are about to increase their troops to the East Prussian front, and these are just preliminary preparations.

At present, the chaotic army of the Kingdom of Prussia adds up to 120 million.

Among them, there are about 15 main troops, about [-] second-line reserve troops, and the rest are recruits recruited temporarily.

The main force is fighting the Russians on the front line, and the second-line force is also in Poland, joining forces with the Polish uprising to resist the Russian attack.

The remaining temporarily recruited troops do not have much combat effectiveness. Now they are conducting military training while guarding the coastal area.

After the war has been going on for so long, some of these recruits have completed initial training and are ready for the First World War.

When the strength of both sides is equal, putting them on the battlefield is enough to change the outcome of a war.

This aspect is not comparable to the Russians. Limited by logistical supplies, they can only maintain their current strength. "

In history, the Kingdom of Prussia completed counterattacks, not because their army was much stronger than the enemy. The most important part was to concentrate superior forces to fight the enemy.

The Austrian-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War were all won by an absolute superior force.If the strength of the troops is equal, it will be a bitter battle. How can there be a crushing victory?

The Russo-Prussian War has been going on for so long, and they haven’t come up with this tactic. There are two main reasons: first, there are too many tsarist troops; second, the traffic in Russia is too bad, and active offensive logistics is a big problem .

Now that the Russian army has entered the East Prussian region, the situation has changed.In local operations, the railway advantages of the Kingdom of Prussia can be brought into play.

This means that the Prussians have the ability to increase troops to a certain area in a short period of time, establish a regional force advantage, and increase the odds of winning in a war.

Franz is no longer a military novice. He already has the ability to talk about war on paper, and the only thing he needs is the final actual combat ability.

There is no way to do this, the emperor did not have the turn to command the small battle, and Franz did not dare to command the big battle, so the last shortcoming - there is no solution.

After looking at the simulated battlefield sand table, Franz quickly felt relieved.This game did not collapse. Although the combat effectiveness of the Russian army was strengthened, they did not strengthen the command ability of the top Russian officers.

The Kingdom of Prussia is not yet at the end of its rope. It is still a country with a population of 500 million, and there is still potential to be tapped.

As a semi-industrial country, the mobilization capacity of the Kingdom of Prussia has increased considerably.Now with the support of the sponsor, it is not a dream to complete extreme mobilization.

Although the recruits mobilized temporarily do not have much combat effectiveness.However, during the decisive battle, the sudden appearance of these troops on the battlefield can also be the last straw that changes the outcome of the war.

As for the sneak attack by the Russian army, the big deal is to lose a few coastal cities, and the warships cannot go to land. Can the navy go deep alone?

Father, like son.As a bystander, he knows what he knows, but Franz has no intention of reminding the Tsarist government.

The Russian Empire has a big business, and they can afford this loss.The Kingdom of Prussia has limited strength, and at most it can defeat this Russian army, and it is impossible to swallow hundreds of thousands of Russian troops in one go.

……

When Franz was conducting military maneuvers, the Kingdom of Pulu, which had already prepared, also began to act.

The railways across the country were quickly put into operation, and trains transported soldiers scattered all over the country to the front line.In just two days, they sent 15 troops to the East Prussian front.

The decisive battle officially broke out, and the sudden appearance of the new force instantly fooled the Russian commander.

Under normal circumstances, a troop mobilization of this scale would take ten days and a half a month, and they had enough time to adjust troop deployment.

However, in just two days, Prussian reinforcements arrived.There is no way for the Russian army to complete the adjustment of the front line of several hundred kilometers in two days.

In some areas, the Prussian army even formed a four or five times superiority in strength and launched an attack on the Russian army.

Naturally, there was no suspense in the result. Although the Russian army resisted very bravely, it still could not change the fate of failure.

The East Prussian region is the mainland of the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian army is very familiar with the local situation. After breaking through the Russian defense line, they immediately interspersed.

At the same time, the Prussians also formed a squad of pioneers from East Prussia, and sent this small force to destroy the Russian army's telegraph lines.

To organize hundreds of thousands of troops to fight, telegraph is the biggest black technology.There is no telegram to transmit orders, and the efficiency is too low to rely on messengers to deliver letters.

Due to insufficient precautions in advance, the Russian army quickly suffered a big loss.Without telegrams to communicate information in a timely manner, the Russian troops on the front line soon fell into the embarrassing situation of fighting on their own.

Especially the defeated troops turned into headless chickens, scurrying around on the battlefield.The efficiency of the messengers is too low, and they can't keep up with the changes in the situation on the battlefield.

In many units, the regiment headquarters could not contact the division headquarters, and the division headquarters could not contact the military headquarters. The Russian army in the entire East Prussian region became a mess.

Naturally, this situation did not escape Moltke's expectations.Now that the bitter battle has turned into a smooth battle, he decisively puts the recruits in the rear into the battle.

Relying on its superiority in military strength, the Prussian army quickly gained dominance on the battlefield.The chaotic Russian army was defeated all the way, and retreated all the way to the West Dvina River before barely gaining a foothold. (Daugava River in present-day Latvia)

At this time, the Russian army had dropped sharply from 38.6 before the war to 11.2, and also lost a large amount of strategic materials and almost all artillery.

The Prussian army did not dare to continue to go deep. The winter in the Baltic Sea region has come, and they must eliminate the Russian army in the territory as soon as possible to consolidate the achievements they have made.

The situation on the battlefield affects the whole body.With the fall of the Lithuanian region, the Belarusian region emerged abruptly.

After the flanks were threatened, the Russian army, which was still attacking the Pubo coalition forces, also had to shrink their defenses.However, at this time, it was too late to make a decision.

After the end of the battle in East Prussia, the Prussian army arrived as reinforcements as quickly as possible, and bit off a piece of meat at the point where the Russian army retreated.

Chapter 82 The Helplessness of Chess Pieces

The results of the Battle of East Prussia silenced the European collective.This result was too unacceptable, and no one thought that Prussia would come to counterattack.

Many talkative experts have analyzed in a logical manner, believing that the fall of East Prussia in the front is because the Prussians are luring the enemy to go deep.

Stepping on the shoulders of the Russians, the Kingdom of Prussia became famous in the first battle.Even the coach Mao Qi became famous overnight and became one of the most powerful generals of the contemporary era.

As the person involved, Mao Qi dared not take the credit.He could swear to God that he had absolutely no intention of giving up East Prussia.

Do you really think it will be enough to recover East Prussia?You can see how serious the problem is by looking at how many people are left in the area.

After recovering the East Prussian area, the calculated population was actually less than 100.You must know that there were more than 10,000 million people before the war. Even if there are tens of thousands of people in the army, the total will be [-]+.

The remaining 90 million people were reimbursed in this war.Whether they died in the war or went to the Austrian colonies, for the Kingdom of Prussia, these populations were lost.

Does the Kingdom of Prussia still dare to ask for someone from Austria?It is estimated that the Vienna government is still thinking about whether to come and beg for Silesia.

Sending it to your door at this time, isn't it just asking for trouble?

The Berlin government does not want to throw out the Silesia region. Austria has violated the original agreement by supporting the Russians in the war.

But the great powers, as we all know-they are usually thick-skinned.Unless the Kingdom of Prussia presents evidence, the Vienna government will never admit that it supported the Russians.

As for why there are so many arcane equipment in the Russian army?

Russian and Austrian equipment come from the same source, which is known to the whole world.It is normal for the arcane equipment to appear, and it is a problem if it does not appear.

These are all produced by the Russians themselves. The Russian Empire is the overlord of the European continent. How could it be impossible to handle mere weapons and equipment?

It is not worth mentioning that the logo of the Austrian company appeared on the strategic materials.They were all imitated by the Russians, and the knockoffs are of course the same.

If you don't believe it, you can go to the Russian Empire to check. The tsarist government is still very talkative, and at most it will send potatoes to Siberia to grow potatoes.

Have evidence?It's better not to take it out. It's not good for everyone when the lid is lifted. It's better to keep silent together tacitly.

The original agreement was not put on paper, it was all verbal promises, wouldn't it be good to pretend that nothing happened?

Then, the soldiers from East Prussia refused.

Their family members have been lost, and now there is no one alive or dead.Was it rubbed by the Russians, or was fooled and ran away, there must be a clear answer?

The news that East Prussia was voluntarily abandoned was even more intolerable.Then the mutiny happened, and tens of thousands of troops demanded an explanation from the Berlin government.

Moltke, the commander-in-chief, has become a sinner in the eyes of many people.If it wasn't clear to the top military officials, the loss of the East Prussian region was just an accident, and William I was ready to use Moltke as a scapegoat.

It is definitely not possible to do that now, it will chill the hearts of the subordinates.

Of course, this suspicion cannot be eliminated until the matter is clearly explained.The blame still fell on the coach Mao Qi, but the responsibility will not be pursued.

William I was a smart man, crossing the river to demolish the bridge, unload the mill and kill the donkey, he had to cross the river and finish grinding the dough before he could do it.

The end of the Russo-Prussian War was only temporary. It was nothing more than the winter coming and the war could no longer be fought. There would be another test waiting for them in the coming year. At this time, the military could never afford to offend them.

Besides, if William I couldn't see such an obvious sowing of dissension, how could he be a king?

The Berlin government made an explanation at the first time, ensuring that the East Prussian region was not deliberately abandoned, and also announced a strategic plan for the deployment of the defense of the East Prussian region.

The general who was responsible for guarding the coastal area at the beginning assumed full responsibility for the loss of East Prussia and was sent to a military court.

Then it announced the news that the people in East Prussia had taken refuge in the Austrian colonies, and invited religious figures to testify that most of them were still alive.

William I made a promise that when the war was over, the government would pay to bring them back from overseas.

The noble officers are also doing ideological work for the soldiers: it is a time of war, and the East Prussian region may become a battlefield again at any time. For the safety of the people, let them take refuge overseas first.

This mutiny came and went faster. While appeasing the morale of the army, it did not forget to draw hatred towards the Russians.

Many religious people and people who have not evacuated are witnesses. It is entirely because of the perverse behavior of the Russians that everyone can't survive, so they ran to seek refuge overseas.

William I's heart was very tired, he comforted the soldiers, but also the nobles.The Junker nobles in East Prussia also suffered heavy losses. They sacrificed for the country and must be compensated after the war.

This is not over yet, wars are fatal, and behind the glorious results, there are still a large number of Prussian soldiers who have fallen forever.

In the Palace of Berlin, looking at the ever-increasing death toll, William I's heart was bleeding.

That's right, they won the battle of East Prussia. They not only recovered East Prussia and occupied Lithuania, but also drove back the Russian army that attacked Poland, and even occupied part of Belarus.

Of course, this is not that the Prussian army is really so powerful that it can defeat the Russians in the autumn wind.

In fact, these sites were all given up by the Russians themselves.There is a saying that goes well: How much territory can be occupied on the battlefield depends on how much the enemy is willing to give up.

The main force of the Russian army was hit hard, and the morale of the army was slackened and defeated all the way. Naturally, the Prussian army just followed behind to take over the territory.

If it really goes all the way, how can it be possible to break through two to three hundred kilometers in half a month?This is not the era of blitzkrieg, marching on two legs to fight wars, even if you think about it, you can't get up quickly.

The results of the battle are brilliant, and the battle damage is also terrifying.Behind the victory, the Prussian army also paid a heavy price. The Prussian army lost as much as 14.2 in the entire East Prussian battle.

Among them, 7.4 were killed in battle, 3.8 were disabled due to injuries, 3216 died of diseases and accidents, and 2.7 wounded required long-term recuperation.

This is not all. From the outbreak of the war to the present, the total loss of the Prussian army has exceeded 28.

In addition to the loss of the army, the loss of civilians is even greater. The Russian navy harassed the coastal areas and caused them a lot of casualties.If you count those who were looted by Austria, the total number is approaching one million.

Of course, counting the newly occupied areas, the total population has increased.However, these new people do not agree with the Kingdom of Prussia so much.

But William I was confident that there would be no harm without comparison.With the tsarist government as a reference, he believed that the people would make the right choice.

As long as the assimilation takes more than ten or twenty years, these new people will be the cornerstone of the Kingdom of Prussia, and the ancestors have already set an example in this regard.

The most critical issue now is to expand the results of the war and end the war. The Kingdom of Prussia is too small and must be expanded.

Now that the Russians have been offended, it doesn't matter if the offense goes deeper.It is the best choice to dig out as many pieces of meat as possible from the Russians and use them to strengthen the Kingdom of Prussia.

As long as one's own strength is strong enough, even if the Russians want revenge, it doesn't matter.The Kingdom of Prussia has never been afraid of war, even against the Russians.

……

"Your Majesty, winter has come, and the war cannot continue now. I suggest that we abandon the Lithuanian region first and withdraw our troops to the East Prussian region for defense."