Holy Roman Empire

The problem is that the China-EU strategy was exposed in advance, and before the French government was ready, it was already known to everyone.

Judging from the neighbors' military expansion posture, we can know that if it is really delayed until the second half of next year, maybe Belgium and Germany will really produce 200 million troops.

Even if there are 200 million pigs, they cannot be killed in a short while.With so many troops, it was enough to hold out until the arrival of Austrian reinforcements.

Without a breakthrough in a short period of time, the war will become a war of attrition.For France, the war of attrition was a disaster.

……

The war was imminent, and Franz couldn't care less about keeping it secret.Armors and tanks that had been hidden for a long time came out of the laboratory one after another and officially entered service in the Austrian army.

Without any sloppiness, Franz directly ordered the formation of 6 armored divisions and 4 tank brigades.

It's not that Franz discriminates against tank troops, it's mainly because tanks these days are all at a snail's speed, and their actual combat value is far inferior to armored vehicles.

Taking the v3 tanks currently in service as an example, the limit speed per hour is only 12 kilometers.

This is still a theoretical value. It can only be run on flat ground without obstacles. In actual combat, it can run at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour, that is God's blessing.

In contrast, armored vehicles are much faster, running at a speed of fifty or sixty kilometers per hour, and the limit speed is as high as 94.7 kilometers per hour.

In addition to speed, tanks also have a much higher failure rate than armored vehicles.On average, after running one or two hundred kilometers, a maintenance is required.

With so many shortcomings, the tank can still be installed, and naturally has its unique advantages.

That is, it is more resistant than armored vehicles. When destroying enemy fortifications, breaking through trenches, barbed wire, and machine gun fire points, tanks are almost invincible, at least in this era.

Of course, you can also bully and bully the enemy's infantry and cavalry in the decisive battle, just press them all the way, and the blow to the morale of the army is huge.

After inspecting the freshly baked armored units, Franz had a solid idea.

Although the armored troops are very immature, and the military has no experience in using armored troops, the enemy is a group of infantry and cavalry!

Even if France is good at imitating and following suit, it is too late to copy now.Austria has been engaged in armored forces for more than ten years, and they will not be able to catch up in a short time.

Looking at the armored troops being drilled, Franz asked with concern: "How long will it take for the armored troops to form combat effectiveness?"

Minister of War Feslav: "The armored force is a new technological arm, which we have never had contact with before.

It has been less than a month since the formation of the troops, and it may take at least a year to truly form combat effectiveness.

However, the enemy we are going to face this time does not have armored troops, and what we have to deal with is only French infantry and cavalry. After another month or two of training, we can make do with it. "

Strength and weakness are relative, if it is an evenly matched battle, naturally you have to face it at your peak state.

But now it's the armored force fighting against the flesh and blood, even if it's not at its peak, it can still be beaten.

Franz nodded: "We still have plenty of time, even if war breaks out, the armored troops don't need to go to the front line immediately.

Let's practice slowly according to the normal schedule. In the next three months, the armored forces will have no combat missions. "

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Archduke Friedrich replied.

There is no doubt that this batch of armored units is the most important unit of the Austrian army, and this kind of unit is naturally handed over to the command of its own people.

Anyway, everyone has no command experience, and they don't even have anything to learn from. They need to start from scratch, and it is necessary to promote young officers.

Under this background, Archduke Friedrich did not need to continue to hone in East Africa, and directly transferred Franz back to form this armored army.

1 Chapter Fifty

The tense international situation has not only pushed up prices, but also affected international trade. The trade volume of almost all countries has declined.

Especially France and Austria, which were at the center of the storm, suffered the heaviest losses.Companies engaged in international trade between Fao and Austria are busy collecting accounts, and no longer accept reservations, and must trade in cash.

There is no way, no one knows when the war will start.Once you become a belligerent, don't expect the other party to pay.

The contract has no effect here. The destructive power of war is astonishing. Even if you win, the other party has no money to pay the final payment;

As is the case with countries, so are companies.An armistice treaty can erase all previous arrears.

If foreign trade falls, it will fall. Anyway, the outbreak of the European Continental War is imminent. The capitalists have long been gearing up to make a fortune in the country, and they don't care about the small profits in foreign trade.

In the Palace of Versailles, since the decision to implement the Central Europe strategy, Napoleon IV's spirit became highly tense.

Confidence is self-confidence, but the lessons of failure left by Napoleon are a lingering shadow in his mind.

Napoleon IV asked expectantly: "How far has the diplomatic work progressed? How many countries have accepted our goodwill?"

Don't count on Napoleon IV as an ally. European countries will never do anything that is obviously seeking skin from a tiger.

France does not have enough interests to buy everyone into the war. The best option is to divide the European countries and prevent them from uniting against France.

Foreign Minister Karel Kadlec replied calmly: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has initially completed the task, and we have persuaded Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Federation to remain neutral.

If the military has no plans to send troops from Switzerland, then Switzerland will also remain neutral in this war.

The British were on our side, and the Russians wanted to mediate the war, and when we refused, the tsarist government was very angry and might side with Austria.

However, before the war is decided, they will wait and see the situation neutrally, and the Russians will intervene only after the Austrian army is defeated.

Might affect our earnings, but not the outcome of this war.For the Tsarist government, a strong Austria was not in their interest.

Except for these influential countries, the rest of Greece and Montenegro have very limited strength and are not qualified to influence this war. They are also heavily influenced by Austria and have no value in wooing.

The only enemies we really need to face are Belgium, the German Federation, and Austria. The specific gains are all obtained by the military on the battlefield. "

It can be seen that Karel Kadlec is an optimist. Even with one enemy and three, he is still sure that the French army can win.

As for diplomatic work, it is not easy to achieve this step.Even with the help of the British, Karel Kadlec has made great contributions to achieving such results within a period of time.

Germany and Germany are the goals of France's expansion, and Austria is France's biggest competitor. It is impossible to bypass these three enemies.

In fact, the French government also thought about dividing the three countries, for example: annexing Belgium first, digesting it and then seizing the Rhineland region.

It is a pity that the British hiding behind the scenes did not agree, and Austria, which signed an alliance with Belgium, would not tolerate such a thing either.

Of course, if the German Federation is attacked first, the possibility of Belgium being neutral is still very high. After all, as a small country, the first task is to survive.

It's a pity that Belgium's geographical location is good. If you want to attack the German region, it's best to borrow from Belgium, or you have to go over mountains and mountains.

Not only the delay time is long, but also the success rate is very low.In contrast, it would be more cost-effective to kill Belgium together. Anyway, their plan also includes the annexation of Belgium.

Napoleon IV nodded, and affirmed: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has done a good job this time. Your next job is to stabilize these countries and prevent them from causing trouble."

To deal with the three countries of Bideau alone, France will have to bear the pressure of fighting on two fronts, and if other European countries join in, the battle will be impossible.

It's not that the French army can't fight, it really can't take care of so many places.Although the French army has mobilized millions of people, the main force is still the original hundreds of thousands, and other newly formed troops will follow suit.

Once the multi-line division is carried out, the combat advantage of the French army will not be obvious.No matter how elite troops are, if the number is insufficient, they will be ground to death on the battlefield.

Without being dazzled by Napoleon IV's verbal praise, Karel Kadlec analyzed: "Your Majesty, we are about to encounter a new trouble.

The minister in Vienna sent news that the Austrian government and the Russians had reached an agreement a week ago to buy out the grain that the Russian Empire planned to export this year at a direct premium of 20.00%.

Two days ago, Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg held a secret meeting with the ministers of Germany and Germany in private, and it was suspected that an agreement had been reached.

All indications are that this agreement must be aimed at us.If nothing else, the three countries will impose a material embargo on us in the near future.

Other materials are easy to talk about, but the problem is coal and food.Once the three countries impose an embargo on us, we can only rely on the British for coal, and we can only find ways to get food from overseas. "

The French government does not have a complete emergency reserve system. Even if there is grain and coal stored, it is the capitalists who hoarded it spontaneously in order to make war money.

For an individual, it may be an astronomical figure; but for a country, it is a drop in the bucket.

A problem with either energy or food will cause fatal harm, let alone a problem with both.

The lack of coal is a good thing. Britain and France are allies now. The London government wants France and Austria to lose. Naturally, they cannot watch the French collapse due to lack of coal.

The big deal is to take advantage of the fire and sell it for a sky-high price.It is not that the French have never used sky-high coal. After withdrawing from the free trade system earlier, France suffered revenge from sky-high coal.

The food is not enough. The British themselves are food importers, and they have no ability to support the French at all.

Of course, the food production cycle is not long, as long as the most difficult period has passed, it will be resolved later.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Roy Vernon, was shocked and said: "A premium of 20.00% five, are the Austrians crazy?

Could it be that the Vienna government has too much money to spend, even if it wants to win over the Russians, there is no need to go through such a toss. "

Due to the tense situation in Europe, international food prices have soared sharply. At this time, the price will be increased by 20.00%.

You must know that grain is a commodity traded in bulk. The total amount of grain exported by the Russians every year is in units of one million tons. If the price doubles, it means that the Austrian government will have to pay tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of Aegis.

Prime Minister Terence Bulkin shook his head: "No, the Austrians are not crazy. If they don't grab grain, the grain may fall into our hands.

If nothing else, the food that was snapped up was not only from Russia, but also from all over the Americas.

They can't beat us on the battlefield, so they will naturally resort to such despicable means.Moreover, the cost they paid may not be as high as we imagined.

Whether it is the Russians or the American countries, they are all Austrian debtors. As creditors, they can directly deduct their creditor's rights.

But they took it for granted that this would kill us.

In recent years, our work has not been in vain.The large farm plan has been carried out until now, and it can provide the country with millions of tons of grain every year, which is enough to meet most of the domestic needs.

In times of war, we can also take extraordinary measures.The government can call on the people to save food, and at the same time introduce a temporary bill, prohibiting the use of food to feed livestock and the use of food to make wine...

As long as we persist for a few months, when we defeat the enemy, these problems will be solved. "

The food reserves are insufficient, and there is not enough food to buy overseas. What else can I do besides finding a way to stop the flow?

Of course, the war was launched in advance!

It is not that France does not produce food, but the output is not enough for consumption, which does not mean that there is no imported food, and it will soon stop cooking.

Domestic food can still last for a few months. As long as the war is won before the crisis breaks out, all problems can be solved easily.

Hearing the bad news, Napoleon IV's face suddenly darkened.

At this time, he had to be thankful that he insisted on promoting the big farm plan, otherwise it would be a tragedy now.

He does not know how much grain the capitalist has stored. Anyway, the storage time of a batch of grain usually does not exceed half a year.

On the one hand, the storage time is too long, which increases the storage cost and loss. If the grain is unsalable and the new grain becomes stale, it will be worthless;

On the other hand, squeezing too much food in hand will occupy a lot of liquidity and increase the risk of operation.

After contemplating for a while, Napoleon IV said slowly: "The Prime Minister is right, now we must find a way to save food, and the government will issue an announcement as soon as possible.

From now on, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will rush to buy food all over the world. I don't believe that the Austrians can buy up all the food. "

……

Chapter 151 Qualified Bureaucrats

Originally, due to the tense international situation, food prices in France have soared, and the announcement issued by the Paris government at this time has added fuel to the fire.

Everyone knew that there was a problem with the food supply in France.Although the French government has repeatedly assured that the domestic food supply will not be affected, there is still a wave of food grabbing among the people.

In order to make huge profits, the capitalists deliberately exaggerated the food crisis, and all kinds of rumors were flying all over the sky for a while.

Calming food prices is not just a matter of talking about it, and everything else can be fooled. It is an indisputable fact that the food flowing into France is decreasing day by day.

Affected by fluctuations in food prices, Rafael's life is difficult.In order to calm domestic grain prices, Napoleon IV ordered the state-owned farms to ship back to the country immediately after the autumn grain harvest.

As the person in charge of the farm program, Rafael is very clear about the operation of overseas farms.The output on the book and the actual output of the farm are completely two concepts.

Because of natural conditions and bureaucratic management, the cost of food production on overseas farms remains high, far exceeding international food prices.

Because of tariff barriers, foreign food inflows have to bear high tariffs, and food prices in France have always been at a high level.

Importing food makes more money than growing it yourself, and bureaucrats will not struggle with money, so they naturally know how to choose.

Napoleon IV cleaned it up once, but it was only a part of the face project, and most of the farms were still just a fake.

The central government is not a fool. If a farm produces 10 tons of wheat but sends 11 tons of wheat to the country, it will definitely be found to be a problem.

Stupid bureaucrats have been eliminated, and those who can stay to make money are smart people.In order to make huge profits, everyone has become a model of land reclamation.

On the books, the farms reclaim a large amount of land every year, and the food production capacity is rising steadily, artificially creating a thriving situation.

With fabricated data, everyone defrauded the government of financial subsidies and engaged in grain smuggling for huge profits.

It is no longer possible now that international grain prices have skyrocketed, and the profitable business has now become a money-losing business. The bureaucrats, aware of the crisis, have begun to look for ways out.

Recently, Raphael has received a bunch of resignation letters every day, many of which are printed and left.

After Napoleon IV's grain transportation order was issued, before Raphael could react, the number of farm officials was reduced by one-third.

The big shots have all run away, and the rest are small fish who can't run away, and the mess falls into Raphael's hands.

With a "bang", Raphael threw away the thick stack of resignation letters in his hand, and said fiercely: "Cole told these damn guys that it's okay to resign if you want to, and solve this problem first Let's talk.

Otherwise, everyone will die together, no matter who their backstage is, I will send them to hell before going to prison.