Holy Roman Empire

……

The government's decision did not affect the frontline fighting.There is no turning back when you open the bow, since you have done it, you must do it absolutely.

It would take too much time to fill up the Suez Canal by bombardment alone. In order to speed up, the frontline troops had to face the threat of enemy artillery fire to fill the river and build land.

Colonel Boardman frowned as he watched the car that was hit by enemy artillery and climbed halfway emitting black smoke.

You must know that cars are rare items. In addition to the large amount of preparations for the main domestic troops, overseas armies only have a small amount of equipment in the logistics department.

The garrisons in the Middle East are lucky, because they produce oil themselves, and Austria also has an oil refinery here, and the oil supply is convenient, so there is a car company for each regiment.

But this is limited to before the war, starting from the large-scale military expansion, such a good thing is over.

The newly produced military vehicles must first satisfy the local troops, and very few have been allocated to the Middle East theater.

Without any exception, the infantry division of Colonel Boardman was also expanded, expanding from a regiment before the war to a division.

There are other weapons in the open warehouse, and the number of cars is still the original car company, which is mainly used to transport logistics supplies.

Seeing these babies just fell on the battlefield, Colonel Boardman's heart was bleeding continuously.

After hesitating for a long time, Colonel Boardman seemed to have made a difficult decision, and said fiercely: "Order the car company to suspend operations, and we will talk about it later in the evening!"

There is no way, the target of the car is a bit too big, and on average, after running three or five times, one car will die heroically.

As long as you can win, it is worth losing as many cars as possible.The problem is that at the current speed, the car company will be finished before the Suez Canal is filled.

It is certainly possible to wait for follow-up reinforcements, but the problem is that time has passed.At the same time, Colonel Bodman's division was not the only one that launched the river reclamation operation. The Austrian army attacked at multiple points.

Anyway, the defeat of the French army would blow up the canal, and it would not be a big deal to fill in a few more roads.

"Colonel, stop now. I'm afraid it will be difficult to be the first to complete the task by relying on animal power alone." The chief of staff reminded.

As the first army to blow up the Suez Canal and initiate the river reclamation operation, if a road cannot be filled in time for the army to cross the river, Colonel Boardman will really have a "bright" future.

"There is no way, the target of the car is too big, it is difficult to escape the enemy's artillery fire. The enemy has built a complete fortification, and we have no way to destroy their firepower in a short time.

If we persist, our losses will be very great.Unlike these exiled criminal laborers, the car company is a technical unit. If the seeds are lost, there is no way to replenish them. "

Thanks to Franz's big greening strategy, a large number of criminals are exiled to the Middle East every year. Once the war breaks out, these guys are naturally transformed into laborers.

Labor is Austria's precious wealth, but once the word "criminal" is added, its value will plummet in an instant, from a precious "wealth" to a social "tumor".

……

At the Cairo French Army Command, Governor Jacob's mood has turned bad since the news of the Austrian army's filling of the river.

Originally, he planned to seize the Sinai Peninsula, all according to the Suez Canal, and establish illustrious military exploits for France.

It's a pity that the plan didn't change quickly. As soon as he took action, the Austrian army on the African continent came to kill him. For a while, Egypt fell into an embarrassing situation surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Facing the wolves and tigers of the enemy, the troops on the border were overwhelmed. Governor Jacob had to shrink the line of defense while drawing reinforcements to support the front line.

It has become inevitable to draw troops to the front line of the canal.After all, a major turmoil broke out in the Egyptian region a few years ago, and the population loss was serious. Even if Governor Jacob wanted to use military force, he was not young enough.

Originally, Governor Jacob also hoped that the Austrian army would be afraid of international pressure and dare not easily destroy the so-called "eternal neutral Suez Canal".

As long as it lasts for a few months, and when the winner is determined in the mainland, the Egyptian region will be victorious.

It is a pity that the deterrent effect of the tiger skin of "international pressure" is too low. After a few days of delay, the tiger's power was punctured.

It's all bad, but Governor Jacob still has some confidence in the canal defense line he runs. Even if he can't defeat the enemy, it won't be broken in a short time.

"Order the troops on the front line of the canal to rely on the fortifications to defend on the spot, give the enemy a head-on blow, and show the prestige of the French Army..."

Chapter 167

A wave of unrest, a wave of up again.

Before the Vienna government completed the aftermath of destroying the canal, the Central European battlefield changed again.

After 27 days of hard fighting, after paying a painful price of nearly 5 casualties, the French army still tore through the Luxembourg defense line that the German Federation painstakingly managed, opening the door to the German region.

There are also skills in pitting teammates. If it had been earlier, Grand Duke Albrecht would naturally not mind the French army galloping in the German region. Anyway, the Austrian reinforcements are still out of reach on the road, and no one can say anything.

It's not going to work now, the Austrian reinforcements have arrived at the front line, and the nearest troops are less than [-] kilometers away from the front line of Luxembourg. It would be unreasonable to watch the allies die.

But the rescue is not easy. You must know that these troops also have missions, and the Belgians are waiting for them to rescue them.

Unlike the German Confederation, Belgium is a truly small country. The war has progressed to the present, and the whole country has already participated in the battle. It can be said that the full potential of war has exploded.

There is no way, this is the fault of the geographical location.After the war broke out, the Kingdom of Belgium, which was the weakest, passively undertook the heaviest combat mission in the anti-French alliance.

Austria was too far away, and the German Federation was slow to move, and did not provide them with timely support. The Kingdom of Belgium could only grit its teeth and stand firm, and now it has reached its limit.

Now that Belgium has persisted until now, Grand Duke Albrecht naturally couldn't watch them die. After the reinforcements arrived, he immediately ordered reinforcements to Belgium.

As for Luxembourg and the Rhineland, the German Federation has more manpower after all, and its troops are still relatively sufficient.

However, the reality is such a comedy. The crumbling Kingdom of Belgium has not yet collapsed, and the more powerful German Confederation was first broken through the line of defense.

"There are 35 troops defending Luxembourg on the front line, and more than 40 German troops in the Rhineland area can also support them. Why did the defense line suddenly collapse?"

Grand Duke Albrecht asked angrily.

He couldn't help but not be angry. Luxembourg's defense line never fell early or late, and it collapsed when it shouldn't collapse.

The defense line collapsed a few days ago, and the Austrian reinforcements were still on the way, so naturally there is no need to take responsibility for it; the collapse a few days later, the main force of the Austrian army has come, and they are not afraid to PK with the French.

It's just not right now. There are only fifteen divisions of the Austrian army's vanguard arriving at the front line. It's okay to reinforce Belgium to help stabilize the defense line.

If you want to fight a decisive battle with the French, there is no hope if you don't double it a few times. Grand Duke Albrecht doesn't think that the Austrian army can be so powerful that it is outnumbered.

The general of the German Federation in charge of coordination, Adrian, explained bitterly: "Your Excellency, Marshal, this is completely an accident.

As you know, we have many states, and this is the first joint operation of all the states, so there will inevitably be some problems in commanding the army, so..."

There are "some problems" in the command system, and that is entirely because Adrian Adrian is putting money on his face.

In fact, the issue of the command of the German Federation's troops has never been straightened out.

The armies of each state have independent command. The commander-in-chief appointed by the central government is more like a coordinator of a military alliance, and has no mandatory binding force on the troops of each state.

Even the battle plan was drawn up by representatives of all states.Even if there is an emergency, everyone needs to hold a meeting to decide, otherwise the army of each country will not be a headquarters at all.

Fortunately, the German army has always relied on fortifications for defense, and there are not many military mobilizations that need to be carried out. Otherwise, this chaotic command system would have been killed by the French long ago.

You can hide from the first day of junior high school, but you can't hide from the fifteenth day.The consequences of the chaotic command system still broke out, and as a price, the German Federation lost the Luxembourg defense line.

Grand Duke Albrecht waved his hand and interrupted Adrian Adrian's long speech: "Well, now is not the time to pursue responsibility, and I am not interested in knowing those bad things.

Now tell me, where did the French hit, and the loss of frontline troops, or how many troops can you control in your hands? "

When battles are lost, chaos inevitably ensues.In particular, the German Federal Army is still going its own way, and the situation is even more critical.

At this time, Grand Duke Albrecht only hoped that these guys could burst out their potential when they ran away, and preserve their vitality as much as possible, so as to delay the French advance in the next battle.

Adrian replied in a deep voice: "The troops on the front line have long been exhausted physically and mentally after fighting for several days. Suddenly they suffered a big defeat, and many troops were disbanded.

Now we are gathering rout troops, and it is initially estimated that the loss of troops this time will exceed half.

After the enemy had broken through the line of defense, the troops marched in two directions, marching all the way to Belgium and all the way to the Rhineland region.

We have built a second line of defense in the Rhineland area, but the incident happened suddenly, and the frontline troops were insufficient..."

Having said this, Adrian stopped abruptly.There's no way, it's really embarrassing.Not only was their own line of defense opened, but even Belgium was pitted by the German army.

Pitting teammates is nothing, and Adrian is not the Virgin. The problem is that once Belgium falls, the German Federation will not escape.

The Austrian allies did come, but the Austrian troops arriving at the front line were limited, and there was no way to close the gap.

Looking at the map, Grand Duke Albrecht said coldly: "There will be no reinforcements. The front line is gone, and the dozen or so divisions in my hands can't take care of the two fronts at all.

The most urgent task is to find a way to defend the Rhine and create conditions for the subsequent counterattack.As for other areas, it is time to give up and give up.

Your Excellency should be aware of the importance of the Rhine River. If you don't want to see the French army galloping in the hinterland of the German region, then immediately shrink your troops and stick to it. "

It seemed that he looked embarrassed, but in fact, Grand Duke Albrecht was already happy in his heart.

A decisive battle with the French army in Germany and a decisive battle with the French army in France are two completely different concepts.

In addition to military gains, political gains are more important.The defeat of the German army on the front line will inevitably awaken the crisis awareness of the German people.

In a sense, the more miserable the frontline loses now, the louder the calls for post-war unification will be.

Especially the people who have personally experienced this war can better understand the importance of a strong country.

Little Germany dominated by Hannover obviously cannot meet everyone's needs.At that time, public opinion will spontaneously promote the unification of the German region, forming a general trend.

As for a group of state governments with their own ghosts, after this war, it is almost time to recognize the reality, especially the states that directly suffered from the war need Austria's help after the war.

After a pause, Grand Duke Albrecht added: "By the way, Belgium still needs your Excellency to explain it yourself."

Explanations have come to this point, any explanation is futile.No matter how gaudy it is, it can't change the reality that Belgium is being cheated.

If they don't want to lose all their property, the Belgian government can only give up most of the country and stick to a small number of military fortresses.

If you are lucky, you will be able to last until the main Austrian army arrives; if you are not lucky, they will have to go into exile.

It is conceivable that the relationship between Derby and the two countries will not be better for a long time to come.In the following wars, the cooperation between the two countries could not be counted on.

However, this has nothing to do with Grand Duke Albrecht. For the great cause of the unification of the German region, some sacrifices are inevitable.

It is better to use the hands of the French to eliminate the force of these princes than to go into battle with the Vienna government shirtless.

"Your Excellency Marshal, there is still hope to plug the gap by sending troops now, and there is even..."

Before Adrian finished speaking, Grand Duke Albrecht interrupted forcefully: "Your Excellency, all this is your wishful thinking.

If the gap could be plugged, the Rhineland Army would have acted long ago.But until now, I have not seen them take any action. Could it be that they are waiting for my order?

At this point, the most important thing is to stabilize the situation and create opportunities for the counterattack later, instead of gambling for the possibility of that.

Your Excellency should be clear that we cannot afford to lose now.If the front line suffers another defeat, the international situation will reverse, and countries that were originally inclined to us may switch to the arms of the French. "

Excuses can never be exhausted, Grand Duke Albrecht made up his mind to pay attention to killing people with a knife, so naturally he will not be persuaded.

……

In the Royal Palace of Brussels, Leopold II, who just woke up from his nap and had not had time to wash himself off, received the shocking news of the collapse of the Luxembourg defense line.

Anyone with a little bit of military common sense knows that once Luxembourg falls, Belgium's flanks will be exposed to the front of the French army.

Now that the war has progressed, the Kingdom of Belgium has already exerted all its strength, and in a short period of time it simply cannot produce enough troops to build a left-wing defense line.

"waste!"

"It's all a bunch of trash!"

"Nearly 80 troops, but they can't even hold Luxembourg. Are the generals of the German Federation eating shit..."

……

In the face of the king's chattering curses, no one went to correct the German army guarding Luxembourg, and there was no small problem of 80.

"Your Majesty, the German army is retreating, and our left wing is directly exposed to the enemy. Now we can only..."

Prime Minister August was still politically minded, and he didn't directly say the word "exile" before he was sure about Leopold II's position.

Perhaps it was the venting just now that relieved the mood, or the prime minister's persuasion had an effect, the calmed down Leopold II said in a deep voice:

"Didn't Albrecht send us reinforcements? Send these troops up, they won't be trash too!"

"Your Majesty, these troops will not come. Just now the coalition headquarters sent a telegram that Grand Duke Albrecht is preparing to build the Rhine defense line.

It is suggested that we shrink our troops, give up unnecessary lines of defense, and only guard a few key areas, waiting for the next big counterattack. "

Army General De Smet replied.

"Humph!"

"Waiting for a big counterattack, it's easy for him to say. Anyway, the battlefield is not in Austria, so it doesn't matter how you fight.

But what should we do?

What about the 600 million Belgians?

Defend Brussels, or go into exile in Austria?

......"

Leopold II raised a series of questions, constantly impacting everyone, conducting a soul torture that was destined to be fruitless deep in everyone's heart.

……