Chapter 676: Sacrifice
Chapter 661: Surrender
The Prussian army was on the move, and the Russian army wasn’t idle either. Perhaps having learned from the lessons of the last war, the Russians were much more cautious this time.
No matter how the Prussian army fight, they recognized Smolensk, other areas are relying on the previously built fortifications to hold.
From the standpoint of a bystander, the Russians were a little conservative in strategy, but had to admit that it was the safest choice.
Smolensk was the gateway to Moscow, and without taking it, the Russians simply could not move westward with confidence.
Anyone who has studied the Prussian army knows that they like nothing better than to concentrate superior forces on local battlefields for decisive battles, and splitting and combining attacks, rapid breakthroughs, outflanking, and quick decisions are all their strong points.
In the last war, the Russians had suffered a great loss, and it was only natural that they should now learn their lesson.
Stabilization was undoubtedly the best option. One direction to concentrate troops to focus on the attack, other areas are relying on fortifications to defend, the Prussian army, even if they have concentrated superior forces, in a short period of time will be difficult to break through.
Defense is always more advantageous than the offense, there are bunkers and fortresses to rely on, no two or three times the strength of the advantage, under normal circumstances simply can not break through.
Vienna Palace, looking at the Russian military deployment map, Franz frowned tightly, the Russians are stable, but what about the Pope Federation?
An evenly matched battle is what Franz wants to see. Now the tactics of the Russian army does not have any technical content, completely in and Pupo federal fight consumption.
“Albrecht, if you were in Mauch’s position, how would you fight this war?”
After a little thought, Albrecht picked up his baton and made a point on the map, “This is
Smolensk, located in the middle of the Eastern European Plain, militarily seen as the gateway to Moscow.
In recent years, Prussia and Russia have built many fortifications along the border, and Smolensk is even more heavily fortified.
If I were in command, since the Russians were going to attack Smolensk, I would have simply defended in place and used the fortifications to deplete the Russian forces.
If the Russians are defending in other areas, the Prussian army can likewise hold their ground. Anyway, winter was coming soon, and even if a breakthrough was made now, there was no way to expand the battle.
The question of a decisive battle can be completely postponed until the beginning of spring next year, when the muddy roads will be the greatest enemy of the Russian mobilization.”
After a pause, Albrecht added, “In fact, in addition to the army, the navy can also be considered.
In recent years, constrained by financial resources the Russians have deserted their navy. The navy of the Pupo Federation is also not good, but they can ask for help from Britain and France.
Purchasing or leasing a fleet, they can directly sneak into St. Petersburg, and if they are lucky, they can end the war within the year.
Even if they didn’t keep the Tsarist government, it wouldn’t matter. With the capital lost, the Russians on the front would surely be in military turmoil.
In exchange for the defeat, there’s no chance that the Tsarist government will even change its previous strategy and order the Russian troops on the front line to come out for a duel, and the opportunity for war will naturally arise.”
Franz froze, suddenly realizing that the Russians actually had such an obvious break, there was no way for him not to be surprised.
After calming down, Franz shook his head, “Mauch will not do that, and the Junker nobles will not allow the honor of defeating the Russians to be given to the navy.
A sneak attack on St. Petersburg would require close cooperation between the army and navy. The Prussian army was not trained for landings, and if they were not well coordinated again, this plan would never have been realized.
Besides, it was difficult to keep the purchase of the fleet a secret when it was such a big deal. Even if Britain and France were to cooperate any more, entering the Baltic Sea would expose it, unless Britain and France personally sent troops on.”
The battle between land and sea, this was a topic that could not be gotten around. Although the army occupies an absolute advantage in the Pupo Federation, the navy also has no shortage of supporters.
The last wave of colonial expansion erupted in the late fifties, and Prussia likewise set off a wave of naval development, and even built its own ironclad ships and opened a colony in the Central and Southern Peninsula.
If the army hadn’t jumped the gun and started the Second Prussian War, causing the situation to spiral out of control, the Kingdom of Prussia might have become a new colonial empire.
Even now, the industrial and commercial circles within Prussia are still supporters of the Navy. It was too late to divide up the colonies, but everyone’s investments overseas still needed to be protected!
These days international trade is not good, without a strong navy as a backing, do what is difficult. Even the pirates, are watching the people.
If the careful statistics, it will be found that the Pupo Federation, such as the dry duck countries, the ship overseas the chance of accidents is several times that of the naval power.
The losses of the capitalists were of no concern to the Junker nobility, whose core interest was in the land. They even opposed the creation of the Pupo Federation if they weren’t pressured by the Russians.
In order to keep agricultural products from the Polish regions from hitting the domestic market, tariffs were now kept within the P&P Commonwealth.
Against this background, unless it was a matter of necessity, Mauch, as a representative of the interests of the Junker nobility, would never sacrifice class interests.
As for Britain and France personally sending troops, that was completely overthinking it. It is not true that they supported the Puppo Federation, but it is not the same as they wanted to see the Russians lose immediately, at least the French just wanted to see the Puppo Federation win miserably.
Albrecht nodded, ”Indeed, once we let the navy become the key to winning this war, it will be difficult to suppress their development after the war.
The Pupo Federation is still underpowered, and it’s simply impossible to build a large navy while maintaining a world-class army.”
This problem, not only plagued the Pupo Federation, even Austria had the same trouble.
Maintaining a world-class army and navy at the same time was a bit of a strain even for Austria. The strife that erupted over the Vienna government’s annual budget was the best proof of this.
It was normal to guess Mauch’s movements. Albrecht was only the Austrian Chief of General Staff, not deep enough to understand the Puppo Federation, making judgments inevitably influenced by the Austrian army’s operational thinking.
In fact, every country’s army combat ideology is different, usually subject to their own national strength. Different countries, the army combat tactics are not the same.
There is no right or wrong, only suitable and unsuitable. Perhaps the tactics that seem perfect now will be outdated in a few years; the tactics that seem impossible now may become mainstream in a few years.
With the development of the times, this will happen more and more.
Franz asked indifferently, “Well, let’s put this question aside for now, the answer will be revealed after a while.
Let’s talk about overseas first, how far is the war in South America going and are the British up to something again?”
With his knowledge of the British, it wouldn’t be John Bull if the government in London didn’t take advantage of France and Austria’s attention being focused on Europe.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Yes, Your Majesty. According to the intelligence we have gathered, the second division of the British Pacific Fleet is on its way over.
If nothing else, there’s a good chance they’re going to blockade the coasts of Peru and Bolivia to create a chance for Chile to win the war.”
Hearing this news, Franz was very upset, yet there was nothing he could do about it. Unless France and Austria intervened jointly, there was no way to stop the British.
Bolivia and Peru in this era, in addition to the size of the territory, that is really a small bullet country. The total economic output of the two countries together is less than half of that of Vienna.
With such a small interest, it is undoubtedly a dream to expect France and Austria to unite.
Europe is the center of the world these days, if it is because of the interference in South America, dispersed power led to the situation in Europe out of control, that would be a tragedy.
After a moment’s hesitation, Franz made a decision: “Our power in South America is limited, without domestic support, it is difficult to compete with the British.
For the time being, let’s give up our layout in South America, as long as it doesn’t directly jeopardize our interests, let the British toss it!”
……
(End of chapter)