Chapter 964: Armageddon
Chapter 945 Armageddon
Compared to Spain, sandwiched between France and Austria, Switzerland is even more tragic. Neutrality of the gods do not have to think, small countries do not have the right to choose.
If the Austrian pull together Russia and Spain because of political needs, then pull on Switzerland is completely in order to make up the numbers.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t take sides, Austria is peace-loving and won’t force anyone to join. It’s just that the post-war international order was established, and the non-participating countries didn’t just have to participate.
Don’t look at the original time and space Switzerland neutral happy, even the European Union is not lazy to join, that is built on the basis of the rise of the United States, the decline of Europe; now wandering outside the system, the ultimate end is nothing more than how to die the problem.
Not to mention, a food embargo, Switzerland will not last more than a year to starve; a tariff barrier, Switzerland’s nascent industry will immediately return to the Middle Ages.
There is no doubt that post-war Austria was absolutely capable of doing this. Neither the defeated France nor the independent Kingdom of Sardinia would have been able to confront Austria for the sake of Switzerland.
To put it bluntly, the hegemonic powers also need to make a statement. Generally, a chicken is chosen and killed to make an example of it. Austria was no exception, and now the only uncertainty was who would be the unlucky chicken.
The first rule of survival for a small country is to know what to do. After Spain declared war on France, the Swiss government, unable to resist the pressure, followed suit and declared war on the French.
With the anti-French allies assembled, Austria finally gathered an unrivaled power, even if the British personally came to the battlefield, there was no way back.
Vienna Palace, looking at the map full of small flags, Franz slowly said: “The time for a decisive battle has come, Russia, Spain and Switzerland joined, the French military morale has fallen to its lowest point.
Order the frontline troops to launch a full-scale counterattack, I have only one request, to weaken the French as much as possible.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues its efforts to bring down all the neutral countries in Europe before the French surrender, laying the groundwork for the reconstruction of the international order after the war.
Except, of course, the British.”
That’s right, to the very end, Franz hadn’t counted on the strength of these new allies.
There were only two main purposes in pulling them in:
One, to bind more nations to the chariot, to create as many enemies for the French as possible, and to share the hatred together.
Secondly, to strike at the morale of the French, to weaken their sense of resistance, to increase the chances of victory for the decisive battle, and to minimize the casualties on their side.
Of course, the incidental benefits are even more. The European continent is so many countries, more countries participating in the war, can become a mediator less countries, even if the British want to intervene, but also can not pull enough weight of the allies.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: ”Your Majesty, now there are only three neutral countries left in the European continent, and they have almost no interests involved with the French.
Luring is simply not realistic, if they are forced to declare war on France, perhaps they will be forced to agree to it, but they will certainly be discontented in their hearts.
At the same time, we will leave the outside world with the impression that we are acting in an overbearing manner, which will not be conducive to the establishment of the post-war international order.
Anyway, their strength is limited and their participation in the war can’t bring practical significance, so we might as well let them be.”
There was no doubt that the three neutral countries did not include Britain. From the beginning of the deterioration of Anglo-Russian relations, the Austrian government had subconsciously excluded the British from the European continent.
Looking at the map, Franz nodded thoughtfully. The only neutral countries now were Portugal, Holland, and the Nordic Confederation. Even if they had joined the war, they wouldn’t have the chance to go to war.
Not only them, even Russia, Western Switzerland Franz was not prepared to give them the opportunity to participate in the decisive battle.
Because of geographic location, if the West, Switzerland and two countries react quickly, perhaps there is still a chance to make a scene, to participate in the game of beating the dog, other countries that do not border, do not have to think about it.
The French family is very thick, to participate in the duel certainly need to pay a certain price, but compared with the generous gains, it is not worth mentioning.
The boss is not a good job, especially when it comes to distributing the benefits, if you want to convince everyone, the most basic fairness must still be achieved.
Franz has already made a plan to implement the principle of reciprocity of gains and contributions, how much contribution was made to the war against France, how much booty was taken away after the war.
Those who contributed less would have nothing to do with the rest of the distribution of benefits, except for the benefits initially promised.
This is something that can’t be helped. Austria wanted to monopolize French Africa, so naturally it couldn’t involve too many countries in Armageddon, or else it would have been too ugly to eat alone.
In addition, there is also a purpose is to the outside world to brighten the muscle, let everyone understand that the boss of the real name, is not a flower show, in the future to do things when the eyes put a little bright.
……
Central European battlefield, the aged Field Marshal Patrice McMahon, dragging his tired body for the final mobilization.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the old marshal is about to run out of gas. If not supported by a strong faith, he might have already collapsed.
Since the news of the Russians’ entry into the war, despair has spread in the French camps, especially among the Italian soldiers, and some even openly spread anti-war ideas in the camps.
In order to stabilize the military, McMahon ordered a crackdown at the first opportunity, executing hundreds of people before stabilizing the situation.
Iron-blooded tactics were able to deter the people, but there was no way to restore morale. Perhaps the officials at home did not understand, but the generals at the front were clear that the French army had been caught in a situation of internal and external danger.
“I’m sure you all know that the international situation has suddenly changed, the Russians have declared war on us, and Spain and Switzerland have jumped out to throw stones.
This is just the beginning, if we can’t defeat our immediate enemies on the battlefield and crush their ambitions, then more enemies will jump out next.
France has reached its most dangerous moment and it is now up to us to take up arms and defend our homeland.
Don’t look at them as numerous, but they are actually a bunch of rabble. Once we defeat the leading Austrian, the international anti-French forces will retreat.
……”
In a loud voice, Field Marshal Patrice McMahon was filling his officers with chicken soup for the soul that he couldn’t believe himself, just to inspire conviction and win a silver lining for France.
As for the effect, well, that’s a matter of opinion.
Perhaps the Russians are too far away to be able to whip them for a while; but Spain and Switzerland are right next door to them, and even if they don’t send troops, they will still hold back a large number of French troops.
Spain is okay, the Pyrenees mountains in the center, as long as the deployment of more than 200,000 French troops, will be able to guard the gateway.
Switzerland is not the same, France and Switzerland bordering the region of a flat, heavenly danger are in Switzerland. Once the Austrian army from Switzerland to kill, directly into the heart of France.
Not “once” exactly, but already. At the same time that Switzerland entered the war, an Austrian force had already set out from the Duchy of Liechtenstein and entered Swiss territory, obviously aiming at France.
Unlike the Anti-French League, which was outnumbered, France’s mobilization for war was on the verge of being stretched to the limit. Up to this point in the war, the total number of troops lost by the French army had exceeded two million. Including the eight to nine hundred thousand buried on the African continent and more than a million lost on the European battlefield.
Although not all of these people died in battle, there are still a large number of officers and soldiers disabled and captured on the battlefield, but the essence is the same, unable to go to war again.
However, this was only the beginning. From the time the government in Paris decided to make quick work of the war, the French army was paying tens of thousands of casualties every day.
No matter how big the family was, it couldn’t withstand such a torment. In front of the brutal casualties, the officers and soldiers on the front line have long been complaining.
The situation of the grass-roots officers and soldiers, McMahon is distracted, can only rely on the senior officers level by level to the following ideological work, as far as possible to stimulate the fighting spirit of the soldiers.
Without waiting for McMahon to finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a young officer who suddenly barged in: “Marshal, the Austrians have launched an attack.
According to the telegram sent from the front line, the Austrians are attacking very hard this time, and the mountains are filled with iron pimple monsters that are so powerful that there is no way to deal with them.
Our first line of defense has been broken, and the 7th, 16th, 23rd, and 42nd divisions at the front have sent telegrams asking for help.”
Hearing the “Iron Pimple” monster, McMahon’s face sank, it seems that the documents that someone had reported to him before had mentioned that the Austrians had this thing among their secret weapons.
Unfortunately, Austria’s secret weapons are too many, the vast majority of them are put out of the smoke bomb, in the battlefield before, no one knows this thing can do what. Coupled with incomplete intelligence, it was directly ignored by McMahon.
Of course, even if you know in advance is useless. Have not seen the power of armored troops before, in everyone’s concept that is the heavy cavalry, nothing more than the outside armor after some.
Along with Franz’s order, hidden for many days of steel torrent gushed out, from southern Europe to central Europe are tanks, armored vehicles figure.
Since the outbreak of the war, the Armageddon between France and Austria broke out. On the one hand, the French army wanted a quick battle, and on the other hand, the Austrian army of the steel torrent, staged the most exciting scene in the European continent.
Battle?
No, rather a massacre.
The confrontation between flesh and blood and the torrent of steel was inherently unfair. Coupled with the fact that the French army had previously been on the offensive side, and their own fortifications were not built very strongly, the result was tragic.
……
(End of chapter)