Chapter 202: Kicking the ball around

  Chapter 199 Kicking the ball

Vienna

Austrian General Staff, Field Marshal Radetzky is convening a group of officers for a real-world case analysis, the object of which is this Balkan Battle.

According to the information in hand, we analyze the gains and losses of the two sides of this battle, and draw lessons from it.

The authorities are confused, the onlooker is clear.

As a bystander, the Austrian General Staff, a bunch of guys on paper, the warring parties slammed nothing.

The Russians: poor strategic decision-making, did not choose to break through from the weak Ottoman army, but instead to fight the French to the death. Verdict: Commanders were not militarily literate and did not know how to adapt.

Allied forces: ambiguous command, infighting, pulling each other’s leg, failing to capitalize on military superiority. Evaluation: the inevitable result of multinational cooperation, not humanly possible.

Common points: severe bureaucracy, chaotic command, crap logistic system.

Assessment of the army’s comprehensive combat power:

French: 9.4

British: 9.6

Russians: 7.8

Principality of Montenegro: 10.5

Ottomans: 5

Sardinians: 5

Looking at this assessment report, Franz’s expression was very interesting. The claim that the British Army was actually above France in terms of combat effectiveness was one that few people were likely to accept.

Even more bizarre Montenegrin army’s fighting strength actually exploded and was above the major powers.

The rest are relatively normal, the Ottoman army and the Sardinian army, are the dregs of a fighting strength of only 5, this statement is widely recognized by the Austrian military.

The Greeks hadn’t entered the war yet and couldn’t be accurately assessed, and the Bulgarian partisans were not a regular army and were ignored by the staff.

Seemingly sensing Franz’s doubt, Marshal Radetsky explained, “Your Majesty, the Montenegrin army’s will to fight is the strongest in all countries, every Montenegrin has been receiving military training since childhood, and their training is no worse than that of any other country’s army. Together with the weapons and equipment we provided, the combat power they are able to explode is amazing.”

If people were not afraid of death, then their fighting strength would not be too bad. If you add in the fact that the soldiers were well-trained, and advanced weaponry, then it wouldn’t be surprising that the combat power would explode.

However, this kind of explosion was also dependent on the place. Now that the Montenegrins were taking revenge and fighting for themselves, their morale was high and their fighting strength naturally exploded.

If it was a different time and place, this Black Mountain army might not have this kind of combat power.

Similarly, if the British and French armies were fighting on their home turf, resisting a foreign invasion, their fighting strength might also explode.

Now they are fighting for the Ottomans on the Balkan Peninsula, leaving aside the possible geographic environment, not suited to these factors, the morale alone can not reach the peak, ten percent of the fighting force can be played out eight or nine points, even if it is well-trained.

This comprehensive assessment, which changes from time to time, is still reliable in Franz’s opinion.

The fighting strength of any army is not constant, only in the most suitable environment, can play out the maximum fighting strength.

Franz asked doubtfully, “Your Excellency Marshal, I can accept that the Montenegrin army’s fighting strength is strong.

But the British army’s fighting strength is above the French army, how did this conclusion come about?

Analyzing the battle records, the French are clearly above the British, and this group of lobster soldiers hardly have any battle records to show for it.”

Marshal Radetsky explained, “Your Majesty, the British Army has always been small in number, but their training is no worse than any other country.

This factor, of course, only proves that the British army is well trained, it does not mean that the British army is better than the French army in combat.

The underlying reason is still that Napoleon III was removing dissidents and used the opportunity of the war to replace some of the top officers.

This personnel transfer, in the short term, inevitably affect morale, the new officers to take office, but also need time to break in, the short-term combat effectiveness of the French army is reduced.

In the Balkans, the morale of this French expeditionary force was not high, and the combat power that could be brought out was therefore discounted.

Based on these factors, the General Staff believed that now their fighting strength was now no match for the British.

This is not absolute, if these French generals are more capable of commanding, they can also make up for this gap, after all, the British commanders are a bunch of rookies.”

Franz nodded, this assessment of combat strength could only be used as a reference. If it was taken completely seriously, prepare to be slapped in the face, the battlefield was ever-changing, and there had always been a saying in the military – weakness over strength.

Franz laughed: ”In that case, the two sides of this battle are still evenly matched, and will not be able to distinguish between victory and defeat in the short term.

If the Greeks give a sudden burst of strength and sneak attack the logistics of the allied forces, if the allied forces are caught off guard, the Russians have a better chance of winning instead?”

Foreign Minister Metternich spoke up and explained, “Your Majesty, I’m afraid the Greeks can’t be counted on.

Even though they chose to ally with the Russians for the sake of their interests, the Greek government does not wish to be enemies with Britain and France.

They wish to be like us and just go to war with the Ottoman Empire and remain neutral in the fight between Britain and France and the Russians.

The Greeks are afraid that they won’t have the guts to attack the British and French logistical lines in this meeting, and even if they do enter the war, they will only go after the neighboring lands, which won’t help in the big picture.”

There was nothing Franz could do about it except lament a piggish comment.

Austria did not send troops to PK with Britain and France, that is the Balkan Peninsula is limited in the number of large armies that can support the war, and the Mao Bear’s soldiers take up all the space. In increasing the number of armies, the logistics are screwed.

Then there’s the post-war distribution of benefits. Now Austria’s main contribution is logistics, then after the war according to the pre-agreed distribution of benefits, the Russians contributed the most, it is reasonable to get the biggest share of the benefits.

If Austria acted as the main force, the Russians would not be able to swallow all the benefits they wanted, which was unacceptable to the Tsarist government.

In addition to these special circumstances, there is another crucial condition, that is, Austria has the strength to be neutral, Britain and France, even if they are no longer upset, can not help Austria.

Changing to the Greeks was different, and the British did not mind teaching the disobedient little brother a lesson in passing. Once a small country takes sides there is no room for maneuver, don’t expect Britain and France to listen to their explanations.

The right thing for the Greeks to do is either do nothing or do everything. Snakes and rats will not get their way, no matter what the end result is.

After a few moments of contemplation Franz said: “Then we’ll wait a little longer, the railroad from Vienna to Salzburg has begun to lay track, the end of the year will be able to open to traffic.

The railroad connecting Munich to Salzburg has also completed its roadbed construction, and technically speaking, most of the area of this section of the railroad can be laid with temporary tracks.

Even if the enemy fish out of water and block the Danube and Rhine, the logistical problems can be solved all the same.”

The military strength of the South German states was not a concern for Franz. No matter how hard the governments of these states tried, they couldn’t afford to have more bandwagoners underneath.

The topic of unification was already hotly debated, and in this day and age people didn’t know the word – public opinion kidnapping. But in reality, most of the lower and middle classes in these small states were influenced by public opinion.

At the time when the Austrian army was fighting, this perception would have disintegrated the army’s will to fight. Those who surrendered could justifiably say: We are not surrendering, we are doing our part for the unification of the country.

The only risk was logistics, the Bavarian government chose to fish out of water and directly blocked the Danube and Rhine rivers, the Austrian army had to rely on overland transportation of logistical supplies, and that would have been a headache.

Waiting for the Bavarian domestic railroad to open is too late, but no matter, there can still be a workaround, laying temporary tracks on the already completed roadbed.

Because of the terrain, such short-distance railroads might only have small sections of a few dozen kilometers, a dozen kilometers, or even a few kilometers, which could not be connected. But Franz couldn’t care less, something is better than nothing.

It is better to have something than nothing. Even if it is troublesome to move the supplies backward, it is still faster than using manpower to pick up and carry the supplies on the back. Every minute is precious above the battlefield, and the Duchy of Montenegro’s model of relay transportation can be emulated by Austria.

……

Balkans.

The war had reached a stalemate, the Russians could not defeat the Allied Forces and the Allied Forces could not do anything about the Russians.

What is embarrassing for both belligerents is that the two most prominent armies on the battlefield are the Bulgarian partisans and the army of the Principality of Montenegro.

On October 1, 1852, the Montenegrin army overcame the Ottoman fortress of Shkoder with fewer men and opened the gates of Albania.

In the following month, the Montenegrin army swept all the way across the country, and half of Albania fell into their hands. The good thing is that these places are not the core of the fight, can not affect the overall situation.

The performance of the Bulgarian guerrillas was also very photogenic. In the Sliven region, they pressed the Ottoman army to fight, but also from time to time deep into the rear to do things, to the coalition army’s logistics and transportation has brought very big trouble.

In the Sofia region, the Bulgarian guerrillas fronted through the Sardinian army’s defenses and penetrated into the rear of the allied forces.

If the British had not reacted quickly this time and quickly mobilized their heavy forces to organize a counterattack and routed them, the allied forces in the Sofia region would have been wrapped up in dumplings.

The regular army would have become a routed army if it had been broken up. But it was originally a guerrilla army, and after being routed they naturally swam, causing the coalition commander Montes to be on the verge of collapsing.

There is no way, the Ottomans do not give strength, said that the local war, but in the end they are instead caught in the people’s war in the sea.

After these Bulgarian guerrillas were routed, they went deeper into the Bulgarian region, utilizing the support of the local population to give them a shot every now and then.

By now, the logistical transportation of the allied forces Monteith did not dare to use the Ottomans to escort them. If there is no more than two thousand British troops to escort, it is to give the enemy to give support.

Not long ago five thousand Ottoman troops escorted over strategic supplies, directly in the halfway by the guerrillas to the robbery. If not for the rich reserves of Sofia, the coalition forces will be hungry.

Even if it is sent a heavy escort, every time the successful delivery of supplies behind, there are one hundred and eighty British soldiers fell on the battlefield.

Of course the enemy died more, but with the British soldiers and guerrillas for, in the view of Montes how to feel a loss.

Montes said angrily, “Let the Foreign Office note the Sudanese government, let them round up the guerrillas as soon as possible, can’t let these people affect our logistical transportation.”

It is not that he does not want to send troops to encircle the guerrillas, the problem is that the opposite side of the Russian army is still staring, as long as he dares to send the main force of the British army, the Russians will immediately pounce.

But the guerrillas can’t be left alone either, let them continue to plunder like this, the logistics of the allied forces will collapse sooner or later.

Supplies that could have arrived in a week now had to travel for at least ten days. Each time the supplies were delivered the casualties, and the loss of supplies were increasing.

Then we can only give the Ottoman government the heavy responsibility of rounding up the guerrillas, they are the local snakes, and they are just right for this job.

Unfortunately, this is only in theory, the reality is very cruel.

British Major General Abrams said disdainfully, “Your Excellency the Commander, I’m afraid the Ottomans can’t be counted on.

In order to encircle this guerrilla group, the Ottomans have already invested 50,000 troops one after another, and now about half of them are still left.

This bunch of fools, are not war material at all, when they hear a gunshot, they piss in fear, relying on them to encircle the guerrillas is a fool’s errand.”

This was an exaggeration, and the Ottoman army wasn’t that scrappy. The root cause of these armies having such low combat power was that the Ottoman Empire’s main forces were all committed to the battlefield.

Four hundred thousand troops had been invested in the Caucasus region before and after, and the troops lost in the Balkans alone had exceeded one hundred thousand, and there were still more than four hundred thousand Ottoman troops on the battlefield now, fighting in blood.

Do they still have troops there? The Ottoman Empire was at full strength by now, and this was the maximum force that the Sultan’s government could mobilize.

Now, in order to encircle the guerrillas, they have improvised another 50,000 troops, and to say that this is an army is completely overestimating them.

Most of the people here are captured soldiers, with no military morale. Learning how to shoot a gun is considered completing the training, and then they are sent directly to the battlefield.

Weapons and equipment are all old antiques that were eliminated earlier, and many of the weapons are older than the soldiers.

The firepower of this regular army was at the same level as the guerrillas, and not even close to some of the guerrillas.

Montes said angrily, “Waste! How could the British Empire find such an ally, it’s a disgrace.

Urge the French to fight the Russians as soon as possible, what do they want to do by dawdling so much, do they still want to stay in the Balkans for Christmas?”

……

(End of chapter)