Chapter 706: Madman and Genius
Chapter 690 – Lunatics and Geniuses
It has been proven that the tactic that suits you best is the best tactic.
Marshal Ivanov’s use of the military was completely middle of the road, forming hard fortresses and fighting dull battles, hardly finding any bright spots. It was better to sit back and watch the loss of war opportunities than to engage in military adventures.
Encountered such a conservative enemy, even the so-called Prussian “military god” Mauch, can not help.
The situation at the front did not follow the predetermined script, and the Berlin government was under great pressure, with all kinds of criticism constantly emerging.
There was even a part of the old-school generals openly attacked Mauch’s command ability, demanded that he be responsible for the loss of the Battle of Smolensk, as if the Prussian army could turn the situation around with a different commander.
Fortunately, William I is not a soft-hearted Lord, firmly support Marshal Mauch, otherwise the Prussian army will have to change the general.
Tactically speaking, the Prussian army always won more than it lost, and its record was very beautiful.
Unfortunately behind the victories, there were also tragic casualties. The war potential of Prussia and Russia was completely different, and the ability of the Tsarist government to withstand troop losses was three times that of the Berlin government.
The Prussian-Polish Confederation appeared to have a population of over 30 million, their real fighting force was still the army made up of the population of the core of Prussia.
While the population of the Polish region also supported the war, the region had a very complex ethnic composition with numerous minorities, and the internal conflicts were not necessarily smaller than the external ones.
The Binary Empire was not so easy to integrate, and the Prussian-Polish Confederation was established too soon for the Berlin government to smooth out the internal conflicts, let alone unify the language and writing.
Problems that the government wasn’t able to solve inevitably carried over into the military. Somewhat similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the original time and space, it was very much a test of command and coordination.
A single unit fighting combat power is 10, two units in joint combat combat power is not 20, but becomes 20 * 90% * 90% = 16.2 and so on, three units with combat power becomes 21.87, the more armies cooperating, the faster the decline in combat.
Mao Qi with this gang of pig teammates on the battlefield, to be able to play the current performance has been very good. If they were to be replaced, they would probably have fought the shit out of them long ago.
Berlin Royal Palace, now conducting a meeting about the future of the Pupo Federation.
“Expand the army? Or not to expand the army?”
Since the outbreak of the war, the Pupo Federation had been expanding its army, and its total strength had swelled from the initial 416,000 to the current 1.668 million.
This time, the discussion of expanding the army was naturally not about the routine replenishment of adding more than 100,000 troops every month, but rather, “To mobilize immediately or not to mobilize to the limit.”
There was no other way. In a war of this magnitude, there was always a shortage of troops.
Not all the troops could be put into the battlefield, and most of the expanded army were new recruits who needed to undergo the necessary military training.
Once the training was completed, it didn’t mean that all these soldiers would be able to go into battle. The logistics needed to be maintained, the coastal areas needed to be defended, and the Cossack cavalry that crossed the border also needed to be surrounded by troops.
In addition, the supplementary soldiers also accounted for a considerable proportion, and would be added to the troops that had suffered heavy losses one after another, in order to safeguard the fighting strength of the main force.
Of the 1,668,000 troops of the Pupo Federation, barely half of them could actually be put into frontline combat. This percentage was already very high, and was enough to prove the organizational ability of the Berlin government.
With insufficient troops, it was naturally easy to suffer losses on the battlefield. Although Ivanov is conservative, but does not lack the “one will accomplish ten thousand bones” ruthless, crazy game of cash.
Behind the war of attrition is the total strength of the Russian Empire, which will soon exceed the three million mark. Even if the Russian army in the battlefield exchange ratio suffered a loss, but by virtue of the numerical advantage, in the strategy they still have the advantage.
……
Mauch: “I am opposed to extreme mobilization now, war does not depend on the number of people, fight manpower we can never be a match for the Russians.
The unfavorable situation on the battlefield is only temporary, the Russians seem to have the advantage, but behind the advantage the political pressure Ivanov is facing is also in the process of increasing.
Victory is the easiest way to get lost. According to Ivanov’s way of fighting, the Russians would be badly hurt even if they won the war.
Paying millions of casualties, the final harvest of a white field, plus debts.
It is said to be known that the Tsarist government had mortgaged the Russian Balkans and half of Ukraine to Austria.
With the strength of the Russian Empire now, if they don’t want to cede these areas to Austria, they have to find a way to pay off the debt.
Ivanov’s tactics seemed sound, but in reality he was working the Austrians. After the war, the Czarist government was unable to pay off the debt and was bound to cede a large amount of territory to cover the debt, and I don’t believe that the Czarist government would be able to accept this.
As long as a few more victories are won, and it looks like the situation is settled, the Tsarist government will force Ivanov to come out and fight us, or replace him.”
The government favors expanding the army, but the military bosses oppose it. Such a bizarre thing, which is rare in the history of the world, is really happening now.
Mauch knew very well that this decision of his would upset many military generals, after all, expanding the army was everyone’s best chance for promotion.
But there was no way around it, this war was going on so fiercely that the Prussian army had to pay as little as tens of thousands, or as many as a hundred thousand casualties every month.
Extreme mobilization seems to solve the problem of insufficient troops, but in reality, it is not that at all, PuBo federal manpower is limited, extreme mobilization is just consuming the late mobilization capacity.
It was supposed to be baiting the enemy to go deeper and deeper, to get a whole lot of troops out and leave them at home without moving, how could the Tsarist government relax its vigilance?
Not to relax vigilance, let Ivanov guy continue to command, both sides have been fighting consumption, the first can not hold out is still the PBU.
Moreover, the new troops can not form combat power in the short term, want to take the initiative to launch a decisive battle can not be done. In addition to increasing consumption, it won’t be of much help to the battlefield.
Foreign Minister Jeffrey Friedman: “Your Excellency Marshal, I recognize that you have a point, but don’t forget that there are international forces.
We have reached a stage in our negotiations with the London government. Diplomatically they have stepped in and the threat of the Nordic Federation no longer exists.
If we mobilize three million troops, the Czarist government will inevitably have to mobilize on a much larger scale if it wants to continue to maintain its strength advantage.
So how many troops are they going to mobilize, is it five million, or six million?
Armies are gold swallowing beasts. We have the financial support of Britain and France, and it will not be a problem to hold out for another year, how long can the Tsarist government hold out?
I don’t think Austria will support the Russians indefinitely, they’ve invested enough capital, and will necessarily have to consider cost recovery.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already released goodwill to the government in Vienna, we have made major concessions, we are not seeking the territories that the Russians have mortgaged to them and we are supporting them in their efforts to acquire Constantinople.
Of course, these may not impress them, but they are still enough to stabilize Austria. As soon as the government in Vienna faltered, the Czarist government would be unable to continue its military superiority due to lack of funds.
Without the enemy’s superior strength, I’m sure His Excellency the Field Marshal has the means to defeat them. It is much less risky than waiting for the enemy to make a mistake.”
Behind the seeming banality was a power play. By expanding the army in accordance with the government’s intentions, and trusting the Russians to death by finance, the protagonist who dominated this war changed from the military to the government.
If you analyze it carefully you will find that there is also a British shadow behind it, and the sudden move of the London government gave the Berlin government the opportunity to grab the leading role.
Mauch growled, “Madman! Jefferies, you are truly a madman!
To actually pin your hopes on the British. Could it be that you really think that the British, for that matter, will always support us?
Stabilize Austria?
Ah, God!
Jeffrey, you’ve got some nerve!
You don’t think we’re in enough trouble as it is, getting involved in the Anglo-Austrian game and trying to play them off against each other?”
It wasn’t that Mouche was pessimistic, it was that Jefferies’ plan was too idealistic. Everything was based on the premise that England and Austria, followed their script.
If the British did not continue to provide loans, or if, because of the Anglo-Austrian game, the Viennese government continued to provide loans to the Czarist government, it would spell doom for the Puppo Federation.
Countries are also different from each other, and the financial power of Britain and Austria is not comparable to that of Prussia and Russia. It is not impossible to take a few hundred million for a proxy war if the interest is big enough.
Jeffrey Friedman laughed coldly, ”Your Excellency Marshal, you’re overthinking it, the risk isn’t as great as you think.
If you know how much we owe the British, you’ll understand why the London government will support us.
The principal alone is up to 210 million pounds, and that’s just the loans and bonds. We owe British businesses for goods, and there’s another £140 million, and that figure is growing at a rate of £600,000 a day.
When interest is factored in, we need to pay back almost £600 million to the British. If the debtors don’t want to bleed to death, they’ll find a way to get the London government to back us.”
This explanation made Mauch’s jaw drop; he could never have dreamed that the Berlin government would be in such huge debt, let alone that there would be such a benefit to being in debt.
Of course, the benefits were only temporary. When it came time to pay back the money, it would be their turn to cry.
Pausing for a moment to ease his emotions Mauch asked, “What about Austria? Don’t tell me we owe them a huge debt as well.”
Jeffrey Friedman smiled slightly, “Naturally not. The Austrian bankers don’t think much of us at all, they lent the Russians their money.
There are no debt implications, but there can be an exchange of interests. In international politics, enemies and friends can be transformed if there are enough benefits.”
Jeffrey Friedman’s confidence didn’t move Mauch again, but only shook his head, “Your Excellency the Count, it’s time to wake up from your dreams.
Theoretically, after we withdraw from the German Confederation, we can indeed make a deal with Austria, supporting their annexation of the German Confederation in exchange for their neutrality in this war.
But do you think we have a choice? Would the British agree? Would the French agree?”
This is the aftermath of too much debt now, and the British are not good at taking money. It’s true that there are countries that take money and don’t do anything with it, but the Commonwealth of Pupo is not one of them.
The London government was now willing to support the Puppo Confederation, not only to fight the Russians, but also to restrict Austria and hinder the unification of the German region.
If it was discovered that the Berlin government was going to compromise with Austria on this issue, it would be a wonder if John Bull didn’t go ballistic.
The reserves of the Pupo Confederation were kept in London, and the British government could make the Mark into scrap paper at any time, so the Berlin government had no choice at all.
……
(End of chapter)