Chapter 722: The Pot That Had to Be Carried
Chapter 705 – The Pot That Had to Be Carried
Berlin Royal Palace, has just finished a celebration banquet, as the main character of the banquet, Mauch was William I deliberately stayed.
The guests dispersed, and William I’s joyful color was gone. It was obvious that the lightness and success just now were all feigned.
As the king of the Pope’s Federation, William I knew better than anyone the crisis he was facing now, and the Battle of Warsaw was only a tactical victory that did not reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield.
Only the people need confidence, need to win, in order to stabilize the people’s hearts, there is this self-deceiving celebration party.
William I asked with concern: “Marshal, when will the Warsaw Battle be over?”
“I don’t know!”
Plain and simple three words, used here is a little heavy. It seems to have exhausted the strength of Mauch’s entire body, and finished with an instantly gloomy look.
This is the real answer, when the Warsaw war will end, is no longer the Pupo federal say never mind, the right to decide has long been transferred to the Russians.
After a pause, William I added the tone: “If I insist on a time?”
Mauch shook his head, “Your Majesty, it is not for me to decide! If you want to end the Warsaw War, it also depends on whether the Russians agree or not.
The Russian Fourth and Fifth Armies are crippled, the Seventh Army of their No. 1 still maintains some combat power, and the Third and Sixth Armies are on their way, and it won’t be long before they arrive at the front.
This is only the beginning, as far as I know the Russians still have seven new armies, the enemy can draw at least four armies into the Warsaw battlefield.
Even if they’re all cannon fodder and rice bowls, there’s no way we’ll be able to defeat them in a short time. What’s more, the enemy is in no hurry at all for a decisive battle now, and it will be even more difficult for us to take the initiative.
Militarily speaking, the enemy has already entered our hinterland, and the Warsaw area has lost its value for continued defense.
If possible, I suggest abandoning the Warsaw region for now, concentrating our forces on solving the crisis on the north and south fronts first, and concentrating on the defense of the Kingdom of Prussia.”
Seeing that William I did not speak for a long time, Mauch knew that he hesitated and continued to add: “By retreating to the Kingdom of Prussia, we can use German nationalism to influence the decision-making of the government in Vienna, in addition to defusing the strategic passivity.
Austria’s support for the Russians is not without a bottom line, and if they are allowed to discover that the Tsarist government has the intention of appropriating German regions, the situation is about to change.
Without Austrian support, the Tsarist government would not last long. As soon as they ran out of money in their pockets, the war would be over.
If it goes well, we still have the possibility of rounding up the main Russian army in the Prussian region and regaining the lost ground.”
On the surface, it seems that Austria’s support for the Russians was to remove the Prussian-Polish Confederation as a rival and to clear internal obstacles to the unification of the German region.
Once the Russians showed interest in the German region, it was a matter of minutes before Russia and Austria flipped. Even if the government was able to look at the big picture, the nationalists would stir up strife.
William I shook his head: ”This is the worst possible plan, it is easy to give up the Polish region, it will be difficult to get it back.
Ivanov’s style of military use, you’ve learned it firsthand, how likely do you think he’ll fall for it?
If the Russians continue to play it safe, we won’t be able to hold out for long, and we might even be exhausted before the Tsar’s government runs out of money.
Besides, do you really think Russia and Austria will turn on each other right away? Alexander II wasn’t stupid enough to salivate over the German territories, but he wouldn’t show it now.
If I were in Alexander II’s position, I would have thrown the entire Prussian German region to Austria to offset the debt in exchange for the full support of the Vienna government.
Maintain good Russian-Austrian relations, hide behind Austria after the war to recuperate and restore strength, sit back and watch the continental winds and clouds, and wait for the next change in Europe to appear.
It was unrealistic to alienate the Russian-Austrian relationship, but there was a slight chance of gaining the support of other countries, or at least getting the British to step up their commitment.
It’s a pity that Denmark fell to the Russians, or else leasing the Royal Navy and making a surprise attack on St. Petersburg would have been a good move.”
Russian-Austrian relations were studied in depth by the Berlin government, which finally came to the conclusion that Russia and Austria would eventually turn on each other, except that this time would not be now, but in the future when the struggle for European hegemony would take place.
The Russo-Prussian War is not even over yet, and the Tsarist government, even if it has an iron head, is not likely to join the struggle for continental hegemony right away.
This meant that there was still a long time to go before the Russo-Austrian conflict broke out. In a short period of time, the Prussian-Polish Confederation would still be the first target of the Russians’ strikes.
In fact, William I had another unspoken reason, that is, now he was not only the King of the Kingdom of Prussia, but likewise the King of the Kingdom of Poland.
Once he gave up the Polish region, it would be impossible for him to gain the recognition of the Polish population in the future.
Politics is cruel, if there is no reversal of just, the situation will not be worse; in case the Prussian army in the battlefield reversal, recovered the lost territory, he gave up the Polish region of the King of Poland will have done his head.
When the time comes to rebuild the Polish-Polish Commonwealth, to ease the relationship between Poland and Poland, he, the king, must take responsibility. Abdication would be the best outcome, and he might even be subjected to an early death.
In front of interests, nothing is impossible to happen. With the war going on now, William I’s control over this country had essentially dropped to its lowest point.
In this context, it was fine to give up the Warsaw region, but this order could not be given by him, and someone had to be found to take the blame.
Now there is a more suitable candidate than Mauch?
In order to win the war, it makes perfect logical sense for the commander-in-chief of the front line to order the abandonment of Poland.
As for Mauch, he was to be criticized after the war, even infamous. Wilhelm I was afraid that he would not want to let his reputation be even more infamous, no emperor likes his subjects to get the credit for the war.
If he had not implied that Mauch would take the blame, William I would not have said anything ambiguous at all, and that last complaint was even more superfluous.
The failure to carry out the plan to sneak into St. Petersburg was not because the Danes had fallen to the Tsarist government, but most crucially because the British had dropped the ball.
The London government was not willing to make this blood money, and there are many reasons involved.
Domestically: the opposition parties blocked it; internationally: France and Austria wanted the British to play by the rules of the game, and the Nordic Confederation did not want to see the British extend their power into the Baltic.
If it was to defend Britain’s own interests, the London government could have refrained from wimping out. The problem was that now it was for the benefit of the Pueblo Federation, and to make them pay such a big price, the London government was naturally reluctant.
Debt is no longer useful, the consortium can influence politics, does not mean they can make decisions for the government, these days it is not the turn of the capitalists to be in charge.
After a few moments of contemplation, Mauch smiled bitterly and said, “I know what to do.”
After saying that, Mao Qi directly turned around and left the royal palace, even the ceremonial farewell was saved.
To the end, William I did not open his mouth to stop him. The rift had widened, it was something that could not be helped, ever since Ron’s death, there was a gap in the relationship between William I and Mauch.
Without a lubricant, the conflict between the federal government of Pupo and the military was growing. It was inevitable that William I would have to play a game of political balance and support the weaker government against the military.
Mauch, as the military boss, naturally became the front-runner in the conflict, and with more conflicts occurring, a deterioration in relations was inevitable.
William I now let Mauch take the blame, not just the situation needs, the same is also the continuation of the political struggle.
Otherwise, the government can also back this black pot, but the Berlin government is already weak, and then back this black pot, it is even more unable to fight with the military.
After the unhappy meeting, Mauch took a special train back to the front overnight. On the surface of the front war urgent, in fact, this is also a silent protest.
Who let this black pot, he can not refuse it? It is not easy to be the boss of the military, and the overall interests of the military must be taken into account.
The army’s right to speak is based on victory, the Pupo Federation is an army owned country, if it really loses the war, the one who loses the most is the military led by the Junker nobility.
From a purely military point of view, giving up Warsaw and retreating to the Kingdom of Prussia is the only way to have a glimmer of hope, just on this one Mauch must go for it.
If he offended the Poles, he would still be the high and mighty marshal, but he would be sprayed a few times, and his reputation would not be enough to feed him; if he lost the war, he would be nothing.
Gambling, that was impossible. Now if he gambled and refused to retreat to die in Warsaw, he would not be gambling, but gambling with his life.
It’s not like the Japanese were the only ones who killed their country’s traitors; in fact, the Kingdom of Prussia was the originator, just not as heartless.
……
(End of chapter)