Chapter 770: The Generals Gathered Together
Chapter 753 – The Generals Gather
According to the provisions of the Pact Austria, Russia, Greece, and Black four countries contributed troops: 350,000, 336,000, 26,000, and 0.3 million respectively, with Austrian Chief of Staff Albrecht as the commander-in-chief of the allied forces.
Looking at this number, one can tell that this is a run for the extermination of the country. You should know that in the last Near East War, Russia and Austria had less than 300,000 troops, and they beat the Ottoman Empire to doubt their lives.
The most important thing in joint operations is coordination, the biggest problem is still the language barrier, communication difficulties, increasing the difficulty of cooperation between the forces in joint operations.
In the second half of May, the four countries worked around this problem, Albrecht, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces held many joint meetings to coordinate the organization.
The slowness of the coalition forces gave hope to the Ottoman government, and Abdul Hamid II ordered the mobilization of the nation.
The Ottoman government heartlessly relaxed the age of mobilization to 12, and upwards anyone who could carry a gun was counted, with no so-called upper limit.
In the past years, the Ottomans had drawn too much hatred, and the four countries of the Anti-Turkish Alliance were their sworn enemies, with no possibility of any détente.
In the face of life and death is the most likely to stimulate a country’s potential. Under the pressure of losing the country and destroying the race, the reformists, conservatives, and religious forces in the Ottoman Empire have tacitly stopped infighting.
……
Downing Street, inside the Prime Minister’s residence British Foreign Secretary George: “The Ottoman government is doing well, they are ready to put up a fight.
The Ottoman government chancellor, Midhat Pasha, has issued an extreme mobilization **** mobilizing 2 million troops to come out and fight the anti-Turkish alliance to the death.”
Prime Minister Gladstone was shocked and said, “The Ottomans want 2 million troops, how is this possible? How much population do they have, and on what can they sustain this large army?”
Don’t look at the Prussian-Russian War, where both countries mobilized millions of troops, and think that mobilization is simple.
The whole of Europe can mobilize 2 million troops of the country, as long as Britain, France, Russia and Austria four countries, can no longer find the fifth.
Spain may be able to mobilize so many young men, but Spain’s national strength simply can not support. The German Confederation and the Nordic Confederation behind them could not even get the numbers together.
In addition to the hardware requirements, this level of mobilization is also a test of the government’s organizational capacity.
Mobilized does not mean that it can be mobilized immediately. Taking Britain as an example, when the liver is bursting, not to mention mobilizing two million, even if it is five million, it is still able to burst out.
The problem is that this requires time, and what is most lacking on the battlefield is time. Now is already the era of hot weapons, not to recruit the young and strong into the army, even if the mobilization is completed.
Perhaps ordinary soldiers can be sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder after ten days and half a month of training; however, artillery soldiers, airship soldiers, these technical soldiers can not be trained in a short period of time.
Ottoman Empire at its peak, are not capable of 2 million troops, now on the half-life of the Ottoman, to mobilize 2 million troops how to see it is not reliable.
Foreign Minister George did not change his face and said: ”The number is exaggerated a little bit, but this can also be seen from the side of the Ottoman government’s determination.
It is important to realize that Ottoman is a special country, and it is completely possible for all the people to have an army. With their population of seven to eight million, there is still hope that they can put together two million troops.
Of course, this requires our help. Once they enter a state of universal army, Ottoman domestic production will basically be ruined, and they won’t be able to support it for long with their national strength ……”
Minister of Finance Xiaoji Childers interrupted, “Sir, this Near Eastern War is extraordinary, and the Vienna government has already made up its mind to exterminate the Ottomans.
From the current situation, the possibility of the Ottoman Empire surviving is very small.
Now that we are investing in them, it is simply impossible to recoup, and the government cannot afford to waste the taxpayers’ money.”
War is the beast that swallows gold, and even the British Empire, with its vast wealth, must think twice before it does so.
“No!”
“How can this be a waste?”
George explained, “Without the Ottomans as a buffer, we’re going to have to face the polar bears and double-headed eagles head-on.
As you can imagine, once that happens, the defense of India won’t be far behind.
The Ottomans are ready to fight for their lives, and as long as we fund them with a batch of supplies, the Ottomans will do everything in their power to hold off the Twin-headed Eagle and Polar Bear.
Instead of spending a lot of money on the defense of India, we should support the Ottomans with less money ……”
The Minister of Finance, Xiaoji Childers, rolled his eyes disdainfully and directly poured cold water, “The prerequisite is that the Ottomans can win. Otherwise it will no longer serve any purpose other than to intensify the conflict and make the Indian Defense War break out earlier.”
The meaning of the finance minister is very obvious, is not optimistic about the Ottomans. Once the war was lost, the Ottomans didn’t even exist anymore, and Britain wasn’t yet in a position to let Vienna or St. Petersburg take on the debt.
Even because of the act of sponsoring the Ottomans, triggered the strong resentment of the two countries, leading to the conclusion of the two countries to divide India’s covenant.
Foreign Minister George insisted: “The account can not be calculated this way, the chances of Ottoman victory is indeed very low, but with our support, they can support a longer period of time.
Among the four countries of the Anti-Turkish Alliance, Greece and Montenegro were just following to make up the numbers, and although the military strength of the Russians was good, they had no money in their pockets, and the war funds were destined to be advanced only by Austria.
For every penny we invested in the Ottomans, the Anti-Turkish League had to pay several times more to win the war.
France is out of commission, and it will take years for Napoleon IV to slow down, even if he puts down the rebellion.
Using this war to bleed Austria and drain their financial resources was vital to maintaining the balance of Europe.
Moreover, the international situation is changing, delayed for a longer period of time, always able to change, and may be able to reverse the situation.”
Everything else can be treated as nonsense, the use of this war to consume Austria’s financial strength, still caused Gladstone’s attention.
Destruction is always easier than construction, can not keep the Ottoman, the Ottoman broken, it is best to be able to fight into the white land, even if the expansion of the territory, but also can not enhance the strength of Austria.
Damage to oneself, that also depends on the ratio of losses on both sides. The tactic of “losing 300 to kill 1,000” can be used as a means of surprise and victory.
The game of great powers can no longer simply calculate the gains and losses, in a sense, as long as the competitors than I lose more, is the victory.
……
Constantinople, the ancient city, the smell of gunpowder is once again strong, the anti-Turkish alliance general headquarters is located in this politically significant metropolis.
This was also a political compromise between Russia and Austria, with the commander-in-chief of the allied forces being sent by Austria, and the general headquarters being placed on Russian territory to show that Russia and Austria were on equal footing in the alliance.
At the moment, the Allied Command is already full of generals, and it can be said that “generals are all over the place, but the marshal is the top”.
There is no way, after the Russo-Prussian War, the Russian army from the peak of more than five million compressed to half a million, even if the outbreak of the Near East War, only increased to more than 700,000.
After the compression of the establishment, the army commander became a division commander, division commander became a regimental commander are normal operation.
In this context, the Russian army generals rank want not high are difficult.
The original generals and colonels of all countries are not applicable to the Russians, and the lowest level of division commanders are all lieutenant generals.
The war in the Near East was seen as the best opportunity to get the credit for the war, and naturally, the result was that the lieutenant generals came out of the head of the regiment.
Perhaps under the influence of the Russians, who wanted to be equal on the battlefield, Montenegro and Greece also promoted “temporary generals” and “temporary marshals” on the line of fire.
Especially the marshal of Montenegro was probably the most tragic marshal of his generation, who could only command a reinforced regiment of troops.
The number of generals made it more difficult for Albrecht to coordinate his efforts, and it was customary to appoint higher-ranking officers on the battlefield.
If this had been done, the Austrian army would have been at a great disadvantage in coordinated combat.
Austria does not have “temporary rank”, “temporary marshal”, Franz will not do this kind of bad taste.
It is impossible to match the Austrian generals, even if they are all transferred.
The fact that Albrecht, the Chief of Staff, had come to take command of the Allied Forces himself was a matter of necessity.
There was no war, and it was natural that soldiers should not be promoted quickly. The Austrian army system has matured, without enough war service, just how to simmer seniority, it is impossible to become a marshal.
With the death of the old generation, Albrecht became the only remaining Austrian marshal, and directly became the best candidate to serve as the commander-in-chief of the coalition army.
Coalition Command, Military Judge Major General Bartolomei: “Commander, this is the last three days there have been 128 disturbances, fights and brawls, the court martial arrested a total of 358 people, including three generals.”
As the armies of the four nations gathered, security in Constantinople deteriorated dramatically. In this city of generals, the police were really powerless.
At the request of the mayor of Constantinople, Albrecht formed the Coalition Judge Advocate General’s Office, which unfortunately had the power to arrest people but not to dispose of them.
The coalition forces are allies, there is no superior and subordinate relationship, and the sentencing standards of the military justice of each country are different, and can only be handed over to the countries to dispose of their own.
Generally speaking, as long as no big deal is tossed out, the matter is finally put to rest.
Without being able to make an example of them, the deterrent effect of military justice is naturally poor.
Having developed to the present, the work of the Military Justice Office was to arrest – release – arrest again – release again every day… …week after week.
Less than half a month after the formation of the Coalition Command, there were already people who had achieved a brilliant record of seven in and seven out.
Albrecht nodded, Constantinople was Russian territory, the Russians weren’t even in a hurry, and he wasn’t in a good position to be the villain.
As a matter of fact, St. Petersburg had the most Russian troops, and most of those who violated military discipline were also Russian officers and soldiers.
Looking at the disorganized allied forces, Albrecht had no hope for this joint war.
To realize that the people who entered Constantinople were the military generals or guards of various countries, compared to ordinary soldiers, these people are considered to have grown brains.
However, the good brain can not resist alcohol, a few glasses of wine down the problem came out. Ninety-five percent or more of the violations of military discipline occurred after drinking.
Jealousy, fights and brawls are trivial; eating without paying is a normal operation, and the most bizarre is dueling in the street.
As long as you drink too much, there is nothing strange that can’t happen.
On the battlefield, there is today and no tomorrow, and the need to relieve stress before war breaks out, it is not surprising that the bottom soldiers are so indulgent.
Normally a general of this rank shouldn’t be guilty of this, but the Russian army is the exception. As a result of the war, a large number of dark horses have risen in the Russian army.
These people were good at fighting wars, and their ability to violate military discipline was directly proportional to their ability to fight. At first Albrecht wanted to restrain, but then he saw more of them and gave up.
Albrecht was already too lazy to ask what had happened, “Lock them up for a day, then let the representatives of each country lead the men.”
Deep down, Albrecht has already made up his mind, can not let the troops and the Russian army to stay together, if the contact more, learn these bad habits will be a big trouble.
The idea of splitting the troops came together and never waved away. There is a constant voice in his head telling him that taking such a large group of people into battle will be pitched to death by their piggy teammates.
……
(End of Chapter)