Chapter 928: A Duel of Veterans

  Chapter 910 – Duel of the Veteran Generals

“Marshal, the routed soldiers you collected, when will they be handed over to us?”

Afterthought German Federation, still realized the problem of command, this is not responsible for the liaison Admiral Adrian, hurried to the door.

Archduke Albrecht shook his head and asked with feigned surprise: “Hand over what? Don’t I, the coalition command, have the authority to command these troops?”

How much power the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces has is another one of the world’s unsolved mysteries.

Belgium and Germany were forced to join the anti-French alliance, there is no bottom line and Austria to fight for dominance, and even the authority of the coalition command, there is no clear agreement.

Powers that were not specifically agreed upon could theoretically be magnified indefinitely. Now, for example, Archduke Albrecht collected the routed soldiers in the name of the Allied Command.

Admiral Adrian struggled to explain, “But Field Marshal ……”

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Grand Duke Albrecht interrupted, “There are no buts, my Admiral.

Your Excellency is well aware of how dangerous the situation on the battlefield is right now. If we don’t unify our command at this time, do you think it’s possible for us to hold the Rhine defense?

The front line is understrength, I have already integrated the routed soldiers I collected, and now they have already been put into battle, and cannot be mobilized in a short period of time.

The command of these troops will be handed over when the war is over. Your Excellency can rest assured that I won’t keep hogging the reins!”

Rest assured, how could one possibly let go?

It was because of the uneasiness that Admiral Adrian came to the door. As a matter of fact, the defeat on the front line was also an opportunity for the central government of the German Confederation.

If you seize the opportunity to get the command of the armies of the states, this loose alliance will not be far from real unification.

Can’t blame the German generals at the front for reacting slowly, unlike the Allied Command, whose powers were vaguely defined, the powers of the German Front Command were defined early on.

The German command was composed of representatives of each state, and the commander-in-chief, appointed by the central government, was essentially a coordinator of relations.

The internal relations of the command had not even been rationalized, and it was only logical that the reaction was a step slower.

By the time George I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to seize power, Archduke Albrecht had already used the name of the Allied Forces Command to integrate the German troops withdrawn from the front line.

Because of the inconvenience of communication, after the defeat of the front line, many first-line troops lost contact with the German command.

The disputes at the top were unknown to the officers and soldiers below. Anyway, the existence of the Allied Command is well known, the basic rank and file officers and soldiers they are accustomed to obeying the orders of their superiors.

In the midst of the panic, they received orders from the Allied Command, and the vast majority of them accepted them.

Not only the scattered soldiers were collected, but also the German troops who retreated from the front line, which were also drafted by Archduke Albrecht in the name of the Allied Command, including many Hanoverian troops, in the name of the Allied Command, in a time gap.

By now this time, Archduke Albrecht essentially has mastered the front half of the German army.

If not for the fact that the later battles still need the cooperation of the German Confederation, Archduke Albrecht would have done even more excessively, for example: forcibly take over the command of all the German troops on the front line.

Admiral Adrian argued stiffly, “Field Marshal, for the Allied Command to unify the command, it can be completely realized through the union of the three countries, there is no need to directly command the frontline troops.”

It is not that Admiral Adrian is not eloquent, it is really that the relationship between Germany and Austria is too complicated, and now the German Confederation has to rely on Austria to protect its own security, so many things he cannot say.

Other League of Nations, can also take the different cultural customs, language barrier as an excuse to demand independent command.

Antifa alliance can not, the difference between German and Austrian language linguists are not always clear, anyway, than the German-Austrian three languages can be common, there is no communication barriers.

A million excuses can not be used, hurt feelings can not be said, Admiral Adrian naturally difficult.

Archduke Albrecht waved his hand, eased his tone and said: ”Well, Admiral. You and I are both soldiers, just consider the issue from a military perspective, political issues, it’s better to let the government communicate!

The most important thing now is to win this war, the immediate priority is to hold the Rhine River defense line, otherwise the hinterland of the German region will fall into the battlefield.

What this means, you should understand. The ambitions of the French are endless, and by this time no one can stand alone.”

It was persuasion and equally a warning. Once the French tore through the Rhine defenses, Austria was nothing, but the German Confederation was a second Belgium, including the northern states as well, and could not escape.

It is now the case that Austria will not let go of the command of the army, and Admiral Adrian can not do anything about it.

He could not encourage the soldiers to mutiny, could he? If the front line is disturbed, so that the French seize the opportunity to tear through the Rhine River defense, then it is really lifting a stone to stone their own feet.

With the previous experience of the Luxembourg defense line collapse, Adrian had to be warned that the German Confederation could not afford to lose.

……

The small incident that happened in the command did not affect the war against France.

After the occupation of the Luxembourg area, the French army did not stop and continued to march towards the German area, not far from the Rhine defense line.

Frankly speaking, the west bank of the Rhine is not the best choice militarily, and it is far better to withdraw to the east bank and rely on the natural danger of the Rhine to build a defense line.

However, the military needs to serve politics, shrinking the defense line to the east bank means that the Antifa alliance admitted the military failure in the early stage and gave up Belgium and the Rhineland.

Admitting defeat was impossible; the war against France was not only about defeating the French, but also accompanied by the return of continental hegemony.

Austria had to make its presence felt on the battlefield, not make it look like it was a victory due to a fluke.

With no natural dangers to lean on, the Allies still had the trenches. This stuff took off in the Russo-Prussian War and was now widely accepted in the European world.

Archduke Albrecht did not dare to underestimate the French army, trenches were dug one after another, making it clear that he wanted to use positional warfare to deplete the French army’s strength.

In order to win this war, the French government also put up a fight, Napoleon IV did not hesitate to bring out the veteran Marshal Patrice McMahon.

Patrice MacMahon and the Grand Duke Albrecht were characters of the same era, and both were long-established generals. This war against France was also the peak match between the two European generals.

……

French command, staring at the map after half a dozen hours of work, Marshal Patrice McMahon slowly said:

“Albrecht is famous for being good at offense, did not think that now actually play the turtle tactics, looks like the battle in front of him, gave him a big impact.

Austria has placed its strategic center of gravity on Africa, right now the Suez Canal has been blocked, and the British are taking advantage of the fire, the domestic supply of materials has begun to be strained.

Our next enemy is not only the Anti-French Alliance, but also time. If we can’t tear apart the enemy’s Rhine River defense as soon as possible, then ……”

The crowd’s complexion stared, and their smug expressions were no longer there. Everyone was smart and knew that this was the old marshal hammering them.

Material tension was certainly a problem, but this problem was still more of a reaction to the finances. Although the impact of this continental war was large, it did not spread to the whole world.

Without the Suez Canal, there was still the Cape of Good Hope to go through. Moreover, the American route was still open and Austria could only intercept part of the sea.

Even if the French merchant ships out of the sea is a little dangerous, there are other neutral countries of the ships available, only the cost is a little higher.

The tightness of supplies was only temporary, and the market would adjust itself. These days as long as you have money, you don’t have to worry about not being able to buy supplies.

Before the financial collapse of France, no one had to worry about going hungry.

“Marshal, the Austrian government has chosen the wrong person this time. Albrecht is best at attacking, and you can see it now, even the defense is preparing for the attack.

But now that the Antifa alliance is at a disadvantage, and the west bank of the Rhine is undefended, trying to hold us off with just a few trenches is a joke.

If the enemy withdraws their troops to the east bank and relies on the Rhine for defense, there’s really nothing we can do to them in a short time.”

Patrice McMahon frowned, “Udino, you still haven’t changed the stink of pride.

Albrecht is good at attacking, that’s because he’s famous for attacking, that’s why he’s perceived that way, it doesn’t equate to the fact that he can’t fight a defensive battle.

Judging from the enemy’s troop deployment, this is a tortoise shell, and even though this tortoise has been wounded in the front, its defense is still not to be underestimated.

You’re right about one thing though, the Bi-German forces were already demoralized, and Albrecht didn’t have enough troops in hand, and holding on to the west bank of the Rhine was a losing battle.

Now we need to grab time, as long as we tear through the Rhine defense before the Austrian reinforcements arrive, the dominance of the war will fall into our hands.”

That’s right, Udino is the guy who led the expeditionary force to raid Mexico in the original time and space.

Only his luck is much better than history, halfway through the change of events suffered some injuries, was transferred back to the country to recuperate, the next assumed the responsibility for the failure of the war.

Reprimanded, Udino is not annoyed, said without changing color: “Marshal, the troops have been prepared for battle, ready to attack at any time.

The morale of the officers and soldiers is now high, and everyone is still waiting to break through Vienna and capture Franz!”

In fact, the initial battle plan of the French army was only to capture the territory west of the Rhine. By tearing through the Rhine defenses, the first phase of the French army’s combat mission was completed.

As for breaking Vienna and capturing Franz, it was just shouting slogans.

European countries are not fools, will not watch the French all the way to Vienna. It is estimated that the French army is still halfway to Vienna, the British will have to break their supplies.

Unlike Austria, who was not afraid of the blockade, France could not be separated from the support of foreign supplies, even with North Africa.

(End of chapter)