On November 27, 1880, the Prussian army arrived in the Poznan area, and after a brief rest, launched an attack on the Russian Eighth Army the next day.

Harassed by Russian cavalry and airships, it took less than eight days to arrive in Poznan from Warsaw.

Anyone with a little military knowledge knows that the larger the number of troops, the more difficult it is to coordinate and the slower the march.

The total strength of the Prussian army is as high as 468,000, and it is a miracle in military history that it was able to complete a march of more than 280 kilometers in eight days.

If the organizational ability is not strong enough, perhaps the troops in front have reached their destination, and the troops in the back have not yet set off.

Anyway, there are so many people in line that you can get two rows from Poznan to Warsaw.

There is no doubt that the rapid movement of the Prussian army exceeded the estimates of the Russians. The Ninth Army, which was closer, did not arrive, and the enemy arrived first.

Despite the courageous resistance of the Russian Eighth Army, it was to no avail. Not to mention intercepting the return of the Prussian army to the west, whether it can hold Poznan has become a problem.

……

The command of the Russian army, looking at the telegram for help in his hand, Ivanov sighed helplessly.

"Order the Eighth Army to hold on to Poznan and wait for reinforcements, and order the Ninth Army to speed up its march and reinforce the Eighth Army as soon as possible."

Staff Officer Julian Benneteu reminded: "Marshal, the main forces of the Prussian army arrived in the Poznan region two days ago, and now the city of Poznan may have been surrounded.

At this time, the Ninth Army rushed over, and it was difficult to immediately join the Eighth Army in the city, but it was possible to be surrounded by the enemy and send reinforcements.

The Eighth Army has cities to hold onto, and it is not a problem to support it for ten days and half a month. It is better to let the Ninth Army, the Eleventh Army, and the Seventeenth Army converge, and then go to reinforcements. ”

Militarily, Julian Benneteu's fears are very justified. In a field battle, a Ninth Army really could not be an opponent of the enemy's main forces.

If there is an encounter, the losses will be heavy at least or the total annihilation of the army. Without the Ninth Army, the two second-line armies behind it would also not be an opponent of the enemy.

Ivanov sneered and said: "There is no need, if Moltke has such a good appetite, what can he do if he gives them the Ninth Army?"

The total strength of the Eighth Army is as high as 216,000, and the total strength of the Ninth Army is 187,000, adding up to more than 400,000.

If we can't do it quickly, our 11th and 17th armies will arrive on the battlefield. Even if Moltke could win, how many troops would they have left after the war?

The main forces are exhausted, and if they want to recover, they will not be able to do it overnight, and we will not give them time.

Now Moltke has this army in his hands, but it is the essence of the Prussian army, if he is willing to exchange it, why should we be stingy! ”

The Berlin government has already begun to mobilize the whole people, and the new troops have not been able to form a fighting force, the main reason is that there are not enough officers and too few veterans.

The elite of the Prussian army in Moltke's hands is particularly important. With this force here, with veterans leading new recruits, the Prussian army has a chance to break out in the last wave.

Of course, it was not easy to break out, the Prussian army lacked enough time, and Ivanov was not going to leave them a respite.

The war has been going on now, and the losses are no longer important. If you open the map, you will find that the Poppo Federation has lost 55% of its territory, 40% of its population, half of its food production capacity and a third of its industry.

This was only the beginning, the war had already reached the heart of the Kingdom of Prussia, and once the Warsaw area fell, only a third of the Prussian Federation remained.

No matter how well the Prussian army fought on the battlefield, it could not make up for the gap in national strength, and the Prussian army's ability to succeed has become more and more obvious.

……

The loss of the Russian army in the Poznan region does not mean that it also suffers losses on other battlefields.

In the Baltic Sea, the Russians had the advantage of the sea, and they had already occupied a quarter of East Prussia by sea and land by pressing the Prussian army by sea and land.

In the Warsaw area, after the withdrawal of the main forces of the Prussian army, the strength and weakness were transferred. Although it was not possible to break through the city of Warsaw, it was very fast.

It was not the Poles who defended Warsaw who did not sell their lives, it was the Russians who were too insidious and expelled a large number of refugees into the city, increasing the pressure on the defenders.

The Russian Tenth Army, which was responsible for the raid on Berlin, was now less than 80 kilometers away from Berlin. Of course, this distance may be the limit, and if you want to advance, it is not something that the Tenth Army can do.

From a military point of view, the surprise attack of the Russian Tenth Army was obviously a failure, and it did not play the role of a surprise attack at all, and it was discovered by the enemy early on.

Politically, it was different, the appearance of the Tenth Army near Berlin, the impact on the Pop Federation was catastrophic, and more and more people were pessimistic about the war.

If it weren't for the deep hatred with the Russians, and the bargaining chips pressed for this war, there was really no way out, and perhaps the Berlin government had already compromised with the Russians.

In London, after determining that the general trend of the Pop Confederation was gone, Benjamin's cabinet was thinking about how to stop the loss in time to minimize Britain's losses.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Garfield: "Based on the analysis of our surveys, the most optimistic estimate is that we will lose at least £300 million in wealth if the Popo Federation is defeated.

And all the overseas assets of the Poppo Federation may be less than 150 million pounds combined, including the last deposit of the Berlin government account and the gold pledged to us.

Most of these overseas assets are located in Austrian Africa, and they are in private names, and we can't freeze them even if we want to. ”

There is no doubt that it is already difficult to stop losses now. The Popo Federation's family is too thin, and many of the collateral can only be cashed out on the premise of winning the war.

Theoretically, the immediate freezing of the Berlin government's bank accounts in Britain and the confiscation of their pledged gold and overseas assets would minimize the damage.

In fact, there is simply no possibility of operation. As the world hegemon, Britain also has to be faced, and at this time, what do the other little brothers think?

Although Britain is strong, it has not reached the point where it does not need a younger brother.

It is now the era of Britain, France and Austria, and no one has yet been able to dominate the world. Against the backdrop of the three major powers not supporting the battle, whoever wins over more junior brothers will have an advantage in international politics.

Foreign Secretary Edward: "Don't think about freezing assets, including the gold mortgaged to us by the Berlin government, we can't move it either, at least until the Pop-Po Confederation is finished."

The top priority is to find a way to keep the Popo Confederation, or at least the Kingdom of Prussia.

We need to set an example and let the world know that even if we fail to work with Britain, we have the strength to keep them. ”

In a sense, the Russo-Prussian War was also a continuation of the conflict between Britain, France and Austria, and the three countries used this war to play a political game, but the French withdrew halfway, and finally it became a game between Britain and Austria.

Great power competition does not happen overnight, and if you lose today, you will win it back tomorrow. If they stab their younger brother because they suffered losses in the struggle, who would dare to cooperate with them?

Chancellor of the Exchequer Garfield nodded: "Of course, this is a must. Only when the debtor is present will it be possible for us to recover the investment.

The current government in Berlin is so poor that even if all their assets were frozen, it would not make up for our losses.

The question is, can we keep them? Now that the Russians have the upper hand, I don't think the tsarist government will let go of this great enemy because of our face. ”

How big is Britain's face? This is a question that has no exact answer, and there are different answers in different regions and countries.

From the time the London government supported the Pop-Po Federation, their face was not good in the Russian Empire. Hurting its own interests, the tsarist government did not care about any British threat.

Foreign Secretary Edward: "The Russians have no choice but to refrain from this, and no country wants to see the Russians penetrate deep into Central Europe, including Austria, which supports them."

If the Russians had annexed the Pop-Po Confederation, how would Austria's dream of a Central European empire come true? The bottom line for the Vienna government was for the tsarist government to take back the Polish-Lithuanian region.

The only thing worth worrying about is that Russia and Austria may have a secret about the partition of the Pubo Federation. This was the strong point of the Viennese government, and no one knows how many secret treaties they had concluded over the years. ”

The "Austrian Secret Treaty" is also one of the hot topics in Europe, and the Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty, the Franco-Austrian Secret Treaty, the Anglo-Austrian Secret Treaty, the Western Secret Treaty, and the Dutch Secret Treaty are widely circulated...... and the Secret Pact with the German Confederation.

There is no doubt that much of this secret covenant is nonsense. Most of them are just ordinary treaties, because politics needs to be kept secret for the time being, and when they come to the outside world, they become so-called "secret treaties".

The Vienna government has never explained it, and this thing is getting more and more black, and even if the content of the treaty is exposed, there are still a large number of people who do not believe it.

The water is getting muddier and muddy, and the true and false content are mixed together, and it is even more difficult for the outside world to distinguish between them.

The Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty must exist, otherwise the agreement on the bright surface would not be enough for the Vienna government to invest blood in the tsarist government, and the specific content of the London government is not clear.

Prime Minister Benjamin: "It's not a problem, Austria is not ready, at this time to divide the Prussian Federation, they do not have the confidence to swallow the Kingdom of Prussia in one go."

I studied Franz, and he was so important to his reputation that he would not choose this time to cooperate with the Russians, even if he wanted to annex the Kingdom of Prussia.

It is imperative to gain the support of the French and not to delay any longer. I had a bad feeling that something big was going to happen in Europe. ”

Foreign Secretary Edward smiled and said, "Prime Minister, you are so humorous! After the end of the Russo-Prussian War, the European political landscape was reshuffled, and in the future, France, Austria and Russia stood on their own.

Although our support for the Popo Federation failed this time, the situation on the European continent is still good.

The Russians won the war, and the European continent added another competitor, and the future Vienna government probably did not have an easy time. ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Garfield: "Sir, you're too optimistic. Russian-Austrian relations are still very good, and there is no possibility of a reversal in the short term.

The losses caused by the Russo-Prussian War to the Russians were not small, and for a long time to come, the tsarist government would have to recuperate and recuperate, and it would not go west at all.

On the contrary, we are about to get into trouble. The Russians packed up the Pu-Po Federation, and the next target is likely to be Central Asia. ”

Persimmon looking for soft pinching, in this era of the weak and the strong, it is normal.

The Russian Empire, which was greatly damaged, was unable to compete with Austria, but it was no problem to bully several khanates in Central Asia.