Armored forces, which also had another nickname in the upper echelons of the Austrian army - "hoplites".

In the eyes of many people, this thing is the reinforcement plate of the cavalry, the real "steel cavalry".

Including the use of armored forces, there are also disputes in the Austrian military. A considerable number of people believe that it is good to use armored units as cavalry.

In a sense, this perception is not unreasonable, and there are indeed many similarities between armored forces and cavalry.

For example, they are more expensive than infantry, have a greater demand for logistics, and have to be limited in bad ice and snow weather......

Unfortunately, the banks of the Rhine have long been covered with snow and ice, and the temperature can even drop to minus 10 degrees Celsius at night, when the temperature is at its lowest.

In this bad weather, if the car wants to start, it must warm up the engine in advance, otherwise it will not be able to ignite.

In essence, armored forces and cars are about the same, except that the engine power requirements are higher.

When it comes to bad weather, both are pretty much the same. It's not that it can't be used, the point is that the failure rate is much higher in this weather.

The failure rate of the armored forces in Austria itself is on the high side, and if you choose to operate in bad weather, the scene is simply unimaginable.

Fortunately, the winter in Central Europe did not last long, and the bad weather lasted only a few days, so it was easy to overcome the maintenance work.

If Moscow's hellish template climate had been changed, it is estimated that before the war began, the armored forces would have climbed down by one-fifth.

On the hard side, it has long been not the style of Archduke Albrecht. As he grew older, Albrecht's style of use of troops became more and more steady.

Not only Albrecht, but most of the commanders in the upper echelons of the Austrian army used their troops in a more moderate style.

Those who like to take the sword off the beaten path and win by surprise are only a group of middle- and lower-level young officers.

There is no essential difference between the two styles of military use. It is nothing more than that with the change of identity and status, the ideological concept and vision have also changed.

In the army, a place that relies on achievements to eat, when you are young, you want to fight upward, and only by taking risks can you overtake in corners and throw off your peers.

In fact, most of the generals in the upper echelons of the Austrian army were once masters who liked to go off the rails with their swords, and it was by surprise that they were able to shake off their competitors and rise all the way.

Now it's just that the place of identity has changed, and there is wealth, identity, and status. The era of entrepreneurship is over, and when it is time to keep the business, the steady mind has gradually taken over.

There are two sides to everything, and from a national point of view, this is certainly advantageous.

In essence, any military offense is a gamble.

The middle and lower-ranking officers had small chips in their hands, and only needed tactical problems, even if they lost 180 times, Austria could afford it.

Besides, there are no fools who can become officers, and even if they take risks, they must be a little sure before they act.

Overall, the odds of winning are even greater, as the Commander has weighed the risks and benefits before the game begins.

Many times, the gains of winning once on the battlefield can offset the losses of dozens of defeats.

To put it bluntly, the bargaining chips they took out to take risks were at most 800 people. There are so many losses, and the gains from winning a bet may be a victory in a battle.

High-ranking officers are different, they often decide the fate of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of troops, and any defeat will hurt the vitality of the country.

From another point of view, it is different from the standpoint of individual soldiers. In this model, it is difficult for Austria to produce famous players.

There is no way, most of the famous generals respected by the mainstream public opinion in the outside world are the masters who take the sword sideways, win by surprise, and defeat the strong with the weak.

The kind of war that is upright, oppressive, and won by relying entirely on comprehensive strength is a matter of course in everyone's eyes and is not recognized.

This was very unfriendly to the Austrian officers, and perhaps in their youth, there was such a record; But as the position has risen, everyone's record has become more and more mediocre.

In this respect, Archduke Albrecht was undoubtedly lucky.

As soon as he debuted, he took the rebel army and brushed up on the copy.,Then I met the copy of the local chicken.,It didn't play much and was automatically promoted to a famous general.。

Now that the European War is in full swing, Franz has come up with a bunch of black technology, giving him the opportunity to step on the French on the altar and become the new "god of war".

After the military meeting, Albrecht left his nephew alone: "Friedrich, you seem to have something to say just now, aren't you dissatisfied with my arrangement?" ”

"Marshal, although the weather is bad now, it is not to the point where the armored forces cannot perform.

While the French did not react, we will launch a surprise attack tomorrow, and the armored forces can easily tear apart the positions of the French, and the whole army can definitely inflict heavy damage on the French army.

If it drags on for a long time, I am afraid that the armored forces will be exposed, leaving the French on guard. ”

The Austrian army attached great importance to the rules, and the uncle and nephew could only be called in private, and the only address to the Grand Duke of Albrecht in the command was - marshal.

If you don't pay attention to the rules, the relationship between the European aristocracy is so complicated, and if you are not careful, you will find that the barracks are full of relatives, which will make civilian officers directly despair.

Although in fact, nepotism has always played an important role, but there is still a way, as long as you have made military achievements on the battlefield, you will rise faster than anyone else.

This path was not only reserved for civilian officers, but also for the promotion of noble officers.

Don't think that the relationship is powerful, when the surrounding households are all related households, you will find that the final competition is still strength.

No way, who made the tradition in the German region that everyone was in the army? The nobles of the whole country have to serve in the army.

Maybe there are not many descendants of many families, but there are definitely a lot of side members who do not have titles, and if you count illegitimate children and the like, this group is even larger.

At this time, the so-called relationship background is actually not so important. After the completion of the reform of the military system in the Austrian army, there was not enough capacity, and no amount of resources could be pushed up.

The most typical example is Crown Prince Frederick, whose age gap with Friedrich is not large, and his resources, connections, and relationships are all at the top.

The latter is already a lieutenant general, but Crown Prince Frederick retired with the title of lieutenant colonel, and it is estimated that this is also the lowest-ranking crown prince since Austria promoted military ranks.

Of course, such a comparison is very unfair to Frederick, after all, the gap between the military system before and after the reform is too large.

Take Franz himself, for example, he was an Austrian officer at the beginning of breastfeeding, and he became a general before he became an adult.

When it came to Frederick, the good days of lying down and winning were over. The good old days of serving in the army while breastfeeding are gone. After graduating from a military academy, you must start from the grassroots level like an ordinary cadet.

As the crown prince, Frederick could not have been in the army all the time, which affected his promotion.

Coupled with luck, I missed the opportunity to go to the battlefield to gild. Without military achievements, there is no hope of becoming a general, so he simply retires.

After the outbreak of the European War, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick, who re-entered the army, was still waiting for an opportunity on the Southern Front at this time.

Not only Crown Prince Frederick, but also several of his younger brothers, are now in a similar state, scattered on various battlefields waiting for opportunities.

Whether or not they can develop in the army depends on their own ability.

This thing can't be decided by external forces alone, if you can't do it yourself, even if you push it up, there is no way to be convincing.

In fact, Franz initially considered leaving this opportunity to Frederick's.

The rank is too low to be the commander of an army group, and it is a big deal to lower the level of the establishment of armored units, for example: a tank regiment has several hundred vehicles, and all the armored units are organized into an armored division.

It's just that it's too ugly to eat like this, and Frederick's military command ability is an unknown quantity, and no one knows whether he can control it. If you jump in play, you will shoot yourself in the foot.

As the crown prince of Austria, Frederick only needed to follow the gilding, and there was no need to run to risk it for a little prestige.

In this context, this opportunity to brush up the best record naturally fell to Friedrich, a member of the royal family who has proven his ability.

Archduke Albrecht shook his head and said earnestly: "Friedrich, you are thinking too simply.

Although the coalition army amassed 1.78 million troops on the banks of the Rhine, nearly a million of them were troops of the two countries.

It's okay when defending, but if you really let go of the defense line and go out to fight the French, who knows what will happen?

Even if the armored forces were able to tear apart the French positions, or even further divide them into several pieces, we would not be able to eat them, and we would choke to death.

Domestic meant to kill as much of the French army as possible, and the purpose of the war from the beginning was to kill as many enemies as possible.

After the snow and ice melt, it is not only for the armored forces to be easier to deploy, but more importantly, for the purpose of gathering troops.

Of course, waiting for the Egyptian battlefield to decide the winner is also a key factor.

According to the domestic plan, this war was first waged on the Egyptian battlefield, then us, and finally on the southern front.

This was the strategy that inflicted the most harm on the French.

After creating the established fact of occupying Egypt, and then going all the way to Paris, even if it attracted the intervention of European countries, we dismantled the colonial empire of the French and took control of the Suez Canal.

After the loss of the African colonies, a corner of France's pillar was missing. It will be difficult to recover for decades.

As for the exposure of armored forces, this would have been expected. With such a big move, it is simply impossible to keep it a secret forever.

Even if the French received the news, they did not know exactly what the armored forces were doing. Maybe the French would think that a steel plate was put on the outside of the car.

Remember, Friedrich. Unlike ordinary commanders, they can think purely about military issues, but you have to think about politics.

For the vast majority of the time, the military is in the service of politics.

In order to alleviate the pressure on our future on the Western Front, it is not enough to defeat the French, we must hit France hard.

All of the government's current strategies revolve around the core of France.

As long as this strategic objective can be achieved, there is not much difference between winning and losing one day earlier on the battlefield and one day later. ”

……