After the beginning of spring, the smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield in Eastern Europe was once again filled. After a winter of preparations, things are very different.

The Berlin government organized the construction of a large number of castle fortresses in the border areas, and the movement of the Cossack cavalry was restricted. If you want to loot your goods, you must storm the castle fortress.

The combat effectiveness of the Cossack cavalry was built on interests. The population was prepared, the difficulty of the robbery was constantly increasing, many times the casualties paid were not proportional to the gains, and the enthusiasm of the Cossack cavalry was hit.

Active and passive, the combat effectiveness that bursts out is completely different.

Although the Cossack cavalry was still sorting, the results were getting smaller and smaller. In many cases, it is just the destruction of farmland and infrastructure, and the soldiers are not willing to gnaw hard bones.

It's not the Middle Ages anymore, and as long as you have money in your pocket, there are many places where you can buy food. The Berlin government can afford only the damage to farmland in the border areas.

To some extent, Wilhelm I also had to thank the Tsarist government, and it was the ruthless methods of the Russians that made the Poles have to rely on them.

The decrease in the destructive power of the Cossack cavalry did not mean that the scorched earth strategy of the tsarist government failed.

Humanity is fragile in the face of war. In order to escape the fighting, people in many border areas have fled inland with their families, and many areas have become no-man's land.

It's not that the Berlin government didn't stop it, the problem is that it simply can't do it. Crowds of refugees running to the rear still put a heavy financial burden on the Berlin government.

The coastal areas suffered the heaviest losses, with most of the port cities of the Popo Federation in ruins under artillery fire, and the few surviving cities trembling.

These are only minor problems, since the Danes blockaded the strait, the sea lines of communication of the Pupo Federation have been almost broken, and the strategic value of the port city has been greatly reduced.

Worst of all, the Russians replenished the losses of troops on the southern front, Moltke's plan to capture Kiev collapsed, and now the tsarist government adopted the most conservative strategy and fought with the Pu-Po Federation.

Steady and steady, simply hard-hitting, the Prussian army could not give full play to its tactical advantages. Even with a famous general like Moltke, he can't reverse the development of the battlefield in a direction that is not conducive to the Pop Federation.

The terrible situation on the battlefield has affected the domestic atmosphere of the Popo Federation, and from time to time anti-war voices have emerged, and even the most optimistic people are worried about this war.

Royal Palace in Berlin

William I roared: "We have lost 300,000 troops in the war, but we have achieved very little.

The three months you promised me in advance to win the war are now three months and three months, and soon the third three months are over, and there is no sign of victory.

Can anyone tell me how much it will cost to win this war? ”

It's not that William I doesn't have enough self-cultivation, it's that the pressure has been too great lately. The performance of the Prussian army on the battlefield was far from meeting expectations.

The so-called "three months to win the war" was really just Moltke's plan for the southern front. Theoretically, as long as the trade routes between Prussia and Prussia were cut off, they would have won most of the war.

It's a pity that the combat effectiveness of the Russian army is much stronger than they expected. Maybe it is not as good as the Prussian army in the field, but the defense is still no problem.

Moltke's painstakingly devised strategic plan was inherently problematic, it was just the wrong one. If you change countries and kill more than 100,000 troops at one time, it will definitely hurt your muscles and bones.

Unfortunately, when encountering a woolly bear, the speed of destroying the enemy was a little faster than the replenishment of the tsarist government. With a winter buffer, the tsarist government not only replenished the lost troops, but the total number of troops increased.

Moltke replied stubbornly: "Your Majesty, the Russians are completely wounded by their own nature, and the casualties of the Russian army are greater than ours, and even if the Russians can win the war in this way, it will only be a miserable victory."

Now that the Russians have the upper hand on the battlefield, there is absolutely no need for the tsarist government to choose a lose-lose strategy.

As long as we show our flaws at the right time, the Russian army will definitely not give up the opportunity. As soon as the Russians adjusted their tactics, our chance came.

In order to win this war, I suggest that if necessary, part of the area should be abandoned, and the Russians should be lured out of the fortifications first. ”

Involving millions of people and stretching for hundreds of kilometers on a front, it is also very difficult to make tactical adjustments, and the cooperation between the various units alone will be "touching."

Organizational skills have always been a flaw of the tsarist government, and even after the reforms of Alexander II, the Russians were still slightly inferior in organizational skills.

On the battlefield, it is inherently more than who makes more mistakes, and who makes fatal mistakes.

Now the Russian army is on the defensive, except for the offensive on the central front. If you don't get out of the fortress, you may not be able to grasp the fighter, and you will not make a fatal mistake.

Moltke didn't want to fight the main force of the Russian army on the middle line, so he couldn't give full play to the mobility of the Prussian army, but simply fought to the end with comprehensive strength.

William I was uncertain: "You want to give up Smolinsk?" ”

Smolinsk has always been known as the gateway to Moscow, and by controlling it, the Prussian army has the initiative to attack Moscow.

Since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the Russian army has been stubbornly fighting here, just to ensure the safety of Moscow and avoid being divided into two by the Prussian army.

Moltke nodded: "Your Majesty, we have tried many schemes, but the Russians just can't get out of the defensive line."

The losses of the assault were too great to outweigh the losses. Except for abandoning Smolinsk and letting the Russian army in, it will be difficult for us to break the current stalemate on the battlefield in the short term. ”

There is no way, the gap between the forces of the two sides is too large, and the central offensive launched by the Russian army has contained a large number of Prussian troops, and Moltke has limited mobile forces.

Moltke, who was originally good at concentrating superior forces to fight the enemy, found that he couldn't do it at all. Especially after the Russian army adopted the scorched earth plan, he did not dare to take risks.

The redeployment of troops from either direction could result in the displacement of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people.

If the war can be won, it is acceptable to pay a certain amount of sacrifice. The problem is that such a war is simply not something that one or two battles can decide.

It is difficult to say clearly whether the annihilation of tens of thousands of Russian troops and the creation of hundreds of thousands of refugees is a loss or a gain.

Anyway, there will be sacrifices, so it's better to do a big vote. If you can lure the enemy deep and use the advantage of local operations to annihilate the main force of the Russian army in one fell swoop, then no matter how big the losses are, you can accept them.

"How sure are you?"

William I hesitated, and this gamble on the fortunes of the country. Winning can turn the tide of battle; If it loses, the Poppol Confederation will die, and whether it can keep the reduced version of the Prussian kingdom is a question mark.

Moltke calmly replied: "We have at least a sixty percent chance of abandoning most of Belarus and parts of Poland, putting the battlefield in Warsaw, and calling on the Polish people to rise up against the Russian invasion." ”

The war was originally a gamble, and the Pupo Federation was already on the weak side, and it was already a very high percentage to be able to have a sixty percent chance of winning.

There was a "pop", and William I slammed the table.

"Bet!"

"Marshal, go according to your plan, and the government will cooperate with your plan."

It's not that William I is decisive, it's more that there is no way. The war has reached this point, and no one can hold back, and the two countries must win and lose on the battlefield.

Even if William I was unwilling to gamble, the Junker nobles would help him make a decision. Just like the First World War in the original time and space, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, Wilhelm II wanted to end the war halfway, and the Junker nobles directly overthrew the emperor to continue the war.

The situation is similar now, with the outbreak of war, the power of the military is increasing, the government has been reduced to the logistics department of the army, and the balance of power has long been broken.

William I, as king, also had to compromise with the military many times.

……