The impact of the collapse of the Luxembourg defense line was enormous, and the prestige of France once again resounded on the European continent, as if the army that had swept across the continent had returned.

Belgium panicked, many states in Germany panicked, European countries panicked, and even Austria panicked.

Vienna Palace

Putting down the newspaper boasting of the invincibility of France, Franz nodded with satisfaction: "Good job, I believe that in the next period of time, we will be able to gain a lot of help." ”

The European balance policy is not just played by the British. In fact, the vast majority of European countries are supporters of this policy, and no one wants a behemoth on their head.

There is no doubt that this continental war is the key to the sustainability of the continental balance. None of Faou wins is what everyone wants.

Now that France has the upper hand, it is natural that someone will pull back. In order to make the storm more violent, Franz had to exaggerate the strength of France, of course.

The facts are in front of us, the middle power of the German Confederation, relying on the defense of the fortresses, did not last a month under the French army.

You must know that the former Kingdom of Prussia was not as strong as the German Confederation, and it was able to fight with the Russians, and finally it was worn to death by the tsarist government's tactics of sea of people.

With this set of stark contrasts, who would dare to say that France is not the world's number one army power?

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, the strength of France has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and if we continue to build momentum for them, it is easy to get out of control."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has learned that Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries have been eye-to-eyeing with the French in recent times, and the political pattern of isolated France that we have painstakingly created is being shaken. ”

The survival of a small country is to fall with the wind, and now that the French have the upper hand, everyone naturally has to rely on it.

Of course, this closeness was not their true will, and it was only because of the need for survival that they eased relations with the French.

Approaching on the surface, the stabbing should continue in secret, after all, this French Empire seems to be too aggressive, and it may threaten their safety at any time.

Franz shook his head: "It doesn't matter, these small countries are moving closer to them, but the big countries are alienating them."

Did you find that since the Luxembourg defense line was lost, our destruction of the Suez Canal has been selectively forgotten by everyone.

The members of the Italian Independence Organization, who had been detained by the British, were about to be released back to China, and it seemed that the London government was still very wary of the French.

The Foreign Office made a further effort to encourage the British to raise tariffs on the export of goods to France, and continue to increase the cost of war for the French.

Spain and Russia also can't relax their public relations, although they are not very reliable, but they can also add to the French blockage. ”

It may seem like an understatement, but in fact Franz was not at peace inside. Now the European countries can pull the back of the French, and in the future they will also pull the back of Austria, anyway, whoever is strong will oppose whom.

But at this point, in order to complete the strategy of imperial unification, it is necessary to solve France; To solve France, it is necessary to deal with the countries of Europe.

Well, Franz was sensible and chose to follow the trend, with no intention of having a hard top with European countries.

The Austrian General Staff was also not the Showa General Staff, and there was no brain-dead strategy to develop a strategy for the conquest of Europe. I'm just going to catch everyone off guard and come to a chicken stealing operation.

In order to achieve strategic goals, Franz did not hesitate to suppress the front-line generals. It is better to bear the political pressure brought about by the defeat on the battlefield in the early stage, but also to ......

……

"Quick, run for me!"

"Fillier, you give it to the idiot. If you don't keep up quickly, if you ink like this, the French will stab you in the eye! ”

The middle-aged officer's urging continued to sound, but the effect was not satisfactory. There was no way, he lost the battle in a daze, and then fled for his life in a daze, and the morale of the army was long gone.

The Luxembourg line collapsed, but the rear of the German army was not cut off, and the French came directly from the front, and there was no way to stop everyone from escaping.

If it weren't for the chaos of the German command system, the lack of timely deployment of reserves after the gap in the front line, and the fleeing of all units for their lives, they would not be so embarrassed now.

The scolded Fillier replied breathlessly: "Colonel, we are already soon. But how can you outrun four legs when you are in a two-legged hurry? ”

It can be seen that this is the army of a small state. Only the troops, officers and soldiers of small states can get along so casually.

The middle-aged officer scolded, "Fillier, you're really stupid. How many cavalry are there in the French, and there are so many routs on the front, are they busy? ”

The facts have once again confirmed the truth of "it doesn't matter if you can't outrun the enemy, as long as you outrun the allies".

Because of the problems left over from history, relations between the German states were not as harmonious as they seemed, and there was no pressure to lose his allies and run away with Colonel Lane.

It can't be regarded as lost, now everyone is fleeing for their lives in a hurry, the general trend of the front line has gone, the situation on the battlefield has been completely eroded, and it is not at all something that the small army of "Bremen Hansea" can reverse.

Being able to run away with the troops without riding away on his own, Colonel Lane can be regarded as dutiful.

Perhaps they ran fast enough, or perhaps their desire to survive moved God to run all the way from Luxembourg to Koblenz without encountering the French.

At this point, the escape journey is over. Seeing the Austrian military flag set up in front of him, Colonel Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to step forward to negotiate, when a loud voice sounded.

"Report the number of the unit, the name of the commander!"

The speaker was a young officer with a small notebook in his hand, and behind him was a group of soldiers waiting for battle.

Facing the muzzle of ten guns, anyone would feel uncomfortable, and Colonel Lane was no exception. A frowning replied: "Hanseatic Wehrmacht Bremen, commander Colonel Lane!" ”

The specific number is not needed. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is a larger township, which is nothing more than a prosperous commercial and densely populated city.

The troops participating in this war have a total of only a few hundred people, and the establishment of a reinforced battalion is sufficient, and it is much more convenient to directly report the name of the country than the number.

Perhaps realizing that his group had a bad image, Ryan emphasized his status as a colonel, hoping to be treated better.

Frankly speaking, Ryan is not satisfied with his status as a colonel, looking at the top commanders sent by other states are generals, just him, a colonel, everyone stands together and is inferior.

It is a pity that the domestic parliamentarians did not agree, and resolutely suppressed the rank of him, a military "bigwig", at the school level on the grounds that he had no military merits.

Hearing the word "colonel", the young officer was much more polite. After all, they are allies, and they still recognize each other's ranks, even if there is a lot of water in them.

"May I ask Your Excellency Colonel, what year did you enlist in the army and what occupation did you do before enlisting in the army?"

During the routine cross-examination, Colonel Lane looked embarrassed all of a sudden, and replied stubbornly: "I joined the army three months ago, and I was in charge of security in Bremen before I joined the army. ”

There is no way, Bremen and Hanseatic are too small to support a standing army. In general, it is the part-time military work of the domestic police.

Perhaps fearing that his resume was not glamorous enough to be looked down upon, Colonel Lane added: "As a young man, I was also the commander of a mercenary corps and fought against the British in South Africa. ”

It was because of his time on the battlefield that Ryan was able to stand out from the many rookie competitors and become the commander of this unit.

The young officer opened the small notebook, quickly checked it, and after a while, he smiled and said, "There is no problem with the information."

Colonel Lane, on behalf of the coalition command, I welcome you back. ”

Hearing "return to the team", Colonel Lane's face suddenly became unnatural. There is no doubt that they were legally co-opted.

After much hesitation, Colonel Lane stubbornly said: "Your Excellency, we have just suffered a defeat on the front line, and now the morale of the army is completely lost, and the troops need to take the necessary rest. ”

There was no way, when I was in Luxembourg, many small states applied for the regiment together, and they had enough confidence to negotiate terms with the commanders appointed by the central government.

Not anymore, the troops are all scattered. The soldiers do not know the generals, and the generals do not know the soldiers, which is the truest portrayal.

The coalition command is now gathering the defeated troops, and it will definitely not be in order to help them restore their formation, as long as the commander is not stupid, he will know to take the opportunity to seize the command of the troops.

By reorganizing the defeated army and breaking up the military system based on the state unit, he loses his bargaining power.

This is the most advantageous for the overall situation, which can integrate forces and bring out the greatest combat effectiveness.

However, from the standpoint of an individual, or a small state, the situation is completely different. This means that they will lose their voice in the coalition.

Theoretically, it would be more logical for the German federal government to do such a thing. After all, it is the central government in legal theory, and it has the general righteousness of unifying the states below.

The command of the coalition forces jumped out to collect and reorganize the rout, but it was still a bit overstepping. But these are all minor problems, and now the German command is in chaos, and they can't take care of it at all.

When they reacted, the established facts were all made, and if they wanted to take back command from Austria, they had to go to the Vienna government to fight diplomatic lawsuits.

As if thinking of something, the young officer reassured: "Don't worry, colonel, you won't have a combat mission in the short term."

Now you should go to the camp and take a bath, get a good night's sleep, and wait for orders. ”

His arms were no longer on his thighs, and after looking at the exhausted soldiers behind him, Colonel Ryan nodded helplessly.

……