Under the bridging of the British, the two countries sat down at the negotiating table and began protracted negotiations.

The diplomatic actions did not affect the pinnacle showdown between Prussia and Russia on the battlefield.

Forced by the severe situation on the battlefield, after abandoning the Latvian region, the Prussian army had to continue to abandon the Lithuanian region, and the war had already burned to East Prussia.

The situation continued to develop in favor of the Russian army, and there were frequent reports of good news on the front, and Marshal Ivanov not only did not relax, but became more and more nervous.

He clearly knows that behind the victory, the front of the Russian army is also constantly being stretched. Not only is the logistical pressure increasing day by day, but the fortifications prepared in advance will no longer be able to function at this time.

If so, that's it, the key is that the domestic call for a decisive battle is getting higher and higher, and the voices of the army asking for war are also endless, even with Alexander II in the background, Ivanov also feels the heavy pressure.

An officer said aloud: "Marshal, there is an urgent telegram from the Fourth Army. ”

Ivanov said lightly: "Read! ”

"Yes!"

“…… On October 18, 1880, our troops captured Pouvie, annihilated 12,000 enemy troops, and captured 1,876 enemy soldiers.

The gateway to Warsaw had been opened, and in order to seize the opportunity, our troops decided to march down the Vistula River to Warsaw.

It was hoped that the Seventh Army and the Fifth Army would cooperate and launch an attack on the Warsaw area from the north and east respectively.

……”

With a "bang", the glass of water in Marshal Ivanov's hand fell.

After all calculations, he still underestimated the desire of his officers to win. Of course, there may be other forces behind this, forcing him to start a decisive battle in advance.

Ivanov didn't want to complain about such a suffocating reason that "the door to Warsaw was open", and the enemy was preparing a decisive battle with them in the Warsaw area, so it was naturally impossible to stop them outside.

Occupying the upper reaches of the Vistula River, it seems to have gained a strategic advantage, but in fact, anyone who knows the topography of Poland knows that the terrain of the endless plains is gentle, not to mention the damming of the Seventh Army, even if it wants to wash away the farmland downstream.

At this point, Ivanov could only follow the aftermath. The Fourth Army had eight infantry divisions, one garrison division, three cavalry divisions, and four artillery regiments, plus various miscellaneous auxiliary units, with a total strength of 183,000.

With so many troops, it is impossible for anyone to give up easily. If possible, Ivanov wouldn't mind killing the self-asserted guys right away.

It's a pity that he can't reach it now, and if he wants to settle accounts after the autumn, he must wait until after the war is over.

Looking at the map, Ivanov muttered to himself: "The capture of Płavi on October 18 is already the afternoon of October 21, and even if it takes two days to repair, they will set off for a day."

If it is fast, the Battle of Warsaw has already begun, and it is impossible to recover it.

Good Obodo, this is a good calculation, knowing that I will not be able to give up the Fourth Army, and I will not be able to fight this Warsaw battle. ”

After hesitating for a while, Marshal Ivanov ordered: "Since the deployment has been disrupted, let's fight indiscriminately!"

The order was sent down, and the Seventh and Fifth armies were ordered to launch the Battle of Warsaw; The 3rd and 6th armies, which were being repaired, were ordered to immediately assemble and march to the Warsaw area.

ordered the First and Second Armies to launch an offensive in the East Prussian region, and ordered the navy to match;

The 8th, 9th, and 10th armies were ordered to abandon their current defensive tasks and launch a battle on the southern front.

The new 11th, 13th, 15th, and 17th armies were ordered to take over the defense they had left behind. ”

Despite not knowing what the enemy's plot was, Ivanov knew that if he was strong enough, the enemy would choke to death.

Campaigning from three directions at the same time, with a whopping 2 million troops thrown in, Ivanov did not believe that the enemy was capable of eating it in one bite.

The situation changed when he couldn't eat it, and Ivanov did not expect to win all the battles, as long as one battle was won, it would be considered a strategic success.

To put it bluntly, the Pubo Federation is such a big place, and if you win a big victory in any direction and tear open the door to the enemy's rear, you can drive straight in.

Don't look at the Popo Federation has stepped up its mobilization, but can a farmer who has just put down his hoe become a qualified soldier immediately?

Of course, the farmers of the Pubo Federation have participated in militia training, and their combat effectiveness is a little stronger than that of ordinary farmers, but there is still a big gap between them and the regular army.

It's not that the Berlin government doesn't know about conducting national training, the main thing is that the wallet is not enough to bulge. Reserve training also costs money, and the cost of one or two months of training for the whole people is not something that poor countries can play.

In addition to the training gap, armament is a big problem. The military industry of the Pubo Federation is self-contained, and the main forces are all ordinary weapons and equipment, all of which are made by themselves.

After the expansion, its own military production capacity was insufficient, and Berlin was forced to purchase British and French equipment. The caliber of ammunition is different, and the second and third line troops of the Prussian army are developing in the direction of making all countries.

In contrast, the Russians are much happier, and they can buy the same equipment directly from Austria, and they don't need to worry about it at all.

The sum of these factors means that as long as the Russian army tears up their defensive line, it will be difficult for the newly formed troops in the rear to block the Russian army's advance.

Ivanov did not adopt this strategy before, mainly in order to avoid risks. The advantage on paper only exists on paper, and the war will not be known until it is fought.

In his opinion, instead of risking a decisive battle, it is better to fight steadily, step by step, and gradually consume the enemy's forces.

……

As soon as the Russian army moves, the Prussian army will naturally follow suit. It was with great difficulty that the enemy was mobilized, and Moltke naturally could not give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The only regret is that the enemy has stretched the battle line too long, and the Prussian army has limited strength, so it is impossible to take care of three battlefields at the same time.

In a sense, this tactic is also aimed at "Moltke's ability to concentrate his superiority and fight the enemy". The three-front battle is opened, and the decisive battle of concentrating superior forces is tantamount to suicide.

The division of troops into three battlefields coincided with the calculations of the Russians. Now we are in the era of thermal weapons, and there are airships in the sky to reconnoitre, and no matter how powerful the use of troops is, they must be constrained by their strength.

In order to compensate for the lack of troops, Moltke had to make military deployments while urging the Berlin government to speed up mobilization.

The quality of the god horse can not be taken care of for the time being, first get the quantity out. Recruits have no combat effectiveness, so they can be used as cannon fodder, and they can also be used to buy time at critical moments.

……

The Russians were about to fight a decisive battle, and all eyes of Europe were turned to the Prussian battlefield. In order to collect information about this great war, the Austrian Air Force was busy.

If it weren't for the lack of air defense weapons in these years, the hit rate would be low and the cost would be high; Austria has sent too many military observation missions, and it is easy to find clues; It is estimated that the commander below does not mind creating a couple of surprises.

This is all a small problem, running to the top of people's heads to collect information, and if it is not knocked down, it is already very face-saving, can you still expect people to welcome it?

Vienna Palace, looking at the deployment of troops on both sides of the Prussian side, Franz was confused and did not know what was going on at all. To sum it up, it can be summed up in one word - chaos, whether it is the Russian army or the Prussian army, it is very chaotic.

"Albrecht, can you see their deployment?"

After hesitating for a moment, Albrecht replied with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, there is a decisive battle between Prussia and Russia. ”

Seeing Franz's expression, as if he was not satisfied with this answer, Albrecht continued to explain: "Your Majesty, the total number of troops invested in this war has set a historical record.

No one had the experience of commanding a million troops at one time, and the Russians were steady and steady in the early stage, and the frequency of troop movements was not too high.

Now that a decisive battle is about to be fought, both Prussia and Russia are rapidly moving troops, and there are too many troops involved, and a certain amount of confusion is inevitable. ”

This answer made Franz suddenly enlightened, famous generals are also ordinary people, even if the individual ability is strong, there is no guarantee that the people under him are also so strong.

The mobilization of millions of troops involves too many aspects, and it is simply not something that a commander can accomplish alone, but also requires the cooperation of various departments.

Due to the constant communication, many times the commander gives an order, and there will be a certain delay when it is transmitted to the troops below.

The army is not bad, and when it receives an order, it can be carried out immediately, but the logistics department is not good. No matter how big the matter is, the materials in the warehouse can't be followed to the place in a day or two.

No matter how powerful the dispatcher is, he can't change the backwardness of the means of transportation. Constrained by logistics, the troops naturally could not run too fast.

In case of another accident, and the logistics and troops are lost, it will be over.

Such a thing has not happened before, and now both Prussia and Russia have learned a lesson, and they are very much emphasizing the coordination between the combat units and the logistics departments.

Of course, this is only a secondary factor. At present, there is varying degrees of confusion in the armies of both Prussia and Russia, and the main responsibility lies with the general command.

The commanders had never had experience commanding a campaign of this calibre, and much of the previous experience was no longer applicable here, and confusion ensued.

Franz asked with concern: "So, our army also has these problems?" ”

Albrecht nodded: "Our commander does not have this kind of experience, if he dares to command a million troops to fight, it is inevitable that there will be chaos in the early stage."

There is no experience in this area in the whole world, and we are good in comparison, organizing the training of millions of reservists every year, which is barely a large-scale troop transfer. ”

There's really no way, experience needs to be accumulated. Austria has less than a million active troops, where to accumulate this experience?

In addition to learning from the military deployment of Prussia, Franz could not do anything. You can't pull in millions of reservists for a national exercise, right?

Not to mention how much it will cost and how many materials will be consumed. Just thinking about mobilizing millions of troops at once is terrifying.

If it does, it is estimated that all of Europe will be frightened. If you're unlucky, you might just escalate to a continental war.

European countries are very sensitive in this regard. Perhaps it is because there are too many losses, or because there are too many lessons from the past, and only when a country begins to mobilize, neighboring countries will be more vigilant. If the relationship is not good, it will be mobilized.

Creating an atmosphere of tension for no reason, increasing the smell of gunpowder on the European continent, and destroying good-neighborly relations is not what Franz wants to see.

(End of chapter)