Under the roar of artillery fire, the sky gradually darkened, and the shouts of tearing and killing in the distance were endless, and perhaps there would be thousands more corpses tomorrow morning.

Marshal Moltke, who had just arrived at the front, picked up the binoculars and stared at the front. Due to the distance, only the smoke of the explosion of the shells could be seen.

After a moment's effort, Moltke sighed. The situation was much worse than he expected, and judging by the artillery fire, it was clear that the Russians were no longer what they used to be.

As night fell, the two sides tacitly stopped fighting. The yin wind began to howl angrily, as if to awaken the dead soul.

In the headquarters of the Prussian army, Marshal Moltke, who came to supervise the battle, began to go crazy.

"It's been a week since the outbreak of the war, and not a single little Brest has been taken down, what a bunch of rubbish.

Speak! In normal times, aren't you very capable? One by one, there was no one in their eyes, boasting of defeating Russia in three months and going to St. Petersburg for a military parade within half a year.

Now, not a single Brest can be taken. Not to mention going to St. Petersburg for a military parade, if it goes on like this, our strategy of cutting off the Dnieper will go bankrupt. ”

Everyone bowed their heads as they listened to the teachings, and there was no way that this battle was really bad.

According to the plan of the General Staff, the Prussian army was supposed to capture Brest within three days, and then move south along the Dnieper River to seize Kyiv and cut off the water supply channel for the Russian army.

The core of this strategy is to be fast, and the Russians lack everything, that is, there is no shortage of soldiers. Once the tsarist government reacted and a large number of reinforcements arrived, the war would not be easy to fight.

This is a lesson from history, and the fact that the Anglo-French allied forces used blood in the First Near East War has told the world that the Russian army, which is fully armed and has perfect logistics, is a hard bone.

As long as the Dnieper River is in the hands of the Russian army, Austrian supplies can be transported in a steady stream, and the war will turn into a war of attrition.

The commander of the Southwestern Front, Hohenlohe Ingelfingen, replied stiffly: "Your Excellency, the enemy is much more stubborn than we think. Over the course of seven days, we went head-to-head dozens of times.

Most of the time, we have the upper hand, but overall it's not optimistic. The replenishment of the Russian army is very fast, and the troops that are fighting with us have changed three waves.

You may not believe it, but they not only hold on to their positions, but they also launch counter-attacks from time to time.

According to the detected intelligence, there are 80,000 Russian troops guarding the front line in Brest, and there are still 100,000 Russian troops in the Volyn region, not to mention a steady stream of reinforcements in the rear.

The commander of the Russian army on the opposite side is a bunch of crazy people, who don't take the lives of soldiers seriously at all, and many times deliberately deal with us.

In just one week, our Southwestern Front lost two divisions. In a short period of time, it is almost impossible to make a breakthrough here. ”

There's no way, there's no way to keep this thing a secret. The Prussian army wanted to cut off the Dnieper, but the Russian army naturally did not agree.

As an enemy, it is natural to stare at each other. In particular, after the birth of the airship unit, Russian airships crossed the border every day to conduct reconnaissance, and it was difficult to keep secrets about the movement of large groups of troops.

Moltke frowned, he also knew that he could not take the Brest Fortress, and the main responsibility was not for these officers. On the battlefield, it is necessary to rely on strength to speak, and the Prussian army does not have an overwhelming advantage, and it is normal to be in a stalemate.

The strategic plan formulated by the General Staff: to make a feint attack on Estonia, make a posture to march into St. Petersburg to attract the main forces of the Russian army, and create opportunities for the capture of Kyiv.

However, plans are not changing as fast as they are. The goal of attracting the main forces of the Russian army was achieved, and the first step in capturing Kyiv was stuck.

No matter how good the strategy is, it can't stand the tsarist government's large number of soldiers. The Russians defended more than the Prussian attacked, and things were embarrassing.

Not only here, but the Russian army has an advantage in strength on the entire front. With all its strength, the Pop Federation gathered 750,000 troops to go to the battlefield, and the number of Russian troops on the opposite side had already exceeded one million.

Moltke shook his head: "We don't have so much time, if we can't seize Kyiv before winter and cut off the Dnieper transportation line, the next year will be in big trouble."

No matter how difficult it may be, we must accomplish this strategy. Otherwise, the enemy will rely on the superiority of troops to drag us to death.

To tell you the truth, it was not only the Brest front that was blocked, but the entire battlefield.

Over the past decade, the enemy has built a large number of fortifications. With so many lines of defense, how can it be torn apart in a short period of time? ”

Speaking of this, Moltke sneered and sneered: "What, this is scared? ”

"Don't be afraid!"

"Don't be afraid!"

……

As a bunch of warmongers, how can it be so easy to be afraid? The war has just begun, and it is normal to encounter difficulties. No matter how optimistic people are, they will not think that in just one week, they will be able to defeat the Russian army.

Compared to the last war, the situation is much better now. At that time, as soon as the war broke out, the Russian army pressed the Prussian army to fight, and in the end they turned the tables.

"If you're not afraid, don't make excuses. Calm down and find a way to tear through the enemy's defenses.

The enemy has deployed heavy forces in the Brest area, then find a way to bypass it. If the army can't get by, can't the small force be fine?

No matter how bad it is, you can arrange for someone to blow up the course of the Dnieper, as long as the strategic goal is achieved, I don't care what method you use. ”

In order to win the war, Moltke was already desperate. Don't look at what he said easily, if a small group of troops is really alone, it will basically go and have no return.

Hohenlohe Inglefingen: "Your Excellency, the enemy has deployed heavy forces in the Brest region, which is not suitable as a breakthrough, it is better to change directions.

Unlike the last war, this time the Russians are fully prepared, and the Russian army will not be short of supplies in a short time.

Even if the Dnieper is cut off, they can be transported by rail in the eastern Ukrainian region, unless we can occupy all of Ukraine.

Strategically, this is very frustrating. The Ukrainian region is not the core of Russia, and even if it is lost, the Russians will not surrender.

They had already obtained an understanding from the Nordic Confederation that the Russians could receive supplies from the Nordic Confederation in addition to Austria.

Until the tsarist government has spent the last gold coins in its pocket, it will be difficult for us to drag them down in materiel.

In order to crush the Russian Empire, it was necessary to occupy Moscow and St. Petersburg. Compared to these two strategic locations, the rest of the places should only be auxiliary. ”

Moltke slapped the table: "Your proposal, I will consider it carefully." What is needed now is to carry out the order, understand, General! ”

It's not that the proposal is bad, it's not that Moltke can't tolerate dissenting opinions. On the contrary, if there had been no readiness to fight Moscow, the Berlin government in the last war would not have insisted on Smolensk.

The strategic points of the attack on Moscow are all in hand, how could Moltke ignore them?

The problem is that the Russians also saw that as soon as the war broke out, the Russians mobilized heavy forces to besiege Smolensk.

In this context, Moltke naturally did not choose to fight hard with the Russians, so there was an offensive and defensive battle in Brest.

As for Smolensk, it would be good to use it to deplete the enemy's forces. The Berlin government has built well-developed fortifications in the area, which are just right to attract Russian firepower.

……

After the meeting, Moltke left Hohenlohe Inglefingen to discuss it.

"Marshal, why didn't you say it at the meeting?"

Moltke: "That's right, that's what you think. Of course, I'm not saying that there is a problem with the people who attended the meeting, the Russians are not yet capable of buying high-ranking officers.

The people below can't say for sure, we have caught a lot of spies in recent years, and many of them leaked the news to the enemy without knowing it. At this critical time, we must be cautious. ”

Hohenlohe Inglefingen was thoughtful, catching spies was never a harmonious affair, and although the Berlin government did not engage in a joint venture, many officers were still involved.

Where there are people, there are disputes, and the military is not monolithic, because of the relationship of power struggle, as long as it is involved, whether it is innocent or not, in the end it can only retire in disgrace.

"Well, in principle, I have no objection to this battle plan. The Southwestern Front will try to attract the enemy's attention as much as possible, but I am still a little worried about breaking through from the Volyn area. ”

If you want to capture Kyiv, you can not only go down the Dnieper River, but also push it directly from the Volyn region, but it is not so convenient.

Moltke smiled slightly: "It's right to worry, you don't think it's okay, and it's even harder for the enemy to think of."

Besides, no one stipulates that we must go directly to Kyiv.

After the breakthrough in the Volyn area, we can completely turn our guns and outflank the Russian army in Brest.

The war has already begun, and a strategic plan made in advance can only be a plan. Whether to implement it or not, and how to implement it, should be carried out according to the actual situation.

No matter how you fight, just win this war. What we have to do now is to annihilate the main forces of the Russian army as much as possible, as long as this group of troops is killed, the battle behind will be easy to fight. ”

As soon as the success is achieved, everyone only cares about the victory of the war, and no one pays attention to the efforts behind it. The unsung hero is the greatest and the most tragic.

Moltke would rather put pressure on the officers to attack than tell everyone the truth about the feint.

If everyone knew the truth, would they still be so desperate? If you are not desperate enough, how can you create enough pressure on the enemy and force reinforcements from the surrounding Russian army?

Even for political reasons, this feint will be artificially erased. If there is no breakthrough on the battlefield, the troops responsible for the feint attack will not only fail to reap the merits of the battle, but will also be punished on their backs.

A good commander should consider not only military and politics, but also human nature.