Compared to Spain, Switzerland, sandwiched between France and Austria, is even more tragic. There is no need to think about neutral gods, small countries have no choice.

If Austria is courting Russia and Spain because of political necessity, then bringing in Switzerland is entirely for the sake of making up the numbers.

It doesn't matter if you don't take sides, Austria is peace-loving and will not force everyone to join. It's just that the post-war international order was established, and non-belligerent countries did not need to participate in it.

Don't look at the original time and space, Switzerland is very happy to be neutral, and even the European Union is too lazy to join, which is based on the rise of the United States and the decline of Europe; Now that you are outside the system, the final outcome is nothing more than a question of how to die.

Not to mention anything else, a food embargo, Switzerland will not last a year and will go hungry; A tariff barrier, Switzerland's nascent industry was about to return to the Middle Ages.

There is no doubt that post-war Austria was absolutely capable of this. Neither the defeated France nor the independent Kingdom of Sardinia could face each other for the sake of Switzerland and Austria.

To put it bluntly, the hegemon also needs to stand up for power. Generally speaking, a chicken will be chosen and killed to set an example for monkeys. Austria is no exception, and the only thing that is uncertain now is who will be the unlucky chicken.

The first way to survive a small country is to know the current affairs. After Spain declared war on France, the Swiss government, unable to withstand the pressure, followed suit with the declaration of war on the French.

After the members of the anti-French alliance were assembled, Austria finally gathered an invincible momentum, and even if the British themselves were killed, they could not return to heaven.

In the Vienna Palace, looking at the map full of small flags, Franz said slowly: "The time for the decisive battle has come, with the addition of Russia, Spain, and Sweden, the morale of the French army has dropped to the lowest point.

Command the front-line troops, launch a full-scale counteroffensive, I have only one request, to weaken the strength of the French as much as possible.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued its efforts to pull all the neutral countries of Europe into the water before the French surrendered, laying the foundations for the re-establishment of the international order after the war.

Except, of course, the British. ”

True, Franz did not count on the power of these new allies from the beginning to the end,

There are only two main purposes for pulling them in:

First, tie up more countries on the chariot, create as many enemies as possible for the French, and share the hatred together.

Second, it should undermine the morale of the French army, weaken the French sense of resistance, increase the chances of victory in the decisive battle, and reduce their own casualties as much as possible.

Of course, there are more benefits in passing. There are only so many countries on the European continent, and there are many countries that are participating in the war, and there are even fewer countries that can become mediators, and even if the British want to intervene, they will not be able to pull in enough allies.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, there are now only three neutral nations left on the European continent, and they have little interest in the French.

The lure is not realistic at all, and if they are forced to declare war on France, perhaps they will be forced to agree to the situation, but they will definitely be dissatisfied in their hearts.

At the same time, we will also give the outside world the impression that we are overbearing, which is not conducive to the establishment of the post-war international order.

Anyway, their strength is limited, and participating in the war can't bring practical significance, so it's better to let them go. ”

There is no doubt that these three neutrals do not include Britain. From the beginning of the deterioration of Anglo-Russian relations, the Austrian government subconsciously excluded the British from the European continent.

Looking at the map, Franz nodded thoughtfully. The current neutral countries are Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Confederation. Even if they were to fight, they would not have a chance to go to war.

Not only them, but even Franz of Russia and Sweden were not ready to give them the opportunity to participate in the decisive battle.

Because of the geographical location, if Spain and Sweden react quickly, they may still have the opportunity to join in the fun and participate in the game of beating the water dogs, and other countries that do not border each other do not need to think about it.

The French have a very solid background, and although there is a certain price to pay for participating in the decisive battle, it is not worth mentioning at all compared to the huge benefits.

The boss is not easy to be, especially when distributing benefits, if you want to convince everyone, the most basic fairness must be done.

Franz had already made a plan to implement the principle of reciprocity of benefits and contributions, and to take as much spoils as he contributed to the war against France.

Those who contribute less, except for the benefits promised at the beginning, the rest of the benefits have nothing to do with them.

This is something that cannot be helped, Austria wants to monopolize French Africa, naturally it cannot let too many countries participate in the Armageddon, otherwise it will be too ugly to eat alone.

In addition, there is also a purpose to show muscles to the outside world, so that everyone understands that this boss deserves his name, not a showmanship, and put his eyes bright when doing things in the future.

……

In the Central European theater, the aging Marshal Patrice McMahon dragged his tired body for the final mobilization.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the old marshal is about to run out of oil. If it weren't for the strong faith that backs him up, perhaps he would have fallen.

Ever since the news of the Russians' entry into the war came, despair spread in the French camps, especially among the Italian soldiers, who even openly spread anti-war ideas in the barracks.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army, McMahon immediately ordered a crackdown and executed hundreds of people successively to stabilize the situation.

Iron and blood can deter people's hearts, but there is no way to restore morale. Maybe the domestic officials don't understand, but the generals on the front line know that the French army has fallen into a situation of internal and external troubles.

"As you all know, the international situation has suddenly changed, the Russians have declared war on us, and Spain and Switzerland have jumped out and fallen into the ground.

This is just the beginning, if we can't defeat the enemy in front of us on the battlefield and crush the enemy's ambitions, then there will be more enemies to jump out next.

France has reached the most dangerous moment and now needs us to take up arms and defend our homeland.

Don't look at their numbers, they are actually a rabble. As long as Austria is defeated, the international anti-French forces will retreat.

……”

Marshal Patrice McMahon used a loud voice to instill in the officers chicken soup for the soul that he could not believe, just to inspire everyone's faith and win a glimmer of life for France.

As for the effect, then the benevolent will see the benevolent, and the wise will see the wise.

Perhaps the Russians are far away, and for a moment and a half they will not be able to reach them; But Spain and Switzerland are next door to them, and even if the two countries do not send troops, they will also contain a large number of French troops.

Spain is good to say, separated by the Pyrenees, as long as a dozen or two hundred thousand French troops are deployed, they can guard the gate.

Switzerland is different, the Franco-Swiss border area is flat, and the natural risks are all in Switzerland. Once the Austrians came out of Switzerland, they went straight into the heart of France.

Not "once", exactly, but already happening. At the same time that Switzerland entered the war, an Austrian unit had already set out from the Duchy of Liechstein and entered Switzerland, apparently bound for France.

Unlike the anti-French coalition, France's mobilization for war was on the verge of limits. By the time the war had progressed, the French had lost more than two million troops. Including the eight or nine million lost on the African continent and the more than one million lost on the European battlefield.

Although not all of these men died in battle, and a large number of officers and soldiers were disabled and captured on the battlefield, they were all essentially the same, and could not go back to the battlefield.

However, this is just the beginning. From the moment the Paris government decided to make a quick decision, the French army had to pay tens of thousands of casualties every day.

No matter how big the family is, it can't withstand such a toss. In the face of brutal casualties, the officers and soldiers on the front line have long been full of complaints.

In the case of the officers and men at the grassroots level, McMahon had no skills, so he could only rely on the high-ranking officers to do ideological work from level to level to the lower levels, so as to arouse the fighting spirit of the soldiers as much as possible.

Before McMahon could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a young officer who suddenly broke in: "Marshal, the Austrians have attacked.

According to the telegram sent from the front, the intensity of the Austrian army's attack this time was very strong, and the mountains were full of iron lump monsters, and the power was very great, and there was no way to deal with it.

Our first line of defense has been broken, and the 7th, 16th, 23rd, and 42nd Divisions on the front line have sent telegrams asking for help. ”

Hearing the "Iron Pimple" monster, McMahon's face sank, as if it had been mentioned in the documents that someone had reported to him that the Austrians had such a secret weapon.

It's a pity that Austria has too many secret weapons, most of them are smoke bombs, and no one knows what this thing can do until they are put into battle. Coupled with incomplete intelligence, he was directly ignored by McMahon.

Of course, even knowing in advance is useless. Before I saw the power of the armored forces, in everyone's concept, it was the hoplites, nothing more than some behind the armor outside.

With Franz's order, a torrent of steel that had been hidden for many days gushed out, from southern Europe to central Europe, with tanks and armored vehicles.

Since the outbreak of the war, Armageddon between France and Austria has broken out. On the one hand, the French army, which wanted a quick victory, and on the other hand, the Austrian army, which was flooded with steel, staged the most exciting scene on the European continent.

Fight?

No, slaughter, to be exact.

The confrontation between flesh and blood and the torrent of steel is itself unfair. In addition, the French army had always been on the attacking side before, and their own fortifications were not very strong, and the result was tragic.

……