Human beings are fragile in the face of nature. The Battle of the Rhine continued, but the intensity of the war was limited by heavy snowfall.

It's not that the attacking French army doesn't work hard, it's really the ice and snow weather that is too annoying. It not only affected the offensive on the front, but also increased the difficulty of logistics and transportation.

Even if two million troops do nothing, the daily consumption of supplies is an astronomical amount, let alone fighting?

Facts have once again proved that it is not so simple to fight deep into enemy territory.

That's right, Belgium and the Rhineland are both well-connected areas with a well-developed railway network, but the problem is that the roads were destroyed when the coalition forces retreated!

It is always easier to destroy than to build, and the first thing the French did after occupying these areas was to repair the roads.

After more than a month of hard work, the road has basically been restored, and the railway has almost been repaired. It was almost finished, but unfortunately it was snowing again.

Bad weather has affected logistics and transportation, and has become the biggest challenge for the French army at the moment, even more troublesome than the machine gun trenches of the Austrian army.

After all, no matter how powerful the machine-gun trench tactics are, they can only be defended on the spot. With the technology of these years, it is not yet possible to charge with a machine gun.

It can block the path of the French army, but it cannot threaten the lifeblood of the French army. The logistics are different, if something really goes wrong, the two million French troops will be in danger.

Looking out the window, Marshal Patrice McMahon sighed. The war broke out in such a hurry that France was not prepared at all.

Who would have imagined that the huge French Empire would not even have enough military uniforms for winter? In the end, it was necessary to mobilize the people to donate cotton clothes, which barely solved the problem of keeping soldiers warm.

It's not that the French industry is not strong, as the world's second largest textile industry, as long as the raw materials are sufficient, millions of sets of winter clothes can be done in a month.

The problem lies in the raw materials, 70% of the raw materials of the French cotton textile industry come from Egypt, and as soon as the war breaks out, cotton production in Egypt is over.

Such a large gap is not so easy to solve. Even if you want to buy from the international market, you can't find enough supply.

You must know that cotton is the same hard commodity as grain in these years, and most producers have fixed partners, and it is necessary to pay a big price if you want to win love.

The capitalists do not have such a strong sense of the overall situation, and when they are not sure whether the war will continue, they invest huge sums of money to grab cotton, and the benefits and risks are completely disproportionate.

The French were very optimistic about the war, and the mainstream public opinion generally believed that the French army would win in two to three months.

With such a small amount of time, you can survive on inventory, and there is no need to invest huge amounts of money and risk it.

Theoretically, if no one had hoarded Juqi, France would not have been short of supplies if it had been properly distributed.

There is no way, most of the heavens and the earth cannot compare with the greatest benefits. After the outbreak of the war, prices rose gradually, and every day it dragged on, it was a new price.

No one is going to be at odds with money, and in this context, the bureaucratic efficiency of the Paris government is naturally not high.

The slow pace of raising supplies in the early stage directly led to the failure of the French army to deliver enough supplies to the front line before the onset of winter, and the transportation efficiency was greatly reduced when the snow fell, and the problem appeared.

"Marshal, because of the heavy snowfall, the convoy that was supposed to arrive today has only just arrived in Trier, and it is expected to arrive a week late.

This is the third time this month that supplies have been delayed, and we haven't been able to get them on time since the snowfall. ”

Major General John, who was in charge of the logistics and transportation of the French army, reported with a bitter face.

Compared with the fat man who is in charge of logistics distribution, the person in charge of logistics and transportation is much more difficult, not only has to build the roads himself, but also has to face guerrilla attacks, and now he has to fight against bad weather.

If it's just that, the big deal is to suffer a little, anyway, there is a lot of oil and water transported, which is enough to make up for everyone's wounded hearts.

The problem is that the people who are in charge of transportation below are not so obedient, and people will strike when the task is heavy. After all, no matter how rich the oil and water are, they can't share it.

There is no way, the local conscription of laborers, or the use of prisoners of war is too risky, and it is impossible to know when you will hook up with the guerrillas. Even if you don't hook up with the guerrillas, you can't stand it if you come to a passive sabotage.

For the sake of logistical safety, the people in charge of transportation are all their own people, and once these people make trouble, the officers can only appease.

Receiving this bad news, Patrice McMahon frowned and secretly thought about it.

Not long after the French army pushed the front to the Rhine line, it was often attacked by enemy air raids and suffered heavy losses, and the reserves were very limited.

From the beginning of the snowfall, the supplies of the French army fell into a state of making ends meet. Even if the intensity of the front-line exchanges has decreased and the consumption of materials has decreased in the recent period, it will not last long.

There is no way, the consumption of ammunition has decreased, but the consumption of heating materials has increased. It is true that the Rhineland produces coal, but the Germans blew up the coal mines before the evacuation, and it will take time to restore production capacity.

The most important thing is that the locals are unwilling to cooperate, and under the trend of the forces of hatred, the locals simply do not buy the accounts of the French army.

This war had just begun, and it was far from the time to decide the winner or loser, and even the capitalists, who were accustomed to seeing the wind and the rudder, were in no hurry to take sides, and only a very small number of them ran to the French so early.

After half a ring, Patrice McMahon slowly spoke: "Send electricity to the country, explain the dilemma we are facing, and let the War Department increase the number of convoys."

The logistics department was ordered to give priority to the delivery of ammunition and medicine, and to think of ways to raise other supplies locally as much as possible, so as to reduce our logistical pressure. ”

Raising supplies on the spot is certainly not a good idea. Originally, the relations between the French army and the local authorities were tense, and it would be difficult for the guerrillas to develop if there was another wave of such a wave.

"Marshal, when the enemy retreated, he destroyed the place very badly, blowing up not only the infrastructure, but also the material warehouses.

The industry of Belgium and the Rhineland is indeed good, but in the absence of industrial raw materials, there is no way to conjure up materials.

In particular, there is not much food produced in the region, and it is mainly imported from Austria. Because of the war, the grain trade has been interrupted for almost a month.

The price of grain in the local area has skyrocketed, and the social order has deteriorated sharply, and if we go to collect grain again at this time, I am afraid that it will be ......."

Seeing that Patrice McMahon's face was getting more and more ugly, Lieutenant General Albert decisively chose to shut up.

Everyone knows the problem, but the French army is also running out of food. No matter how serious the consequences are, Patrice McMahon has no choice now.

After glancing at each other, Admiral Udino, who was waiting for his guilt and meritorious service, knew that the time had come for him to carry the black cauldron.

If you have more debts, you don't press down, the previous defeat has already made him discredited, and he doesn't care about another infamy.

Carry a little more black pot, you can also sell a little more favors, and someone will help you talk when you settle after the war, so as not to go to the military court.

"Your Excellency, you can't look at it that way. After the outbreak of the war, the local population was not completely unprepared.

As far as I know, when the enemy retreated, he did not burn all the supplies, and a large part of the food was distributed to the local population. We borrow some food for emergencies, but there is still no big problem.

In addition to food, many of the materials we need can be raised locally, such as coal.

As long as everyone is willing to work hard, I believe that it will not be difficult to restore the coal mine. Labor is insufficient, and we can still use prisoners of war.

Give them a task, and if they don't go hungry, I'm sure they'll compromise.

Other materials should be raised as much as possible, and if they are not enough, they will find a way to transport them from within the country.

If you are afraid that the situation will get out of control, then expel the locals to the opposite side, just in time to consume the enemy's supplies. ”

Oudino just said what everyone wanted to do, but didn't dare to do. The expulsion of the locals is not a big problem from a purely military point of view, but the political consequences are very serious.

This is a continent of Europe, not a remote colony, and if the French expelled millions of locals, it would be a source of outrage.

Especially for many small European countries, if the French can do this to Belgium and the Rhineland today, something similar could happen to them tomorrow.

Whether it is because of the death of the rabbit or the sorrow of the fox, or for the safety of their own families, these small countries will stand on the opposite side of France.

Patrice McMahon was silent, and from the beginning of the implementation of the plan to kill the enemy, the final result of not expelling the locals was the same.

People are iron and rice are steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry and panic. Without food in their hands, even if these locals wanted to stay, they couldn't do it.

Escaping the famine is a matter of time, and it is nothing more than a matter of direction. France certainly couldn't go, and the refugees either fled to Switzerland, the Netherlands, or to the German Confederation.

The expulsion of the French army was nothing more than to allow all the refugees who might have poured into Switzerland and the Netherlands into the German Confederation and increase the pressure on the anti-French alliance.

They are all their own people, and the French army can not help the refugees, but the coalition forces cannot sit idly by.

Millions of mouths to eat are added at once, and no matter how big the anti-French alliance is, it will be enough for them to stand it.