With the help of the British, Prussia and Prussia sat down at the negotiating table and started a long negotiation.
The diplomatic action did not affect the pinnacle confrontation between Prussia and Russia on the battlefield.
Due to the serious situation on the battlefield, after giving up Latvia, the Prussia army had to continue to give up Lithuania. The war had already spread to East Prussia.
The situation continued to develop in the Russian Army's favor. Instead of relaxing, Marshal Ivanov became more and more nervous.
He clearly knew that behind the victory, the Russian Army's battle line was constantly lengthening. Not only was the logistical pressure increasing, but the prepared defensive fortifications were also unable to play a role.
It would have been fine if that was the case, but the voices in the country were getting louder and louder. There were also endless voices from within the army requesting to fight. Even with Alexander Ii Of Russia backing him up, Ivanov felt the heavy pressure.
An officer said in a clear voice, "Marshal, the Fourth Army sent an urgent message."
Ivanov said calmly, "Read it!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"On October 18, 1880, we captured Puławy, wiped out 12,000 enemy troops, and captured 1,876 of them.
The gate to Warsaw has been opened. In order to seize the opportunity, we have decided to first follow the Vistula River and march to Warsaw.
The Seventh Army and Fifth Army are expected to cooperate and attack the Warsaw area from the north and east respectively.
… "
"Bang!" The glass in Marshal Ivanov's hand fell to the ground.
After all the calculations, he still underestimated the desire of his officers to win. Of course, there might be other forces behind this, forcing him to start the battle ahead of time.
Ivanov no longer wanted to complain about the reason "Warsaw's gate is open". The enemy was prepared to fight them in the Warsaw area, so it was impossible to stop them outside.
Occupying the upper reaches of the Vistula River seemed to give them a strategic advantage, but in fact, those who understood Poland's terrain knew that the endless plains were flat and the water flow was gentle. It was difficult to even destroy the farmland downstream, let alone flood the Seventh Army.
At this point, Ivanov could only follow to deal with the aftermath. The Fourth Army consisted of eight infantry divisions, one garrison division, three cavalry divisions, four artillery regiments, and all sorts of miscellaneous auxiliary troops. The total strength of the Fourth Army was as high as 183,000.
With so many troops, no one would give up so easily. If possible, Ivanov would not mind shooting those who acted on their own.
Unfortunately, he couldn't reach it now. If he wanted to settle the score later, he would have to wait until the war was over.
Looking at the map, Ivanov muttered to himself, "October 18th. Now it's already the afternoon of October 21st. Even if they have two days to rest, they have already set off for a day.
If they were fast enough, the Battle of Warsaw would have already begun, and it would be impossible to chase after them.
Well done, Leopold. You've calculated it all. You know I can't give up on the Fourth Army. I have no choice but to fight in the Warsaw Conference. "
After hesitating for a while, Marshal Ivanov ordered, "Since the deployment has been messed up, then let's fight!
Pass down my order, order the Seventh and Fifth Armies to launch the Warsaw Campaign; order the Third and Sixth Armies, which are in the midst of reorganization, to assemble at once and march to the Warsaw area.
He ordered the First and Second Armies to launch an attack on the East Prussia region and the Navy to coordinate with them.
He ordered the Eighth, Ninth, and Nightmare Armies to abandon their current defensive mission and launch a decisive battle on the southern front.
He ordered the New Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Armies to take over the defense left behind by them. "
Although he didn't know what the enemy was plotting, Ivanov knew that as long as he was strong enough, the enemy would be choked to death.
Launching a battle from three directions at the same time and investing up to two million troops, Ivanov didn't believe that the enemy had the ability to swallow them all.
If they couldn't swallow them all, the situation would change. Ivanov didn't expect to win all three battles. As long as they won one battle, it would be considered a strategic success.
To put it bluntly, the Pubo Federation was only so big. If they won in any direction, they would be able to tear open the door to the enemy's rear and march straight in.
Although the Pubo Federation had stepped up the mobilization, could a farmer who had just put down his hoe immediately become a qualified soldier?
Of course, the farmers of the Pubo Federation had participated in militia training and were a little stronger than ordinary farmers. However, there was still a big gap between them and the regular army.
It wasn't that the Government of Berlin didn't know about training all the people, but that they didn't have enough money. Reserve training also cost money. The cost of training all the people for one or two months every year was not something a poor country could afford.
In addition to the gap in training, weapons and equipment were also a big problem. The Pubo Federation's military had its own system. The main force was all ordinary equipment, and they had to rely on themselves.
After the military expansion, their military production was not enough, so Berlin was forced to purchase British and French equipment. The caliber of ammunition was different, and the second and third line of the Pu Army was developing in the direction of universal manufacturing.
In comparison, the Russians were much happier. The equipment was the same, and they could just buy it directly from Austria. There was no need to worry at all.
All these factors together meant that as long as the Russian Army broke through their defensive line, the new troops in the rear would have a hard time stopping the Russian Army.
Ivanov didn't use this strategy before, mainly to avoid risks. The advantage on paper only existed on paper, and it would only be known when the war started.
In his opinion, rather than taking the risk of a decisive battle, it was better to fight steadily and slowly exhaust the enemy's forces.
…
Once the Russian Army took action, the Pu Army naturally had to follow suit. It wasn't easy to mobilize the enemy, and Mao Qi naturally wouldn't give up this golden opportunity.
The only regret was that the enemy stretched the battle line too far. The Pu Army had limited forces, and it was impossible to take care of three battlefields at the same time.
In a sense, this strategy was also targeted at Mao Qi's expertise in concentrating the advantage to fight the enemy. Fighting on three battlefields, concentrating the advantage in a decisive battle was equivalent to suicide.
Dividing the army to take care of three battlefields was the same as falling into the Russian's trap. It was the era of firearms, and there were airships in the sky for reconnaissance. No matter how good the army was, it was limited by the strength.
In order to make up for the lack of troops, Mao Qi had to make military deployments while urging the Government of Berlin to speed up the mobilization.
He didn't care about the quality for the time being, but he needed to get the quantity out first. The new soldiers didn't have any combat power, and it was good to use them as cannon fodder. They could also be used to buy time at a critical moment.
…
The Russians were about to fight, and all of Europe's eyes were on the Prussian battlefield. In order to collect information about this unprecedented battle, the Austrian Air Force was also busy.
If it wasn't for the lack of anti-aircraft weapons, low accuracy, and high cost, and the fact that Austria sent out too many military observation teams, which could easily be discovered, the commanders under them probably wouldn't mind creating a few accidents.
These were all small problems. It was already giving them face not being shot down to collect information. How could they expect them to welcome them?
In the Palace of Vienna, Franz was confused as he looked at the deployment of troops from both sides. He had no idea what was going on. It could be summed up in one word — chaos. Whether it was the Russian Army or the Prussian Army, they were all in chaos.
"Albrecht, can you understand their deployment?"
After hesitating for a moment, Albrecht replied with some difficulty, "Your Majesty, Prussian and Russian are about to fight."
Seeing Franz's expression, it seemed like he wasn't satisfied with this answer. Albrecht continued to explain, "Your Majesty, the total number of troops invested in this war has already set a historical record.
No one has the experience of commanding millions of troops at once. In the early stages, the Russians fought steadily and didn't move their troops too frequently.
Now that they are about to fight, both Prussian and Russian are quickly moving their troops. There are too many troops involved, and it's inevitable that there will be some chaos. "
This answer made Franz suddenly see the light. A famous general was also an ordinary person. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't guarantee that his subordinates would be as strong.
The movement of millions of troops involved too many aspects. It wasn't something that a commander could accomplish alone. It also required the cooperation of various departments.
Due to the inconvenience of communication, there would often be a delay when the commander gave orders to the troops below.
The army was still fine, as they could immediately carry out orders once they received them, but the logistics department couldn't. No matter how big the matter was, the supplies in the warehouse couldn't be followed to the place in a day or two.
No matter how powerful the dispatcher was, he couldn't change the fact that transportation was outdated. Due to the logistics department, the troops naturally couldn't move too fast.
If there was another accident and the logistics department got lost, it would be over.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Both Prussian and Russian had learned their lesson and placed great emphasis on the coordination between the troops and logistics department.
Of course, this was only a secondary factor. Currently, both the Prussian and Russian armies were in different degrees of chaos, and the main responsibility was still on the main command.
The commanders had never had the experience of commanding a battle of this level. A lot of their past experience wasn't applicable here, and chaos appeared.
Franz asked with concern, "So, our army also has these problems?"
Albrecht nodded. "Our commanders also don't have this kind of experience. If they rashly command millions of troops to fight, it's inevitable that there will be chaos in the early stages.
The whole world doesn't have this kind of experience. Compared to them, we're still considered good. Every year, we organize millions of reserve troops for training. It can barely be considered a large-scale movement of troops. "
There really wasn't a choice. Experience was something that needed to be accumulated. The active Austrian army didn't even have a million troops. Where could they go to accumulate this kind of experience?
Other than learning from the Prussian military deployment, there was nothing Franz could do. They couldn't possibly pull millions of reserve troops for a national exercise, could they?
Not to mention how much money it would cost and how many resources it would consume. Just the thought of mobilizing millions of troops at once was terrifying.
If they really did it, the whole of Europe would probably be scared. If they were unlucky, it might directly escalate into a war on the European continent.
European countries were very sensitive in this regard. Perhaps it was because they had suffered too many losses, or because there were too many precedents, once a country started to mobilize, the neighboring countries would be more vigilant. If they didn't have a good relationship, they would also mobilize.
Creating a tense atmosphere for no reason, increasing the smell of gunpowder on the European continent, and destroying the friendly relations between neighbors wasn't what Franz wanted to see.
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