Chapter 468

On May 1, 1865, the Russian Navy launched a sneak attack on East Prussia. The Portisk region fell, and the turning point of the Prussian War appeared.

In Berlin, the Government of Prussia was wailing, and William I hastily convened a military conference.

Minister of War and Navy Ron analyzed, "The fall of the Portisk region means that our strategy of keeping the enemy outside the country has failed. In order to avoid being attacked from behind, we had to withdraw our troops to West Prussia.

Before the war broke out, for the sake of the colony's stability, we didn't transfer the fleet from the Far East region back. The current Home Fleet doesn't have the strength to fight against the Russian Navy, and the defense of the coastal area must be strengthened. "

This was just an excuse. Even if the entire Prussia Navy was gathered, it wouldn't be of much use.

The Danish Navy could compete with them, let alone the more powerful Russian Navy.

They couldn't ignore the strength of the Russian Navy just because they made a fool of themselves.

From the beginning, Ron didn't count on the Navy. It turned out that he was very accurate about the strength of the Prussia Navy.

After the outbreak of the war, the Home Fleet fought with the Danish Navy several times and was then blocked in the port. Their biggest contribution to the war was to contain the main force of the Danish Navy.

Even if the Far East Fleet was transferred back, they could at most suppress the Danish Navy. If there was a decisive battle, it was unknown whether they could win or not.

The Kingdom of Prussia's development of the Navy was too short. Whether it was ship-building technology, naval training, or officer commanding ability, they were all lagging behind the major naval powers.

Now, they could still use their lack of strength as an excuse to let the Home Fleet stay in the port. If the Far East Fleet returned, they would be forced to fight the Danish Navy.

Even if they won against the Danish Navy, they would definitely not be able to defeat the Russians. The total tonnage of the Tsar Baltic Fleet was 2.7 times that of theirs.

The Navy was not the Army. With such a clear difference in strength, there was no way to counterattack unless they used ironclad warships to fight sailing warships.

The loss of the Portisk region was a mistake of the General Staff. They underestimated the offensive ability of the Russians and overestimated the combat effectiveness of the garrison.

The Navy and the Army were different. In terms of artillery, the two sides were not on the same level.

After the outbreak of the war, the Prussia placed great importance on the defense of the Portisk region and deployed three regiments of troops there.

According to the General Staff, even if they were attacked by the Russian Army, they could rely on the fortifications built in advance to defend for at least a week.

However, the army staff officers' empiricism brought about a fatal loss to the defenders. These fortresses could withstand the attacks of the land artillery, but that did not mean that they could withstand the attacks of the naval artillery.

If it was the regular Prussian army, even if the fortress was destroyed, with three regiments of soldiers, they could still hold off the Russian army for two to three days.

Unfortunately, these were all new recruits recruited at the last minute. After being attacked by the artillery, the morale of the army was already in chaos.

After exchanging blows with the Russian army, they quickly discovered that the enemy was much stronger than the Russian army in the propaganda. With the increasing number of casualties, the new recruits who were responsible for the defense were quickly defeated.

William I said in a bad mood, "No matter what, you have to turn the unfavorable situation around as soon as possible.

You have already experienced the consequences of abandoning East Prussia. If this continues, there will be a revolution in the country. "

William still needed the Army to fight. Being able to gain the upper hand against the Russian Army and drive the Russians out of Warsaw was enough to prove their ability. The fact that they were able to gain the upper hand in the battle against the Russian army and drive the Russians out of the Warsaw area was enough to prove their ability.

If they won the war, everything would be fine, and all the problems would be written off. If they lost the war, the Army would be the scapegoat.

If they won the war, everything would be fine, and all the problems would be written off. If they lost the war, then the Army would be the scapegoat.

If he were to get rid of him in advance, wouldn't the blame fall on William the First himself?

Chief of the General Staff, Mao Qi, said hesitantly, "At this point, our original plan can't be implemented.

If we continue to delay, the Russians will take advantage of their naval superiority and continue to attack our coastal areas.

The Tsarist government did not lack soldiers. These gray animals were worthless. They only needed a rifle and a few months of simple training, and they could go to the battlefield.

Once a large number of Russian Army landed in Prussia, our mainland would be seriously damaged. In this war, we would be the first to collapse.

Even if we strengthen our defense on the sea, we don't have enough troops to defend. Everyone knows the combat power of these new troops, and we can't count on them.

At this point, we have no other choice. We can only take the risk and fight a decisive battle with the Russians. "

"Decisive battle". This was what the Government of Berlin had been trying to avoid from the beginning. The decisive battle that concerned their life and death was just a local war for the Russians.

The Tsarist government could lose once, twice, or three times. As long as they won once, they could beat Prussia to the ground.

Since that was the case, why fight a decisive battle? Did they expect to win the war by killing and injuring the Russians?

War was not child's play. There were more than 500,000 Russian Army on the front line. It might be possible to defeat them, but it was impossible to wipe them out.

The most ideal result was nothing more than the victor losing 40,000 to 50,000 troops, defeating the enemy's main force, and annihilating 80,000 of the enemy's troops.

After all, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Poles had joined forces, and the total strength of both sides was basically equal. No matter how confident they were, it was not that no one thought that the Polish and Prussia armies had the same combat power.

In a situation where their teammates were not good enough, the strength of both sides had already been pulled to the same level. Now that they were going to fight with the Russians, it was not only a test of strength, but also the commanding ability and luck of both sides' officers.

"What are the chances of winning?" William I asked with concern.

Mao Qi thought about it and replied, "Seventy percent!"

This was just a decisive battle, and it did not mean that the Prussia war was over. The Tsarist government still had the ability to continue the war. The only problem was how much money the Tsarist government had.

…

The sudden turning point of the war directly attracted the attention of all of Europe. Many people pessimistically thought that it was only a matter of time before the Prussia were defeated.

In St. Peter's Castle, the Tsarist government had already set up a celebration banquet, as if they had won the war.

However, the situation on the battlefield was indeed tilting in the favor of the Tsarist government.

The Russian Navy performed well this time. They conquered the Borodsk area in the first round, proving to the outside world that they were not useless.