Chapter 560

Vienna.

In the Austrian General Staff Headquarters, Marshal Radski was gathering a group of officers to analyze actual combat cases. The target was the Balkan War.

Based on the information they had, they analyzed the gains and losses of both sides in the war and learned from it.

Bystanders saw the game more clearly than the players.

As a bystander, the Austrian General Staff, a bunch of armchair strategists, criticized the warring parties to the point that they were worthless.

Russians: Strategic error. They did not choose to break through the weak Osman army and fought with the French. Evaluation: Commander lacks military literacy and does not know how to be flexible.

Allied Forces: Unclear command, endless infighting, hindering each other. Did not display the advantage of military strength. Evaluation: The inevitable result of cooperation between many countries. Cannot be solved by manpower.

Common points: Serious bureaucracy, chaotic command, rubbish logistics system.

Army overall combat strength evaluation:

French: 9.4

British: 9.6

Russia: 7.8

Montenegro: 10.5

Osman: 5

Sardinians: 5

Franz looked at the evaluation report with an amused expression. Not many people could accept that the British army was more powerful than the French army.

What was even weirder was that the Montenegrin army's combat strength was off the charts.

The rest were more normal. The Osman army and the Sardinian army only had a combat strength of 5. This was widely accepted by the Fao's military.

The Greeks had not joined the war yet, so they could not make an accurate evaluation. The Bulgarian guerrillas were not regular soldiers, so they were ignored by the General Staff.

As if sensing Franz's confusion, Marshal Radski explained, "Your Majesty, the Montenegrin army's fighting spirit is the strongest among all the countries. Every Montenegrin soldier receives military training from a young age. Their training is not inferior to the armies of the other countries. Coupled with the weapons and equipment we provide, their combat strength is very shocking. "

If people were not afraid of death, their combat strength would not be too weak. If the soldiers were well-trained and equipped with advanced weapons and equipment, it was not surprising that their combat strength was off the charts.

However, this kind of off the charts depended on the place. Now, the Montenegrins were taking revenge and fighting for themselves. Their morale was high, and their combat strength was naturally off the charts.

If it was another time and place, this Montenegrin army might not have this combat strength.

Similarly, if the British and French army fought on their own, their combat strength might be off the charts as well.

Now that they were fighting for the Osman army in the The Balkans, their morale would not be at its peak. They would be considered well-trained if they could only unleash 80 or 90% of their combat strength.

In Franz's opinion, this comprehensive assessment that could change at any time was reliable.

The combat power of any army was not constant. Only in the most suitable environment would they be able to display their greatest combat power.

Franz asked doubtfully, "Marshal, I can accept that the Black Mountain Army is strong.

But how did they come to the conclusion that the British army was stronger than the French army?

In terms of battle achievements, the French are obviously above the British. These lobster soldiers don't have any good battle achievements. "

Marshal Radski explained, "Your Majesty, the British Army has always been small, but their training is not inferior to that of any other country.

"Of course, this only proves that the British army is well-trained, but it does not mean that they are stronger than the French army.

The main reason is that Napoleon Iii was eliminating dissidents and made use of the war to replace some of the high-ranking officers.

This kind of personnel change will inevitably affect the morale of the army in the short term. The new officers will also need time to adjust, so the French army's combat strength will decrease in the short term.

"In the The Balkans, the French army's morale is not high, so their combat strength is also reduced.

Because of these factors, the General Staff believes that their combat strength is not as good as the British.

This is not absolute. If the French commanders are better at commanding, they can make up for this gap. After all, the British commanders are a bunch of rookies. "

Franz nodded. This evaluation of combat strength could only be used as a reference. If they took it seriously, they would be slapped in the face. The battlefield was ever-changing, and there had always been a saying in the military — the weak defeating the strong.

Franz smiled. "In that case, both sides are evenly matched and won't be able to determine the winner in the short term.

If the Greeks suddenly attack the Allied Army's logistics and catch them off guard, the Russians will have a higher chance of winning? "

Foreign Affairs Minister Metternich explained, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the Greeks can't be counted on.

Even though they chose to ally with Russia for their own benefit, the Greek government does not wish to be enemies with Britain and France.

They wish to be like us, only to fight the Osman Empire and remain neutral in the war between Britain and France and Russia.

In this battle, I'm afraid the Greeks won't dare to attack the British and French logistics. Even if they join in the war, they will only attack the surrounding lands, which will not help the overall situation. "

Other than lamenting that his teammates were useless, Franz could do nothing.

Austria did not send troops to fight against Britain and France because there was a limit to the number of soldiers in the The Balkans, and the Hairy Bear's soldiers were already full. If they increased the number of soldiers, the logistics would be finished.

There was also the distribution of benefits after the war. Currently, Austria's main contribution was logistics. After the war, they would distribute the benefits according to the previous agreement. The Russians contributed the most, so it was reasonable for them to get the biggest share of the benefits.

If Austria became the main force, the Russians would not be able to swallow all the benefits they wanted. This was something the Tsarist government could not accept.

Other than these special circumstances, there was another important condition, which was that Austria had the strength to remain neutral. No matter how unhappy Britain and France were, they could not do anything to Austria.

If it was the Greeks, it would be different. The British wouldn't mind teaching their disobedient little brother a lesson. Once a small country chose a side, there was no room for maneuver. Don't expect Britain and France to listen to their explanation.

The correct way for the Greeks was: Do nothing, or do something extreme. No matter what the final result was, they would not have a good ending.

After thinking for a moment, Franz said, "Then let's wait a little longer. The railway from Vienna to Salzburg has already started laying the tracks, and it will be open to traffic at the end of the year.

The railway from Munich to Salzburg has also completed the construction of the roadbed. Technically speaking, most of the areas of the railway can be laid with temporary tracks.

Even if the enemy fought to the death and blocked the Danube and Rhine rivers, the logistics problem can also be solved. "

Franz was not worried about the military strength of the South German States. No matter how hard the governments of these countries worked, they could not handle the large number of people leading the way.

The topic of unification had been hyped up. In this day and age, people still did not know a word — public opinion kidnapping. But in fact, most of the people in these small countries were influenced by public opinion.

When the Austrian army attacked, this concept would destroy the army's fighting spirit. The people who surrendered could say with confidence that they were not surrendering, they were doing their part for the unification of the country.

The only risk was the logistics. The Bavarian government chose to fight to the death and directly blocked the Danube and Rhine rivers. The Austrian army could only rely on land to transport logistical supplies, which was a headache.

It was too late to wait for the railway in Bavaria to open, but it did not matter. They could still make a change and lay temporary tracks on the completed roadbed.

Because of the terrain, this kind of short-distance railway could only be a few dozen kilometers, or even a few kilometers long. It was impossible to connect them. But Franz did not care so much. It was better than nothing.

No matter how troublesome it was to transport supplies, it was faster than using manpower to carry them. Every minute on the battlefield was precious, and Austria could imitate Montenegro's relay team's transportation model.

…

The Balkans had entered a stalemate. The Russians could not defeat the Allied Forces, and the Allied Forces could not do anything to the Russians.

What made both sides feel awkward was that the two most outstanding armies on the battlefield were the Bulgarian guerrillas and the Montenegrin army.

The war had entered a stalemate. The Russians were unable to defeat the Allied Forces, and the Allied Forces could not do anything to the Russians.

On October 1st, 1852, the Montenegrin army defeated the Osman's heavily guarded Skutai Fortress. The door to Albania was wide open.

In the following month, the Montenegrin army swept all the way, and half of Albania fell into their hands. Fortunately, these battles did not affect the core and did not affect the overall situation.

The performance of the Bulgarian guerrillas was very eye-catching. In the Sliven region, they suppressed the Osman army and sometimes went deep into the rear to cause trouble, which caused a lot of trouble for the logistics of the Allied Forces.

In the Sofia region, the Bulgarian guerrillas broke through the Sardinian army's defense line and penetrated the rear of the Allied Forces.

If the British had not reacted quickly and quickly mobilized a large number of troops to organize a counterattack and defeat them, the Allied Forces in the Sofia region would have been surrounded like dumplings.

If the regular army was defeated, it would become a defeated army. But they were guerrillas to begin with. After being defeated, they naturally moved around, causing the commander of the Allied Forces, Montes, to almost collapse.

There was no other way. The Osman were not good enough. They had agreed to fight on their own territory, but in the end, they fell into the sea of people's war.

After the Bulgarian guerrillas were defeated, they went deep into the Bulgarian region and used the support of the local people to attack them from time to time.

Now, Montes did not dare to use the Osman to escort the logistics of the Allied Forces. If there were no more than two thousand British troops escorting them, it would be like feeding the enemy.

Not long ago, the strategic resources escorted by five thousand Osman troops were directly robbed by the guerrillas on the way. If not for the abundant supplies in Sofia, the Allied Forces would have starved.

Even if they sent a large number of troops to escort the supplies, there would be hundreds of British soldiers falling on the battlefield every time the supplies were successfully delivered.

Of course, the enemy had more casualties, but Montes felt that it was a loss to exchange the supplies with British soldiers and guerrillas.

Montes said angrily, "Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inform the Government of Sudan and have them encircle the guerrillas as soon as possible. We can't let these people affect our logistics."

It was not that he did not want to send troops to encircle the guerrillas, but the problem was that the Russian Army was still watching. If he dared to send the main force of the British Army out, the Russians would immediately pounce.

But the guerrillas could not be ignored. If they were allowed to continue like this, the logistics of the Allied Forces would collapse sooner or later.

The supplies that could have arrived in a week would now take at least ten days. Every time they transported the supplies, the number of casualties and the loss of supplies kept increasing.

Thus, the heavy responsibility of encircling and suppressing the guerrillas could only be handed over to the Osman government. They were the local tyrants and were suitable for this job.

Unfortunately, this was only in theory. Reality was extremely cruel.

The British Major General Eibron said disdainfully, "Commander, I'm afraid the Osman can't be counted on.

In order to encircle and suppress the guerrillas, the Osman have already sent fifty thousand troops, and there's still about half of them left.

These good-for-nothings aren't cut out for war at all. They pee their pants at the sound of gunfire. Relying on them to encircle and suppress the guerrillas is a fool's dream. "

This was an exaggeration. The Osman army was not that useless. The main reason why these troops were so weak was because the main force of the Osman Empire had already been sent to the battlefield.

Four hundred thousand troops had been sent to the Caucasus, and the Balkans had lost more than a hundred thousand troops. Now, there were still four hundred thousand Osman troops fighting a bloody battle on the battlefield.

They still had troops? At this point in the war, the Osman Empire had already gone all out. This was already the greatest force that the Government of Sudan could mobilize.

Now, in order to encircle and suppress the guerrillas, they had put together another fifty thousand troops at the last minute. Calling this an army was overestimating them.

Most of the people here were able-bodied men who had no morale at all. Once they learned how to fire a gun, they would be considered to have completed their training and sent directly to the battlefield.

Their weapons and equipment were also antiques that had been eliminated earlier, and many of the weapons were even older than the soldiers themselves.

The firepower of this regular army was on the same level as the guerrillas. In fact, it could even be compared to some of the guerrillas.

Montes said angrily, "Trash! How could the British Empire find such an ally? It's simply a disgrace.

Hurry the French and get them to fight the Russians as soon as possible. What are they dilly-dallying for? Don't tell me they want to stay in the Balkans for Christmas? "

…