Chapter 928

The collapse of Luxembourg's defense line had a huge impact. The name of France once again resounded across Europe, as if the army that swept across the continent had returned.

Belgium was panicking, the various states in the German region were panicking, and so were the countries in Europe. Even Austria was panicking.

Palace of Vienna

Putting down the newspaper that boasted about France's invincibility, Franz nodded with satisfaction. "Good job. I believe we can gain a lot of help in the coming days."

The European continent's balance policy was not only played by the British. In fact, most European countries were supporters of this policy. No one wanted a behemoth to appear on top of their heads.

There was no doubt that this European war was the key to the continuation of the European continent's balance. No one wanted to see any of the Fao countries win.

Now that France had the upper hand, naturally, someone would drag them down. In order to make the storm more violent, Franz, of course, had to exaggerate the strength of France.

The facts were right in front of them. The German Confederation, a medium-sized country, relied on the defense of the fortress, but still couldn't last a month under the French army.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not as strong as the German Confederation in the past, but it could still fight with Russia. In the end, it was killed by the Tsarist government's human wave tactic.

With this set of sharp contrast, who would dare to say that France was not the world's most powerful land country?

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, the strength of France has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. If we continue to build for them, it will be easy for us to lose control.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently learned that Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries have been flirting with France. The political structure that we painstakingly built to isolate France is being shaken. "

The survival of small countries was that the grass on top of the grass would fall with the wind. Now that France had the upper hand, everyone naturally had to lean on them.

Of course, this leaning was not their true intention. It was only because of survival needs that they eased their relationship with France.

On the surface, they still had to continue to stab them in the back. After all, the France Empire seemed too aggressive and could threaten their safety at any time.

Franz shook his head. "It doesn't matter. These small countries are leaning on them, but the big countries are alienating them.

Have you realized that ever since the fall of the Luxembourg defense line, the destruction of the Suez Canal has been selectively forgotten by everyone?

The members of the Italian independence organization detained by the British will be released soon. It seems that the Government of London is still very wary of France.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should work harder and encourage the British to raise tariffs on French exports to France and continue to increase the war costs for France.

Spain and Russia can not slack their public relations. Although they are not reliable, they can, they can still. France is still.

It seemed to be an understatement, but in fact, Franz was not. If the European countries could drag France down now, they would also drag Austria down in the future. In any case, they would oppose whoever was stronger.

But at this point, in order to complete the empire's strategy of unification, they had to take care of France, and in order to take care of France, they had to take care of the European countries.

Well, Franz was rational. He chose to go with the flow and had no intention of going against the European countries.

The Austrian General Staff was not the Showa General Staff. They did not have a brainless strategy to conquer Europe. He just wanted to catch everyone off guard and carry out an operation to steal a chicken.

In order to achieve the strategic goal, Franz did not hesitate to suppress the frontline generals. He would rather bear the political pressure of the defeat in the early stages of the war …

…

"Hurry! Run faster!"

"Philip, you idiot. Hurry up. If you don't catch up, the French will stab you in the eye! "

The middle-aged officer kept urging them, but the effect was not satisfactory. There was no other way. They had lost the battle in a daze, and then fled in a daze. The morale of the army had long been gone.

The Luxembourg defense line collapsed, but the German retreat was not cut off. The French came from the front. There was no way to stop them.

If it wasn't for the chaos in the German command system, the lack of reserve troops to fill the gap in the front line. The troops would not be in such a sorry state now.

Philip, who was scolded, panted. "Colonel, we are very fast. But with two legs, how can he outrun four legs? "

It was obvious that this was the army of a small country. Only the troops of a small country could have officers and soldiers get along so casually.

The middle-aged officer scolded, "Philip, you are so stupid. How many cavalry does the French have? There are so many defeated soldiers on the front line. Can they handle it? "

The facts once again proved the survival rule of "it doesn't matter if you can't outrun the enemy, as long as you can outrun your allies."

Because of historical issues, the relationship between the German states was not as harmonious as it seemed. Colonel Ryan did not feel any pressure to abandon his allies and run.

But it could not be considered as losing. Now everyone was running for their lives in a panic. The situation on the battlefield had completely deteriorated. It was not something that a small team like "Bremen Hanseatic League" could turn the tide.

Colonel Ryan had done his duty by leading the troops on the run instead of riding his own horse.

Maybe they ran fast enough, or maybe their desire to survive touched God, but they did not encounter the French troops all the way from Luxembourg to Koblenz.

At this point, their escape journey had come to an end. Seeing the Austrian flag in front, Colonel Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to go forward to negotiate, a loud voice sounded.

"Report the unit number and the name of the commander!"

The person who spoke was a young officer with a small notebook in his hand. Behind him was a group of soldiers who were ready for battle.

Anyone would feel uncomfortable when facing ten guns, and Colonel Ryan was no exception. He frowned and replied, "Bremen Hanseatic Defense Force, Colonel Ryan!"

The specific unit number was not needed. The Free City of Bremen Hanseatic Defense Force was just a slightly larger town. It was just a little more prosperous and densely populated.

There were only a few hundred people participating in this war. A reinforced battalion was enough. It was much more convenient to directly report the country's name than the unit number.

Perhaps Ryan realized that his team's image was not good, so he emphasized his colonel status, hoping to get better treatment.

Frankly speaking, Ryan was not satisfied with his rank as a colonel. The highest commander of the other states were all generals, but he was the only colonel. Everyone was inferior when compared to him.

Unfortunately, the domestic parliamentarians did not agree. They insisted on suppressing his military rank to the colonel level on the grounds that he had no military achievements.

Hearing the word "colonel", the young officer was a lot more polite. After all, they were allies, and they still recognized each other's military rank, even if there was a lot of exaggeration.

"Colonel, may I ask, when did you join the army, and what was your occupation before joining the army?"

Due to the routine interrogation, Colonel Ryan suddenly looked embarrassed. He bit the bullet and replied, "I joined the army three months ago. Before joining the army, I was responsible for the security of Bremen."

There was no other way. Bremen Hanseatic Defense Force was too small to support a regular army. Generally speaking, it was the domestic police who worked in the army.

Perhaps worried that his resume was not good enough and would be looked down upon, Colonel Ryan added, "When I was young, I also served as the commander of a mercenary group. I once fought with the British in South Africa."

It was because of the battlefield experience that Ryan was able to stand out from the many rookie competitors and become the commander of this army.

The young officer opened the small notebook and quickly looked through it. After a moment, he smiled and said, "There is no problem with the information.

Colonel Ryan, on behalf of the coalition command, I welcome you back. "

Hearing the words "back", Colonel Ryan's face suddenly became unnatural. There was no doubt that they were legally incorporated into the army.

After hesitating again and again, Colonel Ryan bit the bullet and said, "Sir, we just suffered a defeat on the front line. Now the morale of the army is completely low. The army needs to be reorganized."

There was no other way. When they were in Luxembourg, many small states signed up together, and they had enough confidence to negotiate with the commander appointed by the central government.

Now it was not possible. The army was scattered. The soldiers didn't know the general, and the general didn't know the soldiers. This was the most realistic portrayal.

The coalition command was now gathering the defeated soldiers, certainly not to help them restore their organization. As long as the commander was not stupid, he would take the opportunity to seize the command of the army.

If the defeated soldiers were reorganized and the military system was broken up, he would lose the bargaining power.

For the overall situation, this was the most advantageous. It could integrate the forces and exert the greatest combat power.

However, from the standpoint of individuals or small states, the situation was completely different. This meant that they would lose the right to speak in the coalition.

In theory, it was more logical for the German Confederation government to do this. After all, it was the legal central government that had the righteousness to unify the states.

The coalition command jumped out to gather and reorganize the defeated soldiers, but it was still a bit excessive. But this was a small problem. The German command was in chaos and simply couldn't care about this.

By the time they reacted, the established facts had been established. If they wanted to take back the command from Austria, they could only go to the Government of Vienna to fight a diplomatic lawsuit.

The young officer seemed to have thought of something and comforted, "Colonel, don't worry. You won't have combat missions in the short term.

Now you should go to the camp to take a bath, have a good sleep, and wait for orders. "

Colonel Ryan looked at the exhausted soldiers behind him and nodded helplessly.

…