Chapter 968

The armored troops also had another name in the Austrian army — "Heavy Cavalry."

In many people's eyes, this was the reinforcement of the cavalry, the true "Iron Cavalry."

The Austrian military was also in dispute over the use of armored troops. A considerable number of people thought that the armored troops could be used as cavalry.

In a sense, this view was not unreasonable. There were many similarities between armored troops and cavalry.

For example: they were both more expensive than infantry, had greater requirements for logistics, and would be restricted in bad ice and snow weather …

Unfortunately, the Rhine River had long been covered in ice and snow. At night, when the temperature was the lowest, the temperature could even drop to minus ten degrees.

In such bad weather, the engine had to be warmed up in advance if a car wanted to start, otherwise it would not be able to start.

In essence, armored troops were similar to cars, except that the requirement for engine power was higher.

In the face of bad weather, both were about the same. It was not that they could not be used, but the failure rate was much higher in such weather.

Austria's armored troops already had a high failure rate. If they chose bad weather, the situation would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, the Central European winter did not last long, and the bad weather only lasted a few days. With good maintenance, it would be over.

If it was the hellish weather in Moscow, the armored troops would probably have to climb one-fifth of the way down before the war even started.

It was not Duke Albrecht's style to bite the bullet and fight. As he grew older, Albrecht's military style became more and more stable.

It was not only Albrecht. Most of the commanders in the Austrian military had a more stable military style.

Only a group of middle and lower level officers liked to use unconventional methods and win by surprise.

There was no essential difference between the two styles of warfare. It was just that with the change in status, ideology, and vision had also changed.

In a place like the military that relied on military achievements, the only way to fight for a higher position when you were young was to take risks to overtake and leave your peers behind.

In fact, most of the high-ranking officers in the Austrian military used to like unconventional methods. It was because they won by surprise that they shook off their competitors and rose through the ranks.

Now, it was just that their identity had changed. They had wealth, identity, and status. The era of entrepreneurship had ended, and it was time to protect the industry. Stable thinking gradually gained the upper hand.

There were two sides to everything. From the perspective of the country, this was definitely beneficial.

In essence, any unconventional action in military affairs was a gamble.

The middle and lower level officers had little bargaining chips. As long as it was a tactical issue, Austria could afford to lose hundreds of times.

Moreover, those who could become officers were not fools. Even if they were to take risks, they had to have some confidence before taking action.

Overall, the chances of winning were greater. After all, the commander had already weighed the risks and benefits before the gamble began.

Many times, the gains of a single victory on the battlefield could offset the losses of dozens of defeats.

To put it bluntly, the chips that they were willing to take the risk were only a few thousand or eight hundred people at most. Even if they lost that much, the profit from the gamble might be the victory of a battle.

High-ranking military officers were different. They often decided the fate of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of soldiers. Any failure would hurt the vitality of the country.

From a different perspective, it was different from the standpoint of a soldier. Under such circumstances, it was difficult for Austria to produce a famous general.

It could not be helped. Most of the famous generals that were praised by the outside world were unconventional, winning by surprise, and defeating the strong with the weak.

In the eyes of everyone, it was a matter of course to win a war that relied on comprehensive strength to suppress the enemy in an open and aboveboard manner. It was not recognized.

This was very unfriendly to the Austrian officers. Perhaps they had such achievements when they were young, but as they rose in rank, their achievements became more and more mediocre.

From this point of view, Duke Albrecht was undoubtedly lucky.

He used the rebel army to clear a dungeon as soon as he made his debut. Then, he encountered a dungeon that was completely useless. He was automatically promoted to a famous general without much effort.

Now, with the European war, Franz came up with a bunch of black technology that gave him the opportunity to step on the French and become the new "God of War."

After the military meeting, Albrecht left his nephew alone. "Friedrich, you seemed to have something to say just now. Are you dissatisfied with my arrangements?"

"Marshal, although the weather is bad now, it is not to the point where the armored troops cannot be used.

Before the French can react, we will launch a surprise attack tomorrow. The armored troops can easily tear apart the French's position, and the entire army can definitely deal a heavy blow to the French.

If we drag this out for too long, the armored troops will probably be exposed, and the French will be on guard. "

The Austrian army paid great attention to rules. Uncle and nephew could only be called in private. In the command center, Duke Albrecht was only called "Marshal."

If they did not pay attention to the rules, the relationship between the nobles in Europe was so complicated. If they were not careful, they would find that there were relatives everywhere in the military camp.

Even though nepotism had always played an important role, there was still a way. As long as they made military contributions on the battlefield, they would rise faster than anyone else.

This path was not only left for the commoners, but also the standard for the nobles to be promoted.

Don't think that you are powerful just because you have connections. When you are surrounded by connections, you will find that the final competition is still strength.

It could not be helped. The tradition of the German Region was for everyone to join the army. All the nobles in the country had to serve in the army.

Perhaps many families did not have many direct descendants, but there were definitely many collateral members without titles. If illegitimate children were included, the group would be even larger.

At this time, the so-called relationship background was actually not that important. After the Austrian army completed the military reform, without enough ability, no amount of resources could be pushed up.

The most typical example was Crown Prince Frederick The Great. The age difference between him and Friedrich was not big, and his resources, connections, and relationships were all at the peak.

The latter was already a lieutenant general, but Crown Prince Frederick The Great retired with the title of lieutenant colonel. He was probably the crown prince with the lowest military rank since the promotion of military ranks in Austria.

Of course, this comparison was very unfair to Frederick The Great. After all, the gap before and after the military reform was too big.

Take Franz himself as an example. He was an Austrian officer when he started drinking milk, and became a general before he reached adulthood. There was no way to compare with him, so it was all water.

When it came to Frederick The Great, the good days of lying down were over. The beautiful days of serving in the army while drinking milk were gone forever. After graduating from military school, he had to start from the bottom like ordinary students.

As the crown prince, Frederick The Great could not stay in the army all the time, which affected his promotion.

Coupled with luck, he missed the opportunity to go to the battlefield. Without military merits, there was no hope of becoming a general, so he simply retired.

After the outbreak of the European war, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick The Great, who entered the army again, was still waiting for an opportunity at the southern front.

Not only Crown Prince Frederick The Great, but his brothers were also in a similar state, scattered in various battlefields, waiting for an opportunity.

Whether or not one could develop in the army depended on one's own ability.

This thing could not be decided by external forces. If one's own ability was not good, even if one was promoted, there would be no way to convince others.

In fact, at first, Franz had considered leaving this opportunity to Frederick The Great.

If one's military rank was too low, one would not be able to be the commander of an army. At most, they could lower the level of the armored troops. For example, a tank regiment would have a few hundred tanks, and all the armored troops would be organized into an armored division.

However, this was too unsightly, and Frederick The Great's military command ability was also unknown. No one knew if he could handle it. If things went awry, it would be like shooting oneself in the foot.

As the crown prince of Austria, Frederick The Great only needed to follow and stay in the army. There was no need for him to take this risk for a little bit of reputation.

Under this background, the best opportunity to gain military merits naturally fell on Frederick, a member of the royal family who had already proven his ability.

Grand Duke Albrecht shook his head and said earnestly, "Frederick, you are thinking too simply.

Although the allied forces had gathered 1.78 million troops by the Rhine River, nearly a million of them were troops from Belgium and Germany.

They were still passable when defending, but if they really dropped their defensive line and went out to fight with the French, who knows what would happen?

Even if the armored troops could tear apart the French's position, or even further divide them into several pieces, we wouldn't be able to take them down. We might even choke to death.

The domestic plan was to kill as much as possible of the French forces. From the beginning, the purpose of this war was to kill as many enemies as possible.

Delaying until the ice melted was not only to make it easier for the armored troops to spread out, but more importantly, to gather troops.

Of course, waiting for the outcome of the battle in Egypt was also a key factor.

According to the domestic plan, the war would start with the battlefield in Egypt, then us, and finally the southern front.

This was a strategy to cause the most damage to the French.

After establishing the fact that we occupied Egypt, we would kill our way to Paris. Even if we attracted the intervention of the European countries, we would still destroy the French colonial empire and control the Suez Canal.

After losing the African colonies, France lost a pillar of support. It would be difficult for them to recover in the next few decades.

As for the fact that the armored troops would be exposed, it was within his expectations. With such a huge commotion, it was impossible to keep it a secret forever.

Even if the French received the news, they wouldn't know what the armored troops were for. The French might even think that they were putting a layer of steel on the outside of the car.

Remember, Frederick. You are different from ordinary commanders. They can consider problems purely from a military point of view, but you have to consider politics.

Most of the time, the military serves the political purpose.

In order to reduce our future pressure on the western front, it is not enough to just defeat the French. We must inflict heavy damage on them.

All the current strategies of the government revolve around inflicting heavy damage on France.

As long as we can achieve this strategic goal, there is not much difference whether the outcome of the battle is decided a day earlier or a day later. "

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