C323 Prelude to the Great War

The outbreak of the Poo War was not unexpected. and Prussia, who were both part of the Great Germany's cultural circle, had been on guard against each other for more than ten years. Although the two brothers had fought against each other during the Pudan War, the conflicts between the various States s had intensified over the years.

At this time, the Great Germany Region was completely under the loose States system. Everyone had only officially accepted the Habsburg's rule, but every States had the right to practice their own army, make their own internal affairs, and issue their own currency.

For example, the later generations of states in Germany, such as Bavaria, Baden, Hesse … and so on. They all belonged to an independent States and had their own king and army. What was worth mentioning was that the famous Queen Victoria in history was the princess that came out of Bavaria.

On the eve of the war, the factions of both sides were clearly divided. Austria received support from Saxon, Hanover, Bavaria, Barton, Württemberg, Hesse — — Garzel, Hesse — — Dammstadt, and other German Federation s. In terms of population and area, Austria had the advantage.

Not only that, the Austria also received support from France. In order to curb the rise of Prussia, and in order to nibble away at the four states of the southern region of the Great Germany, France provided a large amount of resources to support the Austria.

The Prussians were relatively weaker. They only had Mellenburg, Oldenburg, and the other states of the Northern Germany on their side, as well as the hamburger, Bremen, and Lübeck, the three free cities.

Of course, we must not forget Italy, which was allied with Prussia. These two close companions were not only closely related during the Second World War, but they had already formed a military alliance in the 19th mid-century leaf.

Unfortunately, Italy during this period was no different from Italy during the Second War. They could never boast about their ability in military matters, and suffered a crushing defeat at the southern defense line of Austria right from the very start of the battle. It did not have the desired strategic restraining effect.

However, Prussia also had an invisible aid, which was the support of Great Britain, his kinswoman country. It was also because of Britain's influence that France did not dare to act rashly. If France had sent tens of thousands of troops north at that time, history would have really been rewritten.

As a Transcender, Xiao Letian had his own unique mentality to appreciate this war that was going to take place on the continent, but in the hearts of the two important political parties, namely Prussia and the Austria, war was always unknown. No one knew who the Goddess of Victory would smile at.

On 8 May 1866, the heavy wheel of history had completely disregarded the flapping of Xiao Letian's wings as a transcender, and war had still broken out according to the time points recorded in the history books. On that day, the Prussian army had invaded the Holstein Region, and Bismark had announced the reorganization of the draft of the German Federation, excluding the Austria.

Then, on June 16, the Prussian army began to occupy the Hanover, Saxony and the Hesse. The Prussian Mein River Independent Legion, with 50 thousand people, easily defeated the weak armies of the Hanover and the Hesse. The remnants of the Saxon army retreated and were incorporated into the northern army of the Austria. And Bavaria did not fulfill his obligation of sending out 100 thousand soldiers, and did not provide any substantial assistance to Austria.

The impatient Austria finally declared war on Prussia at the 17th, officially opening the curtain on the event that would change the recent history of Europe.

It was a huge battle that shocked the entire world. Prussia had mobilized 630 thousand people, and although the Austria was slightly weaker than the others by 580 thousand, the 1.2 million people from both sides had started a battle to the death in the belly of Europe. All of the military observers in Europe lost their voices for a moment, and they had lost their ability to analyze the battle in a short period of time.

This was not like the so-called great battle in Chinese history, where both sides mobilized soldiers who had undergone strict military training. The collision of these two torrents would light up the night sky of Europe.

All of the railway transport capacity had been squeezed dry, all of the telegraph line were transferred to the military, and countless warehouses in the rear started to transport their goods according to General Staff's plan.

The two mixed camp s led by Xiao Letian, on the way south from the hamburger, caused all the groups of Chinese officer to be completely stunned.

To be fair, the number of people in the great battle that the King Yi had seen was no less than the number of people in the Poo War, but he had never seen a pure modern army's great mobilization after entering the post-industrial era.

All the roads were filled with regular soldiers who were armed to the teeth, advancing forward without a single end in sight. It was as if they had charged straight to the end of the world, all the soldiers were dressed in uniform, their weapons and equipment were all standardized.

Tomala struggled forward with his bronze cannon, his proud cavalry singing a military song the Chinese did not understand. On both sides of the road, near the town, countless women and children surged up the sides of the street as if it was Carnival. Cheers poured in like a tidal wave.

"This is too scary. Why aren't these women afraid of war?" Why are they more fanatical than soldiers? On the contrary, these soldiers who were about to enter the battlefield were abnormally calm? Shouldn't they be the most fanatical people? "

King Yi stood by the window of the carriage and looked at the army marching along both sides of the tracks and the cheering German citizens. His eyes were filled with confusion.

"What kind of power is this? "It's too terrifying, as if endless clouds were pressing down on their heads, causing them to have no courage to fight back. It's also like the night before a storm on the sea, where the air is filled with scorched lightning …"

As Xiao Letian listened to the King Yi's heartfelt sighs, he couldn't help but feel the same way. In his previous life, Xiao Letian had watched quite a few war movies, and there were many that invested a lot in war movies.

"Brother!" Do you know that this is a huge collision between the 1.2 million regular soldiers?! And these 1.2 million people were all strictly trained regular soldiers, there definitely wasn't a single civilian among them. Now do you know where the gap between China and Europe lies? "

"What!" Before King Yi could say anything, a group of middle and high level officers by the side shouted out, "1.2 million regular soldiers that haven't been mixed with refugees? Is this still just Prussia and the Austria? "

Looking at Xiao Letian nodding, everyone's forehead started to perspire. Everyone here were veterans of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, wasn't Ceng Guofan's Xiang Army awesome? At its peak, there were only 500 thousand elites. Of course, the so-called elites would only be able to train a few rows of Gun.

As for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, that military account was a mess. They themselves had never told each other about the army of one million and the army of two million and the army of three million before. In fact, the King Yi knew very well that if they were to measure by the standards of the Prussian Army, they would have over a hundred thousand bones.

"It's too scary. 1.2 million pure elites, even with all the elite from Qing Dynasty, Xiang Army, Sky Nation and other places combined, it doesn't have that many!" It's not injustice that Qing Dynasty was defeated, it's really not wrong that she was defeated … " Shi Dakai held her wrist and sighed, her face full of worry as she patted her thigh.

Seeing the dejected expressions of the crowd, Xiao Letian did not try to persuade them in the slightest and instead continued to pour cold water on them, "Six years ago, when the English and French attacked the Beijing, he sent out a total of twenty thousand troops. Do you know how many there are in the current French Army? "If the standing army reaches 400 thousand, then the second grade army can be mobilized to 600 thousand. However, once a general recruitment order is issued, they can easily gather 1 million troops …"

"Not to mention Britain, the navy alone has more than 200,000 soldiers. Although the army is small, don't forget that they have a solid foundation in industry. The various weapons and equipment in the warehouse are enough to arm a million people in a short period of time …"

"What do you mean, 'if you fall behind, you get beaten up'? This is the truth of Tie Zheng! " Following Xiao Letian's words, all the Chinese officer began to converge towards him and everyone began to attentively listen to his teachings. Although the Prussian soldier could not understand Chinese, they could feel the worry and unease in the tone of the Eastern Prime Minister.

"Brothers, do you remember what I told you about comprehensive national power? Outside the window is the practical embodiment of comprehensive national power. You have to open your eyes wide and take a good look at what the world is like now … Just look at those large carts covered in oilcloth, as I expected, there must be tons of Arms and ammunition and a large amount of food inside … "

"Once the war breaks out, you will see with your own eyes that tons of artillery shells are being fired at the enemy's position, and a sea of fire is strewn with flying pieces of steel. The steel that would be consumed in a single battle would probably not even be able to be forged by the blacksmiths of the Great Qing Dynasty in a year … "

"Look at the military warehouses hidden in the towns again. They are filled with countless Arms and ammunition. As long as the countries need them, they can easily send out a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, or even millions of troops …" Look at our Great Qing Dynasty, other than some broken big blade and lances, what else is in the warehouse? "

"Hahaha, and even the big sabers and spears may not be enough. Besides raising those greedy officials, the tax of 10 million taels a year is enough. Who would really consider the life and death of this country and its people?"

Speaking till here, Xiao Letian's eyes started to tear up, his emotions stirred up: "Brothers, we no longer have time, we can still maintain that nation, the westerner still hasn't completely invaded the interior, what are we relying on? "It's not that we're amazing, it's just that technology isn't developed to the point where we can dominate the entire world..."

"With so many troops in Europe, it would be impossible to send them to China through the sea. At most, it would be tens of thousands of punitive troops. In addition, it would be unrealistic to travel on land. The country in the middle was separated by too many landscapes. "But don't forget that the pace of technological development won't stop. Just because it's impossible today doesn't mean it won't happen in the future?"

"If one day, these powerful peoples of Europe send out their troops, not 20,000, but 200,000. With just their combat strength alone, how are we Chinese going to defend against them? Why do Europeans look down on us? Isn't it because we are too weak? "

"My lord!" The eyes of all the officers turned red. Many of them were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes. We all know that. Just tell us what to do! "Our lives and deaths, the fate of our nation, can only depend on you, my lord …"

Xiao Letian reached out his sleeves and ruthlessly wiped away his tears, "What can we do in this pack of wolves? We can only fight with our lives on the line. From today onwards, we are beasts that have been forced into a dead end, and we have no other choice but to fight with our lives on the line! "

"Those bastards in the country! I will bring you all to pick up the dignity they have lost. I will take you all to reconstruct a kneecap with steel. "Even if we were to risk our lives, we have to let the whole Europe know that we Chinese are new. We Chinese are not useless …"

"Wuwuwu …" "F * ck, the debts they owe, your elder will bring you all to pay them back …"

"My lord!" All the officers shouted, "We will never forget the vow we made before we set out..." sacrifice my blood to the Xuan Yuan, sacrifice China with my life! "

In the summer of 1866, the Chinese vow rang out once more in the interior of Europe. Who knew how many more would survive this time?