Since declaring war with the Ottoman Empire, Austria has entered a state of war. A large amount of strategic materials were transported along the Danube River to the Balkans, and 200,000 Austrian troops also killed them in a mighty manner.

On the surface, Austria is seeking revenge on the Ottoman Empire. The hatred between the two sides can be traced back hundreds of years. If the Ottoman Empire had not caused chaos, the Habsburgs would have unified Germany long ago.

This time Franz deceived the whole world, and the army and strategic materials continued to pour into the Balkans. Even within Austria, it seemed that this would kill the Ottoman Empire.

Only a few senior officials knew that the Balkan offensive had come to an end. Austrian army and strategic materials gathered in the Danube Basin. The main purpose was to quickly mobilize troops after the westward strategy was launched.

Aren’t the Russians still needed strategic materials for the Balkans? Even if the Tsarist government prepared for the war for two years, it was still unable to solve the domestic transportation problem.

Originally, the Tsarist government was preparing to solve logistics problems by sea transportation. They concentrated strategic materials at Ukraine's coastal ports, and the Black Sea Fleet was escorted.

As a result, the plan could not keep up with the rapid changes. As soon as the British and French navies arrived, the sea routes were blocked.

At this time, allies need to work hard. Austria has a Danube River that runs through and can directly lead to the Bulgaria region, and the supply logistics problem is not big.

This Danube River is a treasure given to Austria. Before the railway is completed, water transportation is the most reliable way.

The Danube originated in Baden, passed through Wurttemberg, Bavaria and entered Austria, and entered the sea through the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. This is the logistics lifeline of Austria's westward entry into South Germany and the Balkans off the south.

Of course, the railway can be built. After all, the Danube cannot cover all areas, so it is more convenient to have a railway running through the east and west.

Vienna

The Austrian General Staff Department, reports of requests for war in the army have accumulated as mountains. Soldiers need military merits. They have not fought much at all when occupying the two principalities in the Danube Basin. How can we rely on to increase the title?

If Marshal Radsky had not been able to suppress the pro-war faction in the army, these messy reports of requests would have come to Franz's desk.

According to statistics from the Archives Bureau, in 1852, the General Staff received more than 100,000 reports of requests for battle, and almost all the names of officers and soldiers appeared on the reports of requests for battle.

A middle-aged officer held the thick document and said with a wry smile: "Marson Marshal, this is a request for battle sent by the 19th Division."

He no longer knew how many times he had come to carry the documents. Since the war with the Ottoman Empire broke out, the Austrian military has begun to grind his fists and be prepared to do a big fight.

The General Staff always received a large number of requests and countless combat plans. In short, everyone was anxious, afraid that the Russians would fight too hard in front and there would be no chance for them to perform.

Marshal Radsky thought for a while: "Do it to the archives room. From now on, you don't have to give me all such reports."

At the beginning, he was very happy that it was a good thing for the army to be wary! As time went by, Marshal Radsky became numb.

Since successfully occupying the two principalities of the Danube, many people have regarded this war as an armed parade, as if the Ottoman Empire was broken with just one stab.

Not only the active officers and soldiers were moved, but even the playboys among the nobles were looking for contacts everywhere, wanting to enter the army to gilt.

It is naturally impossible to join at this time. In order to implement the strategy of moving west, the top leaders of the Austrian government are staring at it tightly, and no negligence is allowed.

"Yes, Marshal!" the middle-aged officer replied

After that, the middle-aged officer did not leave, but instead was a little hurry, as if he had something to ask for.

After seeing this, Marshal Radsky asked in confusion: "Major General Lafitte, what else is there?"

"Marson Marshal, the people below are in a state of anger, we are almost unable to hold back." Major General Lafitte was nervous.

Marshal Radsky said seriously: "What can't be suppressed? Just tell them to prepare me. When the war is fought, they don't have to worry about it.

If anyone has any objection, he will immediately order him to retire and return home. The Austrian army will not have such indecent people!"

"Yes, Marshal!" Major General Lafitte hurriedly replied

The Austrian military does not have the tradition of being below the level of superiority, and it is not the turn of the officers and soldiers below to decide on such military and national affairs.

If you are ordered to retire and return home at this time, you will be out of the way for this war. Those who are determined to gain fame on the battlefield will suffer great losses.

Suppressing the sound under the phosphorus, Marshal Radsky sighed. At this time, it was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move south to the Balkans, but unfortunately reality does not allow it.

Now the main force of the Austrian army is operating in the two principalities in the lower Danube. On the surface, it is to eliminate rebels and establish effective local rule, but in fact it is not to facilitate gathering.

Even the Austrian Navy's warships that could navigate the Danube River ran to the Black Sea before the war broke out, and were escorting the Danube River Basin at this time.

Having prepared so much, we can’t even give up the strategy of moving west in order to gain some advantage in the Balkans, right?

It is easy to disperse the army, but it is difficult to gather together. Just one order is needed, the Austrian army and the Russians jointly attack, and it will not take long to occupy the Balkans.

But once the Balkans were occupied, Austria would be dragged here, and it would be difficult to get out of here.

It was far away from the Danube Basin and there was no water transportation. After hundreds of thousands of troops were gathered together, they were transported from the Balkans to Southern Germany, and the daylily was rotten.

Schonbrunn Palace

Franz asked with concern: "Mr. Stein, when will the construction of domestic railway trunk lines be completed?"

The construction of Austria's railway network began in 1849. It has been three years since the start of construction, and some sections of roads in the plains have been opened to traffic.

However, for the entire transportation network, it is still a drop in the bucket. There is no need to cross the main line of the Alps, and it may not be possible to open the train smoothly for another three years.

Franz's request for the mountain railway is not that urgent. The most important thing now is that the railway from Vienna to Salzburg must be opened to traffic in advance.

There is no way, under his butterfly effect, the Near East War broke out one year earlier than the Crimean War in history, which made the preparation time for the westward strategy less than one year.

A year is enough to change a lot of things. Vienna is only more than 200 kilometers away from Salzburg. Franz is not worried at all when it is built in four years.

The construction conditions of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway are so harsh that it has only been less than four years of construction. This section of the railway does not require manual digging of the Badaling Tunnel, nor does it require the construction of the Huailai Bridge.

It will be difficult to handle if one year's construction period is missing. To keep it confidential, Franz cannot specifically ask about this section of the railway. If it attracts attention, it will be troublesome. Now we can only let the railway main lines across the country catch up with the construction period.

According to the plan of the General Staff, once the westward strategy was launched, the Austrian army attacked in three ways. They fought along the Danube, set out from Salzburg and headed straight for Munich by land, and along the Rhine to Bavaria.

It is better to have to develop the water system. Even when entering Bavaria from Salzburg, there is a Salzach River that can connect to the Rhine.

In this era, the Bavarians had not yet built a canal between the Rhine and the Danube, otherwise it would have been enough to mobilize supplies from Vienna during the Battle of Southern Germany's Unification.

Now a logistics supply point, Salzburg, has been added. Therefore, before the outbreak of the war, it was crucial to repair the railway between Vienna and Salzburg.

Railway Minister Stein submitted a document to Franz, saying: "Your Majesty, this is the schedule of railway construction and the estimated time for opening to traffic. Please check it out.

At present, major domestic railway companies have increased the construction speed. It will take at least two years for the main roads to be completed. Among them, three-point one section can be opened to traffic within the year, and some mountain railways may be postponed until 1856."

Franz nodded a fraction of the time. Austria's railway construction speed was not slow in this era, especially after the government's stimulus policy was introduced, several railway companies were rushing to meet the construction period.

Starting this year, Austrian railways will usher in a wave of opening up, and many sections of roads will be opened to traffic one after another, and domestic transportation will be greatly improved.

After browsing it casually, Franz smiled and said, "I am very satisfied with this speed. Mr. Stein is lucky to be in trouble. Now you can go and do your business."

"Yes, your Majesty!"

After Stein turned around and left, the meeting was not something he, a technician, could participate in.

Franz is not prepared to train omnipotent bureaucrats. Most government officials are proficient in talents in a certain aspect. If they are proficient in everything, they can pack up their things and go home. The Austrian government does not need omnipotent.

If he really had such talent, Franz thought it would be better to send it to scientific research, and it would be too dangerous to engage in politics, and even the emperor was afraid of it.

After watching Stein leave, Franz said, "Everyone, if nothing unexpected happens, the railway from Austria to Salzburg will be opened to traffic before the end of the year. The railway subgrade construction has been completed.

The original plan remains unchanged, and it will be delayed for at least half a year. Does Mr. Metternich have any problems?"

The foreign minister Metternich, who was named, thought for a while and replied: "Your Majesty, it depends on the battle situation on the Balkan front.

According to the information we collected, the Russian army has invested 251,000 troops here, and the Ottoman army has nominal 450,000 people, but in fact there is at least one-fifth of the vacancies, so the combat effectiveness is probably not optimistic.

If the Russians fought quickly and conquered Constantinople before the intervention of Britain and France, then our original plan would be difficult to continue."

Don’t look at the fact that the Ottoman army appears to be more numerous, but in fact Metternich is more optimistic about the Russians. The large number of Ottoman troops does not mean that there must be more troops invested on the battlefield.

Now the Russians have thrown the two principalities of the Danube to Austria, and in fact they have also thrown the responsibility of maintaining the stability of the rear to Austria. The logistics and transportation work in this area are all done by the Austrian army.

The Ottoman Empire was a local war, but unfortunately the Russians in Bulgarian region were more popular with the people. With the support of Russia, the number of local guerrillas had exceeded five figures, and the advantages of the Ottoman local warfare became disadvantages.

Marshal Radsky commented confidently: "Mr. Metternich doesn't have to worry, this is a war that is worse than bad.

After our contact with the Russian army entering the Balkans, we can basically determine that the combat effectiveness of the Russian army is much lower than we had imagined before.

First of all, the Russian army was very chaotic in its military configuration, and its military organization was still in the era of anti-French wars. The internal corruption of the army was serious, and the weapons and equipment were backward and the logistics system was chaotic.

Secondly, the Russian army's military discipline was scattered, and the Cossack cavalry was a bunch of locusts. They were going all the way to harm the enemy and fighting a smooth battle, but they would immediately disintegrate if they failed.

The Ottoman army hired French instructors to train, but only learned that France was superficial. In addition to looking like a modern army, it was actually the same thing.

Regarding the issue of corruption, the Ottoman army became even more serious. The Russians were able to make up for the entire organization. The Ottoman officers directly took empty wages, and the troops were vacant.

Many soldiers were still forced to join the army by the officers and were brought to make up the numbers. I don’t have any expectations for them to have some combat effectiveness.

Overall, the Ottoman army has worse combat effectiveness. Without external intervention, they will probably lose in this war, but it is not a big problem to defend Constantinople."

Franz recognized Marshal Radsky's comments. The combat effectiveness shown by the Russians in the Crimean War in history is just one word - bad, while the Ottomans told everyone that there is no worst, only worse!

In general, the Russians and the Ottomans were in a low period during this period. Not only were they, but in fact, the four countries of France, Austria, Spain and Prussia were also the same. Except for the British, European powers were collectively out of place.

Under the butterfly effect of Franz, Austria was rescued. Against the backdrop of the Russians and Ottomans, Marshal Radsky had the confidence to be confident.
Chapter completed!