After spring, the smoke of gunpowder in the Eastern European battlefield spread again. After a winter preparation, the situation was very different.

The Berlin government organized people to build a large number of castle fortresses in the border areas, and the movements of the Cossack cavalry were restricted. If you want to rob wealth, you must attack the castle fortresses.

The combat effectiveness of the Cossack cavalry is based on interests. When the people are prepared, the difficulty of robbery continues to increase. In many cases, the casualties and gains paid are not proportional to the enthusiasm of the Cossack cavalry.

The combat power that comes from active and passive bursts is completely different.

Although the Cossack cavalry were still dispatched, the results of the battle were getting smaller and smaller. In many cases, they only destroyed farmland and infrastructure, and the soldiers were unwilling to bite the tough problems.

It is no longer the Middle Ages. As long as you have money in your pocket, there are many places to buy food. The Berlin government can bear the damage to the farmland in the border areas.

To some extent, William I also thanked the Tsarist government. It was the Russians' ruthless method that forced the Poles to rely on them.

The destructive power of the Cossack cavalry does not mean that the scorched earth strategy of the Tsarist government has failed.

In the face of war, human beings are fragile. In order to avoid the war, many people in border areas have taken their families to the inland, and many areas have become unmanned areas.

It’s not that the Berlin government has not stopped it, but the problem is that it cannot be done at all. The group of fugitives running back still brought heavy economic burdens to the Berlin government.

The coastal areas suffered the most heavy losses. Most of the port cities in the Popo Federation were reduced to ruins under artillery fire, and a few surviving cities were also trembling.

These are just minor problems. Since the Danes blocked the Strait, the maritime transportation line of the Popo Federation has almost been cut off, and the strategic value of the port city has been greatly reduced.

The worst thing is that the Russians supplemented the loss of troops on the southern front, Moltke's plan to conquer Kiev went bankrupt, and now the Tsarist government adopted the most conservative strategy to fight for consumption with the Popo Federation.

By taking steady action and simply fighting head-on, the Pu army cannot play its tactical advantages. Even with famous generals like Moltke, they cannot reverse the battlefield and develop in a direction that is not conducive to the Pubo Federation.

The bad situation on the battlefield has affected the domestic atmosphere of the Popo Federation, and anti-war voices have emerged from time to time. Even the most optimistic people are worried about this war.

Berlin Palace

William I roared: "To the present day, we have lost 300,000 troops, but we have achieved very few results.

You promised me in advance that the war won the three months, and now three months have passed, and the third and three months are almost over, and there is no sign of winning.

Who can tell me how much more price it will cost to win this war?”

It’s not that William I was not well educated enough, but that the pressure was too great recently. The performance of the General Army on the battlefield was far from meeting expectations.

The so-called "winning the war in three months" is actually just Moltke's southern line plan. In theory, as long as the trade line between Pratt and Russia are cut off, they will win most of the war.

Unfortunately, the combat effectiveness of the Russian army is much stronger than they expected. Perhaps it is not as good as the Pu army in field battles, but defense is still fine.

The strategic plan that Moltke painstakingly designed is no problem in itself, it just uses the wrong target. If a country is replaced, it will definitely be a disaster for more than 100,000 troops at one time.

Unfortunately, when I encountered a Mao Bear, the speed of annihilation of the enemy was a little faster than the Tsarist government's replenishment. With a winter buffer, the Tsarist government not only filled the lost troops, but also increased its total troops.

Moltke gritted his teeth and replied: "Your Majesty, the Russians are completely injured by themselves. The casualties of the Russian army are even greater than ours. If this continues, the Russians will only win the war.

Now the Russians have the upper hand on the battlefield, and the Tsarist government has no need to choose a way of losing both sides.

As long as we reveal flaws at the right time, the Russian army will definitely not give up on the opportunity. Once the Russians adjust their tactics, our opportunity will come.

In order to win this war, I suggest that some areas can be abandoned when necessary and lure the Russians out of the fortifications first."

It involves millions of people and hundreds of kilometers of fronts, and it is very difficult to make tactical adjustments. The cooperation between the various troops alone will make people "touch".

Organizational capabilities have always been a flaw in the Tsarist government. Even after the reform of Alexander II, the Russians' organizational capabilities are still slightly inferior.

On the battlefield, it is a matter of who makes more mistakes and who makes fatal mistakes.

Now, except for attacking on the center line, the Russian army is defending other areas. Hiding in the fortress and not coming out, perhaps unable to seize the fighter's plane, nor will it be fatal to make a mistake.

Moltke did not want to fight with the Russian main force on the center line, so he could not exert the mobility of the General Army, but just fought hard to achieve comprehensive strength.

William I was uncertain: "You want to give up Smolinsk?"

Smolinsk has always been known as the gateway to Moscow. After controlling this place, the Prussian army had the initiative to attack Moscow.

After the outbreak of the Prussian-Russian War, the Russian army has been fighting here to ensure the safety of Moscow and avoid being divided into two by the Prussian army.

Mao Qi nodded: "Your Majesty, we have tried many solutions, and the Russians just stayed in the defense line and couldn't come out.

The loss of a strong attack is too great, and it is completely unworthy of the gain. Apart from abandoning Smolinsk and letting the Russian army in, it will be difficult for us to break the current deadlock on the battlefield in the short term."

There is no way, the gap between the forces between the two sides is too big, and the central offensive launched by the Russian army has restrained a large number of Pu army, and the mobile forces in Moltke's hands are limited.

Moltke, who was originally good at concentrating superior forces to fight the enemy, had no choice but to find it impossible. Especially after the Russian army adopted the scorched earth plan, he was even more afraid to take risks.

Drawing troops from any direction may cause hundreds of thousands or even millions of people to be displaced.

If you can win a war, it is acceptable to make a certain sacrifice. The problem is that such a war cannot be decided by one or two battles.

It is difficult to explain whether it is a loss or a profit if it is annihilated tens of thousands of Russian troops and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Anyway, if you have to make sacrifices, it is better to do a big vote. If you can lure the enemy into the depths and use the advantages of local combat to annihilate the main force of the Russian army in one fell swoop, then no matter how big the losses are, you can accept it.

“How confident are you?”

William I hesitated, and this bet would bring about the fate of the country. Winning would certainly turn the situation around; if he lost, the Popo Federation would die. Whether it could maintain the shrinking version of the Prussian Kingdom was a question mark.

Moltke calmly replied: "Abandon most of Belarus and parts of Poland, put the battlefield in Warsaw, and call on the Polish people to rise up and resist the Russian invasion. We have a chance of winning at least 60%.

War was originally a gamble. The Popo Federation, which was already on the weak side, had a 60% chance of winning, which was already a very high proportion.

With a "bang", William I slapped the table violently.

"Go a bet!"

"Marson, follow your plan, and the government will cooperate with your plan."

If it weren’t for William I to be decisive, there was more to be no choice. When the war came to this point, no one could stand behind. Prat and Russia must decide the outcome on the battlefield.

Even if William I was unwilling to bet, the Junker nobles would help him make a decision. Just like the battle in the original time and space, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, William II wanted to end the war in the middle, and the Junker nobles directly undermined the emperor and continued the war.

The situation is similar now. With the outbreak of war, the military's rights have become increasingly greater and the government has become the logistics department of the army, and the balance of rights has long been broken.

As the king, William I often had to compromise with the military.

...
Chapter completed!