The Sun Never Sets In Spain

With the arrival of the Prussian messenger, the fate of the whole of Europe was placed in the hands of the tsar.

And the Tsar was in no hurry to make a decision.

It is impossible to say that for the sake of balance, immediately sending troops to beat up the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this is not the style of Tsarist Russia.

Alexander didn't need to inquire, he knew that Britain must be jumping in a hurry now.

After sending the messenger away, his sleepiness had completely disappeared, and he immediately summoned the ministers to come to the Winter Palace to discuss.

Gorchakov and others who came to hear the news were very supportive of the Tsar's decision, and they must not work for Prussia.

"Your Majesty, I think we should wait and see what happens, and wait until Prussia can't hold on any longer."

Alexander nodded, that's what he thought, although there is no idea of ​​expanding to Prussia yet, but the neighboring countries can cut a little bit.

And only in the real crisis of life and death, Prussia will be willing to give enough benefits.

The messenger who came to seek alliance this time only said that Galicia and Hungary could be handed over to Russia after the war, and did not mention anything else.

Joke, Russia really participated in the war, these things are called trophies, and only the benefits given by allies are called benefits.

And to be honest, Russia really doesn't have much interest in Austria-Hungary's territory.

If possible, Alexander would prefer to keep deterrence aside and use diplomatic means to solve problems when the battle is at stake.

After Gorchakov finished his speech, the other ministers expressed their thoughts in turn.

"The UK has to do something good too."

"At least £10m interest-free loan."

"Prussia will hand over Memel."

"Silesia is ours."

...

The more people talk about it, the more outrageous it is, especially for the conditions of Prussia. I am afraid that Austria-Hungary won't dare to do this if they really win.

They all know that it is meaningless to say this now, and everything depends on the development of the situation later, and it is just to make the tsar happy.

And they did succeed. Alexander laughed when he heard the words, and finally raised his eyebrows to relieve the troubles of being suppressed by the United Kingdom and other Western countries over the years.

While the Hermitage was singing and dancing, the time quietly came to 8 a.m. on March 7.

The fact that none of the officers on the Prussian border received an order to cease fire at home means only one thing - that Prussia has not surrendered.

The war has begun!

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was very aggressive as soon as the war began, and the troops deployed in Linz and Prague immediately began to move towards the west and northwest.

The 2nd Division of the Southern Army, composed mainly of Austrians and Bohemians, the elite of the Wehrmacht, was advancing non-stop along the Isar, a tributary of the Danube.

The station of Munich and the 2nd division is less than 150 kilometers. If no one stops them, they will enter the heart of South Germany in three days at the earliest.

But this was impossible. In just three hours, they were blocked by a Prussian army.

At this time, the troops on the border of both Poles and Austria were about 200,000. This number of people was distributed on the vast front of nearly 1,000 kilometers, and it was no different from hide-and-seek.

Coupled with the lack of fortifications on the Puo-Austrian border, the war between the two sides can be said to be a field battle that opened the fog of war.

Unlike Fao's battlefield format, warfare here is mainly fought in divisions and regiments.

Inefficient defenses kept the areas of control on both sides constantly changing.

Facing the Prussian army, the Austrian gunners who had been ready for battle immediately began pouring firepower, and the Krupp steel guns on the opposite side also launched a counterattack.

The terrain of the Pu-Austrian border is relatively flat, dominated by forests, hills and plains. Neither the attacker nor the defender will suffer too much terrain penalty.

In such small and medium-scale battles, the performance of Krupp's steel guns is fully revealed. Although countries have been intensively developing related artillery since the start of the French popularization last year, it is difficult to achieve any results in a short period of time.

The artillery fire of the second division was suppressed almost immediately.

Fortunately, it was already March, and it was raining on almost half of the front, as well as where the Second Division was.

Dirty roads and blurred vision hindered further Prussian play.

The commander of the southern army of the Austria-Hungary Empire, General Benedek, was following the second division.

The two sides are currently fighting only the original border troops. The Wehrmacht of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is still distributed in various parts of the country and has not been able to rush to the front line at the first time.

These troops were scattered in order to disturb the line of sight, and it took time to mobilize them.

In an ideal world, Austria-Hungary would have as many as 400,000 field troops in just one week.

According to the research conducted by the military a few hours ago, it will take 3-4 weeks for Prussia to wipe out this military advantage.

The time difference in the middle is enough for them to do a lot of things, not to mention that Prussia will mobilize, and they will too.

Even if Hungary does nothing, Neletania alone is enough to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops.

This battle will be won!

But the slap in the face came quickly, and the fighting continued until the early morning of the next day. Amidst the thunderous artillery fire, an adjutant trotted over and whispered something in Benedek's ear.

"The Fourth Division was repelled, let us retreat?" Benedek asked with a frown.

"Yes, according to reliable information, the Prussian army that defeated the Fourth Division is heading north. If we don't withdraw, there is a risk of being surrounded." The adjutant said loudly.

Benedek turned his head and glanced at the battlefield, the situation was not optimistic.

The reason why he is confident is that he feels that friendly reinforcements will arrive soon, and then he will be able to win by attacking from both sides.

Unexpectedly, there is a double attack, but they are the victims.

"Damn." Benedek cursed, and then signed several military orders in succession, ordering the frontline soldiers to return immediately.

...

Benedek's experience is just a microcosm, including the army in Bohemia, which has suffered varying degrees of failure.

Obviously, things didn't go as smoothly as Austria-Hungary thought.

Inside the Hofburg Palace, Emperor Franz was in a rage.

"The soldiers on the front line are fighting **** battles. You told me there are no free shifts?"

Yes, this was the main reason for the failure of the 4th Division - reinforcements did not arrive on time.

The staff only had plans for how to attack/defend Prussia, and those plans did not include how to move troops to the front.

Because of the emperor's deliberate concealment, it was not until an ultimatum was issued that the General Staff Department began to temporarily draft a deployment plan.

Within a week, 200,000 troops, with equipment, were transferred from all over the country to the front line through a mixed public-private railway.

Such a daunting task, such a complex plan, was limited to a few hours.

Chaos and failure were doomed unless **** served on the general staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.