Chapter 267: Each Battlefield
"Marshal, news has come from Rome that Lieutenant General Karl defeated the army of the Kingdom of Italy that attacked the Papal States, and they are preparing to counterattack Florence!" The intelligence officer rushed to Archduke Albrecht's headquarters with a telegram, and Albrecht took the telegram and confirmed it.
"Very good, pass on my orders, cross the river, and attack on all fronts." Archduke Albrecht said excitedly, "Now it depends on what choice Emmanuel II will make. If he withdraws the troops, the front line will be turbulent. If he does not withdraw, the expeditionary force can go straight to Florence. Hahahaha." Albrecht laughed out loud.
As for the Kingdom of Italy urgently recruiting another group of people to guard Florence, it is naturally feasible, but the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force is the most elite force of the empire, the best of the best. How can it be resisted by the mob that just put down their hoes and was temporarily organized by the Kingdom of Italy?
Moreover, it is still unknown how many farmers the Kingdom of Italy can mobilize. If the number is small, it will be of little use.
The reason why Albrecht had been holding back these days was that he had been waiting for news from Rome. This time, there were three battlefields between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. In addition to the Eastern Front and Rome, there was also a naval battlefield at sea.
The easiest way to break the deadlock was to go to Rome, so after the telegram from Rome arrived, Albrecht no longer hesitated.
As the order was issued, the Austro-Hungarian army, which had long been unable to contain itself, passed through the frontier positions on the west bank of the Isonzo River and headed towards the Italian defense line along the Isonzo River, which had long been turned into ruins by artillery fire. Soon Italy's first line of defense was completely destroyed.
…
On the same day that the Austro-Hungarian Empire launched a full-scale attack on the Kingdom of Italy, the Battle of Sedan also broke out. Prussia mobilized 248 infantry battalions, 189 cavalry battalions and more than 800 artillery pieces, totaling more than 200,000 people, to attack the French army of only 120,000. Napoleon III's situation became more dangerous than in history.
"Your Majesty, the Prussian artillery fire is too fierce. Our artillery can do nothing to them at all!"
"Your Majesty, Marshal McMahon was injured by the fragments of the artillery shell just now. Marshal McMahon is in a very bad condition now."
"Our troops have suffered heavy casualties..."
Bad news continued to flow into the bunker where Napoleon III was, and a mood of despair also spread among the French army.
At this time, William I and Bismarck were standing on a hill in the distance, watching with satisfaction as the troops attacked the French positions.
"That's the Bavarian army. Although they are not small in number, their organizational ability is too poor. We still need to train them more in the future."
"The Heixingen Brigade performed well. They are young and energetic, but unfortunately they are too few in number."
"The level of Baden and Württemberg is too poor. It's true that they haven't experienced war for too long. Now they are all ruined. However, the command level of officers is still online, but it's a pity that the ordinary soldiers are not so good."
"Our troops were qualified overall, but the French were still quite tenacious and there were no technical errors. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner."
William I commented on the troops in the distance.
"Your Majesty, if nothing unexpected happens, the kingdom will win this time, and the last obstacle to German unification will be cleared." Bismarck said, standing behind William I.
"Oh, by the way, I heard that the Black Xingen Brigade will withdraw from the war later?"
"Yes, the Hechingen Brigade is an army composed of students after all. Other armies can be supplemented, but the Hechingen Brigade cannot do so. Therefore, His Highness Ernst decided to arrange for the Hechingen Brigade to return for rest after the Battle of Sedan." Moltke explained.
"That's fine, but it's basically certain that France will be defeated soon. Other states are planning to go to Paris to get a piece of the pie. The Bavarian follow-up troops have already set out. It would be a pity for Hechingen to withdraw at this time." William I said.
Judging from the character of most armies of this era, it is basically certain that a disaster will come to French soil in the future, even for the French army itself. In fact, some French defeated soldiers have already embarked on the fast lane of "getting rich" in their own country, and military discipline has been completely corrupted, while their emperor was besieged in Sedan and could not move.
…
The European battlefield was in full swing, but East Africa, which was the first to sound the clarion call for war, made extremely slow progress. This was mainly because the long supply lines and poor transportation hindered East Africa's expansion.
The first to complete the mission were the Southwestern Army, which had only a thousand men. Their destination was the Okavango Delta in Botswana in the previous life, close to Zambia, so the distance was not far. It was only a hundred kilometers southwest across the Zambezi River.
Botswana, located in the Kalahari Basin, has a tropical desert climate for most of its territory. The desert accounts for 70 percent of its area, especially in the west, which is even more desolate than Somalia.
The Kalahari Desert is a wonder among deserts because it is covered with plants, mostly succulents and shrubs, and there are some trees in the east and north.
Because it still rains here during the rainy season, it is extremely dry at other times. The Kalahari Desert is too vast, covering an area of about 600,000 square kilometers. In fact, looking at the populations of Botswana and Namibia in the previous life, you can know how difficult it is to survive here. The combined land area of the two countries is more than 1.3 million square kilometers, but there is only 5 million people. Burundi, with an area of less than 30,000 square kilometers, has a population of more than 10 million. Therefore, East Africa gave up the exploration of the desert interior when making the decision.
The area in the east near Zimbabwe still has some ecological value, but it is conquered by the southern army, and further south will be South Africa.
"There are so many mosquitoes here!" complained an East African soldier.
Even after spending so much time in Africa, it is still rare to come across places like the Okavango Delta where mosquitoes are so swarming that they can almost carry you away.
"The main reason is that this place is all swamps, and the water environment is not very good. Although there are many mosquitoes near the Great Lakes, it is still too exaggerated like here." Carl said, holding his hat and began to drive away the mosquitoes around him.
"Stop complaining. The important thing is to build the house quickly, so hurry up and cut some wood! Otherwise, if we continue camping, I feel like all our blood will be sucked out."
"It's not that exaggerated! But the tent can't keep out those mosquitoes. They bit me a few times yesterday through the rainproof cloth. Fortunately, it's not too hot now (it's the transition from winter to spring in the southern hemisphere, but the latitude here is relatively low, so there are still mosquitoes), otherwise it would be really fatal."
(End of this chapter)
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