Chapter 376 Planning
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Metternich was shocked by the news that Archduke Albrecht led his army to the battle. His guards, Franz's Royal Dragoons, and the 1,000 elite soldiers drawn from the garrison near Vienna also disappeared.
It was extraordinary that these 5,000 people dared to attack Belgium and the Netherlands; according to common sense, no matter how well-equipped the troops were or how brave the soldiers were, this move was tantamount to suicide.
Another point is that as a member of the royal family, Albrecht's leading the army to the battle also had other meanings - representing the attitude of the royal family.
Although Metternich tried to suppress the warlike speech through the public opinion position, the spectacular scene of thousands of officers and soldiers boarding the train at the railway station was captured clearly by the citizens of Vienna.
This was more lethal than 100,000 newspapers, not to mention that the banner of the German Confederation Volunteer Army was simply a magic weapon for deception.
Austria itself has a tradition of volunteer soldiers; now, the news that soldiers from all directions who responded to the call set off for Luxembourg in groups soon spread to other German states, and the locals followed suit, so that the government could not stop them.
Albrecht was an impulsive but not reckless young man. The reason why he was so determined must be that Archduke Franz was behind the scenes, which made him so determined.
"Your Highness, what did you say to Archduke Albrecht? Do you know? You have triggered an armed conflict on the European continent. Originally, this was a war within the German Confederation, and now our country has been involved in it."
Metternich had a very helpless expression. This sudden change obviously embarrassed him. It seemed that this smart student had not convinced the teacher before.
"I just told him that speed is the most important thing in war."
Franz answered frankly. Since he couldn't make the other party believe in his judgment, he would prove it with actual actions.
"But now we are alone in the deep. If Archduke Albrecht is defeated and captured, it will be a political disaster for the empire."
Metternich said earnestly. He still admired Franz's previous strategy of forming alliances. Although it seemed unrealistic, it was still feasible.
But it was really a pity to act rashly at this moment. It was so stupid that he felt sorry. Was the empire really going to fall into the hands of a reckless man?
However, the seemingly naive diplomatic strategy and the seemingly reckless recklessness were actually a combination of punches.
But Franz was not interested in talking to an old man in his seventies from the beginning, so he answered calmly.
"Prime Minister, the way you want to avoid political disasters now is not to complain or question me. Instead, you should fully support Archduke Albrecht's actions."
Metternich was inevitably a little unhappy when a child said this, but due to the other party's identity and situation, he really had no time to delay and had to fully support this reckless and stupid war.
"I would also like to remind you that Britain is indeed powerful, but not invulnerable. If you don't even have the courage to challenge, you might as well swim to the other side of the channel and become a British."
Franz's slightly sarcastic words stopped the old prime minister, but he still did not choose to look back but left directly.
After Metternich walked away, Franz turned to the dark and said, "Archbishop, there are 1.6 million German-speaking Catholics in Belgium. If they don't want to live in the Netherlands, I hope they can safely reach the empire. Can you do it?"
"Educating the world and protecting believers is the responsibility of the church, and we will do our best."
Franz nodded, but he didn't expect that the most unreliable person would be the most reliable at this critical moment.
Due to the activities of the church, the resistance of the people in the Belgian region was not fierce.
Of course, Franz also roughly explained to Archduke Albrecht the three major disciplines, eight points of attention, and preferential treatment of prisoners of war.
Franz and the group of Showa staff and Junker officers who liked gambling were not the same kind of people. Regardless of whether Albrecht wins or loses, the purpose of making a show of force has been achieved, and the rest is just a waste of time.
Of course, he doesn't think his uncle will have any accidents. If he can be defeated by an unprepared opponent while taking advantage of the time, place and people, then he should pack up and give up the fight for hegemony.
Gathering the elite troops carefully selected from the country, equipped with the most advanced weapons at present, relying on the tactics of rapid troop transport to attack the unprepared enemy, coupled with a large amount of detailed and detailed intelligence, even if the Belgians ask God to wear steel helmets, they can't win this battle.
In the eyes of a few sharp-eyed people, this is the first time that railways have been used in war.
According to common sense, it would take 1-3 months for the German Confederation to mobilize additional troops; such a large-scale operation to Luxembourg would take about two months; unified dispatch and distribution of tasks would waste another 1-2 weeks.
(At this time, Austria's forced march speed was 15-20 kilometers per day, and the forced march speed was 30-40 kilometers per day, but most of the time the march speed was about 10 kilometers.
During the Battle of Solferino, that is, during the Second Italian War of Independence, the Austrians also created a miracle of marching 1.5 kilometers per day.)
With the transportation capacity of the empire at that time, it was completely no problem to send 3,000-4,000 soldiers to Luxembourg every day. If it was full power, it would not be impossible to double this number, but that would affect the economy and trade.
However, this number is exaggerated when it is magnified to the entire German Confederation, with more than 20,000 troops being sent every day.
So in a very short period of time, the Luxembourg region gathered more than 100,000 volunteers from the German Confederation.
After Franz and his men looked through the materials and investigated, they found that although France had 150,000 troops in its north, only General Jean Durde's 20,000 troops could rush to the front within a week, and it would take at least half a month for other troops to enter the Franco-Belgian border.
In theory, the French should not send troops to go deep into the country alone, after all, there are hidden dangers that are too risky; and when their forces are assembled, they will suddenly find that the number of opponents is beyond their imagination, and there is a high probability that they have achieved their goals.
By that time, unless the French are crazy, it will be too late to intervene, after all, the hundreds of thousands of troops entrenched in Wallonia and Flemish are not for nothing.
From another perspective, even if the French really don't care about the consequences and wrestle with the German Confederation, the Russians and the British will not share the same fate with it.
At this moment, the Russian economy has been tied to the Austrian market, and the two sides are separated by the Carpathian Mountains. The Russian army is obviously insufficient to fight in Poland, and it may take three months or even half a year to transfer troops from southern Russia and Siberia.
As for the Anglo-Saxons, they are natural businessmen; they are likely to turn against their neighbors across the sea and confiscate the French colonies. This is the most profitable choice for Britain, and even the unification of the Netherlands cannot threaten their interests.
Prussia and Austria are both land powers and members of the German Confederation. The two sides are in a competitive relationship. Although this move weakened France, it also made the military power of the European continent more balanced.
(At this time, Prussia and Austria were not as good as France in both economy and military.)
However, the development of the war did not proceed completely according to Franz's estimation. The emergence of Jean Durd and the gambling tactics of Moltke the Elder changed the situation.