My Italy - Chapter 660 Deao’s request for help

The Russian offensive that made General Moltke so nervous was actually unnecessary.

Because the focus of the Russian attack this time is the Austro-Hungarian army, it seems that the Russians bully the weak and fear the strong. For the German Eastern Front, he sent only one army group with more than 100,000 people. As for the Austro-Hungarian front line, Russia took action with three armies, with a strength of nearly 400,000 troops.

As for why this is the case, it is very simple, because the current German army on the Eastern Front, led by a few tough men, has explosive combat effectiveness. In a series of battles such as the Battle of Tannenberg, the Battle of Masurian Lake, and the Battle of Lodz, the Russians showed that although Germany has few troops on the Eastern Front, it still has no problem beating you Russians.

In this case, continuing to hit the southern wall is not the style of the Russians who have been lectured repeatedly. So the soft persimmon Austria-Hungary suffered. When it was discovered that the Russians were coming for them again, the Austro-Hungarian front in Galicia was broken through by the Russians again.

At this time, the Austrians habitually asked for help from Germany, which completely frustrated their hopes of Austria-Hungary repelling the Russians on the Eastern Front and allowing Moltke to mobilize some Eastern Front troops to support the Battle of Paris.

Speaking of the poor combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian army, there are several reasons. The first is that in the Battle of Galicia, Austria-Hungary lost too many veterans and junior officers, which led to a significant decline in the organizational capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian army.

On the other hand, there is the ethnic issue in Austria-Hungary. After all, not everyone can master eleven languages ​​like the Austrian Emperor. With so many ethnic groups being recruited into the army, just getting them to understand the officers’ words is a big problem.

This is also an important factor why the Austro-Hungarian army had good combat effectiveness in a small scale, but quickly collapsed after large-scale mobilization. The senior Austro-Hungarian leaders used the large-scale mobilization of the army as a small-scale army mainly composed of Austrians. How could this not fail?

Another aspect is that Austria-Hungary is still involved in Serbia. The previous two consecutive attacks were defeated. When preparing for the third time, it was directly attacked by Russia and ended in vain, which left Vienna quite speechless. Who can blame this? The Austro-Hungarians obviously overestimated their abilities, which made them unable to do this or that.

Austria-Hungary also has a big heart. Even when faced with a two-front battle, they can still take the initiative to attack each other.

At this time, Austria-Hungary could only dispatch the troops used in the Serbian campaign to Galicia. However, Vienna was somewhat unwilling to do so, so it also focused on its allies in the south.

At this time, faced with requests for help from Germany and Austria, Carlo immediately held a military meeting to discuss assistance to Germany and Austria.

“Everyone, I think we need to look at Deo’s request separately.”

The first person to speak was Chief of Staff Admiral Darkiang, and he continued. “At present, our Italian troops are limited. We can implement Germany’s request through the Tunisian campaign, but we should just reject Austria-Hungary’s request directly. We will allocate troops to help Austria-Hungary fight Serbia. I am angry that I, the chief of general staff, cannot issue this order. ”

As the second-in-command of the army, General Darkieng obviously came from a military perspective. He believed that doing so was more in line with military needs.

However, some people have different opinions on Admiral Darkiang’s words.

I saw Foreign Minister Bacona speak. “If we do this, it will be a bit preferential. We will have to deal with Austria-Hungary in the future. Isn’t this not good?”

While the military only considers military needs, the government obviously considers more.

“But we cannot sacrifice our military for the sake of politics. Isn’t the life of our soldiers not life if they are stumped?”

It was obvious that Admiral Darkion did not agree with Bacona’s words.

“How can I be considered as sacrificing the lives of soldiers? There is no war without death. And it’s not like our government doesn’t care about soldiers. Don’t you see that our government is fully serving you now?”

Faced with the accusations made by Admiral Darchion, Bacona certainly did not agree. This was all for the sake of the Kingdom of Italy. How could he accuse himself like this.

“you…………”

“uh-huh.”

The sound of this sound immediately silenced the two ministers who were about to argue. This was the king’s cough warning them. At this time, the tension in the air dissipated, as if there had been no quarrel between the two important ministers just after they brushed against each other. This shows the king’s control over both the military and the political parties.

“I think what both of you said is reasonable. Why don’t we work it out so that we can resolve the situation with Vienna without sending troops.”

As he spoke, Carlo pointed to the location of Bulgaria on the map. Although he didn’t say anything, whoever was present immediately understood what Carlo meant. This is to win over Bulgaria and let it replace Italy and Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia.

The reason why Bulgaria was chosen is very simple, that is because as long as the Macedonian region is offered as a reward, the Bulgarians simply cannot refuse this temptation.

As for why Italy is unwilling to cooperate with Austria-Hungary, it is also because there is no interest. For Austria-Hungary, which regards the Balkans as its core interest, Italy’s intervention in Albania is already the limit of tolerance.

If Italy is allowed to expand its influence in the Balkans, Vienna will jump on it. Whether this alliance can continue by then will be a big question.

The Italian side is also well aware of this, and since the interests in other places are so attractive, it has no intention of competing with Russia and Austria for those interests in the Balkans, so it has always been very restrained.

Even after the war broke out, even if Austria-Hungary did not give any benefits to the Italian army to cooperate with the attack, Rome did not have any dissatisfaction. Of course, there would definitely not be many troops to cooperate with the attack.

As for Austria-Hungary, it wants Italy to work in vain and send more troops to help it conquer Serbia. Sorry for overthinking, the Italian army will definitely cause trouble.

Because although the number of armies has increased, their combat effectiveness is different. At present, the combat-effective units of the Italian army are composed of pre-war and first-wave personnel, and these units have basically been assigned to various fronts and exist as general reserves, and not many have been deployed to the Kosovo area. Therefore, Carlo’s proposal is very suitable for the current situation.

“Your Majesty’s idea is great. It not only saves us the pressure, but also appeases Vienna so that they cannot say anything wrong.”

At this time, the senior military and political officials present all praised Carlo’s method.

Now that the most controversial Austro-Hungarian request has been resolved, it will be easier for Germany to talk about it.

As the most helpful ally to Italy at present, we will do anything to help the German forces in Paris share the pressure. Otherwise, how could Italy complete its layout in the Mediterranean without the Germans carrying most of the Allied forces.

So what has not been said is that the Tunisian campaign must start, and the Nice-Corsica campaign also needs to be carried out at the same time.

Needless to say, the Battle of Tunisia was one that Italy had been preparing for for many years. The Nice-Corsica battle is a plan that has only been developed in recent years. This is also the combat plan formulated by the military after Italy’s national strength gradually catches up.

Of course, as for when to implement it, it needs to be arranged according to the war situation.

And now isn’t the best time?

Therefore, it was decided at this meeting that Italy has two battles that need to be fought at the same time, and the time is tight and the tasks are heavy. However, the military believes that two battles at the same time are no problem for the Italian army.

After the meeting, Carlo called the crown prince over.

“Vittorio, please prepare yourself and go to Libya Province in three days.”

“Father, can you ask why so I can explain it to Victoria.”

Hearing this, Carlo felt a burst of anger in his heart.

“Because the Tunisian campaign is about to begin, how can you, the nominal commander, not be on the battlefield? Vittorio, you are the crown prince, pay more attention to the kingdom, and don’t give all your attention to your wife.”

“Father, I understand.”

“Just do it when you know it, instead of talking to me here.”

After driving his son out, Carlo suppressed the idea of ​​practicing trumpet again.

Even though he is a good-looking son, he still has a tendency to only listen to his wife. How can he be a good king? Although Carlo didn’t have high expectations for his son, and when he ascended the throne, it would definitely be a constitutional monarchy. But as it stands now, Carlo is worried about the constitutional monarchy.

If his troubled son continues like this, then Carlo really needs to consider other monarchs. Even though it bears the witness of the alliance between Italy and Germany, sometimes it can’t be cared about.