"Marshal Kutuzov, how is our army prepared? How long will it take to go into battle?" Nicholas I asked happily.
"Your Majesty, all the troops are ready. As long as you give the order, they can immediately go into battle." Kutuzov also said excitedly. Now, his view of Nikolai has also changed a little bit. Being able to make Austria willingly give up the Balkan Peninsula proves that Nikolai's strategy is correct, and it also shows that Nikolai is still capable.
"Notify the troops on the front line to attack the French army and support our allies." Nicholas said with a serious face. Now, he remembered that the Austrian Empire was an ally of Russia. "Your Excellency Marshal, I'm not very good at military matters, so I'll leave it all to the Marshal. I will do a good job in logistics. I hope the Marshal can lead our great Russian army to the final victory." Gula also felt Kutuzov's change, so he spared no effort to win Kutuzov over.
Kutuzov also readily accepted Nikolai's wooing, and patted his chest to assure Nicholas: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that your heroic army will definitely win the final victory."
"By the way, Your Majesty. Although the French army is now at war with Austria, their strength should not be underestimated. Our country now has 1.5 million troops (300,000 in the Central Front, 200,000 in the Northern Front, 200,000 in the Northwest Front, 200,000 troops from the Western Front, 200,000 from the Southwest Front, 200,000 from the South, and 200,000 from the Asian Front). Among them, the Northwest Front, the Northern Front and the Western Front have gathered on the border with Poland. The Southwest Front has also gathered in The western region of Ukraine can be put into combat at any time. But I think that the war between our country and France will be a protracted war, so I request that a new round of conscription work be started immediately so that our military strength will not be empty in the future." suggested Kutuzov. He's had his fair share of stumbles at the hands of France, so he has to tread carefully. Although the Russian army has 1.5 million people and seems very powerful, he understands that compared with the French army, there is still a big gap. In front of the well-equipped French army, the Russian army still appears very vulnerable.
Nicholas frowned, he should expand the army, but expanding the army means money! And Russia's current finances are already tight, but if it does not expand its military, he is afraid of a situation like what Kutuzov said. After thinking about it for a long time, he gritted his teeth and asked, "Marshal, how many new troops do you think we can recruit?" He had already made up his mind to build an army out of his own pocket. The Russian royal family has been passed down for so many years, and their savings are still very rich. of.
"900,000? At least 600,000." Kutuzov thought for a while and said.
"Okay, just 900,000!" Nicholas gritted his teeth and said, because it meant that the wealth of the royal family would be reduced by more than half. But if you can completely defeat France, it will be worth it.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, you will not regret today's decision in the future." Kutuzov said happily. As the commander of the Russian army, the stronger the army, the greater his strength will naturally be. Doesn't that mean he has other ideas? It's that no one will spare their own strength to increase.
"Marshal, when do you plan to go to the front?" Nicholas asked. Russia does not have as advanced a communication system as France. Although radio technology has already been developed, it may take a lot of time to reach the application level. Therefore, Kutuzov must go to the front to establish a headquarters to facilitate the command of the war.
"I am going to leave tomorrow, so that we can launch an attack on the French army within a week." Kutuzov said.
Nicholas nodded his head, indicating that he would lead the cabinet ministers to send him off tomorrow, wishing him a successful start and a triumphant return.
At this time, the French army's war in Austria had also made a breakthrough. The Iberian 3rd Army wiped out more than 40,000 remaining troops on the southern Austrian front in Graz. After that, the 3rd Iberian Army also began to march towards Vienna, and together with the main force of the 1st Iberian Army defeated the Austrian blocking forces in the Neusiedler Lake area, threatening Vienna.
The rapid progress of the French army shocked the Austrian ruling class. After an overnight negotiation, an agreement was reached, that is, the royal family and the government immediately moved to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, with the army at the rear. The retreat of the royal family and the government shook the morale of the Austrian army, and immediately had a series of irreparable effects. First of all, the Austrian northern army was defeated by the French army on the northern route, and the northern defense line collapsed. The French Army on the North and South Routes formed a north-south attack on Vienna and seriously threatened the Austrian Army on the Western Front. As a last resort, Grand Duke Charles had to order the Austrian Western Front Army to retreat voluntarily, preparing for the final defense of Vienna. At this time, there were only more than 300,000 troops left in Austria, including more than 100,000 mobs with little combat effectiveness, and Vienna was surrounded by the French three-way army, with a force of 470,000. Of course, there were more than 100,000 of them Wan is the army of the slave kingdom. But even so, the French army had an overwhelming advantage over the Austrian army.
Before the Russian army attacked Poland, the French army had deployed troops in Poland including the French 3rd Army and French 4th Army, 3 Polish Legions and 1 Prussian Army, with a total strength of 400,000. The Russian army's sudden attack caught the French army by surprise, and the frontline positions were broken through by the Russian army in several places. However, as the French 3rd Army and French 4th Army entered the battle, the French army gradually got rid of the decline. With Tok, Lublin and Rheszow as the center, a fierce battle with Russia was launched. Among them, the 3rd French Army in Bialystok, the 4th French Army in Lublin, the 3 Polish Army and the Prussian Army in Rzeszow. In these three places, except Rheshuv, which was a little tight under the attack of the Russian Western Front Army, the other two places completely withstood the Russian army's attack, and slowly began to prepare for a counterattack.
When Kutuzov saw that he could not break through the French defense line in Poland, he immediately felt that things were a little tricky. If the French army ended the war in Austria and took action against Russia, then Russia would be in a very bad situation. Therefore, he sent a letter to Nicholas overnight, asking him to send the Central Front Army to the front. Kutuzov believed that with the addition of the Central Front Army, he would be able to break through the French defense line in Poland, and the entire front would come to life by then. However, the Central Front Army was the foundation of the Russian army, and Nicholas was very unwilling to put this ace army into the battlefield prematurely. In the end, he reluctantly drew 3 legions from the Central Front Army to participate in the battle.
The Russian army's sudden participation in the battle caught Xiao Jie by surprise. Even if the time dragged on for half a month or a week, the French army could completely defeat the Austrian army. By that time, the French army would have enough strength to accompany the Russian army. Move around slowly.
"Your Majesty, according to the information from the front line, the Russian army has invested a total of 800,000 troops, of which 600,000 troops from the Northern Front, Northwest Front and Western Front have attacked Poland, and 200,000 Southwestern Front troops have entered Austria, intending to support Austria. .” Eke reported to Xiao Jiehui.
"What's the situation on the front line now? Can the troops we deploy in Poland withstand the Russian attack?" Xiao Jie asked with a frown.
"The French 3rd Army and the French 4th Army have resisted the attacks of the Russian Army's Northern Front and Northwest Front in Bialystok and Lublin. It's just that Rzeszow, defended by the Polish Army and the Prussian Army, is in the west of the Russian Army. The offensive of the front army is a bit tight, and if the war lasts too long, I am afraid that their defense line will be broken by the Russian army. After all, the combat effectiveness of the Polish army and the Prussian army is a little worse than that of the Russian army." Eck was a little worried Said.
"Let the 88th Army go into battle~www.mtlnovel.com~ Order the 3rd and 4th Divisions of the 88th Army to rush to Rheszow immediately and hold the line of defense. The main force of the 88th Army also rushed to Warsaw. There are still many in Russia. We must prevent them from adding more troops to the front line." Xiao Jie said with a sigh. The 88th Army is the last trump card of France. Originally, he planned to save the 88th Army until the most critical moment of the war as a decisive force to join the war, but now he has to let them participate in the battle ahead of schedule.
Eck nodded and did not express any different opinions. With the French 1st Army and the 89th Army recovering their combat effectiveness, it is undoubtedly the best choice to let the 88th Army join the battle.
"Now, our focus is still on the war against Austria. As for Russia, we only need to be able to stop their attack. As long as we solve Austria in the shortest possible time, then we can concentrate on dealing with Russia. "Xiao Jie said with a grin.
"We must order our three-way army in Austria to start the battle against Vienna as soon as possible. Now the Russian Southwest Front Army is rushing to the Vienna area with all its strength. If the battle cannot be stopped quickly, there may be changes." Eck said.
"You send them a telegram, let them capture Vienna as soon as possible." Xiao Jie nodded and said.