Holy Roman Empire

Under the facilitation of the British, Prussia and Germany sat down at the negotiation table, embarking on prolonged talks.

Diplomatic actions had no effect on the apex confrontation of Prussia and Russia on the battlefield.

Compelled by the dire situation on the ground, after giving up Latvia, the Prussian Army had no choice but to continue to relinquish the Lithuanian Region as the flames of war had already reached East Prussia.

The situation continued to develop in favor of the Russian Army, with victories reported from the frontlines. Marshal Ivanov, far from feeling relief, grew even more tense.

He was well aware that with each victory, the Russian front line was also being extended. Not only was logistical pressure increasing day by day, but the defensive fortifications prepared in advance were now useless.

If only that were all; the key issue was that the clamor for a decisive battle within the country was growing louder, and calls for combat were emerging endlessly within the military. Even with Alexander II’s support, Ivanov could feel the heavy pressure bearing down on him.

An officer announced loudly, "Marshal, an urgent telegram from the Fourth Army."

Ivanov said indifferently, "Read it!"

"Yes, sir!"

"...On October 18th, 1880, our forces captured Puwavi, annihilating 12,000 of the enemy and capturing 1,876.

The gates to Warsaw are now wide open. To seize the opportunity quickly, our forces have decided to march towards Warsaw along the Vistula River.

The Seventh and Fifth Armies are requested to liaise, advancing from the north and east towards the Warsaw region.

..."

With a "bang," the teacup in Marshal Ivanov’s hand fell to the ground.

Despite all his calculations, he had underestimated his officers’ thirst for victory. Of course, there might be other forces behind this, pressuring him to initiate the decisive battle prematurely.

The reason "The gates to Warsaw are wide open" was so far-fetched that Ivanov didn’t even want to criticize it. The enemy, prepared to engage in a decisive battle in the Warsaw region, certainly would not block them outside.

Having secured the upstream of the Vistula River might seem to provide a strategic advantage, but those familiar with Polish terrain knew the endless plains meant gentle water flows. It wouldn’t be easy to flood the Seventh Army by damming, let alone devastate downstream farmlands.

At this point, Ivanov could only follow up with measures. The Fourth Army comprised eight infantry divisions, one garrison division, three cavalry divisions, four artillery regiments, along with various miscellaneous auxiliary troops, totaling a force of 183,000.

With so many troops involved, no one could easily give them up. If possible, Ivanov wouldn’t mind executing those who took matters into their own hands immediately.

Unfortunately, they were out of reach now. He would have to wait until after the war to settle scores.

Glancing at the map, Ivanov muttered to himself, "The capture of Puwavi on October 18th, and now it’s the afternoon of October 21st. Even if they rested for two days, they’ve been marching for a day.

If they’ve been quick, the battle for Warsaw might have already begun, and it’s impossible to recall them now.

What a sly move from Obodo, calculating that I couldn’t possibly abandon the Fourth Army. I have no choice but to fight this battle for Warsaw."

After hesitating for a while, Marshal Ivanov ordered, "Since the deployment has been disrupted, let’s fight in disorder!

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Send the order down: command the Seventh and Fifth Armies to initiate the battle for Warsaw; order the Third and Sixth Armies, currently resting, to immediately gather and march towards the Warsaw region.

Order the First and Second Armies to launch an attack on East Prussia, with naval cooperation;

Order the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Armies to abandon their current defensive tasks and initiate the southern line battle.

Command the newly formed Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Armies to take over their defense duties."

Despite not knowing what plots the enemy had, Ivanov knew that if his strength were sufficient, the enemy would be choked.

By launching simultaneous attacks from three directions with a force of two million, Ivanov didn’t believe the enemy could swallow it all.

If the enemy couldn’t handle it, the situation would change. Ivanov didn’t expect total victory in all three battles; a single win would be a strategic success.

After all, the Prusso Federation was only so large; if they could significantly win on any front and tear open the enemy’s rear gates, they could advance swiftly.

Despite the Prusso Federation hastening its mobilization, could farmers who had just put down their hoes instantly become competent soldiers?

Of course, the farmers in the Federation had undergone militia training, making them slightly stronger than ordinary farmers, but there was still a considerable gap from a regular army.

It wasn’t that the Berlin Government didn’t know to conduct national training; the main issue was the lack of funds. Reservist training costs money, and the expenses for nationwide participation in training for a month or two each year were not manageable for a poor country.

Apart from training discrepancies, weapon and equipment were also major concerns. The Federation’s military-industrial complex was self-contained with its primary forces equipped with domestic weapons, relying on their own production.

After expanding the army, insufficient domestic military-industrial production forced Berlin to purchase English and French equipment reluctantly. Even ammunition calibers were different, and Prussian reserve troops were heading towards using weapons from various nations.

In contrast, the Russians had it much better. With standardized equipment, they could simply buy directly from Austria, without any worry.

This series of factors combined meant that as long as the Russian Army tore through their defensive line, the newly formed units in the rear would have a hard time withstanding the Russian troops’ assault.

Ivanov had not previously adopted this strategy, largely to avoid risk. An advantage on paper only existed on paper; one wouldn’t know the outcome of a war until it was fought.

In his view, instead of risking a decisive battle, it was better to be steady and apply constant pressure, gradually wearing down the enemy’s strength.

...

Once the Russian Army made a move, the Prussian Army naturally had to act as well. Having finally managed to mobilize the enemy, Maoqi certainly could not miss this rare opportunity.

The only regret was that the enemy had stretched their line of battle too long; with limited strength, the Prussian Army couldn’t cover all three battlefields at once.

In some sense, this tactic was also targeted against "Maoqi’s strength in concentrating forces for decisive battles with the enemy." Opening up three fronts and concentrating forces for a decisive battle was tantamount to suicide.

Dividing the troops to cover three battlefields played right into the Russians’ calculations. It was now the Age of Hot Weapons, and there were airships overhead for reconnaissance; no matter how skilled one was in deploying troops, one was constrained by actual strength.

To compensate for the disadvantage of insufficient troops, Maoqi had no choice but to organize military deployments while urging the Berlin Government to speed up mobilization.

Quality and such could not be a concern for the moment; the priority was to raise the numbers. New recruits lacking combat readiness could still be used as cannon fodder or to buy time at critical moments. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

...

The Russians were ready for a decisive battle, and all of Europe’s eyes were on the Prussian-Russian battlefield. To collect information on this epoch-making war, even the Austrian Air Force got busy.

If it weren’t for the fact that anti-aircraft weapons were inefficient, with low accuracy and high cost, and the Austrian military observation groups were too numerous and easily detected, the commanders below would probably not mind creating a few "accidents."

These were minor issues. Flying over someone’s head to collect data without being shot down was already showing great respect; could one really expect to be welcomed?

At Vienna Palace, observing the troop deployments of both Prussian and Russian sides, Franz was confused and had no idea what was happening. To sum it up in one word — chaos, whether it was the Russian Army or the Prussian Army, both were in disarray.

"Albrecht, can you make sense of their deployments?"

After hesitating for a moment, Albrecht answered somewhat awkwardly, "Your Majesty, Prussia and Russia are headed for a decisive battle."

Seeing Franz’s dissatisfied expression, Albrecht continued to explain, "Your Majesty, the total strength put into this war has already made history.

No one has ever had the experience of commanding an army of millions at once; at first, the Russians were steady, and there weren’t many troop movements.

Now that they are facing a decisive battle, Prussia and Russia are rapidly moving troops, and too many units are involved, so some chaos is inevitable."

This answer enlightened Franz; great commanders are also humans, and even if a person’s abilities are strong, they cannot ensure all their subordinates are equally so.

Moving an army of millions involves too many aspects; it’s simply not something a commander can do alone but requires the cooperation of various departments.

Affected by communication constraints, often when a commander issues orders, there is inevitably some delay before they reach the units.

The military side is better, being able to execute orders immediately, but the logistics department is not the same. No matter what, it isn’t possible for the supplies in the warehouse to follow the troops to their location in just a day or two.

Even the most capable dispatch officers can’t change the backwardness of transportation methods. Constrained by logistics, the troops naturally cannot move too fast.

If there’s another unexpected event and the logistics lose track of the troops, it would be a disaster.

Such incidents have happened before, and now both Prussia and Russia have learned their lesson, emphasizing the coordination between combat units and logistical departments.

Of course, this is only a secondary factor. Now both Prussian and Russian armies are experiencing a degree of chaos, with the main responsibility lying on the shoulders of their supreme commands.

The commanders have never had the experience of directing battles on this scale, and many of their past experiences are no longer applicable here, hence the chaos.

Concerned, Franz asked, "So, does our army have these problems too?"

Albrecht nodded, "Our commanders also lack this experience. If we rashly command an army of millions, initial confusion is inevitable.

No one in the world has this kind of experience; by comparison, we are still doing well. We organize training for millions of reserves each year, which can barely count as a large-scale troop movement."

This truly was a dilemma; experience is something that needs to be accumulated. With active Austrian forces not even reaching a million, where would they get such experience?

Besides drawing lessons from the military deployment of Prussia and Russia, Franz felt powerless. They couldn’t possibly pull millions of reserves for a nationwide drill, could they?

Not to mention the cost and the amount of supplies that would be consumed. The mere thought of mobilizing millions of troops at once was frightening.

If they actually did it, it would probably alarm the whole of Europe. A misstep could easily escalate into a war across the European Continent.

In this regard, European nations are very sensitive. Perhaps it’s because they have suffered too many losses, or maybe it’s due to many precedents, but anytime a country begins mobilizing, neighboring countries become apprehensive. If relations are poor, they may even start their own mobilizations.

Causing unnecessary tension, adding to the smoke of war on the European Continent, and damaging good neighborly relations are not what Franz wished to see.