Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 920 - 183: The Core

Armored Troops, among the higher echelons of the Austrian army, have another nickname—"Heavy Cavalry".

To many, this was nothing but an enhanced version of the cavalry, the true "Iron Cavalry" in essence.

Including the use of Armored Troops, the Austrian military was also mired in controversy. A considerable number of people believed that Armored Troops should simply be used as cavalry.

In some ways, this view was not without merit; Armored Troops did indeed share many similarities with cavalry.

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For instance, both were more expensive than infantry, had high logistical demands, and their operations would be restricted by severe ice and snow weather conditions...

Unfortunately, the banks of the Rhine River were already covered in ice and snow, and during the coldest part of the night, temperatures could even drop to below minus ten degrees Celsius.

In such harsh weather, cars needed to be preheated before starting the engine, or else they wouldn’t start at all.

At their core, Armored Troops were similar to cars; it’s just that they had higher power requirements for their engines.

When faced with harsh climates, both suffered similarly. It wasn’t that they couldn’t be used, rather their rate of failure was much higher.

The Armored Troops of Austria already had a relatively high rate of breakdowns, and if one were to choose such poor weather for an operation, the scenario was simply unimaginable.

Luckily, Central Europe’s winters were short, and there were only a few days of severe weather. With proper maintenance, they could withstand it.

If the hellish weather of Moscow had to be contended with, it was likely that one-fifth of the Armored Troops would be incapacitated before the war even commenced.

Heading into battle unprepared was not Archduke Albrecht’s style. With the advancement of age, Albrecht’s military strategy had become increasingly cautious.

Not just Albrecht, but most of the high-ranking officers in the Austrian army favored a cautious style of command.

Only a handful of junior and mid-level young officers favored unconventional strategies and the element of surprise.

There was no fundamental difference between the two styles of command. It’s just that as one’s status and position changed, so too did their ideas and perspectives.

In the military, a place that thrives on achievements, young people striving for advancement could only overtake their peers by taking risks.

In fact, most of the high-ranking generals in the Austrian military were once fond of unconventional strategies, and it was by achieving surprise victories that they outpaced their rivals and ascended rapidly in the ranks.

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Now, as their status had changed—wealth, identity, and position all established—the time of entrepreneurship had ended and a period of stewardship had begun, with prudent thinking gradually taking precedence.

Everything has two sides; from the national perspective, this was definitely advantageous.

Essentially, any military action that strayed from the norm was a gamble.

Junior and mid-level officers had less at stake and could afford purely tactical mistakes. Even if they lost hundreds of times, Austria could still bear the cost.

Moreover, none of those who made it as officers were fools. Even when they took risks, they would only do so if they had some assurance of success.

Overall, the chances of winning were even greater, as the commanders had already weighed the risks and rewards before the gamble began.

Often, the gains from a single victory on the battlefield could offset the losses from dozens of failures.

To put it bluntly, the stakes they were gambling with involved at most just a few hundred or a thousand men. The loss would be limited to that extent, but the potential gains from winning could be the victory of a whole campaign.

It was different for senior officers—they often decided the fate of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of troops, and any failure could severely injure the nation’s vitality.

On the other hand, looking at it from the standpoint of individuals within the military, it was unlikely that Austria would produce famous generals under such a model.

Unfortunately, mainstream public opinion idolized generals known for their unorthodox strategies, surprising victories, and triumphs of the weak over the strong.

The sort of straightforward victories that relied on sheer force and comprehensive strength were seen as expected in theory and were not highly regarded.

This was very unfriendly to Austrian officers. Perhaps in their youth, they might have such military achievements; but as they rose in rank, their records became increasingly mediocre.

From this perspective, Archduke Albrecht was undoubtedly fortunate.

He started his career by defeating the rebel army, then encountered an easy opponent, and without much effort, he advanced automatically to the status of a famous general.

Now, with the war in Europe underway and Franz introducing a series of breakthrough technologies, there was an opportunity to step on the French and ascend to the altar of the new "God of War".

After the military meeting, Albrecht stayed behind with his nephew, "Friedrich, it seemed you had something to say earlier. Could it be that you are dissatisfied with my arrangements?"

"Marshal, while the current weather is severe, it’s not to the point where the Armored Troops can’t operate.

Taking advantage of the French being unprepared, we should launch a surprise attack tomorrow. The Armored Troops could easily tear through the French positions, and a full-scale advancement would certainly deal a heavy blow to the French Army.

If we delay for too long, the Armored Troops may be exposed, giving the French time to prepare."

The Austrian army placed a high value on protocol; "nephew" was a title reserved for private use. Within the command center, the only proper address for Archduke Albrecht was "Marshal".

If protocol wasn’t valued, given the complex relationships among the European nobility, one would soon discover that the barracks were full of relatives, which would lead the common officers to despair.

Even though nepotism played an important role in reality, there was still a pathway where if one distinguished themselves on the battlefield, they would be promoted faster than anyone else.

This path was not only left for commoner officers but also served as the standard for the advancement of nobility officers.

Don’t think being a connected household is impressive when those around you are all connected, you’ll find that in the end, it’s still strength that counts.

There’s no helping it, who made it a tradition in the Germany Region that everyone must serve in the military? All the nobility from top to bottom have to enter the military and serve.

Perhaps many families don’t have many direct members, but there are definitely not a few collateral members without titles, and if you count those like illegitimate children, this group grows even larger.

At this time, so-called relationship backgrounds are actually not that important. After the Austrian Army completed its military reforms, without sufficient ability, no amount of resources could push you up.

The most typical example is Crown Prince Friedrich, who is not much older than Friedrich, with all resources, connections, and relationships at their peak.

The latter was already a lieutenant general, whereas Crown Prince Friedrich retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, probably the lowest-ranking Crown Prince since Austria promoted military ranks.

Of course, comparing Friedrich like this is quite unfair, after all, the gap before and after military reform is too great.

Take Franz himself for example, he was an Austrian officer from the time he began breastfeeding, and became a general before he reached adulthood; the disparity is so great it can hardly be compared, it’s all just water.

With Friedrich, the good days of lying back and winning were over. The wonderful era of breastfeeding while serving in the military had gone forever. After graduating from the military academy, one must start from the bottom, just like any regular cadet.

As the Crown Prince, Friedrich could not always stay in the military, and this affected his promotion.

Add in a dose of bad luck, perfectly missing the opportunity to get a golden plating on the battlefield. Without any battle honors to his name, there was no hope of becoming a general, so he simply retired.

After the outbreak of the European war, Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich, re-entering military service, was still waiting for an opportunity on the southern front.

Not just Crown Prince Friedrich, but including his several younger brothers, are now in a similar state, scattered across various battlefields waiting for an opportunity.

Whether or not one can develop in the military still depends on one’s abilities.

This thing cannot be determined by external forces alone; if one’s own ability is not up to scratch, even if promoted, it’s impossible to convince people.

In fact, Franz had initially considered leaving this opportunity for Friedrich.

Being too low in rank to serve as a commander of an army group, no matter, just reduce the organizational level of the armored troops, for example: a tank regiment has several hundred tanks, organize all armored troops into an armored division.

It’s just that doing so would look too unsightly, and Friedrich’s military command ability was an unknown factor; no one knew if he could handle it. In case things went wrong, it would be like lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot.

As the Crown Prince of Austria, all Friedrich needed to do was to get his golden plating, there was no need to take such a risk just for a bit of reputation.

Under these circumstances, the best opportunity to rack up combat achievements naturally fell to the royal family member Friedrich, who had already proven his capabilities.

Archduke Albrecht shook his head, speaking gravely, "Friedrich, you are thinking too simply.

Although the Allied Forces have amassed 1.78 million troops on the banks of the Rhine River, nearly a million of these are troops from the Beide Countries.

They’re fine for defense, but if we drop our defenses and go out to field battle with the French, who knows what will happen?

Even if the armored troops can tear through the French Army’s positions, even cutting them into several pieces, we still can’t swallow them, and we might even choke to death.

The domestic intention is to inflict as much loss of life as possible on the French Army, the goal from the very start of this war was to kill more of the enemy.

Waiting until the snow and ice melt is not only to ease the deployment of armored troops but also to gather more forces.

Naturally, waiting for the battle in Egypt to conclude is a key factor.

According to domestic plans, this war was to begin with the Egyptian front, then us, and finally the southern front.

This is the strategy for inflicting maximum damage on the French.

After establishing a fait accompli in occupying Egypt, then marching all the way to Paris, even if we drew the interference of other European countries, we would have dissolved the French’s Colonial Empire and taken control of the Suez Canal.

Having lost their African Colony, France would have lost one of its pillars. It would be difficult to recover their vitality for decades.

As for the exposure of the armored troops, that was expected. With such a great commotion, keeping it secret indefinitely is simply impossible.

Even if the French received the news, they wouldn’t know what specifically the armored troops were for. Maybe the French would think it was just a layer of steel plate over an automobile.

Remember, Friedrich. You and the ordinary commanders are different, they can consider issues purely from a military perspective, but you must consider politics.

In most cases, the military serves politics.

To relieve our future pressure on the western front, it’s not enough just to defeat the French; we must severely damage France.

All the government’s current strategies revolve around this core goal of severely damaging France.

As long as this strategic objective can be achieved, in the grand scheme of things, the battles on the front determining victory one day earlier or one day later makes little difference."

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