She changed Europe

Page 119

“This will leave the Northwest Defense Line without enough magic users to face a direct threat from the enemy,” Gisela’s cousin, Lana, one of the twins, questioned.

"That makes sense, but sir, may I ask, in this era, when great powers clash, who would immediately deploy their magic users at the start of a war?" When great powers in Europe clash, due to similar numbers of magic users or other circumstances, none of them would throw out these trump cards at the beginning of the battle, as this would not be in line with their understanding of the role of magic users.

"Our magic users in the north should immediately engage in battle at the outset of the conflict with the northern enemy, forcing them into combat. If successful, we can use our numerical advantage in magic users to defeat the enemy's magic users. This effectively sends two messages to Prussia: first, the main force of the Austrian Empire is in the north; second, the Empire's forces are weak in the northwest." After all, a large number of magic users move with the main force, which is a common military practice among all countries.

"But in fact, our main force is deployed in the northwest, so the Prussians will be lured to attack our most solidly defended part. As long as our magic users return as soon as possible, we will fight a beautiful defensive battle, right?" Gisela nodded in understanding, having gained a clearer understanding of the girl's tactics.

"What's your name?"

“Your Highness, my name is Bella von Borrojevich.”

“I am very satisfied with your talent. From now on, you will serve as my adjutant.” Gisela extended his hand, wanting to shake hands with the girl warmly. However, the girl was somewhat flattered and knelt down in front of Gisela. Then, like a knight, she kissed the wedding ring on Gisela’s ring finger.

“Your Highness, our Borojevich family will forever be loyal to the Habsburg dynasty.” Gisela was unaware that this exceptionally talented young woman actually corresponded to Svitozár von Borojevich, the last field marshal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in history, who was also the last person to be promoted to field marshal during World War I.

Historically, his family, the Borojevich family, had indeed served the Habsburg dynasty for generations, from fighting against Louis XIV's French army under Prince Eugene, to fighting Frederick the Great's Prussian army in Silesia for Queen Maria Theresa, and then fighting against Napoleon's French army under Archduke Karl and Prince Schwarzenberg. They also rampaged through Italy under "father" Radetzky's Italian Legion. Finally, his father, Adam Borojevich, was also honorably wounded in the Battle of Kniegeretz, the most crucial battle of the Austro-Prussian War.

He was the fourth generation to serve the Habsburg dynasty until the end of World War I, when the Habsburg dynasty collapsed and the empire ceased to exist. This old marshal remained loyal to the abdicated Karl I until his death.

Gisela observed the short brown-haired girl in front of her. At this moment, her emerald-like eyes were flashing with intense flames. For some reason, even though Gisela could sense that she was not a magic user and her magic power was only at the level of an ordinary person, she seemed to contain enormous energy.

Rita was clearly surprised, her expression betraying her surprise. While Aponia, standing beside her, kept her emotions hidden, a closer look revealed her right hand unconsciously clenching the hem of her skirt. Jeanne, seated at her table, rested her head on the table, watching the spectacle with a carefree attitude.

PS1: Historically, he was the last marshal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Chapter 445 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Captain 64 Marta's Intelligence (Lin Qizhu\2 Spa asking for votes)

"Sister's appointment is against regulations," Liana, Gisela's twin cousin's younger sister, muttered under her breath.

"Don't speak, little sister. Silence is golden." Lana quickly covered Liana's mouth.

At this moment, Cecilia opened her blue eyes and looked at Aponia and Gisela once again. Then she slowly raised her hand and took out a stone from the pocket of her white dress, the same kind she had given Garibaldi before. Then she smiled slightly.

"The meeting is adjourned. Generals, please return to your posts." As the girl named Aphrodite stood up again, Gisela turned to the generals present and said this.

“Your Highness, then I shall take my leave.” Bella von Boroyevich stood up and prepared to leave.

“No, Bella, you stay, and so does she.” Gisela looked at the dark-haired woman wearing glasses and an Austrian military uniform who was still standing by the tent.

"Miss Marta, it's been a long time." Gisela leisurely pulled out a chair in front of her, crossed her legs, and sat down.

"It's been a long time. The little cutie from before has become someone else's wife." Marta took off her glasses and hair tie, letting her long black hair fall loose. This beautiful spy had previously possessed a certain intellectual beauty.

“You understand my logic better than anyone else, so let’s put that aside. What brings you here today?” Marta’s purpose in coming here was nothing more than to sell information, but Gisela was still unaware of what kind of information this woman possessed.

"What else could I be doing here?" Marta slowly took out a button and a small tuft of golden hair from her pocket.

Gisela took the item from Marta and examined it for a moment before looking at Marta with some confusion.

"What do you mean."

Marta approached Gisela and, in front of the three people in the tent, gently lifted Gisela's chin with her hand. Then, in a very suggestive manner, she embraced Gisela and whispered in her ear.

"These are the buttons and hair from your favorite Miss Bismarck's dress."

"Hair!?"

"Cough cough!" Gisela coughed violently at the unexpected words, her cheeks even turning slightly red. Of course, this was actually just Bismarck's hair. As for why the fox would misunderstand, that depended on how lewd the fox himself was.

"You're just spouting nonsense! You're making baseless accusations!" Gisela yelled like a fox whose tail had been stepped on.

“I won’t tease you anymore, let’s talk about serious matters.” Marta slowly sat back down in her seat and tossed a rolled-up map in front of Gisela.

"What's this?" Gisela picked up the map Marta handed her, then casually stuffed the button and hair Marta had given her earlier, which she claimed were from Bismarck, into her pocket. Gisela herself didn't notice this subtle action, but it was noticed by all the ladies present.

"It's just an ordinary military map, but it simply marks the deployment of the various Prussian army corps, their approximate size and number of personnel, and their operational intentions. In short, it's a simplified version of an operational plan formulated by the Prussian General Staff," Marta said unhurriedly, picking up a grape from the table and eating it contentedly.

"Why are you offering me something like this?" Gisela frowned slightly as she looked at the dark-haired beauty before her. Three years ago, when she first encountered Mata, she knew that everything Mata Hari did was for a reason, and there was no such thing as friendship in front of her.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to exchange anything with you this time, nor do I plan to ask for anything from you, because it is my client's intention to provide this to you." Marta gently pinched the thin skin of the grape with her index finger, and then put the soft flesh into her mouth.

"It tastes good, like grapes from Hungary," Marta joked.

“Actually, this is a Greek, or rather, Byzantine Achaean grape variety,” Gisela responded to Marta’s complaint, while beckoning her new adjutant, Bella, to look at the map together.

"Who is your client? I really can't understand why he would want you to bring me this map."

"Who my client is is not important. Your Highness only needs to use the map to win this war, although given your country's current military strength in this region, it will be an extremely difficult task."

“Your Highness! The Prussians will launch an attack simultaneously from the north and northwest. To the north, the Prussian Second Army Corps, personally commanded by their Crown Prince Frederick, has a strength of about 12 men. To the northwest, towards Dresden, the Prussian First Army Corps, commanded by their Prince Karl, has a strength of nearly 10 men. Previous intelligence from Hanover has confirmed that this is the Prussian Third Army Corps, with a total strength of 5 men.” Unlike Gisela, whose attention was focused on other issues, Bella had her eyes fixed on the map.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand against one hundred thousand! Are you kidding me!" Even Rita, who had been standing to the side, came to this despairing conclusion after a simple calculation. Due to the limited railway capacity, the Austrian Empire still had hundreds of thousands of troops stuck on the road. The total number of Imperial Allied Forces (formerly the Wehrmacht) in Bohemia was only seventy thousand, and even with the addition of local garrison troops and militia, the total number barely reached one hundred thousand.

"The vast majority of the Prussian army's magic users are deployed in the Second Legion, which is located in the north of the Empire. Although the First Legion has a large number of members, there are only two magic users accompanying the army: Augusia Karl von Goben and Julia Ludwig von Moltke." The former is Gisela's friend, and the latter has the surname Moltke. Gisela could guess with her eyes closed that this girl must be related to the Prussian army's chief of staff, Old Moltke.

“If we’re going to attack from two sides, the tactics we just discussed will need to be slightly modified. But Your Highness, please rest assured, I will definitely come up with a practical and feasible strategy to deal with the enemy.” Bella raised her head, her expression calm and composed.

In fact, the previous tactics only needed a slight modification, simply reversing the order of the two objectives. That is, the magic users, according to their current configuration, should be concentrated in the northwest direction to first strike the magic users of the Prussian First Legion. After defeating the two accompanying magic users, the Prussian First Legion will certainly not dare to attack rashly, but will definitely move towards the Second Legion. Because an army without the protection of magic users is nothing more than fat meat for the enemy magic users to slaughter at will. According to this idea, what needs to be strengthened now is the defense of the northern Sudetenland.

PS1: Marta is forever a goddess.

Chapter 446 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Capter 65 Chloris's Plan

“Very good, I look forward to your plan.” This battle can be seen as a whetstone prepared by Gisela to test whether the girl in front of her can become one of the core figures of the Imperial Army’s future high command. Of course, Gisela had also prepared a backup plan from the beginning, namely her mother, Empress Elisabeth, who had been in Munich for some time, and her nominal husband, Nina. Of course, even Gisela’s daughter, Mia, was in Munich at the moment, where at least a coalition army of more than 15 people was being prepared.

Of course, there was another thing Gisela deliberately ignored: the nobles of the Imperial Council had begun urging Benedek to end the war in the Sudetenland region as soon as possible and to recover the Silesia region so as not to affect the people's production and life. If he was not competent for the position, they had better candidates.

This group of nobles appeared to be questioning Marshal Benedek's abilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Allied Forces, but in reality, they were clearly targeting Gisela. They were withholding government funding and wanted to use this opportunity to sabotage Gisela, whose prestige had recently soared due to his economic reforms.

After all, reforms always affect the interests of some people. Once the Austrian Empire's economy improved, these people, having come to their senses, began to criticize Gisela's reforms. Fortunately, her father, Emperor Joseph, strongly supported his daughter, which allowed Gisela's economic reforms to continue.

This is understandable, given his martial virtue and the fact that he is the heir to the throne, not Wang Anshi during the Wang Anshi Reforms, whose reforms were subject to numerous restrictions.

“By the way! Miss Marta, isn’t Chloris in the army?” Gisela looked up and asked Marta.

"Your Highness, you've finally asked an interesting question." Marta stood up, took out a black notebook from her chest, and began flipping through it. Such a skill was unfortunately beyond the reach of most people present, as it was largely determined by fate.

"She's not here, because this intelligence was given to you by Princess Chloris of Prussia. At this time, Her Highness should have already arrived in Paris."

France, Tuileries Palace, Paris

With the end of the civil war on its homeland, this most powerful country in Europe finally had a few years to lick its wounds and recover its national strength. Although the civil war was not truly over, as Napoleon III and his cronies still controlled the Provence region and took away most of the French navy, as well as vast colonies in North Africa, the Third Republic finally gained a foothold in this land, especially in Paris.

Chloris walked expressionlessly down the corridors of the palace. All the sculptures and portraits once associated with the royal family had been removed and destroyed by angry Parisians, and the once magnificent palace grounds now appeared eerily empty and desolate. Just like France today, outwardly glamorous, yet utterly weakened.

"Your Highness, our President has been waiting for you for quite some time." Soon, a male attendant called out to Chloris, who was strolling down the corridor.

"Then lead the way," Chloris said after scrutinizing the servant with her scarlet eyes for a moment.

Soon the servants led Chloris through several corridors, then up the stairs to the second floor, where they opened the door to the first room around the corner.

At this moment, a woman with short black hair and dressed very scantily was crossing her legs, while a young girl in a butler's uniform was massaging her shoulders behind her.

"Your Excellency President Gui'an," Chloris greeted the dark-haired woman before her with politeness.

"You may leave now." I have something to discuss with Her Highness the Princess. Thiers waved his hand and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his legs.

"Yes, sir." The servant and the young housekeeper quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.

“Although I hate to admit it, Your Excellency’s private life is indeed as rich and colorful as my subordinates have said.” Chloris stood still, observing Thiers’ every move.

While wiping his own body, Thiers was also observing the gray-haired girl in front of him out of the corner of his eye.

"I know what you're trying to say, Your Highness. Votes and public opinion are actually quite magical things. For France today, a conspirator with low character and questionable lifestyle is better than a public servant who doesn't know how to cater to the interests of his supporters but is of high moral character and lives a simple life."

“Every Machiavellian likes to criticize Machiavellian doctrines first, as if that makes them noble. Unfortunately, I don’t think so, because I understand that I am part of my class and I am destined to stay in the mud.”

"But what about the future of Prussia and Germany?" Thiers put down his handkerchief and buttoned up his white shirt. Because he was only wearing his shirt, he looked particularly intriguing.

"Please hand me the list you have, sir." Chloris didn't offer much commentary on the extremely twisted black-haired woman, but directly stated her purpose.

"Then why should I hand her over to His Highness?" Thiers slowly walked up to Chloris and turned the key to his safe.

“Completely eradicating the Jesuits is in our common interest. I believe you understand better than I do the danger and uncertainty of an outside force that is not under our control.” Chloris’s core purpose in going to Paris this time was to completely destroy the Jesuits, and she needed to do so even if it was for Gisela’s sake or for her own.

“Your Highness, your sincerity has deeply moved me, but unfortunately I do not wish to hand over the item to you, as the price you offer is not tempting.” The shrewd Thiers clearly saw the benefit in this.

"So what do you want?" Chloris asked calmly.

"How about we hand over your Rhineland region to France after the war? Of course, Your Highness need not worry about this; we will personally fulfill the agreement." Thiers calmly sat down on the table, crossing his legs. Chloris needed the list, and Thiers needed a nominal victory to consolidate the legitimacy of his regime. Reclaiming the territory once possessed during the Napoleonic era would be a great honor for France.

"Do you think I would agree to cede my country's territory in exchange for this list?"

“If it were your country, you naturally wouldn’t, but in my opinion, this country has nothing to do with you right now.”

"By the way, are you sure you only took Prussian territory?" Chloris asked after a moment's thought.

"of course."

"Then it's a deal." Chloris had really gone all out for Gisela this time. But it wasn't all that bad, since the French would definitely help her secretly and take control of Prussia after the war. Moreover, Chloris had already thought of a countermeasure. If the Rhineland didn't have Prussian territory, then the French would actually get nothing? Prussia under her control would enter into a "marriage" with Austria, and giving the Rhineland and Silesia as a dowry to Gisela wasn't a bad thing for her, since her goal was to unify Germany.

"You seem to be thinking about something happy?" Thiel said after observing Chloris's expression.

"Your illusion."

PS1: I've been inexplicably tired lately QAQ

Chapter 447 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Capter 66 The Battle of the Rabe River (Seeking Votes)

"These cannons bombed the French in Italy; they're genuine Italian cannons." Because the mortars from the Škoda factory in Gisela first appeared in the Battle of Magenta during the Northern Italian War, the Austrian army naturally nicknamed these creations of the princess "Italian cannons." Peter's company was able to achieve this because in late December 1874, Prince Frederick Karl's Prussian First Army Corps moved to the north bank of the Rabe River, facing off against the Austrian army on the south bank.

Austria's Sudetenland defenses were built upon mountains with an average elevation of 1000 meters, and the alluvial plain formed by the river was arguably the flattest part of this mountain range in the northwest. To facilitate the deployment of his large army, Prince Karl chose this location to launch his attack.

Upon arriving at the location that very night, this renowned Prussian general, famous for his aggressive advances and offensive tactics, immediately deployed his Prussian magical armor into battle. These massive magical armors could easily ford water, and while using these steel behemoths to draw the attention of the Austrian army, the darkness allowed engineers to secretly begin constructing a wooden bridge further downstream.

To better cover the work downstream, the Prussian artillery bombarded the Austrian troops on the opposite bank for several hours under the cover of night. Faced with this overwhelming barrage of shells, the Austrian defenders were pinned down and unable to leave their positions, struggling to deal with the magical armor of the Prussian troops crossing the river, not to mention the Prussian engineers downstream.

At this moment, Peter, positioned on a relatively rearward defensive line, noticed that his friendly forces ahead were being severely suppressed. Disregarding his superiors' orders to hold their ground, he led his hundred-odd men away from their positions to reinforce the front. In fact, Peter's judgment was undoubtedly correct, because even the 7th Division's command was already in chaos in the face of the Prussian night bombardment. They had originally planned for the Prussians to launch an attack the next morning, so they had not expected the Prussians to immediately engage in battle without rest.

Night bombardment was a tactic that Prussian generals had learned from Gisela years ago, but the Austrian army soon found itself caught in the crossfire.

Under the moonlight, Peter's years of battlefield intuition led him to decide that instead of leading his troops directly to the front lines in dire straits, they should find a calm spot downstream to cross the river and launch a surprise attack on the enemy's artillery positions.

“Boss, if we leave our posts like this, won’t we all be in deep trouble if the higher-ups find out? Even if you’re a war hero, it might not be enough to escape punishment,” a burly, bald adjutant said to Peter.

"Don't worry, as long as we achieve results, they can't punish us." Peter said to his adjutant nonchalantly. After all, old Hans once said, "Don't worry about any orders. Trust your intuition, it's more accurate than anyone else's. Just do what you think is right. Many of our superiors have never even been to the front lines, let alone understand the situation of our frontline soldiers."

One major reason for the historically poor morale and combat effectiveness of the Austrian army was the rampant bureaucracy within the military, where becoming an officer was not entirely based on ability but rather on lineage. Therefore, even with equal talent, officers of noble birth rose through the ranks much faster than those of commoner origin.

The military reforms being implemented by the Royal Family, represented by His Highness Gisela, the General Staff headed by Conrad, and the Army Ministry headed by Benedek have greatly improved the situation, and the recent influx of aristocratic officers has become much less frequent. Peter was also parachuted in, but he was a combat hero who rose from the ranks of a common soldier, so he naturally earned the recognition and respect of his fellow soldiers.

"Boss, look what's that up ahead!" Because of their stealthy advance, Peter's troops had not carried torches at all, so they were particularly sensitive to faint light and saw the busy scene on the riverbank from a great distance.

“Leiva, how long has it been since we left our position and arrived here? And how much time has passed now?” Peter clenched his fists, signaling the soldiers to stop. Seeing the gesture, the soldiers followed suit, clenching their fists to signal the soldiers behind them to stop. This relay-like command quickly reached every member of the hundred-man company, and the men silently lay down, gripping their new Skoda rifles.

With a solemn expression, he gazed at the light source ahead, awaiting new orders from his commander.

"It's 1:27 a.m., we've been gone for an hour," Leiva said, raising his right hand to check the time in the dim light of the match.

"It's been almost an hour since we set off, and considering my walking pace, it's probably several kilometers," Peter said after thinking for a moment, resting his chin on his hand.

"Boss, it looks like they're building a bridge." A soldier with good eyesight climbed up a tree and looked out at the busy Prussian engineers under the firelight.

“Building a bridge?” Peter picked up his binoculars. These binoculars were not something a soldier of his rank could obtain; to get binoculars, one had to be at least a colonel-level officer. He had received them as a farewell gift from an instructor who greatly admired him during his time at military academy.

Through the telescope, under the firelight, countless Prussian engineers were busily arranging large tree stumps neatly and chopping off the branches with axes.

"One, two, three, the enemy has a squad of magical armor protecting them, and the ordinary soldiers are almost entirely unarmed." Peter whispered what he had seen to his bald adjutant named Leiva.

"Boss, do you want to fight?"

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Peter took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, skillfully pulled one out, and was about to light it, but then, thinking that it might reveal his location, he put the cigarette back in his pocket.

"Afraid? I've never been afraid of anything since I was a child!" The bald man held his head high, looking extremely proud.

“Courage is a good thing, but recklessness is not acceptable,” Peter said to his adjutant beside him, leaning against the tree trunk with a relaxed air.

"By the way, boss, you look so young, why do you like smoking so much? Didn't His Highness say that smoking is discouraged in the army? It's harmful to health," Leiva asked.

"You like smoking?" Peter lowered his head, looking at his hand, which was holding a wooden stick between his fingers even though he didn't smoke.

He couldn't help but purse his lips, looking somewhat helpless, because it was just like when he watched old Hans back then. He didn't smoke at first, but at some point, he fell in love with the taste of nicotine and tobacco mixed together, a bittersweet flavor that brought him relief.

"Don't you think this smells a lot like the smoke of a battlefield?" Peter joked.

"It's similar, but I don't like war, so I won't like cigarettes either!"

"Hmph! You'll understand later, kid!"

"By the way, boss, how are you planning to fight?" Leiva asked.

"Joe, Joton, have our men bring out the small mortars issued to Her Highness the Princess," Peter shouted to the rear of the column. Soon, the eight mortars were quickly set up in pairs, ready to fire at any moment.

PS1: Sorry, I missed posting a chapter yesterday.

Chapter 448 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Capter 67 Delaying Tactics (Seeking Votes)

He was able to possess so many mortars thanks to the convenience provided by that mysterious major. It's like he hadn't even truly fulfilled his duties before he received the benefits after joining TF141.