Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 911 - 174: Brewing Counterattack

The war had reached a stage where France had staked everything, victory would establish dominion over Europe, defeat meant falling to secondary status.

With France’s historically domineering behavior, they had offended many. When France was strong, no one dared to provoke them, but once they began to decline, it was a completely different story.

Beneath a fallen nest, how can there be intact eggs?

Whether it was Napoleon IV or the French government’s top officials, their fates were bound with the country’s destiny.

By now, a step back was not a vista of expansive skies, but an abyss.

For their own sake and for the nation’s, they had to find a way to win this war.

In the face of life-and-death stakes, reputation had become so worthless it was not worth a farthing, so plagiarism it was!

If the Austrian army had more advanced equipment, then mimic it. Could the great French Empire not do the same?

At the Emperor’s word, those below ran their legs off. Pressure was passed down from the Cabinet Government, level by level.

Even though Napoleon III had the reputation of the "Socialist Emperor," France was still a bourgeois state, and arms industries were in the hands of the capitalists.

In the past when there were orders, everyone scrambled for them, and the doors of the Army Department were nearly broken down. But now that the news had been out for a while, it was met with indifference.

It wasn’t that the capitalists didn’t want to make money, the problem was they didn’t have the capacity to earn this money. Simply put, the timing was off.

In the past, they could have accepted the orders first and then figured out how to fulfill them, whether by developing on their own or buying technology from abroad.

But now that wasn’t possible, there wasn’t enough time for independent development; and since the technology was exclusively Austrian, and with France and Austria at war, no matter how much money was spent, there was no chance of acquiring the technology.

All the capitalists with connections had received the message early and understood the gravity of the situation. They knew that taking orders and then failing to deliver would lead to serious trouble.

What used to be a hotly sought-after arms order had now become a hot potato, ignored and left to rot in the hands of the Army Department.

Of course, it wasn’t that no one was interested, but rather everyone’s capabilities were limited and unable to complete the task in the short term.

Several armament factories had already indicated that they could start production immediately once the Army Department provided the design drawings.

"How long will it take for you to replicate it?" Army Minister Luskinia asked anxiously.

Just because the armament factories belonged to capitalists did not mean that the French government had left the entire arms issue to them.

The Army Department also employed a group of armament experts and even had its own factories, but due to bureaucratic management, the production costs were too touching, making it impossible to scale up.

Now that the capitalists were too scared to take orders, the burden fell on the Army Department. No matter what, it was a decision made collectively by the Emperor and the government, so the Department had to find a way to complete it.

An older armament expert replied, "Your Grace, we have too little information at hand.

We know nothing about the weapon templates, design principles, or performance parameters, not even the external structure. With nothing, how can we replicate?"

Replication needs a reference; without anything it’s not replication, but independent development. As it is independent development, naturally, it cannot be done quickly.

Of course, there is another way to develop weapons based on requirements, but this too requires time.

Army Minister Luskinia said impatiently, "Don’t we already have machine guns? Just improve on our guns’ performance.

Aircraft might be a bit more troublesome, but I remember that exhibitions have been published in the newspapers, and there were flight performances in Paris.

If a few civilian enthusiasts can create such things, can’t you do the same?

If it’s really impossible, then buy their technology with money, or just bring them under our wing. It can’t be that difficult!"

It wasn’t that Duke Luskinia was ignorant; not knowing the mechanism of the Maxim gun, he assumed that what the Austrian army was using was a modified version of the Gatling, which wasn’t incorrect.

The situation was the same with aircraft. Aside from dealing smoothly with airships, the Austrian planes had not demonstrated remarkable combat effectiveness.

In those days, everyone’s understanding of aircraft was limited to flight exhibitions; they failed to realize that there could be a huge gap in technology between different aircraft.

Just for dealing with airships, most aircraft would suffice. After all, planes have the advantage of maneuverability; as long as they have sufficient endurance and a load capacity of a couple of hundred pounds, that’s enough.

The elder explained helplessly, "Your Grace, a weapon goes through many stages from design to deployment, requiring a lot of time, and it simply cannot be done without three to five years of effort.

Even if we skip weapon testing because of urgent battlefield conditions, we cannot compress the time needed for design and industrial production.

Even in the best-case scenario, producing a new type of machine gun would take at least three months; as for aircraft, getting them within half a year would be a blessing from God."

Three months, half a year, indeed, such speed was incredibly fast. If they could really be produced in such a short period, it would be nothing short of a miracle.

After all, it was only 1890. Even if Franz’s butterfly effect had accelerated the pace of technological development, it was mainly Austria that had benefited, with France merely being passively developed.

Compared with historical contemporaries, even if France’s level of scientific and technologic development had accelerated, it could not surpass that of a decade ahead nor lead to a qualitative gap.

...

The world doesn’t revolve around one nation, regardless of the progress in the French’s development of new equipment, the war must go on.

For political needs, the French government covered up the disastrous defeat of the previous offensives. Since there was no defeat, naturally, there was no responsibility to pursue, and General Udino was lucky to evade the fate of facing a military tribunal.

Just because he didn’t have to face a military tribunal didn’t mean he wouldn’t be held accountable. Now, General Udino remained in command at the front, only because a transitional period was needed to adjust the command structure.

Following such a major incident, an internal inquiry within the French Army was inevitable. As the direct responsible party, it was only a matter of time before General Udino would be sent home to care for his grandchildren.

At French Command, as soon as the news of the offensive’s failure was received, Marshal Patrice McMahon immediately rushed to the front to take charge.

Watching a group of disheartened officers, Patrice McMahon fiercely slapped the table and reprimanded sharply, "Take a good look at yourselves in the mirror and see if you even resemble soldiers anymore.

Do you realize that you are on the verge of disgracing France? Especially you, Udino, have you forgotten the promise you made to me?

So, you’ve suffered a setback; we can find an opportunity to get back at the enemy later. Or do you think that just because you’re close to retirement, you can afford to just coast through your days?

I’m telling you, if you don’t want to spend the rest of your lives burdened with a bad reputation, then buck up. Remember, the shame of defeat can only be washed away with blood and victory."

In fact, the low morale of the French officers and soldiers was not solely due to the heavy casualties.

Having faced tens of thousands of casualties before hadn’t led to despair; what truly brought on desperation was the bleak outlook on the war.

Beyond the first day’s devastating losses in the offensive, full-scale warfare had not erupted again in the following days, yet small-scale skirmishes occurred daily.

It was not apparent until engaged in battle that the Austrian Army was not as decayed and incompetent as the government propaganda had made them out to be; instead, they were ferocious as a tiger descending from the mountain.

In the fragmented combat, the two sides resulted in a battle ratio of 1.3:1. For the French Army, which prided itself on being the world’s premier army, a 1.3 was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

This was not siege warfare but direct clashes in open fields. To their dismay, they found that the French Army was no match for the Austrian Army under the same strength.

Of course, the recent decline in the French Army’s morale also played a role, but the main reason was the consequences of the crazy expansion of the army.

Even among so-called elite troops, at least one-fifth were new recruits, and combat effectiveness inevitably declined.

In those times, information did not travel easily, and the French government certainly wouldn’t do propaganda for Austria, leading many in the military’s upper echelons to remain unaware of the unique characteristics of the Austrian conscription system.

Via conjecture, they naturally assumed that both armies had expanded with new recruits dragging their feet.

Seeing the French Army being suppressed by the Austrian Army under the same conditions, and not just as an isolated instance but spread out along a battlefront spanning hundreds of miles, was a sobering sight.

French commanders who personally witnessed all this naturally lost faith in the war. Of course, this misjudgment and knowing the truth makes no fundamental difference.

After all, facts have proved that under equal forces, the expanded French Army simply could not defeat the Austrian Army.

Some might bring up equipment, but weapons and gear are part of a military’s strength. The age of knights is over; as long as victory in war is secured, who cares about fairness?

In a sense, Austria’s greatest ally was the Italians. It was they who first spread the pessimistic ideas; after the initial setbacks in the offensive and the heavy casualties, these ideas quickly spread throughout the French Army and even began to influence from the bottom up.

Marshal Patrice McMahon hastened here precisely to restore the morale of the troops, but the scene before him told him that the situation was worse than he imagined.

The "woo-woo-woo" of the air raid alarm shattered the tense atmosphere at the command post.

From bombing others to being bombed daily, it had only been a few short days, but this psychological gap proved too much to bear for many.

Having seen this, Marshal Patrice McMahon began to understand why everyone’s morale was so low.

As the supreme commander of the French Army, Patrice McMahon knew more about the situation than anyone else.

```

Sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing. Being the only sober person in a crowd of drunks is not so easy to endure.

Unlike those radicals back home who dream of breaking Vienna, Patrice McMahon’s battle plans were always just about taking over the territory west of the Rhine River.

It wasn’t that Patrice McMahon lacked ambition, but because he was well aware that the French Army was not as strong as the government propaganda claimed, and the enemy was not as weak either.

If they could take the territory west of the Rhine River, France could defend from a position of strength. McMahon was confident that even if Austria launched a full-scale attack, he could hold them off.

As for breaking Vienna, shouting slogans would suffice. Patrice McMahon was old, well past the age of radicalism.

General Udino said bitterly, "I am very sorry, Marshal. I have let you down! If it weren’t for my command error earlier, we wouldn’t have seen our favorable situation collapse."

Collapse of the situation?

The war situation was clearly not that dire yet; on the Central European battlefield, the French Army still held the initiative.

As for the counterattacks launched by the Austrian army, they were child’s play. It was certain that until they could gather sufficient forces, the Austrian army was incapable of deciding a battle with the French Army.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Patrice McMahon said, "Cut the nonsense. Right now, I have only one demand, and that is to breach the Rhine Defense line as soon as possible.

This is your last chance. I don’t care what methods you use, but you must complete this order before the enemy’s reinforcements arrive."

There was one thing he didn’t say out loud: this was also France’s last chance.

If they missed this opportunity, it would be difficult for France to win the war.

Even if the French Army managed to rally and luckily win the war later on, it would only be a superficial victory; the reality would be a Pyrrhic one.

"Marshal, the biggest problem now is the enemy’s trenches. According to the intelligence we’ve collected, the enemy has deployed at least ten thousand machine guns, thousands of heavy artillery pieces, and over five thousand ordinary artillery pieces along the Rhine River line.

The enemy has built dense fire networks by relying on trenches, and our troops simply can’t make it through.

To reduce casualties among officers and soldiers, our men can only advance by crawling. Even if they luckily reach the enemy’s frontline, they’d still face barriers of barbed wire.

The best way to tear through the Rhine Defense line is to concentrate our artillery in a surprise attack on a key location, gaining fire superiority in the area right away..."

Solutions are conjured by people. Although the phrase ’crawling forward’ wasn’t used, charging while crawling is essentially the same as crawling forward in nature.

Concentrating firepower for bombardment to gain regional fire superiority is also the most appropriate approach for the French Army at the moment. From this aspect, General Udino was still fit for the role.

Patrice McMahon nodded, "Very well, I approve your battle plan. Udino, I’m giving you one last chance. I don’t want to hear any more bad news."

Frankly speaking, Patrice McMahon did not wish for Udino to continue commanding the troops. But there was no choice; in the French Army, officers with the capability to command hundreds of thousands of troops were few.

Among these few, Udino was indeed one of the more competent ones. If not for his earlier mistake, another great general might have risen.

```