Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 921 - 184: Dining With the Enemy

In the face of nature, humans are fragile. The battle of the Rhine River is still ongoing, but the intensity of the war was limited by the heavy snowfall.

It’s not that the attacking French Army wasn’t trying hard, but the snowy weather was too much to handle. It affected not only the offensive on the front line but also increased the difficulty of logistical transportation.

An army of two million, even if idle, consumes astronomical amounts of supplies every day, not to mention when they are engaged in combat.

It was once again proven, combat deep in enemy territory is not that simple.

Indeed, Belgium and the Rhineland region are areas with convenient transportation and a well-established railway network, but the problem is, the Allied Forces had damaged the roads during their retreat!

Destruction is always easier than construction, and the first task for the French Army after occupying these areas was road repair.

After more than a month of effort, the highways had basically returned to normal, and the railways were almost completely repaired. Just when completion was in sight, a heavy snowstorm hit.

Severe weather affecting logistical transportation had become the French Army’s biggest challenge at the moment, even more troublesome than the Austrian army’s machine gun trenches.

After all, no matter how formidable machine gun trench tactics are, they can only provide static defense. With the technology of the time, charging into battle while carrying machine guns wasn’t possible.

These could impede the French Army’s path, but they couldn’t threaten its lifeline. Logistics, on the other hand, was a different matter—if there were problems there, the lives of the two million French soldiers would be in jeopardy.

Looking out the window, Marshal Patrice McMahon sighed. This war had started too hastily; France simply wasn’t prepared.

Who would have thought that the vast French Empire would be short of winter military clothing? In the end, they had to mobilize the nation to donate cotton clothes to barely solve the problem of keeping the soldiers warm.

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It wasn’t because French industry wasn’t strong enough. As the second-largest textile industry in the world, provided sufficient raw materials, millions of winter garments could have been produced in a month.

The problem was with the raw materials. Seventy percent of the raw materials for France’s cotton textile industry came from Egypt, and the outbreak of the war had devastated cotton production in the Egypt area.

Such a large gap was not easily filled. Even if they wanted to buy from the international market, not enough supplies were available.

You have to know, in those days, cotton was as crucial as food. Most producers had fixed partners, and to snatch it away from them would come at a great cost.

Capitalists didn’t have such a strong sense of the bigger picture. Without certainty about the war’s duration, investing huge sums to snatch cotton was not proportional to the risks involved.

Keep in mind that the French were very optimistic about this war, with the mainstream belief that the French Army would win within two to three months.

In such a short period, relying on reserves was believed to be sufficient, so there was no need to take the risk of investing heavily.

Theoretically speaking, if no one hoarded goods and there was reasonable distribution, France wouldn’t have been lacking supplies at this point.

But there was no way around it, the interests of many always trumped all. After the outbreak of the war, the prices just kept climbing day by day, setting a new high with each delay.

No one wants to quarrel with money, and under such conditions, the efficiency of the Paris Government’s bureaucracy naturally couldn’t be raised.

The slow pace of gathering supplies in the early stages directly resulted in the French Army’s inability to transport sufficient materials to the front line before winter, and with the snowfall, transport efficiency plummeted, and problems arose.

"Marshal, due to the heavy snow, the transport convoy, which was supposed to arrive today, has only just reached Trier, and it is expected to be delayed for a week before arriving.

This is already the third time this month that supplies have been delayed, from the beginning of the snowfall, we’ve never had supplies arrive on time."

Major General John, responsible for the French Army’s logistical transportation, reported with a bitter face.

Compared to the cushy jobs of logistics distribution, those responsible for transportation had a much tougher job, not only having to fix roads by themselves but also facing guerrilla attacks, and now they had to contend with the severe weather.

If that were all, it would be endurable, as transportation had its perks, which were enough to heal the wounded hearts of those involved.

The problem was that the civilian husbands responsible for the transportation were not so obedient, and they could strike if the tasks were too heavy. After all, no matter how abundant the perks, they didn’t trickle down to them.

There was no choice—conscripting local labor or using prisoners of war was too risky; you never knew when they might collaborate with guerrillas. Even if they didn’t join the guerrillas, the French Army couldn’t handle passive resistance or shoddy workmanship.

To ensure the safety of logistics, the civilian husbands involved in transportation were their own people, and once they stirred up trouble, the officers could only appease them.

Upon receiving the bad news, Marshal Patrice McMahon furrowed his brows and began to calculate quietly.

The French Army hadn’t pushed the front line to the Rhine River for long and often suffered heavy losses from enemy aerial attacks, leaving their reserves extremely limited.

Since the snow began, the French Army’s supplies had fallen into a state of insufficiency. Even though the intensity of frontline combat had recently decreased and consumption of supplies had reduced, it was still unsustainable for long.

There was no way around it, the consumption of ammunition might have decreased, but the need for heating supplies had increased. The Rhineland region did produce coal, but the German Army had destroyed the coal mines before their retreat, and it would take time to restore production capacity.

Most crucially, the locals were unwilling to cooperate. Under the influence of hatred, they simply ignored the demands of the French Army.

The war had just begun and was far from being decided, and even the opportunistic capitalists had not rushed to take sides. Only a very few had gone over to the French so early in the conflict.

After a long pause, Marshal Patrice McMahon slowly spoke, "Send a message back home, explaining our predicament, and request that the Army Department increases the number of transport units.

Order the logistics department to prioritize the delivery of ammunition and medicine; everyone else should think of ways to procure other materials locally as much as possible to reduce our logistical pressure."

Procuring supplies locally was certainly not an ideal solution. Relations between the French Army and the locals were already strained, and such actions would certainly fuel the growth of guerrilla movements.

"Marshal, when the enemy retreated, they inflicted extensive damage on the area, destroying infrastructure and burning supply warehouses.

The industrial capacity of Belgium and the Rhineland is indeed impressive, but without raw industrial materials, they are unable to produce supplies.

Especially considering that local production of food is not substantial and mainly relies on imports from Austria. Due to the war, the grain trade has been disrupted for nearly a month now.

Local food prices have skyrocketed, and social order has deteriorated rapidly. If we impose levies on grain now, I fear..."

Seeing Marshal Patrice McMahon’s expression grow increasingly grim, General Albert decisively chose to keep silent.

The problem was well known, but the French Army was also on the verge of running out of food. Even considering the severe consequences, Marshal Patrice McMahon now had no other choice.

After exchanging glances, General Udino, carrying the burden of his past errors, knew it was his turn to take the blame.

Owing a large debt is not burdensome when one’s reputation is already ruined; he did not care about one more vilification.

Taking on more blame could also win him favors, and he could have people speak on his behalf when the post-war settlements began, so he could avoid a trip to military court.

"Your Excellency, we cannot view the problem this way. After the outbreak of war, the local population was not completely unprepared.

As far as I know, the enemy did not burn all supplies when they retreated, and a significant portion of food was distributed to the locals. Borrowing some grain for emergency use shouldn’t be a major issue.

Apart from food, many of the supplies we need can be procured locally, such as coal.

If everyone is willing to put in the effort, I believe restoring the coal mines won’t be difficult. If we’re short on labor, we could use prisoners of war.

Set them a quota, if they fail to meet it, they go hungry. I believe they will concede.

For other materials, we’ll gather what we can, making do with as much as possible and if it’s insufficient, we’ll find ways to transport more from home.

If we are concerned about losing control of the situation, then we can simply expel the locals to the other side, effectively consuming the enemy’s supplies."

Udino merely voiced what everyone wanted to do but dared not undertake. Expelling the locals was not a significant issue from a military perspective, but the political consequences would be severe.

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This is the European Continent, not some remote colonial outpost. If the French Army expelled millions of locals, it would surely ignite widespread fury.

Especially for the many small countries in Europe, if the French could do this to Belgium and the Rhineland region today, similar events could potentially occur in their lands tomorrow.

Whether it’s due to empathy for the plight of others or for their own security, those small countries would likely stand against France.

Marshal Patrice McMahon fell silent. From the moment the plan to "live off the enemy" was implemented, the outcome of whether or not to expel the locals would ultimately be the same.

People are iron and food is steel; without a meal, they grow anxious with hunger. With no food in hand, the locals would be unable to stay even if they wanted to.

Fleeing famine was a matter of time, merely a question of direction. France was certainly not an option; refugees could either flee to Switzerland, Netherlands, or to the German Federation.

If the French Army moved to expel them, it would simply cause the refugees, who might have otherwise fled to Switzerland or the Netherlands, to all enter the German Federation, increasing the pressure on the Anti-French Alliance.

They were all their own people; the French Army might not offer relief to refugees, but the Allied Forces could not ignore them.

With several million more mouths to feed all at once, the Anti-French Alliance, no matter how wealthy or powerful, would feel the strain.