In Bohemia, northern Austria, an Austrian army of 55,000 mixed with North German vassal states and South Austrian recruits was confronted head-on by a Prussian army of 25,000 who rushed over and tried to stop them.

The commander of this HRE-Austrian motley army was none other than the famous Austrian general Marshal Daun, who became famous in the Seven Years' War in history, and his opponent was also the fateful enemy general, Prince Moritz of Anhalt Dessau.

"I have a hunch that you're about to lose an uncle"

In front of the sand table, Peter shook his wine glass and said to Catherine with the corners of his mouth upturned.

"Oh, my uncle is a lot, may I ask Your Highness, who are you referring to?"

Catherine's eyelids twitched slightly, but asked quietly.

As for the fact that Peter is not 'really stupid', Catherine has actually found out a long time ago, but she has never said it, so that she herself has learned to 'pretend to be stupid'.

"The one who succeeded your father to the throne"

"Well, I see"

Catherine exhaled and smiled disdainfully.

Since Catherine's father was the only daughter of her, after her father's death, the territory of the Duchy of Anhalt passed to another German principality in accordance with the law of succession. Although both are related, the throne no longer belongs to Catherina.

"What? Don't you have anything to say? That's your own uncle."

Peter asked with a smile.

"Hehe, the current Empress of the Russian Empire is still the Grand Duke's aunt, why don't you say anything?"

Catherine glared at him with some annoyance.

"In fact, if these key battles are won, although the current situation can be temporarily improved, it is likely to drag Britain in, if this is the case, it will be difficult for the war to end within two years."

Peter ignored Catherine's quibbles, but changed the subject.

"I still don't understand, which side do you want to win this war, Your Highness?"

Catherine never figured out Peter's position, although both were actually from Germany, but as the future heir to the throne of the Russian Empire, their position was likely to attract unnecessary suspicion. In particular, Peter had previously openly proclaimed his admiration for Frederick the Great of Prussia, which was very undesirable for the nativists within Russia. For example, Prime Minister Bestuzhev and Field Marshal Apleksin Jr. in the cabinet are both representatives of the Russian nativists, which can be seen from the complex and sharp relationship between Peter's proposals that have been rejected many times.

"If it is on the side of the Crown Prince of the Russian Empire, I certainly hope that Russia will win. But the problem is that I am not the crown prince now, so what does it matter to me whether I win the battle or not? ”

Peter took a sip of wine and said in a gentle tone.

"I don't think Your Highness, you don't have a position, if that's what I guessed, Your Highness, you're probably hoping..."

"It's not interesting to talk about this anymore"

Peter interrupted Catherine.

"The Baltic Fleet is going to go out this afternoon, let's go and have a look"

"Oh? Do you still have time to watch this? ”

Catherine teased with some disbelieving.

"Of course, I'm looking forward to the great Russian Navy beating the Prussian Navy!"

Guo Zijing in Peter's body couldn't help but recall a movie he once watched, called "Fearless Admiral Gorzac", the movie is about the second half of the life of the last famous admiral in the imperial Russian era, which is embarrassing.

"Ask me a question, what do you think war is?"

Peter suddenly tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, as if he were playing a piano.

Why do you ask? It's a hard thing to explain at once, right? ”

Catherine asked rhetorically, somewhat confused.

"Tell me what, seeing that you've read so many tomes of philosophy, you must have some ideas of your own, right?"

"Your Highness, do you want to know what I really think?"

"Hey, you don't need to be so vigilant, do you? It's just a casual chat. Otherwise, I'll tell you what I think, and if you feel about it, how about giving your opinion? ”

"Hmm... Okay"

Catherine didn't understand what medicine was being sold in Peter's gourd, so she glanced at the clock on the chest of drawers by the wall, and wondered what tricks this guy was playing.

"Hehe, if you want to talk about it, there have been more than a thousand wars on the European continent alone since ancient times."

Peter opened in a strangely calm tone.

"Strip away the myths, gods and gods, gods and demons, gods and humans. The war between humans and demons, and the humans themselves alone, have carried out countless bloody killings of each other. But how do you define war? Is the conquest of barbarians by civilized people considered war? For example, Greece VS Persia? Is the conquest of believers of other gods in the name of God considered war? Like the Crusades? Is it a war when a few people or a dozen people fight each other? Or is a group fight between a group of children a war? ”

"War, of course, refers to conquests between nations, and in some cases also means conquests between nations"

Catherine rolled her eyes and looked at Peter, who was staring at her.

"Yes, war is not a fight between peasants and traders, nor is it a meaningless play between children, but a violent struggle for power and property in the name of justice or God, with a political background and political purpose. War, the first thing to fight for is power, the subordination between the ruling and the ruled. Whether the ruled pay tribute to the gods they worship or to the tax collectors, they are only part of the power that the ruler has. The occupation of land is also part of it, and part of the forced slavery of women and children in conquered territories, which is the supreme power that all those who wage wars expect"

"Your Highness's words are really straightforward enough"

In Europe, where religious forces still hold a high level of weight, there are very few people who dare to speak of the essence of the Thirty Years' Wars of Religion (1618-1648, fought mainly within the Holy Roman Empire, but with the intervention and influence of France, Sweden, Spain, Poland, the Pope, and other countries) as Peter did, even if the Protestant and Catholic alliances must have secretly scolded each other countless times.

"After Alexander the Great conquered Persia and Egypt, he built countless cities called Alexander, so what did Alexander the Great start the war for? Is it to engrave your name on the top of the eaves of the town hall for people to worship and sing forever? Was it to take revenge for the plundering of the Greek world by the Persian Empire? Is it to regain the glory of Athens, the city of the gods destroyed by the Persians? Was it to force the Persians to bow down to the gods Zeus and Olympus instead? Oh yes, Alexander the Great said that his dream was to see what the end of the world would look like, but the Persians, Egyptians, and Indians blocked his view, so he had to go to war. Hehe, then why, as soon as Alexander the Great died, his empire fell apart in an instant? ”

"If Alexander the Great had not died young, but had ruled for decades, all the people in the conquered regions would have surrendered."

Catherine pouted.

"Hehe, who knows, but history can't be assumed. Of course, it may be the case, if Alexander the Great had not been hit by that arrow, his empire might have been able to change the face of the world now. However, there is a question here, why did Alexander the Great hit that arrow? Is this just an accident, or is it a necessity? ”

"Anything can happen on a chaotic battlefield, it must have been just by chance"

"Hehe, I won't mention the far one, let's talk about the near, if Charles, Duke of Burgundy, had not died in battle, then the current France may have changed its name (after Charles, Duke of Burgundy, died in battle, the Duchy of Burgundy was divided between France and Austria, and the former vassal state Netherlands was established after breaking away from Burgundy, and Austria's Flanders, that is, Belgium, were derived from this). Have you noticed a commonality between Alexander the Great and the Duke of Burgundy? ”

"Commonality? Is it because both of them led their troops to recruit themselves? ”

Syllable!

"Exactly!"

Peter laughed and snapped his fingers.

"If both of them stay at the back of the army and are only in charge, it must be difficult to be killed by the enemy, right? And even if the army is defeated, it is easy to leave the battlefield. However, they all chose to put on their own battles, and they took the lead and did it themselves, which was of course a heroic act that could easily inspire their own soldiers to be warriors. However, if they are seriously injured or even killed as the heads of a country, it will not only bring a decline in the combat effectiveness of the army, but also the turmoil of the entire country, and ambitious people will take advantage of the chaos, no matter how large the empire will fall apart. Therefore, war is not a battle between two armored knights with guns, but a contest of overall strength between two or more countries. War is not at all as romantic as in a fairy tale, Prince Charming, but a tragic life-and-death struggle between many people who do not know each other. For this reason, states ruled by often chivalrous kings were particularly vulnerable to collapse, as was the case with the Duchy of Burgundy and the Duchy of Paletinnay. Therefore, a war that seems to be very crazy, barbaric, and irrational has extremely high rationality, wisdom, endurance, and all kinds of inhuman requirements for the commanders behind the scenes.

"Hmm... That's true."

Ekaterina nodded in agreement.

On the other hand, the current European battlefield is still playing hypocritical tricks among the nobles, such as what should not be shot at the aristocratic officers, should not be fought to the death, should not be shot in the back, there are countless unbelievable examples. Hehe, it's just a group of executioners who treat their soldiers as cheap consumables, but what etiquette does they talk about with the enemy. Sooner or later, such a war will be subverted."

Peter couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the armies of the European aristocracy that had been beaten and fled by Napoleon's revolutionary France in normal history.

"But shouldn't civilized people fight war in a civilized way?"

Now Catherine could not understand.

"During the Roman Republic, Hannibal successfully attacked the Romans with a mere 30,000 Carthaginian troops, bypassing the Alps that were still a moat at that time, and was called Hannibal's ghost by the cowards; Attila, the king of the Huns, was called the whip of God by the spokesman of God, and killed the Roman Empire in half; Genghis Khan, the Great Khan of Tatars, the king of kings, killed 200,000 people from Siberia to the banks of the Danube, slaughtered countless cities... Let me ask, was civilization destroyed by barbarism, or was it barbarism that conquered civilization? If barbarism conquers civilization, does that mean that civilization is not as barbaric as strong? If so, does sticking to the rules of those civilizations really guarantee that the next war can be won? ”

"This... However, a powerful civilization cannot be conquered by barbarism. ”

Catherine said to herself, "You're quibbling."

"Well, according to what you said, a strong civilization is enough to resist the barbarians, so how strong is strong? Wasn't the Roman Empire strong? Even though it was divided into two Romes, East and West, Eastern Rome (Byzantium) lasted for a thousand years before it came to an end. Want to say that the Roman Empire is exhausted? However, Eastern Rome also had the glory of the time of Justinian the Great, recovering more than 1/2 of the Roman Empire."

"That's... That's because Justinian the Great had such an outstanding general as Belisarius, and without Belisarius, Justinian would not have been able to build such a great cause."

"Hehe, let's put it this way, if you compare age to the various periods of a country, the barbarians led by Attila, the king of the Huns, and Genghis Khan, the king of kings, are all in the state of young and middle-aged, and they are facing old and frail opponents like the Roman Empire and the Arab Empire, which are naturally overwhelming. However, the Eastern Rome of Justinian's time was a reborn empire of dead wood, which is why there was a generation of famous generals like Belisarius. The Roman Republic was also a young and strong man, although he was attacked by Hannibal, but then he gave birth to a famous general who could match Pia, and finally annihilated Hannibal and Carthage, and since then, there has been no strong enemy on the road to the rise of Rome. One more point, did you find out? The empires of Attila and Genghis Khan, like the states of Alexander the Great and the Duke of Burgundy, fell apart in just a few decades, and did not realize the great cause of the thousand-year-old empire"

"Well, because Attila, the king of the Huns, and Genghis Khan, the king of kings, were also kings who led their armies to conquer in person, one was killed because of defeat, and the other died of old age... Oh no, Genghis Khan did not die on the battlefield, but died of illness on the way to conquer Hungary, so it can be regarded as the same situation... Right? ”

Ekaterina realized that she had been encircled, and could not help but look at Peter with a pleading look.

"Genghis Khan fought in his old age by relying on his group of famous generals, but his death did affect the final outcome of the battle, because the succession of the Tatars was uncertain, and his sons had to fight each other for the throne of the Great Khan, so they were bound to retreat. This is also the most uncertain place on the road to the rise of the barbarians, and it is all up to luck to give birth to an immortal god king. The Huns came out with Attila, destroyed Sassanid Persia, destroyed all the barbarians from the entire Caspian Sea to Eastern Europe, and destroyed Western Rome; The Tatars produced Genghis Khan, unified the entire Siberian steppe, and destroyed several powerful empires on the eastern and western continents in just a few decades. However, luck is not always on the same side, as soon as the god king died, the entire country suddenly lost the king who could condense the loose sand into an iron fist, and naturally it quickly collapsed. It's just that if you want to condense the loose sand into an iron fist, you also need extraordinary talent and natural ruthlessness. For example, Ivan the Terrible, the first tsar of our Russian Empire, such as my grandfather Peter the Great, all wiped out all opponents and eliminated all future troubles, so as to successfully maintain the empire for decades strong, which is exactly what all strong people must go through first! ”

Peter said excitedly.

"I think of two sentences, that the political conduct of the monarch should not be bound by moral norms, but should be based entirely on the principle of practical effectiveness; At the same time, the monarch must also know how to use human and animal nature... What you have just said, Your Highness, is in line with these two principles in Machiavelli's Treatise on the Monarch. However, in the "Treatise on the Monarch", it is also mentioned that "the monarch should make the people fear, but not hate", but if the monarch does not win a foreign war, there will be chaos in the country, right? The Western Roman Empire was constantly defeated, reparations, ceded land, and retreated, causing frequent civil strife, slaves in various places revolted, resulting in the people's livelihood, the destruction of manor land, the spread of disease and food famine, so that the Wandal and Goths, allies and vassals who had resisted the Huns together, would also take the opportunity to fight back, and even set themselves up as kings, cutting flesh and drinking blood from the Western Roman Empire."

Ekaterina frowned slightly, and didn't seem to agree very much.

"Yes, victory is what brings the sand together, for victory means fame, glory, wealth, land, women, and, of course, power, which only the conqueror has the right to distribute and share the spoils of war. Moreover, it is necessary to win not only one war, but every war, but every time you lose, you lose a part of your power, or what should be called the weight of power. The weight of this power is on everyone who tries to resist. Every time the weight is reduced, it will arouse some of the rebels, which is very fatal. And the fall of the king and the change of dynasty mean that the weight and pressure of power have suddenly weakened significantly, the supreme deterrence of royal power is no longer there, and those who resist rise up, and the country will definitely perish."

"That being said, it is precisely because the power is concentrated in the monarch alone, if the monarch has an accident, even if it is a bright monarch, the policies he pursues will often come to an abrupt end in his successor, such as the various policies formulated by Peter the Great, which were difficult to implement or even abolished during the reign of the later tsars, and were not restored until Empress Elizabeth ascended the throne..."

For Elizabeth I, who was not a mother-in-law, Catherine had an indescribable feeling, both afraid and admired, even if she was an opponent, she was also like a master and apprentice.

"Although the Russian Empire has not fought a single foreign war in these years, the empire is still stable under the rule of the empress, and it is difficult for former enemies such as the Ottomans and Sweden to have a chance to attack, doesn't this just show that peace also has a strong deterrent effect?"

"Hey, peace, someone once said this"

Peter smiled with the corners of his mouth upturned.

"'Peace is to prepare for winning the next war', you have to understand that war is never for peace, but for politics and power. Whoever holds the power, whether it is the emperor, the king, the regent, or the court chancellor, the prime minister, the consul, the speaker, or the like, as long as they have power in their hands, they have the desire to wage war, because it is only through war, or all preparations for war, that they can strengthen their power and get the power they want, which was once owned by others. Of course, it may be possible to solve it diplomatically, through negotiations, but that is based on having a strong army. If the Russian Empire did not have a sufficiently strong army, would the Ottomans send emissaries to St. Petersburg? I'm afraid that even if I don't cede the land, I will have to pay tribute, right? In my opinion, the Russian army is not strong enough, if it can have a strong army like Prussia that is enough to make the surrounding neighbors fearful, what Austria, France, Britain, Ottoman, Spain are not a problem at all, with Russia's vast vast territory and harsh cold winter, no country or union of states can take advantage of the Russian land! ”

Speaking of this, Peter couldn't help but sneer.

"Another point is that if the ruler of a monarchy or a republic has not considered foreign wars, then his country must have a strong enough army to protect itself, otherwise all peace is a joke. As I said earlier, the weight of power must be reflected in a practical and intuitive way to subdue the forces of all sides. For example, in the United Kingdom, although the House of Commons can reflect the will of a certain number of people, the House of Commons has not cut any of the Royal Navy's financial expenditures, why is that? Of course, only a strong enough navy can protect that small projectile island, and can transport the expensive goods of the British colonies back to the British mainland, and then sell these expensive goods to St. Petersburg at a higher price, and earn Russian taxes that are already beyond their means. It must be made clear that war is always in the service of politics, and if the premise of ensuring political stability is enough gold, then the purpose of war is to capture the enemy's gold. The essence of war is the same regardless of the state or the form of government! ”

"It's... How so? ”

Catherine sighed again and again, her heart surging and shocking.

"Understanding the nature of war raises several other questions: how to win the war, and how to keep the country strong and stable after winning it. However, let's talk about it here today, I still have things, you can also think about it in depth, and it is not too late to discuss it when you have the opportunity in the future."

"Huh? But..."

Looking at Peter, who was leaving in a hurry, Ekaterina felt a sense of grievance that she couldn't exerbate.