Every Monday afternoon, Paul. Feng. Hindenburg would come to the military school on time to give classes to everyone. For this afternoon's class, Chen Tian and everyone were very interested. Because Hindenburg would always tell them about the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, especially the series of battles in which he participated, and also explain the latest tactical ideas and weapon developments.

Chen Tian basically didn't know much about the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars before, only that Prussia completed the unification of Germany through these two wars. But under Lieutenant Colonel Hindenburg's description, he gradually learned about those two wars.

It was Hindenburg's last lesson, and he talked about one of the battles he remembered most of the Austro-Prussian War, the Battle of Swipp Forest.

On the morning of July 3, 1866, the Sweipp Forest in the Czech Republic was as quiet and peaceful as ever, and there was not the slightest hint of murder. At this moment, about 15,000 Austrian soldiers from 49 infantry battalions were slowly approaching with front-loading flintlock rifles in their hands. Hidden in the forest were a considerable number of Prussian soldiers. These advancing Austrian soldiers would never have imagined that Schweipp Forest would become their colossal grave. However, the cause was simple, because the guns in the hands of the Prussian soldiers were not the same as theirs.

War is the best catalyst for weapons, and the development of science and technology also promotes the continuous improvement of weapon performance. In 1835, the Prussian Dreisai succeeded in inventing the rear-loading rifle. The Dresser rifle uses a fixed-loading cartridge, ending the history of separate fires and bullets. Secondly, the Dresser rifle uses a firing needle firing device, which is already very similar to modern rifles, and it ends the 500-year history of rifles being loaded from the muzzle.

On June 20, 1866, Prussia and Austria committed a total of 500,000 troops to fight a major war unprecedented in the modern history of Europe.

The Prussian soldiers, armed with Dreiser rifles, under the command of Bismarck, known as the "iron-blooded prime minister", and Moltke, the chief of the general staff, used clever tactics and fierce firepower to defeat the Austrian army, which had always dominated Europe, retreated one after another. On 3 July, the Austrians, who had retreated to the Czech Republic, decided to counterattack, sending 49 infantry battalions to occupy Swop Forest, which was bound to become a sad place for them.

During the battle, the Prussian soldiers used the Dreiser rifles, which can fire 6~7 rounds per minute, lying on the ground and calmly and mercilessly firing at the Austrian soldiers, who could only operate the front-loading guns in their hands in vain in the rain of bullets. This is undoubtedly a massacre, because the firepower of 10,000 Prussian troops is equivalent to the firepower of 4~50,000 Austrian troops.

At the end of the battle, 4,580 Austrian soldiers lay dead in the forest, 6,942 were wounded, and 3,573 soldiers raised their hands as prisoners. The thrilling Austro-Prussian War ended after only 7 weeks. Prussia defeated Austria at the cost of only about 10,000 men, creating the conditions for the unification of Germany.

"Do you think that weapons can determine the outcome of a war?" Hindenburg asked after telling the story.

"Of course, but not quite. Sometimes the quality and morale of the army are also very crucial factors! One of the students replied.

"Also, the commander is also very important, and mediocre commanders tend to bury a good unit, like Napoleon III and his staff!" Another trainee added.

"So how do you make a good commander?" Hindenburg asked again.

"A good commander requires sensitive judgment, attention to the enemy, humility, patience, and many, many ......"

"A good intelligence system is also needed!" It seems that Thomas was interested in intelligence systems.

"Uh...... You are quite right, intelligence is also very important, know yourself and know your opponent, hehe! Hindenburg raised an eyebrow.

"So what do you think of the role of machine guns? For example, the Maxim heavy machine gun. Chen Tian suddenly asked.

"Well, in the autumn of 1888, Maxim came to our country to display his Maxim heavy machine gun, and His Majesty the Emperor visited the Spando Arsenal to see the performance. After the shooting, His Majesty was amazed and thought that this was exactly what our army needed. The Maxim machine gun can be operated with only one or two shooters, while our Gatling gun requires 4 soldiers to complete. His Majesty immediately ordered the troops to be mounted. But it was argued that this machine gun, despite the rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, was so poor in accuracy that it consumed a lot of bullets and was not as good as a platoon of soldiers firing! I would like to say that the person who reports this kind of thinking is wrong, very wrong! Hindenburg frowned, and continued:

"When the opposing side charges in a dense formation, the lethality of the machine guns is much greater than that of a row of rifle fire. The ridiculous Russians even stipulate that machine guns can only be used in defensive operations, and only in specific areas, what a stupidity! ”

Chen Tian nodded silently, it seems that Hindenburg's understanding of machine guns is still relatively correct, in fact, in the Battle of the Somme in World War I, the German army used Maxim heavy machine guns to fire fiercely and continuously at the British troops in dense formations, and the British army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties in one day.

"Then, I also want to test everyone, when the opponent's defensive position is well constructed and equipped with heavy artillery, if you are the commander, what tactics will you use to break through the opponent?" Hindenburg looked at his students with his hands behind his back, wondering what these children had learned during their six years at the military academy. It seemed to him that the children might say "bombard them with more heavy artillery" or "just confront them and drag them down", but the children's answers surprised him at first.

"Confuse them head-on, and then outflank them on both wings!"

"Cut off their back roads, and then use rumors to destroy their morale!"

"Shoot balloons with school, or send out small assault units, destroy their heavy artillery positions, and then slowly bombard their positions."

"Attack a little after each shelling, and then suddenly attack with all your might without shelling!"

Hindenburg closed his eyes and nodded.

"Concentrate all your firepower on a relatively weak section of the enemy's defensive line, then quickly pass through this position, and then in turn encircle and flank the enemy on other positions!"

Hindenburg opened his eyes, and the classroom fell silent, and everyone was taken aback by this strange thought, and then began to look for the source of the sound, and finally his eyes stayed on Chentian—the voice came from his side.

Chen Tian helplessly shook his shoulders and pointed at Ollie beside him. He felt that the current weapon situation did not seem to be able to use this kind of blitzkrieg thinking, after all, there was no concept of armored forces at this time. However, he still had plans to build tanks before World War I, and then use blitzkrieg tactics at that time. However, I don't know why Ollie suddenly had such an idea.

"Hahahaha! It's so whimsical! The classroom burst into laughter.

Hindenburg also shook his head, quickly passed? With cavalry? Easier said than done! I'm afraid that the opponent's artillery is already preparing when you are shelling with all your might! By the time you charge, the enemy's artillery fire and the remaining machine-gun fire from the position will tear these poor cavalrymen apart!

Ollie bowed his head aggrievedly and remained silent.

Chen Tian patted him on the shoulder and sighed softly: Talent!

"Your Highness, what is your opinion?" Hindenburg found that Chentian had not yet expressed his opinion, and that the young prince was usually the most problematic in class, and always expressed some opinions that surprised everyone, but these opinions were very effective when thought about carefully.

"My opinion is the same as Ollie!" Chen Tian said with a smile.

"Oh?" Everyone was amazed.

Even Ollie looked up at Tatsuten in surprise.

"Oh! Well, that's all for today! I'm very happy with your performance, and you'll be going to the Royal Army College after Christmas, so I hope you'll be studying hard there. You are the brightest students I have ever met, and the future of Germany depends on you! Hindenburg puffed out his chest and said loudly.

"I hope that when we meet again, I hope we can go to victory together!"

"Thank you, instructor!"

When the snow fell again, the first cadets of the Königsberg Cadet Military Academy graduated. On the graduation photo, the twenty-four teenagers are in high spirits......