Vienna, the capital of civilization and music in central Europe, the economic and political center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which for many years was known for its unfortified indefence, now its inhabitants are terrified by its unfortification.

After the Battle of St. Pölten, the Austrians' confidence was low to freezing point.

It was an extraordinary victory, and even the army command in Berlin cheered.

However, Austria-Hungary did not give up its resistance because of this.

At 7 p.m., eight hours after the German invasion of Austria-Hungary and the end of the Battle of St. Pelten, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Berlin and the Russian ambassador to Berlin successively presented an ultimatum to the German government, in which Austria-Hungary demanded that Germany withdraw all its troops within 12 hours, and the Russians demanded 24 hours.

Both countries requested a reply from Germany by 7 a.m. the next day.

As the emperor of the German Empire and the initiator of the lightning plan, Chen Tian received the news and content of the ultimatum issued by Russia and Austria at the first time, and he could not be more satisfied with the development of the situation. After all, Austria-Hungary, the second most powerful country in post-war Europe, not only failed to respond promptly and effectively to a large-scale German invasion, but also showed staggering inefficiency in its government and diplomatic institutions.

As a person who has come over, Chen Tian can't help but think of the Third Reich in another world, in 1938, Germany took advantage of the concessions and compromises of Britain and France and the assistance of pro-German and Nazi elements, successively annexed Austria and the Sudetenland region of the Czech Republic, and the following year annexed the entire Czechoslovakia without a single shot by the same means, followed by a blitzkrieg of Poland, invasion of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the defeat of France, until 1940, Nazi Germany not only occupied 14 European countries, but also Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia became their own vassals, which is undoubtedly a jaw-dropping feat from a purely political and military point of view.

For Chentian, taking advantage of the death of the opposing monarch, he invaded a sovereign country with a land, population, and military strength similar to his own. Again, quite a challenge.

When Stresemann handed over the ultimatum document of Austria-Hungary and Russia to himself, Chen Tian didn't even look at it, picked up his pen, and drew two big crosses on it.

"Your Majesty, this will lead to a war!" Stresemann said in a calm tone.

"But the initiative is in our hands!" Chen Tian confidently told Stresemann that the war would only cause the opponent to panic.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" As Foreign Secretary, Stresemann said no more. I went out with the papers.

After this, Chen Tian summoned his attendant officer, "Go and inform the senior generals of the War Department, the Navy Department, and the Air Force Department that I am going to hold a military meeting in front of the Emperor!" ”

"Now? Your Majesty! The attendant asked, it was 7:3 p.m., and although it was not very late, it was night.

"Yes," he said, "Yes, I think the field marshals and generals of the Army should be in the Army High Command at this moment to celebrate the victory of St. Pelten, as for the Admiralty and the Air Force." Call Field Marshal Boer, His Royal Highness Prince Heydrich, Admiral Scheer, Vice Admiral Zecht! ”

"Yes. Your Majesty! ”

On this day, the squire, though loyal, was not as aura as Jonalet. That is, a little bit of muna. Poor Jonalet is still in his hospital bed, and according to doctors, it will be at least a few months before he can walk on the ground, and it is uncertain whether he will be disabled.

As Chen Tian had guessed, the army generals gathered at the headquarters one by one, so only half an hour later, they all appeared in front of Chen Tian.

"You are summoned for a very important matter!" When Chen Tian said this, the generals' expressions were very expectant, and the news of the victory in St. Pölten came not long ago. They probably thought that the emperor was going to make a big reward, but seeing that the three heavyweights of the Admiralty were also there, they felt that things were far from so simple.

"Just over an hour ago, Austria-Hungary and Russia sent a foreign letter to our country, demanding that we withdraw our troops from Austria and Bohemia within a day!"

"What?" Most of you didn't know about the news yet, and were somewhat surprised. You must know that during the day, Russia, the United States and other countries were even asking the German government about the truth of this matter, and the diplomats of Austria-Hungary only conveyed Vienna's request for a suspension of the conflict to Berlin over and over again. Unexpectedly, just a few hours later, Austria-Hungary and Russia delivered an ultimatum.

But. Even so, it seemed to most people that Vienna was too slow to react, and if it was not clear what was going on when it was invaded, it would have been clear by the afternoon.

"Of course we won't withdraw our troops!" Chen Tian said calmly.

"That's right, never withdraw troops!" The generals responded one after another.

"What is after the ultimatum, I think everyone understands very well! So, we need to prepare early, and I've decided to do a national mobilization from tomorrow! Do you have any objections? After that, Chen Tian looked at everyone present very seriously.

The meaning of the ultimatum and the national mobilization is very clear to the generals below, and after only a few minutes of sitting here, they were taken aback twice in a row, and most of them were still a little uncomfortable at once.

Don't discuss it much, Chen Tian said again:

"If everyone has no opinion, I will convey my decision to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in a moment!"

The emperor's words surprised everyone even more, and his calm expression was telling everyone that he had made a decision, and that you had just come to listen to the oracle in advance.

There are many factors to be considered in determining whether or not to carry out a general mobilization, some of which are political and some are military, and once the general mobilization is announced, it will have a major impact on the economy, industry, agriculture, and other aspects of the entire country. Normally, the emperor would carefully discuss the mobilization decision with senior generals and cabinet ministers, especially when other countries have not mobilized, and it takes a lot of determination to make this decision.

But for now, it seems that this decision is only part of the Kaiser's strategy.

Several of the older marshals were still considering, and the younger generals expressed their support, and the voices of "mobilization" came and went.

Field Marshal Carl von Bilow, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Prince Heydrich and Admiral Naval Marshal, and Admiral Boll looked at each other, and after a brief exchange of glances, Marshal Bilow took the lead and stood up:

"Your Majesty, it's time for us to teach the enemy a hard lesson!"

Chen Tian nodded with great satisfaction, "Then." Tomorrow morning we will issue a general mobilization order to the whole country! The War Office assembled the reserves according to the mobilization schedule, and the assembled 125 divisions were divided into two parts, one to be deployed in the German-Austrian border area, and the other to East Prussia and Poland, remembering, all troops were deployed along the railway, ensuring that large-scale movements could be carried out at any time! In addition, the formation of the 4th and 5th armies of the armored army. The two armies are scattered and assembled for training! The Admiralty, with 3 capital ships from the North Sea Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet, plus the aircraft carriers USS Lisa and USS Prince, will form a new mixed fleet, with Admiral Schell as the commander of the fleet, ready to sail for the Mediterranean at any time! 20-25 additional submarines were deployed to the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean, and the Baltic Fleet reconnaissance cordon was advanced to the Gulf of Finland! Air Department, form a new fighter brigade of 2, attack aircraft brigade 2, bomber brigade 3, zeppelin brigade 2! ”

The generals took orders one by one, and in military affairs, the Kaiser was much more professional than Wilhelm II. This is no longer surprising to everyone.

After nightfall. General Fleming allocated a portion of his armored forces to continue eastward, while the rest of his troops joined Admiral Demlin's 1st Army to clean up the battlefield and enjoy dinner. In order to show the forgiveness of the German Empire, the German army specially invited the captured Austrian officers and soldiers to dine together. The officers and men of the two armies, who had met each other not long ago, quickly sat down together, chatted while eating, and finally did not forget to exchange gifts.

After this, although the Germans occupied the city of St. Pölten, the soldiers strictly followed the orders of their superiors and did not offend the local residents. After the occupation of the railway station, the German officers and soldiers were surprised to find that this important railway junction in northeastern Austria was actually well preserved, and there were even several steam locomotives parked on the tracks!

Fleming then ordered his main force to advance east along the railway line, waiting for the arrival of trains from the rear. Two infantry divisions of General Dimlin advanced by train towards Vienna.

Towards midnight, both forces halted their advance 20 kilometers from Vienna on orders of the Army High Command, and until then neither Fleming's armoured forces nor Dimlin's infantry had met with Austrian resistance.

At this time, in Rosenheim, less than 30 kilometers from the German-Austrian border, a large number of airship troops have been assembled, and they will bring infinite surprises to the world in the coming day.

Just after midnight on February 2, 1916, the news of the Kaiser's national mobilization order, whether intentionally or unintentionally, was made known to many foreign ambassadors and ministers in Berlin. Since then, diplomats from various countries have put their skills and tools to work. The news was soon confirmed from German government officials.

In the night sky of Berlin, the radio waves are invisible, and the news of Germany's preparation for a national mobilization is transmitted to the outside world and to the whole world in the shortest possible time.

On such a night, hundreds of thousands of German officers and soldiers who crossed the German-Austrian border were still on the march. In Bohemia, the main forces of the upper group under the command of General von Mackensen had already arrived in Prague, and with the assistance of the Grand Duke of Bohemia and his family, most of the local garrisons in Bohemia had given up resistance, and the transportation facilities such as railways, roads, and bridges had been preserved. Through Prague, a hub of rail and road transport, Admiral von Mackensen's forces were rapidly spreading to all corners of Bohemia, and it was only a matter of time before the whole of Bohemia was occupied.

As for Admiral Hausen's lower group, although the progress was not as rapid as that of the upper group, which had a strong internal response, the speed of the advance was satisfactory - after entering Austria, the lower group advanced in two directions with the 1st and 2nd Panzer Corps as arrows, and at dusk the previous day, the 1st Panzer Corps, assisted by the 1st Army, broke through the main force of the defense of St. Bolten with a blitzkrieg, and the vanguard immediately approached Vienna, which was a step away from St. Bolten; The 2nd Panzer Army, the 5th Army, and the 4th Army, which "rushed to the sea", met hardly any decent resistance from the Austrians, and their main forces had already reached the Graz Basin in southern Austria, and would soon enter the Duchy of Caniola, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, the Kingdom of Dalmatia, and the Coastal Provinces, of which the Duchy of Caniola and the Coastal Provinces were ready to meet them, and only the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and the Kingdom of Dalmatia could meet resistance, But the defenses of the two kingdoms were barely able to defend themselves against a powerful German invasion.

Two hours later, at 2 a.m. on February 3, the new Empress Diana I of Russia was awakened by her attendants on a special train near Belarus, and the shocking news was clearly reported to her by a telegram from St. Petersburg.

"National mobilization?" Linda, who had just woken up from her sleep, was still a little sleepy-eyed, wearing a big nightdress and a shawl, she looked more like a young ** than a ruler with a lot of means, and she was the ruler of two huge empires!

Before she even had time to get dressed, Linda summoned the accompanying intelligence chief Akinfeiv in her carriage. Akinfev was a 52-year-old thoroughbred Russian who was the undersecretary of army intelligence during the era of Nun Ra II, who was abandoned after Aglini came to power and was later assassinated. It was at this time that Linda extended a helping hand to him, and at the same time gained the allegiance of the old minister. After Aglini's death, with Linda's support, the veteran intelligence officer rose to the position of the top commander of the army's intelligence department at the speed of a rocket, and in just one month successfully took over most of the intelligence networks and senior intelligence officials of the Agrini period - despite the lack of funds and talents, the intelligence network of the Tsarist Empire was still spread throughout Russia, and there were many secret contact points and outposts around the world.

"This information was confirmed by our diplomats and the spy service in Berlin! Unfortunately, the Kaiser did sign this mobilization order more than 5 hours ago! Akinfeif reluctantly told his new master that the Germans were really ready for a national mobilization.

"Crazy!" Linda couldn't help but burst out of her mouth with such a word, in the face of the ultimatum of the two great powers of Russia and Austria, the Germans actually made the decision of general mobilization so quickly. The result of the national mobilization is well known, either one side will succumb or it will be war!