Europe in October 1909 was undoubtedly in the shadow of war, even if the European bigwig Britain had a very strong will for neutrality. Prime Minister Asquith's call for peace was completely ignored by Germany, France, and Russia, which were completely at war...... All sides have clearly entered into the most frantic preparations before the war!

On 17 October, less than 10 days after Germany declared war on Russia, the British government sent an official note to Germany, France, Austria, and Russia, which had entered the war, hoping that Britain would take the lead in convening negotiations on the territorial dispute in London.

On the 18th, the Russian Empire demonstrated its dissatisfaction with the neutrality of Britain with unusually resolute military action...... After the declaration of war, the Russian War Ministry showed the ability to mobilize military forces that surprised the whole of Europe, and in just half a month, with the help of Black Sea shipping and reinforcements from the Moldovan direction, the deployment was completed one after another.

At noon on the 19th, when the war order was issued from St. Petersburg, Beijing also received a warning from Britain that it was obviously not in Britain's interests to break out of a full-scale war in Europe, so at least in the current situation, Asquith's cabinet in London obviously hoped to reduce the scale of the war and make full use of the British Empire's balance of power diplomacy to solve the problem.

On the map of the European war situation hanging high by the General Staff Department, on the border between Russia and Austria-Hungary, small double-headed eagle flags have been planted, and the 4th Army Corps of Salza, the 5th Army Corps of Previ, and the 3rd Army Corps of Rusky commanded by General Ivanov on the southwestern front form an inverted triangle layout. Two arrows of the main army that burst forward. Up to Ivangorod and the Galician region of Romania.

But the counterpart to it is. Austria-Hungary has obviously had shortcomings in the strength of the northern front, the reinforcements of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have just entered the northern border of Hungary, and on the long border line with Russia, the Austro-Hungarian First Army and the Third Army are on the Košice-Olomouc line, with only more than 400,000 corps-level troops, in addition, there are dozens of local troops who speak various ethnic languages to participate in the defense......

It is clear that the Russian War Ministry planned this military operation very carefully. And in less than half a month, the military movement was perfectly carried out, and the necessary military superiority for the war was obtained!

"Russia is going to do it first!"

"Poland's southern front and Hungary's eastern front, pressing two and a half corps, it is said that it is 800,000 troops, and the Russians' soldiers are really willing to use it!"

"Didn't the Russians also pile up militias in Siberia in the early years...... This move is so rapid, it will not fail to learn the lessons of the last time on the Eastern Front in Siberia! ”

"The Russians did a pretty good job this time, I don't know where they're going to punch next! Lublin in the Polish direction? Or the Garcia border at the far corner of the Eastern Front? ”

“……”

The officers had already put Austria-Hungary in a position of military disadvantage by surrounding the military exercises of Austria-Hungary and Russia, and in the confidential conference room of the Ministry of Military Affairs a few dozen meters away, Qin Kai was listening to the military report on the European war made by Lieutenant Colonel Wu Peifu. This square-faced, flat-headed staff is a new cutting-edge, and the northern front has been released for several years. In terms of army management and military literacy, he was remarkable, and was recently transferred back to the Ministry of Military Affairs.

The content of Wu Peifu's report is also a staff summary that was completed just an hour ago, and from an overall point of view, it shows a higher vision than those small staff officers in the staff office......

“…… Russia has an advantage in military strength, and according to the intelligence of General Ivanov, this is a shrewd Russian, so we do not think that the main battlefield of Russia will not be chosen on the western front of Poland, although the terrain is open, but the German Kurmo Army is stationed on the western side, this will be a mortal threat, the Russians should not risk being attacked by Germany and Austria-Hungary to break through! ”

Speaking of this, the Chief of the General Staff, Maze, interjected: "Chairman, the special envoy we sent has arrived in the port of Hamburg earlier than the cargo ship and is communicating with the German General Staff...... Therefore, the attack of the German Kurmo Army on the Russians from the flank, I am afraid, will not happen, at least in the short term...... However, the Russians will not believe it! ”

This immediately drew a burst of laughter, and what Maze said was obviously the truth, and if anyone here was allowed to take the place of General Ivanov, he would certainly not believe any of the Germans' promises, and the combat effectiveness of the German Army, even if it was from the Russians, would not be taken lightly.

Qin Kai nodded, the changes in the entire European war situation have long exceeded the history he is familiar with, but Russia and Austria-Hungary still cannot escape the fate of the fuse of the whole Europe, after all, the long national border between these two countries and the irreconcilable contradictions surrounding the Balkan Peninsula have finally forced the two countries to the center of the stage of the duel.

Although there was no telegram from the Balkans until now, it was not at all important, the wheels of war in Europe were already rolling in and unstoppable, and now, even the European powers, who were about to be in the depths of the war, did not expect that they would uncover the horrors of Pandora's box, and now the brunt of it was the million-strong army deployed by the Russian Empire on the Eastern Front.

Qin Kai listened thoughtfully to Wu Peifu's regular exposition of the current Balkan war situation, even if he had the foresight to cross the crowd, he could not predict the direction of this world war at all now, not to mention the staff officers of the General Staff who were facing hundreds of various contradictory news tens of thousands of kilometers away? Of course, China must gain from this European war, and this is the only benchmark for itself and the Baath Party.

"According to our judgment of the situation, the greatest possibility for the Russian army is to squeeze the military power of the Ottoman Empire from the Eastern Front, if ...... If the Russians were able to quickly assemble superior forces on the Eastern Front to defeat or annihilate an Ottoman Army Group, it would pose the deadliest threat to all of Hungary, in which case the only Austro-Hungarian barrier on the Eastern Front would be the fortress of Pumiger, 70 kilometers away, if Germany did not intervene in the war...... We believe that it is very difficult to succeed in relying on fortresses to block a country's attack......"

Soon. Another staff officer stood up and reported on the war forecast and the Chinese military's contingency plan. In the face of overwhelming military superiority of the Russian Empire. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which almost followed the German military system, had an excellent command system, the Austro-Hungarian Wehrmacht, which was filled with dozens of armies of different languages in one corps, had huge hidden dangers in combat power from the point of view of the Chinese soldiers, so the basic arguments for the war on the Eastern Front were not optimistic about the war on the Eastern Front. But at the same time, the question of the logistical supply capacity of the Russians was determined to be the best advantage for Austria-Hungary to have a chance to counterattack......

For the orderly and efficient operation of the Ministry of Military Affairs today, Qin Kai is naturally quite satisfied, at least, the officers from the Nanyang Department are all devoted to the construction of this huge military system, and continue to invest in the front-line training, although after more than ten years of peacetime, but with the operation of the sergeant major and other mature systems. The army still retains the combat power it needs.

He turned his head sideways and muttered a few words to Xu Shoushan, who was scribbling on the small notebook, and the two temporarily got up and walked to the small balcony on the side. Waiting for a cigarette, Qin Kai asked: "Yushan, how is the European front fighting, in fact, I am not worried, I am somewhat worried on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, we are stuck in the Panama Canal, the Americans may have already discovered the pain, they are willing to continue to bear it, or come out to provoke trouble, we must resolutely and thoroughly prepare for this battle!" ”

Xu Shoushan's black face raised slightly, from the admiral to the commander of the three armies, he naturally felt a heavy responsibility, especially at this extraordinary moment, he naturally understood Qin Kai's worries, let himself control the main fleet composed of these 30 battleships, but he had to detour 12,000 kilometers to reach the other side of his own territory, and estimated that he would have to consider fighting for the Panama Canal no matter what!

"Chairman, our main warships may still be close in terms of numbers, but the Yankees' navy has been wiped out by us once, if we dare to provoke this time, Tang Qingshan's goods can't wait...... The only problem is that we can't take the initiative, which makes us a little passive! Speaking of this, Xu Shoushan couldn't help but smile again.

The strange expression of this cargo naturally can't be concealed from Qin Kai, those guys in the Admiralty have long been unhappy with the 30 or so battleships of the Yankees, and the commander of the Nantian Pingyang Fleet moved to Panama, making it clear that he is preparing to deal with the Yankees, but in the name of "protecting the interests of friends in South America", as for when to make a move, the Americans can choose the time, and these staff officers of the Admiralty have obviously been thinking about choosing their own time for a long time!

"Yushan, let me tell you the truth, there is not much room for us to choose sides in the European war, the national interests are there, the British and the Americans are white after all, so we want people to be willing to give away benefits, the opportunity is really not big, there is another problem, we and Russia in the north, we must seek a solution, in a few years, there may be an opportunity to re-dà, this matter has been operating secretly for a long time...... So, if Britain were to go to war, we would inevitably be in the opposite position, rather than hitchhiking! ”

Xu Shoushan naturally understood what Qin Kai meant, this conversation was very brief, but it involved almost all of China's current overseas interests at once, and this is actually consistent with the imaginary enemy deduction that the Ministry of Military Affairs has been coming, and now it is even clearer...... If Britain enters the war, China will have to break with Britain for the benefit of the Pacific, and while the British Indian Ocean Fleet will not be able to threaten the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, Panama will be the eye of the storm for the entire naval war.

Just as the two of them were deliberating in a low voice, Xu Shoushan's adjutant Chen Long walked over quickly and said in a low voice: "Chairman, commander-in-chief, an urgent telegram has been sent from the Eastern Front, and it seems that the Austro-Hungarian Third Army is collapsing!" ”

Go to pieces...... This news made Qin Kai also surprised, not to mention Xu Shoushan, you know, the military quality of the Austro-Hungarian Army has always been quite recognized by the military circles of all countries in the world, although their army is really mixed, but the overall command efficiency is still very good, efficient command efficiency, means more efficient combat efficiency, especially in defensive warfare!

However, it seems that the war has only started for half a day, and it takes at least two hours for the telegraph to be transmitted through the wireless channel at the fastest speed, which means that the Austro-Hungarian Wehrmacht, which is responsible for the extremely important defense of the Eastern Front, is facing collapse in less than half a day...... That seems a bit outrageous, right...... Could it be that Ivanov played with god-like command ability? (To be continued......)