Chapter 144: The Czech Principality (4)
The appointment of new magistrates was soon announced by the Czech Cabinet, and to the surprise of most of the aristocracy, some of them were still among them, and there were even some old men with considerable local influence. But no one was stupid, and soon the nobles saw clearly the reason and purpose of Masséna's compromise.
Future? Let's talk about the future as it looks like in the future! Now I can fight for some more interests for my family, and you don't see those nobles in Moravia, although they have lost their land, they still live very freely, and even more economically relaxed than them.
Industry could also have a great influence in the local area, but it was a pity that Ernst would not give them this opportunity, but at this time these nobles did not know this, and they still had the luxury of having a relaxed economy and at the same time being able to sit as their own emperor as in the past.
The administrative regions of the Czech principality are divided into oblasts, counties, cities, and counties, and the 14 oblasts all have a local garrison military district, and the number of regular troops under the jurisdiction of the military district ranges from 3,000 to 5,000.
The head of the garrison military district is generally a lieutenant general, and the military sub-district (county) is a major general or brigadier general.
At this time, the Royal Army had been reorganized, and more than 100,000 elite soldiers were reorganized into 10 Royal Army divisions, and at this time, all of these 10 Royal Army divisions were transferred to the easternmost part except for 2 to defend Prague, ready to go to the border between the Allies and Russia to support the small number of German troops at any time.
This was a deal between Kaiser Wilhelm II and Ernst, the Czech Duchy would help Germany defend its positions on the Eastern Front in the event of a future war, and Germany would unconditionally share the German Empire's scientific and military data, and in addition they would pay the Czech Duchy six divisions of field armaments, including Germany's new artillery and a dry of ammunition.
Ernst had no reason to refuse this deal, and once the war broke out, Ernst would inevitably fully support the German Empire, because once the German Empire fell, then the Czech Republic would also be exposed to Russia. How can the Czech principality, which has an army of no more than 100,000 in the country, resist a million Russian troops like wolves?
As the first marshal of the Czech principality, Andrei was under more pressure than anyone else, and the Czech Republic was no longer a region but a country, and his fall was completely different from before. If Ernst had a way out before the establishment of the Czech Duchy, then now he no longer has even a way out, the Czech Duchy is his everything, and if he loses the Czech Duchy, Ernst can only honestly become a rich man or even ......
The private study of the Grand Duke of Prague Castle:
Today, Ernst was a little lazy, wearing a blue checkered shirt and listening to the report of the new Prime Minister of the Czech Principality on the other side, Massena. After a while, Ernst took out a cigar from a small gold box, signaled to Massena but was refused, and then Ernst took it into his mouth, leaned slightly against the soft sofa, and asked somewhat casually, "How is the situation in the place?" ”
The situation at the place? This naturally asks how Massena's method is being implemented, after all, there are still many loopholes in it, and it is too much a test of the courage of those nobles and the ability of young officials.
"It's not bad, according to the news they sent back, those nobles seem to be busy fighting for power and profit, and they have no intention of interfering in finance, education, and personnel."
In the past few days, Massena has finally relaxed a little, everything is going in a good direction, but unfortunately the situation in Europe is very bad, war may break out at any time, if not this then maybe it would be better.
"Don't be negligent, these old guys are not that simple, and don't ignore the local economic construction, I don't ask too much for it, I just want to be able to reach the average level in Austria."
In fact, the position of the Czech Duchy is quite important, because it is in the middle of the capital of the German Empire and the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and a lot of economic trade between the two countries has to pass through the Czech Republic, but in previous years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not paid much attention to the economic development of the Czech Republic, otherwise the finances of the Czech region would be much richer than now.
Ernst's vigilance Massena naturally did not turn a blind eye, nodded to show that he was clear, and when everything was reported Massena left, only Ernst who was in the study and did not know what to think.
On April 11, 1913, 13 km east of Ostrava in the eastern part of the Czech principality
"Hurry, hurry! Haven't you all had enough to eat? Don't forget about today's task, the work on the trenches must be completed, the positions of the machine guns must be set, Russian soldiers may appear here at any time, if you are unlucky hehe...... The smashed watermelon is your head. ”
The officer of the position glanced at the direction of the east from time to time with concern while threatening, but his worries were not seen by too many people, the young soldiers were very energetic at this time, and they who had not experienced the cruelty of war even looked forward to the arrival of the enemy, which was a meritorious service, a record of achievements, and something to be proud of.
Most of the soldiers here were young Moravians, and their years of education were not as perverted as those of the Nazis, but they were not much better, and the young people were very excited when the officers went to school to encourage them to join the army.
Although Moravia belonged to the Czech principality, an observation of the two places shows that they are quite different, not only in terms of culture and economy, but also in terms of spirituality and beliefs, which is the result of more than ten years of education in Ernst, which is somewhat cruel but in Ernst's interests.
Talking about Ernst Franz, the former Count of Moravia and now the Grand Duke of the Czech Republic, the only thing that the young people of Moravia have is fanaticism and worship and faith, and in their hearts the great Grand Duke Ernst Franz is omnipotent and invincible! More than 50,000 of the 100,000 Royal Army came from Moravia, and the rest came more or less from nearby counties in Moravia, where they were heavily influenced by Moravia.
It is a pity that the establishment of the Czech Principality is too short and too short, if it is longer, even if it is only 5 years, then the Czech Principality has not only 100,000 Royal Army, but 200,000 or 300,000.
The staff officers of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Duchy, who had made detailed observations and speculations about the possible offensive routes of the Russian Empire, believed that if Russia attacked East Prussia and the Slovak region of Austria-Hungary, it would only pass through the Czech principality, but only on the side of the border.
In fact, the staff officers' guess was correct, in the first world war, the Russian army was divided into four routes, two of which attacked East Prussia and two attacked the Slovak region, and one of the two Russian troops attacking the Slovak region passed less than 30 kilometers from the border of the Czech principality. Of course, that's just history, and now who knows what Emperor Nicholas II thought, maybe he would think that the Czech Duchy, a country founded by a prospective son-in-law, would be easier to bully, and maybe some soldiers would be sent to come.
This is a very possible thing, there is no family affection in the war, the Czech principality is no longer part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, once there is a war here, even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to help, it is estimated that it will not be so easy, after all, it is now two countries, two interests.
This is like a family, if everything is easy to say financially before the separation, but once the family is separated, it is not so easy for you to use your father's money to subsidize yourself, and the father's willingness also depends on the meaning of the brothers and sisters, after all, this family is not yours alone, even if you are the head of the family.
Although Ernst promised Germany to help him defend his positions on the Eastern Front, once he was attacked, he would naturally give up on his promise, after all, Ernst could not let his country fall and go all out to achieve Germany. Of the 10 Royal Army divisions, the only thing Ernst could do was to send 5 to help the Germans defend, leaving the remaining 3 on the border lines of the Czech principality.
Ernst naturally knew this truth when Germany won the whole Allied Powers, and when Germany lost, the whole Allied Powers lost, so his order to the front was that once the soldiers of the five Royal Army divisions left the Czech Duchy, then they needed to obey the orders of the German commanders completely, even if the Czech Duchy was destroyed.
The war machine began to run rapidly, and by this time it was June 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Archduchess Sofia, began to prepare for a trip to Sarajevo. After some hesitation, Ernst finally couldn't resist calling Vienna, and the phone only contained a simple sentence, hoping that they would pay attention to the security issue, because his spies had learned that someone in Sarajevo wanted to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.