For the sudden outbreak of the war in Europe, the emperor of the Chinese Empire, Lin Daxin, can be said to be very surprised, originally Lin Daxin thought that with the variable of the Chinese Empire, the first world war caused by the European war in history would not break out again, but he did not expect that the European war was detonated two years earlier than in history. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

As for whether the First World War will happen, Lin Daxin is noncommittal, you must know that with the current strength of the Chinese Empire, if the Chinese Empire does not join this war, then this war cannot be called a world war, and Lin Daxin is very willing to see the Entente and the Allies fight bloodshed, as for the Chinese Empire, you can watch the excitement on the sidelines!

Of course, if the Entente and the Allies lose in the end, Lin Daxin doesn't mind if the Chinese Empire comes out to pick up some bargains.

The United States and Japan also felt inconceivable at the sudden outbreak of a major war in Europe, the arms race between the Entente and the Allies in recent years was mainly aimed at the Chinese Empire, but they did not expect the Entente and the Allies to fight first, and the United States and Japan immediately accelerated the pace of arms expansion while waiting and seeing, and without the containment of the Entente and the Allies, it would be terrible if the Chinese Empire attacked their US-Japan alliance!

On September 4, 1912, the day after Britain and France declared war on the five countries of the Central Powers, Austria-Hungary concentrated 20 divisions of its army Wehrmacht, more than 300 tanks, more than 200 armored vehicles, and a total strength of about 370,000 troops.

The Kingdom of Montenegro has a total population of 420,000, and its regular army is only more than 8,000 people, plus after the declaration of war, the Kingdom of Montenegro urgently mobilized a large number of militias, and the total number of troops that can be mobilized is less than 30,000, while the Austro-Hungarian army attacking the Kingdom of Montenegro has 5 divisions, more than 100 tanks and armored vehicles, and a total strength of more than 90,000 people.

The population of the Kingdom of Serbia was only about 3.6 million, and an army of 300,000 was cobbled together to resist the attack of the Austro-Hungarian army.

In history, the combined forces of Serbia and Montenegro have dealt heavy losses to the Austro-Hungarian army, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire in this time and space is no longer the same, because of the emergence of the Chinese Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire has joined the arms race for many years, and the combat effectiveness of its army is simply incomparable with the Austro-Hungarian army in history.

The resistance of the Kingdom of Montenegro did not last long, and on September 10, 1912, the entire territory of the Kingdom of Montenegro was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army, most of the nearly 30,000 troops of the Kingdom of Montenegro were annihilated, and less than 4,000 fled to the territory of Serbia.

The situation in Serbia was also very bad, under the three-dimensional attack of the Austro-Hungarian army, the army of the Kingdom of Serbia was defeated, and only three days after the start of the war, the Austro-Hungarian army approached Belgrade, the capital of the Kingdom of Serbia, and occupied Belgrade the next day.

By September 14, 1912, the entire territory of the Kingdom of Serbia was basically under the control of Austria-Hungary, 300,000 troops of the Kingdom of Serbia, the number of dead and captured was as high as 250,000.

Because of the declaration of war by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the only passage of the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, that is, the Black Sea strait, was completely cut off, and the Russian Army was ready to take a ship through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to support the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro.

The Black Sea Straits, also known as the Turkish Straits, including the Istanbul Strait, the Marmara Strait and the Dardanelles Strait, have been battleground for soldiers throughout the ages, and their strategic position is very important.

Britain and France also have no territorial borders with Serbia and Montenegro, the two countries of the Balkan Peninsula, and the Austro-Crènate army moves very quickly, so the entire Entente can only watch the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro be annexed by Austria-Hungary.

However, the two kings of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro fled with their families, and then ran to England and formed a government in exile, and then the three countries of the Entente, Britain, France and Russia, announced that the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro became members of the Entente.

Although Austria-Hungary captured the entire territory of the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro in a short period of time, the remnants of the armies of the two countries did not give up resistance, formed a number of guerrilla groups against Austria-Hungary, scattered throughout the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro, and continued to resist the Austro-Khalan army, which brought a lot of trouble to Austria-Hungary.

While attacking the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro, Austria-Hungary mobilized millions of army troops and hundreds of air force fighters to deploy troops along the border between Austria-Hungary and Russia, but in view of the huge number of Russian land forces, Austria-Hungary discussed with Germany and the Ottoman Turkish Empire and decided to temporarily take a defensive position against Russia on the Eastern Front.

The Ottoman Turkish Empire and Russia, at this time, only the Caucasus region has a territorial border, so the main task of the Ottoman Turkish Empire is to guard against the attack of the Russian army in the Caucasus, and the conditions in the Caucasus are harsh, and the supply is difficult, Russia cannot invest too many attack troops there, otherwise a logistics problem can make the Russian attack force collapse.

In the Imperial Palace in Berlin, Germany, Schlieffen, Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, said to the German Emperor Wilhelm II in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, at present, in the border between the Reich and Russia, although our army has only deployed 2 group armies, the combined strength of these 2 army groups has exceeded 500,000, and there should be no problem in blocking the attack of the Russian army, and the Imperial Air Force has also deployed 260 Fokker fighters, 80 Yatu dive bombers and 80 Heinkel horizontal bombers on the Eastern Front. It can provide strong air support to 2 army groups. ”

German Emperor Wilhelm II nodded and said: "2 army groups are enough, don't look at the Russian army has a huge number of almost 7 million, but at present, the weapons and equipment of the Russian army, even the Ottoman Turkish army is inferior, and the combat effectiveness cannot be compared with our powerful German army at all, and there are also the armies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire on the eastern front, plus the Russians need to guard against the Chinese Empire, it is impossible to transfer all 7 million army troops to the eastern front, 2 armies holding our German Eastern Front should not have much of a problem. ”

The Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Schlieffen, then said: "Your Majesty's analysis is the same as that of our General Staff!" Now in order to launch an attack on France, our General Staff has transferred most of the forces of the Imperial Army to the Western Front, and as long as we can defeat France, the Russians will have nothing to worry about. ”

Wilhelm II asked: "How are the plans for the expansion of the army in wartime prepared?" You must know that this war will definitely not end in a short time, maybe we need to fight for half a year or even one year, and the army strength of our German Empire must be strengthened, especially if we want to attack Russia in the future, we need at least 3 million troops. ”

Schlieffen, chief of the General Staff of the Army, immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the total strength of our Imperial Army is currently more than 2.8 million, and the General Staff has planned to use the reserve force to expand by another 1 million at the beginning of October, so that the total strength of our Imperial Army will reach 5 million by the end of this year, and if the war requires, our Imperial Army can even expand the total strength to 6.5 million, but if the army is expanded to 6.5 million, it will seriously affect the production of our domestic industry and agriculture. Even the 5 million army actually had some impact on the empire's industry and agriculture. ”

Wilhelm II said approvingly: "The army's expansion plan will be carried out in accordance with the will of the General Staff, and if there are difficulties, they will be overcome for the time being!" So in response to the French offensive, was the battle plan of the General Staff set? From that route to launch an attack on France? ”

The Chief of the Army General Staff Schlieffen hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, our General Staff is ready to choose the offensive route of Luxembourg and Belgium!" ”

France and Germany have a border, north of which are Luxembourg and Belgium, and south of which are Switzerland, so if Germany wants to attack France, there are only three options, the first is to attack from the border between the two countries, the second is to use Belgium and Luxembourg, and the third is to use Switzerland.

Since Switzerland is a mountainous country with the Alps running through the entire territory, making it difficult to conduct military operations, the third option was ruled out in the first place.

In the Franco-Prussian War, Germany launched an attack directly from the border, from the outbreak of the war to the capture of Paris by the German army, the war lasted about half a year, but after this war, France learned a lesson, and since then it has deployed heavy troops on the Franco-German border, and it is not so easy for the Germans to enter from here.

When Wilhelm II heard that he had chosen Luxembourg and Belgium as the offensive line, he did not have a surprised expression on his face, but nodded to Schlieffen and said, "Be more detailed!" ”

Schlieffen then said: "Your Majesty, most of the current French army is deployed on the border between France and our Germany, and the defense of other places is very empty, if our German army can first occupy the railway network of Luxembourg and Belgium, then our German army can enter France from Belgium in the southwest direction, and then a small part of the army will feint to attack Paris to attract the French army back to defense, and the main force will bypass Paris, intercept it on the way back to the French army, and annihilate it in one fell swoop, so that our Germany can defeat France in a short time!" In addition, in order to contain the main force of the French army, we also need to make an offensive posture on the border between Germany and France, but Luxembourg and Belgium are neutral countries, and if we invade these two countries, it will inevitably be realized. ”

Luxembourg, known as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is located in the northwest of Europe, surrounded by France, Germany and Belgium, is a small landlocked country, with an area of only more than 2,500 square kilometers.

However, Luxembourg has a population of only 250,000 and an army of only a few thousand, so if the German Army attacks Luxembourg, there will be absolutely no trouble.

In fact, Belgium has always been a great power in Europe, but since Belgium became a neutral country, due to its strict neutrality, Belgium has neglected the construction of its own army, border defense, and fortifications.

In recent years, both the Entente and the Central Powers have been trying to develop their armaments, but Belgium has no concern about this, and at present there are only 6 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division in the whole of Belgium, and they are all small divisions, and the total strength of Belgium is less than 40,000 men.

Wilhelm II waved his hand and said: "As long as France can be defeated, some details are not to be worried, then follow this offensive line!" ”

On September 4, 1912, the same day that Austria-Hungary launched a large-scale attack on the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro, the German Army sent tens of thousands of troops into Luxembourg without warning, and in the face of the powerful German Army, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg ordered the army to give up resistance, and then the German Army took control of the entire territory of Luxembourg.

On September 5, hundreds of thousands of German troops crossed the Derby border without a declaration of war and attacked Belgium, preparing to attack France by the way.

After entering Belgium, the German army offensive troops quickly rushed to the Maas River in Belgian territory, and if they crossed the Maas River, the gate to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, would be opened.

Belgium is not without a sense of preparedness, in order to prevent the invasion of Germany, the Belgian government spent a huge amount of money on the east of the border on the Maas River to build a fortress defense system with the city of Liège as the core, if the German army wants to go south to France, it must pass through the city of Liège.

The city of Liège was built on a steep slope on the west bank of the Maas River, 100 meters higher than the river bank, and the Maas River became a natural moat, along the river bank 30 kilometers around the artillery batteries, a total of 12, radially around the city of Liège, forming a ring of fire.

Each battery was made of reinforced concrete cast in one piece, most of it was built underground, with only the triangular top exposed, and all the weapons and personnel of the battery were hidden underground, with a total of 400 cannons and a large number of light and heavy machine guns. On average, each battery has 8 120 mm fortress guns and 8 210 mm howitzers, and there are passages and basements under the batteries that extend in all directions, and a large amount of food, drinking water, ammunition, medical supplies and power supply facilities are stored.

With a total strength of 25,000 men, the entire Liège defense system was considered by the Belgians to be the strongest fortress in Europe. (To be continued.) )