Mannerheim's sudden wound was, of course, a great loss to the Finnish White Army, which, to put it mildly, could not have been without the old man. The problem is that not everyone likes the capable Mannerheim, and even less like to see Mannerheim have so much influence on the army.

Take, for example, Sven Huwud. The brother didn't like Mannerheim, and on quite a few issues, the two of them couldn't talk to each other. Mannerheim, for example, was more moderate and did not advocate the slaughter of the Red Guards who surrendered or were captured, and the old man felt that this was not a problem, but a contradiction and a time bomb for Finland's future. And Sven Huvud wants to liquidate everything and eliminate the pro-Russian elements with violence.

Of course, this is not the most important disagreement, but more importantly, the major difference in political philosophy between the two sides. Mannerheim preferred to put Finland on the path of independence, freedom and neutrality. The old man advocated abiding by neutrality in international affairs, not recognizing his godfather, and not being the little brother of a big hooligan. Don't get involved in conflicts caused by the uneven distribution of spoils among the big hooligans.

But Sven Huvud was different, he was more of a radical nationalist, and he recognized Russia as an enemy, a great danger, and that Finland had to be de-Russified. He advocated that the enemy of his enemy was his friend, that he wanted to be accompanied by a large sum of money, and that he wanted to live with the thick legs of the Germans. It would be better to dismember Russia into seventy or eighty pieces together with the German "allies" and settle this great problem once and for all.

For Mannerheim, this one-sided foreign policy seems to have found a backer, found a godfather, and can be a fox, but in fact it is endless. It took a long time for Finland to become independent and have the opportunity to be a human being. But you, Sven Huwud, don't cherish it at all. I was stunned that I had just broken free from the Russian dog's leash. Then he ran to the German master and waged his tail and begged for mercy. Is this different from before?

Mannerheim didn't like this kind of foreign policy at all. Even if it is to be de-Russified, it is necessary to seek help from the diversity of the international community, and what good can it do to tie Finland to the German tank? Can't you idiots see that the outcome of this world war is almost doomed? To be a dog leg to a country that is doomed to collapse, there is only one result at their disposal, and that is to end up with them.

Because of the huge political differences, Mannerheim could barely have a good conversation with Sven Huwood, and the conversation between them was only about military affairs. For the time being, they can agree to get rid of the Russians, but when it comes to politics, it is incompatible. After less than five minutes of talking, the two sides will break up unhappily.

Now, Mannerheim was wounded and had to leave the battlefield and had to leave the command, which was a godsend for Swinhuwood and the Germans. Sven Huvud did not like a commander-in-chief who was always at odds with him, and the Germans were desperate to tighten their grip on Finland and the Finnish army in particular.

Before, it was because Mannerheim's prestige was too high. The white army is almost all his people, and it is not easy to let the old man go. But now the Russians have solved this problem. The old man voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield, and it was only natural that someone else would replace him.

Even, when Sven Huvud heard the news of Mannerheim's injury, the first time he was not sad, but happy. He could finally justifiably replace the old man, in fact, he already had a candidate to replace the old man, that is, the commander of the German Expeditionary Force, Count Geerz.

However, Mannerheim strongly objected to this man: "How can the command of the Finnish army be handed over to a German?" The Finnish army could only be commanded by real Finns, and the Germans could only be advisers at best! ”

When Mannerheim's protest telegram was placed on Svenhuwood's desk, the prime minister was furious: "It is the work of the cabinet to decide who will command the Finnish army. ”

According to Swinhuwud's idea, Mannerheim should be slashed so that the Qiu Ba can understand who is in charge of Finland. In fact, Sven Huwood had wanted to do it for a long time, he had put up with Mannerheim for too long.

"Your Excellency, I don't think it's appropriate for you to do this." "In a sense, General Mannerheim's fears are not unfounded," exhorted Count Geertz, "and it is somewhat inappropriate for me, as a foreigner, to be commander-in-chief of the Finnish army. If the name is not right, it is easy to give people a handle! ”

"Your Excellency, how can you retreat?" Sven Huwud was anxious, and he was a little worried about the death of the lord, "Now only you can save the battle, you are not the commander-in-chief, so who do you believe?" ”

Does Count Geertz want to be this commander-in-chief? That's just lice on a bald head, obviously. The Germans just wanted to control Finland. And to control a country, it is natural to first control the country's violent apparatus. Now that he has the best chance to control Finland's violent machine, how could he let it go? Even if Count Geertz wanted to let it go, the German government would not let it go.

Earlier, in a secret telegram sent to him by the German government, he bluntly said: "This is a godsend, Mannerheim's wound has given us the opportunity to take full control of Finland, and we must not let it go!" ”

So why did Count Geertz refuse it? It's just that it's just a retreat, if he is too proactive and agrees in one bite, it's not that the appearance is too ugly! No matter how you say it, you have to push it back, and make a look of hospitality.

Sure enough, under the "repeated resignations" of Count Geerz, Svenhuwood still "resolutely" made him the commander-in-chief of the Finnish armed forces, and he took office immediately.

When Mannerheim learned of the news, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood, and he was worried that the Germans were encroaching on Finnish independence and autonomy step by step.

Mannerheim was anxious, but Sven Huvud was overjoyed, and for him it was a powerful step in promoting relations between Germany and Finland. He believed that soon, with his active efforts, Germany and Finland would become inseparable allies, united until the evil polar bear was completely wiped off the map of the world.

Sven Huvud felt that he had made the right decision, and even felt that Mannerheim's injury was too timely, and he wanted to thank the Russian volunteers. The Russians finally did a good thing. Fuck off this soft guy Mannerheim.

For the command ability of Count Geerz. Sven Huvud was full of confidence, and he believed that the Germans on the battlefield were much better than the Russians, and naturally the German officers were better than the Russian officers. Mannerheim, who was bred by the Russians, can bring the White Army to this level, and Count Geerz, who is even more powerful than him, will naturally go further!

In a sense, Sven Huvud was not wrong in his thinking, and in terms of military education, the Germans were indeed stronger than the Russians in those days. The combat effectiveness of the Juncker officer corps should not be underestimated. This situation lasted until the end of World War II.

In terms of the quality of officers, Hans at that time could indeed despise the world. Don't talk about the rough hair, the old army powers Gallic chicken and the British Empire will be thrown a few streets away, as for the American cowboys, to tell the truth, the quality is quite that, that's it.

In terms of military ability, the Earl of Geertz may be about the same as Mannerheim, and even higher in quality than Mannerheim. But the problem is that in this world, it is never the strongest to be the best. The situation of the White Finnish Army was completely different from that of the German Army, and Count Geertz commanded the German army in battle. There could be ten or even twelve points of combat effectiveness, but the command of the Finnish White Army, which was completely unfamiliar. Half the standard might be good.

As a matter of fact, when Count Geertz took over the Finnish White Army, the headaches arose one after another, and the most common and common conventions in the German army in the past also needed to be emphasized over and over again in the Finnish army. What is even more terrible is that the Finnish White Army is seriously undertrained, especially systematic military training. To put it mildly, it's a rabble that has been improvised together.

Count Geertz was so amused by the rabble that at first he tried to force the Finns to convert by forceful means, but soon found that the Finns who had been badly taught by the Russians were so demoralized that no matter how hard you tried to pinch them up.

After this futile attempt, Count Geertz described it in a telegram to the country: "The problem which I urgently need to solve now is not the problem of the lack of training of officers and soldiers, nor the problem of a serious shortage of weapons and equipment. Compared to these, this Finnish army has no soul, they don't know why they are fighting, and they don't know if they can defeat the 'terrifying' opponents, they are scared, they are a flock of frightened birds! ”

In order to boost morale, Count Geertz had to raise the salaries of his soldiers, so that they were well fed and fully cultivated, and even went down to the grassroots level to constantly visit and constantly cheer up the soldiers and officers.

It should be said that Count Geertz has achieved some success, but it will take a long time for the Finnish White Army to fully recover, and for him, time is too precious. Especially when the Air Force reconnaissance planes told him that the Russians were constantly moving from Petrograd to the Vyborg front, he knew that if he could not capture Vyborg as soon as possible. Not to mention that he hit Petrograd to see the scenery, and even his army may be pushed backwards.

"We must launch a new offensive as soon as possible, and we must solve the problem of Vyborg before all the Russian reinforcements arrive on the battlefield!"

At the military meeting, Count Geertz gushed and, of course, he spoke primarily to his own army and the Swedish volunteers. As for the Finns, for the time being, he felt that they could only be used as decorations for waving flags.

"My plan is that we attack first, and in order to avoid political problems, we will change the Finnish uniform...... We will break through the positions of the Russians from due north, go straight in the direction of the port, and cut off their sea transport lines first......"

Before he could finish speaking, Larsen, the commander of the Swedish Volunteer Army, objected: "As far as we know, there is a powerful fleet moored in the harbor of Vyborg, and with the support of their artillery fire, we are afraid that we will suffer heavy losses." ”

Count Geertz was not impressed: "According to the air force, the main forces of the reconnaissance fleet have returned to Kronstadt, and there is only one old cruiser and two small destroyers in the port of Vyborg, which are not worth mentioning!" ”

Yes, in the eyes of Count Geertz, it was not only the small fleet in Port Vyborg that was not worth mentioning, but also the Russians and their defensive lines. On the Eastern Front, he did not fight the Germans, and his young men broke through the positions of the Russians more than once, and beat them to the ground more than once. And this time, he believes it will be no exception.

It wasn't just his boys who gave Earl Geertz that confidence. What's more, the Swedes also brought a new weapon - tanks!

Renault FT-17. The Swedes sent this little guy, which they imported from France, to Finland. It seems that I can't wait to verify the real combat performance of the tank.

Although Count Geertz had never seen such a steel machine called a water tank before, his colleagues on the Western Front described to him the power of this new weapon. They can charge forward with machine gun and artillery fire, can climb over trenches and obstacles, and can break through strong defenses with infantry with relative ease.

Count Geertz was eager to see the power of this new weapon, and in fact he would have gotten one or two to send back to China for study, if it weren't for the Swedes' refusal to cooperate.

The Swedes bought the FT-17 in the machine gun version, armed with an 8 mm Hatch Chase machine gun with 4,800 rounds in reserve. Count Geertz was not too happy with the French machine guns. In his opinion, the firepower was too weak, and he preferred the FT-37 with a 37-mm pitot gun, as his colleagues had said. It is clear that the French also guarded against the Swedes and kept a hand.

The Swedish Volunteers, with a total of 18 FT-17s, were to cover an infantry battalion to charge the Russians, and of course, before the attack began, it was the German artillery that spoke first, and the sturdy German artillerymen in the Finnish White Army uniform (except for a few different insignias, in fact, the uniform of the Russians) quickly pushed the 150mm howitzer into the position. With the order of the cannon commander, a violent roar shook the sky.

The attack was carried out by the 2nd Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade of the Border Police Force. Recruit Philip was fixing the trench when the first round of bullets hit him less than 20 meters in front of him. The violent explosion almost shook him out of the trench, and the earth and stones smashed his head and face, and if he hadn't worn a steel helmet, it is estimated that this round of stone rain would have killed him.

One more thing to mention, compared with other volunteer armies, the Red Eagle Regiment and the Border Police Force are equipped with steel helmets, authentic SSH40 steel helmets, needless to say that this is also provided by a certain immortal.

However, Philip's disaster was not over, and he recalled with trepidation: "The artillery bombardment of the White Army was fierce and accurate, many of our support points were devastated, and many comrades died heroically without firing a shot...... In fact, I almost died when a 150-mm grenade whizzed into the trench where I was, no more than five meters in a straight line from me...... I was terrified, thinking that I was about to be torn to pieces by this shell...... A minute passed, two minutes passed, and it still didn't mean to explode until the squad leader kicked me in the ass, telling me to pick up arms and fight......"

Speaking of this, Philip took a deep breath and said slowly: "I picked up my rifle and aimed at the enemy's infantrymen and fired frantically, because my hands were a little shaky, most of the bullets missed, and of course, I also hit one or two white dogs...... None of that matters, though. The important thing is that the tanks that rumbled over on the battlefield, yes, we didn't know what this monster was called, and most of our comrades simply called it a steel monster......"

"They are indeed monsters, and Ilya, the sharpshooter next to me, fired ten shots at a tank in one go, and the bullets rattled it, but it did nothing...... Soon the monster stopped, its 'head' turned twice, and just as I was wondering what it was trying to do, a tongue of fire erupted......"

Recalling the scene at that time, Philip seemed to have lingering palpitations, he gestured a length at the reporter, and sighed: "It was just a little bit like that, the bullet hit the dirt in front of me, I quickly retracted the trench and yelled at the squad leader: 'Comrade squad leader, what should I do?' ’。 The squad leader was very calm, although he was also on the battlefield for the first time, but I must say that he was really calm, not flustered at all, everything was in order, and he yelled at me: 'You cover me!' ’。 As he spoke, he pulled out a couple of grenades and made a wink. ”

"At that time, I forgot to be afraid, and took turns shooting at the monster with Ilya, firing about one or twenty shots, and soon his head turned to our side. At this moment, our brave squad leader jumped up from the trench and rushed towards the monster from the side, he ran nearly fifty meters wildly, and threw the grenade out of the rear......"

"The squad leader threw it accurately, and the grenade exploded accurately above the monster's head, boom, and then we cheered, and we all thought that the monster was dead!" Speaking of this, Philip took a deep breath of his cigarette and said very depressedly: "But we rejoiced too soon, and while we were still cheering, the monster once again spewed out tongues of fire, and our brave squad leader was knocked to the ground like a log......"

"He died?" The reporter asked very confusedly.

Philip sighed again and said, "At that time, we thought the same thing, all the comrades used light and heavy weapons, and shot at that monster like crazy, and the barrel of the gun was red......"

The reporter asked again: "And then?" ”

Philip's face became more and more ugly, and he said bitterly: "And then it was useless, and the monster pressed us down while shooting at us...... I have no doubt that it is going to crush us! ”

Speaking of this, Philip suddenly perked up and said excitedly: "Just when we all thought we were dead, a turning point appeared!" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you for holding Polunzi, hzwangdd, Xicheng and Juventus!