readx;? If the eyes of the whole European continent at this time were concerned, there is no doubt that the international war that has been fought in the European theater of war in recent months is in full swing, and the two warring sides are France and the feudal monarchies of Europe, and it is no exaggeration to say that the whole of Europe is the enemy of France. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Of course, this war can also be called the Franco-Austrian War, because at this time the anti-French alliance had almost existed in name only. Looking at the entire European continent, the only people who could go to war with France without being defeated or armistice were Austria, an old military power, and England, which played the role of a tyrant. In reality, however, Austria was the only country that continued to fight with the French army in the European theater at any cost. It seems that the war, which represented the French Revolution, had slowly turned into a national war between Austria and France.

In the case of France, whether the republican form of government brought about by the revolution can be continued and consolidated is determined by the outcome of this life-and-death war, and its importance is even as important as that of China's resistance to US aggression and aid Korea in later generations.

In Austria, the centuries-old Holy Roman Empire has fallen apart, and if the Austrian Empire is to regain its hegemony in Germany, it must defeat the alien state of France, which has just risen in Europe. So much so that the Austrian Empire dispatched troops and frantically sent more than half of the country's troops to the battlefield, and such a huge scale of war almost exhausted nearly half of the Austrian Empire's treasury. If it weren't for the British supporting Austria with pounds behind their backs, I am afraid that the economy of the Austrian Empire would have been untenable.

However, when Austria was bent on supporting the Austrian army in the war, the total strength of the Austrian army was extremely superior. The situation on both the German battlefield in the north and the Italian theater in the south was not optimistic, and even the situation on the battlefield had gradually deteriorated to the point that the Austrian Empire could not control it.

Obviously, as the war progressed, the situation was far from what the Austrian Empire had hoped for, and to a certain extent it was a complete defeat.

On the German battlefield, the Rhine Army under the command of Brion fought fiercely with the elite of the 150,000 Austrian army led by Archduke Charles for more than two months. The French army not only captured Württemberg and Helvey, the two German vassal states, but also suffered a huge disadvantage in troops, and managed to defeat Archduke Charles's troops with less than 60,000 men, and retreated one after another. Later, the Rhine French army crossed the Rhine in a big way, extending the battle line to the Kingdom of Bavaria, the last barrier of the Austrian Empire.

At this moment, the entire Austrian court and even the Austrian Emperor Francis II were terrified every day by the continuous advance of the French army. You know, once the Kingdom of Bavaria falls, the French army of 100,000 will soon be pouring in. When the Rhine Army approached the capital, how many troops would Austria have left to resist the French army? I am afraid that at that time, not only would the Austrian emperor be forced to flee from Vienna in embarrassment, but even Prussia in the north and Russia in the east would be defeated.

Briand's Rhine Corps won successive battles on the Northern Front, while Napoleon's Italian Legion posed a great threat to the Austrian Empire in the South. As the Italian legions continued to advance and conquer the city, the focus of the battle between the Austrian and French armies soon shifted to the battle for the city of Milan. Taking advantage of the fact that the 80,000 Austrian reinforcements led by Field Marshal Wirmzer had not yet arrived, Napoleon mobilized his entire army to launch an attack on the nearly 60,000 Austrian troops stationed in the Milan area.

On May 15, the Italian and French troops defeated the Austrian army with a very small loss of nearly 20,000 enemies and entered Milan. Among the remnants of Austria, except for General Balin Loch who led more than 20,000 people to break through the siege and flee to the fortress of Mantua, the former Italian battlefield supreme commander Bolieu and other senior officers and tens of thousands of Austrian soldiers were all captured. After this battle, Napoleon's fame shocked Europe, and the Austrian troops were even more terrified. After the Battle of Milan, Napoleon's next target was naturally locked on the fortress of Mantua.

The Mantua Fortress has already been mentioned before, and its importance is naturally self-evident, otherwise how could Archduke Charles be forced to send General Ballinloch with an army of 40,000 troops to the rescue? The gains and losses of the Bavarian Kingdom are related to the security of Austria itself, while the gains and losses of the Mantua Fortress are directly related to the control of the Austrian Empire over the Italian region.

No country is willing to fight on its own soil unless it is forced to do so. Although Italy cannot be counted as Austria itself, it is also Austrian territory, and Italy is the richest place in Europe and one of the important financial sources of the Austrian Empire. The abandonment of Italy was tantamount to self-defeating, and Francis II would never allow such a thing to happen, so the fortress of Mantua has always been a battleground for soldiers.

On May 25, while the French and Italian legions were resting in Milan, 80,000 elite Austrian troops led by the old marshal Wirmze had arrived at the fortress of Mantua and joined forces with General Balinloch, with a total strength of more than 100,000 men. Compared with the more than 40,000 men led by Napoleon, the Austrian army did have an advantage at this time, but the Austrian army was afraid of Napoleon, so that under the persuasion of General Ballinloch, Marshal Wirmzer did not rashly attack, but held Mantua and formed an unbreakable confrontation with the French army.

Speaking of the situation on the Northern Front, with Marshal Alvinzi leading 50,000 Austrian troops to the Bavarian town of Augsburg to join the Austrian troops on the front, and with the continuous recruitment of Archduke Charles in Bavaria. So much so that by the end of May, the total strength of the Austrian army in the Bavarian battlefield had reached more than 110,000 men, far exceeding the Rhine Corps, which had suffered considerable losses after several major battles. Although there are many strong men who lack training and are difficult to form combat effectiveness in this large army, the elite troops of Austria are still the main part, so their strength should not be underestimated.

Unlike Napoleon, Brion also studied at the Royal Military Academy, but his strategy, tactics, and command skills were beyond Brion's reach. Judging from the record at the beginning of the Austro-French War, Napoleon defeated nearly 100,000 Austro-Saxon troops with only 40,000 troops, forced the Kingdom of Sardinia to surrender, and then defeated more than 50,000 Austrian troops in the Battle of Milan. Compared with Brion's victory, most of which relied on the superiority of troops to suppress and annihilate the enemy, Napoleon's combat methods were obviously much more sophisticated.

At this time, the total strength of the Austrian army in the German battlefield reached more than 100,000 people, and Brion, who had always been shrewd, naturally would not let down his vigilance. On the one hand, the Austrian army, which had just regained its strength and ordered the whole army to rest and recuperate, was not allowed to attack rashly, and on the other hand, the 40,000 troops of the Sirte Army stationed in Zurich were urgently transferred north to Bavaria in an attempt to form a two-sided attack on the Austrian army.

In general, whether it was Brion on the Northern Front, Napoleon on the Southern Front, or the famous Austrian general Charles, and the new Italian commander-in-chief, Marshal Wirmze, they always knew that their opponents were powerful.

Soon, from the beginning of June, the battlefield without exception turned into an awkward confrontation again.

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At the same time, in Berlin, the capital of Prussia, Austrian Foreign Minister Metternich had visited Prince Ferdinand's residence for the third time since the Franco-Austrian war began.

Needless to say, the purpose of Metternich's trip to Prussia was naturally to intervene in the current German war situation through diplomatic dialogue between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Everyone can see that the Austrian emperor is retreating one after another, and at this time, the only one who can maintain a certain strength in Europe to fight with France is Austria's northern neighbor Prussia, which is why Metternich, the imperial foreign minister, went all the way to Prussia.

The situation in Germany was becoming more and more tense, but Prussia was as happy as outsiders, especially the War Generals led by Prince Ferdinand, who were indeed very happy to see the defeat of the Austrian Empire. In other words, since the signing of the armistice with France, Prussia had no intention of sending troops to intervene in the German battlefield, otherwise how could Metternich visit Prince Ferdinand twice without receiving an answer?

However, if there is no clear answer this time, Metternich will have to return home, so the foreign secretary's attire is also extraordinarily solemn.

"Your Excellency, the report of war has just come from the German front, Archduke Charles has inflicted heavy losses on Brion's Rhine corps, Field Marshal Wirmzer has also blocked Napoleon's attack, and is now actively preparing for a counteroffensive, do you understand that we have deployed more than 200,000 troops on the front? The French have only more than 120,000 men at most. Metternich sat down on the couch and took a sip of coffee, chatting to Prince Ferdinand beside him.

It's clear that he's bragging, and it's so different from reality. Metternich actually hated such diplomacy, but there was no way, and it was difficult to get Prussia into the war in the current dire situation. Is it possible to say that more than 200,000 Austrian troops were chased and beaten by more than 100,000 French troops?

"So your Majesty the Emperor is determined to recover the German region?" asked Ferdinand with a smile, although he was far away in Berlin at this time and did not know much about the situation of the Austro-French war, he also knew that the Austrians would not come to Prussia for help if they could defeat the French army.

Metternich replied with a smile: "If you can, the Reich hopes that the Kingdom of Prussia can assist our army in annihilating the French republican rebels as soon as possible." At that time, the Kingdom of Prussia will inevitably get a share of the benefits that the Austrian Empire can get. ”

Prince Ferdinand pondered for a moment and said, "We have signed an armistice with France, and the king does not want to make a senseless sacrifice in sending his brave soldiers into battle. Besides, our generals don't want to go to war again, so 。。。。。。。 ”

The words were already clear, and Metternich could not say anything more, so he hurried away after a short stay. On the way home, however, Metternich was always frowning. It is naturally a trivial matter for Prussia not to enter the war, and now which European power helped Austria to block the attack of the French ** team?

Russia, England, or Spain, the former maritime hegemon in domestic chaos?