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The internal contradictions within the legions caused by Sirte's excessive power were temporarily stabilized, and Brion turned his attention to Munich, the largest city in southern Germany, which is particularly prominent on the map. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The battlefield was still the same, because the French army took the siege but not the attack, so the situation in Munich at this time was still a stalemate, and there was not much improvement. The 50,000 Austrian troops in Munich continued to strengthen the fortifications of the various fortresses in the area, increasing the number of posts, training soldiers, collecting supplies in the city, and storing food and ammunition to cope with the lack of supplies, and it seemed that they were ready to hold Munich for a long time.

However, because of the iron wall of 60,000 French troops encircled Munich, it directly led to the interruption of the Austrian army's communication with the outside. What does this mean? The logistical reinforcement line has been completely cut off, and the Austrian army will not be able to hold out for long in such a situation. Besides, the Austrian army all needs to eat, and the army of Archduke Charles's subordinates has 50,000 people, which is equivalent to feeding 50,000 mouths.

No matter how abundant the supplies and food in Munich were, they could not withstand such a consumption of 50,000 Austrian troops, and besides, there was still such a huge share of the goods and the incoming. It is no exaggeration to say that as long as the French army besieges for another three months, when Munich runs out of food, the situation in the city will inevitably be chaotic. At that time, the Austrian army will lose order due to food shortages, and sooner or later the army will collapse, where will there be combat power at all. It's just that the common people in the Munich area will suffer with the Austrians.

The life of the French army was obviously much happier than that of the Austrian army, and on the basis of the strict and strong military discipline of the Rhine Corps, in addition to the necessary sentry posts and a certain number of defensive standing troops, the rest of the French soldiers could take advantage of the present free time to enjoy the three-day vacation and the allowance of fifty francs issued by the army in batches.

Don't look at it as only fifty francs, but it's actually quite a lot. You must know that during this period, one franc was equivalent to more than 100 yuan, and 50 francs was worth at least 5,000 yuan. If it is said that all the soldiers of the Rhine Army are subsidized at this time, then this is also a large amount of expenses, at least tens of millions of yuan.

Of course, most of Brion's money was invested in the maintenance of military factories, trading companies, and fiefdoms, and where did he get such a large amount of money. Naturally, these subsidies were collected from local elites in various parts of Germany currently occupied by the French army. As for the means of fundraising, it's hard to say much here, most of the staff are veteran cadres of Skynet. and extortion are naturally linked. It's just that there are still some smart people among them, and without waiting for explanation, they took the initiative to take out money to honor the French army.

However, extortion is extortion, and in any case, it is scraping oil from aristocratic figures. When Brion released Skynet's plan of action, the first rule he set was not to use anything against the German people, ranging from three months of confinement to the cleaning of the portal. It turns out that Brion and even Skynet are extremely kind, even if the loss of those extorted nobles is only a hundred thousand francs, at least it can't make the family bankrupt.

The first German regional fund-raising campaign can be said to be a brilliant success, and in just half a month, the French army squeezed out 5 million francs of military expenses from the German aristocracy. So much so that from the beginning of July, the big city near Munich, Augsburg and even the small towns, were crowded with a steady stream of French tourists, and the business system in the German region naturally reaped a lot of benefits.

However, when you look at the Rhine Legion, the amount of money it makes is actually nothing compared to the Italian Legion in the south. Since Napoleon occupied Milan and invaded the rich lands of northern Italy, excluding the looted oil paintings and treasures, the number of francs alone is as high as more than 20 million. It can be said that Brion has taken the money side very lightly. Otherwise, with Briand's military deterrence, the money squeezed out of the German region would only be just over 5 million, a figure that would have increased at least four or five times.

Looking at the map on the table, Brion's eyes changed, and he secretly thought in his heart: "Originally, the strategic deployment of besieging the city and sending reinforcements was to deal with the 50,000 reinforcements sent by Austria, so as to free up his hands to defeat the living forces of the Austrian army first. However, now that the Austrian Empire had lost the strength to counterattack, it was a waste of time to continue the eastward crusade against Austria by besieging Munich without attacking it. ”

Three months was enough for Austria to reorganize into a new army to resist the French invasion. Although the new army formed under this circumstance was almost equal to amateur in the eyes of the French army, it was at least a military force. In any case, it was necessary to quickly dispose of the 50,000 Austrian troops in Munich, and Brion was not willing to waste three months in this place, giving the Austrians time to rebuild their army. Just for such a so-called big city.

But even so, because the 50,000 Austrian troops stationed in the Munich area were still strong, Brion still did not allow the Rhine Army to attack rashly.

"I will never agree to the needless loss of thousands of soldiers' lives because of such a victorious war. When Bernadotte and other generals unanimously asked for battle, Brion replied firmly.

Brion's inner mind was constantly torn between attacking and besieging the two options, hesitating. It was not until July 27 that news of the Italian Legion arrived from the Italian front in the south, that Napoleon's army of more than 40,000 had exchanged fire with Wilmzer's troops, and that the French had killed more than 6,000 Austrians. However, despite the losses of the Austrians, they gave up on continuing to hold the Mantua line. Wilmze made a very conceited decision, and 100,000 Austrians took up a decisive battle with the French in the Mantua area.

Listening to the news of the southern front brought by MacDonald, Briand said confidently: "I know the Austrian generals, and I know Napoleon better, if the Austrian army can rely on the fortress of Mantua and the surrounding defense line to block the Italian army, maybe the battlefield can drag on for a while, or even turn around." But Wirmze thought that the superiority of forces was the greatest capital of the war, and that was really stupid, and Austria would definitely lose. ”

However, on the surface, it seems that Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Mantua had an absolute impetus for the entire Austro-French War and the complete defeat of Austria, but in fact the outcome of the Battle of Mantua did not benefit Brion in any way.

If Napoleon's Italian legions had been completely routed in Mantua, the outcome would have been clear to everyone.

Not only will Munich not be able to take it, but even worse, the 100,000 elite Austrian troops in the south will quickly go north to crusade against the Rhine Army in order to save the defeat on the German battlefield. The Austrian Empire would have to do whatever it could to rebuild a large army to continue the war against France.

For the Rhine Legion, which is currently well-armed, it may not be a glorious moment for bullshit to defend the country, on the contrary, it is indeed a catastrophe.

Napoleon's victory is also very scrupulous at present, and the last focus of the Austro-French War and the capital of the Austrian Empire are all pressed on the Mantua region, which can also be said to be the final decisive battle of the Austro-French War.

The war produced two brilliant young military commanders, Brion and Napoleon.

The French or the Austrians have not been able to tell whether Germany or Italy was the main battlefield in the Austro-French War. If Germany is the main battlefield, the benefits and strategic position of the French army are far inferior to those of Italy. However, it cannot be said that Italy is the main battlefield, after all, Austria and France have invested far more troops in the German battlefield than in the Italian battlefield, and the intensity of the head-on battle and the losses are far greater than those on the Italian side.

To the average person, it seems that the main battlefield is just a noun, but it is not. In war, the status of the main battlefield is by no means ordinary, even if a country has many famous generals, but the people will only remember the supreme commander of the main battlefield, just as the people only care about the beginning and end of the war.

Brion knew in his heart that only the victor on the main battlefield would have access to more of the resources brought by the war, such as fame, connections, power, and money, and had the right to sign an armistice with Austria in his favor. Brion was not short of money, but the first three were the spoils of his dreams. The prestige brought by this war was enough to lay the foundation for reaching the pinnacle of power.

I am afraid that Napoleon, who was far away in Mantua at this time, still had this idea in his heart.

Standing on a small hill looking at the city of Munich in the distance, Brion slowly turned his head to look at MacDonald and asked, "How long do you estimate that Napoleon will take down the Mantua region in the south?"

MacDonald replied with great respect: "With the pace of advance of the Italian corps, I don't see a month. ”

"Well, as soon as the Battle of Mantua is over, I think that Austria's military power will almost collapse. Brion nodded and said, "So I must not let Napoleon take the initiative in the war and let the tens of thousands of soldiers killed in the Rhine Army die in vain on the German battlefield." The question of the confrontation in Munich must be resolved in a few days, and I do not agree with the soldiers continuing to shed blood for such a city, or a truce with Archduke Charles. As long as his army can surrender Munich and its surrounding fortresses, and accept the disarmament and surrender of the French army, I am willing to let these 50,000 Austrians return home. In any case, it was necessary to force the Austrian government to accept peace talks and sign a peace agreement before Napoleon. ”

Brion finally set his sights on MacDonald: "The affairs of the armistice with Archduke Charles will be arranged by you, and the time should be as soon as possible." ”

"The subordinates understand. ”