Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 528: What a Big Mistake
"This, this is really too exaggerated, right? The commander of an army of 300,000 was captured before the battle even officially started?"
"Although I don't want to admit it, this is the fact."
On March 22, 1625, the news of Duke Albrecht's capture reached the northern command headquarters, leaving the two commanders Gustav and Wallenstein stunned.
At this time, the northern front command had gradually moved south from Vienna to Zagreb.
Yes, since the end of February, when the Polish and Russian cavalry were sent south from the north, the EU coalition forces found that the entire Balkan Peninsula was completely defenseless. So the coalition forces made rapid progress. In more than half a month, the fastest Polish cavalry had already arrived in Sofia, very close to Constantinople.
This march, which was almost like an armed parade, was generally easy. The Balkans, which had gained national independence after Philip's war, except for the lukewarm Greeks and cold-eyed Albanians, all other ethnic groups warmly welcomed the arrival of the coalition forces and were willing to provide logistics assistance to the coalition forces.
However, the so-called Balkan means mountainous land in Turkish. More than 90% of the land in this peninsula, which covers an area of about 500,000 square kilometers, is rugged mountains and hills. Moreover, in the past 100 years, when the Ottomans attacked Central Europe, they transported troops and food through the Black Sea waterway. For defensive reasons, the land transportation on the Balkan Peninsula was consciously not maintained or newly built. Therefore, the land transportation situation on the entire peninsula is extremely poor!
Gustav led his army on March 1, and initially advanced rapidly in Hungary and Romania. However, when they reached the Croatian settlements, they had to slow down: the Polish cavalry was in the front, but the vanguard of the 200,000 new troops, who used hot weapons and were extremely dependent on logistical support, had not yet reached Belgrade.
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, what do our engineers in Constanta say? When will the shipyard there be repaired?"
"Sir, before the Ottomans left, they destroyed all the shipyards and ports in Constanta. This largest port on the west coast of the Black Sea has lost its function. Our engineering commander said that he could not restore the port's function in more than a year. As for the shipyard's resumption of work? Sir, I suggest you don't think about it. After all, if our navy can enter the Black Sea, it means that Constantinople has been liberated. If they can't come in, we can't build a new fleet in Constanta that can compete with the Ottoman navy, right?"
"Well... you are right, I am also very anxious. But the logistics..." Gustav scratched his head depressedly: "His Majesty Philip has equipped us with the most civilian laborers on the northern line. However, the road conditions are really bad. In order to feed the twenty-three armies, I have to keep adding civilian laborers. But with the addition of civilian laborers, food consumption has increased again. So I have to add more civilian laborers, and food consumption has increased again... Mr. Chief of Staff, do you know? Ten tons of food shipped from Berlin, relying on the convenience of Danube shipping, will only consume a few hundred kilograms when it is transported to Belgrade. But after unloading in Belgrade, going south, it is all mountainous, and the food consumption has increased sharply. According to the calculation of our logistics chief, if ten tons of food are shipped from Berlin and sent to the Constantinople front, only half will be left!"
"I've heard about that, too." Wallenstein nodded gloomily. "There's nothing we can do. We can only explain the situation to His Majesty Philip, and then work hard on transportation while speeding up road repairs."
"That's the only way. I estimate that it will be good if the main force of the army can reach the outskirts of Constantinople in May this year."
"Yes, we were hoping that the situation on the southern front could be opened up, especially if the navy could go north to relieve some of the transportation pressure for us."
"Albrecht, this foolish pious man!" Gustav cursed loudly, and then started gossiping: "How much ransom did the other party offer him?"
"Five million silver coins or five hundred thousand gold coins. That's about a quarter of the taxes the Netherlands pays to Spain every year."
"Wow, it's really expensive. I wonder if his wife can raise such an expensive ransom for him."
"Who cares? Anyway, the Ottomans have made a fortune before the war even started."
"That's true. Let's not talk about this anymore. Mr. Chief of Staff, please submit a formal report on what we discussed today to His Majesty Philip. There is no doubt that due to the logistical constraints, our attack on Constantinople will be greatly delayed."
"As you wish, sir."
…
At this moment, in Istanbul, the rich Ibrahim was not happy at all, but was very angry.
"This reckless Boris, this overly heroic Mustafa! These two idiots! They destroyed the overall situation that I had worked so hard to arrange! If this war is lost, they will be the biggest sinners!"
As the last time traveler to ascend to the throne, Yiprahin knew that he had no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation with Europe, which had been forcibly held together by Philip, so he used many unconventional tactics.
The first thing he did, and what he saw as the most successful, was to alienate Rudolf from Philip and let Philip discover the private contact between him and Rudolf: Rudolf's sudden death was a comprehensive blow to the European coalition forces. The 500,000-strong coalition army lost a commander who could intimidate the armies of all ethnic groups in Europe and a commander who was most familiar with all kinds of tactics in modern warfare. This alone greatly reduced Ibrahim's pressure.
The second thing was to win foreign aid , which he did very successfully: Ming and Persia both lent a helping hand. Although this was the general trend, even if someone else ruled the Ottoman Empire, Ming and Persia would still support the Ottoman Empire in the face of an integrated Europe. But in any case, now more than 50,000 new-style troops are helping the Ottoman Empire fight, which is real.
The third was to set up a siege of Jerusalem. In order to get the enemy to jump in, he made a very high promise to the Venetians: after the war, the entire Albania, Greece, and Cyprus would be ceded to Venice. And the Ottomans and Venice would jointly dig the Suez Canal.
The Venetians were unwilling to board the ship at first, after all, the Ottomans were far less powerful than the European Union. But when Duke Albrecht led his troops to Crete, the most important overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, the Venetians' attitude immediately took a sharp turn.
As a result, just when the opponent's stupid commander was obviously tempted and about to jump out of the encirclement, our general actually carried out a decapitation operation and captured the opponent's commander alive?
Why did I place 100,000 troops in Jerusalem? Wouldn't it be better to place them in Alexandria or Istanbul?
Iprahin, who was so depressed, had no choice but to send a messenger to drive a speedboat south at night, asking Boris to ask for a ransom from the other party: the Duke nicknamed the Pious would probably not be able to be the commander this time . However, he is a royal family with a very high generation, and as long as he returns, he will play a role sooner or later.
Then he called in the writers in his country and asked them to write many petitions from the perspective of Christians in the Ottoman Empire, asking the European coalition forces to recover Jerusalem as soon as possible. Regardless of whether the new commander would be involved, he wanted to stir up public opinion. I really want you to attack Jerusalem!
I just don’t know who the new commander will be, and whether the Venetians can trick them again?
…
He was depressed, and Philip, who was far away in Rome, was also depressed: Albrecht must not be used again after such a mistake. But who should be sent as the commander of the southern front? Directly promote Marquis Spinola? This is not acceptable. God knows what role the Chief of Staff played in the process of the Duke being captured alive by the enemy this time? Besides, even if he played no role. But after losing his superior, the Chief of Staff not only did not punish him but also promoted him. If he really did this, the senior officers of the entire army would have all kinds of strange ideas.
Therefore, a new commander must be sent.
But… Philip thought about it carefully, and couldn't help but bury his head in pain: In the historical plane, Spain was in a window period at this time: Fifty years ago, the empire was booming and famous generals emerged. Fifty years later, the empire was in decline and countless heroes stood up. But at this time, the entire aristocracy was almost rotten, and he instinctively didn't want to use the new army officers trained by Rudolf.
So, after struggling for a long time, he made a bold decision: to appoint a Dutchman as the commander of the 300,000 new Spanish troops.
After being defeated by Rudolf more than a decade ago, Prince Maurice of Orange, Maurice of Nassau, had been running around in the Netherlands, trying to start the Dutch War of Independence again. But with the easing of religious conflicts and the close economic ties after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, his efforts became increasingly futile, and he was eventually arrested and imprisoned at the end of 1624.
Now, after repeated thinking, Philip finally decided to take a big gamble: he would personally persuade Maurice to come out and work for him!
