Chapter 353： Truly reliable power (1/2)
”Recently, the military representative of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent me a document in which it mentioned that the Kingdom of Austria should establish a single national military force mainly composed of German soldiers and some Czechs as the core of the imperial power. Is it your idea? My future brother-in-law?” Crown Prince Ferdinand decided to talk about topics that are of interest to everyone and have positive meaning.
”Yes, according to the information sent back by the Bavarian military delegation in Austria-Hungary, they believe that the internal coordination and control of this mixed ethnic group is very troublesome and directly affects the combat effectiveness. The ethnic composition of the local garrison is still relatively simple. Fortunately, the formation of the National Defense Force is regarded as a national event. Although it may have better equipment, its combat effectiveness may not be as high as that of the garrison.” The prince thought for a while and said carefully. After all, consider the other side's face.
”But this conflicts with our national policy. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has always wanted to integrate the many ethnic groups in its territory, whether it is administration, people’s livelihood, or military. This is also the purpose of our mixing various ethnic groups into the army. . We hope to eliminate the barriers between nations. However, it seems to be effective now.” Crown Prince Ferdinand said.
”This is a domestic political issue, but political correctness does not mean that the army has combat effectiveness! Can you imagine the chaotic situation in a war when there are more than 4 ethnic groups in a regiment and the language is not communicated?”
”In South Africa, there has never been a situation of mixing between American mercenaries and Boer armies! Because the language problem is a huge obstacle. This is still only two languages, and it is difficult for me to understand one. If an officer masters four languages and handles the contradictions between many ethnic groups, how much energy does he have to spend on the military?”
”Different nations have different views on war issues. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire became strong, it was because there was a strong army backed by the Germans as the main body and the Hungarians and Czechs as the backing. Now we should not downplay the Austrian empire. The national attributes of the Hungarian Army should be strengthened! The only trustworthy people in the Austrian Kingdom are the Germans. Although their number is less than half, there are more than 10 million. So it is very important to draw out a powerful mobile corps. ”The prince said earnestly.
The poor performance of the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War 1 is indeed limited by its strength. It is not as good as its opponents in terms of military equipment. The number of artillery is weaker than that of the Russians. It is understandable to be beaten by the Russians in actual combat. It can also be attributed to the lack of equipment at the start of the war, but the Austro-Hungarian army was also beaten violently when fighting the Serbs. What was the reason?
Serbia’s equipment is weak, but weak! Serbia does not have its own defense industry, and the number of troops is very small. How many troops can a country with only 4.5 million people mobilize? At the beginning of the First World War, the Serbian regular army had only 12 infantry divisions and one cavalry division, with a total of only 247,000 men! In addition, the number of troops temporarily mobilized is only 400,000.
And their equipment is very backward. A division is quite large, with 15,000 people and 400 cavalry, but there are only 18 machine guns and 36 artillery. The whole army can use only 100,000 rifles, and only artillery. 610, of which there are 180 old-style artillery, the number of heavy artillery is only 40! Each artillery has no more than 700 rounds!
Although the Balkans was only a small strategic direction after the war began, in this direction, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still deployed close to 240 battalions, 519 artillery and 392 machine guns. Perhaps the number of people is worse. The artillery is simple. The number is also less. But it's roughly equivalent.
But who knows that once the battle started, the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Balkans in 1914 can be described as losing troops and losing the future. The Soviet data read by the previous princes stated that the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost more than 200,000 people in 1914, while Serbia The loss is only about 60% of the opponent's. Although this data is open to discussion, it is certain that the Austro-Hungarian Empire can't beat Serbia with comparable strength...