On the outskirts of Vienna, on the banks of the Danube River.
The red and white Austrian battle flag fluttered in the wind, and there were forests of soldiers on the field.
Tens of thousands of Austrian Army soldiers, wearing three-cornered hats and neat white uniforms, carrying Yeager rifles or ordinary muskets, stood in silence. Hundreds of battalions and at least four hundred companies formed a frightening lineup.
Their lineup was a bit strangely neat. Nearly 100,000 warriors, in an incredibly tight formation, perfectly spread out along the Danube River.
The officers of each battalion and each company stood at the head of the row, with the belt of their triangular caps holding their chins. The cold wind of Austria's late autumn blew on the extremely serious faces, but no one moved.
This kind of killing, this kind of lineup, how could it be a mob?
This is impossible!
Henry de Mancini, the Archduke of Austria, could not believe that the army in front of him was his Army of the Grand Duchy of Austria... This lineup looked a bit like his father's Guards. .
Of course, the Austrian Army Standing Forces is also very powerful. The training is extremely strict, and it also puts forward the "leadership principle" for every officer and soldier - that is, officers and soldiers at the grassroots level must have the courage to take responsibility and the ability to be ready at any time. Assume responsibility one or two levels above your current position.
To put it bluntly, soldiers are trained as non-commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers are trained as officers, and low-level officers are trained as mid-level officers.
The reason for this is that the Grand Duchy of Austria is in a dangerous position and war may break out at any time. Moreover, the Grand Duchy of Austria is restricted by population and the control of the sovereign state, and cannot have too many standing armies.
Therefore, François Eugen, who is in charge of the military affairs of the Grand Duchy of Austria, can only take the thorough elite route! At the same time, in order to facilitate the expansion of the army, François Eugen also personally compiled the four-year compulsory education curriculum for men in the Grand Duchy of Austria and included a large amount of "military sports". Content related to noncommissioned officer training and officer training has also been included in the secondary school and university curricula of the Grand Duchy of Austria.
These policies were not implemented for three to five years, but have been implemented from around 1680 to the present, for a full 20 years!
Twenty years of compulsory education and military physical training seem to be of some use at this time!
In front of the huge array of one hundred thousand Austrian troops was a square platform made of wood placed on the Danube embankment. The square platform is a bit high. Standing on it, you can have a panoramic view of the entire army's lineup.
At this time, there were only four people on the high platform, Archduke Henry de Mancini of Austria, heir to the Grand Duke Carl von Mancini, Chief Minister of the Grand Duchy of Austria Francois Eugen von Savoy, Austrian Army Director of Training John Churchill.
Carl von Mancini is the brother of Maria Theresa von Mancini and the eldest son of Henry and Mary Anne. He is only 18 years old and is still studying at the Military Academy in Vienna. Now seeing the scene of a hundred thousand troops waiting in formation, I was so excited that I almost cried.
With such a powerful army, do we still need to be afraid of the Ottoman Empire? This time maybe we can go all the way east and recapture Constantinople!
Francois Eugen's somewhat ugly face also had an expression of excitement. With such elite soldiers, he will definitely be famous in history for defeating the Ottoman Empire!
John Churchill couldn't restrain his joy - he didn't expect the military power of the Grand Duchy of Austria to be so powerful. It's great. I will never return to Rome or go to England again. Just be an Austrian! Being an Austrian has a bright future...
From now on it will be John von Churchill!
On the contrary, the Grand Duke Henry de Mancini did not show much excitement and joy, and still frowned.
These armies look good, but can they really fight?
They just line up... There will be relevant training in four-year elementary schools, elementary schools, and universities. But being able to line up does not mean being able to fight!
Archduke Henry knew that shooting was not taught much in Austria's four-year primary schools, middle schools, and universities. They might be able to use muskets reluctantly, but it was impossible to use Yeager rifle guns to hit targets two to three hundred yards away.
So today, the flintlock musket is still the main firearm used by the Austrian Army infantry. Only veterans from the standing army or hunters who have passed the shooting test are qualified to use the expensive Yeager rifled gun.
Excluding skirmishers (jaegers), among the infantry battalions of the Austrian Army, only one company is fully equipped with Yeager rifles, and the remaining three companies only have muskets (the long guns have been cancelled).
In addition, the cavalry of the Austrian Army is relatively weak. Because most of the original knight class of the Grand Duchy of Austria moved to the Roman Empire.
Therefore, Archduke Henry could only replace them with Goan knights, and the Goan knights were completely unable to compare with the Austrian knights.
And because the Grand Duchy of Austria is a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, it is difficult for the Austrian army to recruit cavalry from abroad. Therefore, the cavalry of the Austrian Army was very weak, with only a few thousand men. The cavalry was not concentrated into cavalry divisions, but was divided into various infantry divisions.
"His Royal Highness the Grand Duke!" François Eugen approached Grand Duke Henry and whispered, "Intelligence shows that the Ottomans are concentrating on Djerburg and seem to be planning to attack us!"
"Sneak attack?" Henry I frowned, "Is it possible? We have gathered 100,000 troops. The Ottomans should not dare to attack, right?"
Yes, there are 100,000 troops... They are so majestic and high-spirited, and Muhammad IV is not very courageous, how can he dare to fight?
John Churchill suggested: "Why don't we take the initiative to approach the Djellburg Fortress in order to seek a decisive battle... Your Highness, please rest assured that victory must belong to us!"
Because God is on our side, God will definitely bless you and Austria! "
This... Henry De Mancini is a little guilty because he doesn't really believe in God! Moreover, the bullet that killed Saint Leopold was obtained by him from the Ottomans.
Henry thought: If God really cares about human affairs, he probably won't bless himself.
"Grand Duke," Francois Eugen suggested again, "we can advance along the Danube towards Bratislava to show our power to the Hungarians. The Fanar Grand Duke of Bratislava It is very unpopular, and it does not have enough strength, let alone legitimacy... If the Hungarians there knew about our strength, they would probably launch an uprising and expel Fanar from Bratislava. The Grand Duke and the Ottoman garrison!”
Fanar is a district in Istanbul and is the seat of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople. Most of the residents living there are Greek-speaking Eastern Roman remnants.
After the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, these people became obedient subjects of the Ottoman Sultan and were placed in the Fanar District. They acted as the "higher Christians" and the "European Leading Party" within the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultan often appointed bureaucrats from wealthy Fanar families to serve as grand dukes or governors of the Christian vassals they conquered. After Royal Hungary was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, it also became a grand duchy, called the Grand Duchy of Upper Hungary. It also arranged for an Ottoman official from the wealthy Atiropolos family of Farna to become the Grand Duke of the Czech Republic.
However, the Archduke of Hungary was not as able to win over people as the Archduke Henry of Austria, and he was unable to obtain the same "neutral" status for the Hungarians as Austria, let alone turn Bratislava into the same "free country" as Vienna. "Financial Center", of course it is impossible to spend money to provide education and implement low tax rates for a long time - this prince is here to collect money for the Sudan. He wants to reduce taxes and provide education, so where will the money come from for the Sudan?
As a result, the people of Hungary discovered that the Grand Duke sent by the Ottomans was not as good as the King of the Habsburg family... let alone the Grand Duke of Austria next door!
Some active Hungarian nobles began to travel back and forth, trying to promote the merger of the Grand Duchy of Hungary and the Grand Duchy of Austria.
"Okay!" Henry nodded, "That's a good idea!"
Of course Henry didn't want to be the Grand Duke of the Hungarians. His wishful thinking was to divert disaster to the east... As long as the Ottomans went to Hungary to kill people and set fire to it, wouldn't Austria be saved?
