As the Qing army, which suffered heavy losses after the spring, gradually withdrew from southern Germany, the Allies also took advantage of the situation to regain lost territory and completely expel the opponent from Austria.
By the summer of 1696, Leopold had basically restored the original boundaries between the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg family, except for Hungary.
Regarding Hungary, Turena said that the French army has been too tired recently and needs to rest. It is understandable if the other side wants to lead the coalition to attack Hungary.
But it is best not to rush for success, because dealing with the Qing army has consumed too much energy of the cavalry and air force, and the Austrian army is no easier to deal with than the Qing army.
Assuming that when the coalition forces were attacking Budapest, the Qing army outflanked the coalition forces, it would be equivalent to being attacked from both sides, and the chance of victory would be extremely slim.
On the surface, Leopold agreed to Turenne and would no longer consider recovering Hungary for the time being. In fact, he wrote to Louis XIV, hoping that Turenne's boss could change the marshal's mind.
If possible, it would be best to replace the cautious Turenne with the more enterprising Armand. After all, the older he gets, the more timid he becomes.
In the letter, Leopold described the current situation in Central Europe as a good one, insinuating that Turenne was really a waste of time...
In this regard, Louis XIV, who had just received Turenne's report, could only refer to Colbert's views.
Both Colbert and Turenne held relatively conservative views and neither believed that expanding the scale of the war was a good idea.
After so many years of external expansion and participation in the global arms race, the money saved by the previous two prime ministers Richelieu and Mazarin has been almost spent.
France has no other overseas territories except western Africa and parts of India.
We had acquired a lot of European land before, but it still took decades to digest.
The most important thing is that Leopold and Sobieski have become poor people. Sending troops to help them is tantamount to alleviating poverty.
How can France have so much money to help such poor friends every year?
Although Louis XIV very much hoped to obtain the land promised by Leopold, he also knew that the money from the treasury was being spent like water.
The French treasury will be at its lowest point by the year after next at most.
Even in the past two years, it has been barely holding on.
France does not lack agricultural products, but these cannot be exported and turned into money.
The Ming Empire was also a major grain-producing country and had no need for French agricultural products, not even canned goods.
France's only source of overseas funds was the Emperor of the Ming Empire, who had previously purchased French treasury bonds worth 50 million silver coins.
Judging from the current situation, the pre-arranged repayment starting in three years will definitely be postponed, and it is possible to borrow another 50 million.
The debt of 100 million silver coins is an extremely heavy burden for France, unless it can immediately go to Africa to capture four to five million slaves to pay off the debt.
Kolbe estimated that if he wanted to defeat the Qing and Austrian armies, he would need to borrow at least 200 million silver coins from the Ming Empire. Ideally, it would be 300 million.
This was just his unilateral idea, because the Emperor of the Ming Empire was not French and knew France's repayment ability. How could he agree to continue to purchase huge amounts of French national debt?
The higher the amount of money France borrows, the lower its repayment ability will become. The final situation is obvious...
Louis XIV had to consider the future of France, and he could not destroy France first for those two friends.
The reply to Leopold was also very tactful. The southeastern region of France, that is, the area next to Venice, was also looted by the Qing army and suffered heavy losses.
Forcing him to mobilize troops south to strengthen the defense force in the area, Leopold's recent request is beyond help...
What Louis XIV said was basically true. The entire Apennine Peninsula was destroyed by the Qing army.
Although the armed forces from all over the country combined to eliminate about 100,000 Qing troops, they could no longer make up for the huge losses of personnel and property.
Even Rome, which has been unwilling to expand its military force, is purchasing aircraft, tanks, machine guns and other weapons on a large scale. One can imagine how serious the destructive power of the Qing army was to the local area.
Compared with the European continent, the economy and livelihood of the Apennine Peninsula are more fragile, and it can no longer withstand a second large-scale invasion of comparable strength.
When Switzerland, which is a safe zone, has turned into a battlefield, it shows that this war has intensified.
Switzerland has mobilized 30,000 cavalry and 300,000 infantry, but it can only have the ability to protect itself.
Turenne warned that even the Netherlands and Denmark might be invaded by the Qing army in the future.
At the same time, it is recommended that the French army give priority to protecting allies such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Venice, and put Leopold and Sobieski in a secondary position.
The first three are relatively weak, and their homeland has not been destroyed, so it is relatively easy to save them.
The latter two are relatively large, their national power has plummeted, and the military expenditures required for assistance are astronomical.
If Leopold knew this, it would definitely arouse great dissatisfaction from the emperor...
Turena also hoped to get help from the Ming Empire to send troops to attack the hinterland of the Qing army, which would help fundamentally solve this big trouble.
Regarding this matter, Louis XIV had already summoned the ambassador of the Ming Empire, and at the same time sent people to Fort Polo, took the train to the northern capital in person, and submitted his own letter.
The Ming Emperor's reply was that because the battlefield was too far from the mainland, the Ming army could not prepare for military operations against the Qing until 1700 at the earliest, which was nearly four years later...
Perhaps out of consideration for the long-term development of relations between the two countries, the other party did not directly reject his wishes, but he was unable to satisfy his demands in a short period of time.
It is unclear whether Louis XIV could wait four years and whether Leopold and Sobieski could wait four years.
Louis XIV had previously agreed with Leopold on the condition that he would help him recover Austria, Moravia, and Hungary.
It seems that this is already difficult to achieve, and France cannot continue to expand eastward.
Louis XIV already regretted his rash decision to help this poor friend. Perhaps when he was destroyed by the Tatars, he would be the only emperor in Europe...
It was too late to talk about regrets now, so I still agreed to Turenne's proposal. The French army had better stop when it was good and not go south to attack Hungary.
Winning or losing is secondary. The key is that no matter winning or losing, it will consume a lot of money!
He had won four battles before, but the prisoners and loot would be given first to Leopold and other allies.
France reaped little benefit, completely disproportionate to the huge upfront investment.
It is foreseeable that France may not be able to get its capital back in the next three or four years.
Louis XIV was less enthusiastic about attacking Hungary and sat in Versailles waiting for Leopold to revise his previous agreement.
Leopold and Sobieski combined could not defeat the Austrian army, not to mention there were millions of Qing troops nearby who could join the battle at any time.
Poli has long lost its former national power, and Sobieski regards himself as a tribal chief.
If you lack something, just put aside your dignity and beg from the heads of state of neighboring countries...
Ten thousand muskets are never too many, and a hundred grenades are never too few.
Whatever the other party gives me, I take it all.
Not to mention second-hand goods, even matchlock guns from decades ago, Sobieski would handle them without complaint and express his gratitude.
Sobieski once said after drinking that people from other countries may do it for taste, dignity and enjoyment.
We live only so that we will not die immediately!
In order to survive, many Bolivian people have fled with their families and families to the Swedish-controlled areas in the southern Baltic Sea, and even further to the Ming Empire.
Only once you get there can you live a good life without worrying about being attacked by Tatars.
Even if you work as a slave for the locals, it will be much more practical than being at home.
Of course, there is also a huge piece of good and bad news!
The good news is that the Tatar Emperor Kangji died of injuries on the way to class!
Prior to this, the throne had been passed to the second son Zi Yinreng.
After Yinfeng ascended the throne, he announced that this year was the first year of Baocheng.
Baocheng is Zi Yinreng's nickname, which means "guaranteed success", which is quite auspicious.
After Yinfeng became Emperor Baocheng, the first thing he did was to decide to avoid the real situation and attack the weak, and sent two million troops to destroy Bo Li!
Judging from the intelligence received from all aspects when he was supervising the country before, Bo Li should be the weakest among the many enemies.
Seeing that attacking places such as Germany and Venice would be completely resisted by the opponent's heavily armed group, Emperor Baocheng changed his target.
Jiang Boli can be the first fat sheep to be slaughtered after he ascends the throne!
By destroying the enemy Polly, the border can be pushed directly to the eastern part of Germany.
In August 1696, two million Qing troops, mainly cavalry, invaded Poli.
Before winter came, most of Pali was captured.
This time it’s not plundering, it’s devouring!
Not a single village will be spared, and every city will be captured.
It didn't matter that there were many local Bolivians, they were all sent to the mainland of Qing Dynasty to farm and mine.
Kill all the disobedient ones. In this way, the goal of annexing Pali can be completed in a short time.
Sobieski and his subordinate Zimin were faced with an unprecedented catastrophe, and the mode was completely different from that used by surrounding enemies before.
The other party does not pay attention to the so-called chivalry. Regardless of women or children, as long as they dare to resist, they will not be left alive, and they will use more cruel methods to achieve deterrence.
After years of war, Boli's military resources were almost exhausted. Sobieski only had less than 300,000 combatable troops in his hands. Facing the influx of two million Qing troops, he was completely unable to parry.
After Sobieski was invaded by the Qing army in his homeland, he immediately sent letters of distress to Leopold, Louis XIV, and even the heads of state of Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
However, these heads of state are only willing to provide some weapons and equipment on the excuse of limited national strength. Or just sending thousands of people symbolically will not have much effect at all.
Once Boli is destroyed, Sobieski doesn't know who will be next, but he knows that the Qing army will definitely not stop here and will continue to invade other countries in the next year.
Some people fled to Germany, Denmark, and Austria, while others became slaves or even accomplices of the Tatars.
Those countries that are unwilling to help Poli will eventually pay a heavy price for their short-sighted behavior!
Sobieski withdrew to Brandenburg with tens of thousands of remaining troops. Maybe this would be the next target of the Qing army.
The Qing army changed the direction of its attack, completely disrupting Leopold's plan to regain Hungary.
While the French army was resting in place, he did not allow the coalition troops to go to Poland for rescue.
To do so would be to abandon Sobieski as an ally, but Leopold had to do it.
The French army was the main force of the Allied forces. Leopold's coalition forces seemed to have a lot of troops, but in fact they could only be regarded as auxiliary to the French army.
The ability to use mobile warfare to defeat the Tatars was also thanks to the French Air Force fleet.
Louis XIV was very generous in assisting one hundred fighter planes, but the Holy Roman Empire Air Force was still in its infancy, and its combat effectiveness was completely unable to compare with the French Air Force.
The French Air Force has become a force that cannot be ignored in the defense of Europe, with a combat effectiveness equivalent to 200,000 French cavalry or one million coalition cavalry.
According to Turenne's wishes, if there is no big fight, the French Air Force can obtain a large number of fighters from local factories to increase its strength.
The total number of French fighter planes in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Venice, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Rome and other places is close to 2,000.
However, because the area that needs to be patrolled and protected is so large, each airport only has dozens of fighter planes.
For the locals, as long as there is an airport in the city, the Tatars will not dare to approach it easily.
Poli was not within the scope of protection because Turenne did not include this country in his plan before sending troops.
Half a million French troops are simply not enough to protect the two allies of Leopold and Sobieski at the same time. If you can only choose one, it can only be the former, not the latter.
France could not cross Germany to protect Polit, and the benefits it would seek in the future could only come from Leopold.
The demise of Polit had little to do with France, because it didn't matter whether France participated in the war or not.
Everything depended on whether the Tatar emperor was determined to destroy the country, nothing more.
Leopold might have sympathized with Sobieski and even shed a few tears at Polly's demise.
Turenne would not be so sad. All the Polites were not as important as the 500,000 French troops under his command.
France is the greatest defender of Western civilization. Without France's protection, I am afraid that other Western countries will be wiped out one by one by the barbaric and brutal Tatars!
The Menggu people had done this before, but the reason they didn't succeed was that their homeland was far away in the Eastern world.
The Tatars are different. Their home base is on the west coast of the Black Sea, and they can invade the territory of Poli on the same day they send troops.
For Turenne, the French Air Force will be able to obtain the "Hercules" bomber in three years at the earliest!
This is somewhat like an old man eating and drinking at his job, but it is indeed a pragmatic and good method.
When the Tatar cavalry did not dare to engage in positional combat with the main force of the French army, the French air force became an indispensable trump card in Turenne's hand.
If the "Albatross" fighter jet is regarded as a small ace, the "Hercules" bomber is the big ace.
The two combined into one are infinitely powerful!
Not only can it reach the battlefield quickly, it can also deal a devastating blow to the Tatar cavalry.
This is the scene that all commanders dream of, and now the moment is finally coming.
Turena even prayed silently in his heart that the emperor of the Ming Empire must not break the contract...
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