Chapter 37 War

June 14, 1866.

Prussia declared war, citing Austria's mismanagement of Holstein.

On the day war was declared, the Prussian troops on the Western Front attacked the northern German countries with lightning speed and quickly took over the government organizations and railway hubs of these countries.

Due to the power and marriage of the Habsburg family in the Austrian Empire for many years, the German states that supported Prussia only had a few small countries with basically no military strength. Those larger countries all sided with Austria.

At the last German Confederation Congress, Prussia's plan to solve the German problem through force was rejected by many countries in the Congress.

This parliament made Prussia realize that it basically had no allies in the German region, so Prussia quickly declared war on these small northern German countries after the war.

At this time, Prussia was divided into two parts on the map, and in the middle were these scattered small German countries.

Most of these small countries were surrounded by Prussia, and they dared to stand on the side of Austria. The Prussian army, which had no martial ethics, would naturally not negotiate with these small countries and directly launch a war to take over their power.

This time Prussia's determination to unify the entire northern Germany and achieve the Little Germany plan is unprecedented. If these small countries do not know how to promote, they can only be eliminated.

Forget about the few slightly powerful ones in the south who oppose Prussia. You are small countries and free cities with basically no military strength, and you are in the heart of Prussia, so you still dare to talk.

As the Prussian army in the western battlefield drove directly into the North German countries through railway lines, these small countries were naturally unable to stop it, and Prussia successfully took control of its administrative rights.

First get rid of these unscrupulous small countries to prevent them from stabbing in the back. At the same time, we can completely ensure the traffic safety of Prussia's east-west railway network.

The Bohemian battlefield was the main battlefield of the Prussian-Austrian War. Both sides gathered hundreds of thousands of troops here, but Prussia was obviously more efficient than Austria.

One was that in 1862 Prussian von Rohn implemented several military reforms to ensure that all Prussian citizens were obliged to be drafted.

Prior to this, the size of the army had been determined earlier without taking into account population growth, thus making conscription unfair and unpopular.

While some Prussians remained in the army or reserves until the age of 40, about a third (and even more in some areas that had experienced significant population increases due to industrialization) were assigned minimal duties in the home army. .

Universal conscription was introduced within three years, increasing the size of the active army and providing Prussia with a reserve force equal to, but superior to, Austria's.

Prussia considered that if France under Napoleon III tried to interfere with the Prussian actions, they could also raise an equal or greater number of troops through the reserve system to fight against Napoleon III's army.

Prussian conscription was a matter of continuous training and drill, while some commanders of the Austrian army routinely sent infantrymen home on permanent leave shortly after conscription, keeping only a group of long-term soldiers to stay in the barracks for long periods of time, or to perform Task.

Therefore, Austrian conscripts had to train almost from scratch when they were recalled to the army after the outbreak of war.

Therefore, the Prussian army was better trained and more disciplined than the Austrian army, especially in terms of infantry.

While Austrian cavalry and artillery were as well trained as their Prussian counterparts, and Austria had two elite heavy cavalry divisions, advances in weapons and tactics since the Napoleonic Wars had rendered cavalry charges obsolete.

The Prussian army was based locally and organized into military districts, each of which contained a corps headquarters and its constituent units. Most reservists lived near their regimental depots and could be mobilized quickly.

Austrian policy is to ensure that troops are stationed far from home to prevent them from participating in separatist insurgencies.

Recruiters on leave or reservists recalled to their units during mobilization faced journeys that could take weeks before reporting to their units, making the Austrian mobilization much slower than that of the Prussian army.

At the same time, Prussia's railway system was more developed than that in Austria. Railways made it possible to supply more troops than ever before and allowed troops to move quickly within friendly territory. The more efficient Prussian railway network allowed the Prussian army to concentrate more quickly than the Austrians.

Reviewing his plans for Ruen, Moltke said: "We have the inestimable advantage of being able to transport our 285,000 field troops to five railway lines and concentrate them almost in 25 days. ... Austria It would take her 45 days to muster 200,000 people on just one railway line."

Moltke Sr. had also said earlier, "Nothing is more welcome than having the war we must have now."

Austrian troops under Ludwig von Benedek in Bohemia.

Previously thought to have enjoyed the advantage of a "central location" as they were able to concentrate on launching successive attacks along the border areas.

But the faster Prussian concentration offset this advantage. When the Austrians were fully concentrated, they were unable to prevent two other Prussian armies from attacking their flanks and rear and threatening their lines of communication while they concentrated against one Prussian army.

In the south, the presence of the Italians forced Austria to disperse its forces to fight the Kingdom of Italy, and Austria even took the initiative to withdraw from Venice.

The war situation was unfavorable to Austria from the beginning. The aging Austria had to ask Napoleon III for help, but Napoleon III still underestimated Prussia. It agreed to Austria's request, but did not intervene for a long time.

On June 23, the Prussian troops arrived at the line from Zavidov to Qitao to assemble.

On June 26, the Battle of the Yunna River took place between the Prussian and Austrian armies.

Moltke, the Prussian chief of staff, carefully planned the battle formation and concentrated his firepower on attacking Austria. When the Austrian army concentrated on invading Silesia, he transferred his troops to Saxony and Bohemia to join King William I of Prussia, who had already assembled an army there.

On July 3, the Prussian army launched a massive offensive and defeated the Austrian army at the Battle of Königgrötz (also known as the Battle of Sadowa). The Austrian army had a numerical advantage, but the number of casualties was seven times that of the Prussian army. This was all due to the Prussian army's excellent equipment and appropriate strategy.

With the exception of Saxony, the other states had very limited influence on the war. Hanover's army defeated the Prussian army at the Battle of Bad Langensalza on June 27, but was soon surrounded by the army and surrendered. The Prussians faced off against Bavaria on the Main River and fought at Nuremberg and Frankfurt. Würzburg in Bavaria was besieged by the Prussian army, but it did not surrender until the armistice.

Austria's battle with Italy was unexpected, defeating the Italian army in the Battle of Custoza on June 24 and the naval battle of Lissa (Lisa in today's Vis, Croatia) on July 20.