She changed Europe

Page 127

"Jeanne, are you alright?" At this moment, Aponia, Jeanne Alter, and Rita, dressed in tattered clothes, also fled the tent in a disheveled state.

"Your Highness, we are alright." Rita was the first to speak.

"Then put this on!" With that, Gisela picked up a steel helmet from the ground and put it directly on Rita's head. Then she looked at Jeanne Alter and Aponia, who both put on their helmets.

“Right now, apart from me, none of you are in good condition.” As if in response to Gisela’s words, Aponia coughed violently, her cheeks becoming even paler than before.

"Your Highness, I'm perfectly fine!" Rita said proudly, holding her head high.

"Idiot! Who's going to take care of them?" Gisela flicked Rita's head lightly. As Gisela did so, another explosion rang out, and the four of them were swept into the bushes by the shockwave.

"Which idiot in this unit thought of storing ammunition near the hospital! And who told them we stored ammunition here!" Gisela's roar echoed through the sky, and an even bigger explosion occurred at the ammunition depot.

"If I knew who commanded the Prussians on the other side, and who leaked the information, I would turn them into firearms!"

"Your Highness, what is the meaning of 'Nine Dominations'?"

"It does not matter!"

"What if it's a man?"

"Then let's make it a two-way plug!"

On the distant Prussian positions where artillery was firing, Bismarck, dressed in a black uniform, placed her feet on a rock, tilting her head back to observe the distant shelling area through her binoculars. At that moment, a gentle breeze swept by, causing her cloak and golden hair to flutter in the wind, and her face revealed an unprecedented seriousness and coldness.

Her brows only relaxed slightly when a small mushroom cloud rose in the distance.

"See? I didn't lie to you, Bismarck. The Austrians' defenses were weak, and they even had ammunition depots near their field hospitals." The dark-haired woman named Marta said in a charming voice, a smile playing on her lips.

"I won't thank you. Didn't you betray our army's battle plans?" Bismarck tossed the binoculars to Marta, then picked up the hat he had been tucking under his arm and put it back on his head.

“I was just following your orders,” Marta said calmly.

“We can attack now.” Bismarck nodded to the generals, then took out a small pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"How so?" Bismarck said slowly, exhaling a smoke ring.

“Didn’t you ask me to assist Princess Chloris? That’s what she asked me to do. By the way, look what I brought you.” Before Bismarck could say anything, Marta pulled a small bottle of vodka from her bosom.

“I warmed the wine for you, former Prime Minister.” Marta licked her lips, her smile widening.

"Oh!" Faced with Marta's constant antics, even Bismarck was at a loss for words. After a moment, she simply nodded mechanically.

"Tell me about Chloris's recent situation. Where is she now?"

"Her Highness has already left Paris."

“Paris? What is she going to Paris for, or what can she get from the French?” Bismarck looked at Marta with a serious expression, his tone unusually earnest.

"The list of Jesuits and such..." Marta's attitude was somewhat ambiguous, and her tone carried a hint of uncertainty, as if she really didn't know.

“The Jesuits.” Bismarck murmured the name. She knew that this organization was Frederick’s behind-the-scenes supporter, and that woman called Black Saint was such a formidable opponent.

"It's a pity that just a few days ago, Kalpac was killed by the cute little fox from Austria." Marta said with a smile.

“Even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn’t fall down when it’s dead. One person’s death isn’t enough to destroy this organization, but having a list makes a big difference. That girl must want to completely eradicate these lunatics.” Bismarck took a deep drag on her cigarette, threw it on the ground, and then stomped it out with her boot before saying this.

"Bismarck, how long will this war last?" Marta asked, fiddling with her long black hair, a question that seemed highly unusual for her position. A multi-talented spy like her should ideally crave a protracted war, as it would bring them greater benefits.

"It depends on our opponent's trump card. Prussia is now like a train burning coal. Whether it's an abyss or a broad road ahead, it can't stop. This is a result I should have expected." Bismarck looked at his own soldiers in black uniforms in the distance, who were bending down and carefully launching an attack on the Austrian positions.

In her view, this was destined to be a war in which bloodshed was inevitable. If bloodshed was not shed now, even more people would die in the future. As for the unification of Germany, she never trusted the command of future generations, and she would solve it herself.

"You don't need to feel so guilty. This is just how the times are, and you and I just happen to be in it."

Nineteenth-century Europe was an era of nationalism and great power competition. Nations were striving to enhance their strength and secure a place in the European power structure through various means. Prussia's rise and the strengthening of its militarism were also in line with this trend. For example, Britain was also engaged in colonial expansion and military buildup during this period, while France was working to restore its hegemonic position in Europe. In this international environment, Bismarck's policies were simply one way for Prussia to adapt to the times.

"The era?" Bismarck pursed his lips, his heart briefly lost in thought because of Marta's words.

PS1: How long will the maintenance take? QAQ

Chapter 474 The Two-Headed Eagle's Rebirth: An Impregnable Fortress (Seeking Votes)

Our gaze returns to Gisela —

"I'll go to the front lines to assist in the defense, and you go to Prague to gather reserves." Prague still has at least tens of thousands of reserves, which would be perfect for filling the gaps.

At this point, Gisela had to admit one thing: the Prussian commander facing her was no pushover. He had seized this opportune moment to put pressure on their lines, thereby relieving pressure on the main force in the north. This tacit understanding was strikingly similar to that of the Prussian commander in Silesia who had annihilated tens of thousands of Austrian troops a few days earlier.

Although the defenses were not about to collapse due to the two attacks, the pressure on each front became exceptionally high.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Rita nodded and led Jeanne Alter to leave, while Aponia remained standing motionless.

"Aponia, is there a problem?" Gisela's tone was exceptionally gentle as she looked at the maid standing motionless in front of her. She knew that day that Aponia had fought against the Black Saint to protect her. Although Gisela did not know where Aponia's power came from, it did not prevent her from feeling grateful to Aponia from the bottom of her heart.

"Your Highness... I want to stay by your side," Aponia said, biting her lip. For some reason, ever since using the redstone, Aponia had felt a vague unease, because she had openly defied the bishop, yet his punishment had yet to come.

Who knows, I might be forced to leave Her Highness one day. Rather than that, I might as well spend as much time as possible by her side, even if she may not yet be aware of my feelings.

Aponia's unexpected words left Rita and Jeanne Alter speechless, their eyes widening in surprise as they stared at the usually stern, gray-haired nun and maid.

"What is this?" Rita narrowed her eyes, looking at Jeanne beside her with a somewhat subtle expression.

Jeanne did not respond, but instead fell into deep thought.

“No, Aponia, you’re still injured.” Gisela looked at Aponia’s exposed skin, which was now wrapped in layers of bandages.

"Your Highness... I, Yinling Qiqi Wuliu..."

"No! This is for your own good. I don't want the person I cherish most to get hurt." Gisela's attitude was exceptionally resolute, as if there was no room for negotiation whatsoever.

"Rita, she's in your care." With that, Gisela left without looking back.

“I am someone His Highness cherishes,” Aponia repeated softly, her cheeks slightly flushed. Seeing Aponia still standing there in a daze, Rita skillfully pinched Jeanne, bringing the equally dazed Frenchwoman back to her senses.

"Huh?" Jeanne looked extremely dissatisfied, her face full of annoyance.

“We’re taking her away.”

"Oh!" For some reason, at this moment, Jeana and Rita, these two sworn enemies, reached an amazing tacit understanding: they absolutely could not let this repressed woman stay alone with Gisela, absolutely not!

On the battlefield at this moment—

"Boss, we can't stop the enemy at all. They have at least a regiment on the other side," said Erling, a soldier next to Peter, with some distress.

"Leiva, tell your men to find a way to fire another shot at TN, and use those little guns from that day to send those Prussian bastards a message." Perhaps due to letting loose, the once respectable, refined, and easygoing Peter had completely transformed into a foul-mouthed thug. (Peter deliberately used "little guns" to make it easier for his men to understand.)

"Good boss!"

"I told you not to call me boss. Do you think we're all thugs? Watch out or I'll beat you up."

"When the bugle goes off, don't rush to peek out and watch. Get your grenades ready, and throw them at the enemy as they approach." Peter calmly sat on the mound, watching the enemy getting closer.

"Don't open fire with our two machine guns yet. Let our rifles fire a volley first, then we'll fire to reinforce them." Peter was quite experienced in the practical use of weapons. Unlike other areas of defense, their company even had many landmines buried under the hills in their assigned area. Of course, all this equipment was secretly borrowed by Peter from St. Stephen's Regiment in Gisela.

"I almost forgot, there are six magic armors on the other side. See those metal lumps? Just take them out with landmines." They'll definitely advance from behind the magic armors. Once the landmines explode, the mortars will follow.

Soon, as the orderly military music of the Prussian army rang out from afar, just as Peter had predicted, the Prussian army launched an attack, spearheaded by six magical armors.

Then a strange scene unfolded: the previous fierce gunfire and artillery fire had vanished without a trace, and the advancing Prussian troops encountered no resistance from the Austrians. The Prussian commander, aside from seeing the double-headed eagle flag flying on the opposite side, saw not a single Austrian soldier. (Peter had already ordered his men to hide.)

Just as he was wondering what was going on, a massive explosion occurred beneath the Prussian vanguard's magical armor. Because the explosion originated from below, it struck the weakest point of the armor: the bottom. Since this area was unprotected by magical armor, these steel behemoths, which the Prussians were so proud of, were completely destroyed by these insidious bombs. The explosion also affected many ordinary soldiers; countless men were swept away by flying shrapnel, and their formation was thrown into chaos.

At that moment, the mortar shells Peter had requested came hurtling down. Because of their parabolic trajectory, the enemy couldn't easily pinpoint the source of the fire. Countless shells fell upon the soldiers, who were still reeling from their shock.

New explosions occurred, and some landmines buried deep underground that had not yet detonated were also triggered by these explosions. For a moment, the battlefield was as lively as the continuous sound of firecrackers during the Lunar New Year.

The Prussians had never seen anything like it before, and were caught completely off guard, with their units thrown into chaos and their organizational structures thrown into disarray.

Fortunately, the Prussians' usual training came in handy at this time. Although some officers were killed in action, the soldiers quickly selected replacements according to rank, and then, under their command, continued the attack on the Austrians.

And so the Prussians roared and charged up the hillside, while Peter directed his soldiers to prepare grenades.

"Three, two, one, throw!" Hundreds of grenades from the entire company flew towards the enemy, followed by more explosions and more Prussian soldiers being blown to pieces...

PS1: Ra!

Chapter 475 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Captain 94 The Princess's Offensive (Good luck on the college entrance exam!)

The Prussian commander in the distance was completely dumbfounded by the princess's offensive. It was the first time he had encountered such a powerful force with such rapid firepower and so many explosives. He would have believed it if you told him that there was a regiment or even more troops on the other side.

Of course, Peter's company was not a standard configuration in the Austrian army, and much of its weaponry and equipment was produced outside of its regular units.

This severe blow plunged the Prussian army into complete chaos, and the morale of the attacking forces nearly collapsed.

Seeing that the time was right, Peter called his men out and set up their guns. As the crisp, neat gunfire of the Skoda rifles rang out, countless enemies were swept down like wheat being harvested.

"Hahaha! Brothers, give it your all and drive them all back to their hometowns!" Leiva laughed heartily, and two machine guns spat fire. The Prussians were completely routed before they even reached the position.

Throughout the defensive line, both sides had their share of victories and defeats, but by dusk, the Prussian army had not completely broken through the Austrian defenses. Several high points that had been painstakingly captured during the day were all recaptured during a nighttime counter-offensive personally orchestrated by Gisela. Had the Prussian army not also appeared to be insufficient in strength, this defensive line would likely have been in dire straits, given that the total number of troops on the Elbe River was less than 50,000.

With the arrival of Austrian reinforcements, Bismarck's Elbe Army was forced to abandon its offensive and instead stationed itself to the north of the Austrians to tie down their forces, thus creating a stalemate between the two sides.

Even Bismarck could not have known at this time that this would be the last strategic offensive of the Prussian army in this war, because the Austrian Empire's counterattack was about to begin, and a battle that would go down in history in Europe was about to unfold, which would profoundly change the landscape of European warfare.

On January 15, 1875, nearly a month and a half had passed since the Austro-Prussian War. With the gradual completion of the Imperial War Mobilization, the Imperial Royal Army of the various provinces and kingdoms under its jurisdiction gradually completed its assembly. At this moment, the total strength of the Empire in the Bohemian region reached an astonishing 350,000 men.

The Prussian army, despite suffering significant losses previously, still had a total strength of 28.

At 8:00 AM on the 16th, as the 150,000-strong German coalition army, led by Bavaria, launched an attack on the Prussian Elbe Army located on the Sudetenland Line, at the same time, the Imperial army on the northern front, under the command of Field Marshal Benedek and Bella, launched a counterattack against the Prussian army in front, and the epic Princess Offensive officially began.

At noon that day, Her Highness Princess Gisela Louise Marie, the Imperial Princess, delivered an important speech amidst the sounds of gunfire, entitled "On the Future Development of Germany and the Demise of an Unpopular Nation."

It directly points out ten defeats of Prussia: First, manipulating diplomacy to suppress friendly nations; second, ignoring domestic conditions and forcibly waging war; third, establishing the nation and governing through the military; fourth, outdated equipment and rigid tactics; fifth, disunity among the people and discord between the monarch and his ministers; sixth, oppressing the people and suppressing thought; seventh, openly violating international order and disregarding diplomatic credibility; eighth, an incompetent and corrupt monarch with sycophants in power; ninth, using aggression and annexation of other countries as a means of national development; and tenth, going against the tide of German unity.

Gisela also pointed out the three most important factors for the Austrian Empire's victory: first, timing, a clear time for attack, at which point the Prussian First Army, the Elbe Army, and the Silesia Army were not closely connected; second, terrain, fighting on home soil and defending against counterattacks, being more familiar with the terrain than the enemy; and third, people, unity within the empire and sincere cooperation between states.

After the speech, Gisela personally led the Austrian army in the northwest of the Sudetenland army to launch an attack on the Prussian army in front of them, with the aim of joining forces with the German allied forces.

Meanwhile, in a basement in downtown Berlin, a young man pushed open the door, and inside sat a brown-haired woman wearing a mask.

"General Leader One! The weapons have arrived in Berlin! When shall we begin?" the young man said excitedly, looking at the woman in the room.

No one knows who Miss Lindenwan is, but she always appears in places of oppression and leads the people to resist oppression. No one knows when she first appeared, but it is certain that she has only been around for a few short years.

Even so, he has already established a positive image of a fighter and rebel in the public's mind.

The important figure above instructed him to contact this person at any time, but did not provide him with any information about Ms. Lindenwan. It is likely that even the rebel leaders did not know her identity.

"How many?" Linden asked calmly.

"The first batch is about six hundred guns, but there is an armory in Berlin. We can seize that place first, and then arm more people. Their anger towards the Prussian government is very real." War is a double-edged sword. If used well, it can solve many problems; if used poorly, it can cause many more problems. Obviously, the political situation in Prussia is in the latter stage.

"That's enough. The Crown Prince and his army are still in Bohemia, and Berlin's defenses are still very weak."

"What is the purpose of your uprising this time?" The brown-haired woman named Lindenwan stood up and walked step by step toward the young man.

"The working people must reclaim the fruits of their labor, eliminate exploitation and oppression, and fight for ourselves!" When he uttered this slogan, people could easily see the brilliance of humanity shining in the young man's eyes, even though they were still quite naive at the time.

"What are the specific guidelines?"

"What is the program?" the young man asked, looking confused.

"It's nothing, just take it as me talking nonsense." Lindenwan's tone was calm. At this moment, the young man could not see her expression through her mask, but for some reason, he felt a sense of disappointment from the woman's tone, because their decision was still too hasty... at least that's how General Lindenwan saw it.

"Sir, where do we go next?"

“Go to your command post. I believe my command abilities will still be useful.” Lindenwan picked up a British-made magic sword and pushed open the door.

"Sir, what happened to the scar on your neck?" The perceptive young man quickly noticed the scar on the woman's neck and asked out of curiosity.

“Scars?” Lindenwan reached out and touched his neck with his right hand, only then remembering the scars on his neck.

"The injuries I sustained in battles in Italy were nothing to worry about," Lindenwan said in a somewhat indifferent tone, as if the scars were insignificant to her. She quickly left the room, leaving the young man lost in thought.

But regardless, a storm swept through Berlin, the capital of Prussia.

PS1: Thinking back to the old readers who received blessings when they first read this book, they're probably all graduated from university by now.

Chapter 476 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Capter 95 Bismarck's Emotions (Seeking Votes)

Turning our attention back to Prussia —

At this moment, Bismarck was pacing back and forth anxiously, looking at the map, while the black-haired woman next to her sat casually with her legs propped up on the table, leisurely clipping her nails.

Outside, the sounds of cannons roared and battle cries echoed, but inside, she exuded a calm and composed air, as if the events outside were completely irrelevant to her.

“Lord Bismarck, you can really relax. I can give you a couple of tips.” Marta put down her legs and looked at the blonde woman in front of her with a smile.

"You just want me to surrender to that Austrian princess, don't you? I can't possibly agree to that." Bismarck stood up straight, looking extremely serious. After all, as the former Prime Minister of Prussia, she had her own pride, and that pride wouldn't allow her to choose the path of surrendering without a fight.

“That prince is quite infatuated with, oh no, I mean, he admires you.” Marta’s tone was playful, her meaning clear.

As for the gender of the two, it is not an issue at all in this world. In fact, many countries are happy to see close relationships between their magic users, as this is beneficial to ensuring their combat effectiveness on the battlefield.

This is actually somewhat similar to the Sacred Army of Thebes in the classical era.

“Lord Bismarck, think about it! Girls generally have a particularly strong obsession with their first time, and you happen to be a princess who is experiencing her first love, a witness to many of her firsts in life.”