Chapter 10
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Chapter 10: Prussia’s Weakness
Anna moved into the big estate granted by the prince regent, as the news hype faded away.
The victorious Catherine personally guarded Your Highness the Regent on the journey to Southern Germany.
This time Leader One traveled discreetly, without taking a carriage, without wearing royal attire, and without sporting the full-body armor of the Hohenzollern family. Instead, he dressed in the armor of a cavalry officer, leading at the forefront of the royal guard, appearing as a guide.
Conflict had erupted in the Southern German region, and Leader One planned to spend a month inspecting the battlefield before returning to Berlin.
During the prince regent’s absence, he instructed cabinet members to handle state affairs on their own and hinted to Schultz and Anna to prepare something to address the domestic Liberal Revolution.
Since there was no railway connecting Berlin to the South German region, the group traveled on horseback for over four hundred kilometers. Their journey took a week at a steady pace until they finally reached the heart of the South German War in Frankfurt.
Frankfurt remained untouched by the war, as it was designated a neutral safe zone where warring parties were not allowed to enter. Although Prussia had not officially entered the war, the prince regent and his entourage safely reached the city and met with the Prussian frontline commander, Lieutenant General Moltke.
Upon meeting the prince regent, Moltke immediately presented a current tactical map, meticulously hand-drawn by Moltke’s staff, accurately depicting the major forces, troop deployments, and battle lines.
Battlefield A: Hessian-Kassel VS Hessian-Darmstadt
The ancestors of both families were once united, but split over two hundred years ago and have been enemies ever since. Hessian-Kassel was a puppet state of Prussia, while Hessian-Darmstadt has been a semi-puppet of Prussia in recent decades.
The land of Hessian-Darmstadt is divided into two parts. The upper part has many Protestants and is surrounded by Prussian influence, leaning towards Prussia.
The lower part has many Catholics and is closely connected to the South German princes, sometimes leaning towards France and sometimes towards Austria.
Battlefield B: Baden + Bavaria + France + Kingdom of Sardinia + Lombardy VS Switzerland
Switzerland is in the midst of a civil war and is currently only unified in name. Each Swiss canton has different laws, regulations, and currencies. They view each other as foreigners, causing Switzerland to split into over twenty factions influenced by major powers. Switzerland is now striving for complete independence and practical unity while other nations aim to intervene in its civil war.
Battlefield C: Civil war in Baden, with the pro-Prussian North Baden versus the pro-French South Baden + Bavaria which seeks to annex North Baden.
The region from southern Germany to Switzerland is in chaos. Italian princes, German princes, Swiss princes, as well as puppet regimes of France and Austria are all involved in the turmoil.
This large-scale conflict in Southern Germany is on the eve of the European Liberal Revolution. Liberalism is gaining momentum and may soon sweep across Europe.
While countries were busy dealing with their own issues, the South German skirmish did not impact the core interests of major nations, so the whole war stayed at the level of a village brawl.
Prussia needed to help Hessian-Kassel and North Baden, so they sent out the First Cavalry Division and called up ten infantry battalions from the national army.
Prussia’s elite cavalry from the regular army had been transferred to the Guard Cavalry Division, leaving the First Cavalry Division severely understaffed. The ten infantry battalions from the national army were also in disarray, with Prussia’s total military force in the battle consisting of only 2,400 soldiers.
Few soldiers, and inexperienced.
During this time, Lieutenant General Moltke commanded on the frontlines, which effectively strengthened his cardiovascular endurance and emotional regulation.
Catherine was studying the tactical map intently, while Leader One reassured Moltke that this war was completely unimportant. What mattered was identifying and solving problems, pinpointing the shortcomings in Prussia’s military system to report back to Ron, and helping Ron enhance military reforms.
Gasping for breath, Moltke said, "I know this war doesn’t affect Prussia’s strategy, but my troops are infuriatingly incompetent. Even the soldiers from the national army scatter at the sound of gunfire on the battlefield, and even the military police force is dispersing. I need to pair them with experienced soldiers to barely keep up the fight."
Prussia’s current military system combines conscription and recruitment.
Recruits from the recruitment system are professional soldiers willing to serve in the military for life, mainly from the Junker class. They typically serve as non-commissioned and commissioned officers in the military for 20-30 years.
The military conscription system in Prussia required all adult men between 20-40 years old to serve as regular soldiers for two years, then become reservists for four years. During their reserve duty, they had military training three days a month, and would immediately return to active duty if war broke out.
After four years of reserve duty, they would transition to the National Guard for eight years. In theory, they had one day of military training per month, but the effectiveness of this varied by region. The National Guard was essentially a kind of militia.
This system of transitioning men from regular army to reserves to National Guard in Prussia built up a large pool of military personnel. Every adult man had military experience and could be called to serve in the army once war broke out. In theory, Prussia could rapidly increase its army tenfold within a month during total mobilization.
However, this conscription system and the entire military system of the Schleswig-Holstein era had decayed and become outdated.
Leader One said he wanted to visit the camp to inspect his troops.
Moltke and Catherine walked behind, with Catherine looking inquisitive and Moltke appearing as if a tragedy was about to occur.
Your Highness the Regent held the enlistment records of the National Guard 30th Battalion to 40th Battalion infantry.
Arriving outside Frankfurt, they found the temporary camp of the 35th Battalion. Leader One checked the enlistment records and surveyed the camp.
"Nearly half the battalion is missing?" Leader One asked in shock.
Leader One also knows about military affairs. When he was young, he trained with Marshal Gneisenau. By simply looking at the appearance of the camp and the tracks of the camp gates, as well as the horse hoof prints, he could tell that there were just a little over a hundred people stationed inside, while the 35th National Army registered in the roster had 295 people.
Moltke said, "This time we called up the national army from ten camps. After a month of conscription, only half of them returned. The whereabouts of the other half listed in the roster are unknown. They may have died, moved to another place, gone abroad, or deliberately avoided…"
Leader One pointed to the camp and asked Catherine to call out all the soldiers from the 35th camp. "I want to see what the situation is."
After a scattered gathering for about ten minutes, 115 soldiers from the 35th camp stood in formation. They looked up at the horizon, with their curious eyes frequently glancing at Your Highness the Regent.
"I think the average age of the soldiers in the 35th camp is around 35. Half of them are severely overweight, and the other half are seriously malnourished. How can a force like this have any combat power?" Leader One’s face showed a hint of anger.
"Your Highness… it’s true that the national army system is no longer effective. This is something Ron is working on reforming. But rest assured, the elite troops of the Prussian standing army will not disappoint you."
"It’d better be so."
Leader One realized that Prussia’s military shortcomings were indeed very serious. It was necessary to vigorously promote Ron’s military reforms. If things continued to be this bad, would Prussia even have a future?
