Chapter 228 Herzendorf
As the political center of the two allies, the railway mileage from Berlin to Vienna is less than 700 kilometers. As night fell, I rode a large number of German special trains and drove into the Vienna train station. The whistle was whistling and the cabin door opened. The Austrian welcome group, led by the mayor of Vienna, was waiting at the end of the long red carpet. The behavior and conversation were full of respect for guests from afar. After a greeting, everyone boarded the cars that had been waiting outside the railway station for a long time. A grand welcome banquet was being prepared in the Royal Hotel in the city center.
As the car drove on the streets of Vienna, Qingying finally realized the charm of this musical capital.
In the plane where Qing Ying was in his previous life, Vienna was rated as the top of the most pleasant city in the world for its gorgeous buildings and vast parks. And a century ago today, when he saw this night view of the corner of Vienna streets like a flower, he was also completely conquered by her charm.
Vienna is located in the northern foothills of the Alps, with beautiful environment and pleasant scenery; green forests are stretched, orchards are clustered, and the water-blue Danube River is like a blue streamer, passing through the city gracefully. Urban houses are built along the undulating foothills at the end of the Alps, with heavy buildings and pleasing to the eye. Its buildings are exquisite and have different styles; the complex layout and bright colors combine the buildings of different ethnic and historical periods.
It was perfectly integrated, slowly spreading in front of people like a painting, without any strangeness or abruptness. With the continuous prosperity and development of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna also became the fourth largest metropolis in the world, second only to London, New York and Paris, with a population of more than 2 million. Even Berlin, the capital of the German Empire, which was far stronger than that of Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was no such prosperity scene as Vienna.
What is completely different from the old-fashioned and solemn typical lines of German cities is that the music capital Vienna is like the winding blue Danube River, revealing its graceful and gentle artistic style everywhere. Qingying sat in the workshop, and his ears are always echoing elegant and gorgeous waltz waltz; and in the square of the city park, the bands will also hold open-air music concerts on summer nights. The melodious music and the fragrance of grass and soil suddenly swell, whirling and echoing in the evening breeze. Every summer night, Vienna will become a sea of joy for music and art.
Feeling the connotation of this truly international metropolis, Qingying couldn't help but start to quietly observe a silence for his cheap father William II in his heart. William once wrote a letter to US President Theodore Roosevelt, saying that every time you American politicians and celebrities visit Europe, there will always be only London and Paris, and almost no one has ever set foot in Berlin, the capital of Europe's most powerful German Empire. Now Qingying thinks that the American choice is really right. Let the lively and active cowboys in the United States go to Berlin, which is full of strict and rigid Berlin, and the people they meet are
They were all expressionless like "interesting senior brothers", straightforward, without any mechanical existence of normal humorous bacteria. It would be a hell for the Americans to come! Even if they were to deal with countries in the Allied camp, their goal would definitely be Vienna, the music capital or Rome, the capital of Italy with a thousand-year history. As for Berlin... I am afraid they would rather go to St. Petersburg, the core of the sinful country that excludes the Jews! William's desire to be recognized by the world will never be realized before Berlin has undergone any thorough expansion and modification.
In the following week, Qingying kept her promise and took Sanniya to visit all the attractions in Vienna. Even the Forbidden Garden of the Habsburg Dynasty, Schönbrunn Palace, had wandered in for a whole day. Looking at the delicate and beautiful smiles blooming on the spring water, and the beautiful smile that was enough to make the shiny shine in her delicate and delicate face, Qingying suddenly realized that this was her true charm. This young and energetic little princess Romanov could only show her true beauty in this beautiful environment full of gorgeous buildings, elegant music, and magnificent magnificent beauty.
Beautiful, Berlin, the capital of Germans, is indeed not a place for her to stay. She locked her in Berlin like a canary, and she was indeed a little sorry for her. At this point, Qingying felt a sense of guilt. Even after Sanniya arrived in Vienna, she smiled and bought a large number of dazzling luxury goods that she could not see in Berlin. Qingying let her squander. As long as this little princess could be happier, it would be a compensation for Qingying to stay in the rigid and boring city of Berlin for a long time...
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When Sanniya was like a Persian cat that was filled both mentally and physically, curled up lazily in Qingying's arms with a satisfied smile. The German capital giants who came to Vienna to hunt for gold also achieved their goals and set off for a lot of transaction orders back home. Even Bilo completed closed-door consultations with core officials who had surrendered to Franz I, and decided to jointly advance and retreat between the two countries and anti-British and anti-French steel alliance. Faced with Bilo's cold and stern reproaching expression, Qingying could only smile helplessly and apologetically. After a while, he immediately set off to meet the first goal of this trip to Austria-Hungary - the current Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army and will serve as the commander-in-chief of the Austrian-Hungary Army in World War I.
In 1851, Hetzendolf was born in a military family in Austria. His father was the colonel of the army. When he was young, he was highly appreciated by his superiors because of his intelligent mind, and he was promoted step by step and had a prosperous official career. In early 1906, under the strong recommendation of the Crown Prince Ferdinand, at the age of 55, he was throne as the chief of the General Staff of the Army and became the real leader of the army of this world-class power. During World War I, although his strategic command ability was not poor, and he could even be called keen and correct to some extent, the combat power of the Austro-Hungarian army was really unbearable, which caused an unprecedented tragedy in which Austro-Hungarian army suffered extremely great losses in the war in the previous two years and was almost unable to fight again in the later period.
When Qingying walked into a Gothic gate, he saw Hetsendolf in front of the square table not far away. He was tall, gray-bearded, cold and gloomy, and had a heart-wrenching spirit that came to his face. Seeing the young man who was only two decades old at most, Hetsendolf's pupils couldn't help but shrink slightly; although he was reluctant to ask Qingying, a little guy who didn't even grow hair to take up his precious time, he still patiently treated his character, greeted him with impeccable aristocratic etiquette, and quietly waited for his speech.
Seeing Hutzendolf's attitude, Qingying was not ready to make any politeness to the general with Germanic stereotypes. He coughed, sorted out his thoughts, and slowly revealed his purpose to him.
"At present, Britain and France have reached a reconciliation, and the previous French-Russian alliance, the external pressure faced by Germany and Austro-Hungary has suddenly intensified. Under this severe situation, Germany and Austro-Hungary should cooperate more closely than before to jointly resist external threats. I wonder if your army has formulated a combat plan in the next European war? If the general staff of our two countries can cooperate with each other, their role in promoting the situation in the war will be far better than fighting each other." Qingying said.
Hutsendorf's face calmed down. Although he did not have the profound military attainments in front of him, since he had raised this question first and then his talks with him became meaningful. He nodded slightly and said, "Although I have just become the Chief of Staff of the Army, before that, I have also formulated a rough outline of the future of the empire. Then, please convey it to Marshal Schliffen of your country."
"The interests of the empire are in southern Europe, so the center of the empire's strategy is also in southern Europe. Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and other little guys are not reassuring people. They spread hatred and unrest here, making the empire's back garden extremely unstable. In particular, Russian forces are fighting in it, and are always damaging the empire's interests. Therefore, as long as there is an opportunity, the empire will inevitably use troops to southern Europe and annex and dismember some disobedient small countries through a preventive war to avoid being used by Russia to prevent them from being used against the empire. If your Highness needs it, I can also show you the specific offensive plan listed as top secret, or bring it to your country's Marshal Schliffen." Hetzendolf said lightly.
Qingying couldn't help but look solemn when he heard this. He adjusted his tone and said slowly: "Your country should also know that raising a butcher knife to the Balkans is a very dangerous move. Millions of Slavs live in scattered areas in this peninsula. Every inch of land has Russian elements that claim to be the "Slavs protector". Serbia, which borders your country, is even more of a protector of Russia. Your country's annexation will undoubtedly touch Russia's nerves. Once the dispute between your country and the small Balkan countries escalates into sharp conflicts and even wars between your country and Russia, how will your country deal with it?"
"It should be noted that if a war breaks out between your country and Russia, then Germany and France will also participate in the war based on the German-Austrian alliance and the French-Russian alliance. This means that Germany, which is fighting with France, will be forced to invest most of its troops on the Western Front battlefield, and the support for the Eastern Front is very scarce. I would like to ask, in this case, is your country sure to have the main Russian force to confront you?" Qingying did not say his plan to defend the west and attack the east, because he needed to use this to lead to the topic he had been brewing for a long time.
Chapter completed!