The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1150 - 865 - : France Deploys Troops

In the current Czech territory, nearly half of the population is German. This means that if the Germans within Czech decide to support Germany, the Czech government's position in this war would become extremely awkward.

Because the only support left for this war would then be from the Czechs and other non-German populations.

Once all Germans side with Germany, Czech would be unable to resist the German attack.

On May 3, 1936, the Bohemian Republic declared its accession to the German Empire, becoming the youngest federal state in the Empire.

The German government views Bohemia with great importance. On the day of Bohemia's accession to the German Empire, the German government officially announced the establishment of an autonomous government in Bohemia, equal in status to federal states like Bavaria.

The desertion of the Germans accelerated the war. Two days later, the German Army officially defeated the Austrian Army in the Czech region and encircled Prague.

By this time, the Czech government had fallen into chaos. There are not a few Germans in the Czech region, even in Prague, where the government is located, there are many German officials and citizens.

Facing the frenzied attack of the German Army, these Czech forces could not hold back. After a siege of five days, Prague, the most important urban city in the Czech region, announced its fall, and the Czech government fled to Brno in the southeast.

Also on that same day, the Bohemian Republic officially took over Prague and declared the Czech government illegal, asserting that the Bohemian government was the legitimate government of the Czech region.

The good news is that the Czech government, which fled to Brno, formed an iron triangle with the Austrian government in Vienna and the Slovak government in Bratislava, with each other's positions not too far apart, mutually providing support.

But the bad news is, Brno is already the last major urban city in the southeastern part of the Czech region. This also means that the Czech government's flight virtually handed over the entire Czech region to the Germans.

Germany, having gained Czech, will become even stronger. Just the more than three million Germans alone are sufficient to form several hundred thousand troops for the German Army.

Once these people are thrown back into the battlefield, it would be a fatal blow to the Austrian Empire.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, has there been any reaction from the British and French?" Emperor Karl I, now the old emperor, asked with an expressionless face, looking towards Prime Minister Daniel.

"Not yet, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Daniel wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and looked somewhat apprehensively toward Karl I.

Even though Karl I's influence in the government isn't high, he still has a certain prestige in the hearts of the Austrian people.

After all, he was the emperor who sustained the country for decades, and without certain prestige and support, the Austrian Empire might not have survived until now.

A bigger problem is that Prime Minister Daniel had once been a staunch advocate of war against Germany, even going as far as to firmly advocate for a resolute war against the Germans.

Now with the tide turning against them, Prime Minister Daniel naturally faces the most pressure. Just as Prime Minister Daniel could shift the blame, Karl I could also place the responsibility for the war completely on Daniel.

For Prime Minister Daniel, who hoped to be re-elected and lead the Austrian people to win the war, this is undoubtedly a heavy blow.

"Damn, I remember you once said that the British and French would support us before the fall of the Czech region. Now that the Czech region is about to fall, where are the British and French armies?" Karl I said expressionlessly, making Prime Minister Daniel shudder with his words.

"I will urge the British and French governments and request them to dispatch armies as soon as possible to help us recapture the Czech region," Prime Minister Daniel promptly said.

"Enough," Karl I continued expressionlessly, cutting off Prime Minister Daniel's words: "Within one week, I want to see the French army, and within half a month, I want to see the British army.

If the British and French are unwilling to send armies to join this war, then it might be time to end this war."

The words of Karl I caused Prime Minister Daniel to swallow his saliva again. Without the support of Karl I, it would be nearly impossible for Prime Minister Daniel alone to continue the war.

The Czech government would not permit it, neither would the Slovak government. And without exaggeration, even the loyalty of the Austrian people in the Austrian region to the government might not be that high.

If the British and French do not express firm support for Austria, it's likely that various problems will arise within the Austrian government even without waiting for another German attack.

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"Yes, I understand," nodded Prime Minister Daniel, not uttering another word.

The fall of the Czech region altered the wait-and-see attitude of the British and French and gave Germans within Germany greater confidence in this war.

Given the current situation, Austria is no match for the Germans, even direct confrontation seems unlikely.

Having lost the Czech region, Austria is at best a middle-sized country in the European region, lacking even the mass of a superpower.

This also signifies that the Germans have defeated one of the three major enemies, leaving only the even more powerful British and French to be faced.

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How could the French be defeated?

Looking at the map of the German-French border, observing the long Maginot Line of the French, and then the blank border line between France and Belgium, the German government had already begun preliminary planning.

On May 7th, the French Southern Army Group first launched a feint at the German-French border, which was fully countered by the opposing German Army. Then they turned their attention to the Franco-Italian border line.

On May 8th, two French armored divisions and four infantry divisions, under the protection of the French Air Force, began a grand advance toward the Italian border.

Across the border line, tens of thousands of Italian troops were waiting in strict formation.

Right after the outbreak of the war, Italy had deployed a large number of troops at its northwestern borders. It couldn't be helped; being neighbors with France meant that Italy was destined to possibly face an attack from the French Army.

Although Italy was in no way less populous than France, this didn't mean that the combat effectiveness of the Italian Army could be discussed on par with the French.

Even though France no longer compared to Germany, Italy would have a tough time if it tried to clash with them.

At present, the consensus among the governments was that the combat effectiveness of the German Army had regained the top spot in the world. There was no helping it; the German Army's performance on both the Polish and Austrian battlefields was excellent, and the achievement of conquering Poland within a month astonished all the Powers.

Britain and France had discussed this matter and came to a unanimous conclusion that their militaries couldn't possibly conquer the whole of Poland within a month.

Although Poland was not a Power, it absolutely wasn't a small country that could be easily subdued. According to Britain and France's estimates before the German-Polish War, Germany would need at least six months to win the war.

Moreover, if the previous restrictions on military size and weapons development seriously impacted the combat effectiveness of the German Army, the Germans could well spend more than a year to defeat Poland.

This also meant that, according to the prior plans of Britain and France, the German-Polish war was likely a war of attrition lasting about a year.

This war of attrition would not only allow Britain and France to clearly see the combat strength of the German Army, but it would also effectively weaken both Germany and Poland, thereby reducing the German threat.

But what Britain and France didn't expect was that the German Army not only won, but they also took the Polish capital, Warsaw, in just one month.

The million-strong Polish Army was like paper mâché before the Germans, even allowing for iconic historical scenes like cavalry VS tanks, reducing the chill in the air worldwide.

In Europe, after Germany, the people were generally willing to choose Australasia when it came to land force combat effectiveness.

Why? For one, the population of Australasia had surpassed that of France, meaning the population disadvantage was relatively non-existent.

Furthermore, the military performance of Australasia during World War I was exceedingly excellent, making it one of the most powerful armies after Germany.

Even a small portion of Australasia's elite troops could give-and-take with German elites during combat, with both sides suffering casualties.

Compared to the previous two, the third place was more controversial. The French believed that their army's combat effectiveness still ranked among the top three in the world, even on par with Australasia, only slightly behind the Germans.

However, other European Nations had different opinions. Some believed that the militaries of the Balkan States were relatively powerful. Strictly in terms of combat effectiveness, they would surpass France.

There were also European Nations who thought that the recently reunified Russia Nation, displayed a combat effectiveness that was not to be underestimated.

Moreover, with Russia Nation's vastly exaggerated population, ranking the Russian Army's overall combat effectiveness in the top three in the world was reasonable.

However, regardless of how the rankings for land force combat effectiveness were arranged, the Italian Army was always amongst the less formidable of the Powers, an undeniable fact.

In World War I, the Italian Army's performance could only be described as a complete mess. At that time, Russia was under Tsarist Government control, and the Russian army was weak in fighting capability, with generally poor discipline, and very bad weapons, equipment, and logistic support.

Yet it was this Russian army that managed to fight the Austro-Hungarian Empire Army to a standstill several times, even gaining the upper hand on numerous occasions.

If it weren't for Germany's assistance to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it's possible that Russia could have broken the Empire down.

But Italy, also one of the Powers, when facing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was surprisingly held at the borders by only a hundred thousand troops of the Empire's Army.

If the latter stages hadn't seen the Austro-Hungarian Empire facing a Three-Line Battle, which led to its internal collapse, it is questionable whether Italy could have ever breached the Empire's borders.

Now, facing such an Italian Army, the French could finally breathe easier, feeling that the war might not be as difficult as imagined.

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