The renowned philosopher Hegel once said: The only lesson humanity learns from history is that humanity cannot learn any lessons from history.
Back then, the Habsburg family suddenly went mad, rallied a bunch of cronies to attack the Tsar, and even pushed all the way to Moscow.
If it weren't for the fact that the Habsburg family alliance's army was mainly cavalry, not equipped with large siege weapons, and their logistics were stretched thin, the Tsar's capital might have been reduced to ashes by the enraged Habsburg allied forces.
By all logic, shouldn't the Tsar's army have learned some sort of lesson?
However, the Tsar's army learned nothing at all. They were the same as before. Faced with the surprise attack by the Austrian art student with a mustache, the Tsar's army still failed to react.
Unlike the Habsburg family alliance, the army under the art student with a mustache, while having cavalry, was primarily composed of artillery. The Tsar's existing defenses could not withstand a few rounds of bombardment.
More critically, most of the Tsar's army officers were composed of traditional Tsar nobles and landowners. The officers who had received formal military training in the Great Ming during the reign of Paul I had largely been purged by Alexander. In contrast, the Austrian officers under the art student with a mustache were all graduates of military academies in the Great Ming.
As a result, the Tsar was defeated as expected.
The Austrian army under the art student with a mustache advanced step by step, while the battered Tsar's army retreated. The Tsar's senior officers were also psychologically traumatized by the art student with a mustache.
A large number of senior officers began discussing peace talks, and Alexander, the current Tsar of the Tsar, was driven to distraction – although the art student with a mustache was formidable, the Austrian army hadn't even reached outside Moscow. Were these useless bastards already discussing surrender?
It was utterly outrageous!
After summoning the great figures of the Tsar's court and military, Alexander unleashed his fury: "Were you not disgraced enough when the Habsburg family alliance attacked Moscow last time? This time you've been beaten by an Austrian art school dropout!?"
The prominent figures of the Tsar's court and military all feigned ignorance, unwilling to respond to Alexander.
The main reason was that there was no response they could give. The fact that the Tsar had been beaten was undeniable, and no amount of denial could change it.
What was even more infuriating was that although the Tsar's army had performed poorly against the Habsburg family alliance's invasion, they could at least put up some resistance. This time, they simply took a beating without any counter-attack!
Seeing that the Tsar's court and military leaders were all pretending to be dead, Alexander had to suppress his anger. He let out a cold snort and said, "Gentlemen, I called you here to hear your ideas, not to watch you all stare blankly with your heads down!"
However, Alexander was met with silence. After a long pause, Konstantinovich, the commander of the Tsar's riflemen, tentatively said, "Your Majesty, the current situation is clear. Our Tsar's army cannot directly confront the Austrian army on the main battlefield."
Alexander, suppressing his anger, said, "Continue."
Konstantinovich said, "Since we cannot fight head-on, why don't we change our approach? Our Tsar's army is accustomed to the Tsar's cold weather, but the Austrian army may not be able to adapt."
"Therefore, I believe the most important thing for us to do now is to stall the Austrian army, drag the war into winter, and then use our advantage of adapting to the cold weather to strike the Austrian army."
Finally hearing a reasonable suggestion, Alexander's expression slightly softened.
After pondering for a moment, Alexander continued to ask, "And before winter? Konstantinovich, you should be aware of the Austrian army's advance speed. They may well reach Moscow before winter."
Being questioned by Alexander, Ostentinovich became somewhat troubled.
Both Ostentinovich and the prominent figures of the Tsar's court and army knew the reason for the Tsar's army's decline. It was a fact they all understood but could not express.
Perhaps even Alexander knew what was going on. After Alexander purged those officers who were loyal to Paul I and had studied in the Great Ming Military Academy, the current Tsar's officers were simply unable to cope with the constant stream of tactics employed by the Austrian officers!
However, knowing this did not solve the problem for Ostentinovich.
To say that Alexander's purging of the student officers was a mistake, and then to organize a new batch of officers to study at the military academy in the Great Ming?
That was nonsense.
Setting aside whether Alexander would admit his mistake, the four years required to organize officers to study at the military academy in the Great Ming was something the Tsar at the moment could not afford.
Ostentinovich couldn't help but glance down at the leaders of the Tsar's court and army. He saw that they were all frowning, deep in thought, but no one was willing to speak up.
In his helplessness, Ostentinovich could only tentatively reply, "Perhaps we could recruit a batch of retired officers from the Great Ming army? Or could we issue conscription orders to those landowners?"
After Ostentinovich finished speaking, Alexander, who had been looking expectant, became somewhat disappointed.
If he hadn't attacked the Ottoman Empire earlier and angered the Emperor of the Great Ming, recruiting retired officers from the Great Ming might have been feasible. But now...
As for the landowners, they were even less of an option. If he issued conscription orders to them, they would dare to assassinate him, the Tsar of the Tsar, the very next moment.
Thinking of this, Alexander couldn't help but become frustrated.
Compared to the nearly frantic Alexander, the art student with a mustache was much calmer. He even addressed the important figures of the Austrian court with great humility: "Do you remember the theories we learned in the Great Ming?"
"First, we must understand who our friends are and who our enemies are – it is clear that the Great Ming Empire is our friend, France is also our friend, and the Tsar is our enemy."
"The reason we were able to drive away the Habsburg family, who had been leeching off Austria, relied on the theories and knowledge we learned from the Great Ming, as well as the assistance of French merchants in armaments."
"Therefore, we must closely unite with the Great Ming Empire and sincerely make friends with France. We must never let anyone say that Austria is an ungrateful nation like the Tsar."
In short, when lecturing the important figures of the Austrian court, the art student with a mustache mentioned the Great Ming, the Emperor of the Great Ming, and France's assistance to Austria in almost every sentence.
However, after the lecture, when he summoned the important figures of the Austrian army privately, the art student with a mustache seemed to have changed into a different person: "The Great Ming is currently very dissatisfied with the Tsar's performance. This is an opportunity for our Austria – you should know what the 'Five Great Virtuous Ones' of the Little Broken Pot represent."
Erwin, known as the cunning fox and a leader of the Austrian army, couldn't help but frown and say, "Adolf, you should know that the positions of the 'Five Great Virtuous Ones' of the Little Broken Pot are unchangeable, because that is the rule of the Little Broken Pot."
Manstein, a cavalry leader, also agreed: "That's right. To replace the Tsar's position as a Great Virtuous One, one must first obtain the consent of the Emperor of the Great Ming. The Emperor of the Great Ming is currently only dissatisfied with the Tsar's Alexander, which does not mean that the Emperor of the Great Ming wants to cancel the Tsar's position?"
However, what Erwin and Manstein did not expect was that the art student with a mustache actually chuckled and said, "Who made the rules of the Little Broken Pot? They were made by the Emperor of the Great Ming and the cabinet of the Great Ming, not by the 'Five Great Virtuous Ones' together."
"Therefore, as long as the Emperor of the Great Ming is willing, if he wants to change the Tsar's position as one of the 'Five Great Virtuous Ones,' he can certainly do so, without having to care about the rules of the Little Broken Pot."
"What Manstein just said can also be resolved – as long as the Tsar exists, the Emperor of the Great Ming would naturally not easily change the Tsar's position as a Great Virtuous One, because it relates to the righteousness of the Little Broken Pot."
"But what if the Tsar no longer exists?"
At this point, the art student with a mustache couldn't help but chuckle and say, "I learned a principle in the Great Ming – as long as your fist is big enough, you don't need to speak loudly. If your fist is not hard enough, even if you shout until your throat breaks, no one will care what you say."
Erwin shrugged and said, "Then what should we do next? Keep attacking Moscow and completely destroy the Tsar?"
The art student with a mustache shook his head slightly and retorted, "Do you think we can completely destroy the Tsar?"
Erwin was momentarily stunned by the art student with a mustache's question. After a while, he hesitantly said, "If we cannot completely destroy the Tsar, then how can we replace the Tsar's position as a Great Virtuous One?"
The art student with a mustache shook his head slightly again and then turned his gaze to Manstein: "What about you? Manstein, what do you think?"
Manstein hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded and said solemnly, "We may not have no chance to completely destroy the Tsar."
After Manstein finished speaking, not only Erwin was stunned, but even the art student with a mustache was taken aback.
The art student with a mustache felt that his ambition was already quite large, but compared to Manstein, it seemed his courage was not yet sufficient?
Let's not forget that Austria had only recently escaped the rule of the Habsburg family. Although the art student with a mustache had tried hard, its national strength was not considered very strong among the European countries. It was far from comparable to established great powers like the Tsar, France, and England, and perhaps not even to the Netherlands.
After careful consideration, the art student with a mustache couldn't help but ask, "What are your thoughts?"
Manstein, while contemplating a plan to attack the Tsar, said, "The biggest problem in our attack on the Tsar is not anything else, but the cold winter of Moscow."
This was the first time the art student with a mustache had heard such an interesting statement.
According to the theories the art student with a mustache had learned at the Great Ming Military Academy, warfare was not just a superficial clash of armies, but its core essence was land and population – and in terms of both land area and population, Austria was far inferior to the Tsar!
Thinking of this, the art student with a mustache said, "Manstein, although the Tsar's land area is not comparable to the Great Ming, it cannot be considered small either. How will you deal with the Tsar's strategic depth? And how will you solve the supply problem?"
Manstein shook his head and retorted, "Adolf, why should we think of ways to deal with the Tsar's strategic depth? You should know that the Emperor of the Great Ming did not care about the Great Qing's strategic depth back then."
After Adolf Hitler nodded in understanding, Manstein continued, "My opinion is that no matter what countermeasures the Tsar takes, we should stick to our original tactics, which is to advance rapidly towards Moscow."
Erwin frowned and said, "What if the Tsar gathers all its troops and engages us in a decisive battle west of Moscow or near the Dnieper River?"
Manstein said without hesitation, "Then let's engage them in a decisive battle! You, Erwin, will lead the artillery and infantry to engage the Tsar's army, while I will lead the cavalry to continue advancing rapidly and directly destroy the Tsar's supply lines."
Erwin still frowned, "Even if you destroy the Tsar's supply lines, what good will that do? Don't forget that the Tsar's army greatly outnumbers ours. Even if they lose their supplies, I'm not confident I can defeat them on the main battlefield."
The art student with a mustache also nodded and said, "Erwin is right, the Tsar's army greatly outnumbers us. If the Tsar deploys a large number of troops to protect its supply lines, do you still have confidence in destroying them?"
Manstein nodded and said solemnly, "I am confident in destroying their supply lines. Once they lose their supplies, the more troops they have, the greater the possibility of problems, and the more convenient it will be for us to encircle and annihilate their army."
After receiving Manstein's assurance, the art student with a mustache fell into deep thought.
The reason the art student with a mustache chose to attack the Tsar at this time was not only because he needed the recognition of the Great Ming, but also to show loyalty to Emperor Zhu. It was obvious to anyone that not only was Europe becoming increasingly unstable, but the entire world might also experience turbulence.
And Austria's geographical location made it a land of conflict. Once Europe descended into chaos, Austria would likely be the first to suffer.