Iron Dynasty Chapter 1159

Venice.

Franz came here after the Imperial army arrived. When he saw the well-armed Imperial soldiers, his gloomy mood immediately improved.

“Your Majesty Franz, this is Ye Qingyun, the commander of the Southwest Military Region, one of the six major military regions of the Empire.” Lu Jun introduced him to Franz. The situation in Europe had deteriorated in the blink of an eye, so Ye Qingyun was transferred to Suez City to be temporarily in charge of European affairs. After all, with the Empire deploying its troops all over the world, the jurisdiction of the six major military regions could no longer be limited to the domestic market, but had to look at the world.

“Commander Ye, I am very happy that you could come to Austria.” Franz was a little surprised. After signing the agreement with the Empire, he quickly caught up on the situation of the Empire and was very clear about the weight of a military region commander. This alone was enough to show the Empire valued Austria, which made him overjoyed.

“Protecting an ally is the Empire’s responsibility, and naturally it is my responsibility.” Ye Qingyun smiled. Lu Jun was from the Southwest Military Region. Because of this, he was ordered to come here in person to command the war. Having been so idle at home that he was bored with life, he took a ship here as soon as he received the order. At the same time, he also took thirty-six of the newly equipped tanks from the Southwest Army here. Now these tanks were being hoisted down from the transport ships.

Ye Qingyun’s words reassured Franz even more. He said, “The situation in Austria is urgent now. I hope Commander Ye can save us.”

Hearing this, Ye Qingyun’s expression became serious. He said, “In that case, I hope Your Majesty can tell us the current situation in Austria and the specific situation of the war zone. The first batch of landing troops has only 8,000 people. I will lead these 8,000 people to stop the French and Prussian advance. Subsequent reinforcements from the Empire will arrive one after another until all our enemies are driven out of Austria.”

After a pause, Ye Qingyun continued, “However, this operation involves the cooperation between the Austrian and Imperial armies. I hope Your Majesty can send the participating army to cooperate with us for a joint exercise during this time, and then hand over the command of the battlefield to us.”

Franz was stunned for a moment. The command of the army was a very sensitive matter. But thinking of the crisis of his country being destroyed, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

After settling this matter, Ye Qingyun, in order to appease Franz, specifically led Franz to visit the Empire’s equipment. When he saw the machine guns, mortars, tanks, and troop carriers that he had never seen before, a broad smile appeared on Franz’s face. In his opinion, they had a hope of winning this war.

In the next six days, Ye Qingyun and Lu Jun were not idle. They split their troops into two, one going north to fight against Prussia, and the other going west to fight against France. At the same time, they took temporary command of the Austrian army on the battlefield and completed the joint exercise of the two armies in six days. On the seventh day, Ye Qingyun personally led 4,000 Imperial soldiers to go north to deal with Henry’s French army. He was very interested in this battle-hardened French army that used Imperial equipment.

…

Paris.

When Henry learned that the Imperial army had landed in Venice, his expression changed drastically. From the beginning, he did not believe that the Empire would really help the absolutely weak Austria, but now the facts proved everything. And in the face of the boast he had made, he could not retreat now.

After a moment of hesitation, he immediately ordered the front-line army to select reserve officers. Once the main officers were shot and killed, the reserve officers would immediately take over so that the army would not fall into chaos after losing its officers. The reason he made this decision was that Henry had seen the power of the Imperial snipers during the war to unify France. It was conceivable that it was now his turn to face these terrifying battlefield killers.

“I really should have kept those three snipers.” Henry was full of regret. After the Austrian army withdrew, the three Imperial snipers left. At that time, he had not yet fallen out with the Empire. At the same time, Frederick II also received the news not long after. After a slight shock, Frederick II also did not choose to retreat.

Like Henry, they were now tied to the war chariot, and this contest with the Empire had to be fought.

…

Vaduz.

After leaving Venice, Ye Qingyun arrived at the front line of the war after a one-day journey. When the Imperial soldiers arrived at the trench-filled battlefield on their green military transport vehicles, the entire Austrian army was in an uproar. They had already learned that their country had signed an agreement with the Empire, so they were mentally prepared for the arrival of the Imperial army.

Ye Qingyun got out of his Jeep military vehicle and waved to the Austrian soldiers in the trenches. With him was Franz’s eldest son, Obina. The twenty-four-year-old Austrian prince insisted on coming to the front line with Ye Qingyun to assist Ye Qingyun in commanding the Austrian army. After getting out of the car, Obina immediately gathered the officers to meet with Ye Qingyun and announced Franz’s decision.

“There are still 60,000 Austrian soldiers here. Vaduz is a very important city for us. If it is occupied by France, Vienna will be directly threatened by France,” Obina introduced to Ye Qingyun.

Ye Qingyun nodded. He had a good impression of this humble young man. They had arrived here first, and the 40,000 Austrian reinforcements were still on their way and were expected to arrive in three days. To prevent the Vaduz front from collapsing, he had arrived here ahead of time.

Faced with a two-front battlefield, even the powerful Austria was a little overwhelmed. According to Ye Qingyun’s understanding, many of Austria’s veteran soldiers on the front line had been lost, and they were all on the front line. The reinforcements that were coming were just newly recruited soldiers, and the 40,000 reinforcements this time were new recruits.

“With me here, the Vaduz line will be as solid as a rock.” Ye Qingyun was very confident.

With that, he immediately had the machine gunners enter the trenches to set up machine gun positions. Most of the supplies the Empire had provided to France were rifles, and the artillery was just direct-fire cannons, but with explosive shells, the power was still considerable. Therefore, the real threat to them on the battlefield was these cannons. As long as they took out the enemy’s artillery, their pressure would be greatly reduced. And the best way to suppress these direct-fire cannons was undoubtedly with snipers. After all, the Empire’s sniper rifles had a long range and could completely suppress the enemy’s artillery. So he ordered the snipers to enter the battlefield and find suitable firing points to take out the French army’s artillery.

Of course, this was not the ultimate weapon this time. The thirty-six tanks were his sharp weapon to break through the French army. For him, offense was the best defense, and he was too lazy to waste time squatting in the trenches.