The Rise of Australasia

In the palace in Vienna, Carl I was anxiously reading the war report in his hand. The report pointed out that the Italians and the Balkan Allied Forces were constantly mobilizing, and it was expected that a large-scale battle would break out in a short period of time, requesting the General Staff to be prepared in advance.

If it were just an attack by the Italians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be completely able to withstand it.

If the attack involved the Balkan Allied Forces, especially the Australasia Army, at least a sufficient number of German troops would be needed to defend against their attack.

The problem was that the German reinforcements sent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire only had one army group, as two armies had been withdrawn during the previous Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme.

Now, this army group had only three armies left, with a total of about 150,000 people.

There are currently 800,000 combat troops on the Balkan Front, plus more than 500,000 Italian troops, totaling 1.3 million combat troops.

At present, the total number of troops in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is only about 1.5 million, which has been restrained by Russia and Romania with 400,000 and 200,000 respectively, plus the force defending in other regions, the actual number of troops that can be mobilized does not exceed 800,000.

Even with the addition of the German army group, the total number of troops that the Austro-Hungarian Empire can mobilize will not exceed one million, and there are still a shortage of corresponding weapons and equipment and supplies.

"Your Excellency, the Chief of Staff, do you have any good solutions to the predicament we are about to face?" Carl I looked at Austro-Hungarian Empire's new Chief of Staff, Wadstedden, expecting this recently-promoted general to have good suggestions.

"Your Majesty, we can only gather at most 800,000 troops. It is difficult for us to defend against the onslaught of Italy and the Balkan Front based on our own strength.

In addition, the troops on the front line lack supplies and frequently suffer defeats, leading to the collapse of military morale, making it difficult to achieve better results in defensive battles," said Wadstedden, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Chief of Staff.

It is well known that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is a nation composed of many ethnic groups, and none of their populations are predominant.

This has also led to a variety of ethnicities forming the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military, including Germans, Hungarians, Bohemians, Italian descendants, and South Slavians.

A small portion of the elite troops is mainly composed of Germans, and their combat capabilities are top-notch.

However, a significant portion of the troops is composed of a chaotic mix of ethnicities, and communication between them is an issue. The military orders from the commanders cannot be effectively communicated within the troops.

With the successive failures of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is hard to ensure the loyalty of soldiers from these other ethnic groups to the royal family and the Empire.

This is especially true for Bosnians and Italians, who would clearly be more loyal to Serbia and Italy than to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which invaded their territories.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire has a total mobilized force of 800,000, the number of truly trustworthy troops is absolutely no more than 500,000.

If the Bosnian troops engaged in direct combat with the Balkan front, it would be impossible to stop the Bosnians from surrendering.

Therefore, the first thing for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to do is to avoid direct confrontations between their minority-led troops and the enemy.

"Your Majesty, I suggest a certain scale of defense adjustment with the German Southern Forces. If at least 15 to 20 divisions can be replaced with German troops, the problem I face will be somewhat alleviated," Wadstedden suggested.

Having the Germans fight the Balkan front and Italian forces is more reliable than having the Austro-Hungarian Empire's own forces take on the challenge.

Firstly, the chaos within the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire's military is already a severe problem; secondly, the combat capability of Austro-Hungarian soldiers is far inferior to that of Germans.

However, for this reason, Carl I had some concerns: "Chief of Staff Lord, will the Germans agree to our request? You should know that there is a significant gap in the combat capabilities between our troops and the German troops, and this arrangement is not beneficial to the Germans."

"They will, Your Majesty," Wadstedden said firmly, "If the Germans don't want to see us withdraw from the war due to defeat, they must accept our request. We are not just fighting for ourselves, but for the entire Allies."

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently Germany's only ally and the only member of the Allies besides Germany.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdraws from the war, it will not be as simple as Germany fighting alone.

Firstly, there is a five-fold disparity in the number of powerful nations between the Allies, with only one, compared to the five great powers among the Allies.

Secondly, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a powerful nation, cannot withstand the onslaught from the Allies, which other countries would help Germany?

As long as the Austro-Hungarian Empire surrenders, in the eyes of other countries, Germany's surrender is only a matter of time.

As a steadfast ally of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has long bound its interests with Germany.

The surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have a severe impact on Germany both domestically and internationally, something the Germans absolutely do not want to see and would not sit idly by.

Upon hearing Wadstedden's words, Carl I nodded his head in reassurance and then earnestly asked, "Your Excellency, the Chief of Staff, please tell me truthfully, how great are our chances of winning this war?"

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