The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 806 Napoleon III: I will march towards Berlin with tanks!

In October 1866, in late autumn, the General Staff Headquarters on Wilhelm Street in Berlin was already filled with a solemn atmosphere. Bismarck stood in front of the window, the cigar burning between his fingertips emitted blue-gray smoke that blended with the morning mist outside the window. His eyes were fixed on the map of Europe on the wall - the border between Austria and France, with dense red marks spreading like a plague.

"The Americans crushed Vicksburg's outer defenses with these iron monsters." Moltke's voice came from behind, hoarse and cold. He threw out a stack of telegrams, the top of which was a secret report from the Prussian military attaché in Washington: "The Confederate anti-tank trenches and traps proved to be of limited effect, and the anti-tank chevaux de frise was completely ineffective. Only the soldiers of the Black Corps destroyed more than a dozen tanks with anti-tank grenades, temporarily saving Vicksburg. However, this key Confederate fortress was still under siege."

Blumenthal, the first quartermaster general, held a copy of the New York Tribune. On the front page was a photo of the Union Army's steel behemoth running over the Confederate Army's wooden chevaux de frise. "The French are already researching this weapon," he said in a low voice. "Our spies reported that the Saint-Etienne Arsenal secretly produced an experimental steam-powered armored vehicle last month."

Moltke sneered, and his pen drew sharp marks on the paper: "Each tank requires twenty engineers to maintain it, and the cost is as high as tens of thousands of thalers. A four-pound breech-loader that can blow it into pieces only costs 1700-2000 thalers, and five gunners are enough. More importantly, we can manufacture four-pound breech-loaders at a relatively fast speed. If more military funds are invested, the output of artillery can be increased!" He raised his head suddenly, and his hawk-like eyes pierced Bismarck, "Prime Minister, you should know better than me-the secret envoys from Vienna and Paris met in Salzburg last week!"

Bismarck took a long puff on his cigar. He grabbed another telegram - an urgent message from the Prussian Consulate in Vienna: "Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph has agreed in principle to conclude a military alliance with France. The specific terms will be signed in January next year."

The air in the room seemed to freeze. Blumenthal's fingers tapped the table unconsciously, the rhythm getting faster and faster.

"Three years..." Bismarck suddenly spoke, his voice sounding like it was pulled out of an ice cellar. "Moltke, you once said that we still need three years to complete our war preparations against France."

He paused. "But now, we don't even have a year left. Napoleon III seems to have a deep hatred for us and is not willing to consider remaining neutral between us and Austria."

Moltke strode to the map and hit Alsace and Bohemia on the map with his pointer.

"If France and Austria attack at the same time, we will face at least 400,000 allied troops on the Western Front." His voice was very low. "The French Chassepeau rifle has twice the range of ours, and the Austrians have just ordered 300 Gatling machine guns from Britain. Now Napoleon III is vigorously developing steam tanks."

Blumenthal stood up suddenly: "We should not wait any longer, and we should start a war against Austria immediately. Joseph Franz's army is no match for us. We can defeat Austria within a month, and then turn our guns against France."

"What if we can't defeat Austria within a month?" Moltke interrupted sharply, "Let us be trapped in the pincer attack of France and Austria?"

Bismarck's eyes swept over the troop distribution map on the wall. Prussia's standing army was only 300,000. Even if all the reserves were mobilized, the chances of winning against the joint attack of the Franco-Austrian coalition were not very high - France and Austria were not Denmark after all. Especially the French army, they had been fighting since Napoleon III ascended the throne, and they had a lot of practical experience!

"How many four-pounders can Krupp's factory produce?" he suddenly asked.

"We can only produce 30 guns per month at most now." Blumenthal smiled bitterly, "After all, we still need to produce 6-pounders and 12-pounders... Even if the Krupp factory runs 90 hours a day, we can only produce guns per month."

Only .90 doors per month!
"Increase it by another 30 percent!" said Bismarck.

The Prussian Prime Minister's brows knitted together. He turned and looked out the window - people were coming and going on Wilhelm Street, and it was peaceful. He couldn't imagine the scene when the French steel torrent rushed into Berlin.
"Yesterday, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's ambassador Weng Tongjue revealed to me that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has a defensive weapon that can be used to destroy tanks. It's called a mine!" Bismarck said in a hoarse voice, "They want to use the technology of producing mines, including a new type of safe explosives, to exchange for Krupp's crucible steel technology. What do you think?"

Before the emergence of open-hearth steelmaking, Krupp's crucible steel technology was the world's best technology for producing high-strength military steel. The armor steel and artillery steel produced using this technology were the best in the world!

However, the military steel smelted by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom using alkaline converters was always weak in strength and of unstable quality. Even after adding metal elements such as nickel, chromium, and manganese, it could only be barely used.

So Luo Yaoguo had always wanted to introduce the most advanced crucible steel technology from Krupp, but Krupp's crucible steel was their unique skill, so how could they be willing to transfer it easily? The representatives of Xuzhou Iron and Steel Plant negotiated with Alfred Krupp several times, and even offered a technology transfer fee of 10 pounds, but were still rejected.

"A new type of safe explosive?" Moltke's eyes lit up. "How about better than picric acid? Do you have a sample?" Bismarck said, "It is said to be more powerful than picric acid. The sample has been sent to Berlin."

Moltke said: "Then let's take a look at the goods first. If they are really reliable, we can consider exchanging them for Krupp's crucible steel."

Blumenthal added: "But the Chinese must ensure that Krupp's crucible steel technology is not leaked to third countries."

At the same time, in the gilded hall of the Tuileries Palace in Paris, Napoleon III was caressing the steam tank model presented by Hu Wansheng. The light of the crystal chandelier flowed on the gilded gears, as if it had already illuminated the phantom of victory.

"Your Majesty, the secret envoy from Vienna has arrived," Foreign Minister Valevsky reported quietly, "Emperor Franz Joseph agreed to sign the treaty as long as France promised to designate the east bank of the Rhine as a joint management area."

Napoleon III sneered. He turned to Marshal Vaillant beside him and asked, "Has McMahon's Algerian Corps been transferred back to the mainland?"

"The First Colonial Division has arrived in Marseilles," Vaillant replied, standing at attention. "But... the Quartermaster General reported that our military budget is only enough to equip five tank companies."

Finance Minister Magnier's forehead was covered with cold sweat: "The budget of the Saint-Etienne Arsenal has exceeded 7 million francs, and the Austrians are still demanding payment for last year's railway loan..."

"Then let the bankers in Lyon 'voluntarily' subscribe to war bonds!" The French emperor was a bit overwhelmed when it came to "money". He had been keen on conquering the east and the west in recent years, and he always fought wars that could not be paid back, so the financial pressure was indeed a bit great.

"But." Finance Minister Magne frowned. French bankers are very smart! They are not optimistic about the debt repayment ability of the court of Napoleon III.

"Don't these profiteers who only know how to lend money at high interest rates understand that if they don't pay more for the military now, once Prussia wins, their money can only be used to pay the indemnity." Prince Napoleon said worriedly: "It is because they don't work hard that our industrial capacity is far behind Prussia, just one Krupp factory."

"So we have to put our hopes on new weapons!" The Emperor interrupted Prince Napoleon's dejected words. He turned and stared at Marshal Vaillant and Prince Napoleon. "No matter how hard we try, we can't overwhelm Prussia with Krupp in terms of cannons. So, I will use tanks to march to Berlin!" The French Emperor paused and said, "Next summer, I hope France will have 300 steam tanks. In addition, although the Mitellius multi-barreled gun is expensive, the Americans have proved the value of multi-barreled guns on the battlefield, so we must mass-produce it. No matter how expensive it is, we must make it!"

In fact, the manufacturing process of the Mitellius multi-barreled gun is not complicated, and the cost of making it in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the American South is not exaggerated. However, Napoleon III's arsenal was too inefficient because of the "national craftsman" system and "Louis Commissioners" who took too much, making the production cost extremely high. The cost of a Mitellius multi-barreled gun was as high as 1.3-1.6 francs, while an American Gatling gun was only 6 or 3000 francs. If it was made in the Heavenly Kingdom, it could be half off. A Krupp -pound breech-loading gun only cost francs.
In the Hall of Mirrors at Schönbrunn Palace, Emperor Franz Joseph was staring at two maps placed side by side on the table. On the left was a final draft of the Franco-Austrian Treaty, and on the right was a map of Prussia's military deployment.

"Your Majesty, the Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg secretly met with Gorchakov a few days ago." Albrecht, the Austrian Chief of Staff, reminded in a low voice, "We suspect that the Russians may conclude a secret agreement with Berlin to deal with us."

The Austrian emperor's finger slid across the coal-producing areas of Silesia. "Tell Napoleon III that I want the blueprints of the Mitellius multi-barreled rifle." He looked up at the map of Europe on the wall. Prussia's territory accounted for more than 60% of northern Germany. "Add another 200,000 florins to the Hungarian cavalry. Once we go to war with Prussia, I want to see their sabers on the ground outside Berlin."

On Christmas Eve in 1866, at the shooting range of the Berlin Military Academy, Moltke personally tested a new type of anti-tank mine. With a muffled thud, cracks appeared on the 20 mm thick steel plate.

"It's enough." The Chief of the General Staff wiped the traces of gunpowder from his face, turned to Lieutenant General Blumenthal and said, "It's powerful enough. We can ask Krupp to teach the Chinese the basic skills of crucible steel. It can only be basic skills!"

At the same time, in the secret workshop of the Invalides in Paris, engineers from the Saint-Etienne Arsenal were finalizing the first mass-produced domestic steam tank. Napoleon III stroked the armor on the front of the tank and smiled at Marshal Vaillant: "This time next year, we will be reviewing in Berlin."

(End of this chapter)