Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 28 Reasons for choosing Alsace

In fact, when Brigadier General Brian said that he would allow Ryan to choose any place on the map as Ryan's future base, Ryan had already realized that something was wrong.

The first thing to be confirmed is that the Empire is the only Ultimate Continental country in the entire continent that is almost entirely built on plains. The entire country is so flat that there is not even a decent river that can serve as a natural barrier. It has no means of defense against external forces at all.

Based on the above information, Ryan didn't even need to confirm the subsequent history to know that the Empire's army was a country that required soldiers and officers to have far more offensive thinking than defensive thinking.

The existence of the Schlieffen Plan, the founding war a hundred years ago, and the dozens of battles, large and small, since the founding of the country all illustrate this situation.

Therefore, when Brian suggested that Ryan choose any location for his base, he immediately felt that Brian was asking him to take the initiative to choose a front line so that he could do everything possible to create outstanding achievements in the upcoming war.

But he immediately put the thought aside.

Are you kidding? I'm holding Blue Star Max now. Even Desert Fox, who also holds Blue Star Max, is still just a lousy lieutenant in the artillery company - his troops haven't even set out yet. According to the plan, the train transporting them will not come to find them until the 5th of this month.

But, if that's the case, why would Brigadier General Bryan say such a thing?
Ryan glanced at Brian calmly, trying to find the answer from his expression and eyes.

But he failed.

Brian's eyelids drooped, and his face looked as if everything was going well, as if the attack launched by the Farlans ten days ago had never happened.

No.

Suddenly, Ryan remembered what Brian had just said.

Two hundred kilometers around Stuttgart.

This distance is not far, but it is not close at all either.

For the troops on the front line, this distance is just the level where they cannot reach the rear and are constrained by the presence of the enemy in front.

If I had to describe it in one word, it would be awful.

The good thing is that Brian said this is the surrounding area, so Ryan can choose any position in the back.

The empire's strength is enough to ensure that the empire's borders will hardly be breached in the future, so as long as Ryan chooses a safe rear base, he will be able to survive this war safely.

This is a good choice.

So Ryan immediately asked Brian tentatively: Can you really just pick one at random?
Then Brian smiled and promised.

His smile immediately made Ryan understand.

The so-called two hundred kilometers around Stuttgart is not the range of possible locations where Ryan is allowed to be stationed.

Ryan didn't know whether this was what Brian meant or what the general meant, but he knew very well that the two hundred kilometers here actually referred to the distance from the railways and highways in Stuttgart and Mosingen to the base!
He thought that none of these old guys were good people.

They're all fucking bad to the core, damn it.

But it was precisely because of this that Ryan immediately found the place where he would be stationed in the future on the map.

Over there is the northernmost garrison of the Fifth Military District - the Alsace region located in the valley, overlooking the Rhine, the mother river of the Empire and Farland.

In fact, this was also the reason why Ryan decided to return from the imperial capital to the Fifth Military District, which is Stuttgart.

His choice of this location was actually quite significant. Over the past few days, Ryan, leveraging his advantageous position in the imperial capital, had frantically researched the entire history of the empire over the past hundred years, confirming the current military and technological developments within the empire and beyond.

To his surprise, the history of all the countries in this world's Europe - Aurora Continent - before 1900 was pretty much the same.

Apart from a few minor differences, they are almost identical.

In 1900, after entering the th century, the world suddenly ushered in a wave of rapid technological development.

The rapid development of science and technology has enabled the entire world to have a technological level comparable to that of the Earth in 20 in the first decade of the 1920th century.

Magic communication devices and various simple magic props powered by man-made objects such as gems, crystals, and even glass have, to a certain extent, pushed the world's technological level forward another ten years.

It can be said that although the current war looks like the First World War in Ryan's memory, as long as all countries are willing, this war may at any time move closer to the more terrifying Second World War.

The only advantage is that since the humans here have not yet fought a real modern war, Ryan should not need to worry about the overwhelming bomber and fighter formations that he may have to face for the time being.

Even though the Farlan Army has unprecedentedly equipped its army with a large-scale airship fleet using a more radical idea than the Empire, they have not yet truly figured out how to use the airships.

Back to the topic.

The reason why Ryan chose the Alsace region, in addition to the above-mentioned imperial combat strategy, national strength, and the level of technological development in this world, was also because of the special terrain of the Alsace region.

As the smallest and narrowest region in the empire, Alsace can be said to be surrounded by mountains.

Although a part of the area called the Upper Rhine borders Lorraine, Rennes chose a valley located between two mountain ranges, stretching from Strasbourg in the north to Mulhouse in the south.

In the original Earth, the Rhine River here was the future border dividing Germany and France, but here, it was completely imperial territory.

By choosing to base the base here, we can not only enjoy the powerful transportation capacity from the Rhine River, but also have an advantageous terrain that will definitely not be surrounded from both sides.

But this is exactly the place that the Farlans want to take away the most - they did not attack the imperial territory along the Rhine at all in their surprise attack ten days ago.

Therefore, whether from the perspective of logistics, combat, or his own career, Ryan would inevitably choose Alsace, a key area, as his starting point in the Imperial Army.

to be honest.

Rennes, who chose to station in the Alsace region, will suffer continuous attacks from the Farlan Republic army in the days to come.

He was also able to take advantage of the region's unique geographical advantages and topography, becoming an excellent commander who could completely repel the Farlan army every time.

This is not tanking, nor is it cunning.

This is the only way for him, a low-ranking officer and a captain in the Imperial Army, to survive in this war.

This is the birthplace of Farlan.

This is one of the few areas with natural strategic advantages that an empire built on a vast plain can have.

This will also be the starting point for Ryan to survive the upcoming war.

(End of this chapter)