Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 922 - 185: The Refugee Tide

A new day began, and the heavy snow continued to whirl in the sky. Generally, in such weather, neither the Allied Forces nor the French Army would launch an attack.

However, Captain Hoeg, who was on patrol, dared not let his guard down; the absence of a large-scale attack did not mean that small-scale assaults would not occur.

In just half a month, the 25th Division, where Captain Hoeg served, had suffered seven attacks from the French Army, resulting in hundreds of casualties.

Of course, the Allied Forces also organized multiple retaliatory counterattacks. Overall, both sides had their victories, but the Austrian army had a slight advantage.

Braving the piercing cold wind, Captain Hoeg sneezed, and an ominous premonition emerged.

"Everyone, stay alert, and beware of the Frenchmen ambushing us."

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The battlefield is the best teacher, and experience is gradually acquired. At some point, both sides had grown fond of sniping games.

By ambushing the enemy’s patrol teams with three to five sharpshooters positioned four to five hundred meters away, they were not intimidated even by an entire platoon.

Due to the accuracy of firearms, hitting a target within two hundred meters with a success rate of over thirty percent was considered elite.

At a distance of four to five hundred meters, aside from sharpshooters, ordinary soldiers relied purely on luck, unable to cause effective damage.

The ambushed soldiers would fight if they could win, and flee if they could not. Recently, most casualties on both sides had occurred this way.

"Don’t worry, Captain. The terrain here is flat; we can see everything for miles, and it’s impossible to hide."

"Look, everything ahead is a vast expanse of white, showing no signs of anyone having passed through unless the French decided to bury themselves in the snow overnight."

The speaker was a middle-aged veteran who had rejoined the military after the outbreak of the war. From the expressions of everyone around, it was clear he held a high status within the patrol team.

The military respects the strong, and respect naturally follows capability. Here, the middle-aged veteran commanded respect because of his extensive combat experience and past military honors.

In almost every company of the Austrian army, such veterans were present, their value lying in passing on battlefield experience.

Captain Hoeg took out his binoculars and scanned the area ahead, and after confirming there were no traces of footprints, he breathed a sigh of relief.

An overnight ambush was out of the question; the temperature at midnight dropped to minus ten degrees. In the icy and snowy conditions, without any heating facilities, people would die.

As for digging holes and setting up shelters, that only happened in fictional tales. In reality, it was impossible. Permafrost isn’t so easily dug up; who could silently dig it out overnight?

Just as he was about to lower the binoculars, distant, flickering figures suddenly appeared, and Captain Hoeg’s expression became grave in an instant.

"Signal the troops: the enemy has appeared."

The distance was too great; even through the binoculars, he could only get a rough idea. Despite the unreasonable weather for a French attack, the battlefield wasn’t a place ruled by logic.

Captain Hoeg, who had attended military school, knew from countless classic battle examples that classic victories were achieved by breaking the norms.

Theoretically impossible didn’t mean it couldn’t happen in reality. For the French Army, launching an attack in snowy weather was indeed disadvantageous, but it wasn’t entirely without benefits.

In such foul weather, Austria’s aircraft and airships could only rest at home, without worrying about threats from the sky.

The patrol team’s mission was to spot the enemy and report promptly. Having detected movement, Captain Hoeg naturally had to report it.

"Captain, are you sure it’s the French Army? Launching an attack now would not be to France’s advantage. You know, fighting in this kind of ghastly weather causes significant soldier casualties!"

Normally, if a soldier were injured, they could still retrieve bodies and wounded at dusk for treatment.

But in snowy weather, it was different; a soldier lying in the snow for a few hours would have their wounds freeze, drastically reducing the chance of recovery.

Anyone with a bit of military knowledge knows that casualties on the battlefield are often several times, even up to a dozen times, the number of fatalities.

If these wounded can’t be rescued, then the battle losses would drastically increase. France, not being highly populous, could not afford such losses.

Captain Hoeg shook his head, "Lieutenant Hans, do you think anyone else besides the French would group together and head our way in such ghastly weather?

Don’t forget, it’s wartime. This is the battlefield where we’re fighting the French Army; I can’t imagine any sane person would come here seeking death!"

In a battlefield, guns are blind, and there is no innocence to be found between opposing armies; anyone coming for the spectacle would die a pointless death.

The nearby residents had long since fled; no one stayed to face bombardment. Captain Hoeg outright dismissed the possibility of civilians.

Lieutenant Hans, a middle-aged man, shook his head: "No, Captain. Don’t forget that the mines and factories in the Rhineland region are shut down, and after losing their livelihoods, ordinary people can’t hold out for long.

In this freezing and snowy hellish weather, it’s difficult for the French to even sustain their own logistics, let alone provide relief.

Based on past experiences, every war creates a large number of refugees. For instance, during the last Near East war, we created a large number of refugees for the Ottoman Empire."

It was evident that Lieutenant Hans’s analytical ability was strong, mainly because he had personally participated, and the impressions were deeply etched in his mind.

With a successful precedent, there was no reason for the French not to emulate it. As for the repercussions, that was something Lieutenant Hans could consider.

Hearing this explanation, Captain Hoeg abandoned his immediate plan to retreat. Since the distance between the two sides was still great, staying a bit longer wouldn’t matter.

"Hold off on sending the signal. Have a scout move up one kilometer for observation, and first confirm whether the approaching troops are indeed the French Army."

Misunderstandings on the battlefield can have severe consequences. If refugees were mistaken for enemies and greeted with cannon fire, it would be yet another tragedy.

Captain Hoeg was conscientious; he did not wish to personally direct a tragedy.

...

At the Allied Command, the higher echelons of the German-Austrian Tri-Nation Army were gathered together.

Archduke Albrecht said solemnly, "Gentlemen, we have just received news from the front line that a wave of refugees is heading our way.

Unlike the scattered refugees we had seen before, the number this time could reach nearly ten million. Our pressure is immense.

All signs indicate that the French are deliberately creating a famine, forcing the population to flee."

The Austrian officers were still manageable, but the officers from Prussia and Germany lost their composure, especially Leopold II, who was in a panic.

On the surface, a large number of refugees will consume the resources of the Allied Forces and increase the logistical pressure on the Anti-French Alliance.

Looking deeper, this is France’s prelude to completely annexing Belgium and the Rhineland region. With the locals gone, there’s no way to stop the French from occupying these areas.

Once the French government settles a batch of immigrants there, the annexation is effectively complete. Even after the war, even if all European countries intervene, there’s no way to restore Belgium, after all, it will be populated by the French.

A similar strategy was used by Austria during its annexation of the Ottoman Empire. By the time the governments of other European countries realized and wanted to intervene, the Ottomans had almost all left.

This created a fait accompli, and Europe had no way to send the Ottomans back from Russia — they could only watch helplessly as Austria annexed the Ottoman Empire.

Realizing this, Leopold II immediately decided, "Marshal, we must aid the refugees no matter what."

Leopold II had no choice; essentially, his entire base in Belgium had now turned into refugees.

A state exists because of its people. If Leopold II wanted to restore his country, he must preserve these refugees.

Otherwise, after a famine, Belgium, already with a small population, would be completely devastated.

To aid the refugees, it was better to rely on Austria than to hope for the Anti-French Alliance.

The Alliance had many members, but the only one truly capable of aiding the refugees was still Austria, the world’s leading agricultural exporter, the only one who could provide so much food.

Archduke Albrecht nodded, "Of course, aiding the refugees is something the Alliance should do. However, the manner of aid is a problem.

Belgium, along with the Rhineland region, has a total population of over eleven million. Even accounting for a war-related decline, it wouldn’t drop below ten million.

If the French have taken action, they certainly won’t do it lightly. If nothing unexpected occurs, the number of refugees we will receive is likely between nine and ten million.

Provisioning for so many people, in terms of food, drink, and shelter, isn’t so easily resolved. We must handle their resettlement properly, otherwise, chaos will ensue.

Fortunately, the refugees are not arriving all at once, and we can still disperse them."

"Dispersing" them was clearly not as simple as it sounded. It’s easy to disperse, but hard to regather. Once these refugees were dispersed, gathering them back together would not be easy.

No matter the alliance, being a major power, Austria was certainly not naïve.

Such a large pool of quality labor, once consumed by Austria, would be very difficult to relinquish.

The phrase "free to stay or go" could silence everyone, forcing them to accept the loss without complaint.

Not to say that all would stay, but retaining half was possible. Only those who had experienced war could appreciate the value of peace.

Being neighbors with France was too dangerous; a small country like Belgium felt too insecure. If one could have a better life in Austria, why leave?

This was still under the assumption that Austria had some integrity. If the Vienna Government was ruthless and deliberately placed obstacles to prevent the refugees from leaving, that would be even more problematic.

Leopold II quickly objected, "Marshal, that isn’t right! As long as we win this war, the refugees must return home.

Considering everyone’s attachment to their homeland and the convenience of eventual return, I propose that we establish refugee camps nearby for their settlement."

He had to speak up; the German Federation was fragmented, and the Rhineland region didn’t belong to any sub-state; the representatives of the sub-states present simply couldn’t take charge.

As long as Austria was confirmed to fund and supply the refugees, other issues were negotiable for the sub-state representatives since it didn’t involve their own interests. Explore more at novelbuddy

Archduke Albrecht shook his head, "Your Majesty. In principle, I support your proposal, but the problem is that we simply can’t do it.

Just maintaining the logistics for the Allied Forces’ operations is already a huge burden. Now adding nearly ten million refugees is simply not possible.

After all, refugees need clothing and food; just the daily consumption of materials for so many people amounts to tens of thousands of tons, which we simply can’t satisfy.

If we don’t want to see a large number of refugees freeze or starve to death, the only solution is to send them to the rear and disperse them."

It wasn’t clear until calculated, but hearing about the consumption of tens of thousands of tons of materials daily unsettled everyone present.

Although not everyone was good at math to calculate immediately, it was certain that Archduke Albrecht wouldn’t lie about this issue.

Leopold II’s face darkened; deep inside he wanted to oppose, but the harsh reality left him in despair.

No amount of reasoning could outweigh a set of cold, hard numbers. Unable to solve the resource issue, they had to accept Austria’s suggestion.

As for the future, they could only hope for the decency of those at the Vienna Palace. Belgium now had lost any bargaining power.