"Your Highness, Russians Southwestern Front, they have strong troops. And our allies don't seem to be reliable. This battle may not be easy to fight!" Manstein is a little worried about the next battle.
Oscar nodded, the next battle was indeed not very favorable. However, in order to realize the plan and obtain the final victory on Eastern Front, this battle must be fought!
"It is indeed difficult. But even so, we must fight and win this battle. I believe that the Austrian army does not want to lose this battle. Once the battle begins, they will definitely cooperate with us." Oscar said.
Manstein nodded. "Your Highness, shall we give up the command of this battle to the Austrian army? If we let them command our troops, I am afraid that not only will we not be able to win, but we will suffer heavy losses."
"How is this possible? There has never been any precedent for the Austrian army to command us. As for the issue of command, I will talk to them this afternoon. If the Austrian army can hand over command, that would be the best. If they are unwilling to hand over command, then everyone will have to cooperate with each other. As for whether the cooperation is close, it depends on them. However, I think we should not have too high expectations for this." Oscar said.
"Yes, Your Highness." Manstein felt more and more that this battle was difficult to win. But at the same time, he also knew that this battle must be fought and must be won. Only in this way can German Empire win the victory of Eastern Front and change the current disadvantageous situation.
Oscar rested for an hour. At 2:30 in the afternoon, the joint operational meeting between Germany and Austria officially began.
In the conference room of Austrian Army Headquarters, the two parties sat down on both sides of the long table. However, there were several people sitting on the Austrian side. As for German military, besides Oscar, there is only a young Manstein.
"The Germany people actually sent only two people to participate in the joint operations meeting. They are basically looking down on us!" Crown Prince Karl was very unhappy when he saw that there were only Oscar and Manstein on the other side of the conference table. In his opinion, this clearly means that Germany people despise Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition, Germany only deployed one 8th Army Corps on the long Eastern Front, and the other troops were all deployed on the Western Front. Austro-Hungarian Empire had to deploy millions of troops on Eastern Front. This is clearly the Germany people who are using them to merge with Russians in order to reap the benefits. It is precisely because of this view that Crown Prince Karl is very dissatisfied with Germany from the bottom of his heart. If Austro-Hungarian Empire had the final say now, he would probably lead Austro-Hungarian Empire directly out of this war, leaving Germany to fight alone!
"Your Highness Oskar, Austro-Hungarian Empire thanks Germany for sending reinforcements to us at this critical moment. Your Majesty believes that the army led by Your Highness will definitely defeat Russians. In addition, Your Majesty hopes that Your Highness can visit Vienna at the right time. Your Majesty looks forward to meeting you." Archduke Friedrich's face was full of smiles.
"Your Excellency Grand Duke is so polite. Please tell Austrian Emperor Your Majesty that after this war is over, I will definitely visit Vienna." Oscar replied with a smile. He knew very well that Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I would not live long. Once Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I dies and Crown Prince Karl succeeds to the throne and becomes Karl I, the relationship between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and German Empire will probably retreat significantly. This makes Oscar hope that this war can best end before Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I passes away. In this case, even if Austro-Hungarian Empire's attitude towards Germany changes, Germany will be able to handle it all with ease.
"Your Highness Oskar, do German Empire have any plans for this battle against the Russian Southwestern Front Army?" Austrian Army Chief of Staff Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf asked.
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, the German 8th Army has been heading to the front line one after another. It is expected that it will reach the predetermined position within three days. Three days later, on October 7, the 8th Army will launch an attack on the Russian Southwest Front from the north. Our primary target of attack is the Russian southwest front. The 4th Army of the Front. After defeating the 4th Army, it then turned to attack eastward, threatening the rear of the main force of the Russian Southwest Front. We hope that the Austro-Hungarian Army can launch an attack on the frontal battlefield and cooperate with us to defeat the Russian Southwest Front in one fell swoop.
"God! If I heard correctly, does Your Highness Oskar want German 8th Army Corps to defeat Russian 4th Army Corps first, and then cut off the retreat of the remaining three main armies of the Russian army and eat them in one go?" Baron Marshal von Heitzenforf exclaimed.
The other Austrian generals also looked shocked. In their opinion, the appetite of these Germany people was too great.
Crown Prince Karl's face was full of contempt. In his opinion, Oscar is clearly bragging. Is Russians so easy to deal with? If he could be defeated so easily, Austro-Hungarian Empire would not be forced to be like this.
"Your Highness Oskar, the Russian Southwestern Front Army we are facing has four main armies with a total strength of more than one million people. How could they be defeated so easily?" Crown Prince Karl asked.
"Of course, the Russian army is very strong, but we are not weak either. I think, no matter how strong Russian Southwestern Front Army is, it will not be any stronger than Russian Northwestern Front Army, right? We also annihilated Russian Northwestern Front Army in the previous battle." Oscar still kept a smile on his face, looking very humble and polite.
But Crown Prince Karl believes that Oscar is clearly showing off German 8th Army Corps's combat effectiveness, and even mocking the Austrian army. A legion of German military faced Russian Northwestern Front Army and achieved a brilliant victory. But the Austrian army was beaten to a pulp by Russians.
Suddenly, Crown Prince Karl's face looked a little unhappy. But he had no way to refute, who made German military's performance on the Eastern Front so dazzling, while the Austrian army was so incompetent? This makes him, Crown Prince, unable to stand upright at all!
"Your Highness Oskar, how confident is your army about this battle?" Archduke Friedrich asked.
"At least 50% sure! If the Austrian army can fully cooperate with us in this battle, our chances of winning will be even greater. Therefore, I hope that the Austrian army can obey my command in this battle!" Oscar said.