Chapter 112 Marine Corps
Vienna, Royal Garden.
Franz noticed that Friedrich's eyes glanced at Adjani from time to time, and Franz looked back at Adjani helplessly.
Adjani understood what Franz meant and could also see Friedrich's thoughts. She put away her fan, lifted up her skirt and saluted Archduke Friedrich gracefully.
"It is an honor to meet you, your esteemed Archduke Friedrich. I am Adjani de Dubois, chamberlain to Archduke Franz."
"Are there still female attendants? Is this kind of operation?" Friedrich blurted out.
In fact, the number of female chamberlains is indeed very small, and even most of Queen Teresa's chamberlains are men.
Friedrich disliked his attendant's too verbose words and deeds, so he always kept him at home and almost never let him go out with him.
If he had known that he could still operate like this, he would have asked his father to arrange a female equerry for him. At least he would have someone to talk to in the navy.
Friedrich was suddenly shocked by the thoughts that came to his mind. He was obviously not like this, but Franz's tutor and attendant were really...
Why is my tutor an old woman? And the attendant is a bald man who smokes a pipe all day long? Friedrich once again lamented the unfairness of fate.
"Friedrich, I have a suggestion. You should consider forming a Marine Corps." Franz was not prepared to continue the previous topic with Friedrich on this issue.
"Marine Corps? We have a ready-made army in the Austrian Empire. Wouldn't it be better to just ship it there? And setting up the Marine Corps requires additional funding. Now the Ministry of War has a very tight budget."
"This is actually related to the operational thinking. The navy is not necessarily good at land warfare, and the army is not necessarily good at naval warfare. But once the troops need to carry out amphibious landing operations, this is the biggest weakness.
The simplest thing is that you don't know whether these Army soldiers will get seasick or whether they can swim and row. Do you expect that when attacking the port dock, the warship can be anchored at the opponent's dock? Do you think the other side's coastal defense guns are just decorations? "
In fact, the Marine Corps during this period was more appropriately called maritime infantry. Only Britain, France, and the United States have professional marines. Other countries do the same thing as Friedrich said, and simply ship their armies there.
But amphibious operations in the future will become increasingly important and cruel. Continuing the practices of hundreds of years ago is tantamount to nothing.
If the navy does not have a direct landing force, it will be easily controlled by others.
The mission of the Marine Corps is not only to seize and land on beaches, but also to conduct reconnaissance, clearing obstacles, blasting, infiltration, and assassination. It is unrealistic for the Army to perform all these tasks.
You think, on a dark night, a group of soldiers quietly rowed the boat a few hundred meters away from the shore, and then a group of landlubbers jumped into the waves, slowly advancing with the waves, under a dark rock. Login.
A group of enemy patrols happened to pass by. Just when everyone was holding their breath, suddenly there was a sound of "Wow" and the soldier vomited. The mission failed.
Therefore, it is still very important to establish a professional Marine Corps.
Friedrich was not an idiot. In fact, he was very supportive of the establishment of the Marine Corps. After all, the Marine Corps also belonged to the Navy, which made it easier for him to deploy tactics.
It's just that due to funding and face, he never proposed it.
This time Franz proposed this idea, and Friedrich was very happy. He felt that he had finally found a like-minded friend. Although Franz's support could not provide actual help, it was enough for him. .
"Franz, what do you think about the Marine Corps?" Friedrich asked.
"I think your Marine Corps should not be limited to maritime infantry. I suggest that you select elite soldiers from the Jaegers and train them. These people can be responsible for reconnaissance, destruction, infiltration, landing, and anti-landing missions."
"Chasseurs? Are you talking about those mountain people? They are not good, let alone whether they can adapt to the sea environment.
Those people are very poorly organized and have very strong individual skills. There are often legends about a hunter who can kill the entire enemy's reconnaissance team with just a hunting knife. But if they get together, if there is any disturbance, they can scatter in all directions, often causing the surrounding troops to collapse. "
Friedrich shook his head wildly, as if he could not trust those soldiers who came from the mountains at all.
At this time, the people who were at the bottom of the contempt chain of the entire Austrian Empire were not the Jews, but the Gypsies, Croats, and Tyroleans. Many of the Tyroleans had German ancestry, but because their accents sounded like Swiss, they often Not treated as a human being.
Franz asked, seeing that Friedrich seemed confident.
"Do you have anyone in mind?"
"Of course, I think the sailors in Venice are very good. They are either fighting or on the way to fight every day. The most important thing is that they are sailors themselves. They just need to train in land warfare."
"Italians? Let's forget it. I'm afraid they will surrender as soon as the battle begins."
Although Franz knew that this was a stereotype and knew how fierce the sailors in Venice were, he still felt unhappy no matter what.
Franz felt that the Italians were not suitable for fighting. Although they were good at gang fighting, such as the Mafia, they seemed to lack the courage to see their bayonets red on the battlefield.
When it comes to Italy, Franz can only think of spaghetti, macaroni, Milanese heroes, the Rapture of Jingluo, and the beautiful legend of Sicily. In short, it has nothing to do with weapons and war.
"How could it be? Italians regard honor as more important than life."
".I suggest you feed them well before letting them go to the battlefield, otherwise some unexpected situations may occur. In addition, I suggest you recruit some soldiers from other areas. After all, Venice and Lombardy People don’t seem to be that loyal.”
"I understand what you are saying, but the poor people in Venice are usually not anti-Austrian, because under Austrian rule, the poor are better off than in the past. The real anti-Austrian people are the rich and the nobles of the Venetian era. They always feel that they have not been affected. Treat them fairly and hope to expand their influence within the empire.
And I heard that your father suggested to the emperor that those traitors who beat the Austrian officers should be severely punished. It was really good. Pay tribute to your father on my behalf. Those self-righteous traitors should have been punished long ago, but both Marshal Radetzky and General Reach were very shy about punishing Italian nobles. "
“I was wrong, I have not been to Northern Italy, I just heard some things about this, but I still don’t recommend that you only use Venetians.
As for those traitors who deserved their punishment, how could the royal family allow soldiers loyal to the empire to suffer unjust injustice? "
In fact, the Austrian Empire's policy of compromise towards the Italian region originated from the period of Franz II. Franz II always felt that he was an Italian and had asked the Austrian Imperial government to treat Italians "fairly" more than once. .
After the death of Franz II, the support of the Italian region became the focus of competition between Count Korolaf and Prince Metternich, so the entire Austria was repeatedly accommodating to the Italian region.