Chapter 1383: What Kind of Popularity Is This?

Austria still has mosquitoes.

Last night, Liu Zheng and Xie Chan were tormented by mosquitoes all night, spending the whole night swatting them.

The next day, Liu Zheng, staring at dark circles under his eyes, arrived at his temporary command room.

Viscount, Ling Chen, and a group of Longyan Army generals had long been waiting there for Liu Zheng.

"Chief Councilor, Chief Councilor..."

Everyone stood up one after another to salute. Liu Zheng returned the salute, scanned the room, sat down, and said, "Our Longyan Army hasn't been bullying the local civilians, have they?"

The Longyan Army general stationed here immediately said, "No. With Chief Councilor's military discipline, not a single person in the Longyan Army dares to bully the civilians here."

Liu Zheng nodded; these were the military disciplines he had established back in Longyan.

One must not wantonly harm civilians; regardless of which country they are from, they must be treated equally in the eyes of the Longyan Army.

"Mm, very good. Report the current situation in Europe; bring the map over," Liu Zheng said calmly.

Soon, someone brought out a map and spread it on the table. Liu Zheng and the group of generals looked at the map.

Viscount was the vanguard, so he was most familiar with the war situation in Europe. Even though he went to Vienna later, he still kept a grasp on the frontline war situation from Vienna.

"Chief Councilor, look, this is our current location," Viscount said, pointing to a port on the Mediterranean Sea coast of Austria.

"This is the current location of Prussia; their national territory has shrunk drastically."

Liu Zheng watched Viscount gesture and was shocked in his heart. How long had it been, and Prussia's land area had shrunk by nearly half?

"What happened to Prussia?"

Viscount continued, "Prussia's military strength is now concentrated in Poland. Although they have occupied most of Poland's territory, they are also trapped in Poland."

Liu Zheng looked at the spot where Viscount's hand landed, his expression somewhat grave.

"Then what about the Ottoman Empire? Hasn't Hamid already joined the war?"

Viscount looked grim, pointed to another place in Poland, and gestured, "Here, they are intercepting Tsarist Russia. Prussia wants to rendezvous with the Ottoman in Poland, but Tsarist Russia marched by borrowing a path through Sweden."

"It is embedded like a nail between Prussia and the Ottoman."

"That is why I said that Prussia is now trapped in Poland."

Seeing Prussia's current predicament, Liu Zheng frowned deeply. If not for this nail of Tsarist Russia, Frederick II would have long since rendezvoused with the Ottoman Empire, forming a vertical line.

At that time, Frederick II could retreat or attack as he pleased.

But he did not expect that Tsarist Russia could actually borrow a path through Sweden to embed itself between the two countries.

This has effectively ruined Frederick II. Not to mention the loss of territory and people, his own main force is also losing its mass base in Poland; life must be difficult.

This is almost trapping Frederick II to death in Europe.

"What about the movements of other countries?" Liu Zheng asked again.

Viscount listed them one by one. Liu Zheng was stunned upon hearing this; he hadn't expected Frederick II to be so unpopular.

Except for a very small number of countries, almost every country on the European continent now is either ganging up on Prussia or on the way to gang up on Prussia.

Frederick II's popularity is just too foul...

Liu Zheng muttered, but Frederick II is a key figure for him to break into Europe; he cannot let him die so early.

However, looking at the war situation, Liu Zheng frowned. If they want to head to Prussia now, the simplest Method is to attack the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Cripple Austria and use Austria to help Frederick II, but the problem with this is that Longyan has no mass base in this part of Europe.

If they push all the way through, even if they defeat Austria, his own million-strong army would be trapped to death inside the European continent because they are deep inland and cannot receive support.

Therefore, if Longyan wants to support Frederick II now,

they must rely on port cities and utilize sea transport.

At this moment, Liu Zheng turned his gaze to Poland.

As a country with Serfdom, Poland possesses a considerable area, its land connects to multiple countries, and it also has ports on the Mediterranean Sea.

"Next, our Longyan Army will not continue to penetrate deep into Austria. We will only occupy this port and use sea transport to fight for the ports in Poland."

Viscount nodded. Indeed, if they could land in Poland, they could truly resolve Prussia's crisis.

But there is one problem: the port city in Poland most suitable for their Longyan landing has already fallen into the hands of Tsarist Russia.

"Chief Councilor, this plan is good, but do we have the ability to recapture the port from Tsarist Russia?"

What Tsarist Russia lacks most now is ports; they will absolutely not easily spit out a port city they have occupied.

"Tsarist Russia's morale is high right now. If we send troops to capture this port city, Tsarist Russia might act like a cornered dog and drag us down at sea."

"The sea is not like land. Although our ships are powerful, as long as the army cannot go ashore, we cannot exert the land army advantage of the Longyan Army. As for the attack range of the ship cannons, it is too limited."

Everyone chimed in, but in short, they couldn't figure out how to snatch this port city from the hands of Tsarist Russia.

Viscount looked at Liu Zheng; they were out of ideas. Although he is a master of naval warfare,

landing from the sea at a fortified port city is quite difficult.

The ship's artillery is too limited; it is impossible to aim at facilities on the shore, and they might not even be within range.

"Chief Councilor, if we land from Poland, we will suffer heavy casualties."

Liu Zheng laughed and said, "Who said we were going to land from Poland?"

Everyone was slightly stunned upon hearing this, but no matter how one looks at it, Poland is the best port city for landing and their optimal strategic choice.

"No, we will land from the Ottoman and attack Poland from there," Liu Zheng said, pointing to the map of the Ottoman.

Everyone looked at the Ottoman port city, then at the distance from there to Poland.

It is too long; if they march, it would take at least half a month, which wastes too much time.

At this rate, it is not even certain if Frederick II can hold out for half a month.

"But..."

"We have bicycles," Liu Zheng said calmly.

Everyone suddenly realized; they had almost forgotten the secret divine artifact they brought from Longyan: bicycles!

This kind of thing, when paired with a special rotating wheel, travels at a speed no slower than a horse.

Furthermore, it is lightweight and easy to carry.

"Chief Councilor is wise!"

The group of generals complimented in unison.

Liu Zheng looked at them and shook his head; Longyan had developed too quickly in these few years, and the strategic thinking of these generals was still stuck in the previous era.

If they do not change quickly, even if Longyan possesses extremely advanced technology, these people will not know how to utilize it.