Since the end of the European religious wars in 1620, except for a war in the Philippines and sporadic conflicts between colonization of Africa and local indigenous people, European countries have not had any foreign wars. Thanks to the continuous fermentation of the Industrial Revolution, productivity has increased.

Great progress has been made. Peaceful Europe has developed extremely rapidly in the past four years.

By the end of 1624, in terms of military and land forces, according to Philip's previous plan, thirty European coalition forces with a total of 500,000 equipped with breech-loading guns, breech-loading cannons and heavy machine guns had been formed.

Among these thirty divisions, Spain accounted for twenty divisions, and the other ten were composed of one Danish division, two Great British divisions, three German divisions (composed of Germans in the former HRE Empire), and two French divisions.

division and a Nordic division.

In terms of navy, after Spain stabilized the Netherlands and surrendered Britain, the navy reduced continuous losses. By the end of 1624, the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets had recovered to a total of 120 1,200-ton first-class battleships, 300 600-ton

The huge scale of the ton-level second-level battleships. In addition, the United Kingdom, the coastal countries on the original French territory, and Denmark, Sweden, etc. in Northern Europe also provided 20 first-level battleships and 30 second-level battleships.

In terms of ironclad ships, in addition to the Aragon, which returned from America, the new Casti, with a displacement of 3,200 tons and equipped with four 150mm naval guns, and another 2,000-ton Catalonia have been added to the list.

, bringing the number of ironclad ships to three.

In terms of agriculture, because Tianxuan's talent bonus was reflected, in 1624, all the countries in the European Union collectively ushered in a rare harvest in the past thirty years. In addition, they were shipped back from plantations in the Americas.

A large amount of grain. By the end of the year, the grain stocks of EU countries reached an unprecedented 1.2 million tons. This stock is certainly not worth mentioning compared with the annual grain output of later generations of large-producing countries, which can easily reach hundreds of millions of tons.

But it should be noted that this is the stock in the national treasury of each country, not the output. If a soldier consumes 20 kilograms of bread per month, this stock will be enough for the soldiers of the European Allied Forces to consume for at least a year.

In terms of industry, the main basic resource of the first industrial revolution was coal and iron. And now in the Ruhr area at the junction of Germany and France, which is controlled by Spain, high-quality fertile coal (containing extremely high impurities) can be completely mined in the open pit using current technical conditions.

less) exceeds 10 billion tons!

As for iron ore? Spain is rich in it, and after Sweden joined the EU, it has no worries at all.

The entire Europe has an extremely long coastline, and rivers such as the Danube and the Rhine also run through the entire territory. In addition, the cargo ships brought by the Age of Discovery and the huge abundance of sailors made the transportation in Europe much faster than in the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, Europe has another advantage over the Ming Dynasty: except for the Pyrenees Mountains in the Iberian Peninsula and France, and the Alps in Italy and Central Europe, other places are basically Great Plains. This makes the European railway

Construction was much faster than in the Ming Dynasty. At least, by 1624, two-way railway transportation had been realized from Madrid to Paris to the Ruhr area to Berlin.

In short, preparations have been completed in the military, industry, agriculture, and transportation. In terms of politics and economy, the EU, which has established basic norms, also needs this war to further deepen the ties between the countries in the alliance and allow each other to

The binding is tighter.

On November 30, 1624, the kings, grand dukes, etc. of the European Union held another League Congress in Rome. The theme of this meeting was only one: launching a full-scale war against the Ottoman Empire in March 1625.

In the center of the city of Rome, in the ancient Roman Colosseum with a history of more than 1,500 years, a layer of thick and flat wooden boards has been laid above the tunnel in the center of the venue. On top of these wooden boards, there is a

A large European map with a length and width of more than 100 meters. Standing on this map are more than ten staff members. And dozens of European kings and grand dukes, like the emperors of the ancient Roman era, are standing high above

A few meters above the wooden map, listen to the staff's report.

"Dear Majesty Philip, Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Your Excellencies, I am Johann Tsekras von Tilly. According to the arrangement of His Majesty Philip, I will serve as the Chief of General Staff of the European Allied Forces in this war. Today, I will

I will explain to you all the plans before starting the war."

Count Tilly, a super mercenary, is a Dutchman. He started as an ordinary mercenary at the age of 15, became the Marshal of the Empire and obtained the title of earl. In the historical standard, thirty

In the war of 2000, he suppressed the Czech uprising in the first stage. He and Wallenstein jointly won the Danish invasion in the second stage. However, in the third stage, after Sweden entered the scene, facing Gustav,

He was finally defeated and died of serious injuries after losing consecutive battles.

As a mercenary, this person has an excellent professional ethics: I have received your money, and as long as the contract relationship is still there, no matter how much the enemy offers, I will serve you loyally and fully. As for the expiration of the contract

After that, it will be discussed again.

This is an old-fashioned soldier who is obsessed with the Spanish Grand Square. Even in the face of Gustav's new tactics and losing consecutive battles, he refused to change. He loved his soldiers like his own children, but he allowed his soldiers to harm the people.

To maintain morale - this was also a common bad habit of mercenaries in that era.

In this dimension, because the religious war ended too quickly, this gentleman is still very active. In addition, he has fought fiercely in Central Europe for many years and has a very high prestige. Therefore, of course, such an old-school soldier cannot be left alone.

The only way to take charge of an army and go to the front line is to be offered the position of Chief of Staff: His Excellency the Earl's military quality and battlefield analysis ability are no problem. In addition, he is old, senior, can speak multiple languages, and is familiar with all aspects.

, is an excellent candidate for chief of staff.

Philip took the lead, and after many princes applauded and welcomed him, Tilly cleared his throat and walked to the center of the board, where a young staff officer handed him a long baton.

"This all-out war against the Ottomans is the largest deployment of troops to the east by us Europeans in more than three hundred years since the Ninth Crusade. As for the army, all 500,000 new troops of the European Allied Forces have been dispatched.

In addition, due to the small proportion of cavalry in the new army, the Kingdom of Poland, Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow provided 30,000 cavalry. Therefore, the total number of troops participating in the army was 530,000.

As for the navy, three ironclad ships, one hundred first-class battleships, two hundred second-class battleships, and a total of 67,000 officers and soldiers of all levels were dispatched.

Serving these nearly 600,000 people are 750,000 civilians, merchant sailors, 1.2 million livestock of all types, more than a thousand transport ships of all types, gondolas, boxcars, and train wagons of all types, 2,300

More than a hundred columns...

Of course, it is impossible for such a large army and material accumulation to be concentrated together. According to the negotiation of the Joint Staff and the approval of the Alliance Council, our huge force will be divided into two fronts, the north and the south. Therefore, we established

Two headquarters.”

With a "pop" sound, the baton in Tilly's hand pointed accurately at Vienna: "The Northern Front Command is in Vienna. This line is equipped with 200,000 new troops and 30,000 cavalry. The former enemy commander-in-chief was the King of Sweden, Chief of Staff

It's the Duke of Flanders."

Amidst a burst of warm applause, Gustav and Wallenstein, who were rivals in history, stood up, bowed to Philip, and then waved around to accept everyone's cheers.

After the two sat down, Tilly continued: "The mission of the northern front is to attack southward from Vienna and Budapest, occupy the entire Balkan Peninsula, and finally push the front to the west coast of Constantinople."

"And the Southern Front." Tilly's baton pointed back to Rome: "The Southern Front Command is located in Rome. It is not only the Southern Front Command, but also the general headquarters of this battle. Its commander is naturally His Majesty Philip.

I am the chief of staff. Below us, the former enemy commander is Duke Albrecht, and the former enemy chief of staff is the Marquis Spinola. Since the southern front involves the addition of naval power, so

, the deputy commander-in-chief of the former enemy on the southern front and the fleet commander are Earl Barudis!"

After a burst of applause, Tilly continued: "The strength of the southern front is 300,000 new troops plus the entire naval force. The navy's operational goal is to destroy the Ottoman fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean and ensure our absolute dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean.

control the sea and ensure the army's subsequent supply transportation. The army's mission is to land in Tripoli, push along the coast of North Africa, and capture Egypt, the Ottoman granary. After that, the army divides into two groups and continues to advance eastwards.

March on Jerusalem. With the help of the navy, we will go north, land near Bursa, and besiege Constantinople from the south!"

As a veteran soldier, Tilly stood silent after finishing the above explanation. Amid the applause of the crowd, Philip stood up: "Everyone, this time we have assembled an unprecedented force. This force is so powerful that it will inevitably

Able to destroy all enemies on our way forward! God bless, this European Union’s Eastern Crusade will surely bring back Jerusalem and Constantinople and wash away the shame that we, as believers in the Lord, have endured for hundreds of years.”

"Strike to Constantinople and destroy the Ottomans!"

"Reconquer Jerusalem!"

"God bless the Union!"
Chapter completed!