During World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not show the strength it should have, and there were complex factors in all aspects. In fact, the territory of this empire in Europe was second only to Russia, larger than the Second German Empire, and its huge population of 52 million was only less than that of Russia and the Second German Empire. In terms of industrial level, the annual coal production of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was 58 million tons and steel production was 2.7 million tons, which were comparable to France. However, the oil production was 2.57 million tons, making it the largest oil producer in Europe. Moreover, the metallurgical and mechanical industrial capabilities exceeded France in terms of output and manufacturing levels, second only to Germany and Britain, and far higher than Tsarist Russia.

The equipment level of the Austro-Hungarian Army was second only to Germany in Europe. It had the most well-equipped artillery troops in the world and never lacked military talents. After the defeat of the Prussian War, the Austrians quickly learned from the Prussian experience and established their own general staff and domestic war mobilization system.

The main problem faced by the Austro-Hungarian Army is the complex ethnic component, which leads to a complex and somewhat chaotic military command system.

As the Austro-Hungarian Army under the flag of the binary monarch, the regular army of the Austro-Hungarian Army consists of three parts: the Imperial Welfare Army, the Royal and Royal Local Defense Army, and the Wang Hungarian Local Defense Army. According to imperial laws, in addition to the Imperial Welfare Army, the two local defense troops that constitute the most important part of the Imperial Army cannot be mobilized at will within the Imperial territory. This is a big problem. In fact, the Imperial Army can directly command the Imperial Army of about 300,000 people. If you want to use the local defense army, you must obtain the authorization of the Austrian or Hungarian local council.

Another major problem is that soldiers from more than 20 ethnic groups in the Empire were simply divided into more than 60 Austrian infantry regiments and 40 Hungarian infantry regiments within the Imperial Wehrmacht. Austrian infantry regiments were commanded in German, while Hungarian infantry regiments used Magyar, regardless of the ethnic structure of these troops. This was not a problem in normal times. The soldiers had been trained for a long time and rigorously and would not cause ineffective command due to language problems. But in wartime, a large number of new and new

Not everyone who recruited the army could understand what the commander said. German is better, and even Li Haidn felt a headache for the complex and difficult-to-mouth Magyar, not to mention those who spoke Romanian, Croatian, Slovenian, Czech and Polish. There was also such a problem in the Austrian infantry regiments, and those farmers from Bohemia, Poland and Italian-speaking regions could not understand what the commander said, which caused the collapse of the entire command system.

This phenomenon is much better among local defense forces. Those lower-level officers from the local towns are much more familiar with the language used by the soldiers. This is the main reason why the Imperial Defense Force, as the main force, was even far inferior to the local defense forces on the battlefield during the European War.

A large part of the reason for this phenomenon is political, with the high-level concerns that troops who speak the same national language are more likely to have riots, and the German and Magyar nobles who have absolute voice in the parliament are unwilling to let other nations share their power.

Another problem is the establishment of the army.

The largest tactical unit of the Imperial Army was the regiment level, which was sufficient in the early days. However, with the rapid industrialization, regiment-level command units could no longer undertake a single tactical combat task. In a large battle, the scale of troops invested by both sides of the war were calculated in hundreds of thousands or even millions, and the infantry regiment with only 2,600 people could no longer undertake a single tactical task.

The organization of the basic tactical units should be at least a division level, or even an army level in this industrial era.

Moreover, the four units of the Austro-Hungarian Army were too bloated. Although the Japanese second- and fourth-system divisions were a bit too large, the Austro-Hungarian Army was even worse than the Japanese. In fact, Clausewitz had already made a good explanation for the basic tactics in "On War": In the future war, a basic tactical unit would have to undertake two directions of tasks, namely the main goal and the secondary goal, and a reserve unit should be ready to enter the battle of the main goal at any time.

This is the reason and advantages of the army of various countries adopting the three-three system organization. Although Lee Haydn did not know these theories, the army organization of all countries in later generations naturally had its own reasons. Lee Haydn suggested expanding the basic tactical unit organization of the Imperial Army into infantry divisions, and the infantry regiment organization using the three-battalion system was rejected by Emperor Franz and the Army Department.

The reason for the Army Department was that doing so increased the risk of control, and the old emperor also had this concern. Moreover, the emperor had limited influence on the army, and the main power of the army was in the hands of the Army Department and the General Staff. Lee Hayden's proposal to form a Croatian-Slovenian, Czech, Tyrol and Polish infantry divisions would undoubtedly weaken the control of the Germans and Magyars over the army, and they were also worried about the so-called rebellion.

In fact, this is a bit too careful. After years of training, the noble officers of various ethnic groups have no doubt about their loyalty to the empire. Their loyalty to the emperor sometimes even exceeded that of the Germans. For example, during the Vienna riots, the Croats protected the security of the royal family and sent troops to quell the rebellion launched by the German Socialists in Vihenna. For example, the Bolojevic family from the Serbians have been loyal to fighting the Serbs for the empire for many years.

They will not be loyal to another nation, but will be loyal to the empire.

Of course, the farmers who were temporarily recruited did not have such awareness.

The outcome of the war should not be based on the troops pieced together by temporary mobilization. In fact, the same is true for a single nation-state. The combat effectiveness of those troops pieced together is too low and has almost no effect except to increase military achievements to the enemy. Even if the Japanese were brainwashed, the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army in the late World War II and the troops in the early stages of the war invasion of China cannot be compared.

The foundation is to establish a well-trained and highly professional army of officers and troops.

Lee Haydn's influence could not convince the Army Department and the Imperial Parliament to change the army organization. In fact, even Emperor Franz did not have this ability, let alone he did not have the intention.

He could only take advantage of loopholes. The Imperial Army was deeply trapped in a political whirlpool and could not extricate itself. Any change would touch the interests of all parties. Moreover, the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was much more complicated. In comparison, the emerging Imperial Navy had unique advantages. Although it was led by the Army Department and its budget was also controlled by the Ministry of War and the Parliament, it had a high degree of freedom and was outside of political struggle.

This is a great opportunity.

The ports and bases of the Imperial Navy have garrison troops and fortress garrison troops. In name, these garrison troops are under the command of the Navy Command, but in fact, the appointments of personnel from each fortress command are managed by the Army Military Affairs Department. What Li Haidn wanted to do was to expand the number of sailor troops on these garrison troops and warships. Of course, before this, he needed to get back the personnel rights of these troops.

These are quite easy to do, after all, they are currently under his command, and as the size of the garrison troops expands, the promotion opportunities that commanders will receive will increase a lot.

Lee Haydn's idea was to establish a Marine Corps, but how to organize it was a problem. He used a common organization in later generations - the Marine Brigade. When he thought of this word, Li Huann couldn't help but think that the US Marine Corps also adopted this word because they were afraid of opposition from the Army at the beginning of its establishment. Perhaps the problems they faced were the same.

This is a workaround. The land brigade organized by the two infantry regiments even exceeded that of the army's infantry division when personnel were organized. This is actually a change of name.
Chapter completed!