She changed Europe

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Infantry casualties are even more difficult to calculate.

A rough estimate suggests that the attack by the Russian Flying Magician Unit resulted in at least a thousand deaths and almost the same number of injuries—not counting the minor injuries sustained while still on the front lines.

"Flying magic users are indeed more troublesome than regular magic users." After listening to the report, Heinz sighed. "The same number of ground magic armors could also cause this level of damage, but they would never have only lost seven people."

“Some of the fuses we’ve assigned aren’t working,” the adjutant said. “Otherwise, they would have paid a much higher price.”

Heinz shook his head with a wry smile after hearing this. His troops had only received orders before the battle to remove some of the ammunition already loaded into their tanks and replace it with anti-magic ammunition, which the Hofburg Palace had placed high hopes on. As a result, his troops had fired at least several hundred rounds of this ammunition, and none of them had detonated…

"After all, no one would be so heartless as to use a real mage girl to test a new type of cannonball..."

Heinz paused for a moment, then asked, "Speaking of ammunition, how is our ammunition consumption?"

"The various units are currently taking stock and compiling statistics, but judging from the consumption of the air defense platoon directly under the headquarters, the ammunition for the 20mm autocannons is probably running out."

"Report!" The communications soldier stood at attention and saluted at the door.

"explain."

"British Flying Magician Unit will arrive within ten minutes."

“Tell them they can find a place to have some tea and come back tomorrow,” Heinz waved his hand.

The communications soldier stood frozen in place: "Sir?"

"Tell them that we welcome them and hope for a pleasant collaboration."

Heinz eventually revised his reply and waved for the communications soldier to leave, but before he did, Heinz called him back: "Wait a minute, contact the Herrelis command again. We need a large number of 20mm cannon shells, immediately. Request the command to arrange for air force units to airdrop them."

After the communications officer left, Heinz's adjutant asked, "Air-dropped shells?"

"Why not? Those crazy guys in the Air Force would love to see the dropped boxes make a racket like firecrackers as soon as they hit the ground."

The adjutant was about to say something when Heinz raised his hand to interrupt him.

“None of that matters.” Heinz said, standing up and walking to the window, looking at the still-smoking city. “Although we suffered heavy losses, we captured this city and repelled the Russian flying magicians. In human history, we are the first ordinary people to do such a thing. We have proven Her Majesty the Empress’s expectations. We are the heroes of our time.”

Heinz stood with his hands behind his back, head held high, watching the approaching cluster of lights in the sky—the British flying magicians.

“So,” he continued, “let’s forget about all that fuss for now and be honestly proud of ourselves, gentlemen.”

The capture of Sarai meant that the main land supply route for the Russian army was cut off. The supplies blocked on the way could only turn to a small road along the coastline. Under the near-shore cover provided by the magic warriors of the Black Sea Fleet, the safety of this small road was fully guaranteed, but the transport capacity was a concern.

The Russian army could rely on sea transport to send cargo ships across the Black Sea to deliver supplies to the front lines, but the British Navy imposed a blockade on the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Dardanelles Strait, prohibiting all cargo ships from entering the Black Sea. The Russians could only mobilize cargo ships already in the Black Sea for transport, and as a result, these cargo ships were attacked by old Turkish naval vessels.

Military technology and theoretical development in this timeline are much faster than in the original timeline. However, so-called military theories still need to be tested in actual combat. The experience and lessons learned from later times, such as Gisela, are already far ahead of the opponent. Even so, most Russian generals still understood one thing from the last Crimean War: in war, the large army on the front line is a behemoth that devours supplies. Even a medium-sized army with only a few hundred thousand people consumes thousands of tons of supplies every day—hundreds or thousands of tons of food alone, in addition to ammunition, rations, weapons consumables, fuel, and so on.

This massive supply route simply couldn't be completed using the coastal trails alone—Turkey's Black Sea coastline is a damned mountainous region, and the so-called coastal trail that the Russian army had left was actually a winding mountain road that stretched through towering peaks, far less efficient than the main road that ran straight down the foothills of the mountains to Istanbul.

Therefore, since the Russian army could not mobilize more transport ships, it had to launch an offensive to retake Sarai.

On D4, the Russian army launched a counterattack, but this hasty counterattack was easily crushed by the international volunteer force supported by British magicians. The Russian troops participating in the counterattack suffered heavy losses, and the scattered troops ran for several kilometers before regrouping.

The Russian magic warriors and the British magic warriors encountered each other and exchanged fire in a very restrained manner before the Russians retreated.

It seems that Russia is indeed not ready to openly fight Britain.

Grand Prince Nikolayevich began to transfer heavy artillery and troops from the Istanbul front to prepare for the next wave of attacks on Istanbul, in order to retake Sarai. Meanwhile, the Tsar ordered the formation of the Western Turkish Front west of Sarai using Russian troops originally intended to reinforce the front, vowing to wipe out the international volunteer forces and Turkish military forces west of the Sea of ​​Marmara.

The International Volunteer Forces Command in Erelisi estimates that this mobilization and reorganization will give the International Volunteer Forces and the Turkish Army at least a week's respite.

In any case, it is impossible for the Russian army to occupy Istanbul this year, and the war will definitely drag on into next year.

Rita watched the British envoy across the table without showing any emotion; his eloquent speech made her slightly sleepy.

Since the coalition forces in Turkey occupied Sarai and cut off the Russian army's supply lines, Britain has changed its previous stance and its attention to the situation around Istanbul has increased dramatically. British newspapers and radio have abandoned their previous rhetoric of defending the Dardanelles Strait to the death and have begun to talk about how to drive Russian troops out of the vicinity of Istanbul.

The London envoy had just arrived in Vienna and, on the way from the airport to the city, began asking Rita when the Allied forces, who had been holding back, planned to continue their offensive.

Rita tried to evade the issue, but he relentlessly probed in roundabout ways. Now, in the formal talks, he went on to emphasize the necessity of decisively launching an offensive to end the Turkish war once and for all.

Rita remained silent as he spoke eloquently, hoping her behavior would make the English gentleman realize that she was not interested in the topic, but he clearly did not notice—or perhaps he did notice but pretended not to.

Finally, the British, perhaps thirsty from talking for too long, stopped and picked up their teacups. Rita seized the opportunity and said, "We also hope to resume the offensive as soon as possible, but our army lost a lot of equipment in the battle of Sarai. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of our troops, we must wait for new equipment to arrive in Turkey. Unfortunately, much of that equipment is trial production and has limited mass production capacity."

"The German Confederation is now your country's backyard. How come your empire's proud industrial capacity can't immediately produce enough equipment?" The British envoy showed a deliberately exaggerated look of surprise.

Rita suppressed the urge to slap him a few times. It was said that this guy was Chamberlain's new favorite in the British bureaucracy, a guest of the emperor. Judging from his behavior, Rita understood why the fox had played tricks to persuade Victoria to replace Gladstone with Chamberlain.

“Sir Envoy,” Rita said politely to the British, “this is our country’s cutting-edge technology, which has not been widely adopted throughout Germany. Even with our own industrial production lines, adjustments are needed before we can begin producing any new equipment to adapt to its specifications. In a wartime mobilization, such adjustments can be completed quickly, but the Empire is not currently at war, and our industrial system is not in a wartime state. We cannot complete these adjustments immediately.”

"Oh, that's truly regrettable news." The envoy shook his head. "However, with the support of British magicians, perhaps the Imperial soldiers don't particularly need that new equipment?"

“No, they need it,” Rita said firmly. “Even with the support of the British magicians, our soldiers need stronger firepower and better protection. They will always need these two things, and of course, mobility would be even better. Her Majesty has always tried to make soldiers on the battlefield no longer a expendable resource, or at least to make their use more meaningful. I cannot go against Her Majesty’s wishes, especially with her wounded and bedridden.”

"However, the Russian army may launch a new offensive in a few weeks, at which time the international volunteer forces embedded in the Russian-controlled area will be in danger."

"That's why we keep filling this fangs embedded in the Russian-controlled area with troops, in order to resist the Russian offensive."

"Does that mean we should just send our soldiers to their deaths in vain?" The envoy smiled smugly, as if he thought he had posed a brilliant question and cornered Rita.

But Rita remained calm and composed, replying, "Mr. Envoy, soldiers are far safer in trenches than in the fields. We deploy our soldiers in pre-built fortifications rather than leaving them to face Russian artillery fire and charges on the plains. This latter practice is exactly what Britain and France did during the Crimean War, and I have always considered it irresponsible to the lives of soldiers."

"Yes, you are indeed using your precious troops carefully, but don't forget that war. In the end, it was the countries that sent their soldiers to the front lines who won the victory."

PS1: ra! (Two-in-one)

Chapter 601 The Turkish Symphony of the Vienna Rose: Capter99 The Queen's Afternoon Tea (Seeking Votes)

"Yes, you are indeed using your precious troops carefully, but don't forget that war. In the end, it was the countries that sent their soldiers to the front lines who won the victory."

The special envoy proudly raised his chin and adjusted the medal hanging on his chest—supposedly obtained during his battles with the local inhabitants in India.

Rita stared at the envoy, inwardly grumbling, "Why would Victoria choose such an idiot as her envoy? He can't do anything but make things worse—or rather, Victoria sent him here specifically to make things worse?"

Rita glanced at the British ambassador to Vienna accompanying the special envoy and found that the old gentleman's expression was also very complicated. It seemed that he was also getting a little fed up with this guy.

Rita decided not to waste any more time. She cleared her throat—even if the envoy was a goofball, it meant Rita had something important to say.

The envoy adopted a serious expression and looked at Rita.

"Mr. Envoy, I am sorry, but we will not be able to launch another offensive this year. We are now prepared to hold Sarai and the supply line between Sarai and Erelisi. My generals believe that the Russian army cannot hold out for long with its current supplies. As long as we hold off their offensive, the Russian army will only have two options: first, retreat from Istanbul; second, deploy magic users. Either way, it means that we have achieved our original operational objectives."

"But……"

“There are no buts,” Rita interrupted the envoy. “We have nothing more to discuss on this issue.”

London--

Victoria put down the urgent telegram from Vienna, sighed softly, and leaned back in her chair.

At this moment, Victoria was not in her office, but on the terrace of the palace, having afternoon tea with two other British magic users.

"What's wrong?" asked Nelson, the British sorcerer, with concern.

"Vienna refused to continue the offensive before the Russians could counterattack. They prepared to rely on their positions to defend against the Russian attack."

“How foolish. They had such a sharp offensive weapon, yet they chose to defend.” Nelson shook his head. “Could it be that after Her Majesty the Empress fell into a coma, Austria could no longer find anyone who understood her military thought? That would be a real pity. Austria’s military threat level would be downgraded by a whole level.”

"I think it was my envoy who messed things up," the Queen said, looking displeased. "But in that situation, I had no choice but to send him. Politics is such a tiring thing."

Nelson looked at Victoria with a sympathetic expression: "It seems a lot happened at the Royal Council meeting. Being the Queen is indeed not easy. However, Vienna's refusal to attack may also be because they want the war to continue. According to the Army Intelligence Bureau, as long as this war continues into next year, Russia may face a new round of political turmoil. Unless its economy fully transitions to a wartime system, it will not be able to afford the expenses of the war."

Victoria nodded and said, "That's right, and that's why we're so eager for the Allied forces to launch an offensive. We can't allow Russia to be weakened too much, or Vienna will become reckless. The cabinet and I agree on this point. Of course, if it really comes to that, then we'll have to abandon the Napoleon III card and try to win over France."

"Alright, alright." At this moment, the third magic user spoke up, "Since it's a tea party, let's not talk about those complicated things. Let's do something like girls, okay? Like drinking tea..."

“We’re already drinking, Lord Hu.” Victoria gently picked up her teacup, waved it at the third mage, and then put it down.

"For example, let's talk about Greek poetry."

“I have no interest in those sensationalist word games,” Nelson said, picking up his teacup and taking a sip.

“So, Nelson, there’s a reason why your subordinates call you ‘Big Brother’ in private,” Hood said with a smile, while gently smoothing his long, magnificent golden hair that resembled ocean waves.

Nelson glanced at Hood, his gaze lingering for a while on her breasts, which were arguably the largest of the three of them, before saying unhappily, "I don't care what people call me, but you, don't you think about losing some weight?"

Hood chuckled: "Very good. Our revered General Nelson has finally started doing what girls should do. Such jealous remarks have a girlish flavor. We magic users must be able to perfectly do what only men can do while maintaining our ladylike demeanor."

Victoria looked at Hood and sighed softly: "Before meeting Miss Hood and Miss Nelson, I thought all naval magic users were like the former Viscount Nelson."

“Until the 1970s, naval magic users were indeed tanned and muscular like other sailors, and you could smell rum as soon as you got close.” Hood lowered her hands and pressed down on the lace-trimmed hem of her skirt. “But that’s all in the past. Naval magic users should have the same rights as other magic users.”

Nelson and Victoria exchanged a glance.

“Indeed, this is for the best; it clearly balances hormone levels between the two of us,” Nelson said.

“I think Victoria has a very feminine vibe.”

“Thank you.” Victoria accepted the flattery without hesitation.

But Hu De's next sentence almost made her spit out her tea all over the table.

"Especially after getting to know the Viennese Fox Queen, Her Majesty has become more and more particular about her appearance. Like today, even though it was just a few girls coming for tea, Her Majesty's attire was the most elaborate."

“That’s just your imagination,” Victoria denied without hesitation, while inwardly regretting that she had carefully chosen the brooch and hair accessories before coming. Hood must have noticed these things to tease her like that.

But Hood doesn't seem to be letting the topic go. In her mind, this should be one of the things that "girls should do."

"I've heard that recently, His Majesty always asks whether the gentleman in Vienna has woken up among the first three questions in his daily morning meetings."

"That's because the criteria for judging related events need to be determined based on whether she wakes up or not. That guy's way of thinking is different from ordinary people, so we have to use different standards to examine related events."

"Okay, okay, I understand, I understand, hehe."

Victoria looked at Hood, whose lips were slightly upturned, sighed, and stopped arguing—it was pointless.

At this point, Nelson said, "Speaking of which, the army's military attaché reported something interesting to us. There are rumors circulating in Vienna that Her Majesty Empress Hu is different from other Western sorcerers because she is actually a messenger sent by God to guide humanity onto the right path."

The fox's unusual and powerful nature is obvious to all, but the British are more inclined to believe that Gisela may be a case of mutation in the magical power inheritance. If we want to find out the reason, we may have to go back to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Nelson's words made Victoria's expression slightly complicated. She smiled and said, "Don't all personality cults eventually turn into this? The traitor Washington was even given a painting by the Yankees called 'The Sanctification of Washington,' which is now prominently displayed on the dome of Capitol Hill."

Nelson clearly noticed that Victoria was making excuses; she paused for a moment, then simply dropped the subject.

At that very moment, in the largest room of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, the fox, which had been sleeping for a long time, slowly opened its eyes.

PS1: Ra!

Chapter 602 The Turkish Symphony of the Vienna Rose: Capter 100 Gisela's Awakening (Seeking Votes)

The first thing that caught the fox's eye was the familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling. There was no one around except for the dripping sound of the IV drip.

Gisela had a very long dream in which she returned to the Ming Dynasty once again; clearly, that part was still Su Beiming's memory. But perhaps because their connection had deepened and their bond had become more intertwined, the fox felt as if this memory was a part of herself.

As for the bullet wound, it seemed to have triggered some kind of mechanism in his body, putting him into a strange meditative state, which was very similar to that of Afu, who is still asleep.

Gisela shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts and suppressing a sudden urge to vomit.

Then, in the next second, the door to the ward was suddenly opened.

Gisela raised her still-movable hand: "Hello!"

Marta was taken aback at first, but the next second she turned around and went outside. After confirming that no one was outside, she closed the door and entered the room.

Gisela saw Marta leap into the fox's arms and embrace him, then unexpectedly kiss him. The fox didn't resist the beauty's advances, simply going with the flow.

After Gisela and Marta finished their intimate interaction, her first words as she distanced herself were: "Where are the rest of them?"

"Oh? Why are you unhappy that only I am here to greet you?" Marta pouted deliberately, pretending to be unhappy.

“Satisfied, satisfied.” Gisela quickly denied it, then continued, “What about the others?”

Marta pinched Gisela, then laughed first: "Your Majesty is indeed Your Majesty."

"It's all your fault this time, I almost died." Gisela raised her hand, bent her middle finger, and flicked Marta's forehead hard. "It's all your fault, you almost killed me this time." Of course, the fox's tone was somewhat playful.

"I'm sorry, but please allow me to explain, my husband."

“Husband…” Gisela pursed his lips, wondering where this vixen had learned Chinese, but faced with her beautiful face and cleavage so close to his, he could only postpone his reprimand until after he explained.

“You were attacked that night because of a confluence of five factors.” Marta held up five fingers. “First, the British agent who was lying in wait was a hothead who hated Germany and would act rashly to assassinate someone without orders. But he really had nothing to do with what you know about the Purebloods…”

"How did you know that?" Gisela asked, her hand reaching out to stroke Marta's cleavage.

Marta, being the queen of intelligence, possessed exceptional composure, remaining unfazed even while being rubbed like that, and continued the conversation: "When I took over the intelligence organization, I received information about several British informants from your former Austrian intelligence chief. After examining them, I kept one of them, treating the others as potential sources of false information. The information I kept indicated that the British had never issued an assassination order, never. Then I investigated the deceased's background and discovered that his family had been doing business in Germany and had died unexpectedly during the Austro-Prussian War."

"So you conclude that his motive was hatred of Germany?" Gisela nodded. "That makes some sense. Go on."

"The second condition is that the British discovered the Mysterious Magician at the same time as us. If they had discovered the Mysterious Magician earlier, they would have tried to send the information out. At the same time, we were conducting a sweeping search for British spies. If they had not gone into hiding but instead started transmitting information, we would have found clues. In fact, the spies we captured confessed that they did indeed confirm the Mysterious Magician on the day you were assassinated, and then our agents arrived."

Gisela continued to nod, meaning that if the British had confirmed the existence of the Mysterious Magician earlier, Marta would have noticed it because of the need to transmit information; if they had waited any longer, it would have been impossible to confirm the Mysterious Magician's existence at all.

"The third condition is that the British spy who was left behind was just outside our clearing area, and on the side closer to the scene. In order to ensure that we would not alert the mysterious magic user, I drew a circle around the clearing operation, and the British spy happened to be inside it."

“And the fourth?” Gisela asked.

“The Purebloods were not involved in this incident because, since their devastating attack, all the channels I control have shown that their connection with the moles has been completely severed. This matter may be related to the death of the Black Saint, and the Crown Prince died in the storm.” Gisela nodded again, then waited for Marta to say the fifth point.