Chapter 436: Crisis Relief

"Oh? That's a good idea. Then where do you think our material transfer station should be established?" Xiao Jie asked with his chin in his hand.

Rody stood up, left his position, and came to the two large maps hanging in the meeting room. Because in the next period of time, fighting against northern Europe and assessing the rebellion in eastern Europe will become the main theme of France. So the maps hanging on the wall are Northern Europe and Eastern Europe respectively. The French army can send materials to Eastern Europe through the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea. Therefore, there is no need to establish a material transfer station in Eastern Europe for the time being. As long as the material transfer station is established in the Nordic region, it will greatly ease the logistical pressure when fighting against Northern Europe.

Roddy's gaze stayed on the Baltic Sea. In the Baltic Sea, there are countless islands, and these are the best places to establish material transfer stations. As long as with the help of the navy, I believe that the French marines can quickly occupy these islands, and after a certain initial construction, they can be put into use. There are even Swedish naval bases on some islands. These infrastructures are also very helpful to the French navy.

"Your Majesty, I think we can choose Gotland Island and Åland Island in the Åland Islands as our material transfer point." Roddy replied.

"What's the reason?" Xiao Jie asked. Although the geographical location of the two brother islands is indeed very good, it still seems a bit hasty to pass this proposal based on this point.

"First of all, these two islands are not far from Sweden, which is very convenient for us to transport supplies from the island to the front line. Moreover, the two brother islands are not small, and we can deploy enough troops on them. The island of Gotland Ports of Brisvik and Leerb, and Mariehamn on Åland Island, all have excellent ports where the navy can be deployed. In this way, our country can have a very powerful armed deterrent force in the Baltic Sea region , which is very useful for the control of the Nordic region after the war. In addition, Gotland can radiate the entire southern part of Sweden, and it saves a lot of time to transport materials from here to the front line compared to transporting them from the country to the front line. And Åland The island is located in the central area of ​​the Baltic Gulf, and the distance from here to Sweden and Finland is no more than 100 kilometers. After our army's Eastern Allied Forces wiped out the Swedish army in Finland, they can directly land in Sweden through here. And , Åland Island is close to Stockholm, and it can directly threaten the capital of Sweden, so its strategic significance is self-evident." Rody confidently stated his reasons. He has indeed grown a lot since he became the Chief of General Logistics of the French Army. Of course, this doesn't just refer to his ability to work. Similarly, he has gained a lot of weight and is much fatter than before.

"Well, let's choose two places, Gotland and Åland. The navy dispatched the fleet and the marines to occupy these two places first, and then began to transport the domestically stockpiled combat materials to these two places to support the future After the war, they asked Sweden to cede these two islands to us, and I believe Gustav IV will definitely not refuse." Xiao Jie had better decide. Now, he is determined to take this strategically important island as his own. He doesn't have much interest in annexing Sweden. All he wants is Sweden's high-quality iron ore and huge war reparations. Of course, there are many other benefits as well. Leaving these two islands as future military bases can deter Sweden very well.

"Your Majesty, should the navy **** military supplies to Kotka for Marshal Lanz first, or occupy Gotland and Åland first?" After all, the navy only has a small amount of strength to mobilize, and these two plans must be carried out at the same time. It is obviously impossible to implement it. So, Burt had to ask Xiao Jie again.

"How about this, first deliver a batch of supplies to Marshal Lanz and the others that is enough for them to end in Finland, and then devote all our efforts to the construction of the material transfer station." Xiao Jie said after thinking for a while. Now, what needs to be solved urgently is the logistical supply problem of Lanshi's more than 200,000 people, and all other problems must give way to this point.

"Alright then, Your Majesty. I will make arrangements." Boulter nodded and said.

"By the way, how many troops can the Marine Corps deploy now?" Xiao Jie asked suddenly.

"Now there are only four divisions that have no combat missions, namely the 3rd Division, 5th Division, 6th Division and 9th Division." Although he didn't know why Xiao Jie asked this question, Bult still responded quickly without any hesitation. replied.

"How many troops are needed to occupy the islands of Gotland and Åland, and must also resist the possible counterattack of the Swedish army?" Xiao Jie asked.

"According to our intelligence, the Swedish military doesn't attach much importance to these two islands. On Gotland, they only deployed one infantry battalion, one artillery company and one cavalry company, with a total strength of about 1,000 troops. On Åland Island, they only deployed 1 infantry regiment, 1 cavalry battalion and 1 artillery battalion, with a total force of about 4,000. It does not rule out the possibility that the opponent may increase its troops. In this case, we only need to invest in one division at most to successfully occupy these two islands. Moreover, with the help of the navy, I believe that we can resist the opponent's counterattack. Your Majesty, I have another suggestion, that is, after these two islands are established, we can set up a Baltic Fleet to protect the interests of the empire in this area." Burt said.

"Build another fleet? It's possible, but we don't have any extra warships right now?" Xiao Jie said.

"We can transfer those old-fashioned warships from the Strait Fleet to form the Baltic Fleet. Although their combat effectiveness is much worse than our newly equipped warships, they are more advanced than those old-fashioned warships of the Swedish Navy. A lot," Boult continued.

"I remember that there are not many old warships left in the first place, right?" Xiao Jie said after thinking for a while.

"There are 28 more. One of the 'Dreadnought' class, one of the 'Pre-Dreadnought' class, 12 of the 'Bonaparte' class and 18 of the 'Iberia' class." Burt replied.

"Then how much do you plan to transfer to the Baltic Fleet?" Xiao Jie asked.

"all."

"All? Doesn't the Straits Fleet not even have a warship? Will Admiral Hercules agree?" Xiao Jie asked in surprise.

"Don't worry about this, I have negotiated with Hercules. The Atlantic Fleet can be fully commissioned by October at the latest. After that, the major shipyards can add new warships to the Channel Fleet. Agree with Hercules Sergeant sent part of the soldiers and officers of the Strait Fleet to the Atlantic Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet to familiarize themselves with the new warships, so he agreed to hand over all the old warships." Burt said with a smile.

"So that's it!" Xiao Jie suddenly realized, "Then you have to redeploy the safety of the strait."

"I will send some warships from the Mediterranean Fleet to the Channel Islands," Bult replied.

Xiao Jie nodded, and then said: "That's right. Let the 3rd Division of the Marine Corps carry out the task of occupying Gotland and Åland Islands. As for the other 3 divisions, they should all be transferred to Kotka. So that Marshal Lanz can eliminate the troops of Sweden and the three Eastern European countries in Finland as soon as possible. And after that, he can dispatch troops to counterattack St. Petersburg."

"Okay then," Burt said. Anyway, these three divisions have no combat missions for the time being, so it is better to send them to Finland, where the troops are relatively weak.

"Your Majesty Forbeck, how is the current domestic situation? How long can we continue the high-strength war?" Xiao Jie asked.

"At present, due to the huge consumption of the war, there is a shortage of some domestic materials, and the price has risen somewhat. But it is still within the level that can be overcome. If the war in Europe can end within this year, I don't think it will be too big. question," Forbeck replied.

"There should be no problem. After the end of the European war, we will not have large-scale wars with the United States and Canada within one to two years. At most, there will be some local wars. I don't think there will be any problems with the economy." Xiao Jie said ~lightnovelpub.net~ After all, the country's economic strength is the foundation to support the war. Unless it is absolutely necessary, Xiao Jie will not agree to let the continuous large-scale war damage the French economy.

Three days later, that is March 27. Under the urgent deployment of the Air Force, 25 airships took off from Metz in northeastern France, of which 20 large and medium-sized transport airships were loaded with nearly 300 tons of military supplies including ammunition. They were to be the first airships to fly to Kotka, delivering supplies to Marshal Renz's 3rd French Army and Polish troops. In the following time, 25 airships of various types will take off from Metz to Kotka every day until the navy sends a large amount of supplies to Kotka.

At this moment, the navy also took action. A large number of warships and transport ships gathered along the coast of northern France, preparing to send enough supplies to Marshal Lanz at once.

At the moment, a southwesterly wind prevails in northern Europe. The first batch of airships arrived in Kotka in just 3 days, but this also meant that it would take an extra day or more for them to return to Metz.

The arrival of the airship immediately brought the French and Polish troops besieged in Kotka out of the woods. As long as there are sufficient supplies, it will not be a problem for them to resist the attacks of the three armies of Sweden and Eastern Europe, and even completely defeat the enemy after the strength of the enemy and ourselves has changed, and win the Finnish regional war.