Chapter 593 The Big Bad
Those involved in the Battle of Tannenberg paid the price. Although Demeter brought back more troops, he was relieved of his duties.
Being chased and beaten by Hindenburg as a dog in Germany.
Finally escaped back to Russia, and Milyutin died again.
Demeter's spirit almost collapsed and he drank himself into unconsciousness every day.
After Milyutin's funeral, George came to Demit's house.
Demeter's wife Sofia hugged her two daughters and looked at George with a riding crop in his hand with a horrified face.
“Where are the people?”
George was murderous.
Sofia pointed upstairs, but stopped talking.
George thumped upstairs.
Demeter's eldest daughter Mary timidly asked: "What does the Grand Duke want to do?"
Sofia shook her head, hugged Mary and Elena tightly, and said nothing.
George went upstairs and kicked the door open with a flying kick.
The room was filled with the pungent smell of alcohol. Demeter was lying on the balcony, unconscious. There were three or four wine bottles scattered around him, and there was still unwiped vomit at the corner of his mouth.
George strode forward, raised his riding crop and whipped it across his head and face.
"Suka——"
Demeter was half cursing before he saw it was George, and then he curled up on the floor with his head in his hands, motionless.
George lashed out and cursed.
"What have you been doing in the Guards all these years? Have you forgotten everything you learned? Do you know that your grandfather's last telegram before he died was asking me to take care of you? How can you still do this? It's better to die, how could Mi Shuai have a grandson like you——"
George's voice was so loud that Mary and Elena burst into tears and tried to go upstairs to find their father.
Sofia just cried and hugged Mary and Elena tightly without letting go.
Nikolai and Carol outside the door looked at each other, and Christie and Kolchak were also at a loss. They had never seen George like this.
There are various rumors about George in Petrograd, he is prodigal, barbaric, cruel, selfish, cold-blooded, and so on.
No one has ever seen George like this.
When George stopped, Demeter was already bruised and his clothes were torn by George.
Demeter lay on the floor, covering his face, crying like a child who couldn't find a home on a cold winter night.
"I'll give you 10 minutes. If you can't clean up and appear in front of me, I will kill you with my own hands!"
George went downstairs carrying a riding crop.
Sofia led Mary and Elena hurriedly upstairs.
When Elena passed by George, she actually said to George: "You are the big bad guy!"
If the big bad guy can save Russia, George is willing to be the big bad guy.
It only took 5 minutes for Demeter to appear in front of George. He only changed his clothes, and the whip marks on his face were still bleeding.
"Take the children to Vladivostok. If I can't come back, find someone to marry. Don't find someone like me again——"
De Mitte warned Sophia before leaving.
"I will always wait for you. If you don't come back, I will find you after settling the children."
Sofia's voice was calm. As a soldier's wife, she had already realized this.
George did not go to Petrograd and returned directly to Constantinople.
Demeter didn’t speak during the entire journey.
George did not arrange work for Demeter for the time being, as if he had forgotten about him.
Demeter stayed at the staff office every day, sitting there all day long.
George's staff office has a complex structure. In addition to the Amur Military District and the Navy Department, a theater headquarters is now added.
For Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, the staff office has established three groups to connect with the military liaison officers sent by the three countries. In addition, there are also groups for combat, medical, transportation, logistics support, and warehousing. There are more than 300 staff members at all levels in the support team for custody and other aspects.
After the war broke out, the staff office was extremely busy. Countless tasks needed to be solved urgently. The lights were on all night. The staff officers were like hard-working bees, so busy that they had no time to eat.
Since Brusinov was sent to Bulgaria by George, the post of chief of theater staff was actually vacant, and the work of the staff office was temporarily in charge of Colonel Dimitri.
Dimitri has been working in the Amur Military District since graduating from the Nikolay Staff College and is not familiar with Demit.
However, Dimitri and Milyutin were no strangers. During the Russo-Japanese War, Milyutin served as George's chief of staff, and Dimitri also worked in the staff office at the time. The staff office has been too busy in the past few days. In addition to analyzing the collected intelligence, it also has to provide logistical support to Vasily's troops. Dimitri was busy until 12 midnight, only to remember that today's work report had not been sent to George. in the past, but he really couldn't leave, so he entrusted Demeter to send the work report to George.
George didn't sleep either. There were two sandboxes in front of him, namely Galicia and the Carpathian Pass.
Unlike the quick battle of Tannenberg, the Battle of Galicia, which broke out earlier, is still ongoing, with 1.6 million troops fighting on this land.
Generally speaking, the number of the Ivanov Army exceeds that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Group A, and its military strength is at an advantage.
However, Ivanov misjudged the situation due to wrong intelligence before the outbreak of the war, so that the Russian army was at a disadvantage in Krasnik, so at the beginning of the battle, the Russian army fell into passivity .
During the Battle of Galicia, the conflict between Nikolai Jr. and Sukhomlinov further intensified. Ivanov was able to take over the Southwest Front because of Sukhomlinov’s full support. Nikolay Jr. In order to check and balance Ivanov, Gula arranged for Mikhail Alexeev to serve as the chief of staff of the Southwestern Front.
During the Battle of Galicia, whenever the opinions of Ivanov and Alexeev conflicted, Alexeev would report it to Nicholas Jr. and ask Nicholas to Ivanov ordered.
Ivanov had to succumb to the overwhelming pressure of the official level, and many of his decisions could not be implemented.
Ivanov himself also had problems. His command was very conservative and he always planned to attack the enemy after concentrating superior forces. This led to Ivanov's troops repeatedly missing good opportunities.
At the critical moment, Nikolay Ruzsky, who commanded the 3rd Army, performed well. He first defeated the Austrian 3rd Army crossing the river, and then crushed the Austrian 11th Army's counterattack and captured the important town. Zrochev, won the battle of Gnila Lipa.
In this battle, the Russian army destroyed 20,000 Austrian troops and captured 70 artillery pieces. Although it is not worth mentioning compared with the losses in the Battle of Tannenberg, it was the Russian army’s greatest achievement after the outbreak of the World War. ’s first victory.
But this is just an appetizer. As the participating troops arrive in Galicia one after another, the next battle will be more brutal.
The Carpathian Pass is Vasily’s mission. Only by breaking through the Carpathian defense line can the 12th Army led by Vasily invade the hinterland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In order to prevent the Kingdom of Romania from attacking, Conrad built a strong defense line in the Carpathian Mountains. Although the defenders here were not many in strength, the attacking force was limited by the terrain and could not invest too many troops.
Demeter handed the report to Christie, glanced at George, and prepared to leave.
"Demeter, come and sit with me for a while."
George stopped Demeter. During this period, Demeter performed well and gradually came out of the shadows.
George did not ignore Demeter. Only setbacks can make people grow.
Demeter gave up drinking and had not had a drink since arriving in Constantinople.
He has never participated in gatherings among officers. He lives alone, reading and running every day without any bad habits.
Dmit sat down opposite George, and Kolchak brought Demeter a cup of coffee.
Demeter thanked him, and George noticed that Christie and Kolchak were also forced to work overtime.
“The report on the Battle of Tannenberg came out, and it is not your responsibility.”
George did not apologize for his actions. Demeter was not responsible, but he also made no contribution.
Demeter did not speak, his breathing gradually became rapid, and his eyes began to become bloodshot.
The armored fighting vehicles of the Guards were unable to move in the swamps of Lake Mazury. Zhilinsky kept urging the troops to advance lightly until the Second Army crashed into the encirclement laid by Hindenburg.
The Guards led by Demeter was not defeated by the German army, but was overwhelmed by the rout.
Before retreating, Demeter ordered the destruction of armored fighting vehicles and heavy artillery that could not be taken away, and he was dismissed for this.
In the Battle of Tannenberg, the Russian army lost 650 artillery pieces and 270 armored fighting vehicles.
That was a shame that Demeter could never forget.
"If you want to return to the army, I can arrange for you to go to Romania."
George hopes that Demeter will get back on his feet.
"No, I am fine here. To be honest, the pressure of commanding troops in combat is too great. I am still suitable to be a staff officer."
Demeter is self-aware and does not want to go to the front line anymore.
It is good to command troops on the front line to eliminate the enemy, but the pressure of hundreds or even thousands of people dying after just one order is really not something that ordinary people can bear.
George is not forced, people are self-aware. There are too many people in the Russian Empire who want to prove themselves, so they have been hit hard one after another.
Staff officer is indeed the most suitable position for Demeter. He no longer has to make decisions and can only provide George with combat plans. As for how many soldiers his plan will cause death, it has nothing to do with him.
After taking off his moral shackles, Demeter seemed to have a new life, full of clockwork and acted quickly.
Vasily had no good way to break through the Carpathian Pass of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He could only rely on the human sea tactic to pile up.
George had been prepared to suffer heavy casualties in his troops, but Demeter's words woke him up from his dream.
"Why not use airborne troops to parachute behind the Carpathian Pass?"
George then remembered that there was still an airborne troop in Crimea that had not been put into use.
Sending airborne troops to the rear of the enemy's front line. If they are isolated and helpless, they will definitely be besieged by the enemy. If Vasily cannot conquer the Carpathian Mountain Pass as quickly as possible, the losses of the airborne troops will be serious. .
But this is not a problem. Airborne troops are born to be surrounded.
(End of this chapter)