Chapter 613: Too Watery
Don’t worry about whether George planned this incident. In the eyes of the outside world, George is the most suspicious.
George doesn't care about the speculations from the outside world. His attention is now on the Asia Minor Peninsula.
Many people will question why Nicholas did not let George be in charge of the European theater, but let George come to the Balkans.
The reason is that only George can ensure the stability of the Balkans.
Let Nicholas Jr. come to the Balkans. Not to mention whether Nicholas can withstand Conrad's attack, the Balkan Alliance will probably fall apart.
The Ottoman Empire chose the time very well, entering the war when Constantinople was at its weakest.
If it were Nicholas Jr., maybe the Ottomans would succeed.
Once the Black Sea outlet is taken away by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the connection between the Russian Empire and the Mediterranean will be cut off, and the Balkan Alliance will not be able to withstand the attack of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
Yankov was still a veteran, and he withstood the sudden attack of the Ottoman Empire and took great credit.
Things will be easier to handle after that. As reinforcements arrive one after another, George may have the opportunity to turn the Black Sea into the inner lake of the Russian Empire.
This result is something the British never want to see.
So while George was organizing troops to reinforce the Asia Minor Peninsula, Kitchener was planning to send the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps to land on the Asia Minor Peninsula.
Before returning to Constantinople, George proposed to Nicholas that he would dispatch the main ships of the Baltic Fleet to the Adriatic Sea for reinforcements and to encircle and destroy the Austro-Hungarian fleet.
Little Nikolay was too busy to care about the Baltic Fleet.
After annihilating the German Baltic Fleet, the Russian Baltic Fleet had only one task left, which was to defend Petrograd.
This mission does not require a battleship at all, a cruiser can complete it.
Another "Queen Maria" class battleship was commissioned in January, and the Baltic Fleet already has 6 super-dreadnoughts.
George transferred all four "Ganguts" to the Mediterranean, leaving two "Queen Maria" enough.
Nicholas did not set any obstacles on this issue. George was the Minister of the Navy and had the power to deploy troops.
It doesn't matter even if George transfers all the warships in the Baltic Fleet.
But as long as Germany can attack Petrograd through the Baltic Sea, it will be George's responsibility.
Peter was a little regretful. He really wanted to lead the main force of the Russian fleet and have a showdown with Tirpitz.
It is a pity that Tirpitz did not give Peter a chance and did not even dare to leave the military port. The battleships that the Russian Empire spent huge sums of money to build could only be used as patrols.
To get to the Mediterranean, you first have to pass through the Denmark Strait.
After the outbreak of the war, Denmark announced the closure of the Denmark Strait and refused entry or exit to any warships from participating countries. Warships from the Russian Empire were also within the blockade.
Peter ignored Christian X’s ban and ordered the fleet to forcefully enter the Denmark Strait.
The reinforcement fleet led by Peter consists of 4 "Gangut" class battleships, six cruisers, and a supply ship.
Fleet Chief of Staff Rajkovic was worried about triggering a conflict between the Russian Empire and Denmark.
"It doesn't matter, the Danes won't fire -"
Peter is full of confidence. He has already contacted Denmark through Georgi.
Before he served as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Greece to St. Petersburg, Georgi had been serving in the Danish Navy. Marshal Waldemar, the commander of the Danish Navy, was Georgi’s uncle. When Georgi first arrived in Denmark , and even lived directly in Waldemar's house.
Although Waldemar did not make any promises to Peter, he said in his reply to Georgi that if the Russian Baltic Fleet forced its way through the Denmark Strait, the Danish Navy would not stop it.
Having said that, when the reinforcement fleet passed through the Denmark Strait, Rajkovic was still on tenterhooks. As the chokepoint of the Baltic Sea, the Denmark Strait is one of Denmark's most important sources of tax revenue. You must pay taxes when uploading through the Denmark Strait.
In order to ensure the safety of the Denmark Strait, the Danish Navy not only built a large number of forts, but also installed torpedo tubes in the strait. If a warship sails in rashly, even if it can withstand the attack of coastal defense artillery, it will not be able to withstand the torpedoes.
Peter was very careful and ordered the fleet to enter the Denmark Strait along the center line of the strait and pass through it one by one.
Wadmar is also interesting. The Danish Navy sent a patrol ship to walk in front of the reinforcement fleet, using a loudspeaker to shout to the reinforcement fleet while walking.
"This is the Danish Navy. You have illegally entered the Danish naval waters and are about to be attacked. Please exit the Danish Strait immediately——"
This is simply awesome. Peter can even use mines. Don't worry.
The Danes did not really block the strait.
Otherwise, as long as the Danes announce the deployment of mines in the Denmark Strait, even if Waldemar promises not to fire cannons, Peter will not dare to enter the strait.
I won’t fire on you.
But if your warship hits a mine and sinks, it is entirely your own fault.
Now there are patrol ships of the Danish Navy leading the way, and the reinforcement fleet has passed through the Denmark Strait smoothly.
George no matter how the reinforcement fleet passed through the Denmark Strait, on January 29, the first Battle of the Isonzo River ended.
The Kingdom of Italy declared war, and Luigi Cardona commanded the Italian army to attack the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Isonzo River Basin.
A total of 200,000 Italian troops participated in the attack.
There were only 65,000 Austrian troops defending.
Like the British and French forces, the Italian army launched a week-long artillery bombardment of the Austrian positions before attacking, and then committed ground troops.
The terrain on the Italian-Austrian border is complex, and the Austro-Hungarian army's defenses suffered little damage from the Italian shelling.
The Italian army suffered setbacks one after another, and the attack had no results.
After losing 25,000 men, Cardona ordered the offensive to be halted.
The Austrian army lost about 10,000 people in this battle.
George was a little skeptical when he received the report. Can 25,000 casualties be considered a battle?
The casualties on both the eastern and western fronts were less than 100,000, and neither could be called a battle.
After only losing 25,000 of the 200,000 Italian troops, Cardona stopped attacking.
This Italian army is too inexperienced.
“Look at this paragraph——”
Demeter reminded George that a large part of the casualties of the Italian army were caused by himself.
When the Italian army began to invest ground troops in the attack, the Italian army did not know why but did not notify the artillery to stop the shelling.
So the Italian army, which had just entered the combat position, was bombarded by Italian artillery.
In the ensuing battle, some Italian soldiers fell into ice caves and drowned, some froze to death, and some even disappeared directly due to avalanches.
George was very curious. Did the week-long bombardment not even damage the snow on the mountain?
Some people in the Italian army resorted to self-mutilation to escape the attack.
So George didn't know how accurate this battle report was.
(End of this chapter)