Chapter 615 Humiliation
Compared with the careerists of this era, George is not bad at all.
Even better.
The Russo-Japanese War broke the British blockade of the Russian Empire.
The Balkan War also helped the Russian Empire seize the Black Sea outlet.
Now George has reached out to the Persian peninsula.
It is hard to say whether William II can break the British and French colonial system. The Russian Empire is about to become the hegemon of Eurasia.
Like George, Nicholas Jr. was also planning an attack on Germany.
The biggest problem for Little Nicholas is that the Northern Front Army and the Western Front Army cannot cooperate closely.
In the era of Zhilinsky and Ivanov, the conflict between the two was extremely sharp.
Now the commanders of the two front armies have been replaced by Ruzsky and Alexeyev respectively, and the conflict is still unresolved.
Ruzyski hopes to concentrate his forces and launch an attack on the German army in East Prussia and Silesia. As long as the German army is defeated, Austria-Hungary will not have to worry about it.
Alexeyev believes that the focus should be on the Przemysl Fortress, which has been surrounded by the Russian army. After taking the fortress, it will directly threaten the industrial areas and grain producing areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Both their plans are reasonable and have the possibility of success. If the campaign objectives can be achieved, the Russian army's situation on the Eastern Front will be greatly improved.
Little Nicholas made a serious mistake at this time. He was hesitant and did not clearly express his support for any party.
So the two front commanders took action separately before Nicholas Jr. made a decision.
At this time, the Russian army did not know that the German army had shifted its focus from the Western Front to the Eastern Front.
In January, the newly appointed German Chiefs of General Staff Falkenhayn and Hindenburg, as well as the Austro-Hungarian Chief of General Staff Conrad met in Berlin. The three decided to take a defensive position on the Western Front. Troops were concentrated on the eastern front to launch an offensive, focusing on the Russian Northern Front and the Western Front. If these two fronts could be destroyed, the Russian Empire could be forced to withdraw from the war.
At this time, although the Russian army's strength on the Masurian Lake front line is similar to that of the German army, due to the heavy losses of the Russian army in the past year, the newly added troops are still being assembled, which results in the Russian army's combat strength. Less than the Germans.
Silves, the commander of the 10th Army under Ruzynski, noticed this and asked Ruziski to send more reinforcements to the 10th Army.
Ruczynski was massing his forces for the attack and had no extra reinforcements for Silvis.
On February 7, the German army launched the Second Battle of Masurian Lake ahead of the Russian army.
This was far beyond Ruziski's expectations.
Lake Mazury was still covered in ice and snow in February, the coldest period of the year. Ruzsky did not expect that Hindenburg would take the initiative to attack the Russian army at this time.
The well-prepared German army attacked very fiercely. In just one day, all the Russian frontline positions were lost.
The German army did not give the Russian army a chance to breathe. Hindenburg decisively sent cavalry to attack and detour to the rear of the Russian army, trying to replicate the miracle created by the German army in the Battle of Tannenberg.
Ruzyski ordered the troops to retreat in batches, and the 20th Army was in charge of the rear.
On February 16, the 20th Army was surrounded by the German 8th Army and the 10th Army.
George did not make the same mistake as Little Nicholas. Yankov proposed a completely different combat plan from Demit, hoping that reinforcements would land in Kogaeli and fight a hearty battle of annihilation. .
The risk of this plan is that once the Ottomans react quickly, the landing force may be counter-surrounded by the Austrian army.
In contrast, Demeter's plan is more stable.
George chose to believe in the keen sense of smell of the front-line commanders.
The Russian army’s counterattack began on February 13th. Previously, the Gaori Corps from the Far East and reinforcements drawn from Romania and Greece had already assembled on the Garibaldi Peninsula.
Thanks to the reinforcements from the Baltic Fleet, George concentrated all three full-heavy artillery battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet on Marmara Island, preparing to provide fire support for the landing troops.
There are more than 200 bombers assembled in Constantinople. These bombers take off from Constantinople and can directly bomb the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
On February 13, the first batch of troops participating in the attack boarded ships at Marmara Island and Constantinople respectively. Under the protection of battleships, they sailed to their intended destination.
Bombers took off from Constantinople at the same time to bomb targets and clear obstacles for the landing troops.
The first batch of attacking troops all came from the Gaori Army. Each of them had to carry a week's supplies. After landing, they launched an attack in the inland areas to complete the outflanking of the Austrian army.
"Egypt is attacked by the Ottoman Empire, and our supply lines may be cut off."
Demeter urgently reported to George that this happened 12 hours ago.
The Suez Canal was not only the supply line for Constantinople, but also the lifeline of the British army.
After the war broke out, the number of colonial servant troops deployed by Britain from Asia reached 1.2 million, mainly British and Indian troops.
Although the Indian army is large in number, its combat effectiveness is worrying. It is mainly responsible for secondary tasks such as logistics and transportation. The British army on the front line in France is mainly composed of Canadian troops and the Anzac Corps.
Because Egypt is far away from the front line, most of the troops stationed in Egypt are from India.
The Ottoman Empire entered the war and used its main force to attack the Bosporus and did not use troops in the direction of Egypt.
Therefore, the British army did not strengthen its defense against Egypt, and everything continued as usual. On February 12, the Ottoman Empire suddenly launched an attack on Egypt. The British and Indian forces were quickly defeated. In just 12 hours, the Ottomans advanced 120 kilometers and approached the Suez Canal.
Sackville Cardon, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, will have to ask George for help.
“How did the Ottomans advance 120 kilometers in 12 hours?”
Demeter never expected that George’s first reaction would be this.
"The Ottomans use cavalry and their advance speed is very fast——"
Demeter's expression was complicated, and he was obviously stunned by the performance of his friendly forces.
“——120 kilometers means that the Indian army retreated for 120 kilometers. It is estimated that the Ottomans did not expect that their cavalry could not catch up with the speed of the Indian army’s retreat.”
This makes sense!
Demeter looked at George with puzzled eyes, because George had exactly a force in his hands that was preparing to open a second battlefield in the Persian Peninsula and was on its way to the Persian Peninsula.
George originally wanted to land on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
Now there is no need to go to the Persian Gulf. Let’s go to Egypt to wipe the British’s butt. No matter what, we must ensure the smooth flow of the Suez Canal.
Like the German army that was racing through the ice and snow, the Ottoman army was equally vulnerable to the Russian army.
The first to land in Kogaeli was the newly formed 7th Far East Army.
The 7th Army has four divisions, three from Japan and one from Korea.
After the landing in Kogaeri, the 7th Army will be equipped with the 14th Army and accept the command of Yankov.
The two Greek divisions and one Romanian division that subsequently landed in Kogaeri were also equipped with the 14th Army.
In this way, the total strength of the 14th Army will be the same as that of the 11th Army led by Brusinov, with a total strength of 210,000.
Demeter suggested to George that the 14th Army be renamed the Asia Minor Front.
With reference to the European theater commanded by Nicholas Jr., a group army of more than 200,000 people is indeed qualified to form a front army.
The consequence of George's low profile and high profile may be that Herkenhayn and Hindenburg transferred the main force of the German army from the Eastern Front to the Balkans.
After allocating all the troops that can be mobilized to the 14th Army, Brusinov, Vasily, and Andrei will have to wait at least 3 months before they can receive reinforcements.
During this period, George will try to keep a low profile.
Although George wanted to keep a low profile, the Austrians did not give George a chance.
On February 18, the Austrian 9th Army, which was blocked in the mountains of southern Serbia, ran out of supplies. Under the leadership of Army Commander Kainz, it attacked the 11th Army led by Brusinov. surrender.
At this point, the Austrian Sixth Army in Serbia and the Eighth Army in Montenegro and Albania have been completely wiped out, and the door to Bosnia is wide open.
In desperation, Conrad once again asked Berlin for help.
In January, Conrad and Falkenhayn had just met in Berlin to discuss the German-Austrian Allied Forces' combat plan in 1915.
Now that February is not over, Conrad comes to ask for help again. Falkenhayn's dislike of Conrad has reached the extreme, and he makes Conrad wait at the door of his office for a full 4 hours. Conrad goes for utter humiliation.
Conrad was filled with grief and anger, but he was helpless.
After the Kingdom of Italy entered the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire faced three sieges from the Russian Empire, the Balkan Alliance, and the Kingdom of Italy.
After the defeat in the First Battle of the Isonzo River, Italy regrouped and was preparing for the Second Battle of the Isonzo River.
After Brusinov invaded Serbia, he was unstoppable. He not only recovered Serbia, Montenegro, and all of Albania, but also invaded Bosnia.
If Brusinov's offensive cannot be contained, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's home port in the Adriatic Sea will be threatened by the 11th Army. By then, Peter will not need to take action, Brusinov will Can annihilate the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
The idea of an army fighting a navy sounds like a fantasy.
But as long as the 11th Army captured the home port of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Austro-Hungarian Navy could only surrender.
Now it seems that only the Tisza River front line where the Mackensen Army is located is relatively stable.
But with the arrival of spring, the armored units of the 12th Army and the 13th Army will gradually arrive at the front line. Will Mackensen be able to withstand Vasily and Andre's attack by then?
The Austrian Fifth Army has already been beaten away before the armored troops have arrived.
Mackenson will probably need three heads and six arms to withstand the siege of Brusinov, Vasily and Andrei.
Brusinov now has two options. One is to invade Bosnia and cooperate with the reinforcements of the Baltic Fleet to destroy the Austro-Hungarian fleet.
One is to invade the Austro-Hungarian Empire northward, join with Vasily and Andrei, and launch a full-scale attack on Budapest.
No matter which of these two directions, it will be a disaster for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This is why Conrad did not dare to resist even though he was humiliated by Falkenhayn.
(End of this chapter)