Chapter 623 Private Land
This is not the first time that Russia has been tricked by Britain and France.
But little Nicholas still pinned his hopes on the promises of Britain and France, and was pitifully naive.
Now little Nicholas finally understands that the strategy George set for the Russian Empire before the war was right, but it is a pity that it is too late.
Sukhomlinov came to Constantinople, hoping that George could save the Russian army on the northern front.
If Brusinov or Vasily can defeat von Bülow or Mackensen as quickly as possible, Hindenburg will deploy part of his troops to reinforce the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Nicholas Jr. may be able to turn defeat into victory.
But this is not easy. Both von Bülow and Mackensen have experienced hundreds of battles and are rich in experience. Although Brusinov and Vasily have an advantage in strength, they want to devour von Bülow in one go. Lowe and Mackensen are just idiots.
They all fight with large corps of hundreds of thousands of people. If you are not careful, your opponent will catch the flaw. Even if there are 200,000 pigs, it will take half a month.
What George couldn’t figure out was that the strength of Nicholas Jr.’s men was also about twice that of Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Even though the attack was weak, they should not be unable to defend the defense anyway. live.
“The Germans got help from the Poles, and the Poles probably thought that the Germans were there to save them——”
Sukhomlinov's taunt was both for the Poles and for little Nikolay.
Since the outbreak of the war, the conflict between Nicholas Jr. and Sukhomlinov has not only not been resolved, but has intensified.
As for Poland——
Poland has always been the biggest unstable factor in the empire. In order to suppress the resistance of the Poles, the successive governors of Warsaw implemented tough ruling policies in Poland. This not only failed A complete solution to the Polish problem will only lead to a stronger sense of resistance among the Poles.
After the German army invaded Poland, the Poles took spontaneous action and formed an insurrectionary army to cooperate with the German army. Not only did the Russian army lose its local advantage in Poland, but it became as passive as in overseas operations.
But even so, simply blaming the Russian army's defeat on the resistance of the Poles clearly exaggerates the role of the Poles.
"You also know that the Balkan theater is now in a three-front battle. Every direction is important, and I must be careful."
George is really not shirking.
Yankov had stopped his attacks after capturing the Ottoman capital.
It's not that Yankov doesn't want to continue chasing Muhammad V, but that the battle line has reached its limit. If he continues to advance, the fragile logistics supply line will collapse.
Russia did not need mobilization to fight the Ottoman Empire.
The reverse is also true.
The Ottomans were extremely disgusted with the invading Russian army. In order to suppress the resistance of the Ottomans in various places, Yankov had to station troops in various places. This resulted in Yankov only having 6 divisions available on the front line.
The Ottomans are continuing to mobilize. Yankov has sent a telegram to George, asking George to send troops for reinforcements. Otherwise, Yankov will be forced to evacuate from the Ottoman capital to avoid being surrounded by the superior forces of the Ottoman Empire.
The situation faced by Brusinov is similar to that of Yankov.
There are indeed many Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Peter and his son never forget to rescue the Serbs, but they have never asked the Serbs living in these two places if they need their rescue.
After the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed these two places, Archduke Ferdinand adopted a tolerant policy and gained the favor of many local people. Peter and his son were purely wishful thinking.
Although Brusinov’s men are mainly composed of the Gaori Legion, there are also many Cossack troops.
After the invasion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, some Cossacks gave full play to their natural instinct of "fighting to support war", which not only aroused strong resentment among the locals, but also reached the point where Brusinov had to restrain military discipline. extent.
The Cossacks fought fiercely, and their destructive power was astonishing. To put it nicely, they supported war with war, but to describe it more truthfully, they burned, killed, and looted.
Von Bülow was so cunning that he invented an elastic defense that kept Brusinov at a loss.
The content of elastic defense is to arrange the troops in echelons. Only a small number of security troops are deployed on the front line, and the main force is concentrated on the second and third lines. In this way, the firepower of the offensive troops will only cover the first line of defense, the second line and the third line of defense. The three paths were intact.
After the attacking troops capture the first line of defense, they will gradually escape from the fire range of their own artillery.
At this time, the German artillery deployed in the rear positions began to cover the attacking troops with firepower. At the same time, the German army began to counterattack, repelling the attacking troops and restoring the front line.
The German army also found a way to deal with the armored fighting vehicles of the 11th Army.
The German army dug many anti-tank trenches in the defense line, including three in front of the second line of defense alone.
Between the trenches are minefields and barbed wire. If the infantry rashly penetrates deep, they will be fired upon by heavy machine guns.
Faced with such a line of defense, Brusinov had no good solution and could only deal patiently with von Bülow.
The situation Vasily encountered was no better than Brusinov.
Markenson was cunning in his military use and could be called the "Swamp Fox". He put the Austro-Hungarian army on the first line and the German army on the second line. When Vasily attacked, Markenson sent a group of A group of cavalry bypassed the flanks of the 12th Army and invaded Transylvania. While receiving a response from the Transylvanians, they also defeated the Romanian 3rd Infantry Division.
Ferdinand made the same mistake as Peter and his son. He ignored the attitude of the Romanians living in Transylvania, and the consuls he sent failed to appease the local Romanians. After Basil began to attack, the Russian army Railways built in winter were even blown up, and logistical transportation lines were disrupted.
Vasily had to divide his forces and send Russian troops to assist the Romanian army in fighting the resistance forces in various parts of Asia. This resulted in the Russian army's superior strength being unable to be fully reflected on the battlefield.
So the key to the problem is that George has insufficient troops.
Sukhomlinov was very sad. As the Russian Chief of Staff, he could not provide George with more troops.
George can only say that a good woman cannot make a meal without rice.
Under George's leadership, at least Bulgaria did not rebel, Romania did not fall, and Serbia has been recovered. Although George's army is currently fighting on three fronts, it maintains an offensive posture on all three fronts, which is completely different from another time and space. "The empire is undergoing its third mobilization, and I will bring you reinforcements as much as possible."
Sukhomlinov could not ask George to do more.
George was completely disappointed with Petrograd.
Less than a year after the war started, Russia has already carried out three rounds of mobilization.
How many more times can it be mobilized?
Little Nicholas hopes that George will attack, but what is the Western Front doing with 400,000 troops?
Ludendorff only had 150,000 people under his command.
Facing the tenacious defense of von Bülow and Mackensen, George sent telegrams to Brusinov and Vasily respectively, ordering them to move closer to each other, lengthen the front, and distract von Bülow and Mackensen's troops, waiting for an opportunity to break through.
At the same time, George sent telegrams to Ferdinand and Georgi respectively, asking them to recruit more troops to join the war.
The Russian Empire has already started its third round of mobilization, while Romania and Greece have only carried out two rounds, and the mobilization was not sufficient.
Fortunately, Romania has mobilized 400,000 people since the war broke out, and its attitude is quite positive.
The Greek Kingdom's attitude was slightly negative. It only mobilized 200,000 people, and it obviously still had some remaining strength.
George knew why Georgi had no motivation.
Romania is actively mobilizing because of Transylvania. If it wants to gain something after the war, it must take active action now.
The Kingdom of Greece is faced by the Kingdom of Serbia and Albania, both of which are allies. Even if the Kingdom of Greece is active, it will be difficult to obtain substantial benefits.
George decided to take a trip to Greece himself.
Georgi attached great importance to George's visit and received George as a head of state.
This is normal. George, the Grand Duke, has the same status as the kings of the Grand Duchys in Europe.
George didn't care whether the standard of reception was in line with his status.
Arriving at Georgi's palace, George asked Georgi to mobilize another 100,000 people from the Kingdom of Greece.
Georgi complained to George that Greece was not only sparsely populated, but also lacked weapons and equipment. The key was that the Greek people were not enthusiastic about war and lacked motivation to join the army.
George knew what Georgi wanted.
The condition George offered to Georgi was the Ottoman Empire.
To be precise, it was part of the Ottoman Empire.
The World War is the last feast. Germany aside, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire will definitely be divided. After all, the participating countries need compensation.
It is clear that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be divided between the Russian Empire and the Balkan Alliance. How much Italy can divide depends on how much contribution the Italians make.
If Britain and France wanted to get benefits, they could only take them from the Ottoman Empire.
“Can you give me the peninsula of Asia Minor?”
Georgi Lion opened his mouth.
George seemed to be smiling but not smiling. Wake up quickly. What are you dreaming about in broad daylight?
All 500,000 square kilometers of the Asia Minor Peninsula should be given to the Kingdom of Greece?
“I can only guarantee that if the Kingdom of Greece assumes its due responsibilities, then after the war is over, part of the Asia Minor peninsula will belong to the Kingdom of Greece.”
George is generous to others, a little bit. Not distressed either.
It is said that the Russian Empire was the worst in World War I.
In fact, the worst ones were the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Although the Russian Empire fell, as a country, it basically maintained its territorial integrity.
Both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire were brutally carved up. In addition to being merged into the territories of other countries, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was mainly split into four parts.
The Ottoman Empire was broken up into 33 countries.
George only promised to give Greece a portion.
As for whether Greece can be saved, that has nothing to do with George.
“Can the Dardanelles be divided into half?”
Georgi has not yet woken up from his dream.
After the Balkan War, Constantinople, along with the Garibaldi Peninsula and the islands in the Sea of Marmara, were ceded to the Russian Empire, and the other side became the demilitarized zone.
This part of the demilitarized zone is George's private land.
(End of this chapter)