Chapter 624: Extinct Heir
Before the war broke out, George had imagined whether the Russian Empire could escape this disaster.
Now it seems that George's preparations can't be said to be useless at all, but they can't save the empire at all.
In this case, George cannot hang himself on a tree. At least he must start making preparations.
Don’t worry about the retreat. Even if Amul cannot hold on, George can still retreat to East India.
The outlet of the Black Sea is the third cave that George prepared for himself.
After Yankov invaded the Asia Minor Peninsula, the Ottomans in the occupied area fled to death, leaving no one alive.
George can give part of the Asia Minor peninsula to Greece, but the Black Sea outlet must not be allowed to be touched by anyone.
Even if the Russian Empire ceases to exist, George can still leave the Black Sea outlet to Polis.
Georgi did not dwell too much on the issue of the Black Sea outlet. Georgi was satisfied with being able to get part of the Asia Minor peninsula.
The only problem now is that the mobilization of the Kingdom of Greece and Romania will not be completed until at least September.
Until then, little Nicholas can only seek happiness for himself.
Hindenburg did not give Nicholas Jr. a chance to breathe. He was fully prepared this time and did not stop after surrounding Warsaw and continued to attack north.
Another serious consequence of the Northern Front's complete defeat was that the Western Front's flanks were completely exposed.
Alexeyev was forced to retreat and handed over the newly captured Przemysl Fortress to Ludendorff.
By this point, all the advantages gained by the Russian army through the Silesian Campaign had been lost.
In May, the 11th Group Army and the 12th and 13th Group Armies joined forces, and the front was extended to 600 kilometers.
The weakness of von Bulow and Mackensen's insufficient troops was infinitely magnified.
On May 2, the 11th Army captured Sarajevo.
Subsequently, the 12th Army led by Vasily finally broke through Mackensen's defense line at the cost of 60,000 people.
Mackensen was not much better. The 10th Army he led suffered heavy casualties. Four of the five divisions were crippled and more than half were lost. After returning to Budapest, Mackensen regrouped his forces and commanded five divisions. All told, less than three remain.
This is also thanks to the Second Division of the German Guards for withstanding the crazy attacks of the Gao Ri Army, otherwise the 10th Army would have been surrounded and annihilated on the Tisza River.
The Austrian Fifth Army, which cooperated with Mackensen in fighting, was not so lucky.
Before the Battle of the Tisza was launched, the Austrian Fifth Army was replenished and its total strength reached 150,000, which was equivalent to the 13th Army led by Andre.
After the battle was launched, Andre seized the opportunity and ordered the Sakhalin 2nd Division, which was mainly composed of Japanese soldiers, to break into the joint position of the German 10th Army and the Austrian 5th Army.
Sakhalin's 2nd Division was besieged by the German and Austrian troops and suffered heavy losses.
The division commander Zakharov requested a retreat, but Andrei strictly prohibited it.
After Andrei diverted the Austrian army's attention to Sakhalin's 2nd Division, he concentrated his superior forces to achieve a breakthrough from the right wing of the Fifth Army.
The Fifth Army was divided and surrounded. Army Commander-in-Chief Wobel was shot dead in West. Chief of Staff Tenerau led the remaining troops to surrender to Andre.
Before George had time to send a congratulatory message to Vasily and Andrei, bad news came from Minsk.
On May 11, Warsaw fell.
Warsaw was the most important city of Imperial Russia in the direction of Germany. After the fall of Warsaw, the Russian Northern Front and Western Front were also isolated.
In order to avoid being divided and surrounded, after the loss of Warsaw, the Northern Front Army and the Western Front Army retreated 150 kilometers to stabilize the defense line.
At this time the defense line had penetrated deep into Russia.
After the fall of Warsaw, Nicholas could no longer protect little Nicholas.
On June 13, Nicholas Jr. was forced to resign.
Nicola did not approve immediately.
In the entire Russian Empire, only George and Nicholas Jr. can be truly trusted by Nicholas.
Fighting on three fronts in the Balkan theater, George could not escape.
After Nicholas Jr. resigns, who can replace Nicholas Jr. in charge of the European battlefield?
At present, the person most likely to replace Nicholas Jr. is Chief of General Staff Suhomlinov.
At this most critical time, another scandal about Sukhomlinov suddenly broke out in Petrograd.
Long before Nicholas Jr. resigned, the Sukhomlinov corruption scandal was spreading in Petrograd.
On June 15, Lieutenant Colonel Matravich, a logistics officer of the General Staff, publicly disclosed evidence about Suhomlinov’s corruption to the St. Petersburg Daily News, saying that Suhomlinov had Huge amounts of money are stored at Deutsche Bank. As soon as the news came out, Petrograd was completely detonated.
After the war broke out, the Russian army's successive defeats on the front line had already made all Russians angry.
So far, the Russian army has suffered losses of more than 2.5 million people.
At the end of last year, the Russian army’s statistical losses were only 1.5 million.
Just over halfway through June this year, the Russian army’s losses have exceeded 1 million.
Considering the Russian army’s breakthroughs in the Balkans and Asia Minor, the Russians can also accept losses on the European battlefield.
Now, a scandal has emerged that the Russian Chief of General Staff has huge deposits in Germany, which is unacceptable to everyone.
The Russian army and the German army are at war.
Even if your deposit is in the UK or France, why does it have to be in Deutsche Bank?
Sukhomlinov couldn’t argue.
If you want to say that the money is in Britain or France, Nicholas will send a telegram, and both Britain and France will have to give Nicholas an explanation.
How to confirm the existence of Deutsche Bank?
If Nicholas asked William II, William II would reply: Yes, yes, not only Sukhomlinov has deposits in Deutsche Bank, but Grand Duke Nikolayevich and Yuriye Both husbands and Grand Dukes have them——
What will we do then?
Withdraw together with Nicholas and George?
Sukhomlinov was unable to prove his innocence and was forced to resign.
Nikolai also did not approve.
Although Suhomlinov was unable to prove himself, Lieutenant Colonel Matravich’s evidence was equally unverifiable.
At this critical moment, it is child's play to replace the Chief of General Staff based solely on Lieutenant Colonel Matravich's words.
George was not in the mood to pay attention to the soap opera in Petrograd. After defeating the Mackensen Army, the Russian army directed its troops towards Budapest, which aroused Falkenhayn's strong attention.
On June 17, the second batch of reinforcements sent by Falkenhayn arrived in Budapest.
Also in June, after two months of preparation, the British and French forces finally launched an attack on the German army.
This time the attack was more thunderous than rainy. The British and French forces sent a total of 65,000 people. The British army sent all British and Indian troops, and the French army sent the Foreign Legion.
After the defeat of Mackensen's Army, von Bülow's Army also retreated and took the initiative to move closer to Budapest.
George sent a telegram to Brusinov, not to prevent von Bulow's Army and Mackensen's Army from joining together, and to turn the attack direction towards Romania.
At this time, Bosnia and Herzegovina had all been captured by Brusinov.
On June 20, King Peter I of Serbia died in Petrograd.
What George did not expect was that after the death of Peter I, a guy who claimed to be the nephew of Peter I suddenly appeared in London and claimed that he had the right to inherit the king of Serbia.
What’s even more amazing is that this guy was recognized by the UK right away.
Demeter reminded George that this man must be a puppet of the British.
This is a reminder!
Even if this man is really the nephew of Peter I, he is not qualified to be the king of Serbia.
Gone are the days when several European countries held a meeting and randomly found a prince to be the king of a Balkan country.
George sent a telegram to London, asking someone who claimed to have the right to inherit the king of Serbia to come to Belgrade to take charge of the overall situation.
Auguste hurriedly came to George's headquarters and asked George about his true purpose.
“Let him come, how can the King of Serbia ascend the throne in London——”
George didn't say it or admit it. If you want to be the king, you have to pay a price.
The price may be life.
“I have brought a statement from General Mišić, who, together with the remaining Serbian army, wishes to invite King Boris of Bulgaria to serve as King of Serbia.”
August brought What George needs most.
If you want to be the king of Serbia, how can you do it without the consent of the Serbians.
The Serbian king and crown prince were killed successively, and the Karadjordjevic family became extinct. As the supreme commander of the Serbian army, Mišić was qualified to choose a new king for Serbia.
As for how this statement came about, it doesn't matter whether Mihic is willing or not.
(End of this chapter)