Chapter 638 I am about to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first
This winter, Germany began to implement a food rationing system.
Unlike the planned supply of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Germany was forced to implement food rationing due to insufficient grain production.
Germany’s agricultural harvest failed this summer, and grain output dropped by nearly 20% compared with previous years.
In peacetime, Germany imported grain from the Russian Empire every year to ensure domestic demand. When the two countries had trade disputes, the Russian Empire used a ban on the sale of grain as a means to retaliate against Germany for restricting industrial products from the Russian Empire. exit.
Trade between the Russian Empire and Germany was now completely cut off, and grain could not be imported from the Russian Empire.
William II originally hoped to harvest grain from Poland after occupying Poland to meet the domestic food gap.
When the Russian army was defeated, little Nicholas finally did something right. The Russian army fortified the wall and cleared the country, and would rather burn the spring wheat that was about to be harvested than leave it to the Germans to harvest.
William II had no choice but to increase imports from the United States.
Americans also took the opportunity to raise prices on the grounds that grain production will be reduced this summer.
European grain production is reduced this summer, and the United States has a bumper grain harvest.
Due to multiple factors, Germany was forced to implement a food rationing system, giving priority to the army and factories. The daily rations for civilians were only 400 grams of coarse grains.
Germany’s food shortage has actually been reflected since this spring.
In order to ensure the needs of the army, the German government issued an order this spring to prohibit feeding grain to livestock.
This ban was strongly opposed by farmers.
So the German government ordered that all boars be slaughtered.
About 9 million livestock were slaughtered centrally. The price of meat first dropped to an incredible level, then soared sharply and has remained high.
By this winter, there was no meat for sale in Berlin markets.
The situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not good either.
Last winter, approximately 10,000 horses were killed in Vienna to meet the demand for meat.
This spring, riots broke out in Vienna over food shortages.
The food riots in Berlin occurred 5 months later than in Vienna.
Last winter, food prices in Berlin rose by 130%. By this winter, food prices have increased by 350% compared to last summer -
Compared with the price rise, residents' wages have increased. Limited, the wages of German arsenal workers only increased by 78% compared with before the war, which was far from keeping up with the rate of rising prices.
Compared with the people's lives falling into poverty, the number of millionaires has increased significantly, and a large number of them are Hebrews who are struggling to make money.
This also laid the foundation for future tragedy for the Hebrews.
Compared to Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Allied Powers were in pretty good shape.
The United Kingdom has also implemented food rationing this winter, but the food supply in the United Kingdom is still quite rich, including not only bread, but also butter and milk.
Butter has disappeared from Berlin and Vienna and no amount of money can buy it.
Milk is only available in small quantities to pregnant women and infants.
Britain's material shortages were caused by German submarines, while France could obtain a steady supply of materials from its North African colonies through the Mediterranean.
The only thing France lacks is coal, because the coal-producing areas in France were occupied by Germany.
France can import coal from Russia to meet domestic demand.
The fertilizers Germany needs are completely cut off, which seriously affects German agricultural production.
Before the war, Germany imported 2 million tons of fertilizer every year, and also imported 6 million tons of grain as livestock feed.
All this prompted Wilhelm II to make up his mind that the war must end within the next year, otherwise Germany would collapse.
William II was very curious and didn't know where Hindenburg's information came from.
“Two months ago, Grand Duke Yuriev’s second son, together with Prince Yusupov’s son and Grand Duke Pavlovich, killed Rasputin, the favorite of the Russian Empress, The Tsar sent Grand Duke Yuriev's second son into the army, which will definitely affect the relationship between the Tsar and Grand Duke Yuriev. "
Hindenburg's judgment made William II frown.
When George married Anne, he was received by William II.
When Nicholas later married Alex, George accompanied Nicholas to Germany and was received by Wilhelm II again.
The deep relationship between George and Nicholas impressed William II deeply.
So, because of the queen, will the tsar and Joe heal further and further away, or even break up completely -
"Intensify the intensity of the attack, and let St. Petersburg be completely torn apart."
< br>William II has many tricks that are hard to guard against.
After the war broke out, rumors spread in St. Petersburg that the empress, the grand duchess from Germany, and even the Russian chief of staff were all German spies.
So far, only Colonel Maia Saidov has been publicly executed for providing intelligence to Germany.
The colonel was a friend of Chief of General Staff Suhomlinov, who was implicated and resigned sadly.
George did not know William II's plan. He was happy for the victory of the Allied fleet.
The German Air Force was not determined to fight to the death for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. After realizing that the Russian Air Force was powerful and invincible, the German Air Force withdrew overnight, abandoning the Austrian Navy.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy, which had lost the protection of its air force, was determined to resist to the end, but failed to get a chance to fight to the death. A military port without air protection is like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, without any ability to resist.
The anti-aircraft firepower of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has limited range.
Russian Air Force bombers carried out high-altitude bombing on Pula within the range of Austrian anti-aircraft firepower.
At this time, the Allied fleet was approaching Pula and was about to launch a ground attack on Pula.
Austrian Navy submarines were dispatched in an attempt to attack the Allied fleet, but they encountered Russian submarines and light cruisers equipped with sonar.
On November 1st, the forts outside Pula were basically destroyed by the Russian Air Force.
On the 2nd, the Allied fleet bombarded the port of Pula.
In the early morning of the 3rd, the Austrian Navy installed bombs on all warships and evacuated them all.
At 11 a.m. on the 3rd, the Austrian army surrendered to the Allied fleet after blowing up all the warships.
When the old emperor knew the news, he would probably regret it.
Had I known that instead of investing huge sums of money in building dreadnoughts and focusing more resources on the army, the Austrian army would have performed better.
George also regretted that if he had known this was the case, the "Queen Maria" class battleship should not have started at all.
The planned cost of the "Queen Maria" class battleship is 22 million rubles. A total of five ships will be built, with a total cost of at least 160 million rubles.
Don’t ask why it is 160 million, ask because it is the characteristic of the empire.
There are currently two ships of the "Queen Maria" class in service, and the other three are under construction. Due to intermittent funding and slow progress, service is far away.
Before the news of victory could be digested, Alexei caught a cold while accompanying Nikolai to inspect the army. He sneezed too hard and his nose bled.
The accompanying doctors tried various methods but could not stop Alexey from bleeding.
Nicholas had to take a train and take Alexei to a field hospital, where doctors sent by Amur treated Alexei.
On the way to the field hospital, Alexei passed out twice due to excessive blood loss on the train. Nikolai prayed to God to save Alexei along the way.
The doctor used hemostats to cauterize the broken blood vessels and finally stopped the bleeding.
When the news reached St. Petersburg, Alex was heartbroken and blamed the accident as God's punishment for the empire.
"The Queen has not forgotten Rasputin. She said that if Rasputin is not killed, the Crown Prince will not be harmed."
Christie defended Alexander, which is obviously An accident.
“Don’t tell Sasha yet—”
George treated it coldly, he was concerned about Nicholas's attitude.
For the Queen, George has given up treatment. No matter what George does, unless Rasputin is resurrected, the relationship between George and the Queen can be repaired.
Nicola is the key.
After Nikolay became commander-in-chief, he moved the headquarters from Minsk to the small town of Moilefo, spending most of his time on the front line.
Nicholas was constantly patrolling the troops, hoping to boost morale and repel the German army.
This is Alexei's first close contact with the Russian army.
In early November, Nikolai and Alexei were in Riga, inspecting the Siberian sniper regiment that performed well in the Battle of Warsaw.
When Nicholas asked how many people had served in this army since the outbreak of the war, only 6 of the 1,200 officers and soldiers present raised their hands.
The brutality of the war impressed Alexei deeply, and he began to realize how many people were bleeding and dying for the Empire.
It was also the first time that Nicholas felt the cruelty of war.
When the cold numbers in the battle report turned into living people, the weak side of Nicholas's character once again took over, and he began to doubt the correctness and necessity of this war.
If George is by Nikolai's side, George will tell Nikolai that this war is related to the fate of the empire. Even if he pays the most painful price, as long as he can lead the empire to win the final victory, Nikolai will become The greatest tsar in history.
But now, Nikolai only has Mikhail and Kirill, who serves as Vice Minister of the Navy.
Kirill is the eldest son of Grand Duke Vladimir. Before Alexei was born, Kirill was the third in line of succession to the Tsar.
Now if Mikhail can't find a way to regain his inheritance rights, Kirill will still be the third heir.
The former second was Kirill's father Vladimir.
It's not impossible for Mikhail to restore his inheritance rights, it just depends on whether he can be ruthless.
Mikhail suggested negotiating with Germany and withdrawing from the war.
Kirill suggested ordering the Balkan Theater to launch a full-scale attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, forcing the Austro-Hungarian Empire to withdraw from the war, and then negotiate with Germany.
Nicholas was hesitant. In his subconscious, he knew that negotiation was not a good idea, but he could not come up with a better plan.
Nicholas had never been a decisive person, so he held a royal meeting to seek the opinions of the imperial ministers on whether to negotiate with the Germans.
St. Petersburg has no secrets.
So the news that Nicholas wanted to negotiate with the Germans spread, and the whole world was in an uproar.
(End of this chapter)