Chapter 665 Russia’s problems, the Russians will solve them themselves
When the Baltic Fleet launched an attack on St. Petersburg, George was dealing with the "concern" from his allies.
As soon as the "Brest-Litovsk Treaty" was signed, Britain and France sent telegrams to George respectively, asking whether George needed support from the British and French troops.
US President Wilson also sent a telegram, promising that if George needs it, the US military will provide him with all necessary help.
This is strange!
After Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Germany and declared war on Germany on April 6 last year.
When the United States declared war on Germany, its total military strength was only 190,000, and most of them were navy. Not only was the army's strength pitifully small, but its equipment and training levels were also beyond description. Even the Americans themselves It is said that the US Army is a poor "beggar".
Even so, the United States' participation in the war was warmly welcomed by Britain and France. In June last year, when John Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force, arrived in Britain, the British prepared a king-level welcome for Pershing ceremony.
What happened next was shocking.
The speed of mobilization of the US military is extremely slow. Although the United States has a population of 90 million, only 80,000 US troops arrived in Europe for half a year from April to October.
The key point is that these 80,000 US troops not only have no weapons and equipment, they don't even have uniforms.
Last year, the steel production of the United States was three times that of Germany. During the war, the United States had been providing weapons and equipment to the Allied Powers and the Central Powers.
In order to equip the US military with combat effectiveness as soon as possible, France provides artillery to the US military, and the UK provides machine guns and helmets to the US military. What is funny is that much of the equipment provided by Britain and France to the US military is actually purchased from the United States.
This can explain why the United States was kicked away by Britain and France at the Paris Peace Conference.
By the beginning of this year, the number of U.S. troops in Europe had finally reached 200,000. When Haig and Pétain asked the U.S. military to participate in the war, Pershing always refused on the grounds that the U.S. military was not ready yet.
Now it seems that although the US military is not ready to fight the German army, it is ready to intervene in Russia.
Pétain, who replaced Nivelot as commander-in-chief of the French army last May, is also funny.
After the Battle of Verdun, Joffre was relieved of his post and Nivelle became the commander-in-chief of the French army.
Last summer, Nivelle organized a series of attacks, which not only failed to achieve results, but also led to a series of mutinies in the French army on the front line, which almost led to the collapse of the French army.
At the critical moment, Pétain stepped forward to calm the French troops on the front line and continue fighting. The German army missed the opportunity.
Although the French army has not collapsed, it has completely lost its offensive capabilities. This is why there has been no large-scale battle on the Western Front since last year.
George sent telegrams to Britain, France, and the United States respectively, refusing any outside help. Russia's problems can only be solved by the Russians themselves.
The current problem in Russia is not just the Provisional Executive Committee. Influenced by US President Wilson's 14-point peace proposal, many places in Russia have fallen into chaos and social order has been greatly damaged.
After the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, a "ruling cabinet" suddenly appeared in Kiev and declared Ukraine's independence.
George sent a telegram to Runev and ordered Runev to send troops to suppress the rebellion in Kiev.
Before Runev arrived in Kiev, the interim government declared the Balkan Army led by George as rebels and called on all Russians to stand up and fight to safeguard Russia's interests.
The effect of this slogan is not good, because now Russian farmers miss the Tsarist era very much.
After Stolypin's reforms, Russian farmers mainly changed from tenant farmers to owner-cultivators, owning their own land, and their lives gradually improved.
After Nicholas abdicated, various places unanimously stopped sending food to St. Petersburg.
Since last summer, St. Petersburg has truly fallen into a food shortage.
In order to alleviate the food crisis, the provisional government implemented a surplus grain collection system, which collected all excess grain from farmers' homes, except for rations and seeds, and the government paid a certain amount of currency as compensation.
At this time, due to the crazy money printing of the provisional government, the ruble system had collapsed. The provisional government's monetary compensation policy was actually no different from free expropriation.
Farmers were unwilling to hand over their grain for free, so the troops sent by the provisional government used force to collect it, triggering fierce resistance from the farmers.
Due to lack of data, we don’t know how many peasant riots there were in 1918.
But it is certainly more than the previous 30 years of peasant riots combined.
In addition to food, there were also big problems with the industrial production of the Provisional Government.
The basic base of the Provisional Government is workers. In order to prevent the "rebel" attack, the Provisional Government conscripted a large number of workers into the army, which had a serious impact on industrial production.
To make matters worse, due to the destruction of factory machinery by workers in the previous stage, the production capacity of the three major empires was only about one-fifth of that in 1916, which was not as good as in 1914.
George was fully prepared before taking action. Amur blocked Siberia, the Baltic Fleet blocked St. Petersburg, and George sat in Constantinople, locking the last outlet to the sea. The enemy had no way to escape.
What George did not expect was that Kerensky actually jumped out again and called on the troops loyal to the First Provisional Government to organize to fight against the Second Provisional Government. This is wishful thinking.
The troops loyal to the First Provisional Government have been disbanded by the Second Provisional Government, and the officers and soldiers who are unwilling to retire are now here in George.
Ruzyski, who personally forced Nicholas to abdicate, not only was not liquidated by George, but was also entrusted with important tasks and became the best example.
After the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the northern generals who did not accept the result took the initiative to contact Ruzsky and defected to George.
George sent them a telegram, ordering them to gather their troops as much as possible, hold their position, and wait for reinforcements.
The 13th Army commanded by Ruzsky and the 3rd Balkan Army commanded by Andrei are rapidly advancing towards Mogilev, where the base camp is located.
Like the Russian army in the Balkans, the German army quickly advanced northward and competed with George for territory.
Mogilev was in chaos at this time. The troops loyal to the provisional government retreated to Moscow. The troops under George's order held the defense line on the spot. Someone took the opportunity to open the arsenal and load the stockpile of artillery shells onto the train. Later, some people broke into the tsar's palace and looted all the belongings in the palace.
During the Kornilov rebellion, Denikin, who succeeded Alexeyev as commander-in-chief of the Western Front, was implicated and arrested in St. Petersburg.
When the provisional government moved the capital, it forgot about the infantry lieutenant general who was imprisoned. Denikin escaped with the help of the jailer, returned to Mogilev, and organized troops to hold the defense line.
At this time, there were less than 100,000 troops still willing to fight the Germans.
Reminiscent of the Russian army on the northern front, which had nearly 3 million troops at its peak, Denikin couldn't help but sigh.
"Grand Duke Yuriev's reinforcements are coming. We must hold our position until the reinforcements arrive!"
Denikin contacted George through Ruzsky.
"Will there be reinforcements?"
"How many reinforcements are there?"
"Can we withstand the German attack?"
The generals talked a lot.
“Grand Duke Yuriev’s reinforcements are led by General Ruzsky and Duke Suvorov, with a total strength of 1.5 million. When the reinforcements arrive, we will not only regain the lost ground, but also Counterattack Berlin, capture the German emperor, end the war, and win the final victory!"
Denikin's words rekindled hope among the generals.
Although Ruziski had his share of victories and defeats with the Germans, justice is in the heart of the people. The title of conqueror of Galicia was not awarded by the tsar, but was recognized by the generals.
Although Vasily is not as famous as the first Duke Suvorov, in the minds of Russian soldiers, the name "Suvorov" has a magical power that can lead them in any battle. Win in the face of adversity.
Denikin's encouragement came at the right time, and the German army was not actually ready to attack.
Hindenburg himself did not expect that he could actually force Russia to withdraw from the war through negotiations.
I never expected that I could get such a huge benefit from the negotiation.
In the past winter, Hindenburg and Ludendorff had been planning a new offensive. After a winter of accumulation, the German army concentrated its main force on the Western Front and officially launched an attack on the British and French allied positions on April 8.
The French army, already on the verge of collapse, was completely unable to withstand the German attack.
The British army, which was already swinging between fighting and evacuation, was weak. Haig and Pétain once again found Pershing and asked the U.S. military to join the war immediately.
Pershing did not refuse this time, because if he did not join the war, the British and French forces would completely collapse and the peach would be gone.
One thing to say is that although Pershing himself was cunning, the American soldiers at this time were still very simple. Like the officers and soldiers when the World War just broke out, they dreamed of making contributions in the war and had a very positive attitude.
After experiencing the tragic losses at Verdun and the Somme, the German army was at the end of its strength. All its elite troops had been lost. The troops participating in the attack were all new recruits recruited just last winter.
Although the US military is also a new recruit, after a year of "training", although it has not been tested in actual combat, its combat effectiveness is still good.
With the addition of new American forces, the British and French forces finally withstood the German attack, and the defense line stabilized again.
At this time, Haig, Pétain, and Pershing looked at Russia. The Baltic Fleet had captured St. Petersburg.
The process of the Baltic Fleet seizing St. Petersburg was not complicated. After the Provisional Government retreated to Moscow, a considerable part of the city defense forces remaining in St. Petersburg were left over from the Tsarist era.
These troops still missed the Tsar. When the Baltic Fleet attacked St. Petersburg, the defenders of the forts around St. Petersburg turned their guns and attacked the defense lines deployed in St. Petersburg by troops loyal to the Provisional Government.
While St. Petersburg fell into chaos, the sailors of the Baltic Fleet invaded St. Petersburg. At ten o'clock that night, with the last stronghold of the provisional government, the Tafrida Palace, the seat of the former State Duma, was captured, and St. Petersburg was recovered. .
(End of this chapter)