Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 1060 The Dawn of Peace

On June [-]th, the Kingdom of Bulgaria announced its withdrawal from the war, which severely damaged the morale of the Allies. The atmosphere of defeat enveloped the entire Western Front. The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force marched straight into Bulgaria, posing a fatal threat to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As early as the middle of last year, Emperor Karl I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was trying to find a decent way to withdraw from the war, but because the fierce fighting on the Western Front was in full swing, Karl I failed to do so.

At the beginning of this year, when the German army suffered a defeat on the Marne River, Karl I once again hoped to withdraw from the war, but because the conditions of the Allied Powers were too harsh, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was forced to stay in the camp of the Allied Powers.

On June [-], the day after the Kingdom of Bulgaria announced its withdrawal from the war, Hungary suddenly announced its withdrawal from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and declared itself an independent country. The Austro-Hungarian Empire split without warning.

It cannot be said that there were no signs. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is the only dual system country in the world. One country has two capitals, two parliaments, and two sets of government agencies. Once setbacks are encountered, the dual system will collapse completely.

Karl I finally realized that the situation was irreversible. He was still working hard to maintain the unity of the empire and announced that the empire would be transformed into a federation. All ethnic groups could have their own national committees, regardless of the number of ethnic groups.

In a country that has been divided in fact, the authority of the king has been completely subverted. No one paid attention to the last efforts of Karl I. One point became a reality. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was indeed divided into many countries, and the participating troops quickly collapsed. Throwing down their guns and returning home, the military officers are busy fighting for power, hoping to hold important positions in the new governments of their respective countries, the politicians are in a carnival, the world war is not over, the liquidation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not yet begun, but the politicians have already Can't wait to get to work.

In short, the huge and mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrated in just a few days, and more than ten new governments were established, and nearly half of the new governments hoped to join the Allied Powers to escape the imminent liquidation after the war.

The Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdrew from the war, and the most direct impact on Germany was that Germany lost Romania’s oil supply, which was a fatal threat to Germany. The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force led by Ian Hamilton had always hoped to do this .

The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force did not defeat the Germans on the battlefield, but achieved this strategic goal because of the withdrawal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria. This seems to prove once again that Germany chose the wrong ally, but back to the original Germany, Germany did not There is room for choice.

The withdrawal of the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire soon had a huge impact on the Western Front.

Before the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdrew from the war, the German army on the western front could still launch a counterattack in some areas, and fought back and forth with the Allied forces.

After the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdrew from the war, the German army on the western front seemed to have its spine broken. Everyone knew that Germany's defeat was inevitable. Many German troops left the trenches in despair and launched a desperate charge against the Allied Forces.

They usually fell on the way to the charge. The Allied Forces had almost no casualties. After the battle, the battlefield was cleaned up. Many German soldiers had no bullets in their rifles. Those German soldiers didn't seem to notice this at all.

Even if they noticed, so what? They have no ability to change the situation on the entire Western Front, and those who are capable are too busy to take care of themselves.

After the failure of the Michael plan, the German Admiral Paul von New Ce replaced Kuhlmann, who was forced to resign, as the German Foreign Minister. Ludendorff met Xin Ce for the first time and admitted to Xin Ce that the German army had already Failed, but Ludendorff did not admit defeat. He hoped to withdraw the German army back to Germany to rest and use the solid fortifications built by the German army before the World War to continue to defend and strive for a decent opportunity to withdraw from the war.

In other words, wait for the Allies to take the initiative to make mistakes in order to regain the almost impossible initiative on the Western Front.

Ludendorff said the same thing to Hindenburg before.

The new strategy has no interest in Ludendorff's plan. The German army has been unable to recover from the war. At the beginning of this year, Ludendorff still had 127 complete German infantry divisions available for deployment, and now he can continue to fight. Only 47 German infantry divisions remained.

It seems that the German army still has spare power, but these German infantry divisions that can still fight are basically out of ammunition and food. The rifles have no bullets, the artillery has no shells, and the German army cannot even guarantee the supply of rations. Offensive and defensive use cannot guarantee combat effectiveness.

There is another reason for Ludendorff to see hope. Since the beginning of summer, the impact of the Great Influenza in the United States on the Allies has become more and more serious. Ludendorff has received news that at least 50 troops from the Allied Powers have been affected by the Great Influenza in the United States. Many units are losing more and more non-combat personnel, and some units are in better condition. For example, the Southern African Expeditionary Force with abundant medical supplies has only more than 1000 people hospitalized due to the US pandemic.

This situation is also not recognized by the new policy. Although the Allied Forces were seriously affected by the American influenza pandemic, Germany was also the same. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in Germany due to the American influenza pandemic. Ludendorff also knew about these situations, but Ludendorff was unwilling. admit.

Xin Ce and Ludendorff seemed unable to communicate, and the exchange between the two ended with Ludendorff fainting.

Xin Ce immediately sent someone to send Ludendorff to the hospital for treatment, and announced that Ludendorff could not continue to serve as the chief of the German General Staff due to physical reasons.

When the news was broadcast to the whole of Germany, the Germans cheered.

Ludendorff believed that the whole of Germany was against him. After he was discharged from the hospital, he did not tell anyone and pretended to escape from Germany quietly. Later, Ludendorff went to Sweden, and some people said that Ludendorff went to southern Africa.

Ludendorff finally withdrew from the stage of history, but the world war was not over yet. On the second day Ludendorff was hospitalized, Prince Marx of Baden, known as the outstanding royalist liberal of the empire, succeeded Hertling as German Prime Minister. After the prince took office, he immediately sent a signal to the Allies through the Queen of the Netherlands to end the war through peaceful negotiations.

Both Winston and French President Posingalé welcomed the proposal of Prince Marx of Baden, and after nearly four years of world war, finally saw the dawn of peace.

There was also an accident during this period. On April 4, a young German submarine commander commanded his submarine to launch an attack on the passenger ship "Leinster" which was regularly traveling between England and Ireland. Both torpedoes were hit. In the "Leinster", the "Leinster" sank quickly, killing 20 people, including 470 women and children.

This almost affected the little dawn of peace that had just appeared. In the past few days of April 4, almost everyone was frightened, lest the sinking of the "Leinster" would cause the war to continue.

At this time, Winston maintained great restraint. Although the submarine officer who attacked the "Leinster" was not blamed, Winston still firmly instructed Edward Gray and Prince Marx of Baden to promote the start of peace negotiations.

On the Western Front, Winston also telegraphed Rock, hoping that the British Expeditionary Force would not launch an attack on the German army for the time being, but to maintain a certain degree of pressure on the German army.

If you don't attack, how can you keep the pressure on the German army?

Winston's telegram confuses Rock's staff. They don't understand the real purpose of Winston's telegram. If they don't understand the relationship between Winston and Rock, the staff even think it's Winston. Deliberately giving Rock a problem.

The staff didn't know what Winston wanted to do, but Roque definitely knew.

The last time Winston and Roque met, Roque already knew the attitude of Winston and George V towards Germany. A Germany that was as thoroughly divided as the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not in the interests of the British Empire, so Roque wanted to Put pressure on the German army, but you can't continue to weaken the German army, you must keep some vitality for the German army.

This task was a bit difficult, and Rock called the frontline commander back to Yamin to teach him the opportunity.

"That is to say, we still have to fight, but we will no longer invest in ground troops. If we have nothing to do, we will send planes to drop a few bombs, drive tanks out for a walk, and artillery units can also conduct training in the name of combat—if the Germans take the initiative to If we surrender, shall we accept it?" Don Juan, the commander of the Second Cavalry Division, was very upset, and now if Roque gave Don Juan truly unlimited authorization, Don Juan would really have the confidence to lead the troops to Berlin in one go.

Rock didn't speak, but looked at Don Juan with dissatisfaction.

Don Juan, who spoke so much, immediately became restless.

"Thank you Lord for your understanding. We are indeed unable to attack now. The troops are advancing too fast, and the distance from the logistics base is too far. The supplies cannot be delivered to the front line in time. God is also helping the Germans. It started to rain ten days ago. We Now the advance is difficult, the Germans have blown up the bridges and the railways, the road traffic is in a mess—" Or Chief of Staff Haydn Alexander was wiser, and the same words, expressed in a different language, mean quite different things.

Rock nodded in satisfaction. Don Juan and Haydn Alexander exchanged glances with different meanings. Don Juan's eyes were full of gratitude, while Haydn Alexander was full of contempt.

That is to say, under Roque, a general like Don Juan can get enough room to display. For a commander with a small mind and little measure, a person like Don Juan will go to the warehouse every minute.

"We have built twelve prisoner-of-war camps now, but it seems far from enough. Many prisoners of war are malnourished and diseases are rampant in the prisoner-of-war camps. We need more professional management." Julian Bean actively suggested, just like Paul Coker Well, Julian Bean is now considered Roque's direct descendant, and within the British Expeditionary Force, Roque's authority is unshakable.

(End of this chapter)