Rise of Australia

Chapter 395
As one of the European countries with the largest land area, Russia has very few land neighbors in Europe, only Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Romania.

The part of Central Europe that borders Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is inserted between Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in a rather peculiar shape.

This rather peculiarly shaped area is the Russian-administered Poland after being divided by Germany and Russia.

Although the acquisition of part of the Polish region allowed Russia to greatly expand its power in Europe, it also faced a problem, that is, this region was flanked by Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the north to the south. Galicia poses a threat and can be threatened by these two countries.

East Prussia can provide Germany with excellent war horses and dairy products, and Galicia is also a rich area of ​​the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These two areas are very important to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The big counter-offensive organized by Grand Duke Nicholas was divided into the south attack direction and the north attack direction.

The specific plan is to dispatch 50 combat troops to directly attack the East Prussian region of Germany.

The 30 troops are used as a reserve army to defend the Austro-Hungarian army in Galicia, and secondly, they can also serve as reinforcements for the attacking army in the direction of East Prussia, and join the battle in East Prussia at any time.

If the offensive in East Prussia goes smoothly, then the 30 reserve troops and the local defenders will form an army totaling about 50 to attack the Galicia region and directly annex this rich land.

Because Galicia and the destination and the Hungarian region are separated by the Carpathian Mountains, and there is no obstacle to the land controlled by Russia, Russia also sees the hope of directly annexing Galicia.

On January 1915, 1, with the support of its allies, 27 Russian troops launched an offensive against East Prussia.

At this time, the defenders stationed in East Prussia were the German Eighth Army, and the commander was Prittwitz.

Speaking of the commander-in-chief of the Army Group, Prittwitz's reputation is not very good, because he won the favor of William II by telling dirty jokes to William II, and became the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army .

Compared with the more reckless First Army Commander Crook, Prittwitz's reputation is even worse, and his actual ability is also worse.

The total ratio of the German army to the Russian army in East Prussia is about 1 to 2.5. Germany has nearly 20 defenders, and the size of the army is actually not weak.

But when Prittwitz learned that Russia had used two armies to launch an offensive, he immediately felt timid.

In a telegram sent by Prittwitz to Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, it was mentioned that if the army does not retreat in time, it is likely to be flanked by the two Russian armies, leading to very serious consequences.

After sending this telegram, Prittwitz immediately ordered the army to retreat without looking back.

When Germany's new chief of staff, Falkenhain, received Prittwitz's telegram, the Eighth Army had already retreated more than ten kilometers, and it seemed that it would directly abandon East Prussia and retreat to the west bank of the Vistula River.

Prittwitz's cowardly and incompetent performance made Falkenhayn, the new chief of staff who wanted to make a contribution, furious.

On January 1, the day after Prittwitz ordered the retreat, he was in his headquarters and received two orders like a bolt from the blue. The first order relieved him of the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army The second order ordered him to retire immediately, and the chief of staff of the Eighth Army was also dismissed from his post.

Ludendorff and Hindenburg, who took over the post of the Eighth Army, were well-known in later generations.

The two enjoyed a high reputation in later generations, and Hindenburg also sat on the throne of the President of Germany, and single-handedly trained a successor like Hitler.

Now, however, they are only talented generals of the German Empire and loyal subjects of Wilhelm II.

On the train to East Prussia, Ludendorff quickly came up with his own combat plan, which was approved by the accompanying Hindenburg.

At this time, Hindenburg was 68 years old and had already retired for three years, but because of an order from Falkenhayn, he was re-appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army.

His partner is Ludendorff, the new chief of staff of the Eighth Army, who has made many achievements in the wars on the Western Front and Belgium.

The cooperation between the two was very pleasant. On the train to East Prussia, the two talked happily.

Thanks to Germany's well-developed railway line and transportation system, on the afternoon of January 1915, 1, Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived at the East Prussian battlefield and entered the headquarters of the Eighth Army.

At this time, the Russian army had pursued for dozens of kilometers, and Samsonov's army had even trekked in the muddy land for several days, and still lacked many weapons, equipment and supplies.

If it were not possible to supplement some food from the German towns and farms along the road, I am afraid that the first thing Samsonov's army will face is a food crisis.

In order to express his support for Hindenburg and Ludendorff, Falkenhayn sent two special armies to support the Eastern Front. These two armies arrived at the Eastern Front battlefield almost at the same time as the two men, and assembled on the flanks of the two Russian armies .

On January 1915, 1, Samsonov, who had already penetrated into the hinterland of East Prussia, realized his danger, and sent a telegram to his superior, General Zhilinsky, the commander of the offensive, asking for help.

But Zhilinsky's reply was: "Don't play the role of coward, let your men continue to attack."

No matter whether the superior's order is correct or not, as a soldier, he can only carry out the order faithfully and bravely until there is no greater superior to question the order.

Samsonov had no choice but to continue to order the army to move forward, and at the same time sent a telegram to his colleague Lennan Kampf for help.

But it is worth mentioning that there is also a relatively deep contradiction between Samsonov and Lennankampf.

Fortunately, during the war between the island country and Russia at that time, in order to deal with the attack of the island country army, Samsonov asked for help from General Lennankampf.

In Lennankampf's refusal to send reinforcements, not only caused Samsonov's defense at the time to fail, but also caused hatred between the two generals.

What's more, the two met at a certain train station in a few days.The two people who already had hatred immediately glared at each other, and soon cursed and punched each other.

The Russians were very hot-tempered, and Samsonov quickly knocked Lennankampf to the ground, laughing and winning the civil war among the top Russian commanders.

Of course, such behavior also deepened the hatred between the two.The conflict between Samsonov and Lennankampf is not to mention deep hatred, but it is definitely a hatred that will not pass easily.

Facing his old rival Samsonov's call for help, Lennan Kampf chuckled and asked his subordinates to throw the call for help aside.

The boss and colleagues ignored their request for help, which also made the army led by Samsonov not only face a lack of food and clothing, but also be surrounded by the main German army under extreme exhaustion.

On February 2, Samsonov's army stopped advancing, because in front of them was the main body of the German army.

Unable to attack the German positions for a long time, coupled with the lack of logistical support for his own army, Samsonov originally wanted to order the army to retreat, but soon found that his rear was also full of German soldiers.

Samsonov had no choice but to order the army to attack with all its strength, try to open a breakthrough, and evacuate as much as it can.

However, the weapons and equipment of the Russian army are inferior to those of Germany, and Samsonov's army still lacks logistical supplies, so it is even less likely to surpass the German army in terms of firepower.

Soon, the artillery fire of the Russian army was suppressed by the German army. Surrounded by the German army, the Russian army repeatedly tried to break through, but they suffered heavy losses and were suppressed by the German artillery and machine guns.

Samsonov once again asked Zhilinsky and Lennankampf for help. Zhilinsky, who had only two armies under him, asked his other subordinate, Lennankampf, to support Samsonov.

The boss's order cannot be ignored, but the hatred with Samsonov does exist.

Under the neutralization of the two, Lennankampf made a decision that caused heavy losses to the Russian army, delaying the order for two days, and then went to support.

What Lennankampf didn't expect was that Samsonov's army couldn't hold out for two days at all, and fell under the fire of the Germans.

On February 1915, 2, Samsonov's army, which had worked hard for two days, suffered heavy casualties. After paying nearly 3 casualties, Samsonov ordered his subordinates to surrender to the Germans with a pale face, while he walked away. Entering a dense forest, raised the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger.

Samsonov's Second Army originally had 20 soldiers, and there were a full 15 soldiers surrounded by the German army.

The remaining 5 people were either wounded in the previous war and transported to the rear, or some less important troops. Samsonov ordered to defend the occupied area and also protect the rear logistics supply line.

This also means that the surrounded 15 troops are almost the entire main force of the Second Army led by Samsonov.

The fighting quality of the Russian army can be imagined. After more than 4 casualties, Russian soldiers had no idea of ​​fighting.

Even if Samsonov did not voluntarily surrender, what he faced would be escorted to the Germans after being mutinied by his subordinates.

In the final result of this battle, the Russian Second Army suffered 4 casualties and 10.8 prisoners.The German army suffered only 1.5 casualties.

By the time the news that the Second Army was almost wiped out reached Zhilinsky's ears, it was already February 2th the next day.

Shocked, Zhilinsky ordered Lennankampf to move south immediately to find Samsonov and what was left of Second Army.

But at this time, Lennankampf had already been shocked by Samsonov's rapid defeat.When Zhilinsky's order arrived at the headquarters of the First Army, Lennan Kampf, commander-in-chief of the First Army, had already quietly returned to Russia in a special car.

Rennankampf's escape made Zhilinski very annoyed, and he directly sent a telegram asking Grand Duke Nicholas to revoke Lennankampf's post.

Grand Duke Nicholas did so, and Zhilinsky himself was also dismissed.

But this can no longer change the current defeat faced by the Russian army in East Prussia. Under the premise of dispatching a full 50 combat troops, the Russian army suffered heavy casualties and was repressed by the Eighth Army controlled by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. up the border.

　The third update of 3200 words, asking for a monthly ticket, asking for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)