Rise of Australia

Chapter 396 The Crisis Brought by Victory

While the East Prussian campaign was going on, the Russian-Austrian border was not idle.At the urging of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire assembled three armies, a total of 48 infantry divisions and 11 cavalry divisions, preparing to attack Russia.

On the Russian side, it also hoarded the third, fourth, fifth and eighth armies in an attempt to annex the entire Galicia in World War I.

If the Battle of East Prussia was a hasty war that Russia had to launch under the pressure of Britain and France.

Then the encounter on the Russian-Austrian border shows the ambitions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia in this war.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to defeat Russia, go south along the way to become the only great power in the Balkans, and take over all Balkan countries.

Russia, on the other hand, naturally wanted to annex the fertile land of Galicia, while at the same time reducing the power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans.

The number of troops invested by Russia and Austria-Hungary in the border area was as high as millions, close to 200 million to be exact.

This also makes the number of soldiers on the Eastern Front not weaker than that on the Western Front. If you look at the size of soldiers on both sides alone, there may be more soldiers on the Eastern Front.

But in fact, this is just false prosperity.Everyone knows that the fighting capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian army are far inferior to those of France and Germany. If the main force of the German army is on the Eastern Front, Russia has no room to fight back.

On February 2, the 1st Austro-Hungarian Army and the [-]th Russian Army met in the Krasnik area, and immediately began a fierce melee.

However, the combat capability of the Russian army was much inferior to that of the Austro-Hungarian army. After a fierce battle, the Russian army was successfully repelled.

But the battle is far from over.Soon, Russia organized the third and eighth armies to attack Lvov and Galich.

At the same time, the Fourth and Fifth Armies encircled the left flank of the Austro-Hungarian army, cut off the retreat route of the Austro-Hungarian army to Krakow, and encircled the main force of the Austro-Hungarian army as much as possible.

The real war broke out on February 2. The Russian Third and Eighth Armies soon fought against the Austro-Hungarian Third Army. Call in the Second Army.

The gunfire continued until the afternoon of February 2, and the Austro-Hungarian Second Army and Third Army were forced to retreat after suffering a large number of casualties.

The Russian army also pursued the victory and occupied Galich and Lvov.

Thanks to the personal command of Grand Duke Nicholas, the Russian army exploded with strong combat effectiveness, fighting every enemy and winning every battle, and soon occupied the entire Galicia region.

This battle, which lasted for more than half a month, also cost the Austro-Hungarian army more than 40 casualties, while Russia's casualties were less than 23.

Such a result was a huge blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Allies.After Russia occupied Galicia, it posed a threat to both Silesia in Germany and Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Faced with such a dangerous situation, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no choice but to ask Germany for help.

Germany could not ignore the dangers of its hinterland and allies, so it could only deploy troops from the western front to strengthen the eastern front, temporarily delaying the Russian offensive.

Arthur looked at the battle report sent from Europe, and couldn't help being a little speechless.

The Russian army was able to easily defeat the Austro-Hungarian army, which Arthur did not expect.

After all, Russia's domestic system is too corrupt, and it is not easy for this ancient enemy country to erupt such a powerful combat power.

But thinking about it again, after the outbreak of the war, it is not surprising that Arthur suddenly transported weapons and equipment from Australasia to Russia many times.

One of the most important factors that determine a soldier's combat effectiveness is the soldier's weapons and equipment and logistical supplies.

The main force of the Russian army on the front line has been equipped with a large number of military weapons produced in Australasia, which has also virtually improved the combat effectiveness of the Russian army.

But victory on the Eastern Front is not a good thing for Russia, because Germany has mobilized a large number of troops to the Eastern Front.

Although Russia was able to show off its power against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it did not have much resistance to the world's most powerful army, the German Army.

More importantly, the situation in Russia is not so stable.If there is a domestic crisis in Russia due to Germany's reinforcement of the Eastern Front, I am afraid that Russia will have civil strife earlier than in history, and even a bigger crisis will erupt.

And without Russia, the Allied Powers would lose a considerable amount of power.Although the United Kingdom, France and Australia also have the strength to defeat Germany, the price paid by the Allied Powers to defeat Germany will definitely be much higher.

You know, Russia mobilized more than 1000 million troops in the First World War in history, and nearly 200 million people were killed or injured.

These figures are due to the fact that Russia's domestic statistics are very backward, and the actual number of casualties will definitely be higher.

This also means that the more than 1000 million troops need to be filled by the other three countries of the Allied Powers. Unless Australasia can organize millions of indigenous troops, otherwise, it can only reluctantly send conventional troops to promote the victory of the war.

This also means that, no matter what, Russia's domestic stability and the stability of the Eastern Front are very important.

Russia can share a considerable part of Germany's army. Judging from the current war situation, Britain, France and Australia cannot afford Russia's withdrawal from the war.

Thinking of this, Arthur also felt that he couldn't sit still.It just so happens that the new weapons and equipment of the Royal Military Factory have been produced, and it is time to send some of them to Russia to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Russian army.

February 1915, 2, St. Petersburg, Russia.

The defeat in the Battle of East Prussia kept Nicholas II from being angry for a few days, and the great success of the Battle of Galicia prevented Nicholas II from showing a smile again on his face.

More importantly, Russia directly occupied the entire Galicia region. This kind of direct expansion in land area is more gratifying than the victory of the battle.

It has been nearly half a year since the start of the war, because Russia has been unknown, and Nicholas II, who has held his breath, can finally feel elated, pointing to the map of the war situation hanging on the wall and starting to point out the country.

Nicholas II's appetite is more than a small Galicia region. If possible, Hungary, East Prussia and other regions are also within the scope of Nicholas II's consideration.

Of course, there is also the Polish area that was previously divided with the Germans, and it should all be taken back.

In this way, Russia occupies almost half of Eastern Europe, plus the indirectly controlled Balkans, half of Europe is controlled by Russia.

The Russian military and officials, who seemed to be listening intently, were mostly smiling at this time.

For an established country like Russia, the expansion of its land area is worthy of joy, and it is also worthy of joy to show its strength to the outside world.

You know, since entering the 20th century, the decline of old powers like Russia has been a common topic.

Especially in the face of a new country with obvious shortcomings like an island country, Russia has almost drawn a tie, which is enough to prove Russia's weakness.

Coupled with the rise of Germany and the formation of the Allies, Russia became the fourth in Europe, ranking below Britain, Germany and France.

After the outbreak of this war, Russia did not make any achievements in the first few months of the war, and even the progress of the general mobilization was slow, the soldiers’ weapons and equipment were poor, and the logistics and transportation system was poor. Europeans said that the road roller was old, decayed, and degraded. up.

This is not good news for the Russians. People will die when they are old, machines will be scrapped when they are old, and the country will be oppressed and annexed by new countries when it is old.

The victory for the Austro-Hungarian Empire this time is a re-declaration to the outside world for the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Tsarist government. At least Russia is still the European steamroller, and it is still crushing in terms of strength for the last powers like the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although it is not enough to make people revisit the Tsarist Russian Empire, at least people should sigh that a dead camel is bigger than a horse, and no matter how decadent a top power is, it cannot be compared with a small bottom power.

Of course, there is another reason why the entire tsarist government is more happy, that is, Russia has contributed a lot in this battle, and the Germans were even forced to send more reinforcements to ease the pressure on the Western Front.

And credit is also an assessment of the distribution of benefits after the war.For the Tsarist government, the greater the credit now, the greater the benefits after the war.

For the tens of thousands of casualties since the outbreak of the war, who would care about the Tsarist Russian Empire with a population of more than 10 million?
Is it Nicholas II or the Tsarist government?Is it the Russian high-level or the capitalist gentry?

No, no one cares about these casualties except civilians in Russia.In the eyes of the Russian high-level, these casualties are just a series of numbers, a series of numbers that can be changed at any time, and are still increasing.

It can be understood by looking at the number of births in Russia every year. The number of newborn babies every year is as high as millions or even millions.

Hundreds of thousands of casualties are completely insignificant to the Tsarist Russian Empire, and this will not affect Russia's annual population growth rate at all.

"Your Majesty, since the Germans have sent a large number of reinforcements, it is better for us to rest here and turn the frontline battlefield into a defensive state. In this way, we can not only defend the Galicia area we have occupied, but also complete the French requirements. The task of holding back the German army can reduce our domestic casualties and consumption." The commander of the Galician campaign, Grand Duke Nicholas arrived at the St. Petersburg conference room early and put forward his own point of view.

As the commander of the front line, Grand Duke Nicholas has a clear understanding of the gap between the strength of the Russian army and the strength of the German army.

Although the defenders in East Prussia plus reinforcements in Germany will not exceed 50.But these 50 troops are enough to hold back Russia's nearly 200 million troops, and even cause a lot of casualties to the Russian army.

Anyway, Russia's mobilization of troops from the Western Front has resolved the crisis in France, and Germany has fulfilled France's requirements, and there is no need to continue to consume with the German army.

Although the Russian army has no shortage of soldiers, the weapons and equipment consumed in the war, bullets and shells, etc., are still a huge expense.

From a military point of view, the proposal of Grand Duke Nicholas is completely correct.

Russia has no strength, and there is no need to consume it with Germany.Unless there is no instability in Russia, which is impossible now.

However, for Russian officials who are more concerned with political factors, Grand Duke Nicholas's proposal is a bit of nonsense.

Now that the victory has already been achieved, why not take advantage of the victory and pursue it?
Isn't that the East Prussia region of Germany, the Silesia region and the Hungary region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

Why did Russia go to war?Just to gain expansion on the land, is it also to increase political power and status?
It is enough to win a battle, so how can the government fight for more political status and rights?
Before Grand Duke Nicholas could explain further, the current Prime Minister of Tsarist Russia, Ivan Goremykin, immediately interrupted and retorted with a smile: "Mr. We have to fight, and we must have another large-scale war to win, so as to stabilize our position in the Allied Powers and seek more benefits in the future distribution."

"If we stand still and turn to defense on the spot, this may save a lot of resources and manpower, but the prestige accumulated by the empire for a century will be destroyed, and our status in the Pact and the world will also be destroyed!"

"Mr. Prime Minister, prestige and status are based on strength. Even as you said, we use a big victory to stabilize our prestige and status. After our army and soldiers suffered a lot of casualties, the post-war status And who can guarantee the distribution of benefits? It is better to stop here and turn the front line into a defensive state. We only need to use one army group to hold back all the German troops, and then we can complete the tasks assigned to us by our allies.

When the benefits are distributed in the future, we still have enough troops to protect our interests and status. Isn't it better than making unnecessary sacrifices for nothing now? Grand Duke Nicholas responded with a sneer.

There is also a more straightforward factor that Grand Duke Nicholas did not mention, that is, the frequent outbreaks of uprisings and civil strife in the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The people marched, the workers went on strike, the revolutionaries made trouble, the navy revolted.Just one is enough to destabilize a country, not to mention that the Tsarist Russian Empire has already gathered enough to make a table of mahjong.

Grand Duke Nicholas does not know whether the government can bear such a large number of casualties, but Grand Duke Nicholas knows that if he continues to carry out unnecessary wars like this and consumes his own army and national power, when large-scale rebellions and crises break out in the country in the future, But there is really no army to suppress it.

No matter how good the international status and territorial expansion are, they must be carried out under the premise of national stability and unity.Because the war caused instability within the empire, and even some revolutionaries took advantage of the chaos to split it, it would be ridiculous for thousands of years.

　That's it for today, [-] words, please take a leave of absence.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)