Rise of Australia

Chapter 401 Combat Power of the Australasian Army

When the results of the Battle of Warsaw-Ivangorod reached the ears of the Western Front and Arthur, it immediately aroused greater enthusiasm for combat among the Allied Powers, and at the same time looked forward to the upcoming battle on the Western Front.

From the perspective of the United Kingdom and France, Russia can defeat part of the German army and the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in one fell swoop. It should not be difficult for Britain, France, Australia, Italy and the United Kingdom to easily eliminate the main force of Germany.

Because of this expectation, Xiafei also proposed to change the battle plan. After the three armies on the western front, north, central and south, completed their respective battle plans, all the superior forces in them would go eastward with all their strength and break through Berlin before the Russians arrived.

Maybe, under the attack from both sides of the Allied Powers, Germany is indeed very likely to be defeated.

What Germany is currently facing is a more powerful Russian army than in history, as well as a larger combined British, French and Australian army.

But this is not a good thing for Arthur. If the European war ends too soon, Australasia will not contribute much to the war, and Germany, which has not suffered heavy losses, will not allow the Allies to cut their flesh and blood .

From this point of view, Arthur's plan to introduce equipment and technology from German factories, as well as a large number of skilled workers, will come to nothing.

Moreover, Britain and France, whose losses were not serious, will soon regain their blood, and the status of Australasia will no longer be so important.

Because Britain and France, which are in good condition, can easily deal with the United States, then the world after World War I is that Britain and France have the final say, and other countries have no qualifications to intervene at all.

This is unacceptable to Arthur. Australasia has worked so hard to plan for so long, and naturally it is impossible to make wedding dresses for Britain and France.

Therefore, it is more important to delay the progress of the war as much as possible, at least to make the war not end so quickly.

The most effective method is to suspend the supply of materials to the allies of the Allied Powers.Especially for Russia, after a super-large-scale battle, there must be a shortage of weapons, ammunition and strategic materials that were originally sufficient, and it is also very dependent on supplements from Australasia.

If the supply of materials to Russia is temporarily slowed down, Russia will definitely reduce the scale of the Eastern Front campaign under the scarcity of materials.

Germany can also take a breather on the Eastern Front and focus more on the Western Front, so that it will not face the pressure of a super-large-scale battle on the two fronts.

Of course, although it was decided to suspend the supply of materials to Russia, the specific reasons for the decision are debatable.

After all, Russia is one of Australasia's best allies and has an affinity with Australasia.

Russian immigrants are also the second largest number of immigrants in Australasia, and they are an important part of the Australasian population.

In this way, it is necessary to find a good excuse to suspend the supply of materials in order to avoid the dissatisfaction of the Russian government and the people.

As for the Western Front, even if Australasia suspends the supply of supplies, it will have little impact on the Western Front.

Britain and France are not like Russia. Due to the current bad domestic situation, Russia's industrial capacity has been greatly reduced.

Coupled with Russia's poor organizational capabilities and logistics system, but only relying on Russia's own industrial production capacity, it is not bad to meet half of the current front-line ammunition and material needs, let alone hoarding materials to launch a large-scale offensive.

The industrial and logistics systems of Britain and France are relatively much better. Coupled with the continuous supply of materials from the colonies, even if Australasia temporarily slows down the supply of materials, it will not affect the combat plans of Britain and France in a short time.

If the supply of materials is reduced for a long time, it will definitely attract the attention and suspicion of Britain and France, which is not worth the loss for Australasia.

Therefore, reducing the supply of materials to Russia is the best choice. It can not only slow down the pace of Russia on the Eastern Front, but also allow the Germans to take a breather, without making allies pay too much attention and completing their own strategy inadvertently. Purpose.

Although this is equivalent to cheating teammates again, compared to completing Australasia's own strategic goals, it is not unacceptable to cheat the Russians a little bit.

Anyway, several revolutionary parties in Russia have been patronized by the Royal Security Intelligence Service, at least to ensure that Russia can stabilize the domestic situation before the end of World War I.

This can be regarded as a gain and a loss. Anyway, for Russia, which has enough manpower and thick skin, it is not unacceptable to consume a little manpower.

For the ongoing war on the Western Front, what tactics to use for offense is the most important topic of discussion.

Before the outbreak of this war, countries around the world generally adopted tactics of detour from the flank.Including many battles in this war, commanders from various countries also adopted such tactics and achieved considerable success.

However, as countries put more and more troops into the war, more and more troops were used in each battle, ranging from 10 to tens of thousands, or even as high as millions.

Just like this offensive on the Western Front, each of the three front armies has at least 50 troops. It is difficult to achieve such a large number of troops to detour to the enemy's rear. This is a test for the obedience of the army. The degree of cooperation and tacit understanding among all the troops is also a test.

On the Eastern Front, the German and Russian armies have adopted the tactics of forced frontal breakthroughs.

Thanks to the superiority of the Russian army, Russian commanders have relied heavily on the tactics of frontal breakthroughs.

Although it will cost more casualties than before, compared with the roundabout flank tactics, the frontal breakthrough can often achieve good results, and the absolute crushing of troops can bring Russia a greater advantage.

But on the Western Front, frontal breakthroughs by large-scale troops are not so easy.First of all, there are a large number of planes and airships in the sky, and choosing a frontal breakthrough is likely to be detected by the enemy first, so that a strict defense is arranged.

At present, the two most practical and effective tactics are somewhat behind, which also makes it a major problem for the three front forces on the western front to adopt tactics.

After careful consideration, the Allied Powers jointly decided that the three front armies each decide their own task deployment, and each group army has enough freedom to choose the direction of breakthrough.

To put it simply, on the premise of performing missions in groups, the Allied forces on the Western Front will be divided into group armies, or even army units, and broken down into smaller units to achieve breakthroughs or detours.

Firstly, by performing missions with smaller combat units, it is possible to hide under enemy airships more effectively.

Secondly, an army of tens of thousands of people in all aspects is not so easy to command, not to mention that these armies also include soldiers from Britain, France, Australasia, and Italy. Action is undoubtedly the better option.

The [-]nd Australasian Guards Division and the [-]rd Regular Division were responsible for covering the flanks of the French Third Army, and just under the command of Division Commander Martin there was also an infantry division of the British Expeditionary Force and a cavalry division of the French Third Army.

This also led to the fact that Commander Martin has an army of nearly 7 people, and the right to freedom in the war is still quite large.

The Central Front, where the Australasian Expeditionary Force is located, is responsible for breaking through the Alsace-Lorraine region. It is best to capture this area and increase the French region's desire to fight against Germany.

The Central Front has the French Third Army and Fourth Army, the Australasian Expeditionary Force and a British infantry division. The total number of soldiers is as high as 85.

Because what the Central Front is facing is the German First and Second Army, and it may also face the support of the German Third Army.

The German First and Second Armies suffered more than half of the casualties in the previous war. After a large number of recruits were added, they regained their combat effectiveness.

However, compared with the previous army composed of veterans, the combat effectiveness of these two group armies is undoubtedly much lower.

What is more difficult is the German Third Army. Most of this army is composed of German veterans. Its combat effectiveness should be the first rank in the current German army, and it is also the biggest trouble for the Central Front Army.

Germany's first, second, and third armies combined have nearly 60 troops.However, the Third Army is located in the northwest region of Alsace and Lorraine, and it is very likely that it will face the help of the German army in Belgium.

It also means that as long as the northern front army's offensive is stronger, the pressure faced by the central front army will be less, and the difficulty of the task will be greatly reduced.

On May 5, the French 8rd and [-]th Armies and Australasian Aboriginal forces began to advance towards Alsace and Lorraine.

The mixed army commanded by Martin marched behind the two armies, guarding the flanks of the two armies at any time.

In the early morning of May 5, news came from the front that the Third Army and the German First Army met, and the two sides launched a fierce attack.

The commander of the Third Army asked Commander Martin to move to the left side of the Third Army to prevent the German army from outflanking.

Commander Martin had nothing to do, mobilized the mixed army to move to the left side of the third army, and built simple fortifications nearby.

At noon that day, the Fourth Army and the German Second Army also met, and the battle between the Central Front and the German Army began in full swing.

Although the enemy was not found for most of the day, Commander Martin did not dare to be careless, and still ordered the army to perform wartime patrols, paying attention to and guarding against possible enemies at any time.

At noon on May 1915, 5, as the sentry in the distance reported anomalies, Commander Martin finally discovered the traces of the German army.

It is an elite German army, with a number of about 3 people, equipped with relatively advanced weapons.

However, because of the troops surrounding the rear, it is obvious that this army did not carry heavier weapons, such as machine guns and large artillery.

You know, the transportation of machine guns and artillery requires at least horse-drawn carts and trucks.But this army is almost all infantry, which shows that there are not many heavy weapons.

After determining the number of opponents and the number of heavy weapons, Commander Martin made a decisive decision. The Australasian army was in charge of the main attack, and the British and French troops were outflanked by the afterglow to ensure that no German soldier would be let go.

Soon, fierce fighting started on the left flank.The powerful firepower of the Australasian army caused the German army to suffer a large number of casualties without being prepared.

The large number of heavy machine guns and artillery caused the Germans to suffer thousands of casualties before seeing the Australasian soldiers.

But the German soldiers responded quickly, looking for bunkers on the spot, and launched a counterattack.A small-scale force was also separated from the German army, and it seemed that it was trying to get around the flank of the Australasian army to achieve flanking tactics.

However, Commander Martin had expected the reaction of the Germans. The German troops and the British and French troops met smoothly.

Hearing gunshots from his side, the commander of the German army felt bad and wanted to order the army to retreat.

However, the firepower of the Australasian army on the front is too strong, and it is impossible for the German army to leave the rear to the Australasian army, which may lead to more brutal massacres.

You must know that the Second Guards Division not only has four infantry regiments and one artillery regiment, but also has two cavalry regiments. Such an organization is not luxurious.

These two cavalry regiments alone can become the reaper of Germany's blind retreat.

By the time the fighting on the flanks faded and the German commander wanted to order a retreat, it was too late. The detoured troops had already reached the rear of the German army, and the German army was surrounded.

boom!
Accompanied by a harsh gunshot, if the commander committed suicide in a wood, the German army would also be wiped out by the mixed army, and the flank defense battle was a complete success.

Commander Martin asked his men to count the number of casualties and equipment damage, and at the same time asked the signal soldier to report the results of this small-scale battle to the Third Army.

Sure enough, the victory of the flank defense made the commander of the Third Army very happy. This also means that the flank of the Third Army is very safe in a short period of time, and Germany does not have too many troops to carry out the second roundabout tactic.

Of course, the mixed army is still unable to move.No one can guarantee that the German army will receive support, but before the German army is completely wiped out, the flanks of the third and fourth armies are very important.

The results of the mixed army were also passed on to the French Command and the British Expeditionary Force Command in the latter part of the country, and were highly praised by France and the United Kingdom.

Arthur's expression was also very happy when he learned of this military report, which actually proved that the Australasian army was not inferior to the German army in terms of firepower.

The Guards Division and the Third Division were able to gain an advantage in fighting the Germans with almost equal numbers, which also means that the combat capabilities of the Australasian army are not weak.

With the flank secured, the French Third and Fourth Armies' offensive became more intense.

With an Australasian indigenous army of up to 45 people, the offensive of the Central Front Army can be said to be fearless.

In just two days, the front line has been advanced by more than ten kilometers, which is not far from the German-French border before the war.

Although nearly 15 casualties were paid for this, more than half of them were aborigines in Australasia, and the number of casualties was still within an acceptable range.

On the side of the mixed army, after more than an hour of counting, the results of the battle were reported to the rear and Australasia.

The mixed army faced the German army of more than 3 people. After paying 1 casualties (more than 2000 casualties in Australasia, more than 4000 casualties in the United Kingdom, and more than 3000 casualties in France), 1.2 people were eliminated. 1.8 German soldiers were captured, and nearly 1000 more were missing.

Although more than 1000 people were released, the overall results are very gratifying.

The size of this German army of more than 3 people is not small, accounting for one-twentieth of the defenders in Alsace and Lorraine, and most of them are some elite German veterans (with more old injuries).

The offensive of the Central Front Army was very smooth, and it also attracted the support of the German Third Army to the south, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Northern Front Army.

This is completely contrary to what was expected before the war. I thought it was the northern front army that relieved the pressure on the central front army, but I didn't expect the central front army to be the one that attacked more smoothly.

Relying on the solidity of the French border and some Belgian fortresses, Germany's northern front blocked more than ten kilometers within the border.

Even though the northern front had suffered a large number of casualties, the front line still could not move forward.

If the northern front army is evenly matched, then the performance of the southern front army is somewhat unsatisfactory.

The combat capability of the French army is not bad, and it has undertaken most of the combat tasks of the Southern Front Army.

You must know that among the more than 60 combat troops of the Southern Front Army, the Italian army is as high as 50.

The performance of the Italian army in the battle can be described as a mess. On the first day of the battle alone, 50 Italian troops were blocked by only more than [-] Austro-Hungarian troops at the border and could not move forward.

The army sent by Italy was discovered, surrounded and annihilated by the reinforcements of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the way to implement roundabout tactics.

It also made Italy the only laughing stock in this battle. It paid close to [-] casualties in the three days of the war, but the army was still in its own country.

If Austria-Hungary had not experienced a disastrous defeat on the Eastern Front, the number of troops would have been insufficient.

Arthur even had reason to suspect that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would take the opportunity to invade Italy, occupy the most core northern region of Italy, and directly let Italy surrender.

You must know that although Italy was unified earlier than Germany, it was also a country that was unified only in the middle of the 19th century.

Before the unification of Italy, the country was divided into two major countries and many regions. These two countries were the Kingdom of Sardinia in the north and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the south.

Because of the development differences between the two countries, the development differences between the northern and southern regions of Italy are relatively large.

The north is the core industrial area of ​​Italy, while the south is the less important agricultural area.

This also means that if the northern part of Italy is captured, according to the way Italy is currently doing things, it is very likely that they will surrender.

Fortunately, the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the Eastern Front was mostly lost. Otherwise, Italy might have become the slowest country in the war and the fastest surrender.

Of course, Italy is not much better now.Before the start of the battle, because of the disastrous defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the Eastern Front, the Italians imagined capturing more land and even occupying the entire Albania.

But now, the Italians are surprised to find that, not to mention external expansion, their own borders are already in a hurry.

Of course, Italy is not the only one who is anxious at this time.Russia, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are currently more anxious than each other.

Now is a better opportunity to attack than the previous battles. Russia has received bad news from Australasia. Australasia's material reserves have bottomed out. At least three months later, it will not be able to transport more supplies to Russia. supplies.

The Russian side did not doubt this news, because Australasia was an ally of Russia and participated in the war against Germany.

At the same time, Australasia can also obtain a large amount of funds for transporting materials, and there is no need to fabricate reasons to interrupt material transportation.

This also means that the supplies in Australasia are indeed in a hurry.The lack of materials in Australasia means that Russia does not have enough materials to launch a new round of offensive. Watching the four countries of Britain, France, Australia and Italy fighting against Germany and Austria on the western front, they are helpless.

Anxious Nicholas II directly questioned Foreign Minister Alexei.Because Alexei had publicly stated that Britain and France would bear all the costs of the Russian offensive.

But as far as the current situation is concerned, Britain and France only bear [-]% of the cost of the Russian offensive.

It was good that Australasia was madly transporting supplies before, and Russia did not show the disadvantages of lack of supplies.

But now, after Australasia also lacks supplies, the poor production situation in Russia has been revealed.

Judging from the current production speed of Russia's domestic military industry, not to mention satisfying the army's offensive, even if the front-line army switches from offense to defense, it may not be able to gather enough materials and ammunition for the army's defense.

This also means that if the German army launches a counterattack on the Eastern Front, the Russian army is likely to spit out all the remaining areas due to lack of supplies, and the previous efforts will be defeated.

Russian Foreign Minister Alexei also collapsed at this time.Unexpectedly, Australasia, which had been conscientiously transporting supplies to Russia, would face a crisis of running out of supplies.

And what Alexei had boasted in order to attract the government to launch a war naturally became an excuse for Nicholas II to be held accountable.

Helpless, Alexei could only turn to the British and French ambassadors for help.The United Kingdom and France are also unwilling to see Russia's disastrous defeat on the Eastern Front, so they can only agree to urgently transport a batch of supplies to Russia to ensure that Russia can support it for three months while entering a defensive state, waiting for supplies from Australasia.

Only when Britain and France agreed to transport supplies, Nicholas II's anger was calmed down, and Alexei temporarily kept his official hat.

Arthur also did not expect that his decision to restrict supplies to Russia would cause the Russian Foreign Minister to almost lose his official title.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing.Some high-level officials in Russia are indeed rotten. If we can take advantage of this opportunity to purge the top Russian officials, maybe the Russian government can continue to prolong its lifespan for a few more years.

Otherwise, Russia will eventually be like a rotten dead tree, under the ravages of the storm, there will always be a day when it will fall.

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(End of this chapter)