Rise of Australia

Chapter 402 Germany's Strategic Transfer
May 1915, 5, Germany, Berlin City Palace, Reich Military Conference.

The conference room of the Berlin City Palace has been brightly lit for two days. Wilhelm II, many German generals, and Chief of Staff Falkenhayn held a two-day meeting here.

At such an anxious moment in the war, the only reason why Wilhelm II, the German Chief of Staff and many generals gathered here to hold a meeting is naturally because Germany is currently facing a difficult choice.

No matter how proud William II is, he has to admit bitterly that Germany has lost the current war, and any choice may lead to the destruction of decades of German efforts.

If last year's defeat on the Western Front made Germany see no hope of a quick solution to the war, then this year's successive defeats on the Eastern and Western Fronts have gradually pushed Germany into the abyss.

The balance of victory is not tilted, it is almost going to the Allies.If Germany cannot come up with corresponding policies to deal with it, I am afraid that the current situation will not last long, and the defeat of the war will almost become inevitable.

No one can deny the strength of the German army.In this war, the combat effectiveness of the German army far surpassed that of Britain, France and Russia, and even France almost collapsed in the early stage.

But unfortunately, in the end, it was defeated by France with a hearty victory. The Western Front became a protracted war of attrition under the alliance of Britain, France, and Australia.

After entering the new year, there were frequent reports of defeats on the Eastern Front.Russia successively defeated the Austro-Hungarian army and the German East Prussian army, occupied Galicia and Silesia, and the eastern hinterland of Germany was already in jeopardy.

At present, Germany's only reliable ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has lost its main force, and Italy has also turned to the Allies.

The remaining two allies, Turkey and Bulgaria, did not play a key role in the war. Under the joint siege of the Balkan countries, these two countries, let alone supporting Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had no way to guarantee their own security.

Under the current situation, the current situation of the Allies, especially Germany, can be imagined.

Even if it can withstand the strong offensive on the western front, there is still Russia, the great enemy on the eastern front.The Austro-Hungarian Empire has been severely weakened, and Turkey and Bulgaria are also contained by the Balkan League.

At present, whether it is the Eastern Front or the Western Front, only the German army can be relied on.

The pre-war Allied Powers were quite confident in their predictions. It would be no problem for the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies to join forces to protect the routes in the Mediterranean Sea. Germany quickly settled France on the Western Front, and the war could definitely end within half a year.

But unexpectedly, Italy never thought of joining the Allies at all. The navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was beaten by France and Russia in the Mediterranean. Let alone protecting the transportation lines in the Mediterranean, whether it could enter the Mediterranean was a problem.

This also caused the Allied countries to almost cut off the sea transportation routes. In addition, the Western Front fell into a protracted war of attrition.

Speaking of this, William II's hatred for Italy deepened.As a last-class power, Italy's military strength is simply vulnerable.

If it weren't for Germany's view that Italy's naval strength is not bad, and it has concluded the Triple Alliance with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it would be impossible for Italy to achieve its current status.

Before the Italian-Turkish war, if it were not for the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany to Italy, it would have been impossible for Italy to expand in the Balkans.

If Italy joined the Allies, the transportation routes in the Mediterranean would not be completely cut off, and the supplies of the Allies would not be so scarce.

The Italian army can also share the task of fighting on the east and west fronts, so that the Allies' combat situation on the east and west fronts will be much better.

"Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, tell us about your plan!" William II turned his attention to Moltke's successor, Lieutenant General Falkenhayn, former Minister of War.

The defeat in the war made the proud William II look much older, and his speech was not as extreme and arrogant as before.

"Your Majesty, the current east-west battle is very unfavorable to us. No matter what measures we take, we must get rid of the situation of the east-west battle." Chief of Staff Falkenhan replied affirmatively.

"It is difficult for us to make breakthroughs on the Western Front, and we must rely on most of our troops on the Eastern Front to deal with Russia and the Balkan Alliance. My suggestion is that we must keep our most important ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Once The Austro-Hungarian Empire lost again, and they are likely to withdraw from the war, which is extremely disadvantageous to us. Turkey and Bulgaria contributed little to the war. Without the Austria-Hungarian Empire, our failure is also obvious. "Chief of Staff Falkenhayn stated the current situation, and at the same time turned his attention to William II.

William II nodded. Although William II's military talent was not outstanding, compared to Nicholas II, who was a complete military novice, he knew a little bit.

"So what's your opinion, Chief of Staff?" William II asked after getting ready.

"Your Majesty, although we also experienced a defeat on the Eastern Front, it was because the vast majority of what the Russian army faced was the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As long as our main force goes to the Eastern Front and defeats the Russians, It is not impossible for them to completely withdraw from the war. As long as Russia withdraws from the war, our dilemma of fighting on the two fronts will be easily resolved, and the separate western front is not impossible for us to deal with." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn said slowly Come up with a plan that has already been drafted in my heart.

William II nodded, but he was not ready to completely change the war strategy at this time. Instead, he looked at other generals and senior officials of the Ministry of National Defense, asking for their opinions.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who were in charge of the Eastern Front, naturally agreed with Falkenhayn's views, while the commanders-in-chief of the armies on the Western Front had different views, but generally supported the continuation of the Western Front offensive.

After all, if the strategic focus is placed on the Eastern Front, the logistical treatment of the armies on the Western Front will also be reduced by one level.

Not only will the battles be smaller, but the opportunities for meritorious service will also be much less. After all, the Eastern Front is the main battlefield of the war at that time, and it is the place where meritorious service can be most honored.

Seeing that William II had not made up his mind for a long time, Hindenburg threw out heavy news at this time, saying: "Your Majesty, according to our information, Russia has already stockpiled a large number of troops in Galicia. This opportunity to attack on the western front launched a large-scale strategy again.

If the Russians broke through the front line and crossed the Carpathian Mountains into Hungary, it would be a devastating blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire can sustain it, the Balkan League will take the opportunity to open a new front in the southern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Fighting on two fronts is already very disadvantageous for us. If we open up a new front, neither we nor the Austro-Hungarian Empire can sustain it.

On the contrary, if we win on the Eastern Front, it will not only allow the Austro-Hungarian Empire to take a breather, but also allow the Balkan countries to see who is the most powerful country in the world, and take the opportunity to draw the Balkan Alliance to our side. Change the current situation of the war. "

For Germany, the worst news at the moment is that Russia is preparing to launch another campaign on the Eastern Front.

The Eastern Front has just experienced a new defeat, and it is impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to suffer another major defeat.

This actually represents the fact that regardless of whether Germany is willing or not, the current strategy must be shifted to the Eastern Front, unless Germany is willing to lose its ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The German generals on the east and west fronts looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally had to accept the fact that from now on, Germany's troops will gradually move eastward, and its main offensive direction will be on the eastern front.

"Okay, everyone. Now let's start discussing the specific plans for the Eastern Front!" William II was quite satisfied with the reactions of the officers, at least not causing dissatisfaction or quarrels due to the strategic shift.

William II first looked at Chief of Staff Falkenhayn.As the top decision-maker of the German military, Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's opinion is very important, after all, he was also the first to propose a strategic eastward move.

"Your Majesty, the first thing we need to do is to completely stop the offensive on the Western Front. All troops on the Western Front will immediately switch to a defensive state. If necessary, we can give up all the occupied land and only keep the Belgian area. This will be our future Western Front. Relying on the counterattack." Falkenhayn did not hesitate at all, and revealed his plan.

"At the same time, 50 to [-] divisions will be dispatched from the western front to the eastern front to help our allies defend the eastern border. If possible, I hope that at least [-] divisions can be organized in China to join the battle. Crucial role."

Hearing the plan of Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, William II had some doubts, and asked: "Will 20 to 30 divisions be transferred from the Western Front? There will be no problems on the Western Front, right?"

"If the Western Front is in an offensive state, there may be problems. But as long as our Western Front enters a state of full defense, it will not be a problem to deploy [-] or [-] divisions. As long as the recruiting speed of domestic recruits can keep up, we can definitely be in half a year. Filling in the shortage of soldiers on the Western Front can also strengthen the defense of the Western Front." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn replied affirmatively.

The combat capability of the German army is still good. If it is only defense, it is not a problem to block the enemy on the western front from the line of defense, at least Chief of Staff Falkenhayn thinks so.

Only then did Wilhelm II nod his head. If he only persisted for half a year, the German troops who wanted to come to the Western Front should have no problem.

Half a year is enough time for the government to train recruits for at least 50 divisions, which will be of great help to both the Western and Eastern Fronts half a year later.

More importantly, although the number of Allied forces on the Western Front was huge, the combat effectiveness of the 50 Italian troops was vulnerable, and the vast majority of the Australasian army was just ordinary indigenous troops.

Although the size of the British and French troops is as high as more than 100 million, their combat effectiveness is slightly insufficient compared to the German army. It is no problem to hold on to the offensive of these troops.

Accompanied by the large number of casualties on both sides, there have been rounds of new recruits going to the Western Front first, which has also reduced the combat capabilities of the armies of both sides to a certain extent.

Especially the British army, the number of the British army before the war was very small, and it was only temporarily recruited after the outbreak of the war.

The combat quality of these recruits is not known to be much lower than that of the German reserve soldiers, and there is naturally a significant gap in the combat effectiveness of the army.

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(End of this chapter)