Rise of Australia

Chapter 404 Annihilation of the Russian Army Group

However, the direction of the war cannot be determined by one person's will.

After the German army on the front line of East Prussia received support from the Western Front, it once again had enough combat troops to launch a campaign, and was also equipped with a large number of artillery, machine guns, and sufficient ammunition, shells, etc. from the Western Front.

This also made Hindenburg and Ludendorff full of confidence again. In addition, the German army recently intercepted a clear-coded telegram from the Russian army. After learning that the Russian army lacked logistical supplies, Hindenburg and Ludendorff made a decisive decision. It was decided to launch a large-scale campaign immediately to deal with the current Russian army before the arrival of Russian logistical supplies.

Telegrams have become one of the main ways for the armies of various countries to communicate, but telegrams in various countries have their own channels and even various encryption methods to make their intelligence and communications more secretive, even if they are attacked by the enemy. Intercepted, it will not be deciphered for a while.

The Germans did not expect that the Russians communicated by using plain-code telegrams.Even if it is clear, it is aboveboard, and it was directly intercepted by Germany. Russia's lack of logistical supplies and weapons and ammunition was immediately known to the Germans.

One of the important reasons why Hindenburg and Ludendorff were able to persuade Chief of Staff Falkenhayn to agree to shift the strategy to the Eastern Front was because of Russia's clear telegram method.

This is equivalent to the Russians telling the Germans their own information. Under such a premise, if Germany can still lose, then there is really a problem.

Falkenhayn also smiled and sighed when he learned about it: "We not only know the garrison and logistics situation of Russia, but also what their frontline troops do every month, every week, and even every day, as if there is an eye of God, watching everything."

Precisely because they knew the deployment and situation of the Russian army well, after research, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided to take an immediate offensive to take the initiative to eliminate the Russian army currently entrenched on the Eastern Front and relieve part of the pressure on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Hindenburg's style of play is still based on frontal containment and detours on both wings.Not just Hindenburg, but the entire German army basically adopted this style of play in the Eastern Front War. Firstly, the terrain on the Eastern Front is relatively wide, which is conducive to the troops' detours.

Second, such a strategy can minimize the casualties of the German army, and at the same time encircle and wipe out the Russian army to the greatest extent, narrowing the gap between the German army and the Russian army.

If a frontal war of attrition is adopted, no matter how powerful the German army is, it will be consumed by the Russian army several times its own.

The German Tenth Army was responsible for outflanking and outflanking. They not only had to contain the Russian Tenth Army, but they also had to conduct a deep roundabout from the right flank of the Russian Northwest Front as much as possible, encircling the entire Russian Northwest Front as much as possible.

The Eighth Army used part of its forces to contain the Russian army on the front and distract the Russian army.The main force detoured to the left flank of the Russian Tenth Army, and together with the Tenth Army, they outflanked the Russian Tenth Army to the left and right, striving to wipe out the Russian Tenth Army.

As long as the Russian Tenth Army can be eliminated, this Eastern Front campaign can be regarded as a good start, and it can also greatly reduce the pressure on the Russian army facing the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After all, the number of a Russian group army is as high as hundreds of thousands, and the complete annihilation of a group army is not a trivial matter.

In order to stabilize the defense of East Prussia, if troops must be transferred from other regions, the danger facing the hinterland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not be so great.

When the Germans launched a large-scale battle on the border, Sivers, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Tenth Army, carelessly believed that Germany was just a feint attack, and the purpose was only to attract some troops for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The news of the large number of casualties on the front line and the constant defeats reached Sievers' headquarters, and only then did Sivers know that the Germans were not pretending to attack, but were really attacking.

Sievers, who was slow to react, immediately ordered the army to start a counterattack, blocking the German army as much as possible from the line of defense.

However, the Russian army lacked logistical supplies, and the commander's orders were slow, which caused many troops to be defeated by the German army in the frontal charge before they had time to counterattack.

The only well-equipped Third Siberian Army, after a little resistance to the German Eighth Army, could only retreat in a hurry.

On May 1915, 5, the German Tenth Army successfully circled to the right flank of the Russian Tenth Army, but the Eighth Army's offensive was blocked by the Siberian 16rd Army and the 3th Army, and the left flank was not completed.

Silves, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Tenth Army, escaped from the encirclement of the German army at the last opportunity, but the price was that 20 of his men stayed in the encirclement of Germany. Only the tenth army actually escaped. Less than half of the army group.

It is a pity to let go of part of the Russian army, but the commander of the German Tenth Army also knows that the most important task at present is to wipe out all the Russian troops in the encirclement.

On May 5, the German Eighth Army and Tenth Army launched a fierce attack on most of the surrounded Russian troops.

After a certain amount of resistance, these surrounded troops finally chose to lay down their weapons and surrender.

This is not to say that the Russian army is greedy for life and afraid of death. In the absence of weapons and ammunition, no elite troops can win this encircled war.

Late at night on May 5, the first battle in East Prussia finally came to an end.

Germany dispatched the Eighth Army and the Tenth Army to surround most of the Russian Tenth Army. After paying nearly 4 casualties, the Russian army was killed 17, injured [-], and captured [-]. Inside).

The entire Russian Tenth Army had as many as 36 soldiers, and less than 15 escaped. It can be described as a heavy loss, which caused a big gap in Russia's defense in East Prussia.

At this time, two days had passed since Nicholas II received the news. Under the order of Grand Duke Nicholas, the Russian No. 12 Army began to attack the two wings of the German army, which was ahead of its predecessor, in an attempt to cause some casualties to the German army.

But Hindenburg and Ludendorff had already anticipated the Russian counterattack, leaving a small part of the army behind, and the main force escorted more than [-] prisoners of war back to East Prussia.

The 17 troops were captured all of a sudden, and such battle reports reached the ears of Nicholas II, who angrily dismissed Silves directly.

If it is not still relying on Grand Duke Nicholas to resist the attack of the German army, I am afraid that Grand Duke Nicholas will lose his position as commander-in-chief of the Russian army.

After this blow, the number of troops on the Northwest Front of Russia was reduced by almost half.To prevent the German army from launching an offensive in East Prussia, the angry Nicholas II directly ordered to mobilize two armies to fill the vacancy caused by the Tenth Army.

Well, if you hit me with one army group, I will make up two.Even if you don't have any logistics supplies, you will be exhausted if you pile up your life.

This is exactly what Nicholas II thought. Anyway, Russia has endless manpower. Without weapons and equipment, human life is the best resource.

While Russia dispatched soldiers, Hindenburg and Ludendorff also took the next step, which was to capture Psiasnich, an important town north of Warsaw.

Now that we know that the Russian army on the front line generally lacks ammunition to attack, there is nothing to say. Taking advantage of this opportunity to capture important towns and military fortresses on the Russian front line is the best choice.

After the arrival of the new Russian army group, the Germans had already built a solid defensive position in Psiasnich. The Russians, who lacked ammunition and artillery supplies, could not shake such a strong fortress, so they had to stop there.

However, after Russia sent more troops, the situation in the northwest did stabilize.

Although after the German army and the Russian army meet, it is often more often the Russian army.

This kind of consumption is acceptable compared to the previous battles. For Nicholas II and Grand Duke Nicholas, the stability of the East Prussian position is the most important thing.

Of course, this does not mean that Russia has no other actions.

Britain, France, Australasia and even Italy have all become the targets of urgent Russian aid.

Firearms, artillery, bullets, artillery shells, food, medical supplies and various strategic resources, the Russians always come to them, as if people who have not eaten for several days are facing a big meal.

Britain and France have successively agreed to provide some weapons and equipment to Russia. After all, Britain and France cannot sit back and watch Russia be defeated by Germany. Russia is the big meat shield of the Allied Powers on the Eastern Front.

Naturally, such a big baby can't just sit back and watch it be defeated by the Germans, but the combined assistance from Britain and France is only [-] rifles, tens of millions of bullets and hundreds of thousands of shells.

Such a scale of support is undoubtedly a drop in the bucket compared to Russia's nearly 200 million combat troops on the front line. Russia has set its sights on its new allies Italy and Australasia.

The Italians naturally expressed their refusal, not because they were unwilling to support Russia.It's just that the Italian army was in a mess on the front line, causing the Italian logistics department to lose hundreds of thousands of rifles and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition, as well as a large amount of strategic materials.

Almost all of these materials were seized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and also emptied most of Italy's property.

By the time Russia turned to Australasia for help, it was already noon on May 5.

It's not that Russia doesn't pay attention to Australasia. Australasia has been Russia's main arms supplier since before the war broke out.A considerable part of the weapons of the Russian army are manufactured in Australasia.

However, the last time Australasia stated that its domestic weapons reserves had bottomed out, and now less than a month has passed, and Nicholas II did not think that Australasia could manufacture many weapons.

Arthur had expected the disastrous defeat of the Russian army on the front line. After all, the Russian army, which was originally not strong in combat capabilities, was questionable about the combat effectiveness it could display under the premise of lacking ammunition and shells.

What they are facing is the most powerful German army in the world.In such a contrast, it is impossible for the Russian army not to suffer a disastrous defeat.

According to the Russian ambassador, Arthur is keenly aware that Germany is likely to choose to shift the main direction of attack to the east and defend on the western front, as it has done in history.

This is both good news and bad news for Arthur.After the German army on the western front entered a comprehensive defense, the advance of the Allied forces on the western front would definitely be much slower, and it would even be possible to enter a stalemate from then on.

This will also achieve Arthur's strategic goal, try to delay the war for a few more years, and strive for more benefits for Australasia.

But at the same time, the German offensive moved eastward, which was not a good thing for Russia.

Originally, Russia was a bit unable to support it in the war. In the face of the full-scale attack of the main German army, I am afraid that Russia will not be able to support it for long.

In short, if Australasia does not support Russia, the war may be successfully postponed, but at the cost of Russia may not recover, and the revolution may even break out earlier than in history.

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(End of this chapter)