Rise of Australia

Chapter 405 Helpless Choice
"Your Majesty, this is a request for help from Russia. Please have a look." Foreign Minister Daze handed Arthur a list of supplies that Russia requested for support, and said with a slight frown.

In fact, Minister Dai Ze can unilaterally agree to general material requests. After all, these materials are not given for free. The Russian side will buy them at a price slightly lower than the market price, and it will definitely not lose money for Australasia.

But the problem is, the huge amount of this material list made Minister Daze dare not make a decision easily, so he could only send this list to Arthur and wait for Arthur's order.

Arthur took the telegram and was a little surprised to see the Russians' appetite.

100 million rifles, 2000 artillery pieces of various calibers, 15 marching tents, 3 million rounds of ammunition, 500 million rounds of various shells, medicines worth 4500 million rubles, food worth 5500 million rubles, and 30 military helmets
Australasia has shipped supplies to Russia many times before. Although the hoarding of supplies began a few years ago, after such a high frequency of consumption, there are actually not many left.

The list of materials currently required by the Russians is almost more than half of the total domestic reserves of Australasia, and some materials are even more than half of Australasia's reserves.

Under such circumstances, it is naturally impossible for Arthur to agree to all of the Russians' demands.

After all, if supplies are transported to Russia in accordance with the quantity required in the list, the supplies reserves in Australasia will also drop sharply, and some supplies may even run out.

You must know that in the list of supplies required by Russia, clothing, food and medicine are not only needed by the army, but also available to civilians.

As the king of Australasia, Arthur will naturally give priority to the needs of the people of Australasia, and then fulfill the obligations of his allies and transport supplies to Russia.

Among other things, just 100 million rifles, 2000 artillery pieces and corresponding ammunition and shells can arm at least two group armies with a combat force of about 100 million people.

Naturally, the needs of the Russians cannot be so large. In addition, Russia has sent telegrams asking for supplies to Britain, France and Italy. Therefore, the actual needs of the Russians may not even be one third.

After thinking about it for a while, Arthur decided to reduce the quantity of some materials. If the Russians agree, the materials can be loaded and transported immediately.

If the Russians don't agree, that's up to them.After all, as long as Arthur insists that Australasia lacks supplies, can Russia send someone to verify it?
In fact, the Russian government really didn't expect Australasia to be able to transport the materials required by the material list.

After pleasant exchanges between the two governments, the amount of materials purchased from Australasia was finally determined, 30 rifles, 500 artillery pieces, 1 million bullets, 300 million artillery shells, 20 military uniforms, and 100 million tons of food , 500 tons of medicines.
The total value of these materials has exceeded 2000 million pounds. At Arthur's repeated requests, the Russians adopted a payment method of 200 million people plus 500 million pounds.

Using 200 million people to offset the burden of 500 million pounds is not a loss for the Russian government, but it will be even more profitable for the Australasian government.

You must know that the number of immigrants from other European countries has decreased significantly, and the only reliable source of immigration is Russia.

Russia's population of 200 million can accelerate the population of Australasia towards the 2000 million mark.

Maybe before the end of the First World War, the population of Australasia will pass the 2000 million mark, which can be regarded as making up for the disadvantages in terms of population.

Of course, a population of 2000 million can only be regarded as the basis for a powerful country.To truly become a world power, or even become a top power and world hegemon, the population must be at least hundreds of millions.

In the case of anxious fighting on the Russian front, in order to deliver these materials to the Russian front faster, Arthur and the Russian side agreed that three methods will be used to transport materials to Russia.

The first way is to directly use airships. Although an airship can only transport up to 40 tons of materials, there are currently dozens of transport airships in Australasia, which can transport up to 2000 tons of goods at a time.

Moreover, airship transportation is almost the fastest way. If you go directly from Sydney to the Russian front, it will only take more than half a month at the fastest.

In addition to using airship transportation, the other two ways are to transport by sea to Vladivostok and take the Trans-Siberian Railway, or to transport directly by sea to the Russian Black Sea coast, and from there to the Russian front by land.

Ideally, all these materials can be sent to Russia within one and a half months to two months.

Even the Russian army only needs about half a month to welcome the arrival of the first batch of supplies.

Referring to the current shortage of weapons and ammunition in the Russian army, the first batch of supplies to be arrived by airship will be some rifles, a large number of bullets and shells.

With the support of these weapons and ammunition, the Russian army can also support more time until more supplies arrive.

After Nicholas II received Arthur's call back, his frowning brows finally eased a little.

Britain and France also promised to support part of the materials, coupled with the material support promised by Australasia, the material crisis currently facing Russia has finally been resolved.

However, Nicholas II was very dissatisfied with European allies, especially Italy, who directly rejected Russia's request for help. He even complained directly in a telegram to Britain and France, saying that Italy was a weak and incompetent fool who only cared about his own interests.

In order to take care of Italy's face, Britain and France did not respond, but according to Italy's performance in the war, Italy will not enter the core circle of the Allies after the war.

Although Britain and France provided supplies in a timely manner, Nicholas II also understood that what Foreign Minister Alexei said before, that Britain and France would provide the full cost of the campaign was a fiction.

Although this battle was a great success, it shared huge pressure on the Western Front and even directly led to the eastward shift of Germany's strategy.

But the problem is that this is good news for the countries on the Western Front represented by Britain, France, Australia and Italy, but it is not good news for Russia, which is struggling on the Eastern Front.

This battle consumed most of Russia's ammunition reserves, which directly led to the current lack of weapons and ammunition for the Russian frontline army.

But at this time, Germany launched a large-scale offensive, which directly caused heavy casualties to the Russian Tenth Army.

With such a huge responsibility, the Tsarist government needs a blame.Regardless of whether Minister Alexei made mistakes before, in short, the anger of the people needs a bearer, and the fault of the government needs a bearer.

At the new Imperial Conference, in front of all cabinet ministers and high-level military officials, Nicholas II officially announced that Alexei would be removed from the position of foreign minister and that Alexei would be investigated.

Minister Alexei's forehead was covered with cold sweat, but no one dared to stop Nicholas II's order at this time.

After ordering the prime minister to serve as foreign minister for a short period of time, Nicholas II looked at Grand Duke Nicholas and asked: "Can the army hold back the German attack before the aid of the allies arrives?"

"No problem, Your Majesty." Grand Duke Nicholas replied decisively: "The new army group has arrived at the front line. As long as there is any soldier on the front line, it is impossible for the Germans to step across the front line and enter our country."

Well, this sentence is indeed quite normal.Before the Germans set foot in the country, the army would retreat, making sure that there was no living person in the front line.

While the Russians were waiting for material support from their allies, on the side of the Allies, the Germans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were already planning their next attack.

Of course, it was the Germans who made the plans.For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, if it is not necessary, they have no plans to attack.

The current casualties of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are very serious. Their casualties have even approached the Russians, and their losses have even surpassed the Russians.

Among all the great powers, Austria-Hungary was the only country that not only lost a large number of main forces, but also lost a large piece of land.

If it hadn't been for Germany's timely strategic shift, and now it has disabled a Russian army group and attracted some Russian troops for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I am afraid that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is already discussing how to surrender.

This dual system country is doomed to be impossible to be united when the danger is approaching.

In fact, after Galicia was occupied by Russia, the Hungarian government repeatedly asked the Vienna government to deploy more troops on the Hungarian border, and even drove the Russians out of Galicia directly to protect the stability of Hungary.

But the Vienna government was also powerless at this time. The failure of the Galicia Battle, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost hundreds of thousands of troops. At this time, there were not many main troops left, and they had to face the common attack of Italy, the Balkan countries and Russia.

If it weren't for the fact that the Italian army was too good, I am afraid that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is already discussing how to pay war reparations.

Congress of Austria-Hungary, Vienna, May 1915, 5.

"Your Majesty, this is a counter-offensive plan planned by the Germans. The Germans have shifted their main force to the Eastern Front. They plan to quickly defeat the Russians, let Russia withdraw from the war, and ease the pressure on our Eastern Front. However, this counter-offensive plan requires We cooperate. It is conservatively estimated that we need to dispatch 50 troops." Konrad, chief of the general staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, handed over an action plan to the old emperor Franz, whispering.

If it was at the beginning of the war, for the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire, 50 troops were nothing at all.

But it is already in the middle of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has suffered a large number of casualties, and the current total number of troops is only a little over 100 million.

In addition to the 30 garrisons on the Austrian-Italian border, and the 60 troops on the Bosnian-Serbian border, there are currently only about 50 combat troops left in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia. Germany's action plan needs to dispatch [-] troops. Most of the troops that can be mobilized.

The old emperor Franz took the document and did not rush to check it. Instead, he frowned and asked, "How many troops has the German side prepared? What is their battle plan? How do we cooperate?"

At present, for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, dispatching 50 troops is equivalent to a desperate attempt.If the battle planned by Germany fails this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will once again bear a large number of casualties, and it is very likely that the country will go directly to destruction.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire can continue to recruit troops, it is impossible for those recruits to form a certain combat effectiveness without half a year of training.

What's more, with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in various wars, the Austrians are okay, and the Hungarians no longer support wars.

The Hungarians are already quite dissatisfied with the large amount of war funds paid. If the Hungarians are asked to contribute money and efforts, I am afraid that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will directly disintegrate.

"Your Majesty, the German side has gathered more than 100 million troops on the eastern border. In the next two months, at least 20 troops will arrive at the front. If we can dispatch 50 troops, our coalition forces will The total number will exceed 200 million, which will suppress the number of Russian troops. Germany will break through from East Prussia and Silesia. They hope that we will go north along the Carpathian Mountains and directly encircle Poland and Galicia The Russian army in some areas is the absolute main force of Russia, and if they are eliminated, the war on the Eastern Front will be won." Chief of Staff Konrad said confidently.

Judging from the data alone, this battle plan is feasible.The Germans claimed they had news of Russia's lack of supplies, and if so, there was hope for Russian forces to break through and encircle Poland and Galicia.

The 200 million German-Austrian coalition forces fought against the Russian army of less than 200 million, and when the Russian army lacked logistical supplies, they could win with their toes.

Franz I did not agree in a hurry, but frowned and looked at the distribution map of the military's frontline troops, and fell into a long thought.

But this seems to be a good opportunity to defeat the Russians, but the problem is that if the Russians are not defeated and the main Russian army escapes, it will be a completely unbearable blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This is like a big gamble. If you win the bet, everyone will be happy, but if you lose the bet, the country may be destroyed.

After a while, Franz I nodded with a wry smile, and finally agreed to the German plan.

This is the last way for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to come back, and it is also the most promising chance to win the war so far.

In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no choice.If it does not work with the Germans to injure or even defeat Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot last long under the joint attacks of Italy, Russia and the Balkan countries, and it is only a matter of time before they fail.

Unless the Austro-Hungarian Empire can organize at least 100 million more troops, the current situation on the battlefield can be stabilized.

But the problem is that it takes at least half a year to train and organize an army of 100 million. According to the current situation, it is impossible for the Balkan countries and Russia to give the Austro-Hungarian Empire more than half a year to develop.

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(End of this chapter)