Rise of Australia

Chapter 418 The Eastern Front Offensive Ends
While the plan of the German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn to attack the salient part of Poland from north to south was gradually progressing, Hindenburg, the commander-in-chief of the German Eastern Front, and Ludendorff, his chief of staff, were also plotting their own plans.

On September 1915, 9, the German Nemen River Army and the Russian Fifth Army fought fiercely in the Riga area.

Riga, located on the lower Daugva River, was the first barrier from East Prussia to St. Petersburg.

If Riga is lost, the road to St. Petersburg will be extremely smooth, and the safety of St. Petersburg will not be guaranteed.

As the capital of the Russian Empire, the importance of St. Petersburg is self-evident.In order to protect the safety of St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Nicholas ordered to hold Riga at all costs and block the German army on the other side of the Daugva River.

Nicholas II also sent an order, requiring the defenders of Riga not to take a step back. The city is still alive, and the city is destroyed.

The German Neman River Army is a small-scale army with only about 12 people.

The number of the Russian Fifth Army is not enough. The total number is only a little more than that of the Neman River Army, but it is less than 14.

What's more terrible is that compared with the insignificant difference in numbers, the gap in weapons and equipment of the Russian army is even greater.

Of the 14 Russian troops, nearly 2 lack weapons and equipment, not even the most basic rifles.

The Germans are uniformly equipped with standard weapons, and also have sufficient artillery and logistics.

The result of such a battle between two armies with obvious differences is already predictable.

In this era of war, the number of people is not so important.Compared with the number of people, more advanced weapons and equipment and more adequate logistical supplies are the key to victory or defeat.

But in these two aspects, the Russian army is far behind the German army, which is also destined to result in a disastrous defeat for Russia.

Under the heavy artillery fire from the Germans, the Russian army retreated step by step, losing Shavli, Bonniewizh, Mitau and Kovno forts successively. Riga was also declared broken after the Germans besieged for more than half a month.

Since September, the Russians have been sending help telegrams to London, Paris and Sydney almost every day.

From the initial request to the final request and even pleading, the Russians have obviously panicked. They desperately hope that their allies will launch an offensive on the Western Front and the Balkans, forcing some German troops to return for help.

Arthur and Britain and France have the same views. They can cheat Russia, but they must not harm Russia.

In order to save this endangered ally, Britain and France promised to immediately launch a large-scale offensive on the Western Front. Arthur also personally called Nicholas II back, saying that the Australasian army would do its best to attack in the Balkans.

On September 1915, 9, while Hindenburg launched the offensive and defensive battle of Riga, Commander Martin led an army of 11 troops to launch a fierce attack on Sarajevo, the important town of Bosnia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This little-known little city became famous all over the world because of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the outbreak of the war.

There are not many Austro-Hungarian defenders in Sarajevo, and there are less than 3 people in total.

In fact, looking at the entire southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there are less than 40 defenders.

Among them, the Serbian border has more than 20 people, and the Romanian border, that is, the southern Carpathian Mountains, also has an army of more than [-] people.

The defenders in the Bosnian region near Montenegro only have a size of more than [-] people.

In nearly a month of combat, Commander Martin has wiped out nearly 2 Austro-Hungarian troops, and his own losses were less than [-].

Compared with Commander Martin, the progress of Serbia and Romania is much slower. Their weapons and equipment are not as advanced as the Australasian army, and the combat capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian army should not be underestimated.

In order to break through Sarajevo, Commander Martin assembled hundreds of artillery pieces and bombed Sarajevo for more than ten hours.

Subsequently, a large number of Greek and Montenegrin troops launched a charge, followed by the Australasian army.

The reason why the Balkan army worked so hard is also easy to understand.Commander Martin himself promised that as long as the Balkan troops showed bravery in combat, Australasia would protect the interests of the Balkan countries.

How much land the Balkan countries can occupy basically depends on the attitude of the major powers.It is also a good thing for the Balkan countries to be able to obtain the support of Australasia.

Before Riga was breached, Sarajevo had already been breached. With an army of less than 20, Commander Martin decided to detour from Bosnia to the other side of the Danube, unite with Serbia, and encircle the Austro-Hungarian army on the Serbian border.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire has about 20 troops on the Serbian border, more than half of which are deployed in the Bosnian-Serbian border area.

As most of the Austro-Hungarian army near Montenegro has been wiped out, the army led by Commander Martin does hope to bypass Bosnia and encircle the main force on the southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

On September 9, the Austro-Hungarian army began to show signs of retreating.At the same time, Serbia also received a notice from Commander Martin and launched a large-scale offensive in the border area, which slowed down the retreat of the Austro-Hungarian army.

On the afternoon of September 9, after the Australasian army wiped out a small part of the Austro-Hungarian army, it finally came to the hinterland of the Bosnian region, and to the east was the border between Bosnia and Serbia.

The retreating Austro-Hungarian army soon encountered the Australasian army, and the two sides fought fiercely, but the Austro-Hungarian army obviously could not withstand the charge of the Greek and Montenegrin troops, and the pace of retreat was overwhelmed by the Australasian army. beat back.

You must know that while the indigenous army, the Greek and Montenegro armies charged, the Australasian army quickly set up artillery positions in the rear and launched a violent bombardment of the Austro-Hungarian army.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire's artillery technology is world-class, the long-term war consumed a large amount of material reserves in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to cooperating with Germany in combat, a large number of elite troops were mobilized, resulting in the loss of weapons and equipment of the defenders in the border areas. It is not enough, and it is at a disadvantage in the artillery fire from both sides.

After the failure of the retreat, the fate of this Austro-Hungarian army can be imagined.Being attacked on both sides by the Australasian army and the Serbian army, coupled with missing the best time to retreat, the Austro-Hungarian army was like a turtle in a urn, with no retreat.

On September 9, almost at the same time, both sides launched an attack on the Austro-Hungarian army at the same time. More than 25 troops bravely charged towards the less than 50 Austro-Hungarian army. constantly.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not have any reinforcements, and the other troops on the southern border were either contained by Romania or wiped out by the Australasian army long ago.

However, the main force is far away in Poland, and it is impossible to rush back in a short time.

Unless this Austro-Hungarian army of less than 20 can last for at least ten days, its demise is only a matter of time.

On October 10, the Austro-Hungarian army held on for more than ten days, and was finally wiped out and captured by the Balkan front army led by Commander Martin.

The Austro-Hungarian army totaled more than 19.8 people, of which more than 5.5 were killed, more than 11.8 were injured, and more than 14 were captured.

In addition to the Austro-Hungarian army that was wiped out on the border of Montenegro before in Australasia, more than half of the nearly 40 troops on the border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have been lost, and there are less than 10 soldiers ready to fight.

Such news was a devastating blow to Austria-Hungary.As early as when 20 troops were besieged, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had mobilized 30 troops to go south to support the southern border.

But the problem is that the movement of troops is not simple, especially when the troops are deep in the Russian interior.

What's more, the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire also undertook part of the combat missions. If the troops were suddenly deployed, it would also be a blow to Germany's combat plan.

At this time, Germany's offensive also encountered a lot of trouble.

First of all, the Russian Fifth Army noticed Hindenburg's plot to encircle the entire Shavely area, and disregarded Nicholas II's order to evacuate the Shavely area, avoiding being encircled by Germany.

Although this led to Germany occupying a large area of ​​​​Russia, it also occupied the transportation hub of Shavli.

However, Germany's plan to encircle and annihilate the Russian army on a large scale failed. Although Russia suffered heavy losses, it still had the power to fight.

At the same time, because the German army penetrated deep into the hinterland of Russia, like the Russian army, it faced the logistical pressure and troubles brought by the poor primitive roads in Russia.

The logistics supply line from Germany to the war zone is very long, coupled with the inconvenient transportation in the Russian region, the German army deep into the Russian hinterland is facing poor logistical supplies.

When the supply of weapons, ammunition and shells was not so sufficient, the German offensive also lost momentum.

After breaking through Riga, Germany's ice block even reached the Minsk area, but it did not cross the Tinebe River, as if discouraged, and could no longer move forward.

At this time, the news of the fall of the southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire continued to come. After communicating with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire mobilized most of its troops, resulting in a lack of troops for the German-Austrian Allied Forces to launch an offensive, and the strategy of focusing on the Eastern Front was also forced. abort.

The German army currently does not have enough troops, nor does it have enough transportation capacity to meet the logistical supplies of the front-line troops.

In addition, the battle on the Eastern Front has lasted for a long time, and the soldiers are already very tired and urgently need to rest.

After careful consideration, the German General Staff chose to stop the offensive on the Eastern Front and temporarily focus on the Western Front to guard against the rumored large-scale attack by Britain and France.

Of course, the return of attention to the Western Front was only temporary.Falkenhayn assured William II that the offensive on the Eastern Front would continue as long as the transport roads on the Eastern Front were perfected.

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(End of this chapter)