Rise of Australia

Chapter 453 Peace Talk Again
It was not only the United States' participation in the war that crushed the Allies, but also the Battle of Mocines that followed.

This is one of the plans of the Nivelles Offensive, with the British Expeditionary Force as the main force to open a breakthrough in the German defense line in the direction of Flanders.

The attack direction of the British Expeditionary Force is Ypres in Flanders, and there is a highland surrounding Ypres at the southernmost tip of Ypres, and there is a small town named Mosines nearby.

The small town of Mosines is the prominent front of the German position. As long as this small town can be conquered, it will be able to occupy a very favorable terrain for the Allies' next spring offensive.

The Germans deployed two infantry divisions with more than 3 troops here, and they had no doubts about the stability of their defense line.

What the entire Allied Powers didn't expect was that the British Expeditionary Force and a small part of the Australasian army captured the town of Mosines in just a few hours. The time from the attack to the end caught the Germans off guard.

The person in charge of the campaign was General Plummer of the United Kingdom. General Plummer had a good reputation throughout the British Expeditionary Force because of his thoughtfulness, prudence and reliability.

Since 1916, General Plumer has arranged for soldiers to lay mines in front of the German trench lines, and now it has finally come in handy.

With full use of artillery, tanks and aircraft, General Plumo not only quickly occupied the town of Mosines, but also repelled the German counterattack many times in a row.

After successfully occupying Mosines, the British and French allied forces immediately decided to launch the Battle of Ypres, thereby capturing the entire Belgian region.

Of course, because the main force of the French army is still conducting the spring offensive, the participants in the Battle of Ypres are still the British Expeditionary Force.

On June 1917, 6, the Battle of Ypres officially started.The British Expeditionary Force dispatched the Fifth Army and the Second Army, and with the assistance of the French First Army, launched a full-scale attack on the German army in the Ypres area.

The British mobilized up to 3000 cannons for ten days of bombardment, and ten days later, on June 6, they launched a general offensive on a front line as long as 27 kilometers.

The British Expeditionary Force faced the German Fourth Army, commanded by General Hijster von Amni.

Although the scale of the ten-day bombardment seemed terrifying, it also gave the German troops on the front line enough time to prepare.

Most of the British army was intercepted by the German army on the way to attack, and the British army in the main attack direction also gained little.

Under the heroic resistance of the Germans, this battle turned into a war of attrition again. In just three days, it has caused a total casualty of more than 7 people.

Coupled with the heavy rain, the battlefield has turned into a blood-red swamp, which also delayed the speed of the British Expeditionary Force's attack in disguise.

In order to prevent the army from being blocked in the Ypres area, Hager, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, made a decisive decision and decided to hand over the command of the Ypres battle to the commander-in-chief of the Second Army Plumo, that is, the previous victory over Mocines General of the Battle.

After Plumer took over the front-line army, he abandoned Hagrid's previous plan for a decisive breakthrough, and decided to find another way to reduce the scale of the attack. Instead of pursuing a comprehensive breakdown of the German defense line, he instead attacked some small targets one by one, gradually eroding the enemy's vitality.

This also turned the so-called winning war launched by the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force Hagrid into a war of attrition in the true sense. Hagrid had no choice but to let Plummo act according to his plan.

From mid-June to mid-July, the British Expeditionary Force fought a long battle with the German army in the southeastern battlefield.

Using his talents, Plumer managed to push the British front line eight kilometers in the Ypres area by launching a large number of small-scale attacks and eating away most of the positions occupied by the Germans in the previous two years.

But whether it was the British Expeditionary Force or the German army, both sides suffered heavy casualties.The British suffered as many as 30 casualties in more than a month, and Germany also suffered a lot, as high as 26.

The British achieved considerable results in the Belgian area, but the main battlefield of the spring offensive, which the French were in charge of, did not make much progress.

Although the French have invested a large amount of troops here, they are facing the full resistance of the main force of Germany. Even the French cannot push the front line at all.

Although the situation of the Germans has entered a state of being defeated by stubborn resistance, no one can deny that the German counterattack is terrible.

Even though the French suffered nearly 2 casualties every day on the front line, the Germans still did not take a step back.

It also led to the spring offensive that French Commander-in-Chief Nivelle placed high hopes on. The results on the side battlefield were good, but there was no progress on the front battlefield.

The disparity in the results made some French who had high hopes for General Neville a little bit impatient.

The French originally thought that the appointment of General Neville would bring shame to the French army and even directly promote the victory of the war.

But I didn't expect that the French army still suffered a lot of casualties, but there were no results, and the blood of the soldiers was shed in vain.

France has always had a revolutionary tradition. A large number of factories and streets have already started strikes and demonstrations. It seems that the government intends to overthrow the government without giving an explanation.

For these irritable French people, the French government has nothing good to do.After all, these people really dare to overthrow the government.

If the French government does not have a good explanation, the French people will definitely dare to let all government officials taste the feeling of being hung up on the street lamps.

The French government had no choice but to urge the army to achieve results as soon as possible, and at the same time asked the Americans to join the war as soon as possible.

Unlike the somewhat miserable situation of the French, Australasia is still in peace.

The people do not have much long-term vision for national interests. They can only see that because of the joining of the United States, it is only a matter of time before the defeat of the Allies.

Therefore, people in Australasia are already looking forward to life after the war, to the moment when Australasia will carve up the interests of the Allies and truly grow into a powerful power.

It is precisely because of the troubles of the United States joining the war that the pace of the Australasian army's attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire has accelerated a lot.

Because the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had all gone to resist the Italians, the Australasian Expeditionary Force launched a full-scale attack on the Klagenfurt and Graz areas, and after half a month of heavy bombing, they successfully captured them in early July. Klagenfurt.

The fall of Klagenfurt shocked the Austro-Hungarian Empire.The distance from Klagenfurt to Vienna is only more than 200 kilometers. Apart from Graz, there are no military defenses along the way.

This also means that if there is no countermeasure, the fall of Vienna is already a matter of time.

Although the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in the Innsbruck and Trento areas, it can return to Klagenfurt at any time.

However, under the premise that the main Italian army has not yet been defeated, if it rushes back to Klagenfurt, it is very likely that it will be encircled by the Australasian army and the Italian army.

In this way, the situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be even worse.The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had lost any resistance, could only be at the mercy of the Allies.

There is also bad news for Austria-Hungary, and that is that the Transylvania region is not doing very well either.

The Transylvania region is not only facing Romania's attack, but the Galicia region in the north is also under the eye of Russia.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in trouble, the Russians finally couldn't help it, and dispatched an army to invade Galicia, trying to regain the face of their previous defeat in Galicia.

As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently facing a three-sided attack, and the main attacking force in the three directions is one of the great powers.

Even the Austro-Hungarian Empire in its heyday may not be able to withstand the siege of the three powers.Not to mention it is now that the monarch has changed and the army has suffered a major defeat.

The news of the Russian offensive shocked the Hungarian government and turned the entire Hungarian government into a firm peacemaker.

The government of the Kingdom of Hungary even declared that if the imperial government was unwilling to make peace with the Allied Powers, then the Royal Government of Hungary would sign a peace treaty with the Allied Powers alone.

If it was during the reign of the old emperor Franz I, such a remark would be called outrageous, and the Hungarian Royal Government did not have the guts to say such a remark.

But it's different now. If Galicia is lost, the Hungarian region will be attacked by Russia next.

This has led a large number of farmers and capitalists in the Kingdom of Hungary to unite. In order to protect their own interests, the imperial government is not a fart.

The important thing is that the main force of the imperial government is currently on the front line with Italy, and the empire is suffering from attacks from the Allied Powers throughout the empire. The prestige of the imperial government has been greatly damaged, and it cannot suppress a powerful state like Hungary.

Hungarians have always been dissatisfied with the imperial government's exploitation of themselves. If it is not handled well, Hungary's independence is not impossible.

The public statement of the Hungarian government made the chaos in the Austro-Hungarian Empire more serious, and also made Emperor Karl I more firm in his sovereignty and intentions.

There is no way, if you continue to support the war, it is inevitable for Hungary to separate from the imperial government.At that time, Karl I, who is not very prestigious, might be used as a scapegoat by the imperial government, forcing the government and the army to bear the blame for the defeat of the war.

The words of the Hungarian government were not only circulated within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also learned by the Allied Powers.

For the Allies, this was a great opportunity to get Austria-Hungary out of the war.Of course, it doesn't matter if the Austro-Hungarian Empire insists on not withdrawing from the war. I believe that the Kingdom of Hungary is more willing to cooperate with the Allied Powers.

As long as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is unwilling to see Hungary become independent, it must agree to the demands of the Allied Powers.

Otherwise, the Hungarian government with the support of the Allied Powers would not necessarily be weaker than the current Austro-Hungarian Empire.

For Russia and Italy, which have huge interests in the Balkans, they are also willing to see the Austro-Hungarian Empire fall into civil strife, or even directly fall apart and become small countries.

Of course, there are those who are willing to see the Austro-Hungarian Empire falling apart, and naturally there are those who want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to continue as a unified country.

Britain, which has a conflict of interest with Russia, naturally does not want Russia to unify the entire Balkan Peninsula.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire existed, it would still be a threat to Russia in the Balkans and could prevent Russia from expanding in the Balkans.

But in any case, this is a serious crisis for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If it is not handled well, it is not impossible for this multi-ethnic and multi-regional united country to fall apart.

Almost at the same time, the foreign ministries of the Allied countries had a unified task, which was to get in touch with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or get in touch with the government of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Germany is also urgently contacting its allies, and they don't want to see their only current ally withdraw from the battlefield, because that will mean that Germany will never have any chance of winning.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire existed, at least it could hold back more than 100 million Allied troops for Germany.

But if Austria-Hungary withdraws from the war, Germany will face siege from all the Entente powers.The current total number of troops of the Allied Powers is as high as more than 1000 million. With the joining of the United States, the total number of troops is still growing.

Such a number of troops is something that the Germans will never be able to match. Even a war of attrition is enough to make the Germans bleed dry.

On July 1917, 7, the Austro-Hungarian government started talks with the Allies again.

The obvious difference from the previous meeting was that this time the Allied Powers held the absolute initiative, and the faces of the officials of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were very gloomy, because this meeting was destined to be a discussion on the distribution of benefits.

Perhaps because the spring offensive did not make any progress, the French also hoped to promote the withdrawal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the war and let all allies concentrate on attacking Germany to ease their pressure and reduce their casualties.

Therefore, at the beginning of the peace talks, France and Russia were aggressive towards the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as if the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not agree with the peace talks and supported the independence of the Kingdom of Hungary.

But the Austro-Hungarian Empire has nothing to do with such an attitude, because it is true that the Kingdom of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian government are at odds, and it is true that the Hungarian government wants independence.

This is equivalent to that the Allied Powers already know all the cards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even the underpants are clearly seen, and they can only be at the mercy of the Allied Powers.

Of course, willingness to negotiate peace is only the foundation, and the Allied Powers value the land of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and various huge interests.

It was also impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to allow the Allied Powers to divide their land, and a quarrel like bargaining in a vegetable market began.

Although their own side is at a disadvantage, the diplomats of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not back down at all. Any interests related to the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be fought hard according to reason, showing the courage that diplomats should have.

But this in no way prevented the Austro-Hungarian Empire from withdrawing from the war, and the land and interests of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were divided up by the countries of the Allied Powers.

The United States should be the last thing to see the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdrawing from this war at this time, because this means that the United States will hardly get any benefits. After all, the United States did not contribute any force in the war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

But the ones most willing to see the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdraw from the war are France and Russia, which are also the two major powers that support the United States to join the Allied Powers.

On the first day of the talks, all countries made outrageous demands, such as Russia's request for Galicia and Slovakia, Italy's request for the Austrian region of Innsbruck to Trieste, Serbia's request for the Bosnia region, Britain's request for the Dalmatia region, Romania claims the Transylvania region and so on.

In this way, the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was only left in Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, and Austria was divided in half.

It is naturally impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to accept such a request, and Britain is unwilling to see Russia annex such a large-scale territory.

As for the demands of Serbia and Romania, their demands may be met, but definitely not now.

The requirements of such a small country are basically met in the end, or even directly ignored.

Under the premise of not violating the interests of the major powers, and at the same time, the major powers must nod, so that these countries can realize their requirements.

Otherwise, their demands will not be taken seriously by anyone, unless they are strong enough to be taken seriously by the great powers.

But it is obvious that even the current United States is not valued by the major powers of the Allied Powers, let alone the Balkan countries that have already eaten meat in Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

Australasia has no interest in the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Arthur is very eager for the major factories, skilled workers and technology in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As the country that contributed the most to the attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is good news that Australasia does not participate in the distribution of territories. All countries are also willing to let Australasia take the lead in selecting factory technology and workers in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was only a middle-level power before the war, the industrial level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire far exceeded that of a low-level power like Italy, and major industries blossomed everywhere.

Especially the industries in the Czech Republic and Austria are among the best in Europe.

In the Czech and Slovak regions, there are only sufficient mineral resources, as well as coal, which are very suitable for industrial development.

Historically, Czechoslovakia, which was born after World War I, was coveted by Germany because of its strong industry.

If it can absorb part of the industrial strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it will not only greatly enhance the industrial level of Australasia, but also close the gap in strength with the old industrial powers.

Anyway, the way countries absorb German industry after World War I is through relocation and plunder.

In history, a large number of German factory machinery were disassembled and assembled to the Allied countries. If they could not be taken away, they were directly smashed to avoid the rapid rise of post-war Germany because of these industrial equipment.

An early withdrawal from the war was also what Austria-Hungary wanted.In addition to alleviating the increasingly serious independence crisis in Hungary, it is also the hope of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to preserve its existing military strength.

At present, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still has more than 100 million combat troops, which is also the guarantee for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to maintain its independence and unity after the war.

With more than 100 million troops, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary would not dare to launch an independent rebellion openly even if it danced happily.

At all times, the country's military power comes first.A country will be valued by others because of its military strength, but it will definitely not be valued by others because of its previous prestige.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost most of its military strength in the war, even if most of the area was saved in this peace negotiation, it would definitely be slowly eroded and divided by other countries later.

Since the 19th century, the international community has always respected strength, the strong set the rules, and the weak were divided by the rules.

Even the seemingly intimate Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as long as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is too weak, it will inevitably end up being divided or even annexed by Germany.

The interests between countries are above all else, and the relationship between countries is determined by strength.

While the peace talks were going on, the war in the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not stop, which is what the Austro-Hungarian Empire was anxious about.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire used the excuse that the peace talks had begun to request the Allied Powers to temporarily stop the war launched in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they were all rejected by the Allied Powers.

The Allied Powers are not stupid. It is precisely because of the current war that the Allied Powers have taken the initiative. It is impossible for the Allied Powers to stop the war on their own initiative without obtaining an offer that satisfies them.

In order to promote the conclusion of the peace talks as soon as possible, the Allies also held meetings within the countries, and made certain adjustments to the requirements of each country.

The first is Russia with a big appetite. In any case, it is impossible for Galicia and Slovakia to be annexed by Russia at the same time.

These two areas not only represent a large amount of land area and population, but are also rich in mineral resources and the industry is very developed.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which lost Galicia and Slovakia, would no longer have the strength to fight against Russia, which the British Empire did not want to see.

After some squabbling, Russia changed its target to Galicia, and parts of Poland occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including Krakow.

This is acceptable to the British. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still retains industrial areas such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. Although the losses are heavy, they are not incapable of fighting.

The entire Transylvania region requested by Romania will naturally not be allowed by the great powers.

In the end, Romania was replaced by a land 20 kilometers west of the border, which was only a small corner of the Transylvania region.

Serbia's claim to Bosnia was granted by the Entente, but the Croatian region remained under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In addition to Italy, the Innsbruck to Trento region and the Istria region requested by the Italians have also been reduced to the Trento region and the Istria region.

In addition, the Dalmatia region is a joint area of ​​Britain and France, and the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is divided among the Allied Powers.

In addition to these land claims, Austria-Hungary also had to pay 150 billion pounds to the Allied Powers as war compensation.

Among them, the war of the Allied Powers cost 80 billion pounds, 35 billion pounds in compensation for casualties, 25 billion pounds in losses caused by the war, and 10 billion pounds in compensation for the withdrawal of troops.

The £150 billion will be repaid over 50 years, of which £2 million will be paid in the first year and must be repaid immediately.

The remaining 148 billion pounds will be divided into 50 years, and the annual repayment of 2.96 million pounds will need to be repaid until 1968.

　6000 words two-in-one chapter, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)