Rise of Australia

Chapter 975: Planning for Ukraine

The collapse of the Russian army was something no one expected.

Because according to common sense, even if the 150 million Russian troops were surrounded by the German army, it would be absolutely impossible to end the war in just two and a half weeks.

Even if the German army had to slaughter 150 million cattle and sheep, it would still take longer, right?

In fact, we can't blame the Russian soldiers who stole food from the Ukrainian people. After all, they didn't carry enough food from the beginning, and they couldn't just surrender and starve to death.

But the Russian government clearly doesn't think so.

Regardless of the intermediate process, the current result is that 150 million Russian troops were almost wiped out, which is equivalent to the Russian government giving Germany nearly 100 million laborers for free.

The fate of these Russian soldiers was obvious. The increasingly frantic German government would not let go of such free labor that was delivered to their doorstep.

For the Russian government, the most important thing now is not to solve the problem of the southern battlefield where 150 million troops are missing, but how to quickly find a scapegoat for the southern battlefield.

This not only concerns the morale of the southern battlefield, but also the relationship between the Russian government and the Ukrainian region.

At present, people near Kiev are quite dissatisfied with the Russian government, and some have even spontaneously formed parties to oppose the Russian government.

This is a deadly enough threat to Russia. If Russia loses Ukraine, an important grain-producing area, it will have to invest more manpower in grain production.

But Russia has already lost too much manpower in the current war, which also means that Russia's post-war recovery phase will be even longer.

There is also the influence of Ukraine on the Balkans. If there were no Ukraine, the entire Balkan Peninsula would have nothing to do with Russia.

Even if Russia can become one of the top powers, with Ukraine in between, the Balkan Peninsula will never actively turn to Russia.

Given the heavy price paid, the Russian government must come up with a scapegoat with enough weight to be the culprit of the war and satisfy all Russian soldiers on the southern battlefield and Ukrainians in the Kiev area.

Otherwise, if the Ukrainian region becomes independent with the support of other countries, it will be a heavy blow to Russia.

But what the Russian government did not expect was that the Kiev region did not receive any action from Russia, but instead received a joint statement from Britain and Australasia.

After the Germans published newspaper reports of Russian soldiers' massive forced food collection, Britain and Australasia realized their opportunity.

What opportunity? Of course, it is an opportunity to give the Russians a blow and remove the very important Ukraine from Russian territory.

First, at a routine public meeting of the Australasian Foreign Ministry, the media asked the Australasian Foreign Ministry what it thought of the behavior of Russian soldiers in the Kiev area.

If normal diplomatic procedures were followed, the Australian diplomatic department would basically not answer this question to avoid causing diplomatic disputes.

But for Australasia at this time, it would naturally not miss this great opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the reputation of the Russian government.

Australian diplomatic personnel publicly responded to this, saying: "We understand the Russian soldiers' survival behavior after being trapped in a desperate situation, but it is still immoral to do so, especially for two different nationalities. The behavior of Russian soldiers is an invasion and plunder for the people of Kiev. As a highly developed and civilized country, we hate this behavior and are willing to donate some food to the people in Ukraine for free."

The differences between Ukrainians and Russians were emphasized in this speech, and the underlying meaning was obvious, which was to support the marches and more resistance actions of the people near Kiev.

Shortly afterwards, the British government also made a statement on this.

The successive statements and condemnations from the two great powers put the Russian government and the Russian army at the center of the storm.

It would have been fine if it was just ordinary looting of food, but during the stage of compulsory food collection, Russian soldiers were not at all polite to Ukrainians near Kiev.

All these deeds were photographed by the Germans and published in newspapers. This was not only evidence of the Russian army's crimes, but also a sharp blade that severed the close relationship between Russia and Ukraine.

The Russians have brought trouble upon themselves, and Arthur will not be polite at all.

The day after the statement was issued, Australasia announced that it would donate 150 tons of food and 50 tons of meat to the people in Ukraine free of charge, and that the food and meat would be transported directly to Ukraine from the Australasia military base in the Balkans.

There was a small army escorting the food, but whether it was transporting food or doing something else, only the Australasian Army knew.

The Russian government condemned this and stated that the Ukrainian region has been an integral part of Russia since ancient times, and demanded that the Australasian army not enter the Ukrainian region without permission.

Australasia responded that the Ukrainian region was indeed once part of Tsarist Russia, but was definitely not part of the current Russian government.

Ukraine is just a member state of Russia now and should have its own sovereignty. The Russian government has no right to interfere in its food donations.

The army transporting the food was real, and the food being transported was also real.

But mixed in this team are many Australasian intelligence personnel. Their mission is to go to Ukraine, find Ukrainians who hate the Russian government, and support them to form political parties and gain control of Ukraine.

No matter how the world situation develops, Arthur will not miss the opportunity to separate Ukraine from Russia.

Although Russia will not be seriously hurt without Ukraine, the country's overall potential will definitely be reduced.

More importantly, autonomous Ukraine is like a tall mountain range blocking Russia's southwest.

If Russia wants to expand outward, it must go through Ukraine, and it is impossible for Ukrainians to give up their hard-earned autonomy.

In addition to Poland, which also wants to be independent in Arthur's plan, these two countries will spontaneously block Russia's advance for Australasia, limiting Russia's influence to Eastern Europe.

Although Poland or Ukraine alone is far from being a match for Russia, the combination of the two countries is enough to give the Russian government a headache for a long time.

In addition, with the support of Britain or Australia behind it, as long as Ukraine successfully gains independence this time, it will be difficult for Russia to grow into a top power.

(End of this chapter)