Beiyang 1917

During the period from January to March 1918, compared with the idle and non-aggressive Allied Powers, Germany always maintained the spirit of forging ahead, sending Ulyanov and his comrades to the United States via Switzerland the year before. Since returning to Russia to start the revolution, Germany has always controlled the direction of the future development of the situation.

When the European War was fought from August 1914 to August 8, the Allied Powers finally restrained the crazy momentum of the German army in the Battle of Verdun. This battle was a typical battle of position and attrition. Both sides participated in the battle with a large number of troops and suffered heavy casualties.From February to December 1916, the French army lost 8 people and the German army lost 1916 people.

Therefore, this battle has the title of "meat grinder". In Wang Geng's previous life, historians believed that this battle was a turning point in the European War. The position of chief of staff was changed to Hindenburg as chief of staff and Ludendorff as his deputy.

But in Wang Geng's view, the result of the Battle of Verdun was not simply due to the defeat of the German army, but the fact that the German army ushered in the most brilliant combination in the history of German military affairs: Hindenburg and Ludendorff. For the golden partner.

To use an inappropriate analogy, Hindenburg is like Cao Kun, the leader of Zhifeng War in the previous life, and Ludendorff is Wu Peifu. Of course, for the squadron that is still in its infancy, Cao Wu It is still far from the German predecessors in all aspects.

During the mid-to-late period of the European War, although Kaiser Wilhelm II was the commander-in-chief of the German army in name, he was actually emptied out. The German Army was commanded by the Supreme Army Command, and the German Navy was commanded by the Naval War Command.

Early in the war, the head of the Supreme Army Command was the German Chief of Staff Helmut Johannes Ludwig von Moltke (Moltke the Younger).Later, due to the defeat of the German army in the Battle of the Marne, Moltke resigned and was replaced by the Prussian Minister of War Erich von Falkenhain.Falkenhayn adopted a "war of attrition" (ht), but this strategy reflected its limitations in the Battle of Verdun-the German army failed to completely defeat the French army.

After the Battle of Verdun in August 1916, Hindenburg and Ludendorff partnered to form the third highest army commander. At that time, Ludendorff took office as general commander (general quartiermeister) and his position was equivalent to that of deputy chief of staff. Hindenburg, Chief of Staff.

The two worked closely together in East Prussia, winning the battles of Tannenberg and Lake Masur.They actually led a military and industrial du cai, which excluded Kaiser Wilhelm II from the ruling class. Moreover, Ludendorff was the de facto supreme leader of the German army at that time, and even Hindenburg only obeyed his orders. It is recommended to act.

Ludendorff tried his best to send Ulyanov and his comrades back to Russia to start a revolution, and he got huge rewards. Although the bloated, ignorant and backward but brave and tenacious Russian army followed the collapse of the tsar and the provisional government, they did not die. re-exist.

Although the peace negotiations between the Russian government and Germany broke down, Ludendorff and his Germany achieved greater gains than the success of the negotiations on the Eastern Front. The Russian Army on the Eastern Front was actually organized and disbanded by the so-called Soldiers Committee Demobilization, swarms of swarms retreated to the rear.

If the negotiation of the Treaty of Brest is successful, Germany will stop at the new border line after obtaining the huge territory and resources ceded by Russia. Now, the resistance of the Russian army no longer exists, and the border depends entirely on the German army wanting to advance How far, how deep.

By the beginning of March 1918, when the Chinese were aggressively expanding and occupying the back gardens of the Russians in the Far East and Siberia, Germany had occupied almost all ports and cities along the Baltic Sea, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, southern Ukraine Germany, Georgia, and Azerbaijan were successively occupied by German and Austrian troops.

Of course, Finland has declared independence since November 1917, followed by the declaration of independence or autonomy in these areas with the support of the German and Austrian occupation forces.

Of course, Petrograd is still in the hands of the Soviet Red Army. For this former capital and political center of Russia, which is isolated at the northern end of the Baltic Sea, the strategy adopted by Germany and Austria is to encircle and not take it, and use Petrograd to hold back and consume Soviet Russia. Zheng Fu's Jing power and backup resources.

Ludendorff was very smart. Germany only occupied those lands and cities that it did not intend to return after the war. The status of Petrograd in the hearts of the Russians was doomed that this place would not be ceded anyway. Germany was self-aware Moreover, Germany has never thought of erasing Russia, a poor relative and old friend, from the political map of the world.

Of course, Germany is also very angry. Russia has such a vast land, but it still has trouble with Germany and Austria along with Britain and France in Europe. Teaching and dismembering Russia is an option. No one fanatically thinks that he can do it to destroy Russia.

In addition to the fact that the Mongols once achieved such a heaven-defying act, but after hundreds of years, the world has its own repair functions and channels, who still remembers what the Mongols look like now?

From the beginning of 1918 to March, although the Spanish flu was raging, under the shield of penicillin invented by Chinese Wang Geng, the mortality rate of complications and pneumonia dropped greatly. The contribution of population and health is equal to the birth of millions of newborns.

Moreover, the mysterious Chinese War Supervisor Wang Geng and his GV Science Charity Foundation have been advocating the implementation of fever patient isolation system, port patient monitoring system, centralized treatment of flu patients after isolation, etc. system.

Under the joint defense of penicillin and the above-mentioned new health campaigns, the Spanish flu, the most terrifying devil in history, has greatly reduced its outbreak momentum and lethality, which also gave all parties in the European War the confidence to continue fighting.

From January to early March 1918, a train was transported back and forth from the German-Austrian occupied area in Russia day and night. At the same time, the main force of the German army was also secretly transferred westward. Zhong Yang's strange "no war, no peace" strategy ceased to exist with the disbandment and demobilization of a large number of Russian troops.

Then, Ludendorff and Hindenburg turned their eyes back to the Western Front, and let Soviet Russia and Comrade Ulyanov worry about the wildfires set by the Allies in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East, the back garden of Soviet Russia. No matter how big Germany's appetite is, it has never thought of crossing the Ural Mountains to occupy Siberia and the Far East. The core of Germany's interests at the moment is in Europe!

Of course, Ludendorff doesn't think that the Chinese and Japan can stay in Siberia. No matter how poor the poor neighbor to the north is, Polar Bear Lao Maozi, it's not something China and Japan, which are still quite poor and backward and ignorant at the moment, can shake!

"Erich, are you sure that the reckless actions of the Chinese and the Japanese in Siberia will not affect the future territory and structure of the world?" German Army Chief of Staff Hindenburg asked his younger partner.

"My dear Chief of Staff, it is undeniable that the performance of the Chinese army participating in the war in the past two weeks in early March was indeed astonishing. Four divisions were dispatched and they controlled everything from the east of the Yenisei River to the Haba in two weeks. The 4-kilometer railway line between Rovsk and Vladivostok is a small miracle in military history! Come, let’s toast to the young superintendent who participated in the war!" Ludendorff smiled at his boss and his boss. He raised the champagne glass in his hand.

"Erich, are you so confident? What if the Chinese and the Japanese really fought against the Ural Mountains hand in hand? It would mean that the Allied Powers opened up another battlefield on the Eastern Front. Could this be taken lightly?" ? I heard that the participating army organized and trained by the Chinese War Supervision Office, although the soldiers lack experience and training, they are equipped with amazing firepower, complete American equipment, and the strength of one Chinese reorganized division is at least less than two of our divisions!"

The 71-year-old Hindenburg is obviously not as optimistic and energetic as his young deputy. In fact, Ludendorff is now 53 years old and the most suitable age for being a commander-in-chief.

Of course, Premier Duan, who is actually in charge of the government in China, is the same age as Ludendorff, and both are ambitious and vigorous. <Humanitarian tragedy, we can release 170 million Russian prisoners back to Russia at any time to deal with Kolchak’s White Guards and the mere 5 Czech Legion, but the situation in Soviet Russia itself is not stable, so the matter of letting the tiger go back to the mountain is temporarily Still have to wait. "

Ludendorff is obviously full of confidence. Which battle on the Eastern and Western Fronts of the European War was not fought by millions of troops from both sides?

China is still almost a completely agricultural country now, with such a weak industrial foundation and undeveloped people's wisdom. Although it took that young man to arm an army of nearly 60 in one year, don't forget that all provinces in southern China are still semi-separatist and * In such a state, how can a country that has not even achieved true reunification have the strength to truly participate in a large-scale war on the Eastern Front?