Beiyang 1917

"Your Excellency Petliura, if it wasn't because of you and your government's repeated requests, we wouldn't even have to defend that trench position, just put the enemy in, and then we would encircle and annihilate each other in three ways. You were the one who clamored to defend Ukraine The capital, defend Kharkov. We helped you repair the trench defenses on the border north of Kharkov. If your national army doesn't want to defend, then open the door and give up. Anyway, it didn't take German manpower Physical power!"

A German general who was sitting and smoking on one side of the conference room and hadn’t spoken could not help but speak out. Simon Petliura blushed when he heard this, and turned around blushing and shouted, "General von François, Where did your courage and confidence go during the First World War at Tannenberg? At the time, the 45 men in the two armies of Tsarist Russia could not make your First Army blink.\\..\\

Although you are leading a reserve division like the 29th Army at this moment, your combat effectiveness will definitely not be inferior to that of the former Soviet Red Army and White Guards in the Volga Federation!General of the German Infantry, as the commander of the 29th Army, why didn't you dare to lead your troops to the front line to fight, but instead hid on the second line of defense south of Kharkov to watch us suffer? "

The prime minister of Ukraine's ruling cabinet is obviously even more angry with Francois' performance. As far as he knows, this plan to push the main force of the Ukrainian National Army to the frontline border trench defense is the plan that Von Francois advocated. plan of.

Hermann Karl Bruno von François, commander of the 10th Army of the 29th Army of the German Army in Ukraine, was born in 1856, and he is more powerful than his new boss, General William Greiner. He was 11 years older, and besides his mighty beard, which was still dark and shiny, his forehead had already bald with gray hair, but his eyes were piercing.

François' famous battle lies in the Battle of Tannenberg on the Eastern Front at the beginning of the European War. That battle established the status of the main German general in the entire European War. The German Eighth Army fought against the two Russian armies. Within half a month, the Russian Second Army was completely wiped out, and it was also the main army with the best equipment and training in the entire Tsarist Russian army.

In the Battle of Tannenberg, in addition to Hindenburg, who served as the commander of the German Eighth Army, became famous in the First World War, Ludendorff, the chief of staff of the Eighth Army, also jumped into the dragon's gate, but speaking of the greatest contribution in the entire battle, it should belong to the The First Army commanded by General Von Francois, who commanded the First Army captured 9 Russian troops and wiped out another 7, completely erasing the Russian Second Army from its establishment. . .

As Hindenburg was promoted to Berlin as Chief of Staff, and Ludendorff was also promoted to First Quartermaster (Deputy Chief of Staff), von Francois assumed command of the Eighth Army for a while, but This guy's rebelliousness and self-importance made the relationship between him and Ludendorff very rigid.

François' disobedience to orders at the Battle of Tannenberg, which resulted in huge victories, was not officially dealt with, but it created suspicions between him and Ludendorff.After Hindenburg and Ludendorff were promoted to the positions of the German Supreme Command, especially Ludendorff served as the first quartermaster director, responsible for the main practical work.

Since Ludendorff clearly regarded Francois as a somewhat dangerous figure, François was never given the highest command at the level of the army group.These obstacles to his career can be seen clearly through a comparison.

General August von Mackensen was similar in ability to Francois, and was at the same level as Francois in the Battle of Tannenberg, commanding the No.17 reserve army to fight side by side.But compared to François' stagnation at the military level, Colonel Mackensen was very active in the subsequent war, becoming the supreme commander of a theater and promoted to field marshal.

Later, in the Second Battle of Lake Mussoorie, François won only disastrously, and was even sometimes considered to have suffered a defeat.After that, Francois handed over the acting command of the Eighth Army, and returned to command operations at the army level.

On May 1915, 5, Francois received the prestigious Order of Blue Max.In the description of this honor, his outstanding leadership and outstanding military planning are emphasized, as well as his successful command of the 14st Reserve Division in the breakthrough of the Battle of Jolis-Tanov in Galicia and his victory in May 41. After defeating the Russian army on February 1915, Francois received a personal letter from Kaiser Wilhelm II, congratulating him on his award.

After Germany, Austria and Soviet Russia signed the Brest Peace Treaty, and Soviet Russia actually acquiesced in the cooperation of Belarus and Ukraine, von Francois, an outstanding general of the German Army, still only served as the No. The commander of the 10th Army of the 29th Army. The 29th Army governs the reserve infantry division composed of three reserve regiments. In the sequence of the 10th Army, it is inferior to the 27th Army stationed in Kiev in terms of equipment and training.

Due to von Francois' personality, the relationship between him and Field Marshal Hermann von Eichhorn, the former supreme commander of the German occupation forces in Ukraine, was also very tense. Fortunately, the chief of staff, William F. Greiner is a chief of staff who knows how to use his talents well. After taking over Eichhorn's position, William Greiner, the new boss, has a very harmonious relationship with his subordinates who are nearly a round older than him.

If according to Francois' original intention, he suggested that his commander give up defending Kharkov for the Ukrainians, and let this Simon Petliura bring his Ukrainian government back to Kiev, then Kharkov is just a border city, and it can unload this burden at any time.

At the beginning, a reserve corps of the 29th Francois Army could drive the 5th Ukrainian Army of Soviet Russia from Kharkov. It can withstand at least 5 infantry divisions of the Soviet Red Army.And the 47th Reserve Infantry Division stationed in the southern suburbs of Kharkov can deal with at least 3 Soviet Russian infantry divisions.If that's the case, according to von Francois's temper, he might actually preemptively strike across the border and attack the Volga Federation army assembled in Belgorod.

According to reconnaissance and collected information, the main force of the more than 4 Allied forces assembled in Belgorod is the yellow-skinned Japanese monkey soldiers. Before the start of the European War, the military exchanges between Germany and Japan were relatively frequent. In addition, in the Japanese-Russian War in 1905, the Japanese monkey soldiers defeated the invincible Tsarist Russian old man, so von Francois really didn't dare to underestimate the Japanese army in the coalition.