Beiyang 1917

1918年7月29ri19：05哈尔科夫火车南站德乌联军前敌指挥部

"General von Francois! Our national army is duty-bound to defend Ukraine, but now the German Air Force has completely failed in the fight for air supremacy. My troops were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses. In this case, as the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Ukraine , formally make the following representations to you:

"First, we ask the German government to mobilize an air force of sufficient quantity and scale to urgently reinforce Ukraine, focusing on the Kharkov-Dnepropetrovsk line. It is necessary to recapture the airspace over the battlefield in the shortest possible time. Dominance of the air, otherwise my troops will not be able to hold the line of defense under the air attack of the coalition air force flying all over the sky!", the full text is hand-typed

"Second, we request your Excellency to urgently mobilize the 29th and 47th Infantry Divisions of the 48th German Infantry Corps to take over the defense lines of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Divisions. The 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Divisions suffered heavy casualties in the Allied air strikes. It is due to the lack of experience in defensive operations under the support of losing air supremacy and firepower. The German division has strong combat effectiveness and has experience in trench defense warfare on the western front. My division can observe and learn on the spot to see how you hold the position!"

"Third, we ask the German government to provide supplementary and support for new artillery and heavy machine gun ammunition as soon as possible, especially anti-aircraft anti-aircraft guns. Eight anti-aircraft artillery battalions are simply not enough. In my opinion, we should have at least 8 anti-aircraft guns. She artillery battalion to protect the ground troops from the threat of air strikes!" See the latest chapter

"Fourth, we ask the German government to hold Hermann Wilhelm Göring accountable for his dereliction of duty, precisely because we believe that he patted his chest to ensure that the skies over Ukraine will be absolutely safe under the protection of the German 1st Combat Wing. And zi you, we just suffered serious losses in the large-scale air strikes that the coalition forces were caught off guard! What's more, Goring clearly had two squadrons of fighter jets returning home, but they fled before the large coalition air strikes. It affected the morale of the Ukrainian military and civilians, and caused serious consequences!"

The Ukrainian Prime Minister of the ruling cabinet acted as if he hadn’t heard the questions and threats from the German former enemy commander-in-chief. He took out a piece of paper and read it directly. It seems that the Ukrainian National Army has lost a battle, but it looks like the winner is giving an ultimatum to the loser.

Throughout the afternoon, the air defense alerts over the southern Ukrainian cities and airports hardly stopped. At this moment, after the coalition airstrikes ended and the alerts were lifted, a large number of people flooded into the northwest from almost every city. The Dnipro River and the North Donetsk River are full of wooden boats of the fleeing people, and there is almost a torrent of people along the roads and railways heading towards Kiev and Odessa in the southwest.

Simon Petliura, the head of the Ukrainian autonomous government, is also at a loss. At the beginning, the Germans asked him to abandon Kharkov and move the capital back to Kiev. The image of martial arts did not agree. In fact, it took more than two months to move the capital to Kharkov from Kiev. Now he fled without a fight and moved the capital back after being frightened by the enemy troops in the Volga Federation. Simon Pater Liu La and his Ukrainian government couldn't get rid of this face.

To say that Petliura is a leader with a very active mind, as a small and strong figure who can't be beaten in Ukraine, this guy is good at persistence when he insists, and he is good at compromise when compromise is needed. Kiev is a German and will never take it easy The place to evacuate, not to mention that Kharkov was previously controlled by the Ukrainian Soviet government supported by the Soviet Union, so the recovery of Kharkov and the relocation were all wishful thinking that Simon Petliura had planned long ago.

The original starting point is to stay away from Kiev, so that the Germans can't reach them. If the Ukrainian government continues to set the capital in Kiev, it will definitely be the emperor of the German 10th Army in Ukraine. autonomy will increase somewhat.

What's more, Kharkiv is close to the golden bump of the Donets coalfield in the east, and the North Donets River and the lower reaches of the Dnieper River are the granary in the traditional sense of Ukraine. Simon Petliura has already planned it well, not bad , if you can keep Eastern Ukraine, you can also establish yourself as a country. As for Kiev and Western Ukraine, whoever has the ability will occupy it first. Maybe in the future, when your own strength grows, the Northern Expedition will regain Kiev and drive the Germans out. It is not impossible at all!

In fact, Ludendorff also saw Simon Petliura's small calculation. In order to annex Western Ukraine in the future, Germany let go and agreed to the Ukrainian autonomous government to move its capital to Kharkov. The defeat and the emergence of the Volga Federation turned out to be armed with the Ukrainian National Army as cannon fodder to resist the future offensives of the Volga Federation and the Allied Powers on the Eastern Front, and became the first choice of the German government. Germany urgently helped Simon Petliura within a month and a half The origin of the expansion and formation of 1 German infantry divisions in 3 Ukrainian armies.

Hermann von François almost got his nose twisted by the four demands put forward by Simon Petliura like an ultimatum. Sven von Neuhaus, commander of the 29th Division of the 47th Infantry Army of the German Infantry, Si was the first to jump up uncontrollably and said,

"Your Excellency Petliura, please pay attention to your identity. It is the responsibility and obligation of your Ukrainian national army to defend Ukraine. You keep saying that you are the master of Ukraine all day long. Now a few planes of the coalition forces drop a few bombs and let you Scared? How dare you issue an ultimatum to our army commander based on the cowardly behavior of your division commanders and troops? Believe it or not, I will lead the 47th Infantry Division to directly take over the defense of Kharkov if you upset us? "

Before Major General Neuhaus finished speaking, Heike von Westermann, commander of the 48th Division of the German Reserve Infantry, also jumped up angrily.

"Petliura, even if you, a Ukrainian, are the turn to point fingers at the transfer and use of the German army? The German 1st Fighter Wing, Blue Blood Sky, spilled blood in the Ukrainian sky, and what you get in return is that you are so indiscriminate Indiscriminate blame and shirk responsibility?

I told you earlier that the fortifications we repaired alone are not enough to withstand air raids, and we need to organize ground machine guns to shoot into the air in order to limit the opponent's aerial sweeps and bombings to the greatest extent, but what are your soldiers chasing?The swarms ran to the rear, and those who didn't run didn't even know how to transfer the heavy machine gun to the shelter. Didn't you cause the heavy casualties under the air raid? "

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