I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 615 Humiliation
Compared to the ambitious men of this era, George is no worse.

Even better.

The Russo-Japanese War broke the British blockade of the Russian Empire.

The Balkan Wars helped the Russian Empire gain access to the Black Sea.

Now George has extended his reach to the Persian Peninsula.

It is hard to say whether William II can break the British and French colonial system, as the Russian Empire is about to become the overlord of Eurasia.

Like George, Nicholas the Younger was planning an attack on Germany.

Nicholas Jr.'s biggest problem was that the Northern and Western Fronts could not coordinate closely.

During the era of Zhilinsky and Ivanov, the conflict between the two was extremely sharp.

Now the commanders of the two fronts have been replaced by Ruzysky and Alexeev respectively, but the contradiction remains unresolved.

Ruzynski wanted to concentrate his forces and launch an attack on the German army in East Prussia and Silesia. As long as the German army was defeated, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not be a concern.

Alexeev believed that the focus should be on the Przemyśl Fortress, which had been surrounded by Russian troops. After taking the fortress, it would directly threaten the industrial areas and grain-producing areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Both plans are reasonable and have the possibility of success. If the goals of the campaign can be achieved, the situation of the Russian army on the Eastern Front will be greatly improved.

Little Nicholas made a serious mistake at this time. He was indecisive and did not clearly express his support for either side.

So the two front commanders took action separately before Nicholas the Younger made a decision.

At this time, the Russian army did not know that the German army had shifted its focus from the Western Front to the Eastern Front.

In January, Germany's newly appointed Chief of General Staff Falkenhayn and Hindenburg, as well as the Austro-Hungarian Chief of General Staff Conrad met in Berlin. The three decided to take a defensive stance on the Western Front and concentrate their forces to launch an offensive on the Eastern Front, focusing on the Russian Northern Front and the Western Front. If these two fronts could be destroyed, the Russian Empire could be forced to withdraw from the war.

Although the Russian army's strength on the Masurian Lake front was similar to that of the German army at this time, the Russian army had suffered heavy losses in the past year and the new reinforcements were still being assembled, which resulted in the Russian army having fewer combat forces than the German army.

Silves, the commander of the 10th Army under Ruzynski, noticed this and asked Ruzynski to send more reinforcements to the 10th Army.

Ruzynski was gathering his forces for the attack and had no extra reinforcements for Silves.

On February 2, the German army launched the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes before the Russian army.

This was far beyond Luzki's expectations.

The Masurian Lakes were still covered with ice and snow in February, the coldest time of the year. Ruzynski did not expect that Hindenburg would take the initiative to launch an attack on the Russian army at this time.

The well-prepared German army launched a very fierce attack, and within just one day, all the Russian front-line positions were lost.

The German army did not give the Russian army a chance to breathe. Hindenburg decisively sent cavalry to attack and bypass the Russian army's rear, trying to replicate the miracle created by the German army in the Battle of Tannenberg.

Ruzynski ordered the troops to retreat in batches, with the 20th Army responsible for the rear guard.

2月16号，第20军遭德第8集团军和第10集团军包围。

George did not make the same mistake as little Nicholas. Yangkov proposed a completely different combat plan from Demeter's. He hoped that reinforcements would land in Kogaeri and fight a thorough annihilation battle.

The risk of this plan is that if the Ottomans react quickly, the landing troops may be surrounded by the Austrian army.

In comparison, Demeter's plan is more secure.

George chose to trust the keen sense of the front-line commanders.

The Russian counterattack began on February 2. Before that, the Russian Army from the Far East and reinforcements from Romania and Greece had already assembled on the Garibaldi Peninsula.

Thanks to the reinforcements from the Baltic Fleet, George concentrated all three heavy artillery battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet on Marmara Island, ready to provide fire support for the landing troops.

There are more than 200 bombers gathered in Constantinople. These bombers can take off from Constantinople and directly bomb the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

On February 2, the first batch of troops participating in the attack boarded ships in Marmara Island and Constantinople respectively, and sailed to their designated destination under the protection of battleships.

At the same time, bombers took off from Constantinople to bomb targets and clear obstacles for the landing troops.

The first batch of attacking troops were all from the Gao Ri Corps. Each of them had to carry a week's supplies. After landing, they launched an attack inland and completed the encirclement of the Austrian army.

"Egypt is under attack by the Ottoman Empire and there is a possibility that our supply lines will be cut off."

Demeter urgently reported to George that this happened 12 hours ago.

The Suez Canal is not only the supply line of Constantinople, but also the lifeline of the British Army.

After the outbreak of the war, the number of colonial vassal troops drawn by Britain from Asia had reached 120 million, mainly British Indian troops.

Although the Indian army has a large number of troops, its combat effectiveness is worrying and it is mainly responsible for secondary tasks such as logistics and transportation. The main forces of the British army on the French front are Canadian troops and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Since Egypt is far away from the front line, most of the garrison troops there are from India.

After the Ottoman Empire entered the war, it used its main forces to attack the Bosphorus Strait and did not deploy troops in the direction of Egypt.

Therefore, the British army did not strengthen its defense against Egypt, and everything continued as usual. On February 2, the Ottoman Empire suddenly launched an attack on Egypt, and the British and Indian troops were quickly defeated. In just 12 hours, the Ottomans advanced 12 kilometers and approached the Suez Canal.

Admiral Sackville Carden, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, had to ask George for help.

"How did the Ottomans advance 12 kilometers in 120 hours?"

Demeter never expected that George's first reaction would be this.

"The Ottomans use cavalry, and their advance speed is very fast—"

Demeter had a complicated expression, and was obviously stunned by the performance of his friendly forces.

"——120 kilometers means that the Indian army retreated 120 kilometers. I guess the Ottomans didn't expect that their cavalry couldn't catch up with the speed of the Indian army's retreat."

This makes sense!
Demeter looked at George with puzzlement, because George had an army that was ready to open up a second battlefield on the Persian Peninsula and was on its way to the Persian Peninsula.

George originally wanted to land on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

There is no need to go to the Persian Gulf now. Let's go to Egypt to clean up the mess for the British first. We must ensure the smooth flow of the Suez Canal at all costs.

Like the German army that was rushing at high speed through the ice and snow, the Ottoman army was equally vulnerable in front of the Russian army.

The first to land in Kogaeri was the newly formed 7th Far Eastern Army.

The 7th Army has four divisions, three from Japan and one from Goryeo.

After landing in Kogaeri, the 7th Army will be assigned to the 14th Army and placed under the command of Yankov.

The two Greek divisions and one Romanian division that subsequently landed in Kogaeri were also assigned to the 14th Army.

In this way, the total strength of the 14th Army will be equal to that of the 11th Army led by Brusinov, with a total strength of 21.

Demeter suggested to George that the 14th Army be renamed the Asia Minor Front.

Referring to the European theater of war commanded by Nicholas the Younger, the army group of more than 20 people was indeed qualified to form a front.

George kept a low profile, and the consequence of a high profile might be that Heilkenhain and Hindenburg transferred the main force of the German army from the Eastern Front to the Balkans.

After allocating all the available troops to the 14th Army, Brusinov, Vasily and Andrei would have to wait at least three months before receiving reinforcements.

During this time, George will try to keep a low profile.

Although George wanted to keep a low profile, the Austrians did not give him any chance.

On February 2, the Austrian 18th Army, which was blocked in the mountains of southern Serbia, ran out of supplies and surrendered to the 9th Army led by Brusinov under the leadership of Army Commander Kainz.

At this point, the Austrian Sixth Army in Serbia and the Eighth Army in Montenegro and Albania had all been wiped out, leaving the door to Bosnia wide open.

In desperation, Conrad once again turned to Berlin for help.

In January, Conrad had just met with Falkenhayn in Berlin to discuss the German-Austrian coalition's combat plan in 1.

Now, before the end of February, Conrad came to ask for help again. Falkenhayn's disgust for Conrad reached its peak, so he made Conrad wait at the door of his office for a full four hours and humiliated Conrad thoroughly.

Conrad was filled with grief and indignation, but he could do nothing about it.

After the Kingdom of Italy entered the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire faced a three-sided siege from the Russian Empire, the Balkan League, and the Kingdom of Italy.

After the defeat in the First Battle of the Isonzo, Italy regrouped and was planning the Second Battle of the Isonzo.

After Brusinov invaded Serbia, he was unstoppable. He not only recovered Serbia, Montenegro and the entire Albania, but also invaded Bosnia.

If Brusinov's offensive cannot be contained, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's home port in the Adriatic Sea will be threatened by the 11th Army. At that time, Brusinov will be able to annihilate the Austro-Hungarian Navy without Peter's intervention.

The army fighting the navy sounds like a fantasy.

But as long as the 11th Army captured the Austro-Hungarian Navy's home port, the Austro-Hungarian Navy would have no choice but to surrender.

It now seems that only the Tisza River front where Mackensen's Corps is located is relatively stable.

But with the arrival of spring, the armored forces of the 12th Army and the 13th Army will arrive at the front line one after another. Will Mackensen be able to withstand the attack of Vasily and Andrei by then?

The armored forces haven't arrived yet, but the Austrian Fifth Army has already been driven away.

By then, Mackensen would probably need a lot of strength to withstand the siege of Brusinov, Vasily and Andrei.

Brusinov now has two choices. One is to invade Bosnia and cooperate with the reinforcements of the Baltic Fleet to destroy the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

One was to attack northward into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, join up with Vasily and Andrei, and launch a full-scale attack on Budapest.

Either direction would be a disaster for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This is why Conrad did not dare to resist even though he was humiliated by Falkenhayn.

(End of this chapter)