Expedition to Europe

(After hesitating for a while, I decided to code this chapter. After all, these are two major events that can change the course of the war. If I don’t code them out, it will feel incomplete. This chapter can be left unordered and will not affect the subsequent reading.)

After entering March, it seems that the warm spring breeze has blown away people’s frozen minds, and the pace of the war has suddenly accelerated.

As early as February, the British troops in Arras discovered a special situation. The German positions opposite them were attacked by artillery, but the attack did not come from the British, but from the Germans. The British commander excluded the scouts and conducted a reconnaissance of the German positions. The results were shocking. There was no one on the German positions. All the Germans had retreated. The Germans were using explosives to destroy the remaining fortifications on the positions to avoid being used by the British.

The British commander reported this situation, but it did not attract attention. At this time, the Allied high-level officials were holding a quarrel-like meeting in the French rear city of Calais to discuss how to launch the upcoming spring offensive.

Unlike the noisy Allies who were like market aunties, the newly appointed German commander-in-chief Ludendorff was a general with extraordinary talents.

Throughout the winter, the British and French huddled in the trenches without fighting spirit and were drunk all day long, while the Germans hardly had a day off under Ludendorff's command. 370,000 German reservists, German civilians, and Russian prisoners spent four months building a new line of defense, which stretched 70 miles from Arras to Saint-Quentin.

For this, the Germans gave up nearly 1,000 square miles of land, which was absolutely not allowed in the Falkenhayn era.

This line of defense was named the "Hindenburg" Line. The new line of defense was a huge project. In order to transport steel bars, cement and other construction materials, 1,200 trains and nearly 170,000 people were used.

After its completion, the Hindenburg Line had a complete defense system.

The Hindenburg Line started with an anti-tank trench, which was ten feet deep and twelve feet wide. Behind the anti-tank trench were five rows of barbed wire with a row spacing of twenty steps. Behind the barbed wire were small bunkers made of reinforced concrete. These bunkers were neatly arranged like a chessboard, and the bunkers could support each other. Two machine guns were placed in each bunker. As long as conditions permitted, the bunkers were built on the downward slope, so that the defenders could have a geographical advantage of being high above.

Thick barbed wire was placed around the bunkers. These barbed wires were placed very cleverly and did not completely block the attack route, but if the attackers attacked along the passage, they would fall into the German fire trap.

There is no access to the outside of the bunker, and the bunker is connected to the defense line behind it by a secret passage. All the passages and dark rooms are built under the surface, covered with 7 yards of mud, which is difficult to destroy even with heavy artillery. In the reverse slope area where the enemy's artillery can't reach, the Germans set up artillery positions. These artillery will only be pulled out when they are used. They are usually hidden in the bunker, and it is difficult to counter them with firepower.

For a whole winter, the energy of the Allies was used to coordinate cooperation with each other, and the Germans had sharpened their claws and teeth under the leadership of Ludendorff, preparing for Nivelle's self-proclaimed wonderful spring offensive.

Just as the British and French armies were preparing to attack, a shocking news came from the north.

On March 6, the parade on the streets of St. Petersburg finally developed into riots and looting. The Cossack cavalry was sent to restore order in the city, but this time, the Cossacks did not follow the Tsar's orders, but joined the rioting army, which was mostly composed of women.

On March 7, Nicholas II announced that he would go to the State Duma the next day to form a new cabinet. This gave some rational people hope, but just a few hours later, Nicholas II announced that he could not go to the State Duma, but to the military headquarters. This behavior disappointed the last few people who still had expectations for Nicholas II.

On March 9, the left-wing organizations that had been brutally suppressed in recent years took to the streets to call for a general strike.

On March 10, the Cossack cavalry ordered to suppress the rebellion opened fire on the police, and the cabinet began to panic. Some resigned, and some asked the Tsar to organize a new government immediately. Nicholas II's reply was jaw-dropping. In the telegram, he said: I order the riots in the capital to end tomorrow!

On March 11, Nicholas II gave the prime minister an order to explain the Duma, but it was voted down by the Duma, and the deputies became revolutionaries.

On the 12th, the arsenal was occupied and thousands of rifles fell into the hands of the revolutionaries.

On the 13th, Nicholas II finally left the army headquarters and returned to the capital, but he was placed under house arrest as soon as he arrived in a small town called Pskov, and Nicholas II's 40,000 guards also revolted.

Nicholas II didn't care about the throne at this time, he only cared about his five children. Nicholas II's children all had measles, which was not a minor illness.

On the 15th, two governments appeared in Russia, one was a new government formed by the State Duma, and the other was a Soviet government composed of workers and soldiers. The Tsar's cabinet members did not object, and they even asked the State Duma to arrest them in order to ensure their personal safety.

Nicholas II finally came to the time to abdicate, and everyone in the country opposed him. Several officials from St. Petersburg asked Nicholas II to hand over the throne to his son, but Nicholas II did not agree. His son Alexis suffered from hemophilia and would not live long. Nicholas II passed the throne to his younger brother Michael, that is, Michael II.

Michael II immediately announced his abdication.

The Romanov dynasty finally ended.

Britain and France were happy about the end of the Russian empire. Raymond and George didn't care about Nicholas' feelings. Nicholas was just a loser and didn't deserve sympathy. Britain and France felt embarrassed to form an alliance with the dictatorial Russia from the beginning. They wanted to describe this war as a war between democracy and dictatorship, but the existence of Russia made their explanation much more complicated.

Now Russia has become a democratic country and is more warlike than before. It seems that the Allies are much purer.

The good news is that since the Germans expanded the scope of submarine warfare in February, the Germans have indeed made great achievements. They only sank 300,000 tons of ships in January, but in February they almost doubled this number to more than 500,000 tons, and in March they reached a new high of 600,000 tons.

These increased numbers are all from American merchant ships.

On January 31, German Ambassador to the United States Bernstorff announced to US Secretary of State Robert Lansing that Germany would launch an unrestricted submarine war. Subsequently, Bernstorff, who had served as ambassador to the United States for eight years, left the United States and returned to Germany.

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On February 2, US President Wilson convened a cabinet meeting, and the cabinet members unanimously supported the United States to join the war. On the same day, the USS Show Subic was sunk, but no casualties were caused.

On February 3, the United States and Germany severed diplomatic relations. Wilson had not made up his mind at this time, because in the United States, many people in the east demanded to join the war, and many people in other regions opposed to joining the war, and millions of people were hesitant.

But it is obvious that the German submarine warfare is a great threat, and more and more people are demanding to join the war.

On February 26, the parliament approved the equipment of artillery for merchant ships by an overwhelming majority.

From March 7, Wilson isolated himself and did not meet with anyone. The whole world was waiting for Wilson's decision.

On March 18, three US merchant ships were sunk on this day. Wilson convened the cabinet and asked the cabinet's opinion again. The cabinet still agreed collectively.

On April 2, the House of Representatives approved the "War Bill" with 373 votes in favor and 50 votes against.

On April 4, the Senate approved the War Bill, with 80 votes in favor and 6 against.

On April 6, the United States declared war on Germany.