Iron Cross Fire

While the offensive was winning, good news came from Austria-Hungary: the Habsburg government agreed to expand the size of the secret police.

At first, the Habsburg government disagreed because it would increase expenses. They had already put all their money into the war, but the Kust faction led by Wiltok had a majority in the parliament, and the bill would only pass if they agreed.

However, this time Wiltok actually asked the parliament to agree to this request, on the grounds of strengthening ideological defense, especially in Europe where communism is rampant, and it is necessary to take strict precautions to control the correctness of people's thoughts.

It sounds good, but who knows what Wiltok is thinking.

He was a royalist like Kust before, and now he has become a major figure in the Kust faction. The change is so great that it is hard to guard against.

However, from the overall perspective, every move he made seems to be beneficial to the country, but he ignored the objective factors. He is an idealistic person.

Under high pressure, the Habsburg government had to agree and was forced to allow some German spies to pass in.

The monarchy government succumbed to the party, which had never happened in Europe. It soon caused an uproar. Major newspapers published it one after another. In addition to a heavy blow to the Habsburgs' face, it also made more cultural people know about Kuster and his party.

Although the "Kust Faction" was established in the name of Kuster, he was not the organizer of this party, but was established by Wiltok. In other words, Wiltok is currently the real leader of the "Kust Faction".

The "Kust Faction" was able to quickly become the largest party in Austria-Hungary, thanks to Kuster's name that resounded throughout Europe. This is a great advantage. Other parties are still trying all kinds of means to promote, but the "Kust Faction" does not need these at all. After all, the German Emperor called Kuster "the first general of Austria-Hungary", and the natural advantage made them invincible.

This faction is a rare party in Austria-Hungary that has three nationalities (Austria, Hungary, and Slavs) at the same time. This is also one of the reasons why the party is extremely powerful. It almost abolished the neutral faction of the Imperial Parliament.

Party leader Wiltok believed that "either my enemy or my friend". He pulled in all parliament members who did not support the emperor, and he also tried to win over all nobles who did not promote nationalism.

He attacked nationalism politically, which also made quite a number of Austro-Hungarian people support him, and the emperor's cabinet also appointed him to appease the people in the region.

However, he often turned his spearhead to the royalist party, just like this time when Kuster's desire to expand the size of the secret police inspired him to start opposing the emperor again.

The government was worried about making news, so it did not remove him from his post, but instead raised his status in the Privy Council and put political pressure on him.

The party under Wiltok's rule was actually quite subjective, and often a word or even a few gestures from Wiltok could develop into a hostile relationship with other parties.

Members of the parliament generally believed that Kuster was the biggest cancer in Austro-Hungarian politics. Now Kuster has been transferred, but his successor Wiltok is even more cancerous than him, which makes many people hope that Kuster can come back.

But unless the war is over, Kuster will basically not be able to return to Austria-Hungary. Because Kaiser Wilhelm made a special trip to Austria-Hungary and asked Kuster to transfer to Western Europe after the Russian war ended to assist the local German army in fighting.

Austria-Hungary, which had long been a thigh pendant of Germany, had no negotiating qualifications, so they could only agree to this request.

Kuster's fate was decided without knowing it. Austria-Hungary's politics were as bad as ever, but it was still too young to compete with Russia.

Since Russia's large-scale conscription, it has soon received a strong social backlash. Parades are commonplace. It is not normal for hundreds of people to die on the streets every day. In order to protect themselves, residents had to steal a few guns from the barracks, so gunfights broke out from time to time in Russian cities around the front line.

Various regions also launched rebellions against the Tsar, but because there was not enough time to prepare, they could only use cold weapons to fight like the government troops who had just been recruited.

Fortunately, the Germans noticed this. They were saddened by the powerless rebels and extremely angry at the corrupt rule of the Tsar, so they sent a lot of weapons and equipment to the rebellious areas, allowing them to leap into regional powers that could fight against the regular army of the Tsarist Russia.

But because there was no time, many rebellious areas were short of strength. After liberating the surrounding areas, they were unable to hold their positions due to the shortage of manpower and equipment. In the end, the rebellion ended in a few days, and the damage to Russia was not great.

As for where the equipment went, Germany originally planned to transport it from the Caucasus, but now that the rebels were gone, the equipment could only fall into the hands of Kuster.

However, even if the rebellion had not stopped, this batch of supplies could not be saved. Kuster can be said to be the Li Yunlong of Austria-Hungary. As long as the supplies passed under his nose, don't think about leaving.

After getting these supplies, Kuster launched another continuous attack, giving the crumbling Tsarist government another heavy blow.

By April 28, the wreckage in the eastern Caucasus had been completely blown up, leaving traces of tracks on the accumulated dust; the rest of the front was also breached, and large forces poured out of the breach and marched to the rear.

The armored forces quickly attacked the steppes behind the Caucasus, intending to outflank the enemy in the flat areas and expand the results of the battle.

But the distance is extremely long. It takes 300 kilometers to reach the steppe, and 1,000 kilometers to encircle the enemy. It is impossible to reach the destination within a few days.

However, the breakthrough in the Caucasus is still a big victory. It is difficult for Russia to build a defense afterwards. They can slowly wear down Russia.

All they need to do now is to digest the Caucasus and eliminate the remaining Russian troops that are surrounded.

Kuster expects that the troops may launch an attack at the end of the month, but the possibility of an attack in early May is greater. After all, he has only broken through the two sides of the Caucasus, and there is still a large group in the middle that has not been eliminated.

But that is very simple. The Russian logistics supply alone is very bad, especially in the rugged terrain of the Caucasus. The Russian army can't get supplies at all. As long as they don't send them, they will starve to death soon.

So Kuster strictly ordered his men not to attack without authorization, and just block the Russian army in the key roads of the mountain.

A simple estimate shows that there are still 80,000 Russians left in the Caucasus, and it only takes less than 20,000 people to control them.

This number seems exaggerated. The defenders have four times as many people as the besiegers.

But it is true. The Caucasus has a complex terrain and there are hot springs everywhere. Anyone who puts a lot of people here has a problem with his brain.

So Kuster only needs to deal with the deployment of troops and then fight the Russians on the steppe.

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