The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 625: If the Russians were smart



"The Austro-Hungarian Empire promised to take the initiative to launch an offensive against Russia after the start of the battle. If I remember correctly, the Bavarian Army will also launch an offensive. It is unlikely that the Russians will concentrate enough troops in Prussia when they are under attack. "Little Maoqi said.

"Think about it, the Russians can concentrate up to 700,000 armies in the Far East, thousands of miles away from Europe! What about Poland? If the Russians are given 5 years of preparation time, plus a lot of assistance from Britain and France, I think they are The concentration of 1.4 million troops during the war was no problem at all. While the Austro-Hungarian Army has a maximum concentration of 850,000 troops on the northern front, the Bavarian Army has a maximum concentration of 200,000 troops, and the East Prussian Army has only 200,000 troops at most, right? "

"Although Emperor Fritz is my father-in-law, I have to say that I am not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Maybe the Russians can defeat the Austro-Hungarian Army with only 600,000 people. What makes me more disturbed is Russia. The mobilization ability of the legion, in fact, from the perspective of the size of the troops, the number of troops mobilized by the Russians will only be more than that of Germany and not less than that of Germany! They may have been before our western front has a victory or defeat. Send the second wave of troops to the battlefield."

"That's great, everyone tell me, how can we resist such a wave of attacks?"

"If I were the commander of the Russian Legion, then I would maintain a defensive position in one strategic direction and an offensive in one of them! And my most likely attack direction would be East Prussia, because the German territory in this area is very narrow and long. Lack of depth, as long as it breaks through, it will be difficult to reorganize the line of defense unless the defenders are willing to retreat in strides and give up large areas of territory. But I don’t think everyone here thinks that East Prussia or Silesia can be abandoned at will?”

"The Bavarian Legion can guarantee to block more than 6 Russian troops frontally, which is about 300,000 people. How many Russian troops can the East Prussian Legion resist?" the prince asked.

The plan of the prince was to take command of the Eastern Front. He did not want the historical battle of Tannenberg to be repeated in the hands of Ludendorff. Therefore, he must make appropriate expansions in order to make the Kaiser aware of the seriousness of the problem. In fact, if the Russians were not confused in history, the pressure on Germany would be even greater! The biggest problem in strategy is that the Russians did not concentrate their forces to overwhelm one of them, but chose to distribute their forces evenly according to the size of their opponents. As a result, they could not resolve any strategic direction.

The two armies of the Northwest Front Army have 17.5 infantry divisions and 8.5 cavalry divisions, against the 15 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division of the German Eighth Army. Although the number is nearly 50% higher, the size and firepower of the cavalry divisions are very good. Small, coupled with the equipment gap, although the Russians began to make some progress, but after the German Eighth Army took advantage of the internal railway combat and seized the loopholes of the Russians, the offensive and defensive situation on both sides was completely reversed.

The Southwest Front Army faced the weak Austro-Hungarian Army and fought a clean victory. After World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire almost collapsed. This shows that at the beginning of the war, the Russian army was still very threatening to the fragile eastern front. If the Russians choose to stick to one direction and attack the other direction, whether they attack East Prussia or attack the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they will be stronger than in history. Many victories.

If it attacked East Prussia, the six Russian army groups and three attacked the German Eighth Army. The Russian Northwest Front Army, with at least 11 divisions, could completely roll over the Eighth Army as a crushing force. The division fights 37 divisions... How hopeless it looks....

If they attacked the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Germans would not take the initiative to attack Russia, because there were not many garrisons in East Prussia, and the defense was stretched, let alone offensive, and there was no internal railway advantage when attacking. The German army’s offensive speed was extremely slow. In addition, the Russians were able to exchange their territory for time, and it was entirely possible to drag the Germans with a group army. And if the five armies are concentrated in the direction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the result is hard to imagine!

In history, after the Battle of Galicia ended, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was killed by 400,000. The Germans tried to rescue their allies. Starting from mid-to-late September, within 11 days, 250,000 German troops arrived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire by rail and stopped. The Russian offensive. If the five Russian armies attacked, the loss of Austria-Hungary could be described as a tragedy!

"Germany and Austria have 6 group armies on the eastern front, and the Russians estimate that there are only 6 group armies. The situation is not as bad as you think, is it?" Xiao Maoqi's words are also full of uncertainty.

"I really don't believe in the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Army. I don't need to belittle the Austro-Hungarian Army to sensationalize here, right?" Ruprecht said: "What's more, our battle on the Western Front will last for 40 days. Time, if the Russians start to mobilize, I am afraid that when we are at the climax of the Western Front~www.novelhall.com~ their second wave of troops will be ready! Even if we are lucky enough to block the first wave, then the first wave What about the second wave? When you are preparing for a decisive battle on the western front, you can deploy troops to assist the eastern front? Is it possible?"

Historically, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was hit hard in Galicia because the Germans temporarily mobilized 250,000 troops to stabilize the eastern front before further losses were avoided. And Ruprecht also wanted to avoid a repetition of this scene, so that the main German forces can fight the Western Front with peace of mind. Although it cannot completely solve France in World War I, it is good to be able to bring the front as close to Paris as possible.

History has also made great efforts to save Germany on the Eastern Front. This time, with the prince bluffing to the Russians, if Germany wants to continue to ensure the safety of the Eastern Front, it must pay a greater price. And this price is probably not something the Kaiser is willing to bear. Back then, the first commander of the German Eighth Army was dismissed because he wanted to give up East Prussia, and Hindenburg took office. But this time, facing the terrifying situation on the Eastern Front, the Kaiser hesitated, he was really scared!

"This question, we can talk about it later." The sudden question of the prince caught everyone in the audience a little bit by surprise. In the eyes of everyone present, the prince’s credit is still just right, and this is not only because of the recognition of the other’s ability, At the same time, as I said, there is no need for him to hack his father-in-law. And if what the prince said is true, then the problem is really complicated. What about the Eastern Front!

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