The Rise of Australasia

Starting from May 12th, Germany's strategy officially shifted to the Eastern Front, and a part of the German forces on the Western Front stopped their advance, retreating to the rear to prepare to take trains to the Eastern Front battlefield.

The sudden cessation of Germany's military actions was particularly noticeable on the Western Front battlefield. But including Cynthia and everyone else, they all knew that there were no problems with the German forces and that Germany's logistics supply was still relatively sufficient. The current abnormalities must have something strange behind them.

Under the extremely cautious attitude of the upper echelons, the Allied forces on the Western Front did not rush forward recklessly. Instead, they firmly held their ground and launched an attack on the German forces according to the original plan.

Soon, they were surprised to find that the German forces' combat style was completely different from before. The German forces did not have large-scale counterattacks, but instead relied on favorable terrain to defend against the Allies' advances. Even the frequency of artillery bombardment had decreased.

Although they did not know what was going on, the sudden silencing of the German forces was not a bad thing for the Western Front battlefield.

If before, the Western Front battlefield was slightly advantageous for the Allies, now, the Western Front battlefield had become a desperate struggle for the German forces.

On May 13th, the offensive on the Western Front was very successful, and some areas even approached the original France-Germany border. Further ahead was German territory.

The Germans' defensive tactics like a shrinking turtle brought greater casualties to the Allies, but the advance of the Allies did not diminish in the slightest.

On May 14th, when most of the frontlines had reached the border or even the German territory, the Allied forces finally felt the German forces' tenacity.

The entire Western Front was almost completely blocked outside the border. Even if the Allied forces suffered tens of thousands of casualties every day, they still could not advance a single step.

At the risk of heavy casualties, the German forces finally blocked the Allied forces outside their borders, and the safety of German territory and urban cities was temporarily secured.

The successful defense of the Western Front was good news for both William II and Fakinham. Only Germany knew how weak their forces currently were on the Western Front.

Up to the present, the number of German Army soldiers has exceeded Russia's, making the largest among the warring nations.

Of course, this is not a good thing. Germany currently has 118 divisions, with a combat force of nearly 2 million soldiers.

This number has increased several times compared to ten years ago, and such a huge scale of the army is not a good thing for Germany's economy.

In plain terms, if the frontlines were not so desperate, Germany would not want to maintain such a large army.

Out of Germany's 118 divisions, 65 are currently deployed on the Eastern Front, accounting for more than half of Germany's total forces.

At best, there are only 53 divisions on the Western Front. Half of them were recently recruited forces, and their combat effectiveness was much weaker compared to elite forces.

These 53 divisions, with less than 1 million soldiers, are facing more than 1 million French soldiers, 200,000 British soldiers, 480,000 from Australasia, 500,000 Italians, 80,000 Belgians, totaling over 2.3 million soldiers.

Even if a significant part of the Allied forces is of limited combat strength, the gap in the number of soldiers is evident. They could overwhelm the German forces by sheer numbers alone.

With less than 1 million German soldiers able to hold back the offensive of over 2.3 million Allied forces, it not only proves the combat strength of the German forces but also proves that the combat strength of the Allied forces is genuinely terrible.

Indeed, if it weren't for the face of their new ally, Arthur would like to criticize the Italian forces' performance since the beginning of the war.

Remember, the Italian forces are not facing the powerful German forces, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose combat strength ranks in the middle and lower positions among the powerful nations.

With a several-fold advantage in the number of soldiers, the Italian forces have fought several shockingly lost battles, greatly boosting the confidence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in defending their territory.

If it wasn't for the severe damage to Italy, Arthur would even suspect that there was an undercover agent sent by the allied forces, responsible for reviving the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an enemy.

The advanced weaponry and equipment sent by the Italian forces could allow the Austro-Hungarian Empire to rearm ten more divisions to fight Italy.

After stabilizing the Western Front battlefield, William II also turned his attention to the Eastern Front battlefield.

In order to implement Fakinham's strategy of quickly defeating Russia and forcing it out of the war, the German General Staff planned to organize a large-scale battle on the Eastern Front, aiming to annihilate the entire Russian army's main force in one fell swoop.

Speaking of the Russian army, they finally felt the crisis of insufficient logistics at this time. Some frontline forces currently had a shortage of weapons and ammunition, and the ammunition transported from the rear to the frontlines could not match the weapons in soldiers' hands.

If it wasn't for the Russian Chief of Staff Vladimir's reform of the Russian army's poor transportation and logistics system, the Russian army wouldn't have to worry about their weaponry and ammunition attacks because the food crisis alone would be enough for the army to revolt.

The nearly 2 million Russian troops on the border, just the consumption of food alone, is enough to give Russia's logistics department a headache.

What's more, due to the war, food production in Russia had already decreased dramatically. Many peasants were conscripted to take up arms in defense of their country, consequently delaying agricultural production.

Since the start of the war, more than half a year has passed, and Russia's food crisis has become very serious.

Were it not for the previous supply of food from Australasia, a large-scale famine might have broken out within Russia.

Now, the only reason the Russian army is able to scrape together enough food is that they have withheld much of the food supply meant for the civilian population, causing a noticeable lack of food in some areas.

It is hard to describe the dire situation Russia is currently facing, it's like a dry, explosives-filled barrel that could explode at the slightest spark.

On May 15, 1915, just as Nicholas II was admiringly reading the Western Front battle reports, Archduke Nicholas, the Russian Commander-in-Chief, brought shocking news that the German army had launched a large-scale offensive on the Eastern Front and was already engaged in battle with the Russian army.

To know that the German army had only suffered a defeat on the Eastern Front a few days ago, they should not have recovered so quickly and have the confidence to launch such a large-scale offensive against Russia, who had defeated them.

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According to Archduke Nicholas, Germany had launched a huge offensive involving millions of troops, and their firepower was fierce, with the Russian army already retreating.

Nicholas II's first reaction was that it was impossible, because there were more than 2 million Allied troops attacking on the Western Front. How could Germany possibly have millions of troops to attack Russia?

However, the one reporting the news was Russian Commander-in-Chief Archduke Nicholas, who did not have the courage or any reason to make such a joke to Nicholas II.

"Is the information accurate? How far has the German army advanced?" Nicholas II asked incredulously.

"Your Majesty! Our troops generally lack ammunition supplies, and if there's no follow-up supply, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for long. Even if the soldiers want to fight for their country, they can't fight armed German soldiers with guns without bullets!

Can we first ask for help from Britain, France, and Australia to get enough ammunition supply?" Archduke Nicholas did not answer Nicholas II's question but anxiously said instead.

Poor logistics hindered the Russian army's combat effectiveness, widening the gap between the fighting capabilities of the German and Russian armies.

It took Archduke Nicholas more than half a day to hurry to St. Petersburg, and he was unsure how far the German army had advanced and if the Russian army would still be able to hold their ground.

"Where is the Foreign Minister? Tell that useless Aleksei to roll over to me!" After hearing Archduke Nicholas's proposal, Nicholas II quickly ordered a guard standing by the doorway.

About ten minutes later, Minister Aleksei rushed in, the cold sweat on his forehead proving his panic.

"Your Majesty!" Minister Aleksei had no idea why Nicholas II had called him over and could only pay his respects first, standing respectfully to the side.

"Minister Aleksei, the German army has launched a large-scale offensive on our border, but our frontline soldiers lack weapons, equipment, and ammunition supplies. Do you understand what I mean?" Nicholas II nonchalantly nodded and looked at Minister Aleksei, asking.

"Yes, I understand, Your Majesty. I will do my best to secure more weapons and ammunition for the soldiers and deliver them to the front line as soon as possible." Minister Aleksei quickly nodded, certain that if he said anything contrary, his position and life would be at risk if not to mention his position.

As the monarch of an authoritarian country, it would be quite simple for Nicholas II to find an excuse to have him killed.

Moreover, he had indeed betrayed the country, and what he had promised to Britain and France had yet to be completely fulfilled.

Only then did Nicholas II nod and order, "I hope it will be as soon as possible. Our frontline troops can't hold on for long. I give you half a month's time; the frontline troops must see the supply from our allies. Otherwise, it's time for a new Foreign Minister."

Wherever Minister Aleksei dared to say anything else, he could only nod and agree. He left the room at the gesture of Nicholas II.

After Minister Aleksei left, Nicholas II turned his gaze to Archduke Nicholas and ordered, "Nicholas, I hope you can command the troops to resist the German forces until our allies' aid arrives. I know it's difficult, but for the empire, the royal family, and the people's peace, it is something that must be done."

Russia's current situation was already quite chaotic, and if any news of a defeat or heavy loss of Russian forces surfaced, Nicholas II couldn't guarantee what could happen within the country.

The previous victory in battle had just barely appeased the people's dissatisfaction with the war. If news of defeat or heavy losses emerged, it is uncertain whether the people would be discontented, but the reactionaries and revolutionaries would undoubtedly take advantage of the situation to propagate anti-war theories and even directly criticize the government and tsarist autocracy.

This also meant that the outcome of the frontline battle not only concerned the stability of Russia's domestic situation, but also the stability of the Tsarist government's power and that of Nicholas II.

Even if Nicholas II had no affection for Archduke Nicholas at this time, he had no choice but to pin his hopes on him, expecting him to organize the army to resist the German offensive, at least until the allies' reinforcements arrived. Only then would the Russian army have the strength to deal with the enemy's attack and the potential crisis at home.

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