The Rise of Australasia

However, the course of a war cannot be determined by a single person's desire.

After the German Army on the East Prussian Front received reinforcements from the Western Front, they once again had enough troops to launch a campaign, and were also equipped with a large number of firearms, machine guns, and sufficient ammunition from the Western Front.

This raised the confidence of Hindenburg and Rudolf, who, upon intercepting a decrypted telegram from the Russian army revealing a lack of logistical supplies, decided immediately to embark on a large-scale campaign before the Russian's supplies could arrive to neutralize the current Russian forces.

Telegrams have now become one of the main ways military forces communicate, but each country has its own channels, even various encryption methods to make their intelligence and communication more covert, so that even if intercepted by the enemy, it cannot be deciphered immediately.

The Germans did not expect the Russians to communicate using decrypted telegrams. Incoming plain-text messages, intercepted directly by Germany, revealing Russia's lack of logistical supplies and ammunition, was now also well known to the Germans.

One of the main reasons why Hindenburg and Rudolf were able to persuade Chief of Staff Fakinham to shift the strategy towards the Eastern Front was because of Russia's decrypted telegram method.

This was as if the Russians themselves had informed the Germans about their own intelligence. Under such premises, it would be a real problem if the Germans still lost the war.

Upon hearing the news, Fakinham laughed and said, "We not only know about Russia's defense and logistical situation, but also what their front-line troops are doing every month, every week, even every day, as if there is an eye of God watching everything."

Having a complete understanding of Russia's army arrangements and situations, Hindenburg and Rudolf decided to take the initiative, focusing on eliminating the Russian army currently stationed on the Eastern Front to alleviate some pressure off the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Hindenburg's strategy was still based on main front containment and wings flanking. Not just Hindenburg, the entire German Army on the Eastern Front essentially adopted this strategy. Firstly, the terrain on the Eastern Front is quite wide, facilitating troops to swing around behind.

Secondly, such a strategy can minimize the casualties of the German army while maximizing the encirclement and annihilation of the Russian army, close the gap between the German and Russian armies in numbers.

If a war of attrition were adopted on the main front, even if the German army is very strong, it would still be worn down by the Russian army which is several times bigger.

The German Tenth Army was responsible for the encircling and outflanking task. They were not only tasked to hold back the Russian Tenth Army but also to launch a large-scale flanking movement from the right flank of the Russian Northwestern Army, hoping to encircle the entire Russian Northwestern Army.

The Eighth Army would use part of their forces to contain the Russian army from the main front, distracting their attention. The main force would maneuver around to the left flank of the Russian Tenth Army, and together with the Tenth Army, they would aim for a left-right encirclement, hoping to annihilate the entire Russian Tenth Army.

As long as the Russian Tenth Army could be wiped out, this Eastern Front campaign would be considered a strong start. At the same time, it would greatly alleviate the pressure the Russian army is putting on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After all, a Russian army group is made up of hundreds of thousands of men. The complete annihilation of an army group is no small feat.

To secure the defense of East Prussia, reinforcements would definitely be drawn from other regions, thus reducing the risk to the Austro-Hungarian Empire's hinterland.

When the Germans launched a large-scale campaign at the border, the commanding general of the Russian Tenth Army, Silvestre, carelessly assumed that the Germans were only feigning. Their objective, he thought, was to divert some forces for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It was only after receiving countless reports of casualties and consecutive defeats at the frontline that Silvestre realized that the Germans weren't pretending to attack, they were genuinely taking the fight to them.

Sluggish Silvestre immediately ordered a counterattack, trying to keep the German army at bay.

But with the Russian army already lacking in logistical supplies, coupled with sluggish orders from the commander, many troops were decimated by the German charge before they even had the chance to counterattack.

The only decently-equipped Siberian Third Army, having put up minimal resistance against the German Eighth Army, was forced to retreat hastily.

On May 16, 1915, the German Tenth Army successfully circled to the right flank of the Russian Tenth Army. However, they were halted by the Siberian 3rd Army and the 20th Army, failing to complete the encirclement from the left flank.

The Commanding General of the Russian Tenth Army, Silvestre, seized this final chance and escaped from the German encirclement. The price, however, was the loss of his 200,000 men left trapped in the German encirclement. Those who had truly escaped from the Tenth Army numbered less than half.

Like letting a part of the Russian army escape, the commander of the German Tenth Army also knew that the most important task at hand was to annihilate the encircled Russian soldiers.

On May 17th, the German Eighth and Tenth Armies launched a fierce attack on the predominately encircled Russian troops.

After some resistance, these encircled troops eventually chose to drop their weapons and surrender.

Not to say that the Russian army was fearful of death. In a state of inadequate weapons and ammunition, even elite troops cannot win a war that has already been encircled. 𝘙Á𐌽ȏ₿ÊⱾ

In the late night of May 17th, the first battle in the East Prussian region finally ended.

The German Eighth and Tenth Armies were dispatched and trapped most of Russia's Tenth Army. After sustaining nearly 40,000 casualties, they inflicted 40,000 deaths on the Russian army, 50,000 injuries, and 170,000 captures (including those injured).

The entire Russian Tenth Army, made up of 360,000 soldiers, had less than 150,000 who escaped. The heavy loss resulted in a significant gap in Russia's defense in East Prussia.

By the time this news reached Nicholas II, two days had already passed. Under the orders of Archduke Nicholas, the Russian Twelfth Army began to attack the overly advanced left and right flanks of the German army, trying to inflict a portion of casualties on them.

However, Hindenburg and Rudolf had already anticipated the counterattack of the Russians. They left behind only a small portion of their military, while the main force escorted over one hundred thousand prisoners back to East Prussia.

The report of capturing one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers at once, this kind of war report reached Nicholas II's ears, causing him to angrily disband Silvester's position.

If it weren't for Archduke Nicholas still resisting the onslaught of the German Army, perhaps Archduke Nicholas's position as the commander of the Russian army would be in jeopardy as well.

After this blow, the strength of the Russian Northwestern Army is nearly halved. To prevent a German offensive in the East Prussian Region, furious Nicholas II ordered the mobilization of two army groups to fill the gaps left by the losses of the Tenth Army.

Well, if you strike down one of my army groups, I'll just replenish it with two more. Even with little logistical support, I will wear you out, one life at a time.

This was Nicholas II's thought, as Russia had an endless supply of manpower. In the absence of weapons and equipment, manpower was the best resource.

At the same time as Russia was mobilizing soldiers, Hindenburg and Rudolf also implemented their next plan, which was to capture Pushasnihi, a crucial military stronghold in the north of Warsaw.

Knowing that the front-line Russian army was lacking ammunition, there was nothing to say. Seizing the opportunity to occupy Russian frontline strongholds and military fortresses was the best choice.

By the time the new Russian army groups arrived, the Germans had already established a solid defense in Pushasnihi. Without ammunition and artillery shells, it was impossible for the Russians to shake such a solid fortress, and they could only give up.

However, once Russia deployed more troops, the situation in the northwest did stabilize.

Although when the German Army and the Russian Army came face to face, it was usually the Russian Army that suffered losses.

This kind of consumption was acceptable compared to previous campaigns. For Nicholas II and Archduke Nicholas, the stability of their positions in the East Prussian Region was most important.

Of course, this did not mean that the Russian side had no other plans.

The United Kingdom, France, Australasia, and even Italy became targets of Russia's urgent plea for support.

Firearms, artillery, bullets, shells, food, medical supplies, and various strategic resources, the Russians welcomed all offers, looking like someone who hadn't eaten for several days in front of a large feast.

The British and French have promised to aid Russia with part of weapons and equipment. After all, Britain and France could not sit by and watch Russia be defeated by Germany. Russia was a big bulwark of the Allies on the Eastern Front, taking countless damage for Britain and France.

This precious asset could not be allowed to be defeated by the Germans. However, the combined aid from Britain and France only amounted to a hundred thousand rifles, tens of millions of bullets and several hundred thousand shells.

This level of support was just a drop in the ocean compared to Russia's nearly two million frontline soldiers. Russia has then turned its eyes to its new allies, Italy, and Australasia.

The Italians naturally refused, not because they didn't want to support Russia. It's just that the Italian Army was a mess on the frontline, causing the Italian Logistics Department to lose hundreds of thousands of rifles, tens of millions of bullets, and a large amount of strategic resources unnecessarily.

Almost all these supplies were seized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also emptied most of Italy's reserves.

By the time Russia's request for help reached Australasia, it was noon on May 20th.

It's not that Russia didn't value Australasia. Australasia has been Russia's main weapons supplier before the war broke out. A considerable portion of the Russian army's weapons were manufactured in Australasia.

However, during the previous request, Australasia had already stated that its domestic weapon supplies had reached the bottom. With less than a month having passed since then, Nicholas II didn't believe that Australasia could manufacture many weapons.

Arthur had anticipated Russia's defeat on the front lines. After all, the Russian army's operational capability is intrinsically weak. Their combat abilities without ammunition or artillery shells are questionable.

Experience tales at m v|l e'm,p| y- r

The unfortunate part is that the force they are facing is currently the most potent German Land Army in the world. In such a comparison, it's impossible for the Russian army not to suffer disastrous losses.

According to the Russian ambassador, Arthur keenly sensed that Germany might choose to shift its offensive to the east, just like in history, and hold the defensive line in the west.

This is both good news and bad news for Arthur. After the German Western Front goes into full defense, the Allied forces' progress on the Western Front will surely slow down, it could even enter a stalemate.

This also fulfills Arthur's strategic goal of dragging the war on for several more years to secure more benefits for Australasia.

However, at the same time, when Germany moves its offensive to the east, it bodes ill for Russia.

Russia is barely holding on in this war, facing the full-scale offensive of the German main force, today's Russia probably cannot hold on much longer.

Simply put, if Australasia does not support Russia, the war may be successfully postponed, but the price to pay may be that Russia might become incapacitated, even initiating a revolution earlier than in history.

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