The fighting in the Balkans-Black Sea region also aroused the attention of the Kaiser, on the one hand, because Turkey, as the most important supplier of food and fuel to Germany, could never afford to make any mistakes, and on the other hand, the Kaiser was surprised by the strength of the British Royal Air Force, who did not expect that the British could inflict heavy damage on a complete fleet with their aviation alone!

These changes made the Kaiser uneasy, and according to his previous habitual thinking, after realizing that something was wrong, the Kaiser's first reaction was to go to Prince Ruprecht, rather than to consult with the German General Staff around him ....... It was not just a matter www.biquge.info of trust, but that the peculiarity of the prince's position had divided the entire German Army command system into two parts, one was the Western Front, which could be directly commanded by the General Staff, and the other was the Eastern Front, which was commanded by Ruprecht. And on the Eastern Front, the real influence of the German General Staff was not high.

As for the Balkan front? Originally, Austria-Hungary was responsible, and it was only after Prince Leopold drove Romania out that Germany gained a foothold in the Balkans. In the foreseeable future, the only force that Germany can use in the Balkans is Prince Leopold's Balkan Army, so if you want to solve this matter, you can only find Prince Ruprecht, and it is useless to find someone else!

The next day, after the prince's personnel had made contact with the German base camp, the prince boarded the train to Brussels, and met the Kaiser and the German General Staff at 9 a.m. on the third day, ...... punctually there. Discuss the future of the Eastern Front and the Balkan Front.

"I am now very uneasy, and the Entente seems to have decided to open up a new battlefield and stab us in the soft underbelly. The fighting power of the Turks is not worth relying on, and our forces on the Western Front are difficult to move through. So, at this time, I hope you can take on new pressures. After the meeting began, the Kaiser got straight to the point.

"Damn, don't be so direct, okay?" Originally, according to the prince's rhythm, after coming to Brussels, the prince should first have a private meeting with the Kaiser to discuss the issues of concern to both sides, such as the issue of troops on the Eastern Front, and for example, the issue of covering Turkey's air fleet, etc. However, this time, the talks between the two sides are official talks, and in this case, the words are a spit and a nail! Say it and do it.

The prince doesn't mind carrying the Balkan theater of operations, but if you don't give me extra troops, and let the more than 600,000 men of the Bavarian Army and the Bohemian Army fight on both fronts at the same time, then you can only hehe, this TM can't get it! What the prince wants is to collapse Russia this year, and in a period of time, the strategic goal can only have one direction! It is true that the Dardanelles is very important, and Turkey cannot collapse, but if the prince cannot beat Russia half to death in this year, then the later variables are too great. This is not a matter of the prince preserving his strength, nor is it a bargain with the Kaiser, but a matter of strategy. That's what it means to have both fish and bear's paws!

"It's a little difficult." The prince casually moved the meeting papers in his hand to the side, and then looked at the Kaiser, who was sitting on the main seat, and Moltke, the chief of the general staff, who was sitting on the right hand, the former had a normal face, while the latter was slightly nervous. The prince seldom gave his opinion, and he seldom said that it was difficult, but as long as he gave his opinion, then he had to get something, and as long as he said something difficult, then the probability of success in the matter was not high.

"The Polish pocket battle can be slowed down." The Kaiser asked tentatively.

"It can't be delayed, the beginning of spring must be carried out, to be precise, as long as our icebreakers can clear a road in the Gulf of Riga, then the landing operation must be carried out. Russia is a monster, we must continue to bleed them, you should know very well, every month of delay, how many supplies and troops we can replenish, Russia is far inferior to us, but it is still very terrible, if they choose to abandon Poland, then in the endless Eastern European Plain with the Russians war of attrition? That's unimaginable. The prince replied decisively.

"The fighting in the Balkans is not something that can end in a short time, if it is an open area, then the Bavarian Army can solve the battle by concentrating its forces and pushing a wave, whether it is Serbia or now Greece at both ends of the snake and mouse, I can completely solve the problem within 2 months! But it's a pity that there are too many Balkan mountains, it takes us a lot of time to fight over, and it's not easy for the other side to fight if they want to, and it's more suitable to defend in a suitable place to contain the opponent's forces, and it can't solve the problem in a short time. ”

"So, in the Balkans, our goal in the short term is to get a good strategic position, and the long-term goal is to contain the opponent, and this task is a luxury for the Bavarian Corps, and our number of troops is very small relative to the responsibility we have. Do you say? The prince asked rhetorically.

War is a thing, sometimes it is not military force that can solve everything, don't talk about it now, just say that after the Cold War, the US imperialism is powerful, right? How was the Korean War fought? And how was the Vietnam War fought? The USSR was tough, right? In Afghanistan was pitted to death. It is true that there is a question of the investment of troops, as well as the state of the country, but it is undeniable that some terrain does seriously limit the deployment of military power, not to mention anything else, even if it hits Greece? As long as Britain and France are unwilling to give up, the French Mediterranean Fleet can still provide strong support to the army. It's not that the German Army can't eat hard, but the gains outweigh the losses, and with this investment and troops, it is better to put it on the Eastern Front to defeat Russia first.

And the prince agrees with this opinion, this year, the prince is not only to kill the five Russian armies in Poland, but also to go deep into the hinterland of Ukraine in the east and completely destroy the Russian granary, and in the north, with the Gulf of Riga as a base, to threaten St. Petersburg to the north. And in the second half of this year, if there is spare strength, the prince will also ask Spee's fleet to cooperate and send part of the troops into the Inner and Outer Caucasus! Destroy the oil fields and coal fields here.

By that time, even if Russia still has a large amount of land and population, they will definitely not be far from collapse! The grain base was in shambles, important coal and oil sources were lost, and the capital was pinned down with a large number of troops, and the supplies needed for these troops had to be transported from the distant Moscow region, as well as Poland and the Caucasus.

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