"Your Majesty, in any case, the Confederate Mediterranean Fleet has been routed (if the intelligence is accurate). Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info So this is an opportunity, an opportunity to open up the Dardanelles and re-establish the connection with Britain and France. So we should catch it. After speaking, Grand Duke Nikolaev, who was in charge of the Eastern Front campaign, looked at General Kuropatkin, who was in charge of the Russian Polish theater of operations.

"We are now struggling to defend ourselves against the Bavarian and Austro-Hungarian corps, and in the last year we have waged three major campaigns with the loss of more than 1.2 million troops. Moreover, the Bavarian Corps had already occupied most of Romania, Bulgaria had taken refuge in Germany, and control of the sea route had again fallen into the hands of the German fleet, and we were not at all in a position to influence the situation in the Dardanelles. Kuropatkin said.

"However, if this campaign is dominated by Britain and France, then not only will we lose the opportunity to take control of Constantinople, but even our interests in Transcaucasia will not be guaranteed! Do we miss out on the goal that our predecessors of Russia fought for? Nicholas II said.

"Could it be that Russia, which occupies more than a sixth of the planet, has retreated like this?" Nicholas II's voice suddenly raised!

"In fact, we have also encountered the greatest crisis since the founding of Russia, the losses of this war are far greater than we can imagine, our losses are far from being measurable by the loss of land and army, our production system and our transportation system are under tremendous pressure, if one day our people do not get enough food, and what we produce cannot reach where they are needed, then even if we can fight Vienna, we will still fail." The prime minister on the side said in a tactful tone as much as possible.

Now most discerning Russians have realized the hidden crisis of the Russian government, which is not to destroy Russia militarily, but to consume Russia alive! In the current national war, there is no food and resources to do things. But with only food and resources, and not enough industry, things will happen! Germany will die at the former, and Russia will die at the latter! And it is certain that Russia will inevitably fall before Germany! Therefore, in the eyes of some people, the first thing to consider now is no longer to take the empire to the next level, how to stabilize the war situation first is the key!

"I think this is acceptable in principle if we just give up the right to dispose of Turkey in order to gain the support of Britain and France, and of course, we can still demand some right of disposal in the Transcaucasus, after all, we have fought by force, and there is no reason to give it up." The prime minister looked at the gloomy face of the Russian emperor, and then changed his words.

"It's a shame on me, you know? Half of the Empire's reason to enter the war is gone! So, in this year's engagement, I hope you can do a little bit better. I think that while Germany and Britain and France are wrestling around the Balkans, we can have a limited offensive on the Eastern Front. Of course, with your intelligence and courage, it is estimated that the Bavarian army will not be moved, then fight the Austrians! What we lost in the Black Sea, we must get back from Austria! Nicholas II said.

In short, the Russian top brass can be said to be very dissatisfied with the proposal put forward by Britain and France, but the dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, the so-called people have to bow their heads under the roof, and Russia, which is already a little powerless, naturally does not dare to continue to make trouble at this time, after saying that it has given up the right to dispose of Constantinople and the surrounding areas in principle, although the diplomatic departments of the two sides are still bargaining, the overall framework has been decided. The beginning of the Balkan campaign has entered the final stage of substantive preparations.

In fact, the situation of the Entente in the Balkans is quite okay now, and the hundreds of thousands of troops put together by Serbia are still stubbornly resisting the two armies of Austria-Hungary. Although the flanks have been exposed, the Bavarian Army Corps, which had just finished Romania after a series of major battles last year, had no plans to do it for the time being, and after the beginning of spring, the Bavarian Corps' primary target was the five Russian armies in Poland. According to the original plan, Serbia could live for a few more months.

And if we look further south, Greece has decided to side with the Entente, and a large amount of supplies and troops can be sent to Serbia. Moreover, the British and French armies were given a springboard for a direct attack on the Turkish mainland. No matter how bad Greece is, it is not a big problem to put together more than 200,000 troops, and when the Bavarian Army intervenes on a large scale, the Entente actually has an advantage. After all, Turkey is now also fighting on three fronts, and at the same time opening in the Suez Canal region, the Balkans and Transcaucasia, and its forces are very scattered.

And the biggest problem is that in Europe, Turkey does not have enough strategic depth, and Turkey's current territory in Europe is only 30,000 square kilometers! (Historically, Turkey's territory in Europe was less than 23,800 square kilometers, after all, part of Istanbul Province was in Asia) What is this concept? The area of this area is equivalent to the size of up to two municipal administrative districts of the later TG, and the local ..... is large.

Britain and France didn't need to fight far, they could directly shell Constantinople with heavy artillery! Therefore, if the Anglo-French forces move fast enough, it is possible to make significant progress before Germany makes a deployment, and the most frustrating thing for Prince Ruprecht, the commander-in-chief of the German army on the Eastern Front, is that the time when the British and French plans to launch an attack and the time of the Polish pocket battle that Ruprecht has prepared for half a year actually overlaps, which will make the prince very depressed.

"If the Russians can launch an offensive on the Eastern Front on a modest scale, it will still be very helpful for us to carry out the Balkan campaign, in which case we can open a third front! The terrain in the Balkans was more complex, and the Germans' strong armored forces and heavy artillery would be limited to a certain extent. If we play here, we will gain a certain advantage. And the unfolding of the war in the Balkans will finally relieve our pressure on the Western Front"

Eventually, in a letter to the British War Secretary Kitchener, Lord Hamilton wrote: And this became the starting point for the British top brass to launch this campaign. The British began to prepare intensively for the upcoming Balkan campaign, and at the same time, the Germans were analyzing the outcome and impact of the campaign, and the prince, who had been in port of Kiel, was now in trouble again.

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