St. Petersburg Winter Palace, although it is now the height of summer, but it seems that it is still a cold winter moon, there is no warmth, and the gloomy face of Nicholas II directly pulls the temperature down!

Since the beginning of summer, Nicholas II has not been in a good mood. There is no way to keep the bad news on the front line, especially in the last half month, the situation on the battlefield has taken a sharp turn for the worse.

Just after Nicholas II received another report of the battle, then a rough roar sounded again: "Rubbish, all a bunch of rubbish!"

Even if it was 700,000 pigs, the Germans could not have captured them in such a short time, but 700,000 Russian troops actually became prisoners of the Germans in just three days!

Now the whole world is watching our jokes, the surrender of an army group in a formation?

Oh, God! The largest surrender in history has been created by us! Could it be that the great Russian Empire really fell? It's just ......."

It is no wonder that Nicholas II was so angry, the total number of troops lost by the Russian army in just half a month was as high as 1.8 million, the Northern Front was finished, the Western Front was also crumbling, and the Southwestern Front suffered heavy losses in the winter offensive, and it has not recovered until now, and it has suffered heavy losses again.

On July 3, 1916, the Germans broke through the defense line of the Russian Northern Front.

On July 6, the Northern Front, with a total strength of more than two million troops, was split in two, and the northern defense line of the Russian army collapsed!

On July 9, the German Sixth Army completed the penetration of the Northern Front, and nearly a million Russian troops fell into the encirclement of the Germans.

On July 10, the Germans again broke through the lines of the Russian-Western Front.

On July 10, the commander of the Russian Northern Front, Colonel-General Alexei Andreyevich Polivanov, ordered the surrounded troops to break through, which ended in failure!

On July 15, the Russian Second Army was forced to surrender to the Germans, along with a part of the First, Fourth, and Fifth Armies, totaling 700,000 troops.

……

The Russian army has set another world record, with more than 700,000 troops surrendering in one battle!

Nicholas II can not care about the loss of the army, the key is that the battle on the Eastern Front is no longer able to recover, although there are still more than three million troops in the Russian army on the front line at this time, but it is also unable to continue to block the advance of the Allies!

The prime minister stubbornly said: "Your Majesty, now let's find a way to deal with the aftermath!" ”

Nicholas II sneered and said: "Aftermath? How to deal with the aftermath? Is there a way for you to turn defeat into victory? ”

Apparently, Nicholas II was now irritated, and anger had buried his sanity. The defeat of this campaign was not just an ordinary defeat!

This meant that his ambition was aborted. The performance of the Russian army on the front line has made everyone see the reality of the Russians, and in this case, they still want to dominate the European continent?

Not to mention hegemony, even subduing Bulgaria to establish a Slavic empire can not be done, Austria-Hungary is a clear example, Hungary and Austria became two empires with similar strength, and then consumed a lot of national power in internal friction, which is certainly not what Nicholas II wanted.

The Minister of War thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, find a way to stop the loss!" Now immediately withdraw all the troops on the front line, and we will rebuild the line of defense in the rear.

Although we are not in a position to defeat the Germans on our own, as long as the Entente wins the final victory, we will win the same!

Now our priority is not to find out why we failed, but to build a line of defense again to block the German-Austrian forces! ”

Perhaps venting enough, Nicholas II calmed down and ignored the Minister of War, instead turned his gaze to the Chief of the General Staff and asked: "What are the plans of the General Staff?" ”

The Chief of the General Staff now has a cold sweat on his forehead, as long as anyone with a little military common sense knows that the Russian army has missed the best time to retreat.

If the Germans had withdrawn to their original lines of defense before the Allies counteroffensive, the Germans would not have won so easily.

It's a pity that for the sake of so-called politics, the Russian army chose to build a defensive line in situ to block the attack of the German-Austrian forces, and gave up the fortress trenches that had been built before, and finally paid a heavy price!

Now it is obviously impossible to defend on the defense line that has been built before, and many parts of the original defense line have already fallen by this time!

The retreat of the whole army proposed by the Minister of War to re-establish the defensive line had become the best option for the Russians.

The chief of staff said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, the General Staff plans to send the two million troops that have just been mobilized in the country to re-establish the defensive line in the Central Russian Heights, but it will take time.

Therefore, the General Staff planned to let the front-line troops, alternately cover the retreat, and resist to delay time. And abandon the northern regions of Romania and hand over the defense to the Bulgarians!

When winter comes, we will launch a counteroffensive to regain lost territory, at that time I believe that Britain and France are also ready, Bulgaria should also solve the Ottoman Empire, when the time comes to attack on three fronts, the Germans are too busy even if they have three heads and six arms! ”

I have to say that the hairy bear is domineering, and when the General Staff formulates a strategy, it dares to directly give up millions of square kilometers of land, and Europe is the only one.

Nicholas II's face was now very embarrassed, and he had to admit that the plan of the General Staff was very feasible, and the real strength of the Central Powers was the German family.

Neither Austria-Hungary nor Italy fared well in this world war, and either of the Four-Power Entente was better than them.

Now it is equivalent to the Germans alone against the British + 0.8 France + 0.6 Russia, and they still have the upper hand on the European continent, which has to be admired!

But the weakness of the Germans was also obvious, the two-front battle caused the dispersion of forces, the first could not take care of each other, and could not achieve a decisive victory on both fronts.

At the same time, the Entente had absolute naval superiority and blocked their overseas material transportation routes, and now except for the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway, which could continue to trade, the Germans were cut off from other international trade routes.

Once there is a protracted war, without enough strategic materials, the Germans will definitely not be able to hold out!

But the most correct choice militarily does not mean that it is also politically correct, and it is likely to be disastrous!

Obviously, the negative effects of giving up large quantities of territory, even for a short time, could shake the foundations of the tsarist government.

Nicholas II also became troubled at this time, and he did not know what to do, and asked unwillingly: "Is there no other way?" ”

The chief of staff thought for a moment and said: "Unless Britain and France immediately launch a full-scale counteroffensive on the Western Front and force the Germans to draw troops from the Eastern Front, there is still a slight chance!" ”

……

While the Russians were preparing for a strategic retreat, the Germans in Berlin were now hesitating whether to crush the Russians at once.

Don't look at the brilliant results they have achieved on the front, but the losses of the German-Austrian army are not small, the number of casualties in just one month is as high as nearly 600,000, and the number is still increasing by 20,000 to 30,000 per day!

If this continues, when they kill the Russians, the German-Austrian army will also suffer heavy losses. If you want to kill the French again in the later war, it will be difficult to win this war!

So the German chief of staff, Falkingham, suggested to Wilhelm II that the Russians should be politically co-opted to induce the Russians to withdraw from the war, taking advantage of the fact that they were now suffering from a serious situation.

History is always an amazing coincidence, in history, after the defeat of the Russian army on the Eastern Front, the Germans threw an olive branch in an attempt to get the Russians out of the war, and the two sides also had secret contacts, but unfortunately the news leaked and was mixed up by Britain and France.

At this time, the situation in the Allies is even more serious than in history, and it is not surprising that some people advocate inducing the Russians to withdraw from the war.

Wilhelm II asked cautiously: "Is it possible for the Russians to withdraw from the war?" ”

The impact of this incident was too great, and once the Russians withdrew from the war, the German-Austrian forces could be thrown into the Western Front to fight a surprise attack by Britain and France.

The Western Front suddenly increased by two or three million troops, and Britain and France would definitely not be able to stop it, and once the defense line collapsed, the French would be finished, which could basically declare that the Allies had won the war.

Chancellor Theobarden von Batemann Holwig thought for a moment and said, "Whether it succeeds or not, it's worth our try!"

We can even tacitly acquiesce in the annexation of Romania by the Russians, or induce them to attack the Afghan region and threaten the British India! ”

At present, the contradictions between Germany and Russia are not serious, and the two sides can completely compromise, and paying some price to let the Russians withdraw from the war will not harm the core interests of the Germans.

Wilhelm II thought about it and found no problems, so he said: "Well, send someone to talk to the Russians first, and the conditions are negotiable."

As long as the Russians can withdraw from the Entente, we will support them in gaining India, and even if they want to continue to expand in the Far East, we can acquiesce!

Even if they want to get Constantinople and enter the Mediterranean, they can accept it, but they need to do it themselves! ”

Everyone's faces changed, the conditions offered by Wilhelm II this time were too generous, if they were proposed before the outbreak of the world war, there was really a great possibility that the Russians would add the allies.

The Junker-born war minister objected: "Your Majesty, so many benefits have been promised to the Russians, and we have not fought this war in vain?" We fought desperately, but the Russians took the biggest cake, which is really ......"

Wilhelm II interrupted: "That also depends on the fact that the Russians do not have such a good appetite!" In this war, our strategic goal is to kill the French, and then negotiate with the British to end the war!

As soon as the Russians invade India, let the British take their own heads! It would be better to let them fight for India and wear down each other's strength. ”

……

Will the Germans' wishful thinking be able to kick off? This question will take time to prove, and from the point of view of pure interests, it may be more cost-effective for the Russians to withdraw from the war and preserve their strength now.

The premise is that the woolly bear has no ambition to dominate the European continent, otherwise there is no possibility of détente between Germany and Russia.

As soon as Germany and Russia came into contact, Ferdinand received the news, and as a bystander, he quietly watched all this happen, as if he didn't know anything.

He knew that even if the Russians wanted to withdraw from the war now, they would have to pull Bulgaria out together, otherwise what would they do against the more powerful Germans after the war!

One of the most crucial reasons in history for Britain and France to persuade the Russians was that the Germans were too powerful, and once they integrated the European continent, the Russian Empire would only be able to survive as a second-rate country!

In the end, Ferdinand decided to stab the Germans and reveal the information to Britain and France, so that they could reconcile them.

Anyway, when it comes to diplomacy, since the chancellor of Bismarck, the diplomacy of the Germans has begun to go offline, and now with John Bull they can't succeed at all!

……

Ferdinand asked with concern: "Chief of Staff, is our army ready?" When can I land in Italy? ”

The Chief of the General Staff, Imya Dimitev, said confidently: "Your Majesty, the army has long been ready, we can attack at any time with just your order!" ”

Ferdinand nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, order Lieutenant General Valikot to launch a landing operation as soon as possible, and let him choose the specific time and place!" ”

Ferdinand was self-aware, he knew that due to the factor of foresight, his strategic level may be 90 points, but the actual military command ability may only be 50 points, so he never interferes in the command of the front-line troops.

In particular, there are more practical issues to be considered in such a landing operation, including weather, wind and waves at sea, changes in the enemy's troop deployment, and so on, which may affect the success of the landing, and it is even more impossible to interfere.

"Yes!" The Chief of the General Staff replied in a sonorous voice.

After a short military meeting, Ferdinand's hanging heart was relieved again. Presumably, when the Italians withdrew from the war, the main battle faction among the Russians would also be rejoicing!

After all, this was a political battle, and as long as the landing was successful, the Allied forces would burn the war to Rome, and the wavering Italian government would probably have to succumb.

As for whether the Italians will put up desperate resistance, this is irrelevant. Anyway, only five Bulgarian infantry divisions participated in the Entente landing army, and the remaining sixteen infantry divisions were British and French colonial cannon fodder troops.

Cannon fodder troops can be consumed at will, this is already the consensus of everyone. After all, for John Bull, even the loss of a million colonial troops would not have the same impact as the loss of 10,000 native troops.

……

In the middle of summer in July, Ferdinand was hiding under a tree to cool off, and now he missed the air-conditioned days immensely. Where is it like now, the old-fashioned electric fan is constantly ringing, constantly stimulating his ears.

Prime Minister Konstantin suddenly came to the palace and brought him good news, or rather, good news for the Russians is more appropriate!

"Your Majesty, the Dardanelles Strait has been cleared out, and now it can resume navigation, and the Bosphorus Strait is expected to be cleared out and resume normal navigation in two months!"

Ferdinand suddenly stood up from the Grand Master's chair and said, "Good! Send a telegram to St. Petersburg right now, telling them the good news! ”

After the outbreak of the world war, the Ottoman Empire, knowing that its navy was inadequate, simply blocked the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, and violently cut off the sea transportation of the Russians.

Without this sea route, the supplies provided by Britain and France would have to be transshipped through the domestic railways of Bulgaria, which obviously would have delayed a lot of time.

Originally, it only took two or three days to complete the transportation task by sea, but it is impossible to complete it without ten days and half a month to transfer it by railway!

This also takes into account the capacity of the railway, and many times when the supplies arrive, you have to wait in line for the train.

Now that the Dardanelles Strait is navigable, supplies can directly reach Constantinople and then be transferred, saving at least half of the time, and there is no need to wait in line for the train!

Obviously, this is undoubtedly good news for the Russians, which means that the material aid they receive later can be greatly increased!