Belarus, Stevka, General Headquarters of Russian Troops. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Grand Duke Nikolai, looked at the telegram in his hand and did not say a word. This is a report on battle damage sent by the commander of the Southwestern Front of the Russian Army, Colonel-General Ivanov. The heavy loss made Grand Duke Nikolai's heart very sad.

In the report of General Ivanov, the main forces of the Southwestern Front of the Russian army have been eliminated in this battle. Originally, the Southwestern Front had 1.2 million people. But now, the Southwestern Front has only 250,000 men left, and has lost a full 950,000 men, which is almost a million. If you count the losses of the Northwest Front of the Russian army before, Russia has lost nearly two million troops on the Eastern Front. Even if Russia has a large number of troops, it can't afford such losses!

What's more, almost all of these troops lost are their elite troops. In this case, they will be seriously disadvantaged in the next battle!

"Perhaps, we were wrong from the start. This war is no longer something that the Russian Empire can participate in. The strength of the Russian Empire was too weak to have any chance of winning this war. Grand Duke Nikolai had a bitter look on his face.

Originally, Tsar Nicholas II, the commanders of the Russian army, and senior government officials all thought that it was a sure thing to defeat the Central Powers with the strength of the Entente. Especially after Italy betrayed the Central Powers and fell to the Entente, the Central Powers became even weaker. However, the victory on which they had high hopes was not able to come. On the contrary, one failure after another, one after another.

The Russian army suffered such heavy losses in this war, which directly made it hopeless for them to win on the Eastern Front. In the opinion of Grand Duke Nikolai, the next role of the Russian Empire in this war is probably soy sauce! The only role they could play was to contain a part of the German-Austrian forces. Also, a lot of territory will be lost. Unless the Entente can win this war, I am afraid that Russia will not want to regain these territories at all.

But will the Entente be able to win this war? If it had been before the outbreak of war, Grand Duke Nicholas would have thought that the Entente would have been able to achieve the final victory. But now, he wasn't so sure. Among other things, the explosion of Germany's military power in this war alone was enough to shock everyone. The German Army is worthy of the title of the first in the world. Even if it is a two-front battle, it is still in the battle and has an advantage. Even the German navy gained superiority over the British navy in naval battles. In the eyes of Grand Duke Nikolai, this is really incredible. But facts are facts, and even if he thinks it's unlikely, it won't change because of it.

"May God bless the Russian Empire, and may we be able to win this war!" Grand Duke Nicholas muttered. It seems that praying for the blessing of an ethereal God has become their only recourse.

"Your Excellency, how can you report the specific situation of the Southwestern Front to Your Majesty?" A Russian general asked.

After all, with the successive defeats of the Russian army on the battlefield, this made Tsar Nicholas II very annoyed. If Nicholas II had learned that the Southwestern Front had also suffered a crushing defeat, the consequences would have been very serious. They are the generals of the military, and they can't eat and walk around.

"Report to Your Majesty as it is! Concealment is simply not possible for a long time. Once His Majesty knows the truth, I am afraid the consequences will be even more serious. Grand Duke Nikolai said.

As for the character of his nephew, Nicholas II, Grand Duke Nicholas was very clear. is not only rigid and conceited, but also irritable. In particular, you can't suffer losses and can't endure the deception of others.

Although Grand Duke Nicholas was very guilty about the battle like this, he knew that there was no way to do it. If he had concealed it, the consequences would have been even more severe. When the time comes, even if he is the uncle of Nicholas II, Nicholas II will probably not let him go easily. So, Grand Duke Nicholas was not willing to do that.

"Yes, Your Excellency." The general nodded, and immediately went to prepare the telegram.

St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, the Hermitage.

Tsar Nicholas II sat behind his desk with a blank face. On the desk, there were several telegrams scattered around. It was the telegram that the Grand Duke Nicholas had sent back. The content of the telegram is the battle damage of the Russian Southwestern Front.

When Nicholas II saw this telegram, he was furious. Although, he seems to have become accustomed to failure. However, repeated failures made him almost numb.

In front of Nicholas II's desk stood a cadre of Russian generals and high-ranking government officials. It's just that everyone doesn't say a word, as if they are sinners waiting to be judged.

"First the Northwestern Front was annihilated, and then the Southwestern Front was almost completely annihilated. By now, we have lost almost two million troops. You know, before the outbreak of the war, our standing army was only 1.4 million! What's even worse is that these troops lost are still our elite troops. In that case, how can we fight this battle? Nicholas II looked at the generals of the Russian army and the high-ranking officials of the government with red eyes.

Everyone was silent, and everyone knew that the current situation was really bad for Russia. The performance of the Russian army in this war can be described as terrible.

It can be said that it is precisely because of this that many high-ranking officials of the Russian government and military generals are very negative about this war, believing that it is difficult for them to win.

Tsar Nicholas II, looking at the reaction of these ministers and generals, was also very helpless. It's like the current battle situation.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of the current situation? What should we do next? Nicholas II asked.

"Your Majesty, given the heavy losses of the troops. Until our newly mobilized troops are not ready, it is better not to take the initiative to attack again. Otherwise, we will most likely be defeated again. War Minister Sukhhomlinov said.

Nicholas II nodded with a gloomy face, even if a large number of troops were mobilized again, but those rabbles obviously could not be sent to the battlefield! Let them go to war, that is simply to send them to death.