Stry, the command of the Southwestern Front of the Russian Army. The commander of the Pen, Fun, www.biquge.info Cabinet, Admiral Ivanov, was in a state of fury at the moment. This made the officers and men of the entire headquarters silent one by one, for fear of angering Admiral Ivanov and thus inviting an unwarranted disaster.

The Russian 4th Army suffered a crushing defeat in Lviv, the commander, Colonel-General Dimitriev, fled from Lviv, and the withdrawn army was less than 10,000 people. You know, the 4th Army is a huge army with 300,000 troops! But what I never expected was that in just a few days, I was defeated by the Germans and paid such heavy losses.

"General, the battle of the 4th Army in Zamohich was also lost. The Germans had already captured Zamošić. "A staff officer stubbornly reported to Admiral Ivanov.

In view of the fact that Admiral Ivanov was in a very bad mood at the moment, these officers did not want to see him unless they had to.

"I see, you get out!" Admiral Ivanov said with a blank face.

Zamošić's defenders were completely annihilated by the Germans, which was nothing to Admiral Ivanov. In his heart, he had completely accepted the fact that the 4th Army had been completely annihilated.

"Yes, General." The staff officer hurriedly retreated, as if he was afraid that General Ivanov would repent.

"Damn, what's next? The Germans were too strong, and the 4th Army was too vulnerable, which led to the rapid occupation of Lviv by the Germans. Having lost Lviv, logistical combat materiel at the front could not be guaranteed. How can this battle continue! Admiral Ivanov was furious and at the same time very flustered.

"No, we can't fight anymore, we have to retreat. Otherwise, if there is a problem with the supply of supplies at the front, it will be a devastating blow to the morale of the troops. When the time comes, if you want to retreat again, it will be too late. Admiral Ivanov thought secretly. Now he no longer dares to think about victory. Even, he didn't want to hold on for a moment. Because he knows that before the time passes, their situation will be in danger. The German army that captured Lviv was like a dagger in their back, which could be inserted at any time and kill them.

It's just that for Admiral Ivanov, the retreat was not so easy. Before the battle began, he opted for risky tactics almost desperately. Now, the end result is that his adventure has failed completely. At the same time, it also caused heavy losses to the Southwestern Front of the Russian Army. With such a result, he simply had no way to explain it to Grand Duke Nicholas and Tsar Nicholas II!

"Oh God! How did this battle come to this? Admiral Ivanov closed his eyes in agony. Originally, this tactic he adopted, although it was a little risky. However, it is definitely not that there is not even a chance of winning. On the contrary, Admiral Ivanov also believes that the odds of victory are still relatively large. After all, the vulnerability of the Austrian army has been verified by them.

However, after the battle began, the tenacity of the Austrian army was completely unexpected by them. No matter how the Russian army launched a fierce attack, the Austrian defense line was still very stable. On the other hand, the German offensive was very strong, which made the Russian army gradually fall behind in this battle.

At present, among the four armies of the Southwestern Front, the 4th Army has been completely annihilated. The 3rd Army, the 8th Army and the 11th Army have already lost more than 100,000 troops. This means that in just a few days of fighting, they lost nearly half of their troops. The remaining six or seven hundred thousand people want to confront the German-Austrian coalition army, which is no longer possible.

"We must retreat! Otherwise, all the troops would have been lost here. "Admiral Ivanov made up his mind.

Immediately, Colonel-General Ivanov personally drafted a telegram and sent it to the command of the Russian front, requesting the retreat of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Grand Duke Nikolai.

Grand Duke Nicholas was also paying attention to the development of the war situation. After all, when the Northwest Front was completely annihilated and had not had time to rebuild, the decisive battle between the Southwest Front and the German-Austrian forces was directly related to the victory or defeat of the entire Eastern Front. At the time when Admiral Ivanov chose aggressive tactics, Grand Duke Nikolai did not stop him. Because, he also hopes that the Russian army can win this battle.

But alas, in the end, the god of luck still did not favor them. The Southwestern Front, which has millions of Russian troops, is already in a desperate situation in this battle.

"How could this battle be fought like this? Could it be that the military strength of the Russian Empire is really so different from the mainstream of the world? "Grand Duke Nikolai's face was full of bitterness.

Although, the combat effectiveness of the Russian army has always been almost at the bottom among the great powers. However, relying on the huge superiority of troops, they were still able to maintain their position as one of the great powers. The title of steam roller is even more terrifying to European countries. But now, when the superiority in forces can no longer determine the outcome of the battlefield, the Russian army has lost its greatest advantage.

Grand Duke Nikolai knew that after this battle, the Russian army would be seriously at a disadvantage on the Eastern Front. I'm afraid that until the end of this war, they will not be able to recover their inferiority. As for whether Russia can win the final victory in this war, Archduke Nicholas has no hope anyway. It's not that they're too weak, it's because the enemy is too strong!

"General, Admiral Ivanov asked for a retreat." A telegram from a general to Admiral Ivanov was handed over to Grand Duke Nikolai.

After reading it, Grand Duke Nikolai nodded: "We have already lost this battle, and there is no point in fighting it any longer." That would only cost us more. Tell General Ivanov that I allow them to retreat. A momentary failure is nothing. We're not losing to the point of losing yet, we still have a chance! Bring back as many troops as possible, and that will be the seed for our resurgence. ”

"Yes, General." The general nodded.

When the telegram from Grand Duke Nikolai reached the hands of Admiral Ivanov, he immediately gave the order to retreat. General Ivanov ordered the Russian 3rd, 8th and 11th armies to immediately disengage from contact with the Austrian army and retreat quickly. They retreated all the way to the hinterland of Ukraine and Belarus, giving up large swaths of territory in exchange for freeing them from the pursuit of the German-Austrian forces.