What reassured Nicholas II the most was that Vladivostok's supplies finally appeared on the front line in large quantities, and the railway system was tempered by defeat, and after Nicholas II purged hundreds of officials, it finally became orderly. More and more equipment and ammunition were sent to soldiers on the front line, and within two months of the German army stopping the offensive, the Russian army received 1,100 aircraft and more than 1,300 tanks, which increased the confidence of the Russians to continue fighting.

The Americans and the British could not allow Russia to unilaterally negotiate peace with Germany, and in order to ensure that Russia continued to resist, they frantically sent supplies to Vladivostok. In addition, the proud Nicholas II would not easily admit to being defeated by William, and he was even ready to move to the Ural Mountains, where the accumulated wealth of the imperial family was planning to move to the east.

With numerous gray cattle and Anglo-American material support, Nicholas II ordered the General Staff of the Russian army to develop a new battle plan, and the Slavic peoples did not lack masters of strategy and tactics. The previous defeat made Nicholas II realize that the generals who were suppressed in peacetime were the real talents, and those who held high positions were all through crooked ways, and they were far worse than their subordinates in terms of real talent and learning.

Everything had to make way for victory in wartime, purges and personnel promotions within the army were widely spread, more than a hundred lieutenant generals and generals were transferred back to Moscow, either to retire home, or to become commanders of idle departments. Those officers who had distinguished themselves in battle were promoted to the rank of front-line commanders, and this move soon surprised Nicholas II, and the young officers who had been promoted showed great gratitude and loyalty to the royal family and performed well in battle.

Three months later, the fighting in Eastern Europe continued, and the shortcomings of the Germans' ill-preparation were evident during this time, they were not ready to attack Moscow, they were not ready to capture the entire territory of Russia, they were not ready for winter operations. More than 2 million German troops and more than 500,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, 50,000 Bulgarian troops, and 20,000 Finnish troops on the front line needed huge quantities of supplies, and the long supply lines and poor transportation conditions were enough to collapse the Allied logistics department. It was the middle of winter, but more than a third of the soldiers had not received cotton clothes.

Corresponding to the Russian army, Lao Maozi, who adapted to the cold climate, fought locally, there was no shortage of warm clothes such as cotton clothes, and a large number of materials piled up in Vladivostok were slowly transported to the front line, and the Russian army had sufficient reserves of materials in three months. The increasing number of tanks, artillery and aircraft gave the front-line generals confidence that with ammunition to squander for a while, the Russian generals who had never been so wealthy could not help but try to counterattack.

The second phase of the fighting began on the Black Sea coast, and in early December, the Battle of Crimea broke out, and the ultimate goal of the Southern Cluster was obvious, which was to take the oil region of Baku, an oil-producing area on the Caspian coast. After the capture of Kyiv, the First Army of the Southern Cluster went to rest, while the Fifth and Seventh Armies continued southward in an attempt to seize the Black Sea coast, eliminate the threat of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and gain easy access to the Caucasus.

The 22nd Army of the Russian Army and the newly formed Ukrainian Legion, with a total of more than 500,000 people, faced the German army, and the two sides launched fierce battles in the Odessa and Crimean regions, using the strong fortifications and sufficient supplies in the Crimean area, the Russian army blocked the German army north of the Crimean Peninsula at the cost of losing 200,000 people. In the heat of battle, the Russian Black Sea Fleet used warships to provide fire support to the army, and when the battleships were useless, elite sailors would go ashore to participate in battles on land. Moscow sent more than 500 planes and more than 200 tanks here, and although the losses were also huge, they played an important role in holding back the German offensive. What's more, the Russians were able to receive a steady stream of troops and supplies, and with great tenacity, they thwarted the German attempts under the command of a young but talented general, and the commander of the Ukrainian corps, the young Far Eastern general, Kornilov, became the biggest star of the campaign, shattering the myth of the invincibility of the German army.

The battle ended in early January 1911, and the Russian army lost more than half of its troops, but it maintained more than 500,000 troops without decreasing. However, the strength of the Allied forces on the opposite side was difficult to replenish, and Army Group South lost more than 50,000 people, all of whom were valuable elite soldiers. In addition, the German army had not yet completed the campaign objectives set before the war, and in the face of the increasingly strong Russian army, which had more and more troops and materials, it had to fall into a terrible tug-of-war, so that the pace of the southern cluster was temporarily stopped.

The central and northern clusters also encountered great resistance, and the Russian army concentrated 1.9 million troops in full array, and even the largest tank battle on the Russian battlefield broke out in Smolensk. More than 350 German tanks and 260 American tanks collided fiercely, a heavy tank destroyer battalion composed of 15 T01 tanks and 18 No. 4 tanks were invincible on the battlefield, and the remaining No. 3 tanks were not much behind the Russian tanks. The results of the battle also proved that the Entente already had weapons that could compete with the German tanks, and even improved tactically. Ninety-nine German tanks were destroyed, seventy-two tanks needed to be overhauled or replaced, and nearly half of the damage temporarily deprived the center cluster of armored units of their ability to support the infantry, and the armored units could only temporarily rest until the rear tanks were brought over. The losses of the Russian armored forces were even greater, one hundred and fifty-five tanks were destroyed, eighty-two were damaged, and it can be said that the entire army was destroyed. However, the tactical defeat of the Russians could not hide their strategic victory, and they successfully prevented the penetration of German armored forces and stabilized the infantry line.

Because of the sacrifice of the tank troops, the Russians successfully prevented the breakthrough of the German middle cluster, and the Russian general Alekseev, who had learned his lesson, set up a large and deep defensive line, although the tactics were only a simple outline, but achieved good results. On the defensive line of more than 400 kilometers, the Russian army placed 1.1 million infantry and cavalry, drowning out the momentum of the German attack. In the more than 20 days after the start of the battle, the Germans advanced only a little more than 90 kilometers, which was nothing compared to the first stage of the offensive.

The failure to break through the Russian lines and reach the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg in succession, giving the Russians nearly three months of respite, was the main reason for the failure of the second stage. Tracing back to the source, it was because of the lack of preparation of the Germans, and the German Wehrmacht during World War II had been preparing for a long time and very well in order to invade the Soviet Union, so it was able to stop the momentum of advance directly under the city of Moscow.

It is difficult for a country with vast strategic depth to be completely defeated, especially the tenacious old Maozi. Those farmers who had just put down their hoes were sent to the front line after putting on their military uniforms, and the simple training of a few bullets went into the trenches and the German elite infantry desperately, one German soldier could exchange the lives of five old Maozi soldiers, and the remaining five old Maozi soldiers could gain experience in battle, and quickly grew up with the nature of the fighting nation. As a result, there are fewer and fewer elite German soldiers, but there are more and more elite Russian soldiers.

The most pity was the elite Cossack cavalry, who did not yet realize that they did not fit into this historical stage, and more than half a million Russian cavalry took part in the war against the Germans. They bravely rushed to the German positions brandishing their sabers, and then were strafed by countless Maxim machine guns, the soldiers became corpses, and the war horses became trophies of the Germans. The high-ranking generals who insisted on the use of cavalry were very stubborn, and when they received the news of heavy losses from the cavalry, they not only let the cavalry withdraw, but also let them continue the attack. The Polish cavalry, the Cossack cavalry, and the Lao Maozi cavalry all became the ghosts of the Makqin machine guns. Even Brushilov, the general of the Russian cavalry and the commander of the Eighth Army, was a cavalry expert who admired the offensive strategy, and when he commanded the troops to carry out a large-scale offensive, he broke through at the same time at one point and at many points, making it difficult for the German reserves to agitate in the main direction and break through many German and Austrian positions. But he was killed on the spot when he led a cavalry unit to force an attack on German positions, and he was also one of the highest-ranking Russian generals killed on the Russian battlefield.

The only one that went most smoothly was Army Group North, and the Russian general Wrangel, who led the Russian Army of the Russian Army North, was the one who survived the purge, and he used the bribe of Nicholas II's side to regain trust and continue to lead troops at the front. How could this incompetent general lead his troops to victory? The ranks were filled with his cronies, and the officers were as incompetent and greedy as he was, withholding military salaries and supplies as a shortcut to making a fortune.

Wrangel neither set up fortifications on the front line, nor brought his troops into combat readiness, let alone delivered military supplies such as ammunition to the front-line soldiers. He was watching a ballet in a theater in St. Petersburg when the Germans began their attack, but he stopped his men from reporting the news of the German attack, and insisted on processing the information after the dance.

The rout of the Russian army was inevitable, a large number of soldiers without ammunition in their rifles surrendered to the German soldiers, and the Germans quickly approached St. Petersburg across Lake Chud. More than 100,000 Russian soldiers became prisoners of war of the Germans, a large amount of materials became trophies of the German army, and more than 300,000 remnants of the defeated soldiers fled to the periphery of St. Petersburg in fear. Fortunately, a snowstorm came unexpectedly at this time, and the heavy snow lasted for quite some time, which became the lucky weather for the commander of the Northern Army, Wrangel. The general's inaction was passed on to Moscow, but it was successfully covered up by Nicholas II's close retainers, and although he was not purged, Wrangel got serious. The place where he was located was the seat of the Russian royal family, and it was impossible to give it to the Germans. Taking advantage of the blizzard, the Russian Army of the North gathered more than half a million troops near St. Petersburg, and the weather and the defense of the Russian army finally made it impossible for the Germans to move forward. (To be continued.) )