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"Even if France is defeated, the Royal Navy of the British Empire will not let a single German cross the English Channel!" Sir John Fisher, the British Admiralty, said firmly!

"Ugh! Sir Fisher, I do not mean to despise the Royal Navy. It's just that if after the defeat of France, millions of German troops can attack Russia in the east in addition to attacking us, and once Russia is also defeated, the entire European continent will belong to the Germans, which is definitely not a good thing for the British Empire! Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, said hurriedly.

Sir John Fisher nodded, and did not dwell on the issue any more!

"Your Excellency Meshuin, how many more land forces do we have to devote to the war?" Prime Minister Asquith asked. Britain had a strong navy, and its own security had been guaranteed, and if Germany wanted to attack British soil, it would first have to defeat the British navy. Although the strength of the German Navy was enough to challenge the British Navy, the British Navy still had an absolute advantage.

"Your Excellency, we have mobilized 500,000 troops so far, of which 100,000 have been sent to France, and they have already participated in this French border campaign, losing more than 20,000 men. The mobilization continues, and eventually our army can mobilize about a million people. In addition, the armies of the colonies were still being assembled. However, neither the Indian nor Australian troops can be transferred to Turkey, and they must guard against the Chinese! War Secretary Paul Stafford Mehuin said.

"Well, form an expeditionary force of 200,000 men to support the French, no matter what. We have to help the French survive this crisis! Prime Minister Asquith said. If France is defeated, it is useless for Britain to keep as many land forces, and the British army is no match for the German army in any way, and it is even more delusional to rely on the British army to defeat the Germans. Therefore, in order to defeat Germany, it is necessary to rely on the French as much as possible, so that more French people can fight with the Germans. What Britain had to do was to keep the confidence of the French as unaffected as possible. That's how we can keep fighting!

"Yes, Your Excellency, Prime Minister!" War Secretary Paul Stafford Mehuine nodded.

"Sir Fisher, during this time, the Navy has strengthened the blockade of Germany, any ship flying the flag of Germany or the Allies. All of them were taken prisoner, and the Germans could not be allowed to get any supplies, and they were dragged to death! Prime Minister Asquith said through gritted teeth. The German offensive in the early stages of the war was very fierce, which was not unexpected by the British. However, the British side believed that as long as it dragged on, as the Germans paid more and more casualties and consumed more and more supplies. The German offensive will slowly weaken, and then it will be time for Britain and France to counterattack!

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister! But. If it is a Chinese ship, will we also take prisoners? Lord Chancellor John Fisher asked. At present, China has not been involved in the war, although China and Germany have close relations. But China did not enter the war after all. If the British Navy moves against Chinese ships, it will definitely attract crazy retaliation from the Chinese. Don't say anything else. As long as the Chinese navy blockades the Strait of Hormuz, Britain will have to make a detour to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa if it wants to contact India and Australia!

Prime Minister Asquith hesitated, but still shook his head: "Don't pay attention to the Chinese for the time being, the daily consumption of materials by the Germans on the battlefield is completely a daily number, and it is impossible for the Chinese to make up for the losses of the Germans." After China enters the war, we will do it to the ships of the Chinese! ”

"Yes, I see!" Sir John Fisher said. In this regard, he can also understand that China is too powerful, although everyone knows that China will definitely join the side of the Allies to fight, but when China has not yet entered the war, Britain is not willing to take the initiative to provoke China. Otherwise, the Chinese's retaliation will make Britain lose even more!

"Also, in contact with Russia and the United States, since they have declared war on the Allies, they cannot sit idly by. Russia, in particular, now is the time when they need to launch an attack on the Eastern Front. As for the Americans, let them, if possible, send troops to fight in Europe! Prime Minister Asquith said. Of course, he also knew that this was somewhat unlikely, but the Americans regarded China as a great enemy of life and death, and before defeating China, the Americans would definitely not invest troops in other wars!

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will ask the ambassadors to Russia and the United States to convey our requests to the governments of the two countries!" This was stated by the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey.

On the morning of August 11, in St. Petersburg, the French ambassador to Russia, Léologue, asked to see Tsar Nicholas II. The tsar received him in the Winter Palace.

"I beg your majesty to order your army to take an offensive immediately, otherwise the French army is in danger of being annihilated. In the border battle, our army and the British army have lost more than 100,000 people, and at the same time lost a large amount of equipment. Now the main forces of the German army are marching towards Paris, and our country is mobilizing forces to prepare for resistance to the German offensive. The French government hoped that Russia would launch an attack on East Prussia, contain the Germans, and relieve pressure on France! Leolog pleaded. The current situation of France is very critical, and if Paris is broken by the Germans, then France will be finished.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured that Russia will not sit idly by while France is invaded. The Russian team has completed part of the mobilization, and I will let the troops on the front line do their best to launch the territory of East Prussia! Tsar Nicholas II said. He understands very well that once France is defeated by Germany, then the next unlucky person should be Russia!

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty the Tsar, the French government and people will not forget Russia's help to France!" Ambassador Leologe is grateful!

Immediately after the departure of Ambassador Leolog, Tsar Nicholas II summoned the Russian ministers to discuss the issue of an attack on East Prussia.

"Your Majesty, France is an ally of Russia, and now that the shape of France is very unfavorable, we should immediately launch an attack on East Prussia to relieve the pressure on France!" Prime Minister Pyotr Astolypin said.

"Your Majesty, it is true that we should attack East Prussia, but we must not let our guard down against the enemy in the east. Compared to the Germans, China to the east is our worst enemy. Therefore, while attacking East Prussia, we must keep enough troops in the east to defend against the attack of the Chinese! Foreign Minister Nilatov said.

Tsar Nicholas II nodded, and then asked: "Your Excellency Grand Duke Karl, is now our mobilization complete?" ”

"Your Majesty, by now, our mobilization has been completed for the most part. In the western region there are 30 corps with a total of 96 infantry divisions and 37 cavalry divisions, totaling about 2.7 million men, plus 900,000 special reserve troops and fortress troops. In addition, we have a million people stationed in Siberia and along the Ural River to defend against the Chinese! "Said the Minister of War, Archduke Karl!

"Then, order the troops of the western regions to begin the offensive towards East Prussia. At the same time, continue to mobilize, although the Chinese have not yet entered the war, we must keep at least two million troops on the Eastern Front! Tsar Nicholas II said. More than 10 years ago, Russia suffered a lot at the hands of China, which makes him still feel palpitations when he thinks about it now!

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Grand Duke Karl nodded. Russia now has a population of 130 million people, and can easily mobilize more than 5 million troops, and the Russian peasants, as soon as the tsar summons, will lay down their hoes, go into the barracks, and then carry their rifles to die. The most important thing in Russia is probably the source of soldiers, and almost every adult Russian man is a qualified soldier. However, Russia lacked sufficient weapons and equipment, so that many Russian soldiers who went to the battlefield were not equipped with rifles, either waiting to capture the enemy's rifles or waiting to inherit the weapons of their comrades after they died.

On August 11, Tsar Nicholas II gave the order to attack Germany. As for the other country, Austria-Hungary, it was completely unnoticed by Russia. In the eyes of the Russians, as long as Germany was defeated first, Austria-Hungary could be easily destroyed.

Having received an order from Tsar Nicholas II, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Grand Duke Nicholas, immediately began to organize troops and launched a combat operation codenamed 'Autumn Offensive'!

The Germans were on the Eastern Front and took a defensive attitude. Compared with the defensive attitude of the German plan, the plan of the Russian army is aggressive. Before the war, the Russians developed two alternative combat options against Germany and Austria-Hungary: Plan G, the "German" plan, which envisaged the concentration of German forces on fighting against Russia. Plan A, the "Austrian Plan", expected Germany to take the defensive on the Eastern Front. In both cases, the field army would be divided into the North-Western Front, consisting of the 1st and 2nd armies, and the Southwestern Front, consisting of the 3rd, 5th and 8th armies. The 4th Army joined the North-Western Front in the implementation of Plan G and the Southwestern Front in the implementation of Plan A. The 6th and 7th armies protected the flanks and this front stretching from the Baltic and Finland to Romania and the Black Sea. In both options, the area west of the Vistula River in Russian Poland was prepared to evacuate the population in the event of the outbreak of war to ensure that the army could be assembled calmly. The North-Western Front was massed along the border of East Prussia, and the South-Western Front was assembled along the Austrian-Galician border.

On August 15, the 'autumn offensive' of the Russian army began. The Russian army formed the North-Western Front, which was commanded by General Zhilinsky and had its headquarters in Bilostok. Under the command of two army groups, the 1st Army, under the command of General Rennankampf, was to advance north of Lake Masuri and detour back to the enemy's left side; The 2nd Army, commanded by General Samsonov, was to advance south of Lake Masurian to cut off and eliminate the Germans between Lake Masuri and the Vistula.