(After hesitating for a while, I decided to code this chapter out, after all, these are two major events that are enough to change the course of the war, and it will feel incomplete if you don't code it out, and this chapter can not be ordered, and it will not affect the reading later.) ）

As March begins, it seems that a warm spring breeze blows away people's frozen minds, and the pace of war accelerates abruptly.

As early as February, the British troops in Arras discovered a special situation, the German positions opposite them were under artillery attack, but the attack did not come from the British, but from the Germans. The British commander excluded the scouts and reconnoitred the German positions, and the results were shocking, the German positions were empty, all the German troops had retreated, and the Germans were using explosives to destroy the remaining fortifications on the positions to avoid being used by the British.

The British commander reported the situation, but did not take it seriously, and the Allied top brass was meeting in Calais, the French rear, to discuss the upcoming spring offensive.

Unlike the Allied powers, who were noisy and shouting like a wet market aunt, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the German army, Ludendorff, was a general of extraordinary talent.

The British and French spent the winter huddled in the trenches without fighting spirit, drunk all day long, while the Germans barely had a day of rest under the command of Ludendorff. It took 370,000 German reservists, German civilians, and Russian prisoners to build a new line of defense that stretched 70 miles from Arras to St. Quentin in four months.

To do this, the Germans gave up almost 1,000 square miles of land, which in the time of Falkingham, was absolutely not allowed.

This line of defense was named the "Hindenburg" line, and the new line of defense was a huge project, in order to transport steel bars, cement and other construction materials, 1,200 trains were used. Nearly 170,000 people.

After the completion of the Hindenburg Line, it had a complete defensive system.

The Hindenburg defensive line began with anti-tank trenches, which were ten feet deep and twelve feet wide, and were backed by five lines of barbed wire with rows spaced twenty paces apart, and behind the barbed wire were small pillboxes made of reinforced concrete. These bunkers were arranged like a chessboard, and the bunkers could support each other, and each bunker was equipped with two machine guns, and whenever possible, the bunkers were built on the downhill slope, so that the defenders could have a condescending geographical advantage.

Thick barbed wire was placed around the bunker, which was cleverly placed and did not completely block the line of attack, but if the attackers attacked along the passage. will fall into the fire trap of the Germans.

There was no access to the outside of the pillbox, it was connected to the defensive line behind it by secret tunnels, all the passages and dark chambers were built under the surface, covered with 7 yards of earth, which was difficult to destroy even with heavy artillery, and in the anticline area where enemy artillery could not be bombarded, the Germans set up artillery positions, which were only pulled out when they were used. Usually they hide in bunkers, and it is difficult to counter them with fire.

A whole winter. The Entente was all about coordinating their cooperation, and the Germans, under Ludendorff, had sharpened their claws and teeth in preparation for what Niveller thought was a brilliant spring offensive.

Just as the British and French armies were preparing to attack, a shocking news came from the north.

On March 6, the march on the streets of St. Petersburg finally developed into riots and looting, and the Cossack cavalry was sent to restore order in the city. But this time, instead of carrying out the tsar's orders, the Cossacks joined the rioting army, which consisted mostly of women.

On March 7, Nicholas II announced that he would go to the State Duma the next day to form a new cabinet. This gives hope to a part of the sane people. But just a few hours later, Nicholas II announced that he could not go to the State Duma, but to the army headquarters. This behavior also began to disappoint the last small group of people who still had expectations for Nicholas II.

On March 9, left-wing groups that have been brutally repressed over the past few years took to the streets to call for a general strike.

On March 10, the Cossack cavalry, ordered to counter the rebellion, opened fire on the police, the cabinet began to panic, someone resigned, someone demanded that the tsar immediately form a new government. And the return of Nicholas II was jaw-dropping, he said in a telegram: I order the riots in the capital to end tomorrow!

On March 11, Nicholas II gave the Prime Minister an order to explain the Duma, but it was rejected by the Duma, and the parliamentarians became revolutionaries.

On the twelfth, the arsenal was occupied, and thousands of rifles went into the hands of the revolutionaries.

On the thirteenth, Nicholas II finally left the army headquarters and returned to the capital, but as soon as he arrived in a small town called Pskov, he was placed under house arrest, and Nicholas II's 40,000 Praetorian Guards also revolted.

Nicholas II did not care about the throne at this time, he only cared about his five children, all of whom had measles, which was not a minor illness.

On the 15th, two governments emerged in Russia, a new government formed by the State Duma and a Soviet government composed of workers and soldiers. The members of the Tsar's cabinet did not object, and they went so far as to demand that the State Duma arrest them so that their personal safety could be guaranteed.

When it was finally time for Nicholas II to abdicate, all the people in the country were against him. Several officials from Petersburg asked Nicholas II to transfer the throne to his son, but Nicholas II did not agree, and his son Alexis suffered from hemophilia and did not live long. Nicholas II passed the throne to his younger brother Michael, also known as Michael II.

Michael II immediately announced his abdication.

The Romanov dynasty is finally over.

Britain and France were happy at the end of the Russian monarchy, and Raymond and George did not care about the feelings of Nikolai, who was now only a loser and did not deserve sympathy. Britain and France found it embarrassing from the outset to form an alliance with authoritarian Russia, and they wanted to portray the war as a war between democracy and dictatorship, but Russia's presence complicated their explanation.

Now that Russia had become a democracy, and more belligerent than before, it seemed that the Entente was much purer within itself.

The good news is that since the Germans expanded the range of submarine warfare in February, the Germans have indeed achieved great things, sinking only 300,000 tons of ships in January, but almost doubling that number to more than 500,000 tons in February, and reaching a new high of 600,000 tons in March.

These increases are all from the U.S. merchant marine.

On 31 January, German Ambassador to the United States Bernstov announced to US Secretary of State Robert Lansing that Germany would engage in unrestricted submarine warfare, and then Bernstorff, who had served as ambassador to the United States for eight years, left the United States and returned to Germany.

On 2 February, US President Wilson convened a cabinet meeting, and the cabinet members unanimously supported the United States' entry into the war. On the same day, the American steamer "Xiu Sabernik" was sunk, but there were no casualties.

On 3 February, the United States and Germany severed diplomatic relations. At this time, Wilson had not yet made up his mind, because in the United States, there were many people in the east who demanded war, and there were many people in other regions who opposed it, and millions of people were hesitant.

But apparently the submarine warfare of the Germans was a great threat, and more and more people were demanding to go to war,

On 26 February, Parliament overwhelmingly approved the armament of merchant ships with artillery.

Since March 7, Wilson has isolated himself from anyone for talks, and the whole world is waiting for Wilson's decision.

On 18 March, three American merchant ships were sunk, and Wilson summoned the Cabinet to ask again for its opinion, and the Cabinet agreed en masse.

On 2 April, the House of Representatives approved the War Bill with 373 votes in favor and 50 against.

On 4 April, Senators approved the War Bill with 80 votes in favor and 6 against.

On April 6, the United States declared war on Germany.

(To be continued.) )