This battle annihilated the living force of nearly one million German troops, greatly damaged the strength of the German army, and also contained nearly two million German troops in the north, which shows that the role played by the Chinese army in the process of fighting the German army is immeasurable, and after the Soviet Russian side withdrew from the war, the Chinese army completely took over the role of Soviet Russia in containing the German army.

After solving the German forces in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Algeria and other places, the German and Austrian forces in southeastern Europe were completely disabled, in order to preserve the vitality, the German and Austrian troops had to retreat significantly, in order to shrink the defensive line, had to give up some unnecessary territory, and the Chinese side began to urge the Balkan armies to attack Serbia and other places.

However, the next move of the Chinese army has also become an issue that the top level of the Chinese country urgently needs to consider and decide, and at the meeting of the staff group convened by Xiao Zhenlei, he raised this issue, and the staff members expressed their opinions and opinions one after another.

Cai Ye first stood up and expressed his opinion, he said: "President, ladies and gentlemen, from a purely military point of view, I think that at present, our expeditionary force should be attacked to solve the strong pressure from the German army in the north, and after solving the 300,000 German troops besieged in the Transylwasinian plateau, our first, fifth, and sixth corps have freed up their hands, and they can completely go north to launch the most fierce attack on the German army in the north with 600,000 men of the Second Army, and completely solve the pressure from the German army in the north, so as to do so." , we will fight with Britain, France and the United States from the east and the west to attack the German-Austrian coalition forces from the east and the west, and the German-Austrian coalition forces will not be able to take care of the end and will be exhausted! Militarily strategically, if we deal with the German army in the north. The march of the large army to the north could not only exert enormous military pressure on Germany. And it can also put tremendous pressure on the nascent Soviet side of Russia, as long as the side of the Soviet Union is not honest. We can completely blockade Soviet Russia at any time".

After listening to Cai Yi's strategic analysis, Xiao Zhenlei nodded and agreed, "Yes, this strategy can indeed play a role in many aspects, do you have any other different views and opinions?" ”

Yang Du stood up and said, "President, I have a different opinion!" ”

"Oh?" Xiao Zhenlei looked at Yang Du, stretched out his hand and said, "What is Mr. Yang's opinion?" ”

Yang Du said: "President, ladies and gentlemen, just now General Cai Yi analyzed from the perspective of military strategy that our army can go north to attack the German army in the future, with our total strength. As long as we keep the logistics supply in time and the transportation lines unimpeded, coupled with the cooperation of the guerrillas in various parts of the north, it is only a matter of time before we defeat the German army in the north, which can not only cause huge military pressure on the German mainland, but also deter Soviet Russia.

However, I think that the source of war is profit, and war is in the service of politics! So far, the only Allied powers have been Germany and Austria-Hungary. If the expeditionary forces were to advance westward, crush Austria-Hungary in one fell swoop, and cause Austria-Hungary to surrender, Germany would be alone. No other country will support Germany, and Germany will no longer be able to find its younger brother as cannon fodder, and it will fight the whole world with the strength of one country. I don't think Germany has a chance to succeed once Austria-Hungary is defeated and surrenders by our army. I believe that this will be a huge blow to the German leadership, and that it will be an absolute political victory for our country and even for the Entente."

After Yang Du's words were finished. The members of the staff group discussed one after another, and it was clear that Yang Du's views resonated with them, concentrating on the complete defeat of Austria-Hungary first was tantamount to cutting off Germany's arms and leaving Germany in isolation, Germany itself was geographically surrounded by the Entente, and if Austria-Hungary was defeated and surrendered, then Germany would be completely surrounded, and there would no longer be strategic depth to give it a chance to breathe.

Xiao Zhenlei was also quite moved when he heard Yang Du's words, he thought for a little and asked: "It is indeed a clever move to concentrate on defeating Austria-Hungary in one fell swoop, if Austria-Hungary surrenders, the blow to Kaiser Wilhelm II and the German high-level is immeasurable, Mr. Yang's opinion is really extraordinary, listening to Mr. Yang's words, it is better than reading a book for ten years!" ”

Yang Du stood up again and said modestly: "Du is ashamed, I dare not be so praised as the president!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded, looked at Cai Yi, and asked, "General Songpo, if you look at it from a military strategy point of view, do you think it is possible for Mr. Yang's idea to be realized?" ”

Seeing Xiao Zhenlei's question, Cai Yi stood up and said, "President, if my expeditionary force marches westward and first concentrates on defeating Austria-Hungary, this strategic plan should be achievable. First of all, we can look at the comparison of the strength of our two sides, Zhang Xiaozhun's Second Army has more than 600,000 people in the north to block the German army on the Eastern Front, and it cannot be moved lightly! Our expeditionary force still has nearly 800,000 troops left, plus 1.5 million troops from the Balkan Peninsula countries, but the combat effectiveness of these 150 people is not on the table, and they can only be worth 300,000 of our army, so the number of troops we can use is 1.1 million, and the total strength of Austria-Hungary is only 2 million, and there are about 800,000 people in the Alps to confront Italy, Britain, France and other Entente countries, and they need at least 300,000 to garrison their homeland. There are only less than 900,000 people who can be transferred to the Eastern Front to resist the attack of our army, and the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian army is only a little stronger than that of Italy. Therefore, in terms of troop strength, it should be no problem for our army to advance westward to defeat Austria-Hungary, but we have to prevent Germany from sending troops to reinforce it. Secondly, even if we have the armies of the Balkan Peninsula countries to join, our army has absolute command in command, and the armies of the Balkan countries do not dare to act disobeyed, but on the other hand, the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is actually full of internal contradictions, there are too many nationalities within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there is actually no harmony between the various nationalities, and the language within the Austro-Hungarian army is not even uniform, and the officers order the military orders even in several languages in a row, does such an army have combat effectiveness at all? Therefore, it is feasible for Mr. Yang to suggest that our army concentrate its forces westward to attack Austria-Hungary."

Xiao Zhenlei immediately made a decision: "Since Mr. Yang's proposal can achieve a major victory politically and can be realized militarily, then follow it!" ”

At this time, Yang Shiqi stood up and said, "President, I don't think it is appropriate for my expeditionary force to move lightly for the time being!" ”

Yang Shiqi's words made the other staff members talk again, Xiao Zhenlei just slapped the board, but Yang Shiqi jumped out to oppose it, why didn't he stand up earlier? This is obviously embarrassing Xiao Zhenlei!

Xiao Zhenlei's face really became unsightly, and his tone was a little unkind, "So what is Mr. Yang's opinion?" ”

Yang Shiqi said: "The opinion of the blue man is feasible, but I think it is not appropriate to implement it at the moment, at present, the armies of Britain, France and the United States have gained a firm foothold on the Western Front, of course, this is mainly caused by the large-scale military operations of our army in Southeast Europe, the military operations of the German army on the Western Front a while ago had to be stopped because of our army's large-scale attack on the German army in Southeast Europe, and the energy was transferred to our side, so that the armies of Britain, France and the United States were able to breathe, and now the armies of Britain, France and the United States have gained a firm foothold. Then their follow-up forces will definitely arrive one after another, so why don't we wait for the British, French, and American armies to attack Austria-Hungary after they attack again on the Western Front? In this way, our army can not only rest and restore its morale, but also have enough time to replenish the logistics, so why not? ”

After Yang Shiqi's words fell, the other members of the staff group began to discuss again, among which Tan Yanmin said: "President, I think what Mr. Shiqi said is good, since Britain, France and the United States have gained a firm foothold, then we will wait for them to attack the German army again before we attack Austria-Hungary, lest when we attack Austria-Hungary, the German army will send troops to reinforce it, if most of the German army is contained by the British, French, and American armies on the Western Front, we can attack Austria-Hungary with peace of mind. Now is the perfect time for our army to rest and regain its morale, and the Germans also need a respite, and for the time being, they should not use all their forces on us! ”

"I agree with Mr. Yang Shiqi's opinion!"

"I agree!"

"Agreed!"

Although it was very embarrassing, Xiao Zhenlei also had to admit that Yang Shiqi's opinion was the most in line with the interests of Huaguo, and he did not care about Yang Shiqi's loss of face just now, but admitted that Yang Shiqi's opinion was very good and was currently the most in line with the national interest, so he adopted it.

After the meeting was dismissed, Xiao Zhenlei ordered someone to send a telegram to Cai Guodong, ordering him to temporarily hold his troops and recuperate, and the logistics department would replenish him with enough military supplies as soon as possible, and the military and political service department would arrange for the wounded soldiers who could not continue to fight to return to China as soon as possible, and the recruit department would replenish him with soldiers as soon as possible!

After the surrender of the 300,000 German troops, the German army top brass felt that it was no longer necessary to let the German army in the north attack on a large scale in the south, not to mention whether it could defeat Zhang Xiaozhun's more than 600,000 Chinese troops, but I was afraid that Zhang Xiaozhun had not yet been defeated, and all the Chinese troops in the south would go north.

As a result, the German army in the north began to stop attacking and fully turned to a defensive state, and some German troops were transferred back to suppress those guerrillas, and the remaining German troops began to build fortifications to confront the Chinese army. The purpose of Hindenburg's move was twofold: first, to solve the guerrillas first, to prevent the guerrillas from continuing to cause trouble and sabotage supply lines; Second, let the troops stop the offensive and wait for supplies, it is already April, and there is no need to worry about the cold weather, as long as the food problem can be solved, the army will not collapse. (To be continued......)