Chapter 209: The Bear of the End? (iv)

(iv)

"I have read all the reports of the ambassador to Russia, and the situation is not optimistic, what do you think?"

Lansing clasped his hands in front of his knees, his glasses glowing: "It is a miracle that the Russians have withstood the combined blows of the Sino-German alliance, and they have been able to hold out until now, but from a strategic point of view, Russia is in a better position than ever: the victory in the Battle of the Straits, and the improvement of the port and railway facilities in Murmansk - the Russians can now get everything they want." ”

President Wilson was unmoved, still with a straight face: "But we have to pay the corresponding price - the high rate of loss of merchant ships on the communication line in the Strait has become unbearable for the British, and the British and French cannot afford to put more troops into Asia Minor, and the Chinese air force that caused these losses will be uprooted." ”

Lan Xin sneered: "I think they are not powerless, but unintentional. Britain and France attracted the main military power of the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles, paid great sacrifices, and with victory in sight, the most glorious spoil, Constantinople, was effortlessly taken away by the Russians, who were the last to strike, and no one would be indifferent. ”

"You mean the British and French are angry with the Tsar?" Wilson narrowed his left eye.

"Not only that, I speculate, but Romania's entry into the war also had something to do with it." Lansing's words were astonishing.

Wilson spread his hands and expressed puzzlement: "What is the truth of this?" In the past, the Russians did not take action when foreign aid was cut off, but now that the foreign aid channel is open, they will come to hit the stones? ”

"As a littoral state on the Black Sea, Romania has always opposed Russia's monopoly of the straits, fearing that its maritime trade will be controlled by the ill-intentioned behemoths around it. ”

"It is reported that the Romanian government originally planned that once Britain and France jointly occupied Constantinople, they would participate in the war on the side of the Entente under the guarantee of dividing a large part of the territory of Austria-Hungary after the war."

"Isn't it clear that the Liberal government collapsed after Russia occupied the Channel alone, and the Conservative Party, with the support of the German royal family, came to power and declared war on Russia not long after?"

Wilson was clearly uninterested: "It's just unfounded speculation – anyway, it has happened, and now that the Romanians are on the side of the Allies, I wonder what the consequences of this will be, and whether it will be enough to nullify the victory in the Battle of the Straits." ”

"According to the reports of our national and British and French military attachés in Romania, the Romanian army was a considerable number, 658,000 men, organized into 23 divisions. However, there seems to be nothing to be desired other than the fancy and ornate uniforms of the army. ”

"Because Romania's position has been very ambiguous since the beginning of the war, neither of the two camps has intended to provide it with weapons and ammunition, and Romania's own military industry is very weak, by the eve of Romania's entry into the war, the equipment of the Romanian army has lagged far behind the surrounding countries - there are almost no mountain artillery and heavy artillery, field artillery is also lacking, and most of the fortress batteries are still equipped with old artillery using black powder."

"The Romanian army was seriously short of machine guns, with only 2 to 6 machine guns per regiment, while the British and French armies of the same period were equipped with at least 16 light and heavy machine guns per battalion, and even the Russian army had 16 to 32 machine guns per regiment. In addition, the Romanian army had almost no grenades and was completely unequipped with steel helmets and gas masks. ”

"Judging from the performance of the Romanian army in the two Balkan wars, its operational command and military supply capacity are still stuck in the seventies and eighties of the last century. In the eyes of the French, the Romanians were probably as warlike as the Italians, who also boasted about the descendants of the ancient Romans. ”

"If it really is another Italy, it is still reassuring, at least they are dragging down friendly forces more than they are causing trouble to the enemy." At the same time, on the other side of the planet, Lancen summed up rather bitterly, and the Italian government was busy asking for help, as the Italian army had just been hit hard by the Austrians in front of him in the Trantino area.

"The trouble caused is still not to be underestimated, and it is inevitable that a considerable part of the Russian army will be pinned down by the Luo army, which will inevitably lead to a reduction in the available forces on other fronts, bringing more opportunities to the enemy forces in front of them." Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Scott calmly analyzed.

"How can this variable be counteracted?" President Wilson's primary concern is not the conclusion, but the response.

Lieutenant General Scott took over the question logically: "There are not many means available, the Italians have no way to count on it, Britain and France have no intention of expanding the war situation in the Balkans and Asia Minor for the time being, and we are helpless against the Chinese on the mainland, so that the attempt to contain the Austrian, Turkish, and Chinese armies to reduce the pressure on the Russian army can only stay on paper." ”

"There are only two ways left: one is to intensify the offensive on the French front and attract the German forces to the Russian front; Second, it is necessary to expand military assistance to Russia and restore and enhance the combat effectiveness of the Russian army as soon as possible. This requires us to put in a lot of effort. ”

"Let's not forget that we also have three allies that we just joined – Greece, Portugal and Brazil." Lansing reminded enthusiastically.

"Greece is planning to send an expeditionary force of 100,000 men to the Strait region, two Portuguese divisions are about to land in France, and Brazil has put all its naval strength under our command – including two dreadnoughts with 12-inch guns."

"Argentina and Chile are still bargaining with us, and although they each have two pre-war dreadnoughts requisitioned by Britain and ours respectively, they are clearly unwilling to see their most formidable rivals receive our generous military aid alone, and sooner or later jealousy of Brazil will pull them into our chariot."

Scott shook his head disapprovingly: "These are just dispensable embellishments - I hope Mr. Secretary of State will not forget that the Persian Gulf coast has completely fallen, the Chinese and the Turks have achieved a strategic meeting, and if it were not for the victory in the Battle of the Straits, the entire Allied camp would have been united." ”

At the same time, much of Persia had already fallen into the hands of pro-Allied powers, and Tehran's puppet regime, controlled by the Russian occupation forces, could collapse at any moment. Moreover, the tentacles of the Chinese are stretching west along the southern shores of the Arabian Peninsula and look like they will sooner or later return to Abyssinia, where they will surely turn the Anglo-French African backyard into a mess with the anti-colonial propaganda they have tried and tested since the war. ”

Lansing still wanted to refute, but President Wilson raised his hand to stop it.

"At this point, let's get back to business, more ~ the new fastest and fastest General Scott, you told us that there are only two ways left to help Russia, and I want you to explain exactly how to take these two roads."

"About the first path—"

Scott was confident, and he spoke eloquently.

"As of last week, the total strength of the expeditionary force sent to France has reached 400,000 troops, and the main combat units include nine infantry divisions, eight aviation squadrons, six heavy artillery battalions and three tank battalions."

"In the previous three months, the above combat units have entered the front line one after another, carried out targeted round battles in relatively calm areas, and gained certain combat experience, among them, the performance of the aviation unit is particularly outstanding, the first Lafayette squadron stationed in France, in the last one month only in the birth of three air combat aces."

"However, with these achievements came increasing pressure from Britain and France - in the Somme offensive in the past three months, Britain and France paid a huge price of more than 400,000 casualties and nearly 1,000 tanks, but only advanced an average of 8 to 10 kilometers on a 70-kilometer front, neither breaking through the German defense system nor annihilating the German heavy army group."

"In order to maintain the subsequent offensive, the British and French strongly urged us to put the expeditionary force into offensive operations as soon as possible, but their proposal was to disperse the divisions of the expeditionary force to the British and French armies, and I do not know what Commander Wood thought - he was going to accept such a stupid proposal that did not take into account our position at all."

"General Wood does not seem to be fit for this position which is beyond his means." Lansing commented unceremoniously.

War Secretary Stimson suddenly blushed - Leonard, the current commander of the expeditionary force in France? It was on his best recommendation that General Wood was appointed.

Before Stimson could defend himself, President Wilson had already come to a categorical conclusion: "He lacks basic political judgment and is indeed not qualified for this position, and if it were General Pershing, he would never make such a mistake - how long will he have to grapple with those old peasants in Mexico?" ”

Scott reacted quickly: "General Pershing's report last week made it clear that the main force of the peasant army was completely routed by the coalition forces as early as the end of April, and only a few remnants of the army hid in the mountainous rainforests on the border with Guatemala in the south, and the government forces in Caransha had firmly controlled most of the towns, including the capital Mexico City, and the US troops could withdraw at any time." ”

"The Karansha government has also assured us that as long as the existing arms and financial assistance are maintained, the government forces are confident that they will be able to completely pacify the country within 12 to 18 months, without the direct involvement of the U.S. military," Lansing added. ”

Wilson gave him an expectant look from behind his glasses: "Then let him come back quickly, I need him, and the expeditionary force needs him even more - well, besides, General Scott, what else do you have planned?" ”

Scott nodded gratefully: "In order to alleviate the pressure on Russia, our expeditionary force should participate in the offensive in the French battlefield as soon as possible, but we must not waste the lives of American soldiers under the stupid command of the British and French generals because of this, and we must insist on independent command unwaveringly." Personally, I believe that the size of the expeditionary force in France is not suitable for participating in a large-scale offensive for the time being until it reaches 21 divisions and is organized into one or two armies, let alone dismantling and assigning to British and French troops. ”

"Under this premise, we should immediately activate the long-stalled transatlantic intermodal plan and rush to the French battlefield at a rate of 250,000 men or six divisions per month, with a view to assembling a large corps capable of independently participating in a large-scale offensive before the fall – which will require full and close coordination between our country and the navies of our allies to ensure the safety of maritime transport."

As for the second route, "Scott took it on his way," Scott said, "the key is also sea freight." After 18 months of mobilization, the transformation of our military industry has been basically completed, the production of military materials is entering a stage of explosive growth, and we have begun to have spare capacity to provide arms assistance to our allies. ”

"However, in view of the high rate of loss of merchant ships along the communication lines of the strait, I believe that until Britain and France take effective measures to improve it, American assistance to Russia should be carried out mainly through the Arctic Ocean route, and at the same time a considerable number of engineers and technicians should be dispatched to maximize the operational efficiency of the port and railway facilities in Murmansk......"

“…… At the end of the day, we still need time, 3 months, at least 3 months. ”

……