Chapter 215: Storm and Clouds (3) The high-speed update of the chapter begins, and the number of words updated is 3096

In Petrograd, the capital of Russia, Alekseev walked out of the Winter Palace, the temporary "zhèngfǔ" station, with a calm face, and boarded the Rolls-Royce car waiting outside the door.

The car passed through the sentry post and into an alley next to the street, and as soon as it turned a corner, it was blocked by a long procession.

The driver turned his head and looked helpless: "General, it seems that we have to wait for a while, and there is no way to turn around here." ”

Alekseev frowned: "Who are they?" ”

"Workers."

"What are the workers doing on the streets when they don't work in the factories?"

"Bread, Peace, Soviets...... I don't know exactly what it has to do with that stuff like that, but that's what their red flag says. ”

"Soviet? Damn Soviets, look, one day I'm going to eradicate this cancer. ”

Alekseev finished speaking viciously, stretched out his hand and pulled down his military hat, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted into the distance......

Two weeks ago, around July 20rì, the Russian army on the Ukrainian side was in a desperate situation: the German 10th Army broke through the front of the Russian 5th Army in the Vinnytsia area, and then crossed the breakthrough with a rapid cluster of tanks, armored vehicles, and cavalry, and swept south for more than 200 kilometers in two days, sweeping across the east bank of the Dniester River, and heading directly at Odessa, a port on the Black Sea coast.

Once the Germans capture Odessa, the three Russian armies on the west bank of the Dniester will be cut off from the back route, and Alekseev cannot imagine how long Ukraine can hold out if these three armies are lost - how long can the whole of Russia hold out?

In order to save the Russian army on the west bank of the Dniester River, and also to keep Odessa, an important port of receipt of Entente aid, Alekseev did not hesitate to invest all the chips at hand: the base camp reserve stationed in Kiev consists of 4 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division, 1 armored vehicle battalion, and the reserve of the Front that has just been transported to Odessa from the Balkan and Caucasian fronts, a total of 4 infantry divisions, 1 tank battalion and 1 armored vehicle battalion.

On the eastern side of the rapid cluster of German troops, the Malvets cluster, Kiev's base camp reserves were organized into the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Reserve Armies, reinforcing part of the forces of the 5th Army and counterattacking Vinnytsia under the command of the 5th Army Command. The attempt was to cut off the rear of the German army, and at the same time to frequently harass the German supply lines with small groups of cavalry and armored vehicles.

To the south of the Malvets cluster, the reserves of the Odessa Front were organized into the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian reserves, commanded by the command of the 4th Army Command, and quickly moved north by train to block the German armored spearhead in the important town of Rybnica on the east bank of the Dniester River, less than 200 kilometers from Odessa. During the battle, the French "San Chamon M1916" heavy combat vehicles equipped with the 3rd Tank Battalion of the Russian army played a key role.

Two reserve armies held out in the area of Rybnica for two days and two nights. The main forces of the 4th Army, which had returned from the starry night on the west bank of the Dniester River, arrived one after another, and continued to expand the front to the east of the South Bug River to prevent the German troops from making a roundabout advance.

At the same time, the other two Russian armies on the west bank of the Dniester River also returned to the east with one division each, assuming the posture of forcibly crossing the Dniester River and counterattacking Vinnytsia.

The battle lasted until July 23, when the German Malvetz cluster retreated on its own initiative. The Russians pursued for a time, but after several massacre ambushes, they had to disengage and return to Vinnytsa in full force with the Malwitz cluster met by infantry from the German 10th Army.

By July 30, with the exception of the Vinnitsa salient, the Russian army had largely restored the front east of Transnistria. However, it was forced to suspend the previous offensive in the upper Transnistrian region.

The Russian army escaped in Ukraine at a high cost: the 5th Army suffered heavy losses, losing more than 100,000 men, two divisions were canceled, and the 8th Army, which had to withdraw from Transnistria, took over most of its fronts; The 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Reserve Armies suffered heavy casualties in the counteroffensive of Vinnytsia and urgently needed to be replenished; Although the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Reserve Corps held Rybnica, the casualties were also not small, and the technical weapons were also seriously damaged. Less than a quarter of the attached tank and armored vehicle battalions are available.

The consequences were severe: the Austrian 1st Army, which was on the verge of collapse several times, was spared, a large area of land between Chernivtsi and Lviv fell into enemy hands again, and the Romanian army, which had not long been driven back to the other side of the Prut River, began to move again......

What made Alekseev even more headache was that after this battle, whether it was the base camp or the Southwestern Front, there was destined to be no decent reserves available in the short term.

Alekseev knew. The situation on other fronts is not so good that reserves are not needed.

Although the North-Western Front temporarily contained the German offensive by relying on the geographical advantages of Lake Chud, Lake Pskov and the Velykaya River, it was forced to abandon the main base of the Baltic Fleet, Port Revel (Tallinn), and the Germans "pressed" along the coast to the depths of the Gulf of Finland. The front was just over three hundred kilometers away from the capital Petrograd.

In order to preserve their strength, the Western Front had to abandon Minsk on its own initiative and retreat to the line from the Western Dvina to the Dnieper, which was less than 500 kilometers from the old capital and the national railway hub - Moscow.

On the eastern front, which is no longer far away, the Ural Front stationed on the front line of the Ural Mountains and the Volga Front stationed on the front line of the Ural River, although in close coordination in the "June Offensive" jointly launched by the two major fronts of the Chinese army in the north and Central Asia, thwarted the attempt of the enemy's armored assault group to break through the Ural River from the Orenburg area, but because the western front was tight on all fronts, and the troops and materials were given priority to the supply of troops and materials to the western armies, the two major fronts of the eastern front have hardly received any replenishment for more than a month. It is quite possible that it will not be able to cope with the next offensive of the enemy army.

The Caucasian front, which had been calm with Turkey's surrender, has recently become tense due to the advance of the Chinese army from both Persia and Mesopotamia, as well as the movement of the Turkish commander of the Caucasian front, Mustafa Kemal.

The Caucasian Front was originally the weakest of the fronts, and two main divisions were previously dispatched to aid the Southwestern Front, but now there are only 5 divisions left that are not satisfied, plus 1 and a half divisions stationed in Tehran, the capital of Persia, but they have to defend an arc-shaped front of more than 1,000 kilometers, which is obviously inadequate, and Alekseev has to consider shrinking the front - the first step is to withdraw from Tehran, where the Chinese army is "approaching".

As for the Balkan front, since the two Russian divisions stationed in Adrianople (Edirne) handed over the defense to the British and sailed to Odessa, only the last division of the Russian Balkan cluster was stationed in the city of Constantinople (Istanbul), and the presence of this Russian army was only symbolic in terms of the entire front.

The Germans on the Western Front had just finished an offensive and needed time to replenish and recuperate; The Chinese and Kemal rebels on the Caucasian front lacked reliable supply lines and were not sufficient to pose a real threat; At present, Alekseev is most worried about the eastern front, which is heavily threatened by the Chinese army, and as long as the Chinese can continue to improve their supply lines and obtain sufficient military support, it is only a matter of time before the eastern front is breached.

"But I don't have any reserves, not a division, no, I'm afraid there isn't even a battalion left. Not to mention the fact that I had to deal with the Soviets released from the madhouse, the temporary "zhèngfǔ" formed by elementary school students, and the National Salvation Committee in which kindergartens participated...... How damn my motherland has been, that it has fallen into the hands of these people! ”

Alekseev sighed in his heart, until the driver turned back again and reminded him: "General, we can go." ”

"Ivan, make a U-turn in front, let's go to Tsarkoye Village."

…… (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation ......)