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

Berlin, the imperial capital of the German Empire.

In a darkened room at the Schollat Palace, Kaiser Wilhelm II listens to the report of Chief of Staff Falkenhausen with the military and political officials on both sides of the long table.

“…… In the past three months, our army has lost 420,000 men in the Somme area, and 14 of the 16 reserve divisions of the Supreme High Command have been successively filled to the front. In the short term, if the enemy launches a new offensive from anywhere on the Western Front, we will have only 2 divisions at hand to send reinforcements - a force that would neither halt the enemy's advance, let alone regain lost ground, for an all-out large-scale offensive. ”

"Excuse me, can I say something?"

The chief of staff who dared to interrupt the speech was Ludendorff, chief of staff of the Eastern Command, who played a leading role in the defense of Tannenberg in 1914 and, together with Hindenburg, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, became a great hero in the salvation of Germany.

Falkingham blinked impatiently and raised his hand to signal Ludendorff to "please".

Ludendorff stood up proudly: "What to regain lost ground?" If only to stop the enemy, to increase the reserves to ** divisions, under an offensive of the same scale as the Battle of the Somme, it should not be a problem to hold out for a month - that is, it would be enough to transfer six or seven divisions from the Eastern Front. The coming month, precisely the month that will decide the fate of the Eastern Front, and without this opportunity, we may well never be able to defeat Russia again. ”

Falkingham glanced at Ludendorff and said with disdain: "How can you do it without beating the enemy back?" The situation on the battlefield has deteriorated, and the salient formed by the Battle of the Somme is threatening the Belgian front north of Arras from the flank. We had to launch a counteroffensive at Arras to drive out the enemy who had broken north of the Somme, and this operation alone would require at least 12 divisions. ”

"In addition, the front south of the Somme needs to prepare at least 3 divisions in reserve, and the Ypres front in the north also needs at least 2 divisional reserves - that is, at least 17 divisions. I only transferred 15 divisions, which was already the greatest care of the Eastern Front. ”

Ludendorff did not show weakness, put his hands on the table and shouted: "You shouldn't have continued to defend that damn front at all!" It's too prominent, it's too flat, it's too easy to attack. Why don't you retreat to the line of Cambrai, Saint-Quentin and La Fair? Not only is it easier to defend there, but it can also straighten the defensive line, which can save a lot of troops. If they retreated now, and at the same time cleared the walls, the enemy would have to spend a month or two rebuilding their trenches through a large area of erosion and no man's land. ”

Fakingham, in turn, raised his voice: "You want to give the enemy the land that the German emperor ** people seized with their blood and lives? This will demoralize the army, weaken the will of the people to fight, and at the same time give great encouragement to the other side – this is no different from a capitalist enemy! ”

In the face of such slanderous accusations, Ludendorff fought back angrily: "What is this wanton squandering the blood and lives of the emperor at any cost to fight for a front that is not suitable for defense?" ”

"How long are you going to roar in front of His Majesty the Emperor?"

Prime Minister Holwig's words caused the two brawling soldiers to restrain their anger slightly, and each nodded to Emperor Wilhelm II on the throne and apologized.

Wilhelm II raised his hand and said comfortingly: "Okay, okay, you are all for my army and the empire, so don't fight - Ludendorff, your Eastern Front Command is anxious to defeat Russia, I am not inconsiderate, but if you can't ensure the security of the Western Front, no matter how brilliant the results of the Eastern Front are, it will be useless." ”

The corners of Fa Jinhan's mouth frowned slightly, and he bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty is wise, the ratio of forces on the Western Front is roughly three to five, and our army is obviously inferior, and the enemy can use a large number of mobile forces to concentrate on attacking one point on the front." If there are not enough reserves, once broken through by the enemy, our army will inevitably be routed on all fronts and will not be able to clean up. Russia has already lost a lot of blood, and it doesn't make much difference whether it will end sooner or later. But once the Western Front collapses, then we can only let Britain and France dominate. ”

"Besides, the main direction of this Eastern Front offensive is Ukraine, and the fifteen divisions that I Chōu transferred are mainly from the Lithuanian and Belarusian fronts, and not a single division on the Ukrainian side has moved, while the twenty divisions of the newly joined Romanian Army will all be put into the Ukrainian front. As long as the Eastern Front Command's plans are not too greedy and demanding, and there is nothing to do, it will talk about the dream of conquering St. Petersburg and burning Moscow, and the troops currently deployed are sufficient to meet the needs of the main offensive direction. ”

Falkingham's ridicule made Ludendorff's face redden, but seeing that His Majesty's holy will had been decided, Ludendorff knew that it was useless to say more, so he held back his anger and sat back in his chair.

"The problem now is that we have broken the agreement we reached with the Chinese, and we have to find an excuse to appease them, and until the contacts with the Entente are effective, it is necessary to let them continue to carry out the original battle plan - the protest of the other side should be handed over soon."

Prime Minister Horweg is planning ahead.

Falkingham opened his mouth and came: "Tell them that this is just a 'trick' move, and it will not affect the implementation of the original plan, and we will do our best to sweep through Ukraine, and if they want to exert greater influence in the future of Russian affairs, please ask them to do the same to sweep the Volga River......"

"How's that? Let me write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor of the United States, honestly stating what we have to do, and promoting trust between the two countries and the two armies by the trust between the sovereigns......"

Wilhelm II's horizontal slash made everyone cry and laugh, but they did not dare to oppose it in person, so they had to be submissive and perfunctory.

"Then it's decided, this matter can be solved by me."

A confident Wilhelm II smiled and cocked his beard, as if his charisma was powerful enough to exert a powerful influence on the young Emperor on the other side of the island, beyond the politeness of the outer Jiāo and even the friendship of the Sī people.

"Of course, it is only fitting that His Majesty will solve the problem......"

Fakingham held back the squirming of his stomach and flattered.

"However, the situation of the Ottoman Empire is more worrying than that of the Chinese Empire, which has already reaped countless profits."

"Following the fall of Constantinople and instigated by British agents, the Arabs of the Hejaz region have revolted in the last month and occupied the holy city of Mecca under the leadership of the Hussein family of Mecca, further damaging the prestige of the Ottoman Empire."

With the cooperation of these Arab bandits, the British launched an onslaught on the Sinai Peninsula, and the Ottoman army was driven out of the Sinai Peninsula last week and retreated to Palestine. The Ottoman army of the Hejaz was also retreating to the Jordanian side because of the obstruction of the Jiāo line, and was constantly attacked by Arab bandits along the way. ”

"On the Caucasian side, earlier brutal policies towards the Armenians are bearing bad results, and the Armenians are doing whatever it takes to assist the Russian army. And the Armenians exiled to Palestine and Syria, together with the Jews who were also brutally treated there, are doing everything possible to disrupt order in the rear of the Ottoman army with the help of the Entente agents......"

“…… It seems that this empire, which has long been unworthy of its name, will not be long before it is beaten back to its original shape. Today, it is their only remaining value to contain a part of the British and French troops in Xiǎo Asia Minor and provide a base for the Chinese air fleet to strike at the Jiāo line through the Turkish Strait. ”

……