"According to the combat order we found on the body of a killed Russian officer near Gruets, the current Russian army has begun a large-scale movement to the north. The Russian 4th Army, which had previously confronted us in western Ukraine, had arrived in Ivangorod in the heart of central Poland by car and train; Russia's 5th Army will enlarge Warsaw, defending the most important industrial and transportation hub on Russia's western border. The Russian 9th Army was on Polish soil north of this Przemyśl fortress, and the front was less than seventy kilometers from us; In addition, they used troops mobilized from Eastern Europe to reorganize the 2nd Army, which had been almost destroyed by your army at the Battle of Tannenberg. ”

Next to the large and detailed map of operations, Hezendorff carefully narrated it, and sketched it with the red and blue pencil in his hand; After a short time, the deployment of the Russian army was clearly presented in front of the eyes of the Xing-Lu duo. After drawing the last circle, Hezendorff gently touched the pen on the long table and said in a solemn tone: "That is to say, if your country wants to seize Warsaw and eliminate the entire Polish salient as the goal of the campaign, it will need to face at least 4 Russian armies to intercept it, and we cannot rule out the possibility that the 10th Army and the 6th Army deployed in the Ukrainian battlefield will have the possibility of going north to support." ”

Hindenburg's brows furrowed slightly, and he said, "General Hezendorff, are the sources of this information reliable enough?" ”

"Please rest assured that we will never provide you with information that you are not sure of. In fact, in addition to the operational documents recovered from the body of the Russian colonel, our spies in St. Petersburg also sent telegrams that matched the two. Grand Duke Nikolai, commander of the Russian army. Recently, preparations are also underway for an offensive from the Polish regions. The various corps under the jurisdiction of the four armies mentioned above. are all on the list of mobilization gatherings. ”

Hezendorff smiled faintly, as if he finally had a hole card that could be tough in front of the Germans: "The Russian Minister of War Sukhhomlinov is next to my personal agent sent from Vienna. If it weren't for the divorce certificate he provided, how could the beloved General Suke enjoy the joy of fish and water with the new lady, who was thirty-two years younger than him? He freely went in and out of the mansion and office of the Russian Minister of War as a close friend, and the messy texts in the room were enough for him to get all the information we wanted. ”

Ludendorff's face twitched slightly, as if he was a little uncomfortable with the Austrians suddenly pulling the topic to the content of lace. His mind raced. Memories began to rush through my mind. Thinking of the Russian coded telegram that he had intercepted a few days ago in the sound of a ticking telegram, Ludendorff nodded to Hindenburg and said, "Paul, there is a high probability that this information is true. In the Russian telegrams we deciphered, the Russian 22nd Army, the 3rd Siberian Army, and the 1st Turkestan Army appeared, which were completely unfamiliar units; Now it seems likely that they will be the central pillars of the rebuilt Russian 2nd Army. ”

"It seems that from Przemyśl to Warsaw, we have four large armies, that is, more than 60 divisions, against our 28 divisions. Besides. The enemy's superiority in strength was further further expanded by the fact that after more than a month of fierce battles, the former Eighth Army had lost nearly a quarter of its combat troops. And these Siberian elites of the Russian army who arrived from the rear undoubtedly have a full number of troops. The number of Russian troops should not be less than 1.1 million, which once again formed a numerical advantage over our army more than doubled. "The enemy's intention is to prepare to pin us down the Vistula and to launch a decisive attack from Warsa to the death," said Hindenburg, as he gazed at the battle map hanging on the wall. This is undoubtedly the Grand Duke of Russia, Nikolai? Nikolayevich developed a huge plan for contingency to the war. ”

"Sure enough, the last thing the Russians lacked was cannon fodder livestock; No sooner had we crushed their two armies in East Prussia than they conjured up three more armies to block our path. Ludendorff paced back and forth in place, a look of anxiety and hatred on his face. After a while, he suddenly turned around and said loudly to the map: "Since the Russians have opened their arms, then we have fulfilled the wish of Grand Duke Nikolai." The whole army is still advancing towards Warsaw, facing the Russian front and fighting a real movement battle with them on the Polish plain! We have 100,000 cavalry, interspersed with rushing and not at all afraid of the Cossack beasts who can only use swords; With the well-trained Imperial army, it was perfectly feasible to launch an active offensive with one enemy and two enemies. ”

The expression on Hezendorff's face changed slightly. If he had changed his Austro-Hungarian troops, then he would not have had more than 2 times the superiority in troops, and he would not be able to gain advantage in the offensive against the Russian army at all; And the Germans were so confident that they knew that the opponent's troops were more than twice their own, and they still took the initiative to stride forward! Although the German army had won almost perfect victories in the previous two battles against Russia, he knew very well that the battles of Tannenberg and Lake Masuri were achieved with the same number of direct participants on both sides, and in the strict sense of the word, one enemy and two had never appeared. Seeing that Hindenburg's face was calm and did not raise the slightest question about Ludendorff's bold plan, he suddenly had some hard faith in his heart: Is the combat power of the German army really so strong that it can ignore the superiority of the Russian army?

"General Hezendorff, this battle still needs the great help of your army." Just as he was in doubt, Hezendorff suddenly heard Hindenburg's words. He calmed down slightly, and then nodded: "If your army wants to launch a general attack on the Russian army stationed in Poland, our Austro-Hungarian army should also fully support. However, I still hope that your army will act cautiously. After all, if we were to storm Warsaw, we would have to face an enemy who was too strong, and if the final encirclement could not be completed, both of our flanks deep into Poland would be in danger of being cut off by the Russians. If we really want to eliminate the Polish salient, should we proceed step by step? For example, the capture of Lodz, 170 kilometers west of Warsaw, may be a good choice. ”

"Although Lodz is an important Polish town, it is still a far cry from the role of Warsaw; As long as Warsaw remains in the hands of the Russians, they can at any time amass an army of a million on the Polish plain and threaten the flank of East Prussia and the rich northern regions of your country. We must seize Warsaw and turn the offensive and defensive situation on the entire Eastern Front around! This time, it was Hindenburg who cleanly rejected Herzendorf's plan to move forward safely. Historically, with only 4 armies, the Xing-Lu duo made great strides towards the Russian army with 4 group armies with their iron will and calm and fearless courage, and once they were inseparable from their opponents; Now that they have twice as many troops in their hands as they have historically, how can they be timid for the Russian army, which is only twice as large as their own?

Hezendorff's figure was shocked, and his thin and clear face revealed a complicated look, like nervousness, worry, admiration, and praise; He took a deep breath and said slowly: "Since your army has decided to do so, then our army can only support it with all its might. I wonder what your army's plans are, how many troops do we need to send? ”

"According to our previous plan, one army group from the north and the south was to attack on the Warsaw side; Now it seems that some adjustments are necessary for the plan. Our army will assemble 5 infantry corps and all independent cavalry units near Krakow to attack in the direction of the Vistula River and face the main forces of the Russian army; The remaining four corps moved south from East Prussia as a countermeasure. When it came to the specific area of tactical execution, it was Ludendorff who spoke in place of Hindenburg, "Therefore, I would like your army to send an army group to cover the right flank of our southern troops." The other three armies continued to pin down the Russians head-on in Ukraine to ensure that their two armies in the region could not go north to support. Believing this, your army should be easy to do, right? ”

"If you want to attack in the south, the Germans are really ...... daring," Herzendorff muttered silently in his heart. At present, the Russian 9th and 4th armies are concentrated on the southern flank of Poland, and can also be supported by the two armies deployed in Warsaw; In this way, this group of Russian troops can not only strike at Austria-Hungary in the south, but also move westward to attack the hinterland of Germany. And in order to remove this cancer, the Germans actually chose the most fierce way to play, and directly met it from the front! His eyes gradually turned condensed, and he said: "There is no problem, I will send the 1st Army under the command of Dankel to assist your army in the southern flank of the main attack mission. More than 90% of this army group is composed of Germanic and Hungarian ethnic groups, and it is one of the strongest fighting armies in my hands, and I believe that they will become the best help for your army. ”

Ludendorff nodded in acknowledgement. He paused, and then said, "In addition, I also hope that your army can temporarily lend a part of the heavy artillery unit to our army command. In order to assemble a sufficient number of heavy artillery on the Paris front, the high command of our army has transferred all the artillery with a caliber of more than 150 mm in the troops of the Eastern Front to the Western Front. Your country's heavy artillery force is the largest in the world, so I think there should be a lot of war reserves, right? ”

"If your army needs it, we will not hesitate." Hezendorff replied generously. (To be continued......)

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