After a month-long active offensive, the Russians suffered less than 100,000 battlefield losses, while Hezendorff's army lost at least 150,000 men. The mere sound of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers' terrifying cries of "The Cossacks are coming" provoked uncontrollable panic and riots. The Russian troops, who had been messed up in front of the Germans before, finally found their own rhythm of war in Austria-Hungary at this moment; One of the important reasons why Nikolai dared to continue the war was that the victory of the Russian army in the southwest battlefield gave him confidence.

As the deepening of the Russian mobilization continued, a large number of Russian troops continued to move to the front from the rear. By mid-to-late June, the Russian army, which had been slow to heat up, had equaled the rapidly mobilized Austro-Hungarian troops in the front, and had a tendency to surpass them. This situation made it impossible for the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Herzendorff, to remain calm. In the case of stronger troops than opponents, they all ran into heads in front of the Russians; Once they relieve, the shape of the battlefield on the Eastern Front will be completely out of their control!

Under these circumstances, while adjusting his own deployment and increasing mobilization, Hezendorff could only turn to Berlin for help, asking his Prussian allies, who also belonged to the beginning of the word "von", to help him support him on the Eastern Front. Moltke did not pay enough attention to Herzendorff's request for help at first: it seemed to him that it was most likely an act taken by the Austrians for their own selfish interests, and by allowing the Germans to use as much force as possible against the Russians, in order to ease the pressure on them. However, when Hetzendorff sent another telegram the next day asking for help, attaching the details of the previous battles on the Eastern Front and the number of casualties, Moltke Jr., who was naturally worried about defeat before victory, suddenly found out. These Austrians may really not be able to beat.

After the umpteenth despisage of the unreliability of the Austrians. Moltke Jr. responded to Herzendorff. Germany agreed in principle to send troops to aid Austria-Hungary. But at present, the German army is fighting fiercely with the British and French forces on the Western Front, and is preparing to launch a large-scale offensive against Paris, and every battalion on the Western Front has an indispensable role to play. Therefore, the only forces that Germany could use to assist Austria-Hungary in coordinated operations were the Eighth Army on the Eastern Front and the Ninth Army, which was being reorganized and assembled. At present, these troops were under the full command of Hindenburg, and Moltke asked Hezendorff to negotiate with him first, and then give him an account of the unanimous result.

Get an affirmative reply from Moltke Jr. Hezendorff couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although Moltke only promised to let the Germans on the Eastern Front fight with him, this force had already shown its incredible might in previous battles. After receiving the support of the local troops, the German army on the Eastern Front already has nearly forty percent of the strength of Austria-Hungary, and its role in the war against Russia will be even greater than that of the entire Austro-Hungarian army!

Hetzendorf immediately made contact with Hindenburg, as far away as East Prussia. At the same time, the order of the German General Staff for him to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian army was sent to his desk. Hing-Lu, who had just been awarded the Blue Marx Medal for his victories at the battles of Tannenberg and Lake Masuria, attached great importance to the request for joint operations from Vienna; Because in Herzendorff's request, they found the help to achieve their next goal.

After the Battle of Lake Masuria, the Russian Northwest Army Group was already in disarray. Only more than 20% of the Russian army survived, and their morale was low and demoralized. Having lost almost all of its heavy weapons, it posed no threat to East Prussia. Under this form shì. Xinglu decided not to advance along the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg, but to move south, bringing the whole of Russian Poland under his control.

In 1795, under the third joint partition of Russia, Prussia and Austria, Poland, which had lasted for more than 800 years, was declared extinct and officially disappeared from the map of Europe. Russia is undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of this partition. They acquired nearly two-thirds of Poland's territory, and most of it was rich in products and economically developed; On top of that, the Russian army could reach Poland via the Guò Warsaw Railway, much closer to Berlin and Vienna. Once the Germans seized Poland, they would not only be able to cut off this salient deep into the German hinterland, but also ensure the absolute security of Berlin and the rich Silesian region; It can also take advantage of the developed agriculture and a large number of factories in this land, and greatly increase Germany's war strength.

If the attacker wants to remove the cancer embedded deep in their own position, then attacking from the roots of the two flanks of the salient is undoubtedly the most effective strategy. However, the Germans alone could not implement this strategy. A map of Europe shows that the whole of southern Poland was bordered by the Czech Republic and Slovakia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was not half connected to German territory, which meant that the Hing-Lu could only move south from the East Prussian side, and the effect of such an attack would be greatly reduced compared with the combined attack of the north and the south.

Herzendorff's plea for help was in the hands of Xing-Lu. It was their duty and mission to defeat the Russian army on the Eastern Front, and if a joint operation was carried out, the Germans could also use Austria-Hungary to launch an offensive from southern Poland. In addition, the Germans were able to use the large Austro-Hungarian army to make up for their lack of troops, clearing many troubles and obstacles for the next operation to seize Poland. On 27 June, the Xing-Lu duo made a special trip to the fortress of Przemyśl in southern Poland to discuss with the Austrians about joint operations. Unfortunately, however, the Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army encountered a road jam on his way back from inspecting the troops from the front, so that he did not appear in the meeting room after the arrival of Hingru.

Seeing this, Ludendorff was very unhappy, and even the commander of the garrison of the Austro-Hungarian Przemeśl fortress sitting opposite him did not give the other party any good expression on his face. With the sheer prowess of the Germans in previous battles, Ludendorff had every reason to think that he could win without the help of the Austrians; Hetzendorff's late arrival at such a meeting between the heads of the two armies was undoubtedly an act that did not give him face. From time to time he twisted his head out of the side door, and from time to time glanced at Hindenburg, which was so calm that it was almost numb, and waited impatiently in his seat; And the cup of coffee on the table had already been drunk by him at this moment, and the bright inner wall was shining under the light of the chandelier.

――――――――――――――――

I don't know how long it took, but a steady sound of footsteps finally sounded outside the door. Hindenburg's eyes froze, and when he turned his head, he saw an old man of extraordinary bearing, surrounded by several officers, slowly walking to the gate. He was tall and thin, his face was hard and clear, and the white beard on his lips not only did not make him look old and faint, but added a little grace to him. This face, which Hindenburg has seen several times in photographs, is none other than Herzendorff himself, who is currently in charge of the Austro-Hungarian Army!

"General P. Hindenburg, General E. Ludendorff, allow me to express my deepest apologies to you for my late arrival." Hezendorff walked into the parlor and bowed to Xinglu, who stood up; As a strict and punctual German nation, he knew very well what he had done before. Seeing this, Ludendorff's face turned slightly pale, but there was still a trace of displeasure in the depths of his eyes. After Hindenburg's opening remarks with the other party were over, he seized the opportunity and said directly: "General K. Hezendorff, our unit has been ordered to cooperate with your army, and I want to know what the real situation of your army is at present. Your Excellency has just returned from an inspection of the front-line troops, so you should have a very in-depth understanding of this, right? ”

"Due to a number of complex factors, the fighting power of the Imperial Army was not as sophisticated as we thought before the war. In the previous battles, we had suffered much more losses than the Russians, which is why I wanted to fight together with your army against the Russians. The establishment of the four armies of the empire is still there, and the officer system with the Germans as the core is far from being seriously harmed, as long as you cooperate with your army, you can fight a decisive battle with the Russians again. In the face of Ludendorff's direct inquiry, Hezendorff skillfully replied to the side with Spring and Autumn brushwork. There was a look of anticipation in his eyes, and he said: "At present, the focus of the battlefield on the Eastern Front is undoubtedly in Galicia, which is less than 100 kilometers away from this Przemyśl fortress. I wonder how many troops your army plans to send to the south to fight the Russians together with us? ”

"If your country's railways open all the passes on the border with Germany, we will be able to transfer a force of four and a half armies from East Prussia to the Krakow region in southern Poland within a week. After that, our troops will attack from East Prussia and Krakow north and south, aiming directly at Warsaw on the Vistula River. For the Russians, they will certainly not abandon this key stronghold, but will choose to transfer a large number of troops here; In this way, the forces deployed by the Russian army on the front of Galicia will be weakened, and your army will be able to take advantage of the situation. Ludendorff briefly introduced the Austrian in front of him.

"Do you want to attack Warsaw?" To Ludendorff's surprise, Hezendorff not only did not show any righteous indignation after hearing his battle plan, which was obviously to unilaterally swallow a large piece of Russian territory, but was full of solemnity and worry. Hezendorff took a deep breath and said, "If this is the case, our army will not be able to attack elsewhere at all, and we will have to follow your army to move together. Because at present, the deployment of the Russian army has changed. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the monthly ticket support of 2204 and Xichen