The remnant sun shines in the west, the sunset is like blood, the magnificent and towering Winter Palace is bathed in the brilliant sunset afterglow, the window flowers are clear, and the jade walls are like silver, reflecting the magnificent light of platinum and blue.

In one of the spacious, luxurious rooms with gold and silver, Tsar Nicholas II, dressed in fine clothes, sat silently on a soft, elastic sofa, bowing his head and groaning. With the passage of time, the young emperor who was handsome and handsome and admired Europe has already entered middle age; The large brown beard on his lips added a little bit of vicissitudes from the years to his whole person.

“…… On August 29 and 30, our army continued to retreat. The German cavalry continued to penetrate and break through, and together with the infantry that followed them in the rear, they formed an encirclement of our divisions and brigades again and again. It had been four days since the Imperial 4th and 5th armies had been attacking from Warsaw, during which time they had been in a state of rapid march and fierce fighting, and the physical losses of the officers and men were extremely great; The order given by the General Headquarters to retreat made them lose the idea of resistance, and they became a large number of prisoners of the Germans in the chaotic escape route. In less than a day, the 4th Army, which had fought bloodily against the Germans south of Warsaw, lost more than half of its troops, and was almost completely divided and annihilated by the Germans in the ensuing battle......"

In front of a huge map of Eastern Europe hanging high on a wall, Sukh Holymnov, the Russian Minister of War with a waist like a bucket, is reporting to Nikolai on the current land situation; From time to time, those small eyes like mung beans glanced at the emperor who sat on the top without saying a word, lest the news of his defeat would touch the sensitive nerves of the emperor. In order to clear himself of the blame for the current defeat caused by his extreme contempt for equipment production before the war, Sukh Hollimnov either hinted or prevaricated, and used the Spring and Autumn penmanship to put all the basins on the head of the army commander, Grand Duke Nikolai. When it comes to their own responsibilities, they try to downplay them. Brushed aside. Under the description of Sukh Holymnov. The incompetent command of the Grand Duke Nicholas was to blame for the successive defeats in the front-line battles, and he himself became a conscientious officer who provided soldiers and supplies for the front.

"Tell me, how many soldiers and land did we lose in this Polish campaign?" Nicholas II raised his head and said to the Minister of War in a slightly hoarse voice.

Sukh Holymnov swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said in a dry voice: "Your Majesty, our 4th and 10th armies. Zài no longer exists after the end of the campaign. The rest of the group armies also suffered considerable losses, and the casualties among officers and men were extremely heavy. Since detailed statistics have not yet been available, the number of dead and wounded in our army is conservatively estimated at more than 150,000, and no less than 250,000 were captured. The vast majority of them were losses caused by the continuous outflanking and encirclement of the German cavalry during the retreat after our troops withdrew from Warsaw. The Germans suffered less than 50,000 casualties. We had taken a large number of their captives, but as a result of the catastrophic retreat of the entire army, these people were freed by the defeat of the army that captured them. ”

"What about Poland, what about Warsaw?" Nikolai asked again.

"After the defeat of our army, we no longer have the strength to defend the city of Warsaw. The Germans had already occupied it on the 29th, and the Kaiser visited the city the next day. Current. Our army has fully shrunk to the eastern periphery of Poland, only a line from Belarus. Sukh Holymnov took the baton. A winding front was drawn on the map that made Nicholas II's pupils constrict, "At present, the entire Polish salient that we could use to fight against Germany and Austria has completely disappeared, and German East Prussia and Austria-Hungary Galicia are united. The only thing to be thankful for is that we have another 30 divisions that will arrive at the front in the coming month, and the formation of the six rear armies will also be mobilized by November. ”

Nikolai took a deep breath, his heart already filled with anger and hatred. In the Tannenberg and Masurian Lake areas of East Prussia, the Russian army lost 450,000 troops one after another; In the Battle of Lodz, they were killed and wounded and captured by nearly 300,000 people. Counting the heavy losses in this battle and the previous fierce battles with the main Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia, the losses of the Russian army have exceeded 1.3 million people! Although Nikolai was convinced of the near-infinite human resources of his empire, he still felt angry, humiliated, and bitter about the loss of so many troops in just 100 days of war. Now even Romania, a third-rate country, has come to oppose him, and this is exactly the series of vicious effects caused by the successive defeats of the Russian army on the Eastern Front! 、

"Your Majesty, perhaps we can consider making peace with the Germans, withdraw from this war, and stop shedding the blood of our Russian Empire for the benefit of democracies."

Sukh Holymnov looked at the Tsar with a bitter and resentful face, and said cautiously: "To conduct a national war, you need a large amount of weapons and equipment and all kinds of war materials; However, now we have a considerable deficit in this aspect. With the declaration of war in Romania, our communication with the outside world was almost completely cut off, and the only things we could get from the British and French supplies were the port of Alhanks in the north and Vladivostok 8,000 kilometers away! Our imports are 98% lower than before the war, and the little supplies brought in from the Trans-Siberian Railway are simply not enough for the massive consumption of the front-line battlefields; Now Alhanks will also enter the freezing season in half a month, and the input of the empire has become even more difficult. ”

Seeing that Nikolai did not react, Sukh Holimnov mustered up his courage and said: "The French are almost unable to hold on, and God knows when Paris will fall under the repeated attacks of the German army; The British Navy suffered an unprecedented defeat, and their decline in the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea was almost irreversible. The Germans are about to repeat the honour they received in 1871. There is no core conflict of interest between the Reich and Berlin, and it is entirely possible to choose to stop at the moment when the two sides have not yet completely fought hatred, and not to be the burial objects of Britain and France, two doomed countries. In the previous battle, we had already fulfilled our responsibilities as allies, and now that they were gone, it was understandable that the Empire would have other plans. ”

"Ask for a truce now? and then to take the present military demarcation line as a new territorial boundary and cede all of Poland to the Germans; And since then completely withdraw from the Balkans, and the fleet will be blocked within the Black Sea forever? ”

Nikolai spoke lightly, but the coldness contained in his words made Sukh Holymnov's back instantly chill. Seeing that the Minister of War was silent, Nikolai couldn't help but snort coldly. After a short time, a complicated look appeared on his face, as if he was pained, like happiness, and like sadness, and said: "Eight years ago, the contract signed between the Empire and Japan did not cede an inch of land and did not pay a single ruble, but this situation is impossible to happen today. The British and the French needed us to contain Germany, so they tried to put pressure on Japan not to demand too much at the negotiating table. And today, what conditions can we have for peace talks with the Germans? ”

Hearing the words of the tsar, Sukh Holymnov felt bitter in his heart; As Minister of War for more than six years, he knew very well how weak the Russian arms industry had been under his previous leadership; And after more than three months of war, he has a better understanding of how vital these things are to the frontline war. The glory of cavalry and sabers is a thing of the past, and the current war has long been an era when artillery and machine guns decided the victory, and it is these things that the Russian army lacks the most. Although Sukh Hollimnov was already ready to make amends, intending the war and reorganizing the Russian military-industrial system; However, seeing Nikolai's resolute look, how dare he say more at this juncture?

"Nikolai? Nikolayevich, who was defeated by the Germans one after another despite the absolute superiority of his forces; Not only did he lose a large number of soldiers and weapons, but he also lost more than 200,000 square kilometers of territory in Poland, and the prestige of the Russian giants was discredited under his command. Nicholas II spoke softly, but his words were full of orders that could not be disobeyed, "Therefore, he is no longer fit to be the wartime commander-in-chief of the Russian Empire, and the North Caucasus will be the most suitable place for him to command." ”

Sukh Holymnov's heart sank slightly. Although he had a deep relationship with Grand Duke Nicholas, he had to admit that the Grand Duke was a rare core general in the current Russian army with good military qualities and command skills. And at present, listening to the meaning of Nicholas II, he is actually preparing to remove Grand Duke Nicholas from the post of commander-in-chief and be sent to the mountains of the North Caucasus, where birds do not, to fight against the Turks! Looking at Nikolai's face, which was already full of "I have made up my mind", Sukh Holymnov opened his mouth and asked: "I wonder who Your Majesty is going to let take over the position of Grand Duke?" Cavalry Admiral Alexey? Brusilov was quite talented and probably qualified for the post of commander-in-chief. ”

Nikolai shook his head and said, "These officers have been frightened by the Germans, let them command the army, and they will only retreat in the face of the German attack. This time, I will personally go to the front to serve as the wartime commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army, leading the army to defeat the Germans and retake lost places like Warsaw. After I left, the queen decided all matters big and small. Is there a saint Gregory? With Rasputin's help, my empire will also run in good order! ”

Sukh Holymnov's pupils constricted, and his heart was already full of shock and disbelief. (To be continued......)

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