"Although we know that the war will not end in a short time, we still have to shorten the course of the war as much as possible. A long period of attrition is absolutely fatal for Germany, the German Army is a sharp sword, the German Empire can use exquisite swordsmanship to gain an advantage with a stormy attack, but we can't maintain this offensive for a long time, our country needs to start the war as soon as possible, get a chance of victory as soon as possible, and end the war as soon as possible! —Hindenburg.

Hindenburg's passage reflects the entanglement of the Germans, on the one hand, they knew that they could not bring Britain, France and Russia to their knees in a short time, but at the same time, they wanted to directly defeat their opponents through an outbreak within a few months through a similar style of fighting similar to the Franco-Prussian War, and achieve victory at a relatively small cost. Although Schlieffen's plan was now almost unachievable, with Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands building on the border, the stubborn Germans still wanted to replicate the victory.

However, this time, the target of the Germans' attack was not France, because France had reached an agreement with Belgium and the Netherlands, and the two countries decided to join the British and French defense system, and a fortress defense system that ran through the north and south would eventually be established. On the Western Front, any offensive against France and its allies would turn into a frontal battle of fortification, which would obviously be quite unfavorable for Germany!

There was no hope on the Western Front, and a frontal war of attrition and protracted warfare without any fancy was not what the Germans were good at, so the German General Staff set its sights on the Eastern Front - Tsarist Russia, a seemingly powerful country that could actually be described as a coffee table. After many rounds of research and deduction. The Germans decided to come up with a Russian version of the Schlieffen Plan, but it was not only Germany that participated in the plan, but not only the Army. The troop strength used in this plan may not be as good as the former, but the breadth and combat space involved are incomparable with the former!

"First of all, before we enter Russian territory, we need to consume the Russians and bleed this giant bear. So I suggest that our first campaign against Russia be carried out on the inner front. We will give the Russians who entered our country a head-on blow in East Prussia! "Moltke Jr. made a startling suggestion in an internal meeting." If it is not you who makes this opinion, but an ordinary officer, he will be sentenced to be hanged. Ludendorff commented afterwards.

The greatest advantage of the Russians over the British and French was the large number of their troops. and the numbness of the people to the loss of life. The total population of the Russians was too large, and they could replenish far more troops than the Germans, but they lacked sufficient heavy artillery and other technical equipment. In the eyes of the Russian Army, the loss of heavy equipment was more unacceptable than the loss of personnel, so if Germany wanted to win in the future, it would have to annihilate the Russians' vital forces and technical equipment. And it is clear that it is obviously better to bring in the opponent than to fight a tug-of-war with the opponent in the vast Eastern European Pingyuan. Then it's more convenient to come to a closed door and hit the dog!

"There are too many troops on the Western Front. The place is too small, and the Eastern Front is just the opposite, the place is too big, the army is relatively small, even if we have no intention of taking the initiative to attack France, we still have to leave more than half of the troops on the Western Front, the Italians are unreliable. They will only guard the mountains on the Franco-Italian border, and Austria-Hungary is no match for the French. So we need to get the Russians to take the initiative to concentrate subsequently. Deliver a fatal blow! Moltke Jr. explained his strategic intentions this way.

"We are in East Prussia. We will build an impenetrable fortress at Königsberg so that the Russians will have a hard time retreating. Let them enter Germany from the south of Königsberg, in which case they would be accumulated in a relatively small space, and then we would attack from the left and right flanks together with the Austrian army, and annihilate the invading enemy, who had already proved themselves incompetent in the field, and could easily be divided and annihilated even by the Chinese troops. It's going to be an easy battle. Moltke said.

"In my opinion, the level of the Chinese Army is much higher than that of Russia, and also much higher than that of our allies, and the German Army can guarantee an offensive on the northern front. But the allies on the southern front are not possible, since we have already transferred some of the main forces to the eastern front, why not invest in the first battle? Hindenburg was puzzled by this, and his words revealed his dissatisfaction and concern about the fighting power of Austria-Hungary. After all, there is no military genius named Prince Eugen in Austria today! The Habsburgs at this time were more suitable for the birth of fairy tales than a powerful army.

"Our powerful mobile forces are also limited, and their biggest limitation lies in the distance and dependence on logistical supplies, our infantry can already easily break the opponent's offensive spearhead, in this case, why do we still use precious mobile corps? As for the Austrians? Well, if our allies had half the combat strength of the Huaxia Army, I don't think we would have to make this plan. Their task was supposed to be to intercept them around the Russian rear. Moltke thought for a moment and said.

"It shouldn't be a problem to send the Austrians to the rear of the Russian army to pick up the Russians who have collapsed by their own defeat, right?" Moltke said in his heart as he looked at the map. Well, there should be no problem.

After East Prussia wiped out part of the Russian army, Germany's most elite armored forces would appear, and the entire Eastern Front German and Austro-Hungarian armies would launch a campaign aimed at swallowing up all of Russian Poland from East Prussia. And all the follow-up units of the Russian army will be eliminated. If the battlefield battle goes well, the entire Eastern Front will be flattened. The Germans would save a lot of troops and have more powerful mobile corps.

In Moltke's plan, in the second phase of the whole plan, the German Navy would cooperate with the German Army, and the Navy would gain sea supremacy in the Baltic Sea and cover the landing of the Army on the Baltic Sea coast. The landing force will split into two lines, one of which will pounce on St. Petersburg. The other would take a detour to the south, shattering Russia's fragile rear. And this is the core part of Moltke's plan! A huge scythe cut down from the sea and smashed directly the fragile henchmen of Russia!

"To be honest, this plan is very difficult to implement, not that our army is not capable of fighting on the ground, but that it is unknown whether the navy will be willing to cooperate with our strategy and whether it will be able to wipe out the Russian Baltic within a few months of the start of the war. When the Baltic Sea was in crisis, the British could not have left it alone. At this point, Hindenburg again voiced his concerns.

The navy and army have always been enemies, and this sentence is appropriate for most countries, and of course Germany is not exempt from vulgarity. No, the other day, Tirpitz and the Minister of War had a quarrel in front of Wilhelm II over the issue of military spending on both sides. In this battle between land and sea, Wilhelm II once again favored his favored subjects, which caused a trace of discontent in the entire army.

"It doesn't matter, Tirpitz this old fellow can't take the military money for nothing without paying the price, and our minister, although he did not receive enough funds, received a guarantee that the German High Seas Fleet could divide two detachments to support our operations in the Baltic without affecting the major battles of the High Seas Fleet. This is absolutely impossible for the Russians, who do not have a navy, to resist. Moltke shook his head and said. In his opinion, the German Army has no problem defeating the Russians, and the Navy should have no problem, right? After all, now Russia can be said to have no navy!

The German Army from the Baltic Sea will open up a second battlefield, and then cooperate with the German Army in front of the army to launch attacks again and again, and the war has reached this point, Moltke believes that his goal has been achieved, that is, to continuously attack the Russians from the front and rear at the same time. Frontal depletion of the opposing side's forces, while the Germans entering from the flanks would destroy the enemy's potential. However, Moltke was afraid that it would not be safe, and felt that it was necessary to prepare another hand, and this plan involved Italy, the last power in Europe.

Italy is only a second-rate country in Europe from any point of view, barely holding the name of a great power, of course, in history. And in this plane, Italy, as one of the countries that have changed the most except for China, already has a powerful fleet at this time! The Italians could finally straighten their backs at this point and say that the Royal Italian Navy was the most powerful force in the Mediterranean. What the? Are you asking the British Mediterranean Fleet? Well, most of the capital ships of this once formidable fleet have been redeployed to the Grand Fleet on the home side. Because the strength of the Germans in the North Sea had again forced Britain to begin a total contraction of its fleet.

It was precisely because of this strong Italian force that the Germans tolerated and supported Italian expansion in Africa to the greatest extent, and forcibly suppressed Turkey to cede part of its territory to Italy in exchange for Italy to side with them. At the same time, it was promised that after the victory, French North Africa could be handed over to the Italians. This effort must be rewarded! So the Germans demanded that the Italian Navy enter the Black Sea if necessary, gain control of the Black Sea, and find a suitable place to land on the coast of Ukraine, and then open a third front!

In Moltke's heart, if these three fronts can be realized, no, as long as both fronts can be realized, I'm afraid the Russians can only choose defeat and surrender, right? Even Germany didn't have to use the hidden stakes buried next to the tsar to bring this giant with feet of clay to its knees! After Russia succumbs, Germany will receive a large amount of supplies and can transfer troops on the eastern front to the western front, so that the British and French defense lines may not be able to block the impact of the German and Austrian armies, and the biggest advantage of Britain and France - sufficient supplies may be greatly reduced, right? Of course, it depends on how well the navy's operation to break diplomatic relations is carried out.

Thanks to book friends Ahu 9006 and zhouyu1976, Wangyun Mountain people for their tips~~~. (To be continued......)