Chapter 211: Reversal! Churchill's Tears (25)

Moscow, Kremlin.

“…… Beginning on 25 June, about 100 enemy divisions launched a general attack on a 1,600-kilometer front stretching from the Gulf of Riga in the north to the mouth of the Danube River in the south. ”

Tsar Nicholas II, who was reporting the situation to the constipated Tsar Nicholas II, was the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, Alekseev.

In November last year, due to the German army's approach to Minsk, the Russian army base camp in the town of Mogilev, 200 kilometers east of Minsk, was forced to move to the old capital Moscow.

After retreating to Moscow, Tsar Nicholas II became more sensitive, neurotic, and self-defeating, taking pleasure in hunting birds and rabbits in the imperial gardens outside the city every day, and strictly maintained the usual work schedule since he became commander-in-chief of the Russian army: sitting in the base camp for an hour every day, no more or less, and for this purpose special attendants were arranged to pinch the watch and ring the bell.

Alekseev was powerless and indifferent to this, and deep down he had long lost the reverence he deserved for his master, and these days his attention was mainly focused on the Eastern Front and Petrograd: the former was concerned about the safety of the entire Volga-Moscow industrial zone, and in the latter, the officers' clubs and the mansions of the nobility were brewing a "glorious revolution" with "as little blood as possible".

"yes, lost, lost again, and then what?"

His Majesty the Tsar asked with a serious or numb expression.

"The main forces of the armies of all sides are assembling the main defensive line according to the predetermined plan......"

"Scheduled?"

"Yes, the plan is predetermined. The North-Western Front retreated from the Pärnu and Daugavpils salients at either end of the front under its jurisdiction, and the withdrawn troops were massed in the Tallinn fortified area and east of the Velikaya River."

Alekseev patiently pointed on the map spread out in front of the tsar.

"The Western Front withdraws from the Pinsk salient at the southern end of the front under its jurisdiction and is ready to abandon Minsk and withdraw the main forces to the east of the Berezina River."

"The Southwestern Front took the initiative to abandon a large area of land east of Lviv and retreated in great strides to the Zhytomyr-Vinnitsa line, and at the same time concentrated mobile forces in Bessarabia on the southern section of the front, planning to first crush the Romanian army, which was poorly equipped and of good quality, and then turn north and attack the flank of the German and Austrian army."

Nikolai glanced back and forth, stopping briefly in Kiev and Moscow, and soon returned to the imperial capital of Petrograd.

"The enemy is very close to Petrograd."

"The enemy is also very close to the Urals."

Alekseev replied meaningfully.

Nikolai didn't hear it at all, and muttered to himself: "It's not okay to go on like this, my noble queen, my most distressed little Alexei, and my lovely princesses, stay in such a dangerous place...... Isn't it time to move the capital yet? ”

Alekseev resisted the urge to scold his mother and comforted: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I believe that the North-Western Front is capable of holding the enemy back to the west of Lake Chud and the Velykaya River - their equipment is the best among all armies, and most of the munitions produced by the numerous military factories in Petrograd and the large amount of allied aid imported from the port of Murmansk are equipped with the North-Western Front; And the dense swamps and forests in this area, coupled with the presence of a powerful Baltic Fleet, will be a strong support for our army to stop the enemy's advance......"

Alekseev paused and raised his voice to emphasize: "The act of rashly abandoning the imperial capital at a time when the front-line officers and men are bravely and stubbornly resisting the foreign invading army will not only seriously deal a blow to the national prestige of the empire, damage the honor of the army, and destroy the morale and confidence of the army and the people, but will also affect the evaluation of our country by the allies, which will not be conducive to the implementation of military assistance and the division of interests after the war......

Nikolai tilted his head impatiently: "Knowing the way, let's believe that the Northwest Front is good, I believe you, you believe them, that's enough—what else is there to report?" ”

"Commander Kornilov of the Southwestern Front asked whether three or four divisions from Constantinople and the Caucasus could be transported to Odessa to form a reserve army, which could be used to expand the results of the battle or to carry out defense after the defeat of the Romanian invading army."

"Constantinople? Didn't the Bulgarians stare from the sidelines? On the Caucasian side, did the Allies not ask us to unite in besieging the remnants of the Turkish army in Asia Minor? Aren't the Chinese marching from Persia and Mesopotamia to Transcaucasia? ”

As soon as he heard "Constantinople", Nicholas, the emperor of the "Third Rome", seemed to be possessed by a heroic spirit, and it was rare for him to be wise and powerful with a clear mind.

Alekseev sighed in his heart and explained with a strong spirit: "Without the Allied expeditionary force defeating the main forces of the Turkish army in the Dardanelles, we would not have been able to take Constantinople so easily, and without the fleets and flying teams of the Allied countries, we would not have been able to obtain a large amount of military aid from the Allies through the Mediterranean through the straits under the constant threat of German submarines and Chinese aircraft - without these valuable military aids, we would hardly have the resources to arm and strengthen the Ural Front and the Volga Front, And it was these two fronts that had just repelled a full-scale offensive of hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops. ”

"As for the Caucasus, the detachment of the Chinese army, which entered Persia from the desert south of Turkestan, was small and had no railway support. Our troops assembled in Tehran are backed by railways and seaports, and can be supplied and reinforced through the Caspian Sea at any time, so it should not be a problem to hold on for a while. ”

"The Chinese army that entered Mesopotamia, although the advance had already arrived in Baghdad, was also facing the difficulties of not having railway support. The route from northern Mesopotamia to the Caucasus not only had to bypass mountains and lakes, but also surrounded by rapids and canyons, and the mountain roads were rugged and dangerous, making it extremely difficult for the army to pass. Our army only needs to hold a few mountain passes between Tabriz and Van with a small number of troops to effectively hold back the enemy advancing north from Mesopotamia. ”

After listening to Alekseev's analysis, Nikolai made a "hmm" from his nose and flicked his fingers on the table: "In any case, Constantinople is ours, and the straits are ours, this is the promise of Britain and France, and it is also the motivation and condition for us to enter the war." ”

Alekseev smiled bitterly: "Yes, it is ours - provided that we can survive the last victory." Just yesterday, the commander of the British and French forces in Turkey proposed to the commander of our Constantinople Corps that they were willing to take over part of our army's defense area west of Constantinople and expressed their understanding that our Caucasian Front might reduce the size of the 'July Offensive'......

Nikolai slapped the table this time with rare blood: "This is a robbery while the fire is burning!" ”

"It's rational, honorable cooperation."

Alekseev is in the right direction.

Nikolai got up in anger and was about to speak, when he suddenly heard the crisp sound of the boy at the door shaking his handbell.

After hesitating in place for a few seconds, His Majesty the Tsar gracefully followed his usual schedule.

"That's all for today, I still have a lot of things to do, you have to make proper arrangements for the transfer of troops from Constantinople, and you must not damage the prestige of the empire and my honor!"

……

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