All 1915 year

It was a year of various attempts by both sides to break the stalemate, especially the poison gas warfare pioneered by the Germans in the Second Battle of Ypres, which opened Pandora's box and inflicted heavy losses on the Anglo-French forces.

After that, the armies of both sides used poison gas attacks on a large scale, which became the most brutal scene of human warfare in history, breaking through the lower limit of morality.

Even so, the stalemate in the confrontation between the two armies on the Western Front was not broken.

In light of this

The German High Command changed its strategy, and the German army on the Western Front shifted to a strategic defensive posture and moved the center of operations to the east, hoping to take the lead in defeating the relatively weak Tsarist Russian army in order to get rid of the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.

From May 2 to June 22, the German-Austrian army concentrated its superior forces and launched a large-scale campaign in the Gorlitzer area of Western Galicia.

Another significant event was the betrayal of its allies by the Kingdom of Italy, which decided to defect and sign the Treaty of London with the Entente camp after receiving promised territorial compensation from the Entente.

In early May, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, severed diplomatic relations with Germany, and officially joined the Entente.

The Italian kingdom's manipulation directly showed off Kaiser Wilhelm II, and smashed the treasures in the study in a fit of rage.

Angry, the betrayal of the Kingdom of Italy is irreparable.

It turns out

Italy's betrayal did not hurt the Allied bloc as much as it had hoped.

As a bullying army, whether it is Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, or Bulgaria, on the front from the Apennine Peninsula to the Balkans, it can catch the army of the Kingdom of Italy with a hammer.

For the sake of this unreliable ally, the Anglo-French forces had to send troops to act as firefighters and fill the loopholes for the army of the Kingdom of Italy everywhere.

So far, the Entente bloc has gathered the two major pig teammates of Tsarist Russia and Italy, and the overall combat effectiveness has not seen a significant improvement, but has been greatly affected.

By October

Without the drag of Italy, a pig teammate, Bulgaria and the German-Austrian army occupied the entire territory of Serbia in one fell swoop, gaining an advantage in the Balkan battlefield.

After a long tour of Europe, Richard returned to the warm Mediterranean coast of France, where he met Seville, where he had been waiting for a long and leisurely winter break.

In France, the supply situation is much stronger than in Germany and Austria.

Major food products can be guaranteed, and even if there is a shortage, a large number of imports from North America can be replenished, but the price is slightly higher, on average 2~3 times that of the pre-war period.

Some luxury goods such as coffee, toffee, cocoa, tobacco, liquor, and canned meat are on average 4~6 times higher than before the war, but as long as you have money, you can always buy them in the market.

In a French-style castle by the sea

After a fierce battle, Richard walked out of the bedroom with a cigar on his lips and sat down in the spacious marble pavilion, where he could look out over the blue Mediterranean.

There are several giant freighters on the sea, which are part of the golden trade route of the Atlantic.

The Atlantic gold trade route was bordered by North American cities on one end and the major trading ports of Great Britain, France, and Italy on the other.

That's right, now that Italy has joined the Entente camp, the original trade blockade against the Kingdom of Italy naturally does not exist.

Huge ships laden with goods from the Tang Empire arrived at the ports of the Apennine Peninsula, causing a sensation in the Kingdom of Italy from top to bottom.

These giant ships brought the long-coveted cane sugar, canned goods and coffee, as well as a variety of in-demand goods, which plunged the Italian upper class and middle class into a shopping spree with a focus on quality of life.

Richard looked at the giant ship on the sea with a happy expression, and heard the sound of footsteps behind him, and soon a soft and delicate body with a fragrant breeze fell into his arms, and his white arms tightly hugged Richard's strong waist.

The red clouds on Sevillea's beautiful face had not yet completely receded, and a pair of large blue-purple eyes were as charming as silk, hugging Richard like an octopus.

"Sir, the Seville Food Company that I run in Bordeaux has all been arranged, and the wheat imported from the flour mill is piled up in the warehouse, and it will soon be in full production." Sevillea hugged Richard tightly and continued to speak.

"Everything was like a dream.

After I met him, I opened a bakery, a bakery, and in just a few years, I have set up my own food company and become a successful businessman.

I know that all this success comes from the influence of my lord, and now I also want to have a child who can inherit our family business in the future.

I know

It is impossible for this child to inherit the noble title of the lord, but I want to leave the accumulated wealth to him, which is also my greatest wish. ”

Sevillaa was very self-aware, she never asked about the master's family, let alone had the luxury of replacing him.

Her situation was very common in European high society, and the child was called an illegitimate child, and she was the mistress of the master, or the outer room.

It can be seen from the usual relationship that the lord is an oriental nobleman with great power and is almost omnipotent.

Because of this, she didn't dare to ask for too much.

Richard's deep eyes looked ahead, and he gently wrapped one arm around Severia, leaning over and whispering in her ear; "In that case, you'll have to work harder."

"Got it, sir." Receiving Richard's approval, a red cloud appeared on Sevelia's face and she nodded gratefully.

Then she found a comfortable place on Richard's broad chest, where she was cowered and quietly accompanied.

Sevillaa is a wise woman, she knows how to do it in moderation, and she also knows that the lord doesn't like chattering women, as long as she stays quietly by the lord's side.

Richard gently patted her on the back twice, a wordless reassurance, and then turned his gaze to the beautiful scenery in front of him.

He took two puffs of his cigar in one hand, letting the strong smell of tobacco linger at their sides.

The full-scale First World War has been going on for more than a year, and neither side of the war has broken the deadlock and entered a stage of pure national attrition.

At the beginning of the year

Britain and France launched the Battle of Gallipoli in order to achieve the strategic goal of forcibly breaking into the Dardanelles, which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, in order to open up the Bosphorus and occupy its capital Istanbul.

As a result, although Britain and France invested a large number of troops to attack for a year, they were met with a head-on attack by the Ottoman army under the command of General von Zanders of Germany, and the troops who landed in Gallipoli suffered heavy losses, but were crushed on the beachhead and were never able to break through.

The Battle of Gallipoli was a campaign initiated by British Admiralty Winston Churchill and suffered an unprecedented defeat.

Churchill's original strategic plan was very good, to land on Gallipoli and then control the Dardanelles, so as to open up the southern front.

Its ultimate goal was to defeat the Ottoman Empire and force it to surrender, thus opening the door to the Black Sea, which could be massively aided by land and sea to the Russian allies.

So

It can help the Tsarist allies maintain a precarious situation and stabilize the Eastern Front, thereby exerting stronger pressure on the Allied military bloc.

The idea is good, but it's a mess.

The main force of the coalition forces transported to the Gallipoli Peninsula was the Anzac Corps, and they were crushed to the beachhead by the Ottoman 5th Army under the command of General von Zanders.

After several reinforcements, it was never able to break through the defense line of the Ottoman 5th Army, and the war became a stalemate of attrition, which was extremely unfavorable to the attacking British and French forces.

In the end, after losing 150,000 officers and soldiers, it was forced to carry out a major retreat from November to January 1916, leaving a mess behind.

Summing up the brutal war of the past year, whether it was the use of poison gas bombs or on the Eastern Front, the Balkan Front, both sides in the war were powerless to break the stalemate, and everything returned to square one.

During this year, the German army invested a large number of troops on the Eastern Front, and won battle after battle, eliminating more than 2 million Russian troops.

The results were minimal, and the Russians mobilized a steady stream of gray cattle from the rear to fill the gaps in their forces, as if endlessly.

The Germans were tired and weak-footed, and in the end they had to admit that the idea of being the first to achieve a breakthrough on the Eastern Front was a bit naïve, and that the Tsarist Empire was far more capable of withstanding the war losses than imagined.

If you lose 1 million, you will make up for 1 million, and if you lose 3 million, you will make up for 3 million.

This rogue style of play was almost incomprehensible, and finally made the Germans completely abandon the idea of breaking through on the Eastern Front first.

Although the Tsarist Russian army is corrupt and backward, with a serious shortage of weapons and equipment, and many logistics supply problems, it can't stand up to the large number of people!

Despite the fight, Tsar Nicholas II was able to send an additional 7 million to 10 million troops to the front, leaving the Germans in complete despair.

So throughout 1915, in addition to millions of huge casualties, there was no breakthrough on the main Western and Eastern Fronts of World War I.

This situation will continue into the next year.

As far as Richard knew, the German High Command had refocused its attention on the Western Front and was about to launch a larger decisive battle on the Western Front.

The three most tragic meat grinder battles of the First World War are about to start in the new year, namely;

Namely, the Battle of Verdun on the Western Front, the Battle of the Somme and the Brusilov Breakthrough on the Eastern Front.

So, after a cold winter day on this warm seaside, Richard is ready to return to Paris next February to witness this historic moment for himself.

This time

He was ready to blend in with the multinational military observer mission, get closer to the front-line troops, and even fly to the front line to experience the unprecedented cruelty and bloody battles.

In the open space near the castle, two of the latest biplanes produced by the Tang Empire are quietly parked, capable of reaching speeds of 230 kilometers per hour.

Richard had already flown many of these planes, even with Severia, and was an experienced pilot.

These planes are now his new toys, capable of flying easily across the narrow English Channel, witnessing the war in France in the afternoon, and not missing a lavish dinner in London in the evening.

The emergence of aircraft and tanks in the First World War was a revolutionary development in the field of weapons and entered a new era.