While the East Prussian campaign was going on, the Russian-Austrian border was not idle. At the urging of Germany, Austria-Hungary gathered three army groups, totaling 48 infantry divisions and 11 cavalry divisions, to prepare for an attack on Russia.

The Russians, on the other hand, also hoarded the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Eighth Armies in an attempt to annex all of Galicia in one battle.

If the Battle of East Prussia was a hasty war that Russia had to wage under pressure from Britain and France.

Then the encounter on the Russian-Austrian border shows the ambitions of Austria-Hungary and Russia in this war.

Austria-Hungary wanted to defeat Russia and go south to become the only great power in the Balkans, and to take over all the Balkan states.

Russia, on the other hand, naturally wanted to annex the fertile land of Galicia and at the same time reduce the power of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans.

Russia and Austria-Hungary committed millions of troops to the border, close to two million to be exact.

This also makes the number of soldiers on the Eastern Front no weaker than on the Western Front, and if you look at the size of the soldiers on both sides alone, the Eastern Front may be even more.

But in reality, it's just a false boom. Everyone knew that the fighting capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies were far inferior to those of France and Germany, and that if the main forces of the German army were on the Eastern Front, Russia would have no room to fight back.

On 1 February, the Austro-Hungarian First Army and the Russian Fourth Army met in the Krasnik area, and a fierce melee immediately began.

However, the fighting capabilities of the Russian army were much inferior to that of the Austro-Hungarian army, and after a fierce battle, the Russian army was successfully repulsed.

But the battle is far from stopping. Soon, Russia organized the 3rd and 8th armies to carry out an offensive in the direction of Lviv and Galich.

At the same time, the Fourth and Fifth Armies carried out a roundabout encirclement of the left flank of the Austro-Hungarian army, cutting off the retreat route of the Austro-Hungarian army in the direction of Krakow, and encircling the main force of the Austro-Hungarian army as much as possible.

The real battle began on 3 February, and the Russian Third and Eighth Armies soon fought the Austro-Hungarian Third Army, which succeeded in delaying the Austro-Hungarian First Army and forcing the Austro-Hungarian Second Army to transfer from Serbia.

Gunfire continued until the afternoon of 7 February, when the Austro-Hungarian Second and Third Armies were forced to retreat after paying a heavy number of casualties.

The Russian army also took advantage of the victory and pursued, occupying Galich and Lviv.

Thanks to the personal command of Grand Duke Nicholas, the Russian army burst out with great combat effectiveness, fought every enemy and won every battle, and soon occupied the entire Galician region.

The battle, which lasted for more than half a month, also cost the Austro-Hungarian army more than 400,000 casualties, while the Russian casualties were less than 230,000.

Such a result was a huge blow to both Austria-Hungary and the Central Powers. The Russian occupation of Galicia posed a threat to both German Silesia and Austria-Hungary.

Faced with such a dangerous situation, Austria-Hungary had no choice but to ask Germany for help.

Nor could Germany ignore the danger of its hinterland and allies, so it could only reinforce the Eastern Front from the Western Front and temporarily delay the Russian offensive.

Arthur looked at the battle report sent from the European side, and couldn't help but be a little stunned.

The Russian army was able to easily defeat the Austro-Hungarian army, which Arthur did not expect.

After all, Russia's domestic system is too rotten, and it is not easy for this ancient enemy country to burst out with such a powerful combat force.

But when you think about it, after the outbreak of the war, Australasia has repeatedly delivered weapons and equipment to Russia, and Arthur is not surprised that he suddenly has arrived.

One of the most important factors that determine a soldier's combat effectiveness is the soldier's weaponry and logistical supply.

The main force of the Russian army on the front line has been equipped with a large number of military weapons produced in Australasia, which has also virtually improved the combat effectiveness of the Russian army.

But victory on the Eastern Front was not a good thing for Russia, because Germany had already gathered a large number of troops to go to the Eastern Front.

Although Russia was able to show off its might against Austria-Hungary, it did not have much resistance in the face of the German Army, the most powerful army in the world.

What's more, the situation in Russia is not so stable. If there is a crisis in Russia because of the reinforcement of the Eastern Front by Germany, I am afraid that Russia will have civil strife earlier than in history, and even a greater crisis will erupt.

And without the Russian Entente, the strength will also be reduced by a considerable part. Although Britain, France, and Australia together also had the strength to defeat Germany, the price paid by the Entente to defeat Germany would certainly be much higher.

You must know that Russia mobilized more than 10 million troops in World War I, and nearly 2 million people were killed and wounded.

These figures are also due to the fact that Russia's domestic statistics are very backward, and the actual number of casualties will definitely be higher.

This also meant that the more than 10 million troops needed to be filled by the other three countries of the Entente, and unless Australasia could organize millions of indigenous armies, it would have to send regular troops to facilitate the victory of the war.

This also means that, no matter what, the stability of Russia and the stability of the Eastern Front are very important.

Russia was able to share a considerable part of the German army, and judging from the current war situation, Britain, France, and Australia could not afford Russia to withdraw from the war.

Thinking of this, Arthur also felt that he could not sit still. It just so happened that the new weapons and equipment of the Royal Military Factory had been produced, and it was time to send some of them to Russia to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Russian army.

February 17, 1915, St. Petersburg, Russia.

The defeat in the Battle of East Prussia made Nicholas II not angry for a few days, and the success of the Battle of Galicia did not bring a smile back to Nicholas II's face.

What's more, the direct Russian occupation of the entire region of Galicia was a greater joy than the victory in the campaign.

It has been nearly half a year since the start of the war, and because Russia has been obscure, Nicholas II, who has been holding his breath, can finally raise his eyebrows and point to the war situation map hanging on the wall and begin to point out the country.

Nicholas II's appetite was not limited to a small region of Galicia, and if possible, Hungary, East Prussia and other regions were also under Nicholas II's consideration.

Of course, there are also the Polish regions that were previously divided with the Germans, which should also be fully recovered.

As a result, Russia occupies almost half of Eastern Europe, and with the indirect control of the Balkans, half of Europe is controlled by Russia.

The Russian military and officials, who seemed to be listening attentively, also had smiles on their faces at this time.

For an established country like Russia, the expansion of the land area is worth rejoicing, and it is also worth rejoicing to show its strength to the outside world.

You know, since the beginning of the 20th century, the weakening of old powers like Russia has been a common topic.

Especially in the face of such a new country as an island country with obvious shortcomings, Russia has almost reached a draw, which is enough to prove Russia's weakness.

Coupled with the rise of Germany and the formation of the Central Powers, Russia became the fourth in Europe, below Britain, Germany and France.

And after the outbreak of this war, Russia did not achieve anything in the first few months of the war, and even the slow progress of general mobilization, poor weapons and equipment of soldiers, poor logistics and transportation system, etc., made Europeans call the steamrollers old, decayed, and degraded.

This is not good news for the Russians, who will die when they are old, machines will be scrapped when they are old, and countries will be oppressed and annexed by new countries when they are old.

This victory for Austria-Hungary, for the Tsarist Empire and the Tsarist government, is a re-declaration to the outside world, at least Russia is still the European steamroller, and it is still a crushing strength for a last-class power like Austria-Hungary.

Although it will not make people face up to the Russian Empire again, at least people should also sigh that a dead camel is bigger than a horse, and no matter how corrupt the top power is, it is not comparable to a small last power.

Of course, there was another reason why the entire tsarist government was more happy, and that was that Russia had made a huge contribution to this campaign, and the Germans were even forced to send more reinforcements, relieving the pressure on the Western Front.

And merit is also an assessment of the distribution of benefits after the war. For the tsarist government, the greater the credit now received, the greater the benefits that could be gained after the war.

Who cares about the hundreds of thousands of casualties since the outbreak of the war, for the Tsarist Empire, which has a population of more than 100 million people?

Was it Nicholas II or the tsarist government? Is it the Russian top or the capital gentry?

No, no one cares about these casualties except for civilians in Russia. In the eyes of the Russian leadership, these casualties are just a string of numbers, a string that can change at any time and is constantly increasing.

If you look at the number of births in Russia every year, you can understand that the number of newborn babies alone is as high as millions or even millions every year.

Hundreds of thousands of casualties were nothing to mention for the Russian Empire, and they did not affect the annual population growth rate of Russia.

"Your Majesty, since the Germans have sent a large number of reinforcements, it is better for us to rest and recuperate, and the front-line battlefield will completely turn into a defensive state. In this way, we will be able to hold the Galician region that we have already occupied, and we will be able to accomplish the task of holding back the German army as asked by the French, and we will be able to reduce casualties and attrition at home. "The commander of the Galician campaign, Grand Duke Nicholas, arrived early in the St. Petersburg conference room and presented his point of view.

As the commander of the front, Grand Duke Nicholas had a clear understanding of the gap between the strength of the Russian army and the strength of the German army.

Although the defenders of the German East Prussia region plus reinforcements would not exceed 500,000. But just these 50 troops are enough to drag down Russia's nearly 2 million troops, and even inflict a large number of casualties on the Russian army.

In any case, Russia's mobilization of troops from the Western Front had already relieved the crisis in France, and Germany had fulfilled France's demands, so there was no need to continue to consume the German army.

Although there was no shortage of soldiers in the Russian army, the weapons and equipment, bullets and shells consumed in the war were still a huge expense.

From a military point of view, the proposal of the Grand Duke Nicholas was completely correct.

Russia did not have the strength, and there was no need to consume it with Germany. Unless there is no internal instability in Russia, which is simply not possible now.

However, for Russian officials, who were more politically conscious, the proposal of Grand Duke Nicholas was a bit of pure nonsense.

Now that they've all won, why not take advantage of the victory?

Isn't it fragrant that the East Prussia region of Germany, the Silesian region and the Hungarian region of Austria-Hungary?

Why did Russia enter the war? Just to expand on the land, is it also to increase political power and status?

Having won a battle is satisfied, how can the government compete for more political status and rights?

Before Grand Duke Nikolai could explain further, the current Prime Minister of Tsarist Russia, Ivan Goremykin, immediately interrupted and retorted with a smile: "Mr. Chief of the General Staff, the plan cannot be considered entirely from the military aspect. From a political point of view, we had to fight, and we had to fight another big war, to win, in order to stabilize our position among the Entente and to seek more in the distribution of benefits in the future. ”

"If we stand still and turn to defense on the spot, this may save a lot of resources and manpower, but the prestige that the empire has accumulated over a hundred years will be ruined, and our position in the covenant country and the world will also be ruined!"

"Mr. Prime Minister, prestige and position are secured by strength. Even if, as you say, a big victory to stabilize our prestige and position. After our troops and soldiers have paid a lot of casualties, who can guarantee the post-war status and distribution of benefits? It's better to stop there and turn the front line to the defensive. It only takes one army group to hold down all the German armies, and then it will be able to accomplish the task given to us by the allies.

When the benefits are distributed in the future, we will still have enough troops to protect our interests and position, and will it not be better than making unnecessary sacrifices in vain now? Grand Duke Nikolai replied with a sneer.

There is another more straightforward factor that Grand Duke Nicholas did not mention, and that is the frequent uprisings and civil strife that have broken out in the Tsarist Empire.

People's marches, workers' strikes, revolutionaries making trouble, naval uprisings. One thing is enough to make a country unstable, not to mention that the Tsarist Russian Empire has already gathered all the domestic and can put together a table of mahjong.

Whether the government can afford such heavy casualties Archduke Nicholas does not know, but Archduke Nicholas knows that if he continues to wage such a senseless war and consume his army and national strength, when a large-scale rebellion and crisis breaks out in the country in the future, there will really be no army to suppress it.

No matter how good the international status and territorial expansion are, they must be carried out under the premise of national stability and unity. Because the war caused instability within the empire, and was even divided by some revolutionaries, it would be ridiculous for thousands of years.

Let's just do this today, 4,000 words, take a leave.

(End of chapter)