The German Chief of the General Staff, Falkingham, and the former Chief of Staff, Moltke Jr., had diametrically opposed approaches.

Moltke Jr. adhered to the attitude of not interfering with the decisions of the front-line commanders, and was only responsible for formulating macro strategies, while the micro-level exercises were handed over to the commanders-in-chief of the front-line armies for implementation.

But Falkingham is different. As Germany's new chief of staff, Falkingham not only had full authority to participate in the formulation of macro strategies, but also frequently ordered and commanded various army groups at the front.

As for the good time for the current possible encirclement of all Russian troops, Falkingham put forward his own opinion: divide the forces into two flanking attacks, the main attack will still be carried out by Mackensen's 11th Army, which has just won a massive victory, and the direction of attack will be the area between the Vivas and Bug rivers.

The second line of troops was the 12th Army in the direction of East Prussia, and the offensive direction was the North Root of the Polish prominence, striving to cut off all the Polish protruding areas.

But Hindenburg, commander-in-chief of the Army of the Eastern Front, had a very different idea. Hindenburg believed that an offensive from the Neman River, a direct insertion into Minsk via Kovno, and a direct cut off the retreat of the Russian army from the Russian rear would not only be able to occupy a large area of Russian territory, including Poland, but also eliminate more of the main Russian forces and create a decisive victory for the entire Eastern Front.

Falkingham's plan was still to fight in the Polish region, while Hindenburg's plan had penetrated deep into the Russian territory of Minsk, which was more than 200 kilometers from the Russian border.

Although it is true that going around to Minsk can cut off the retreat route of the Russian army on the Eastern Front, it is more likely to get more results.

But the problem is that such an in-depth battle plan requires more troops to ensure that the flank of the assault force is not threatened.

More troops also represented more logistical supplies, which was a problem for the German logistics sector.

You must know that although the transportation in East Prussia is very developed, this does not mean that the transportation in Poland and Russia is developed enough.

Compared with Germany's well-developed railway and road networks, Russia's transportation environment will be more primitive, and the mobilization of troops will not only be more difficult, but also an unbearable burden for infrequent transportation.

What's more, it's already close to September, and winter in Russia is not far off. If the fighting was not ended quickly before winter arrived, the Russian winter would have been a hell for the German soldiers.

At that time, in addition to the regular food and supplies, the German logistics department also had to transport a large number of cotton clothes and winter items to ensure that the German army would not suffer frostbite.

As a result of all these factors, Hindenburg's plan was no longer realistic. The German logistics department could not guarantee that a large number of German troops would be adequately supplied, let alone distribute cotton clothes and winter supplies to every German soldier in the coming winter.

As the two most powerful voices in the German military at present, Falkingham and Hindenburg could not convince each other, resulting in the German army being unable to decide on the final battle plan against Russia.

Seeing that the best opportunity to destroy the Russian army was about to be missed, Falkingham had no choice but to persuade Wilhelm II.

Compared to Hindenburg, who was already self-serving, Wilhelm II was easier to persuade.

Fakeham said bluntly that Hindenburg was a guy who was happy and self-serving.

Hindenburg's plan simply did not work. Russia's territory is vast, and the room for maneuver is enormous.

According to the current strength of the German-Austrian forces, it is impossible to effectively encircle all Russian troops, let alone fight deep into the interior of Russia.

Even if the German army was not defeated by the countless swamps, lakes, forests and terrible roads in Russia, it was destined to be defeated by the winter that would come in a few months.

Falkingham said that if Wilhelm II did not want to face the same difficulties as Napoleon, then he should carefully consider the war plan against Russia and adopt a more conservative and more successful plan.

Falkingham's words do work. Napoleon is well known in Europe, and Napoleon's achievements far surpassed those of Wilhelm II.

But the once unstoppable Napoleon, though defeated by the vast territory of Russia and the cold winter, not to mention the current German army.

Wilhelm II was soon persuaded by Falkingham, who unreservedly supported Falkingham's plan and ordered all the troops at the front to follow Falkingham's plan.

The good news was that most of the German army followed the orders of Wilhelm II and acted according to Falkingham's plan.

The bad news is that Hindenburg is the only one who is acting in disobedience, openly following Fa Jinhan's plan, and secretly still ordering his subordinates to prepare according to his own plan.

Hindenburg's disobedience to Wilhelm II's orders actually represents a sad fact that the German imperial power has gradually been hollowed out by the military power.

While the German army was plotting the next major offensive, the Russian army was extremely pessimistic about the current war situation.

After the last defeat, an enraged Nicholas II directly dismissed Ivanov, the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front, appointing Alekseev as the new commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Army.

At the same time, Nicholas II repeatedly questioned the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Grand Duke Nicholas. If it weren't for the fact that the change of commander would have caused the army's morale to collapse faster, I am afraid that the post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army of Grand Duke Nicholas would have been deposed by Nicholas II long ago.

The Russian High Command believed that after the defeat in the Battle of Gollitzer, the Russian army suffered a heavy blow.

Not only did they face serious casualties and losses, but they also lost a large amount of materiel, which contributed to the scarcity of supplies and the insufficient supply of ammunition for the front-line army.

Coupled with the damage to the morale of the army, the combat effectiveness of the front-line army has weakened, and it is not suitable to compete head-on with the German-Austrian coalition army.

Grand Duke Nicholas also ordered that until the above problems were resolved, offensive action against the German-Austrian forces by any army was forbidden, and a general retreat was carried out on all fronts unfavorable to the Russian army.

At the necessary moment, the army could withdraw from Warsaw, move to Brest in the rear of Warsaw.

In fact, this is equivalent to Russia unilaterally giving up most of Poland's lands and turning from an all-out offensive to a full-scale defense on the Eastern Front.

Although such a decision would cost Russia a lot of land, it was the only right decision that Russia could make at the moment.

In order to facilitate the integration of the Southwestern Front and the restoration of its combat effectiveness, the new commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front, Alekseev, demanded that the armies of the Northwestern Front hold out for at least a month to cover the retreat of the Southwestern Front in the Warsaw area and reorganize its forces in the Brest region.

The day after the retreat of the Russian Southwestern Front began, the Germans launched a large-scale offensive.

On September 3, 1915, the German 11th Army, together with the Bug River Army and the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army, launched a large-scale campaign against Tomaszów and Krasnik.

It is worth mentioning that, knowing that the Russian army did not have sufficient artillery, the German artillery positions were even very close to the Russian front, less than a kilometer from the nearest point.

Such a close direct shot is equivalent to shooting with a rifle within one meter, and the hit rate will be greatly increased.

Of course, the hit rate increases, and the lethality of this close-range artillery is amazing.

Thanks to its proximity, German artillery could hit Russian trenches almost accurately, killing large numbers of Russian soldiers in the trenches.

The tragic scene of the armies of various countries was so moving that even the German officers could not help but feel pity for these Russian soldiers who died tragically.

Of course, as soldiers, they will only be pitiful for a few seconds at most, and then they will strangle the Russian army with more courage.

The Russian army held out in these two areas for four days, paying nearly 100,000 casualties, and finally the battle line collapsed and was completely defeated.

In mid-September, when the German troops forced their way across the Bug River, Russia finally made its first sortie of planes purchased from Australasia and launched a heavy bombardment of the German-Austrian forces crossing the river, with constant machine-gun fire.

This was the first time that the Russian army used aircraft to conduct a war, and it was also the first time in Russian history that it carried out air-ground coordinated operations, and it is a stroke worth writing in the history of Russian warfare.

In total, Russia dispatched more than a dozen planes and dropped more than three tons of bombs over the course of several days.

Under the urgent training of some Australasian experts, Russia finally trained more than 10 pilots before it was able to make its first aircraft sortie.

Fortunately, the first sortie of the plane achieved great results, and Nicholas II was glad that his money on the plane was not spent in vain.

After the failure of the 11th Army to force its way across the river, in the East Prussian direction, the German 12th Army also began an offensive from Pshasnich on the lower reaches of the Narev River.

Compared to the Russian army faced by the 11th Army, the German 12th Army faced Russian soldiers was much weaker.

During the attack on Galicia, Russia transferred part of its elite army to the Southwestern Front, which also led to the fact that part of the Russian army in East Prussia was not very combat-capable.

Under the heavy artillery fire of the 12th Army, the Russian army could only retreat into the city, relying on the chaotic streets of the city to engage in street fighting with the German army.

All of a sudden, the German army, which did not have much preparation, paid a large number of casualties in the street fighting.

The Russian army gave full play to the spirit of firing a shot to change places, and launched guerrilla warfare in street battles, so that the German army could not find out where the enemy was, and for a moment there was a great confusion.

Reinforcements arrived from elsewhere to push back the German troops, leading to the failure of the attempt by the commander of the 12th Army, Galvez, to force his way across the Narev River.

However, Galvez was in a hurry and thought of another good idea, which was to cross the river in other areas by taking a detour.

After some searching, Galvez finally found the area where the Russian army was weak, forced a cross of the Narev River from Rochani, and successfully took control of the important crossing on the Narev River.

3000 words for the second update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)