While the plan of the German Chief of Staff Falkingham to flank the Polish salient from the north and south was gradually proceeding, the German Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front, Hindenburg, and his Chief of Staff, Ludendorff, were also plotting their own plans.

On September 11, 1915, fierce fighting began between the German Neman Army and the Russian Fifth Army in the Riga area.

Located on the lower reaches of the Dogva River, Riga was the first barrier from East Prussia to St. Petersburg.

If Riga is lost, the road to St. Petersburg will be smooth and the safety of St. Petersburg will not be guaranteed.

As the capital of the Tsarist Empire, St. Petersburg's importance cannot be overstated. In order to protect the security of St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Nikolai ordered to hold Riga at all costs, blocking the German troops on the other side of the Dogva River.

Nicholas II also sent an order that the defenders of Riga should not take a step back, the city was in the people, and the city was ruined.

The German Army Group Neman was a small army group, numbering only about 120,000 men.

The Russian Fifth Army was also less than numerous, with a total number of only a little more than the Neman Army, but less than 140,000.

What's worse is that compared to the insignificant gap in numbers, the gap in weapons and equipment of the Russian army is even greater.

Of the 140,000 Russian troops, nearly 20,000 lacked weapons and equipment, and did not even have the most basic rifles.

The Germans, on the other hand, were uniformly armed with standard weapons, and also had ample artillery and logistics.

The outcome of such a battle between the two armies, which was so distinct, was actually predictable.

In the war of this era, the number of people is not so important. Compared with the number of people, more advanced weapons and equipment and more adequate logistics supplies are the key to determining victory or defeat.

But in both respects, the Russian army lagged far behind the German army, which also doomed the outcome of this war to be only a crushing defeat for Russia.

Under the heavy artillery fire of the Germans, the Russian army retreated step by step, losing the fortresses of Shavorly, Penevish, Mitau and Kovno, and Riga was also declared broken after being besieged by the Germans for more than half a month.

Beginning in September, telegrams from the Russians for help were sent almost daily to London, Paris, and Sydney.

From the initial request to the last request and even the pleading, the Russians were visibly panicked, desperate for their allies to launch an offensive on the Western Front and in the Balkans to force some of the German troops to come back.

Arthur and Britain and France both have the same view, they can trap Russia, but they must not harm Russia.

In order to save the already endangered ally, Britain and France promised to immediately launch a large-scale offensive on the Western Front, and Arthur personally telegraphed back to Nicholas II, saying that Australasian troops would do everything they could to attack in the Balkans.

On September 11, 1915, while Hindenburg launched the offensive and defensive battle of Riga, Commander Martin led an army of 200,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on Sarajevo, an important town in Austria-Hungary Bosnia.

This small city, which was originally not well-known, became world-famous for the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before the outbreak of the war.

The Austro-Hungarian garrison in Sarajevo was not large, and together there were less than 30,000 men.

In fact, looking at the entire southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the defenders were less than 400,000 men.

Among them, there are more than 200,000 troops on the Serbian border and more than 100,000 troops on the Romanian border, that is, in the southern Carpathians.

The Bosnian defenders, close to Montenegro, had only more than 100,000 men.

After nearly a month of fighting, Division Commander Martin had wiped out nearly 40,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, and the losses on his side were less than 20,000.

Compared with Commander Martin, Serbia and Romania were much slower, their weapons and equipment were not as advanced as the Australasian army, and the combat capability of the Austro-Hungarian army should not be underestimated.

In order to break through Sarajevo, Division Commander Martin gathered hundreds of artillery pieces and bombarded Sarajevo for more than ten hours.

Subsequently, a large number of Greek and Montenegrin troops charged, closely followed by the Australasian army.

The reason why the Balkan army worked so hard is also easy to understand. Division Commander Martin personally promised that Australasia would protect the interests of the Balkan nations as long as the Balkan army showed bravery in battle.

The extent to which the Balkan states can occupy depends basically on the attitude of the great powers. Being able to have the support of Australasia is also a good thing for the Balkan countries.

Before Riga was breached, Sarajevo had already been breached, and Commander Martin, with an army of less than 200,000, decided to go around from Bosnia to the other side of the Danube, unite with Serbia, and encircle the Austro-Hungarian army on the Serbian border.

The Austro-Hungarian army on the Serbian border numbered about 200,000, more than half of which were deployed in the Bosnian-Serbian border region.

With most of the Austro-Hungarian army near Montenegro wiped out, there was a real hope that the army under Division Commander Martin would bypass Bosnia and encircle the main forces on the southern border of Austria-Hungary.

On 23 September, the Austro-Hungarian army began to show signs of retreat. At the same time, Serbia was also notified by the division commander Martin to launch a large-scale offensive in the border area, slowing down the retreat of the Austro-Hungarian army.

On the afternoon of 24 September, after destroying a small portion of the Austro-Hungarian army, the Australasian army finally reached the heart of Bosnia, east of the border between Bosnia and Serbia.

The retreating Austro-Khalian army soon encountered the Australasian army, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle, but the Austro-Hungarian army was obviously unable to withstand the charge of the Greek and Montenegrin armies, and the retreat was repulsed by Australasia.

You know, while the indigenous army, the Greek and Montenegrin armies were charging, the Australasian army quickly set up artillery positions in the rear and launched a fierce bombardment of the Austro-Hungarian army.

Although Austria-Hungary's artillery technology is world-class, the protracted war consumed a large amount of material reserves in Austria-Hungary, coupled with the cooperation with Germany, a large number of elite troops were transferred, resulting in insufficient weapons and equipment for the defenders in the border area, and they fell behind in the artillery fire between the two sides.

After the failure of the retreat, the fate of this Austro-Hungarian army can be imagined. Flanked by both the Australasian army and the Serbian army, and the missed best opportunity to retreat, the Austro-Lunar army was like a turtle in an urn, and there was no way out.

On 25 September, almost at the same time, both sides launched an attack on the Austro-Hungarian army at the same time, with more than 500,000 troops fearlessly charging the less than 200,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, and the artillery fire and gunfire in the combat area continued one after another.

At this time, Austria-Hungary did not have any reinforcements, and the other armies on the southern frontier were either pinned down by Romania or long ago wiped out by the Australasian army.

And the main army was far away in the Polish region, and it was simply impossible to rush back in a short time.

Unless the Austro-Hungarian army, which numbered less than 200,000, could hold out for at least ten days, it would only be a matter of time before it perished.

On 7 October, the Austro-Hungarian army held out for more than ten days, and was finally wiped out and captured by the troops of the Balkan Front led by Division Commander Martin.

The Austro-Hungarian army totaled more than 198,000 men, with more than 55,000 killed, more than 118,000 wounded, and more than 140,000 captured.

Coupled with the Austro-Crèsian army that was wiped out on the border of Montenegro in Australasia before, most of the nearly 400,000 troops on the Austro-Khail border have been lost, and the number of soldiers that can be fought is less than 100,000.

Such news was a devastating blow to Austria-Hungary. As early as the siege of 200,000 troops, Austria-Hungary had already sent 300,000 troops south to support the southern border.

But the problem is that the movement of troops is not simple, especially when the army is deep into the interior of Russia.

What's more, the Austro-Hungarian army also undertook part of the combat mission, and if the troops were suddenly withdrawn, it would also be a blow to Germany's battle plan.

At this time, the German offensive also encountered no small trouble.

First of all, the Russian Fifth Army, sensing the plot of Hindenburg's attempt to encircle the entire Tshavly region, withdrew from the Tshavli area despite the orders of Nicholas II, avoiding the situation of being surrounded by Germany.

Although this led to the occupation of large swathes of Russian territory by Germany, it also occupied the transportation hub of Shavrole.

However, Germany's plan to encircle and annihilate the Russian army on a large scale did not succeed, and Russia, despite its heavy losses, still had the strength to fight a war.

At the same time, because the German army was deep into the Russian hinterland, and like the Russian army, it faced the logistical pressure and trouble brought by the poor primitive roads in Russia.

The long logistical supply lines from Germany to the war zone, coupled with the inconvenient transportation in the Russian region, led to poor logistical supplies for the German army deep into the Russian hinterland.

At a time when the supply of weapons, ammunition and shells was not so abundant, the German offensive also lost momentum.

After the capture of Riga, the German ice even reached the Minsk region, but did not cross the Tinieper River, as if deflated, and could no longer push forward.

At this time, the news of the loss of the southern border of Austria-Hungary continued to come, and after communicating with Germany, Austria-Hungary transferred most of its troops, resulting in a lack of troops for the German-Austrian forces to launch an offensive, and the strategy of attacking the eastern front was also forced to be suspended.

The German army currently does not have sufficient forces and does not have sufficient transport capacity to meet the logistical supply of the front-line army.

Add to this the fact that the campaign on the Eastern Front has been going on for a long time, and the soldiers are already very tired and in dire need of rest.

After careful consideration, the German staff chose to stop the offensive on the Eastern Front and temporarily turn its attention to the Western Front to guard against the rumored possible large-scale offensive by Britain and France.

Of course, the turn of attention back to the Western Front is only temporary. Dressingham assured Wilhelm II that the offensive on the Eastern Front would continue as long as the transport roads on the Eastern Front were perfect.

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

(End of chapter)