Although Nicholas II's lavish orders gave Russia a big hit in the Entente, it is clear that the protagonist of the war now is not the Eastern Front, but the Western Front, which has been calm for a long time.

After the German-Austrian army's plan to annihilate the main force of the Russian army was shattered, the main army of Austria-Hungary had to go south to help resist the severe pressure brought to Austria-Hungary by the Balkan army.

And Germany's attention was temporarily on the Western Front, because Britain and France, in order to reduce the pressure of the Russian army on the Eastern Front, decided to launch a new round of large-scale offensives, and by the way looked for an opportunity to break through the German defensive line.

The current war in Europe has entered a long war of attrition, and the situation is gradually becoming clearer.

The Entente currently had a clear advantage, not so much because the Entente army defeated the Allied army, but because the Entente's more developed economy and richer resources defeated the Central Powers.

The attrition of all countries in the war was enormous, and for this war Germany supervised farms, imposed income taxes, and in some areas introduced a system of rationing in kind.

Britain and France did the same, just to raise more resources and food for the front, strengthen the militarization of the national economy, and go all out to serve the war.

During this period, a new term was born, the so-called industrial mobilization.

In the year and two months since the outbreak of the war, the arms industry of various countries has expanded rapidly, all factories have entered the bottomless pit of war, garment factories have been changed to the production of military uniforms, and various machinery and equipment factories have been changed to the production of weapons and equipment, bullets, artillery shells, etc.

A large number of women also went into the factories to produce military helmets, uniforms and various bullets for the soldiers on the front line.

Some women stuffed their helmets and clothing with written notes to comfort the wounded or tired souls of front-line soldiers.

But I have to admit that this trick is really effective. With the encouragement of the ladies in the rear, some of the officers and men on the front line really broke out with extraordinary fighting spirit.

The expansion of the arms industry in various countries, especially Germany and Austria-Hungary, was exaggerated.

By October, the production of rifles and artillery shells in Germany had increased by more than half, and the production of machine guns and artillery had almost tripled.

Even the aircraft that have just been valued by countries around the world, Germany has been able to produce thousands of aircraft per year.

Although the growth in the production of weapons in Austria-Hungary was not so exaggerated, the annual production of various types of weapons also increased by more than half.

The growth of the arms industry in the Entente countries as a whole is not so exaggerated, after all, except for Russia, Britain, France and Australasia are all major exporters of military products, and weapons and equipment have been sold well in many countries and regions around the world before the war.

For the Entente, the expansion of the size of the army was more exaggerated than that of the military industry.

At the beginning of August 1914, when the war broke out, Russia had the largest number of soldiers in the Allies, but the total number of soldiers was less than 2 million.

But up to now, Russia has invested more than 4 million troops, France has also invested more than 3 million troops, Britain 1.2 million, Australasia 550,000, Italy 600,000, Belgium 350,000, Romania 250,000, Serbia 350,000, Greece 150,000, Montenegro 80,000.

The total number of soldiers involved in the war by the Entente has exceeded 10 million, with more than 1 million dead and 3 million wounded (cumulative).

On the Allied side, Germany invested 3.5 million troops, Austria-Hungary 2 million, Bulgaria 300,000, and Ottoman Turkey 550,000, totaling more than 6 million troops.

Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire are now also out of the war, while Germany and Austria-Hungary combined have nearly 1 million dead and more than 1.5 million wounded in their combined army of more than 5 million.

Of course, a considerable part of this is the contribution of Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary was defeated by Russia in a battle, with hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire almost collapsed.

The war has already killed more than 2 million people and injured nearly 5 million in the countries participating in the war, and the economic losses are uncountable.

Because of this, neither the Central Powers nor the Entente could not take a step back at this time.

Nor can we afford the consequences of losing the war, not only the anger of the people, but also the extortion and blackmail from the enemy countries after the war.

Germany already has plans to continue to increase its conscription, and will continue to recruit at least 1 million troops in the new year to fight on the eastern and western fronts.

At this time, Germany had nearly 2 million soldiers to fight, but the army on the Western Front was only a little more than 1 million.

The Germans, adhering to the principle that better defense is offense, decided to take the lead in launching a surprise attack on the strategic points of the French before the British and French launched a large-scale campaign, which may have achieved miraculous results if the British and French forces were unprepared.

Speaking of the impending German assault, it is impossible to mention how determined Falkingham is to put the focus of the attack back on the Western Front.

Falkingham believed that Russia on the Eastern Front was vast, the climate was cold, transportation was inconvenient, and Russia had sufficient reserves, so it was impossible to defeat it in a short time.

An offensive like St. Petersburg will not have a decisive result, and even in a hasty advance, it is very easy to repeat the mistakes of Napoleon and have an alternative Waterloo.

On the Western Front, the depth of the French battlefield was even shallower, and the Anglo-French forces had directly threatened the hinterland of Germany, the biggest threat to Germany at present.

You must know that the German army on the Western Front is only a little more than 1 million, while the Anglo-French army has nearly 3 million combat troops, although a considerable part of it is a colonial army, but it is still not deniable that the British and French troops have an overwhelming numerical advantage over the German army.

In his letter to Wilhelm II, Falkingham specifically mentioned that the Russian army was now dizzy after the defeat, and that the new commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Nicholas II, was incapable of launching an offensive in a short time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the main force of 500,000 troops should be transferred to the Western Front, and a part of the reserve troops should be summoned from within the country to gather enough 2 million troops to fight to the death with the British and French armies.

As long as it could defeat France and force the Anglo-French forces to surrender, Russia would lose financial and military equipment support from the West and would have to submit to Germany.

Because of Wilhelm II's fears of repeating Napoleon's mistakes, and because Russia was getting colder, winter in the Northern Hemisphere was approaching.

and the imminent large-scale campaign of Britain and France on the Western Front, so Wilhelm II agreed to Falkingham's proposal to mobilize at least 500,000 main troops to the Western Front and fight to the death with the British and French forces on the Western Front.

If he could raise 2 million troops, 2 million against 3 million, Wilhelm II thought that the advantage was on the German side.

After defeating Britain and France, even if Russia had the support of Australasia, it was categorically impossible to be Germany's opponent.

But if the stalemate with Russia continues, Britain and France, with their more powerful industrial strength and rich colonial resources, can completely pass the Mediterranean-Black Sea route, like a wet nurse, crazy to regain Russia's blood.

Although Germany carried out a large number of attacks on the supply ships between Britain and France between the mainland and the colonies through submarine warfare, it caused a lot of economic losses to Britain and France.

But Britain and France have a great business in the end, which is not only comparable to Germany in a barren colony.

Falkingham strongly advocated attacking France, because he believed that the foundation of the Entente was Britain and France, and the foundation of Britain and France against Germany was France.

The defeat of France on land would be equivalent to the defeat of at least a third of the Entente.

At the same time, after using the French mainland to regain blood to Germany, and then turning the direction to defeat Russia, the British Isles can only be captured.

As for Australasia, which is far away from home and Europe, Falkingham doesn't think it's a cause for concern.

After all, Australasia does not have much interest in Europe, and there is no need to fight to the death with Germany. As long as Germany had a sufficient advantage, with the good relations between Wilhelm II and Arthur, it was fully capable of pulling Australasia out of the war.

In this way, Germany, which had solved France and Russia, only needed to fight to the death with the navy and the royal fleet to complete the plan of destroying the entire Entente.

As for Italy, Falkingham did not mention it in the plan, and Wilhelm II did not have the slightest intention of asking.

Judging from the combat effectiveness shown by Italy, without the help of other Entente countries, Italy could not exert any pressure on Germany in terms of army and navy, and only 100,000 German troops, together with a part of the Austro-Hungarian army, could easily destroy the country from land.

After Wilhelm II nodded, the German General Staff, under the orders of Falkingham, quickly drew up plans for a new offensive and placed the main direction of the new offensive on the Western Front.

According to Falkingham's requirements, the German army did not necessarily have to carry out a large-scale breakthrough and obtain results by encircling the enemy's main forces.

It was only necessary to occupy a special area that was emotionally sacred to the French, forcing the French to have to commit every soldier of their army in order to protect this area.

In this way, Germany would be able to achieve its goal of bringing the French blood into the region, so as to achieve the goal of killing and wounding French soldiers in one battle.

In this way, there are not many places that match Falkingham's intentions, and there are only two that are most suitable.

All things considered, Falkingham chose Verdun between Belfort and Verdun because he felt that Verdun was more important to the French, which made the French willing to shed their last drop of blood.

In fact, Verdun is just a small town on the banks of the Maas River in northeastern France, with a population of just over 10,000.

But in military terms, Verdun is one of the most famous fortresses in France, appearing many times in French history and being associated with many major events in France.

Geographically, Verdun was the gateway to Paris and the hub of the French defenses.

The fortress of Verdun was the support point of the Eastern Front of France and was located in the prominent part of the Entente defense line.

The presence of Verdun would pose a great flank threat to the armies of the Western Front, which penetrated deep into the territory of France and Belgium.

But if Verdun had been lost, the German army would have been able to quickly reach several strategic points in France by rail and open access to Paris.

You know, Verdun is only 200 kilometers from the city of Paris, and is known as the key to Paris and the gateway to the Orient of France.

In the eyes of the French, the fortress of Verdun is a sacred and impassable place, a symbol of the strength and bravery of the French.

If Verdun is lost, not to mention the huge impact on the eastern French defense. The heavy blow inflicted on the French people alone was enough to lower the level of optimism about the war among the French people.

After Verdun was breached, the whole of Paris would also be in danger. In the history of France, the day the enemy broke through Paris was often the time when the French government surrendered.

Therefore, Falkingham believed that the capture of Verdun was equivalent to the capture of Paris. And the capture of Paris is equivalent to the capture of most of France.

Although after the outbreak of war, the French government built a new defensive system in the Verdun area, combining the fortifications of the fortress with the field fortress.

But just over a year has passed since then, and part of the fortifications of the fortress are still not completed, which is also the hope that Falkingham saw for the breach of the fortress of Verdun.

Of course, having said that, the fortress of Verdun was definitely not easy to break. The most basic system of fortifications has been formed, and Verdun is definitely one of the strongest fortresses in France, and the most difficult to breach.

There are four defensive positions in the area of the Verdun fortress, three of which were built in 1914.

Viewed from the air, the four forts are nearly 50 kilometers deep, and large and small bunkers dot the fortified area, most of which thrust north into the Vail Valley and plains.

Almost all of the defensive positions were cleverly placed in the undulating hills and forests filled with deep ravines and high ground, which also made it difficult to breach the fortress.

The original fortifications, the newly added field fortifications and the rear supply base were closely linked, making the Verdun fortress system almost without any shortcomings, and it became a sturdy, deep echelon configuration that would be intimidating enough for any opponent.

The French army placed thousands of machine guns and large and small artillery positions in the fortress of Verdun, which greatly strengthened the firepower of the fortress.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a tough bone to gnaw for the Germans.

However, this is why Falkingham chose Verdun.

It was because the fortress of Verdun was so difficult to bite that the French were more willing to pay all the price to defend it.

Falkingham believed that for the sake of Verdun, the French would devote all their strength, and that was what Falkingham was aiming for.

At the mobilization meeting within the German army, Falkingham even ambitiously declared that Verdun would become a grinding plate for the French army and let all the French shed their last drop of blood.

As for Falkingham's specific plan to attack Verdun, it was also very simple, which was to destroy the French fortifications with powerful firepower, and then break through from the east bank of the Maas, trying to take the fortress before the French could react.

The French army, which reacted, was bound to be reinforced in large quantities, and Germany only needed to attack at Verdun to attack all French troops.

4000 words for the third update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

Riwan is ten minutes late, so a thousand more words to compensate.

Updated 11000/10000, overfulfilled tasks, ask for monthly passes, ask for support!

(End of chapter)