The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 514: Chapter 403: Complete Annihilation of Russia's Army Group

However, the course of a war cannot be determined by a single person's desire.

After the German Army on the East Prussian Front received reinforcements from the Western Front, they once again had enough troops to launch a campaign, and were also equipped with a large number of firearms, machine guns, and sufficient ammunition from the Western Front.

This raised the confidence of Hindenburg and Rudolf, who, upon intercepting a decrypted telegram from the Russian army revealing a lack of logistical supplies, decided immediately to embark on a large-scale campaign before the Russian's supplies could arrive to neutralize the current Russian forces.

Telegrams have now become one of the main ways military forces communicate, but each country has its own channels, even various encryption methods to make their intelligence and communication more covert, so that even if intercepted by the enemy, it cannot be deciphered immediately.

The Germans did not expect the Russians to communicate using decrypted telegrams. Incoming plain-text messages, intercepted directly by Germany, revealing Russia's lack of logistical supplies and ammunition, was now also well known to the Germans.

One of the main reasons why Hindenburg and Rudolf were able to persuade Chief of Staff Fakinham to shift the strategy towards the Eastern Front was because of Russia's decrypted telegram method.

This was as if the Russians themselves had informed the Germans about their own intelligence. Under such premises, it would be a real problem if the Germans still lost the war.

Upon hearing the news, Fakinham laughed and said, "We not only know about Russia's defense and logistical situation, but also what their front-line troops are doing every month, every week, even every day, as if there is an eye of God watching everything."

Having a complete understanding of Russia's army arrangements and situations, Hindenburg and Rudolf decided to take the initiative, focusing on eliminating the Russian army currently stationed on the Eastern Front to alleviate some pressure off the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Hindenburg's strategy was still based on main front containment and wings flanking. Not just Hindenburg, the entire German Army on the Eastern Front essentially adopted this strategy. Firstly, the terrain on the Eastern Front is quite wide, facilitating troops to swing around behind.

Secondly, such a strategy can minimize the casualties of the German army while maximizing the encirclement and annihilation of the Russian army, close the gap between the German and Russian armies in numbers.

If a war of attrition were adopted on the main front, even if the German army is very strong, it would still be worn down by the Russian army which is several times bigger.

The German Tenth Army was responsible for the encircling and outflanking task. They were not only tasked to hold back the Russian Tenth Army but also to launch a large-scale flanking movement from the right flank of the Russian Northwestern Army, hoping to encircle the entire Russian Northwestern Army.

The Eighth Army would use part of their forces to contain the Russian army from the main front, distracting their attention. The main force would maneuver around to the left flank of the Russian Tenth Army, and together with the Tenth Army, they would aim for a left-right encirclement, hoping to annihilate the entire Russian Tenth Army.

As long as the Russian Tenth Army could be wiped out, this Eastern Front campaign would be considered a strong start. At the same time, it would greatly alleviate the pressure the Russian army is putting on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After all, a Russian army group is made up of hundreds of thousands of men. The complete annihilation of an army group is no small feat.

To secure the defense of East Prussia, reinforcements would definitely be drawn from other regions, thus reducing the risk to the Austro-Hungarian Empire's hinterland.

When the Germans launched a large-scale campaign at the border, the commanding general of the Russian Tenth Army, Silvestre, carelessly assumed that the Germans were only feigning. Their objective, he thought, was to divert some forces for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It was only after receiving countless reports of casualties and consecutive defeats at the frontline that Silvestre realized that the Germans weren't pretending to attack, they were genuinely taking the fight to them.

Sluggish Silvestre immediately ordered a counterattack, trying to keep the German army at bay.

But with the Russian army already lacking in logistical supplies, coupled with sluggish orders from the commander, many troops were decimated by the German charge before they even had the chance to counterattack.

This kind of consumption was acceptable compared to previous campaigns. For Nicholas II and Archduke Nicholas, the stability of their positions in the East Prussian Region was most important.

Of course, this did not mean that the Russian side had no other plans.

The United Kingdom, France, Australasia, and even Italy became targets of Russia's urgent plea for support.

Firearms, artillery, bullets, shells, food, medical supplies, and various strategic resources, the Russians welcomed all offers, looking like someone who hadn't eaten for several days in front of a large feast.

The British and French have promised to aid Russia with part of weapons and equipment. After all, Britain and France could not sit by and watch Russia be defeated by Germany. Russia was a big bulwark of the Allies on the Eastern Front, taking countless damage for Britain and France.

This precious asset could not be allowed to be defeated by the Germans. However, the combined aid from Britain and France only amounted to a hundred thousand rifles, tens of millions of bullets and several hundred thousand shells.

This level of support was just a drop in the ocean compared to Russia's nearly two million frontline soldiers. Russia has then turned its eyes to its new allies, Italy, and Australasia.

The Italians naturally refused, not because they didn't want to support Russia. It's just that the Italian Army was a mess on the frontline, causing the Italian Logistics Department to lose hundreds of thousands of rifles, tens of millions of bullets, and a large amount of strategic resources unnecessarily.

Almost all these supplies were seized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also emptied most of Italy's reserves.

By the time Russia's request for help reached Australasia, it was noon on May 20th.

It's not that Russia didn't value Australasia. Australasia has been Russia's main weapons supplier before the war broke out. A considerable portion of the Russian army's weapons were manufactured in Australasia.

However, during the previous request, Australasia had already stated that its domestic weapon supplies had reached the bottom. With less than a month having passed since then, Nicholas II didn't believe that Australasia could manufacture many weapons.

Arthur had anticipated Russia's defeat on the front lines. After all, the Russian army's operational capability is intrinsically weak. Their combat abilities without ammunition or artillery shells are questionable.

The unfortunate part is that the force they are facing is currently the most potent German Land Army in the world. In such a comparison, it's impossible for the Russian army not to suffer disastrous losses.

According to the Russian ambassador, Arthur keenly sensed that Germany might choose to shift its offensive to the east, just like in history, and hold the defensive line in the west.

This is both good news and bad news for Arthur. After the German Western Front goes into full defense, the Allied forces' progress on the Western Front will surely slow down, it could even enter a stalemate.

This also fulfills Arthur's strategic goal of dragging the war on for several more years to secure more benefits for Australasia.

However, at the same time, when Germany moves its offensive to the east, it bodes ill for Russia.

Russia is barely holding on in this war, facing the full-scale offensive of the German main force, today's Russia probably cannot hold on much longer.

Simply put, if Australasia does not support Russia, the war may be successfully postponed, but the price to pay may be that Russia might become incapacitated, even initiating a revolution earlier than in history.