Chapter 401 The combat effectiveness of the Australasian army

When the results of the Warsaw-Ivangorod battle reached the ears of the Western Front and Arthur, it immediately aroused greater enthusiasm among the Allied Powers for the war, and they were also looking forward to the upcoming campaign on the Western Front.

From the perspective of Britain and France, Russia can defeat part of the German army and the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in one fell swoop. It should not be difficult for Britain, France, Australia and Italy to unite and easily eliminate the main force of Germany.

Because of this expectation, Xiafei also proposed to change the combat plan. After the three armies of the North, Central and South on the Western Front completed their respective combat plans, all the superior forces in them would move eastward with all their strength to break through Berlin before the Russians arrived.

Perhaps, under attack from both sides by the Allied Powers, Germany is indeed likely to be defeated.

Germany is currently facing a more powerful Russian army than in history, as well as a larger British, French and Australian combined army.

But this is not a good thing for Arthur. If the European war ends too soon, Australasia's contribution to the war will not be very great, and Germany, which has suffered less heavy losses, will not allow the Allies to carve out flesh and blood. .

From this point of view, Arthur's plan to introduce equipment and technology from German factories, as well as a large number of skilled workers, will come to nothing.

Moreover, Britain and France, whose losses were not serious, will soon recover, and Australasia's status will no longer be so important.

Because Britain and France, which are in good condition, can easily deal with the United States, then Britain and France have the final say in the world after World War I, and other countries have no qualifications to intervene.

This was unacceptable to Arthur. Australasia had planned so hard for so long, so it was naturally impossible for Australasia to make a wedding dress for Britain and France.

Therefore, it is currently more important to delay the progress of the war as much as possible, or at least prevent the war from ending so quickly.

The most effective method is to suspend the supply of materials to the Allied allies. Especially for Russia, after a very large-scale battle, the weapons, ammunition and strategic materials that were originally sufficient were definitely lacking, and they were also very dependent on Australasia for replenishment.

If the supply of materials to Russia is temporarily slowed down, Russia will definitely reduce the scale of the Eastern Front campaign due to scarcity of materials.

Germany can also take a breather on the Eastern Front and focus more attention on the Western Front, so as not to face the pressure of a super-large-scale battle on two fronts.

Of course, although it was decided to suspend the supply of materials to Russia, the specific reasons for this are debatable.

After all, Russia is one of Australasia's best allies, and it also has a marriage relationship with Australasia.

Russian immigrants are also the second largest immigrant population in Australasia and are an important part of the Australasian population.

In this way, a good excuse must be found to suspend the supply of supplies in order to avoid dissatisfaction with the Russian government and people.

As for the Western Front battlefield, even if Australasia suspends the supply of supplies, it will not have a big impact on the Western Front battlefield.

Britain and France are not like Russia. Due to the current poor domestic situation, Russia's industrial capacity has been greatly reduced.

Coupled with Russia's poor organizational capabilities and logistics system, it is already good to rely solely on Russia's own industrial production capabilities to meet half of the current frontline ammunition and material needs, let alone hoarding materials to launch a large-scale offensive.

The industrial and logistics systems of Britain and France are in relatively better condition, and coupled with the continuous supply of materials from the colonies, even if Australasia temporarily slows down the supply of materials, it will not affect the British and French combat plans in the short term.

If the supply of supplies is reduced for a long time, it will definitely arouse the attention and suspicion of Britain and France, which will not be worth the loss for Australasia.

Therefore, reducing the supply of materials to Russia is the best choice. It can slow down Russia's pace on the Eastern Front and allow the Germans to breathe a little. It will also prevent allies from paying too much attention and inadvertently completing their own strategies. Purpose.

Although this is equivalent to cheating teammates again, compared to completing Australasia's own strategic purpose, it is not unacceptable to cheat the Russians a little.

Anyway, several revolutionary parties in Russia have been patronized by the Royal Security Intelligence Service, which at least ensures that Russia can stabilize the domestic situation before the end of World War I.

This can be regarded as a gain and a loss. Anyway, for Russia, which has enough manpower and thick skin, it is not unacceptable to waste a little manpower.

For the ongoing war on the Western Front, the tactics used to attack are the most important topic to discuss.

Before the outbreak of this war, countries around the world generally adopted tactics of outflanking. Including many battles in this war, commanders from various countries also adopted such tactics and achieved considerable success.

However, as countries devote more and more troops to the war, more and more troops are used in each battle, ranging from hundreds of thousands to even millions.

Just like this offensive on the Western Front, each of the three front armies has at least 500,000 troops. It is difficult for such a large number of troops to bypass the enemy's rear. This is a test for the obedience of the army. The degree of cooperation and tacit understanding between all armies is also a test.

On the Eastern Front battlefield, the German and Russian armies have adopted the tactic of forced frontal breakthrough.

Thanks to the superior strength of the Russian army, Russian commanders have relied heavily on the tactics of frontal breakthrough.

Although it requires greater casualties than before, compared with detouring flanking tactics, frontal breakthroughs can often achieve good results, and absolute troop crushing can give Russia a greater advantage.

But on the Western Front battlefield, it is not so easy for a large-scale army to achieve a frontal breakthrough. First of all, there are a large number of aircraft and airships in the sky. Choosing a frontal breakthrough is likely to be noticed by the enemy first, so that a tight defense can be deployed.

At present, the two most practical and effective tactics have fallen behind, which has also made it a major problem for the three fronts on the Western Front to adopt tactics.

After careful consideration, the Allied Powers jointly decided that the three major front armies would each decide their own mission deployment, and each group army would have sufficient freedom to choose the direction of breakthrough.

To put it simply, on the premise that the group performs tasks, the Allied forces on the Western Front battlefield will be divided into group armies or even corps as units, broken into parts, and smaller armies will be used to achieve breakthroughs or detours.

First, using smaller combat units to perform missions can more effectively hide under enemy airships.

Secondly, armies numbering hundreds of thousands in all aspects are not so easy to command, not to mention that these armies also include soldiers from Britain, France, Australasia and Italy, and some of the armies do not understand each other's language. It is undoubtedly a better choice to act separately.

The 2nd Australasian Guards Division and the 3rd Conventional Division are responsible for covering the flanks of the French Third Army. Also under the command of Division Commander Martin are an infantry division of the British Expeditionary Force and a cavalry division of the French Third Army.

This also resulted in Division Commander Martin having nearly 70,000 troops under his command, and he still had considerable freedom in the war.

The Central Front, where the Australasian Expeditionary Force is located, is responsible for breaking through the Alsace-Lorraine region. It is best to capture this area and increase the French region's desire to fight Germany.

The Central Front Army has the French Third and Fourth Army, the Australasian Expeditionary Force and a British Infantry Division, with a total number of soldiers of up to 850,000. It has the largest number of soldiers among the three major front armies, and also has the heaviest combat mission.

Because the Central Front faces the German First and Second Armies, and may also face support from the German Third Army.

The German First and Second Armies had suffered more than half their casualties in previous wars. After being supplemented by a large number of new troops, they regained their combat effectiveness.

But compared with the previous armies composed of veterans, the combat effectiveness of these two group armies has undoubtedly been reduced a lot.

The more troublesome thing is the German Third Army. Most of this army is composed of German veterans. Its combat effectiveness should be the first in the German army. It is also the biggest trouble for the Central Front.

The German First, Second, and Third Armies combined had nearly 600,000 troops. However, the Third Army is located in the northwest regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and is very likely to face requests for reinforcements from the German army in Belgium.

It also means that as long as the offensive of the northern front army is stronger, the pressure faced by the central front army will be less, and the difficulty of the task will be reduced a lot.

On May 8, the French Third and Fourth Armies, as well as indigenous troops from Australasia, began to advance towards Alsace and Lorraine.

The mixed army commanded by Martin marched behind the two armies, guarding the flanks of the two armies at all times.

In the early morning of May 9, news came from the front that the Third Army and the German First Army met, and the two sides launched a fierce attack.

The commander of the Third Army asked Division Commander Martin to move to the left side of the Third Army to guard against outflanking by the German army.

Division Commander Martin did his best, mobilized the mixed army to move to the left side of the Third Army, and built simple fortifications nearby.

At noon that day, the Fourth Army and the German Second Army also met, and the war between the Central Front Army and the German army began.

Although no enemy was found for most of the day, Division Commander Martin did not dare to be careless and still ordered the troops to perform wartime patrols to pay attention and be prepared for possible enemies at all times.

At noon on May 10, 1915, as distant sentries reported abnormalities, Division Commander Martin finally discovered traces of the German army.

It is an elite German army, numbering about 30,000, and equipped with relatively advanced weapons.

But because it was a rear-circuit force, it was visible that this army did not carry heavier weapons, such as machine guns and large artillery.

You know, the transportation of machine guns and artillery requires at least horse-drawn carriages and trucks. But this army is almost all infantry, which shows that there are not many heavy weapons.

After determining the opponent's number of people and heavy weapons, Division Commander Martin made a prompt decision. The Australasian army was responsible for the main attack, and the British and French troops were outflanked to ensure that no German soldier would be let go.

Soon, fierce fighting started on the left flank. The powerful firepower of the Australasian army caused the German army to suffer a large number of casualties without preparedness.

The large number of heavy machine guns and artillery allowed the Germans to suffer thousands of casualties before even seeing the Australasian soldiers.

But the German soldiers responded quickly, finding bunkers on the spot and launching a counterattack. A small force was also separated from the German army. It seemed that it was trying to get around the flank of the Australasian army to implement flanking tactics.

However, Division Commander Martin had already anticipated the German reaction. The German troops that had circled back met the British and French troops smoothly. The two sides generally started to exchange fire based on their conditioned reflex. In terms of considerations, the British and French troops had to be better.

Hearing the sound of gunfire from his side, the commander of the German army suddenly felt bad and wanted to order the army to retreat.

However, the firepower of the Australasian army on the front was too strong, and it was impossible for the German army to leave the back to the Australasian army, which could lead to an even more brutal massacre.

You know, the Second Guards Division not only has four infantry regiments and an artillery regiment, but also has two cavalry regiments. This kind of organization is not luxurious.

These two cavalry regiments alone are fully capable of becoming the reapers of Germany's blind retreat.

By the time the fighting on the flanks gradually died down, it was already too late when the German commander wanted to order a retreat. The roundabout troops had already reached the rear of the German army, which was surrounded.

boom!

With a piercing gunshot, if the commander committed suicide in a woods, this German army was also annihilated by the mixed army, and the flank defense battle was a complete success.

Division Commander Martin asked his men to count the number of casualties and equipment damage, and at the same time asked the communications troops to report the results of this small-scale battle to the Third Army.

As expected, the victory in the flank defense battle made the commander of the Third Army very happy. This also meant that the flanks of the Third Army were very safe in a short period of time, and Germany did not have too many troops to conduct a second detour.

Of course, the mixed army is still unable to move. No one can guarantee whether the German army will receive support, but before the German army is completely annihilated, the flanks of the Third and Fourth Army are very important.

The results of the mixed army also reached the French headquarters in the rear and the British Expeditionary Force headquarters, and received high praise from France and Britain.

Arthur's expression was also very happy when he learned of this military report. This actually proved that the Australasian army was not inferior to the German army in terms of firepower.

The Guards Division and the Third Division were able to gain an advantage in fighting the German army with almost equal numbers, which also means that the combat capability of the Australasian army is not weak.

After ensuring the safety of the flanks, the offensives of the French Third Army and the Fourth Army became more intense.

With up to 450,000 Australasian indigenous troops, the Central Front's offensive was fearless and fearless.

In just two days, the front line was advanced by more than ten kilometers, not far from the pre-war German-French border line.

Although nearly 150,000 casualties were paid for this, more than half of them were indigenous people of Australasia, and the number of casualties was still within an acceptable range.

As for the mixed army, after more than an hour of counting, the results were reported to the rear and Australasia.

The mixed army faced a German army of more than 30,000 people. After paying 10,000 casualties (more than 2,000 casualties in Australasia, more than 4,000 casualties in Britain, and more than 3,000 casualties in France), they were eliminated 12,000 German soldiers were killed, 18,000 were captured, and nearly 1,000 people were missing.

Although more than a thousand people were let go, the overall results were very gratifying.

This German army of more than 30,000 people is not small, accounting for one-twentieth of the garrison in Alsace and Lorraine, and most of them are elite German veterans (with more old injuries).

The offensive of the Central Front Army went very smoothly, and also attracted the German Third Army to move south for support, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Northern Front Army.

This was completely contrary to what was expected before the war. I thought the northern front army would relieve the pressure on the central front army. Unexpectedly, the central front army was the one who attacked more smoothly.

Germany relied on the strength of some fortresses on the French border and Belgium, and the northern front was blocked more than ten kilometers within the border.

Even though the Northern Front suffered a large number of casualties, the front was still unable to advance one step further.

If the northern front army is evenly matched, then the performance of the southern front army is somewhat unsatisfactory.

The French army's combat capabilities are quite good, and it undertakes most of the combat tasks of the Southern Front.

We must know that among the more than 600,000 combat troops of the Southern Front, the Italian army numbered as many as 500,000.

The performance of the Italian army in the battle was a mess. On the first day of the battle alone, 500,000 Italian troops were blocked by just over 100,000 Austro-Hungarian troops and were unable to move forward at the border.

The army sent by Italy was discovered by the reinforcements of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the way to implement roundabout tactics, and was surrounded and annihilated.

It also made Italy the only laughing stock in this battle. It suffered nearly 50,000 casualties in the first three days of the war, but the army was still on its own land.

Had it not been for the disastrous defeat Austria-Hungary had experienced on the Eastern Front, the number of troops would have been insufficient.

Arthur even had reason to suspect that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would take the opportunity to invade Italy, occupy the core northern region of Italy, and directly make Italy surrender.

You know, although Italy was unified earlier than Germany, it was only a unified country in the mid-19th century.

Before the unification of Italy, the country was divided into two major countries and many regions. The two major countries were the Kingdom of Sardinia in the north and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the south.

Because of the development differences between the two countries, the development differences between northern and southern Italy are relatively large.

The north is Italy's core industrial area, while the south is a less important agricultural area.

This also means that if the northern part of Italy is captured, judging from the way Italy is currently dealing with things, they are very likely to surrender.

Fortunately, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost most of its main force on the Eastern Front. Otherwise, Italy might have been the slowest country to enter the war and the fastest surrender.

Of course, Italy is not much better now. Before the battle, due to the disastrous defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the Eastern Front, the Italians were still thinking about seizing more land and even occupying the entire Albania.

But now, Italians are surprised to find that, let alone external expansion, their national borders are already in danger.

Of course, Italy is not the only one who is anxious at this time. Russia, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are now more anxious than the other.

Now is a better opportunity to attack than in the previous battle. Russia has received bad news from Australasia. Australasia's material reserves have bottomed out and there will be no ability to transport more supplies to Russia for at least three months. supplies.

The Russian side did not doubt this news, because Australasia was an ally of Russia and participated in the war against Germany.

At the same time, Australasia can also obtain a large amount of funds by transporting materials, and there is absolutely no need to make up reasons to interrupt material transportation.

This also means that Australasia's supplies are indeed running low. The lack of supplies in Australasia means that Russia no longer has enough supplies to launch a new round of offensive. It is watching the four countries of Britain, France, Australia and Italy fighting in chaos with Germany and Austria on the Western Front, attacking cities and territories, but there is nothing they can do.

Anxious Nicholas II directly questioned Foreign Minister Alexey. Because Alexei once publicly stated that Britain and France would bear all the costs of the Russian offensive.

But judging from the current situation, Britain and France only bear 30% of the cost of the Russian offensive.

Fortunately, there was Australasia's crazy transportation of supplies before, and Russia did not show the shortcomings of lack of supplies.

But now, after Australasia is also short of supplies, Russia's poor domestic production conditions have been revealed.

Judging from the current production speed of Russia's domestic military industry, let alone satisfying the army's offensive, even if the frontline army currently switches from offense to defense, it may not be able to collect the materials and ammunition needed for the army's defense.

This also means that if the German army launches a counterattack on the Eastern Front, the Russian army is likely to spit out all the remaining areas due to lack of supplies, and its previous efforts will be in vain.

Russian Foreign Minister Alexei also collapsed at this time. Unexpectedly, Australasia, which had been working hard to transport supplies to Russia, would face a crisis of running out of supplies.

And the things Alexei boasted about in order to attract the government to launch a war naturally became an excuse for Nicholas II to be held accountable.

Alexei had no choice but to turn to the British and French ambassadors for help. Britain and France were not willing to see Russia suffer a disastrous defeat on the Eastern Front, so they could only agree to urgently transport a batch of supplies to Russia to ensure that Russia could sustain it for three months while entering a defensive state, waiting for supplies from Australasia.

Britain and France agreed to transport supplies, which calmed Nicholas II's anger and allowed Alexei to temporarily keep his official title.

Arthur also did not expect that his decision to restrict the supply of supplies to Russia would cause the Russian Foreign Minister to almost lose his official title.

But this is not necessarily a good thing. Some high-level officials in Russia are indeed rotten. If we can take this opportunity to purge the top Russian officials, the Russian government may be able to extend its lifespan by a few more years.

Otherwise, Russia will eventually be like a rotten tree, which will fall one day under the ravages of the storm.

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