Chapter 402 Germany’s Strategic Shift

May 11, 1915, Germany, Berlin City Palace, Imperial Military Conference.

The conference room of the Berlin City Palace has been brightly lit for two days. Wilhelm II, many German generals, and Chief of Staff Falkenhayn held a two-day meeting here.

At such an anxious moment in the war, the only reason why Wilhelm II, the German Chief of Staff and many generals gathered here for a meeting was naturally because Germany was currently facing difficult choices.

No matter how arrogant William II is, he has to admit bitterly that Germany has lost the current war. Any choice may cause Germany's decades of efforts to be wiped out.

If last year's defeat on the Western Front prevented Germany from seeing any hope of quickly resolving the war, then this year's successive defeats on the Eastern and Western Fronts have gradually pushed Germany into the abyss.

The balance of victory was not tilted, but almost tipped towards the Allies. If Germany cannot come up with corresponding policies to deal with it, I am afraid that the current situation will not last long, and failure of the war will almost become inevitable.

No one can deny the strength of the German army. In this war, the combat effectiveness of the German army far exceeded that of Britain, France, and Russia. In the early stages, France almost collapsed.

But unfortunately, France was finally beaten back with a hearty victory. The Western Front battlefield became a protracted war of attrition under the alliance of Britain, France, and Australia.

After entering the new year, there are frequent reports of defeats on the Eastern Front battlefield. Russia defeated the Austro-Hungarian Army and the German East Prussian Army, and occupied Galicia and Silesia. Germany's eastern hinterland was already in danger.

At present, Germany's only reliable ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has lost its main force, and Italy has also surrendered to the Allies.

The remaining two allies, Turkey and Bulgaria, did not play a key role in the war. Under the joint siege of the Balkan countries, these two countries, let alone supporting Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had no way to guarantee their own security.

Under various current circumstances, the current situation of the Allies, especially Germany, can be imagined.

Even if it can withstand the strong offensive on the Western Front, there is still a formidable enemy on the Eastern Front: Russia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently severely weakened, and Türkiye and Bulgaria are also restrained by the Balkan Alliance.

At present, whether it is the Eastern Front battlefield or the Western Front battlefield, the only thing that can be relied on is the German army.

The Allied Powers' estimates before the war were quite confident. It would be no problem for the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies to join forces to protect shipping routes in the Mediterranean. Germany could quickly eliminate France on the western front, and the war could end within half a year.

But unexpectedly, Italy never thought of joining the Allies. The Austro-Hungarian navy was beaten by France and Russia in the Mediterranean. Let alone protecting the transportation lines in the Mediterranean, whether it could enter the Mediterranean was a problem.

This also resulted in the Allies' maritime transportation lines being almost cut off. In addition, the Western Front battlefield fell into a protracted war of attrition, which made the Allies, who were already relatively disadvantaged in terms of resources, miserable.

Speaking of this, William II's hatred for Italy became even deeper. As a low-level power, Italy's military strength is simply vulnerable.

If Germany hadn't considered Italy's naval strength to be quite good and had formed the Triple Alliance with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy would never have achieved its current status.

In the previous Italian-Turkish War, if it had not been for the support of Austria-Hungary and Germany, Italy would not have been able to expand in the Balkans.

If Italy joined the Allies, the transportation routes in the Mediterranean would not be completely cut off, and the Allies would not be so short of supplies.

The Italian army can also share the tasks of fighting on the east and west fronts, so that the Allies' fighting conditions on the east and west fronts will be much better.

"Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, tell me your plan!" William II looked at Moltke's successor, Lieutenant General Falkenhayn, the former Minister of War.

The defeat in the war made the originally proud William II look much older, and his speech was not as extreme and arrogant as before.

"Your Majesty, the current war on the east-west front is very unfavorable for us. No matter what measures are taken, we must get rid of the situation of war on the east-west front." Chief of Staff Falkenhan replied affirmatively.

"It is difficult for us to make breakthrough progress on the Western Front, and the Eastern Front must rely on most of our forces to deal with Russia and the Balkan Alliance. My suggestion is that we must keep our most important ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Once The Austro-Hungarian Empire failed again, and they are likely to withdraw from the war, which is extremely disadvantageous to us. Turkey and Bulgaria have minimal help in the war. Without Austria-Hungary, our failure will be obvious. "Chief of Staff Falkenhayn stated the current situation and at the same time looked at William II.

William II nodded. Although William II's military talent was not outstanding, compared to Nicholas II, who was a complete military novice, he still knew a little bit.

"So what's your opinion, Chief of Staff?" William II was prepared and asked.

"Your Majesty, although we also experienced a defeat on the Eastern Front, that is because the vast majority of what the Russian army faced were the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As long as our main army goes to the Eastern Front and defeats the Russians, It is not even impossible for them to withdraw from the war completely. As long as Russia withdraws from the war, our dilemma of fighting on two fronts will be solved, and the separate battlefield on the Western Front is not unbearable for us." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn said slowly Come up with a plan that you have already drafted in your mind.

William II nodded, but was not ready to completely change the war strategy at this time. Instead, he looked at other generals and senior officials of the Ministry of National Defense, asking for their opinions.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the commanders-in-chief of the Eastern Front, naturally agreed with Falkenhayn's point of view, while the commanders-in-chief of the group armies on the Western Front battlefield had different opinions, but generally supported the continuation of the Western Front offensive.

After all, if the strategic focus is placed on the Eastern Front, the logistics treatment of the armies on the Western Front will also be reduced by one level.

Not only will the battles we face become smaller, but the opportunities for meritorious service will also be much less. After all, the Eastern Front was the main battlefield of the war at that time, and it was the place where meritorious service could be most honored.

Seeing that William II had not made up his mind, Hindenburg dropped bombshell news at this time, saying: "Your Majesty, according to our intelligence, Russia has accumulated heavy troops in Galicia. It is very likely that through This opportunity to attack on the Western Front once again launched a large-scale strategy.

If the Russians broke through the front and crossed the Carpathian Mountains into Hungary, it would be a devastating blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire can sustain it, the Balkan Alliance will take the opportunity to open a new front in the southern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Fighting on two fronts is already very disadvantageous for us. If a new front is opened, neither we nor the Austro-Hungarian Empire can sustain it.

On the contrary, if we win on the Eastern Front, it will not only allow the Austro-Hungarian Empire to take a breath of relief, but also allow the Balkan countries to see who is the most powerful country in the world and take the opportunity to draw the Balkan Alliance to our side. Change the current situation of the war. "

For Germany, the worst news currently is that Russia is preparing to launch another campaign on the Eastern Front.

The Eastern Front had just experienced a new defeat, and it was impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to suffer another major defeat.

This actually represents the fact that regardless of Germany's willingness or not, the current strategy must shift to the Eastern Front, unless Germany is willing to lose the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an ally.

The German generals on the east and west fronts looked at each other in confusion, and finally had to accept the fact that from now on, Germany would gradually move its forces eastward and place its main offensive direction on the east front.

"Okay, everyone. Let's start now to discuss the specific plans for the Eastern Front battlefield!" William II was quite satisfied with the reactions of the officers. At least there was no dissatisfaction or quarrel due to the strategic shift.

William II first looked at Chief of Staff Falkenhayn. As the top decision-maker of the German military, Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's opinions are very important. After all, he was also the first person to propose a strategic eastward shift.

"Your Majesty, the first thing we have to do is to completely stop the offensive on the Western Front. All troops on the Western Front battlefield will immediately shift to a defensive state. If necessary, we can give up all the occupied land and only retain the Belgian area. This will be our future Western Front The basis for counterattack." Falkenhayn spoke out his plan without any hesitation.

"At the same time, twenty to thirty divisions will be transferred from the Western Front to the Eastern Front to help our allies guard the Eastern Front border. If possible, I hope that the country can continue to organize at least 50 divisions to join the battle, which will have a profound impact on our Eastern Front battlefield. Crucial role."

After hearing Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's plan, William II had some doubts and asked: "Will 20 to 30 divisions be transferred from the Western Front battlefield? There will be no problems in the Western Front battlefield, right?"

"If the Western Front battlefield is in an offensive state, there may be problems. But as long as our Western Front battlefield enters a comprehensive defense state, it will not be a problem to deploy twenty or thirty divisions. As long as the recruitment speed of domestic recruits can keep up, we can definitely do it in half a year. It can fill the vacancy of insufficient soldiers on the Western Front battlefield, and also strengthen the defense of the Western Front battlefield." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn replied with a slight affirmation.

The combat capability of the German army is still good. If it is just for defense, it will not be a problem to block the enemy forces on the Western Front battlefield from the defense line, at least that is what Chief of Staff Falkenhayn thinks.

William II nodded. If he only persisted for half a year, there should be no problem for the German army to come to the Western Front battlefield.

Half a year is enough time for the government to train at least 50 divisions of new soldiers, which will be of great help to both the Western and Eastern battlefields half a year later.

More importantly, although the number of Allied troops on the Western Front was huge, the combat effectiveness of the 500,000 Italian troops was weak, and the vast majority of the Australasian troops were just ordinary indigenous troops.

Although the size of the British and French armies is as high as more than 1 million, their combat effectiveness is slightly insufficient compared to the German army. There is no problem in holding on to the offensive of these armies.

Along with the large number of casualties on both sides, one round after another of new recruits have gone to the Western Front battlefield, which has also reduced the combat capabilities of both armies to a certain extent.

Especially the British army. The number of the British army before the war was very small, and it was only temporarily recruited after the outbreak of the war.

The combat quality of these recruits is much lower than that of the German reserve troops, and there is naturally a significant gap in the army's combat effectiveness.

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