Chapter 416 The Southwest Army was defeated

As the situation on Russia's southwest front deteriorated, the defeat of the Third Army also put the flanks of the nearby Fourth and Eighth Army facing serious threats.

In order to ensure the safety of their flanks, the Russian Fourth and Eighth Army had to follow the retreat speed of the Third Army and withdraw towards the rear.

The Fourth and Eighth Armies were okay, after all, they evacuated in an orderly manner. However, in order to speed up the retreat, the Third Army, which was on the verge of collapse, abandoned its armor along the way. It left artillery, heavy machine guns, some shells, ammunition and supplies that were not easy to carry and transfer at the front line positions and retreated. on the way.

If it were not for the river dangers along the San River to the Dniester River, I am afraid that the German army would have advanced all the way and occupied the entire Polish area.

On August 7, the Russian army, which had taken a short rest, reorganized its defensive positions near the San River in an attempt to fight the German army to the death.

But at this time, the Russian army was already at an absolute disadvantage in terms of firepower. Germany had captured a large number of Russian artillery and heavy weapons, and had absolutely crushed the Russian army in terms of firepower.

It was obvious that the Russian defense line, which had been hastily built in a few days, could not stop the German attack at all.

Under the fierce bombardment of German artillery, the Russian army lost tens of thousands of soldiers every day, but the German casualties were minimal.

If Ivanov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Southwest Front, had not issued a fatal order requiring the Third, Fourth and Eighth Army to block the German attack at all costs, I am afraid that it would only be a matter of time before Poland was defeated.

Under the fierce bombing by the Germans, the Russian soldiers and the German soldiers had formed quite a tacit understanding.

Whenever the Germans bombed, Russian soldiers would huddle in their positions and seize the time to rest or replenish their strength.

After the German artillery fire stopped, Russian soldiers boarded the trenches one after another and launched a counterattack against the German army with rifles and a small number of machine guns.

Even when the German-Austrian Allied Forces were quite close to their positions, a large number of Russian soldiers would jump out and fight hand-to-hand with the German-Austrian Allied Forces, blocking the progress of the German-Austrian Allied Forces with their lives and bodies.

Although Germany had advantages in firepower and weapons and equipment, the advantage in the number of Russian soldiers became apparent in the bayonet fight.

In the battle of cold weapons, victory is ultimately won by numbers. Although the Russian army could not achieve complete victory in hand-to-hand combat, it still used the bodies and lives of its soldiers to briefly block the German army at the San River defense line.

Of course, the Germans are not without their own ways to deal with it. While the assaulting troops were halting, the Germans were transporting a large amount of materials and supplies to the frontline positions, and at the same time, a steady stream of reinforcements arrived.

This also allowed the German artillery to fire at the Russians unscrupulously, and the artillery fire almost covered the entire Russian position.

Of course, there is not no good news for Russia. On the fourth day of the Battle of the San River, the Peace Treaty of Constantinople was signed, and the Ottoman Empire officially withdrew from the war.

This also means that hundreds of thousands of troops from the Balkan countries can be deployed on the Eastern Front battlefield, and the southeastern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in danger.

On August 13, 1915, the armies of the Balkan countries gathered at the border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and launched a fierce attack on the border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Among them, the Serbian attack was the most ferocious. Division Commander Martin led hundreds of thousands of Balkan troops to attack Sarajevo, the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains from the borders of Montenegro, Serbia and Romania.

The army in the direction of Montenegro includes 80,000 troops from Montenegro, 50,000 troops from Greece, and 80,000 troops from Australasia, totaling 210,000 people.

The Serbian direction includes Serbia's 250,000 troops and Greece's 100,000 troops, totaling 350,000.

There are only 200,000 Romanian troops in the Romanian direction, but there are also Russian troops in the northern Carpathian Mountains, which can cooperate with each other.

With the participation of the Balkan countries, the pressure on Russia was instantly reduced a lot.

But what Russia did not expect was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire organized nearly 200,000 troops for defense on the southern border, and mobilized 150,000 troops from other regions, but did not mobilize the troops that cooperated with Germany.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was obviously betting that the German-Austrian Allied Forces could annihilate Russia's main force before the Balkan countries broke through the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, severely damaging Russia's vitality.

By then, millions of German and Austrian troops would move south again, and the armies of the Balkan countries would naturally be no match.

On August 17, 1915, the Russians did not wait for the withdrawal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but instead waited for a more frenzied attack by the German-Austrian Allied Forces.

At this time, the Russian army had been holding on to the San River line for ten days, and had suffered more than 100,000 casualties. The Fourth and Eighth Army suffered heavy losses, and the Third Army's combat strength was even less than full. of a quarter.

To use a more appropriate word to describe the three current Russian armies, that is, they are at the end of their strength.

On August 18, with the advance of the German-Austrian forces, the Russians had to abandon Przemysl.

You know, when the Russians occupied Przemysl, they suffered a lot of casualties.

Facing such a strategic location, if the Russian army had not reached the end of its rope, it would never have given up such a territory in vain.

As the Russians retreated urgently, Hindenburg and Ludendorff made a decisive decision to launch a pursuit and launch a large-scale offensive across the board.

At this time, the central breakthrough tactic was completely successful. The Germans mobilized millions of German and Austrian troops. The 11th Army broke through directly through the opening opened, striving to give the Russian army a fatal blow.

In fact they did. Originally, the Russian Southwest Front was already at the end of its tether. Facing a full-scale attack by the German army, the Russian army collapsed quickly.

At the end of August, the Russian Southwest Front was completely defeated. Not only did it hand over occupied Galicia, it even retreated to the rear of Poland.

The Battle of Gorlitz, which lasted nearly a month, ended with a disastrous defeat for the Russian army in all aspects.

The German-Austrian forces suffered less than 100,000 casualties, a considerable part of which were Austro-Hungarian troops.

On the Russian side, the number of casualties reached more than 500,000, and more than 300,000 Russian soldiers were captured.

Not only was the Third Army almost completely wiped out, but the Fourth and Eighth Army each also lost more than 100,000 people, and the losses in equipment and supplies were even more numerous.

At the same time, after Russia lost Galicia, the results of its previous battles against the Austro-Hungarian Empire were almost wiped out.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire reoccupied Galicia, it would be difficult for the Russians to capture this area.

More importantly, the German-Austrian coalition had ample time and opportunity to resist or even defeat the Balkan coalition.

Of course, the Russian losses far exceeded these.

After this disastrous defeat, the morale of the Russian army plummeted, and the soldiers seemed to have no confidence in resisting the German-Austrian forces.

Some Russian officers were even more afraid of the enemy. When they saw the German army, they were so frightened that they fled in panic.

Anti-war sentiment also began to spread among ordinary soldiers. Soldiers were afraid of death and tired of wars without any results.

In the Russian political arena, this failure also caused an earthquake in the entire political arena. If the previous Russian government and Nicholas II could still suppress the domestic rebellion, then after this defeat, Nicholas II seemed to be unable to control the domestic situation.

Demonstrations took place in St. Petersburg and Moscow's Red Square. The angry crowd not only demanded that Tsar Nicholas II abdicate, but also demanded that the empress, who had done good for the country and harmed the country, be sent to a monastery, that the palace favorite Rasputin be hanged, and that Russia be returned to Russia. Peace in politics.

As one of the established powers, the people of the Tsarist Russian Empire could not accept such heavy losses in the war.

If the war had not gone smoothly in other areas, the angry people would have demanded that Nicholas II be hanged.

It can be said that the entire Tsarist Russia was in chaos at this time. If Arthur had not made arrangements in advance and controlled some revolutionary parties, I am afraid that a rebellion would have broken out in Russia at this time, and Nicholas II would not be far away from being overthrown.

In response to the current very serious crisis in the country, Nicholas II decided to dispatch Cossack cavalry to carry out armed suppression in riot areas.

Even if the riots were too serious, Nicholas II specifically authorized the Cossack cavalry commanders to attack the demonstrators.

Armed suppression of demonstrations was the last option and Nicholas II's helpless choice.

Once force is used against the demonstrators, and even casualties occur to the crowd, it means that Nicholas II and the Tsarist autocracy have gone against the Russian people.

If quelling the unrest fails, the Russians may not demand a change of monarch but the elimination of the entire monarchy.

In addition to various domestic crises, the Russians were also in a very bad situation on the frontline battlefields.

After the defeat in the Battle of Gorlitz, Russia's strategic state was in an extremely dangerous situation.

There are only three under-organized armies left in the entire southwest, with a combined number of only more than half a million soldiers.

Although the Northwestern Front Army still has eight armies, the Northwestern Front Army is contained by a part of the German army, and its position is also very unfavorable for the war.

It can be seen from the map that the entire Russian army on the eastern front has been surrounded by the German and Austrian forces on the north and south wings in a semicircle.

If the German-Austrian coalition forces attack from the north and south flanks, all Russian troops on the frontline battlefield will be wiped out.

Of course, the German General Staff will not let go of such a favorable opportunity, but the decision-making at the highest level of the German General Staff is actually not unified as to what strategy to use to realize the plan to surround all Russian armies.

At present, there are two forces with a higher say in the German military. One is the German Chief of General Staff Falkenhayn, and the other is the Eastern Front commanders Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who have just won a great victory on the Eastern Front battlefield.

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