Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 510 Different Joys and Sorrows

Although Germany's strategic shift was carried out in secret, it involved a large-scale mobilization of 1.2 million troops, making it difficult to completely conceal the news.

Especially for the French, the previously tense situation on the Western Front suddenly turned into a major advantage, and the French would certainly investigate thoroughly whether there were any unusual changes in the Germans' actions.

Especially on the Verdun battlefield, the large-scale mobilization of the Germans could not be concealed at all.

The difference between having a large number of troops and having a small number of troops is completely different. The French army, which was originally struggling to put up a fight, suddenly found that almost all the pressure it was facing had disappeared. It was obvious to anyone with a brain that most of the German troops on the front line had already left.

So the question arises: what was the purpose of the Germans mobilizing such a large number of troops in such an exaggerated manner?
Actually, there's not much to think about; the only thing that could make Germany so aggressive was the Eastern Front.

Although the Balkans were one of the three major battlefields in Europe, they were the least important and involved the least number of troops.

Germany had never deployed so many troops to rescue Bulgaria before its surrender, let alone now that Bulgaria has already surrendered.

Given the coup that has already occurred in Bulgaria, even if Germany were to actually deploy troops to the Balkans, the Bulgarian government might not necessarily support Germany.

It is even possible that Bulgaria will join the Allied Powers to prevent further changes in the domestic situation.

For this reason, the Germans had only one purpose in mobilizing their troops: to support the Eastern Front.

Although the French understood Germany's intention to move troops, the French government would do nothing more than issue a necessary warning to the Russian government.

The reason is simple: France has been holding off Germany's main forces for nearly two years, resulting in heavy losses domestically.

The French actually wholeheartedly agreed to Germany's decision to transfer some troops to the Eastern Front, and wished the German troops could withdraw that very day.

The French were not actually too worried about whether Germany's withdrawal of a large army to attack the Eastern Front would cause the Russian front to collapse.

After all, with Spain's help on the Western Front, even if Germany defeated Russia and then turned back to attack France, it wouldn't be so easy to break through the French defenses.

Moreover, even if the Russian army was in poor fighting condition, it was impossible for it to be defeated by the German army in a short period of time.

Russia possesses an army of millions; theoretically, it should be capable of inflicting hundreds of thousands or even millions of casualties on the German army, if nothing else.

As long as Russia can inflict millions of casualties on Germany, it would be perfectly acceptable for France even if Russia withdrew from the war due to the enormous casualties and financial burden.

This is actually good news. After all, once Russia withdraws from the war, they will naturally not receive any war reparations.

At that time, the Allied Powers would be led by France and Spain, and France would naturally receive more war reparations.

And let's not forget that the millions of Allied troops in the Balkans could also support Russia at any time; Russia is not so easily defeated.

For France, Germany's focus on the Eastern Front suited the French government perfectly. During this period, France could seize the opportunity to reclaim German-occupied territories and catch its breath before facing the arduous battles to come.

Beginning in April 1914, the situation on both the Eastern and Western fronts of this world war took an instant turn for the worse.

On the western front, the Germans began attacking, while on the eastern front, the Germans began defending, and then began attacking.

The Battle of Verdun, in which both Germany and France invested heavily, ultimately resulted in a bizarre victory for the French.

Of course, this victory was ultimately a Pyrrhic one for France.

Whether in the Battle of Verdun or the entire Western Front, the French army suffered higher casualties than the German army.

Even with the help of the Spanish and Italian armies, France could not reduce its losses in the war.

The good news is that, with the German army's forces depleted on the Western Front, France finally recaptured some of the territory occupied by Germany.

The original front lines of the Western Front were not far from Paris, and under the attack of the French army, they finally advanced to a place close to the Belgian border.

Some progress was also made on the eastern flank of the Western Front. Some defensive fortifications around Verdun were recaptured, and French, Spanish, and Italian troops jointly established a defensive line there and continued to advance further north.

The German government was also well aware that, with insufficient troops, it was simply impossible to hold the existing front lines on the Western Front.

The German High Command's bottom line was that Germany could not be invaded on its own soil. All territory outside of Germany was willing to be relinquished, even parts of Belgium.

As long as Germany itself is not attacked, the situation on the Western Front will not collapse. Furthermore, France's recapture of its territory will have no impact on Germany.

After all, these lands had been occupied by Germany for several months or even more than a year, and the related industrial, economic and agricultural production had long been destroyed.

Even if France were to reclaim these territories, it would be impossible for them to regain their pre-war prosperity without several years, or even more than a decade, of development.

This only addresses the impact on the economy and industry. In terms of population, these French territories, once occupied by Germany, are now practically deserted.

One reason is that France has mobilized a large number of adult men in these regions, and a considerable number of them have been mobilized into the French army.

On the other hand, many people had to evacuate to safer places further south because of the war.

After Germany occupied these territories, it forcibly conscripted local people to transport military supplies. This led to a significant reduction in the population of these lands, which had a severe impact on France.

Even if France were to reclaim these territories, it wouldn't significantly boost French industry and the economy. On the contrary, providing relief to the French people affected by the war would incur a huge additional expense for the French government.

Under orders from the German High Command, the German army was essentially half-heartedly complying. While feigning a defense, they selectively abandoned less important areas and gradually withdrew towards the rear border. As the German army approached the original border region, their resistance intensified.

The French army was surprised to find that after advancing the front line by several tens of kilometers, the intensity of German resistance had increased several levels.

Originally, a single large-scale offensive would have forced the German army to retreat several kilometers. But now, even with wave after wave of attacks from the French army, the German army remains steadfast in its positions, showing no intention of withdrawing.

In an attempt to test the strength of the German army's defenses, French troops launched wave after wave of probing attacks under the orders of French Chief of the General Staff, Joffre.

As a result, the Allied forces, including the Spanish and Italian armies, suffered tens of thousands of casualties every day, while the advance on the front lines was minimal.

Faced with the German army's strong will to resist, even the powerful Spanish army could only slowly advance the front line.

At this time, the Western Front was still dominated by the French army. After seeing that even with such heavy casualties, they could not make effective progress, Joffre finally gave up the idea of ​​recovering all the occupied territories and instead made slow progress.

After the offensive to recapture territory was slowed down, Allied casualties also decreased significantly.

This was also good news for the German army, since Germany only had a little over a million troops on the Western Front, which was only one-third of the Allied forces.

The fact that Germany was able to hold the Western Front with only one-third of its troops, despite losing some territory, was still acceptable to the German government.

The German army retreated step by step on the Western Front, and even lost much territory to the French army.

However, on the Eastern Front, the German army was not so forgiving.

Although Tsar Nicholas II received a warning from France, he believed that even if Germany shifted its strategic focus eastward, the troop movements would not be completed in a short period of time.

Moreover, Russia had far more troops on the Eastern Front than Germany.

Even if Germany were to send a million troops to the Eastern Front, Russia's numerical advantage would not be so easily overcome.

Expanding territory may not be easy, but isn't it easy to defend the existing borders?
If Russia can hold off the German offensive for a period of time and make the Germans realize that it is not so easy to defeat, Germany will likely continue to shift its strategic focus to the western front.

That's what Nicholas II thought, and that's what he did.

Aside from instructing frontline commanders to be on high alert, Nicholas II took no other measures, firmly believing that his army was capable of handling any potential German offensive.

When news came from the Western Front that the French had recovered most of the territory occupied by Germany, Nicholas II was quite envious.

Like France, Russia also had large swathes of territory occupied by Germany.

These territories, located in Poland and the East European Plain, were of great importance to Russia. Nicholas II also wanted to reclaim these territories, but the poor fighting capacity of the Russian army meant that it remained just a pipe dream.

Just as Nicholas II was looking at the battle reports from the western front with envy, Grand Duke Nicholas V, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, brought him news that shocked him: Russia had suffered a major defeat on the eastern front, and the front line had been pushed back dozens of kilometers.

This news greatly surprised Nicholas II, who immediately inquired about the situation on the Eastern Front.

With Archduke Nicholas's reply, Nicholas II finally understood what had happened on the Eastern Front.

First, the time it took for the German army to move was far too short, so short that Nicholas II never expected that Germany could transfer millions of troops to the Eastern Front in just a few days.

These millions of troops had just arrived at the Eastern Front when, under the orders of Hindenburg, the German commander-in-chief on the Eastern Front, they joined the war without a long period of rest.

The Russian army had no countermeasures against the sudden arrival of a large number of German troops. The Germans launched a massive campaign with over a million troops and, with ample firepower, routed the unprepared Russian army, forcing them to retreat dozens of kilometers.

This led to the complete collapse of the Eastern Front, and the defenses that Russia had painstakingly built were directly occupied by Germany, plunging Russia into crisis once again.

"Are all our soldiers a bunch of good-for-nothings?" Upon hearing the news of such a huge defeat, Nicholas II was momentarily unable to accept it and questioned angrily:

Even if it were millions of cattle and sheep, it would take the Germans several months to slaughter them, right?
I simply can't believe that our army would just abandon its frontline positions and give up such a large swathe of territory to the Germans like that?

Faced with Nicholas II's questioning, Grand Duke Nicholas helplessly explained: "Your Majesty, our army is generally lacking in ammunition supplies, and our firepower is not commensurate with that of the German army."

Although these German troops came from the Western Front and were far more exhausted than our troops, their Western Front background allowed them to carry a large amount of weaponry, equipment, and ammunition supplies, giving them a significant advantage over us in this respect.

Even if our soldiers are eager to fight for their country, without weapons and ammunition supplies, are they supposed to fight the Germans with their bare hands?
Now is not the time to hold the frontline troops accountable; we should prioritize seeking support from France, Spain, and Italy to secure sufficient ammunition supplies.

Russian frontline troops generally lack weapons and ammunition. This is partly because Russia's military industry is insufficient to support the consumption at the front, and partly because Russia's poor logistical situation makes it impossible to transport weapons and ammunition supplied by other countries to the front in a timely manner.

Despite the fact that the German army traveled from the Western Front to the Eastern Front, covering a distance of over a thousand kilometers, the German army's journey was remarkable.

However, the journey of these thousands of kilometers was all by train, and along with the soldiers, a large amount of weapons, equipment, ammunition, and medical supplies were also transported to the eastern front.

On the contrary, the Russian army, although well-rested and ready, ultimately could only provide a drop in the ocean in the absence of logistical support.

Without sufficient ammunition supplies, the rifles they carried were practically useless. Russian soldiers didn't possess the same tenacity to fight the German army with melee weapons.

For Russia today, as long as the problems of insufficient frontline logistical support and severe shortages of weapons, equipment, and ammunition cannot be resolved, similar frontline defeats will continue to occur.

Only by solving the supply problem at the front can the Russian army have the resources to launch a counterattack and stabilize the current situation on the Eastern Front.

(End of this chapter)