Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 551 Germany's Surrender
After signing a peace agreement with Britain, all the Allied powers immediately turned their attention to Germany, eager to defeat it and then exploit it.

The situation on the front lines also revealed the Allied powers' extreme desire to defeat Germany. The frontline armies launched a fierce offensive against Germany, and the nations seemed indifferent to casualties, focusing only on the time it would take to defeat Germany.

The German government was well aware of the Allied powers' almost blatant desire to partition Germany.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff were anxious about Germany’s current situation, but they could only take it one step at a time and try their best to find a way to survive on the battlefield.

In the final stages of the war, Germany fought with almost every ounce of its strength. Factories across Germany worked overtime to produce makeshift tanks for the front lines, and these tanks were sent to the front lines as soon as they rolled off the production line, without even being tested.

Germany was well aware that these tanks were utterly ineffective against the Allied advance. While these makeshift tanks could be somewhat effective on the battlefield, they couldn't withstand even a single shell from Spain's genuine heavy tanks.

The most brutal scene on the battlefield unfolded after the German makeshift tanks were destroyed by Spanish tanks.

The German army knew that it had to deal with the Spanish tanks in order to effectively stop the Allied advance.

Unfortunately, most of the Spanish tanks were heavy tanks with extremely thick steel armor, requiring close-range explosions to disable them.

Extensive and intensive artillery bombardment was no longer effective. This was partly because Spanish heavy tanks had been reinforced with steel armor, and partly because Germany's own military production capacity could not keep up with the enormous demand for artillery shells at the front.

After Britain withdrew from the war, Germany was blockaded on the European continent. Germany's high seas fleet alone was simply no match for the Allied fleet.

The French Atlantic Fleet even went to the German coast from time to time to provoke them, as if it were eager for the German navy to come out and fight them.

Hindenburg was well aware that this was a French conspiracy. Although the French Atlantic Fleet was no match for the German fleet, it was backed by the Allied Fleet, a super-powerful fleet capable of defeating the combined British and German navies.

Germany had poured too much effort into its navy and naturally did not want to send these warships to their deaths when it had a clear naval advantage.

For Hindenburg, preserving the high seas fleet was of great benefit.

The property of the defeated nation is destined to be divided among the victorious nation, and naval fleets are naturally among them.

The reason why the British Royal Fleet was not divided up by the Allied Powers was mainly because Britain still had strength, and for an island nation like Britain, naval strength was very important.

Even if Britain were to forcibly demand colonies like South Africa and Egypt, it might not necessarily turn against the Allied Powers. However, if Britain were to forcibly demand the British Royal Fleet, it would absolutely break with the Allied Powers and would spare no effort to unite with Germany to defeat them.

Unlike Britain, where monks could negotiate terms, the path of peace negotiations for Germany had become a dead end.

Having been defeated on the battlefield, Germany was unlikely to negotiate terms at the peace table. This meant that Germany's factories, businesses, personnel, and naval vessels would all be divided up by the Allied powers.

If Hindenburg and postwar Germany could exchange their entire high seas fleet for a reduction in the Allied powers' reparations, it would likely be a worthwhile deal.

After all, what good would it do for Germany to retain its high seas fleet after the war?
As a defeated nation, Germany's industrial equipment and means of production were destined to be divided among the Allied powers. With its industry and economy severely impacted, Germany's finances were also insufficient to support such a large navy.

As is well known, the navy spends a lot of money not only on building warships, but also on maintaining them.

There are also the salaries of naval soldiers, the fuel costs of warships, training expenses, and so on, all of which are huge expenditures.

If Germany were to incur enormous debts after the war, Hindenburg would have proactively used this high seas fleet to reduce some of those debts, without even the Allied powers having to make a request.

Although this was somewhat of a waste of the effort Germany had invested in its navy before the war, it was indeed the most reasonable choice for postwar Germany.

With the navy completely unable to deploy and the army forced to rely on suicide attacks to destroy Spanish tanks, German casualties were mounting daily, to the point that Hindenburg dared not even look at the reports.

For Hindenburg, this world war was nothing short of torture. Having finally regained command of the army from Kaiser Wilhelm II, what situation did Hindenburg face?
Germany's allies betrayed it one after another, and even its only remaining ally, Britain, was not truly on good terms with Germany. Apart from a certain advantage on the Russian front, where the civil war had broken out, Germany had lost its edge on all other fronts.

Such a situation would have been impossible for Germany to save, let alone Hindenburg and Ludendorff, or even if Bismarck were alive.

The good news is that Hindenburg's tenure as Chief of the General Staff of Germany was relatively short. This also means that Hindenburg bears little responsibility for Germany's loss of advantage on the front lines, or even its defeat.

Furthermore, Hindenburg did achieve many victories during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the German Eastern Front. Even now, facing a dire situation, many German officers still believe that Hindenburg can lead Germany to victory.

Of course, the army and the people still had great trust in Hindenburg, largely because the Junker aristocracy's propaganda had been effective.

After Hindenburg and his Junker aristocracy seized control of Germany's military and political power, in order to prevent Wilhelm II from regaining power, the Junker aristocracy smeared the two former Chiefs of the General Staff of Germany, Moltke the Younger and Falkenhayn.

The effect of this was indeed quite obvious. Not only did Wilhelm II completely lose hope of regaining power, but all the previous defeats of the German army were also attributed to Moltke the Younger and Falkenhayn.

Even if Germany were to lose the World War, Hindenburg, as Chief of the General Staff, would not bear much responsibility. Furthermore, having already consolidated military and political power, Hindenburg could potentially run for Chancellor or President of Germany after escaping accountability.

Whether he would be prime minister or president depended on the Allied Powers' attitude towards Germany. If the Allied Powers did not want Germany to abolish the monarchy, even though Hindenburg had already seized military and political power, he would have to bow to Wilhelm II and serve as prime minister of a monarchical Germany.

If the Allied Powers did not intend to retain the monarchy in Germany, Hindenburg would have a great opportunity to become the first president of the German republican government, and thus the supreme ruler of Germany in both substance and name.

In order to protect their reputation, Hindenburg and Ludendorff smeared the two former chiefs of the German General Staff while showing more concern for their soldiers.

Both men were clear that, given the current situation, Germany was incapable of winning the world war.

To put it bluntly, it would be extremely difficult for Germany to achieve victory in any local war, and the current German government is simply waiting to die.

But facts aside, neither of them would openly reveal these thoughts. In fact, they not only concealed the inevitable defeat of Germany, but also feigned confidence in the army and the possibility of German victory.

Although they dared not go to the front lines again, Hindenburg and Ludendorff repeatedly visited the field hospitals in the rear to comfort the soldiers wounded in the war.

Hindenburg also inquired repeatedly about the distribution of German pensions, paid close attention to the living conditions of the families of fallen soldiers, and called on the government and people from all walks of life to donate living supplies to them.

Despite the lack of change in the war situation on the German front due to these measures, Hindenburg, who cared for the people and soldiers, still won the love and respect of a large number of Germans.

If it weren't for the fact that only a few decades had passed since Wilhelm I unified the German territories, rumors would probably have already been circulating in Germany that the monarchy was inferior to the republic, and that Wilhelm II was inferior to Hindenburg.

Even without the various rumors targeting Wilhelm II, the current political situation in Germany still angered him.

Of course, despite his anger, Wilhelm II was by no means an incompetent and foolish ruler.

He was well aware of his current situation. With his military and political power stripped away, Wilhelm II's own fate, as well as the future of the Hohenzollern family, would be decided by Hindenburg and the Allied Powers.

Even though he knew that Chief of the General Staff Hindenburg had treacherous ambitions, Wilhelm II could not take any rash actions, much less create trouble for Hindenburg given Germany's current dire situation.

Doing so would only give Hindenburg more excuses to shirk responsibility, while placing the blame for the war's defeat entirely on Wilhelm II's shoulders. Wilhelm II's wisest course of action now is to take no action, distance himself from German military and political affairs, and slowly sever his ties with the world war.

Given Hindenburg's uncertainty about the Allied attitudes toward the German monarchy, he would not rashly hold Wilhelm II accountable.

After all, monarchy was still the mainstream system in Europe, the Hohenzollern family was still very influential in Europe, and the relationships between European royal families were relatively close.

This is good news for Wilhelm II, at least for the time being, his throne will not be threatened.

Once this most difficult period is over, even if Germany abolishes the monarchy after the end of the World War, Wilhelm II will still have enough time to flee to other countries and ensure the safety of the German royal family.

Wilhelm II was quite confident about this. Germany's current diplomatic situation was rather dire, but this situation had little to do with the German royal family.

The German royal family has good relations with the royal families of many European monarchies, so if Wilhelm II wanted to flee, he would have many options.

The German public was obviously unaware of the conflicts between Hindenburg and Wilhelm II, and this change of power at the top had little to do with the common people.

What the German people were really concerned about was the situation of the German troops on the front lines and what the Allied powers would do with Germany if it were to be defeated.

The defeated nation would face nothing more than ceding territory, paying reparations, and signing unequal treaties.

Even those who know very little about this subject can get a general idea by looking at the treaties signed between Prussia and France after the Franco-Prussian War.

What is certain at present is that if Germany is defeated, its losses will be extremely heavy.

These losses include not only territorial losses, but also huge war reparations, the loss of technology and scientific research personnel, and the enormous damage to industry and the economy.

Most of Germany's supplies were sent to the front lines, which caused prices in Germany to soar and the value of the mark to drop significantly.

From this perspective, the public actually wanted the war to end. Especially with Germany completely blockaded by the Allied Powers, some industrial products that should have been commonplace were now rarely available in the German market.

Knowing exactly what the people cared about, Hindenburg made a special promise to the German people that, regardless of whether the war continued, the German government would prioritize the supply of goods to the people, use all means to reduce inflation in Germany, and ensure that all Germans had food to eat.

Although these were only verbal promises, they earned Hindenburg the favor of the German people. As for whether Hindenburg will be able to fulfill these promises in the future, at least for now, the German people are willing to believe it.

Hindenburg, having finally managed to appease the German people, still had to face the reality of Germany's continued defeats on the front lines.

Even with suicide attacks, Germany would have found it difficult to effectively counter Spanish tanks. Especially given Germany's frequent suicide attacks, Spain had already developed countermeasures against any surprise attacks from Germany.

Once German soldiers carrying explosive charges are spotted rushing out of the trenches, the soldiers following behind the tanks will immediately open fire to ensure that the enemy does not approach their tanks.

Spanish heavy tanks were also armed with heavy machine guns for defense. Under such dense firepower, it was difficult for German soldiers to get close to the Spanish tanks, let alone destroy them with explosive charges.

With Germany's final suicide attacks failing to counter the Spanish tanks, the situation on the front lines completely collapsed.

Large numbers of Spanish tanks began to charge the German army's lines, and despite the German army's desperate resistance, they could not pose much of a threat to these steel behemoths.

From mid-July 1915, the Spanish army advanced more than ten kilometers of the defensive line each day. Although this pace of advance was not fast, the casualties inflicted on the German army were something the German government simply could not afford.

From the start of the suicide attacks in Germany to their complete end, nearly 20 days passed.

During these 20 days, the Allied and German armies engaged in fierce fighting, with both sides suffering considerable losses.

The sheer number of Spanish casualties is enough to demonstrate just how brutal the final battle was. Nearly 150 Spanish tanks were destroyed by German suicide attacks, and the German army also paid a heavy price, losing thousands of men.

As the offensive continued, the Spanish army suffered nearly 10 casualties, while inflicting 20 casualties on German soldiers.

The French suffered far more casualties than the Spanish, with close to 20 dead. Conversely, the German forces on the French front suffered just over 10 casualties.

Adding to the fighting in the Balkans, in less than a month, the combined casualties of the Allied Powers and Germany approached one million, with more than 200,000 soldiers killed and nearly 150,000 seriously wounded, demonstrating the extent of the devastation.

After this last major battle, the situation for the German army had essentially collapsed.

Spanish troops had successfully entered German territory, and the German army was powerless to resist the Spanish advance. If the conflict continued, it was only a matter of time before the Ruhr region, the industrial heart of Germany, fell to the Spanish.

Even more critically, the collapse of German forces on the Belgian border severely impacted the morale and fighting spirit of German troops on other fronts.

Although the French army suffered greater casualties against the Germans, they also achieved good results, recapturing most of Alsace and Lorraine.

The fall of Alsace and Lorraine dealt another blow to the morale of the German army. As August 1915 approached, after a long campaign, the Spanish army finally reached the Ruhr region, the industrial heart of Germany.

By this time, Spain had lost most of its tanks, and the German army's tenacious fighting spirit severely delayed the Spanish advance.

But all of this was in vain. Spain possessed powerful weapons like tanks, which allowed them to charge into German lines with impunity.

With morale and fighting spirit severely broken, the German army simply could not hold its lines.

On August 16, 1915, the Spanish army officially attacked Cologne on the east bank of the Klein River and began to divide its forces to occupy the entire Ruhr region.

On August 17, French troops captured Strasbourg, a city in southwestern Germany, and advanced eastward toward Stuttgart and Munich.

On August 19, after the Spanish army had almost completely occupied the Ruhr region, it moved south along the Rhine River and attacked Frankfurt, the location of the German Provisional General Staff.

German and Spanish forces clashed fiercely outside Frankfurt. Although the German forces attempted to resist the Spanish, they eventually collapsed under renewed Spanish air raids, and Frankfurt fell.

Although Chief of the General Staff Hindenburg promptly announced the relocation of the General Staff to Berlin, this decision could not salvage the morale and fighting spirit of the German army.

After the fall of Frankfurt, the situation on the western front of Germany had completely collapsed, with large swathes of western and southern territory under the threat of Allied forces.

Hindenburg was also aware that the war had entered a stage of collapse, and defeat was imminent.

Knowing that there was no way to save Germany, Hindenburg, on August 26, 1915, formally handed over the instrument of surrender to Spain and France on behalf of the German High Command and the German government.

(End of this chapter)