The sun never sets.

These things were not unfamiliar to him. He had done the same thing in the Far East ten years ago. It was not the first time that Grand Duke Nicholas had to clean up the mess. Thanks to his efforts, the combat efficiency of the Russian army was greatly improved, and the chaotic situation at the front and rear was somewhat improved. After the arrival of the 100 sets of communication equipment purchased from China, the headquarters finally knew where each unit was.

In the eyes of Grand Duke Nicholas, the Russian army was still not well prepared, the ammunition reserves were still insufficient, and the army's morale needed to be restored... He did not want to attack, nor did he want to defend. If Grand Duke Nicholas had his way, he would have retreated eastward, luring the German army to pursue him, and only when the enemy's supply lines were stretched and the roads were blocked by heavy snow would he launch a counterattack.

But this plan could not be implemented, Nicholas II would not agree to it. It was also impossible to move all the factories to the vicinity of the Ural Mountains. Tsar Nicholas II was not a man of steel.

Grand Duke Nicholas wanted to continue to increase his military strength, but the changes on the Western Front made it impossible for him to delay any further. More precisely, Nicholas II was under greater diplomatic pressure, which forced Grand Duke Nicholas to launch an offensive in the summer.

Chapter 583: Crazy

European battlefield

, Western Front.

The British, French and German armies were like playing a turn-based game. This time, Britain and France attacked while Germany defended. Next time, it would be Germany's turn to attack while Britain and France defended. Millions of troops formed a standoff in northeastern France.

Barbed wire, trenches, mines, machine guns, mortars, as well as airplanes, cannons and airships, all kinds of weapons appeared on the battlefield. Both the attacking and defending sides suffered heavy casualties and were exhausted in the brutal war.

In order to break the situation, both sides tried their best, but the effect was not very good, and only made more blood flow. At Christmas, soldiers on both sides complained that the environment in the trenches was too bad, it was freezing cold, and squatting in the trenches was suffering. When winter passed, the soldiers began to miss the cold winter in the past.

When spring came, the weather became warmer, but new problems emerged. The rainy season in France was unbearable to look back on. The chalk in the trenches turned into extremely heavy mud. Soldiers dragged 10-pound mud balls back and forth every day. Not only that, the soldiers had to deal with a large number of rats and corpses.

Generally speaking, soldiers who died in battle would be buried as much as possible. However, the bombardment on the Western Front was too fierce, and many soldiers were buried directly underground. After many days, another bombardment would dig up the bodies from the ground again. The rotting bodies were exposed to the air, and rats and maggots appeared in the eyes and chests of the bodies. Some bodies would swell into a ball due to rotting and fermentation, and they might explode with a "bang" at any time, and the corpse water would splash everywhere.

Trench warfare has become a nightmare for both sides. Soldiers on the front line are suffering. Most of them want to escape from this hell made of steel and corpses. The atmosphere in France is still fanatical, but many soldiers on the front have become mentally ill. On the front line, they have to endure heavy grenade bombardment from time to time, live with rats, corpses and maggots, and have endless hunger.

Germany has been a food importer for many years. The rations of the soldiers on the front line were guaranteed at the beginning, but then became less and less, and various substitutes appeared. Britain and France have vast colonies, and they are not short of food, but having supplies and food and being able to deliver them to the front line are two different things. Due to the dense battle lines on the battlefield, a large amount of food rations could not be delivered, causing the soldiers to be starving.

In order to completely resolve the war on the Western Front, Germany began preparations several months ago. They stockpiled a large amount of poison gas, stored hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, and sent more troops to the front. They only needed to wait for the right weather to break through the defenses of the British and French coalition forces.

It often rains in the spring, which weakens the lethality of chlorine gas and slows down the army's advance in muddy conditions, so the Germans waited. Finally, at the end of spring, the right weather appeared, and the Germans transported gas bombs to the front and distributed gas masks.

One day in late April, the German army bombarded the British and French positions with 4mm howitzers. Huge shells fell from the sky, creating large pits on the ground. The earth seemed to be boiling, and the soil kept rushing into the air and then hitting the ground with a crackling sound. The British and French forces fought back with the help of their strong fortifications. The two sides stopped bombarding for an hour.

This kind of heavy artillery bombardment happened almost every day. The bombardment lasted only an hour and was just a routine. After the bombardment, the British and French troops took the opportunity to exit the anti-artillery cave to breathe some fresh air and then dig out their buried comrades. While the British and French soldiers were busy, German planes flew over from the east.

Seeing three planes painted with the Iron Cross appear, British and French planes took off. Now the planes were no longer like at the beginning, where they could only shoot at each other with pistols. Both the Allies and the Central Powers had machine guns on board.

The British and French had more planes, and their aerial firepower was stronger. Machine guns continued to spit flames at the German planes, but they didn't hit them much. However, the fierce firepower forced the German planes to flee in panic to the east. The Allied soldiers on the ground cheered loudly when they saw this scene.

Two hours later, the German army got the latest intelligence and decided to release poison gas after nightfall. Six thousand cylinders were transported to the designated location, and nearly 200 tons of chlorine gas were released in the middle of the night. The yellow-green chlorine gas, which was three times heavier than air, was blown by Feng towards the British and French positions.

At midnight, the German troops received the notice. After a hearty meal, the soldiers got the gas masks, put them on at dawn, and rushed to the enemy's position with weapons. Every time they attacked before, they advanced under the hail of bullets. This time, the British and French positions had almost no resistance and were occupied by the Germans.

In fact, the French and British armies received the news from the spies during the day, but the Allies did not have so many gas masks, so they could only give each soldier on the front line a towel.

After soaking the towel in water and covering the mouth and nose, it can resist the harm of poison gas for a short time. But this is useless. The German army released nearly 1.5 tons of chlorine gas at one time, covering the ten-mile-long defense line. The towels in the hands of the British and French coalition forces saved many lives, but there were still heavy casualties. More than 5000 soldiers fell in the poison gas, and the death toll reached .

The German army took the opportunity to advance to the rear of the British and French coalition forces, trying to seize the enemy's supply points and cut off the transportation lines of the Allied forces.

German soldiers in gas masks, holding rifles and carrying flamethrowers, emerged from the yellow-green gas like demons walking out of hell.

Zeppelins were deployed in large numbers, and German planes also appeared densely in the sky. The British and French forces were caught off guard and lost more than seven miles of defense. They had no time to stop the Germans on the ground, so they used artillery to bombard the direction of the German advance, regardless of their own soldiers. The speed of the aircraft was faster than the army. The British and French troops released everything that could fly into the sky, not only airplanes, but also balloons.

Balloons can also be turned into weapons by stuffing a machine gun into the basket.

The German offensive was so fierce that the newly appointed Chief of Staff Falkenhayn placed all his hopes on poison gas. If the British and French forces could not be defeated at once, the battle would return to the trench warfare mode. It was not always suitable to release poison gas, and Britain and France would soon transport thousands of gas masks to the front line.

Success or failure depends on this one move.

The German army's performance was crazy, and the British and French armies were no less impressive. The heavy artillery in the rear launched an indiscriminate bombardment, creating walls of fire at the breakthrough points.

Chapter 584: Shock

The German military once believed that the "Zeppelin" was their ultimate weapon, and that once they used it, they would be invincible. But facts have proved that it is impossible to rely on one weapon to conquer the world.

The Allies first used anti-aircraft guns, which posed a great threat to airships dropping bombs at medium and low altitudes. Anti-aircraft guns were first imported from China, and then Britain and France began to copy them without paying patent fees. In addition to anti-aircraft guns, the Allies also installed machine guns on aircraft and used a chain of ammunition mixed with white phosphorus bullets and tracer bullets to attack the airbags of airships.

White phosphorus bullets can ignite airships, and tracer bullets are used to correct the trajectory. They are very effective in attacking airships. It can even be said that this is the biggest threat to airships. After all, anti-aircraft guns are deployed on the ground and are inconvenient to move. The Allied production capacity is insufficient, and it is impossible to protect all places with anti-aircraft guns at once.

In weather conditions where airplanes cannot be deployed, airships are also difficult to deploy. Even if they are deployed, various problems may arise, such as being blown away by the wind or having mechanical failures. This happened during the bombing of London.

Later, the Germans put machine guns on the airships and used airplanes to fight against the Allied aircraft, which finally prevented the huge airship force from becoming a target. However, when facing the Allied aircraft, the Zeppelin airship still seemed a little vulnerable. The German airship force was no longer the ultimate weapon, but instead changed from the overlord dominating the sky to a consumable in the war.

Since they are consumables, we must be aware of them. For this general offensive, the German General Staff brought out more than 40 airships and more than 300 aircraft at once. Fighting machines covered the sky, and for a time the sky was full of flying units painted with iron crosses. The Allied aircraft were dispatched urgently, and the sky turned into a sea of fire. You could see planes falling into the ground with black smoke.

Sometimes, you can see the huge Zeppelin transform into a huge fireball.

The Germans had the upper hand in the air battle. They were well prepared, had more planes and better combat skills. The Allied planes took off in batches, moved forward sporadically, and were beaten badly.

Compared with the advantage in the air battle, the German army's advancement speed on the ground was not satisfactory. In order to avoid the influence of poison gas, the German army had to wear gas masks. But the gas mask greatly affected people's vision. After leaving the area covered by poison gas with gas masks, the German army's advantage disappeared. The Allied artillery shells fell near the German army like raindrops, blocking the German army from moving forward. Artillery shells always run faster than legs.

After a day of fierce fighting, the German army advanced about 10 kilometers across the gap. This was the final result. Compared with the previous situation where hundreds of thousands of shells were used and tens of thousands of casualties were suffered in order to advance one or two miles or a few hundred meters, the German army had achieved a major victory.

But this victory was won after months of preparation by Germany, and it would take more than a short time to achieve it again. After being attacked by Germany with poison gas bombs, the Allies worked overtime to produce gas masks and also purchased them from foreign countries, mainly from the United States and China; on the other hand, the Allies also began to use poison gas bombs, which were just chlorine gas? Germany could make them, and so could Britain, France, and Russia.

Germany's chemical industry is very developed, and the chemical industries of Britain and France are not weak either. Both sides are constantly improving in the battle. No matter what new weapons are, as long as they are not defeated immediately, they can always find a way to restrain them. Even if they can't find it, they can always imitate it.

After several months of hard work, the highly anticipated poison gas warfare allowed the Germans to achieve a tactical victory on the Western Front, but they became increasingly passive strategically. After the news that the German army was the first to use poison gas bombs was disclosed, it was criticized throughout Europe and even the world. Although those criticisms were not painful to the Allies, they always had some effect.

Perhaps for this reason, Italy, which had hesitated for a long time, soon announced that it would join the Allied Powers and declare war on its former allies Germany and Austria-Hungary. When the Italian earthquake occurred two years ago, France gave Italy great help, which was the largest aid to Italy among the great powers, several times more than China, which ranked second.

Public opinion is only one aspect. What really prompted the Italian government

What makes the decision is still interests.

Italy is the weakest among the European powers. Not only is it weak, but it is also surrounded by powerful countries, especially France and Austria-Hungary, which are Italy's two major rivals and seriously threaten Italy's security and national interests. Of course, as one of the powers, although Italy is weaker, it is also ambitious. Italy covets Tunisia, which has an important strategic position and rich phosphorus and iron resources, and has been trying to annex Tunisia.

But what made the Italians depressed was that in May 1881, the French took the initiative and completed the military occupation of Tunisia. This news shocked the whole country of Italy and set off an anti-French wave in the country. The angry Italians joined the Allied Powers led by Germany and formed an alliance with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It can be said that Italy's joining the Triple Alliance was very blind. In comparison, the contradiction between Italy and Austria-Hungary was more serious because the two countries had huge conflicts of interest. The Italians believed that Austria-Hungary had annexed part of Italy's territory (the Adriatic coastal areas of Slovenia and Croatia), and the Italians had always wanted to take back these lands. Therefore, the relationship between Italy and Austria has always been tense, but the threats and struggles of the French temporarily covered up the contradictions between Italy and Austria. After Italy joined the Allies, it hoped that Germany and Austria-Hungary could become its backers, help it fight against France, and support its foreign aggression.

However, after Italy formed an alliance with Germany and Austria, Italy did not receive strong support and assistance from Germany and Austria. In the war of invading Ethiopia, Germany and Austria did not even provide Italy with any substantial assistance. During the war, the French gave Ethiopia strong support and assistance, which led to the failure of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia.

I don't know why, but Italians are obsessed with Ethiopia.

The failure of the invasion of Ethiopia made Italy very disappointed with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the Italians began to alienate themselves from Germany and Austria. After that, the Italians began to adjust their policies and gradually became friends with the French. The French, who also wanted to ease relations, gave the Italians a large amount of loans and aid, which quickly warmed up the relationship between the two countries.

Before the outbreak of the war, the relationship between France and Italy was already very close, and the barriers between the two countries were basically eliminated. The British, the allies of the French, have long maintained very friendly relations with the Italians. Many resources such as coal and iron ore in Italy come from Britain. Maintaining good relations with Britain is the established diplomatic policy of successive Italian governments.

As for the Russians, they have nothing to do with Italy. The two countries do not even have the slightest conflict or interest dispute, so there is no contradiction between the two countries. It can be said that before World War I, Italy and the Allies had no contradiction at all, and there was no reason or necessity to go to war. Therefore, in the months after the outbreak of World War I, Italy did not participate in the war, but always waited and watched, on the grounds that the Triple Alliance was only used for defense.

In fact, Italy's behavior was completely a bid to see who would offer the highest price. As one of the three main forces of the Allied Powers, Italy first offered conditions to Germany and Austria. The Italians proposed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire return its occupied land, but Germany and Austria-Hungary rejected the Italian proposal, which made the Italians very angry.

In sharp contrast to Germany and Austria, Britain and France offered extremely tempting conditions to the Italians. Britain and France not only agreed to Italy's territorial demands in the Balkans, but also agreed to support Italy's colonial expansion in Africa after the war. The attitudes of Britain and France made the Italians very excited. In this way, Italy decisively abandoned the Allied Powers, joined the Entente, and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this way, the Italians "felt at ease" and turned against the Allies, completing the jump from the Allies to the Entente. The gorgeous operation shocked the whole world.

Chapter 586: Tactical Victory

After Italy defected to the Allies, the Central Powers were immediately in an extremely unfavorable situation. Although the Italians' fighting power was worse than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was, after all, a great power that produced one million tons of steel a year. They did not need to be brave on the battlefield, and it did not matter if they kept fighting badly, as long as they could make the Central Powers consume more resources.

Resources are not just steel and food, human resources are also a resource.

The two camps are now competing in consumption. Germany is more efficient in using resources, but it is still competing in consumption. According to the current situation, the Allies will be exhausted sooner or later. A war must be evenly matched to be interesting. Now the Allies are obviously at a disadvantage. For justice... well, it has nothing to do with justice. It is purely to make Europeans bleed more. Lin Yongchang exchanged the "machine gun shooting coordinator" and sold it to the Germans.

For just 5 million marks, you can take away the complete set of technical information.

German Ambassador: "I need to see the information first."

The person who was ordered to contact the Germans was not a comrade from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but from the Second Department of the General Staff. Liu Jisheng happily sent the documents and materials out, "Your country can use them first. If you find them useful, then deduct 2 million marks from the debt."

Before the war, the People's Government borrowed a large sum of money from Germany, amounting to hundreds of millions of marks, to purchase German machinery and equipment. China's strength was growing rapidly, and the German government was not worried that the Chinese would not be able to repay the money. At most, they could use China's primary products such as minerals and grain to pay off the debt, as Germany had to import so much grain every year anyway.

Then the war broke out, and China's grain and minerals could not be transported to German ports, so the debt has been owed. Now it is also very good to use some military technology to settle the debt.

The German ambassador to China did not know much about machines. He was concerned about other aspects. "What if we think that these materials are not worth 500 marks?"

Liu Jisheng had studied in Germany and could speak German fluently. "If that's the case, it only proves that your country has no one. In my opinion, these materials are worth at least 4000 million marks. 500 million marks is not enough for Germany's military expenditure for one day. If you are not willing to spend even this little money, then there is no need for further cooperation."

"Are these the results of military cooperation between China and the United States?"

The German ambassador smiled and said, "my country also made great efforts in the initial cooperation, and these achievements should be shared with my country."

"The military cooperation between China and the United States is limited to the navy. Besides, it was your country that violated the agreement first." Liu Jisheng snorted coldly and stood up. "Let's do this for now. If the German General Staff thinks it's worth 500 million marks, then we can continue to cooperate. If they don't think it's worth it, then we can stop here."

He picked up his hat, took two steps toward the door and stopped. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you that your country's radio code has been cracked by the British. It's better to change it. The same code has been used for so long. What do you think?"

After saying that, Liu Jisheng saw the shocked expression on the German ambassador's face as he wished. He smiled, opened the door and left. The German ambassador's face changed several times. Even people who didn't understand military affairs knew what it meant when the code was cracked. In the Battle of East Prussia, the reason why the German army was able to fight so smoothly was due to radio monitoring.

The Russians carried out military reforms, but they did not realize that the European war was different from the Sino-Russian War. The communication between the various Russian troops was actually in plain text. This surprised the German army, who thought it was a smokescreen released by the Russians to cover up the real intentions of the Russian army.

But later it was proved that the Russians were so slow that the entire battle was commanded in plain text. But even with such a weak Russian army, they were able to crush the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire turned around and beat up Italy, which was the bottom of the list among the great powers.

Japan produced 97 tons of steel last year, just a little less than Italy. Because of the war and institutional factors, Japan's steel production this year will definitely exceed Italy.

The German ambassador hurried back to the embassy and reported the situation to his country. He did not dare to send a telegram directly to Berlin, but sent a message to the Chinese embassy through his connections, and the Chinese ambassador to Germany then passed the information to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When the news reached the General Staff, Chief of Staff Falkenhayn did not believe it was true, but he could not say it was false. The High Seas Night Raid Group: 694⑨, 361③⑤ Fleet had suffered several setbacks, and some people had long suspected it. Previously, the High Command believed that it was a British spy who leaked the news, but now it seems that it may not be the spy who did it.

It was easy to prove whether the radio code had been cracked, just throw out a few baits and you'd know. Except for Falkenhayn, the other marshals and admirals did not want to confirm the news from China. If that happened, it would mean that the General Staff had made a major mistake, and everyone would be held responsible.

But the facts are not what people want. With just a few tricks and a few feints by the army, the authenticity of the message was proved. Faced with the facts, Falkenhayn could only admit that the code was really cracked, "We are exposed to the enemy like a naked girl."

But bad things can also turn into good things. The previous gas bomb offensive failed... It can't be said to be a failure, it just failed to achieve the strategic goal, and it was very successful tactically. On the other hand, tactical success cannot cover up strategic failure. Falkenhayn's position as Chief of the General Staff was once shaky because of this, and now he has found a reason, "It's all because of the poor work of the telecommunications department!" "Our battle plan is perfect!" "If this problem is solved, the German Army will be invincible!"

Ludendorff still insisted on the strategy of "defending the west and attacking the east", which was completely inconsistent with the army's strategy. William II also did not like Ludendorff's new strategy, so he chose to trust Falkenhayn again.

There were not many drawings and materials for the "machine gun fire coordinator", and they were not measured in tons, but there was no way to make things clear over the radio. However, the Germans had other ways to transport the materials back. British spies were not as powerful as in the movies, and the German intelligence department was not just there to do nothing.

After the relevant information was sent to Germany, engineers immediately began research and completed the modification within a week, proving the great role of the "machine gun firing coordinator" in air combat.

"Is this technology worth 500 million marks?"

"Well, technically speaking, the principle of the machine gun firing coordinator is not complicated, but no one has thought of it before."

"Is it worth 500 million marks?"

"If it were now, it would definitely not be worth 500 million marks. But if the enemy gets this technology first, our losses would be more than 500 million marks. Maybe even 5000 million marks would not be enough."

"Then give the Chinese 500 million marks....debt reduction is also a way

Sample!"

After obtaining the technology of the "machine gun fire coordinator", the Germans felt that they had gained a few more advantages. However, before they launched the attack, the Russian army launched an offensive first.

The German gas bomb offensive was very fierce. In order to ease the pressure on the Western Front, Britain and France strongly requested the Russian army to launch an offensive on the Eastern Front. Nicholas II agreed. As the supreme commander of the Russian army, Grand Duke Nicholas could only launch a new round of offensive before he was fully prepared.

Chapter 587: Perseverance

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich Romanov Nicholas was a relative of the Tsar, or more precisely, the Tsar's uncle. He had different ideas from the Tsar. Nicholas II was determined to join the European family, so he obeyed the British and French. Nicholas believed that Russians were Russians, and no matter how they changed, they would never be accepted by Western Europe.

Nicholas II believed that the Grand Duke was inflexible and could not seize opportunities. He did not know that times had changed and that today's Russia was no longer the Russia of the past. Britain and France would not treat the Russian Empire as they did before.

Grand Duke Nicholas thought that Nicholas II was not like a tsar at all, and he also expressed contempt for the ministers who were close to the tsar. The tsar's close associates fought fiercely with the nobles outside. It was not about who was right or wrong. There were political factors, as well as ethnic and religious issues.

But no matter what, the Tsar's confidants did not like the Grand Duke. Coupled with the succession and other factors, Nicholas II was very dissatisfied with Grand Duke Nicholas's inaction, and issued several orders in succession, ordering the front-line soldiers to take the initiative to attack, preferably to rush into East Prussia like last year.

Grand Duke Nicholas could not withstand the pressure from St. Petersburg and could only bite the bullet and march westward. Then, he was beaten up by the German army led by Ludendorff. Fortunately, the Russian army was defeated but not collapsed. Under the command of Grand Duke Nicholas, they fought and retreated. After a battle, they only lost more than 50,000 people and caused considerable casualties to the German army. From the exchange ratio, the Russian army must have lost money, but the Russian army had more people, and the organization and morale were still there. The task of attracting the attention of the German army to reduce the burden on the Western Front was also completed, so it was not a complete failure.

Moreover, the Russian army defeated the attack of the German-Austrian coalition in Galicia, which saved some face for Russia. But Nicholas II did not think so. He believed that Grand Duke Nicholas did not attack with all his strength, which led to the disastrous defeat of the Russian army. If all the reserve troops were put into battle at the beginning of the attack, they would definitely be able to enter East Prussia again.

The accused Grand Duke Nicholas said angrily: "One-third of our soldiers lack weapons. Those recruits have only been trained for four weeks. Sending them to the battlefield will not do anything except consume the enemy's bullets!"

"There is a shortage of shells at the front. Each cannon receives less than five shells a day!"

Grand Duke Nicholas was not only complaining, but also trying to persuade His Majesty the Tsar to withdraw his troops. "The German offensive on the Western Front has failed. They are likely to shift the focus of operations to the Eastern Front. We need to be prepared to defend Warsaw!"

Warsaw is the capital of Poland, and Poland is now part of the Russian Empire. If the war had reached the point of the Battle of Warsaw, then most of Poland would have been lost. Nicholas II could not tolerate such a thing, "We cannot retreat a single step! Although Russia is vast, not an inch of land is redundant!"

Archduke Nicholas said helplessly: "We can't defeat the German army."

In the eyes of Archduke Nicholas, the German army is more powerful than the People's Army. The tactics of the People's Army are more flexible, but the firepower of the German army is several times that of the People's Army. Although it is inferior in mobility and flexibility, its offensive and defensive capabilities are several times stronger than those of the People's Army eight years ago.

A German light infantry division had 18 105mm howitzers, 54 field guns, a total of 72 cannons. In addition, the German light infantry divisions also had a large number of Maxim machine guns. Before the war, there were 24. After the outbreak of the war, the number of heavy machine guns increased sharply. On the Western Front, the number of Maxim machine guns in some infantry divisions increased to 144. The German light infantry divisions on the Eastern Front did not have so many, but they certainly had fifty or sixty machine guns.

This is just the German light infantry division. Above the infantry division, there are military artillery and independent artillery units. If the Russian army had not been equipped with a lot of mortars to provide some fire support to the infantry, the Russian army would have been defeated long ago. Courage is important in war, but weapons are also important. The Russian army is not short of courage, but they are extremely short of weapons and ammunition.

Britain and France have enough light weapons, and now there are also a lot of cannons, but it is difficult to transport them to Russia. The German Navy controls the Baltic Sea and suppresses the Russian warships in the port. Even if some weapons can be transported to Russia via the Arctic Ocean or from Vladivostok, the poor transportation system of the Tsarist Empire makes it difficult to transport weapons and supplies to the front line.

The corruption of the Russian Empire was all-encompassing. Despite its huge size, less than half of its capabilities were fully utilized.

In addition to having more machine guns and artillery, the German army also had better light weapons than the Russian army, and they were fully supplied, unlike the Russian army which did not even have many shells. The strength of the two sides was so different that it was difficult for the Russian army to defend, and attacking was simply courting death. In the face of the German artillery fire, the Russian army's advantage in hand-to-hand combat could not be brought into play.

Like the Austrian army, the Russian army also had extremely backward and scarce weapons and equipment, so it had to respect officers

If officers and soldiers are unwilling to lead the charge, the Russian army will have little fighting power.

But it was precisely because of this tradition that a large number of the backbones of the army died in battle. In front of machine guns and cannons, officers were no different from ordinary soldiers.