The sun never sets.

"Unless I have enough weapons and equipment, I will never launch a suicidal charge again!" Grand Duke Nicholas said angrily: "The Russians have already shed all their blood!"

"God bless Russia!"

"Where is God? Can he stop the German shells?"

"You........." Tsar Nicholas II said coldly with a gloomy face, "If you are unwilling to attack, then I will replace you with a willing supreme commander!"

"........."

Grand Duke Nicholas and the Tsar parted on bad terms, and he began writing a letter of resignation after returning home. Whoever wants to take the position of Supreme Commander can do it. Perhaps, as Lin said, Tsarist Russia can no longer be reformed, and only iron and fire can give it a new life.

But Major General Kondrachenko urged Grand Duke Nicholas not to resign, "Do you think others can do a better job than you? If you do, you will definitely fail. At least you can save more power for Russia."

Archduke Nicholas hesitated. He stopped writing and looked at the Major General. "But Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty says what he wants, we just do our own thing!"

Russia has never lacked daring and reckless people. Besides, Major General Kondrachenko is now a general of the Grand Duchy of Siberia, not a subject of the Tsar.

Grand Duke Nicholas thought for a while and said, "I need you to go to Warsaw immediately. This time is different from eight years ago. You..."

"I know!" Major General Kondrachenko said generously, "I will hold on to Warsaw and buy time for the army's retreat!"

Chapter 588: Not Just Luck

After the outbreak of the war, the armies of the Allies and the Central Powers fought each other. In just half a year, the army's casualties exceeded one million, and the civilian casualties were even greater. Northeastern France was turned into a wasteland, and a large number of towns and villages in East Prussia, Galicia, and Poland were burned to ashes in the war, causing heavy losses.

The army was fighting bloody battles, and the navy was not idle either. When the World War broke out, the German High Seas Fleet had 16 battleships and 2 large cruisers. In contrast, the strength of the British Royal Navy's Home Fleet included 21 battleships, 3 battlecruisers (another 2 deployed in the Mediterranean and 1 in the Pacific) and 4 large armored cruisers (mobilized to strengthen the Grand Fleet). Many of the battleships on both sides were pre-dreadnoughts.

One of the main goals of the German High Seas Fleet was to strike at the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet until its combat effectiveness could no longer prevent the German fleet from succeeding in its subsequent operations. Akiyama Saneyuki once secretly went to Germany to discuss the strategic issues of the German Navy with Count Tirpitz and other naval admirals, and pointed out that the disadvantaged German Navy must use surprise attacks to weaken the British Royal Navy's home fleet. Count Tirpitz did not adopt Akiyama Saneyuki's opinion, not only because he did not want to do so, but also because he did not have the opportunity.

At first, William II and the Junker officers just wanted to scare France into giving up part of Morocco to Germany. When the situation became tense, Britain and France mobilized, and the High Seas Fleet had no chance to act. The main reason was that they were not stubborn enough. If they were brave enough, they would always find an opportunity. So the German Navy could only act according to the original script.

Long before the outbreak of the war, the Germans had expected that the British Grand Fleet would adopt a strict maritime blockade strategy, which would threaten the German fleet with mine and torpedo attacks at any time. However, the British realized that a strict blockade strategy would not be feasible in terms of time, so they adopted an alternative strategy of long-distance blockade, which could effectively block the outlet of the North Sea and cut off the German maritime trade lines.

The Germans were thus faced with the urgent need to take other measures to weaken the British Grand Fleet. In addition to the more extensive minesweeping and submarine activities, the Germans decided to conduct operations large enough to tie down a portion of the British fleet, which was expected to be suddenly and devastatingly attacked by the German High Seas Fleet lurking in the depths of the ocean. The "bait" for such operations would be the large cruisers of the reconnaissance group.

The German Navy had too little capital and few tactics to use. In another time and space, the High Seas Fleet had used this "fishing" tactic many times.

From August to October 1911, the results of naval warfare were neither good nor bad. The German Navy achieved some results, but one of its cruisers was sunk by the Royal Navy, and more than 8 people were killed or missing. The German Navy did not find the right opportunity and did not engage in a decisive battle with the Royal Navy.

On December 12, the High Seas Fleet was deployed in large numbers, using the "fishing" tactic again, hoping to destroy one or two British fleets. At this time, the German code had been cracked by the British, and the Royal Navy discovered the whereabouts of the High Seas Fleet, but they did not know the true intentions of the German Navy. They thought that the German Navy was preparing to lay mines and attack ports as before. No one expected the High Seas Fleet to be so determined.

Therefore, the Royal Navy only sent out four battleships.

Cruisers, 5 battleships including the Hood, 6 light cruisers, 32 destroyers, and the armored cruisers of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron - Devonshire, Antrim, Argyll and Roxburgh. This huge British surface battle group was specifically designed to intercept the German naval attack formation on its way back.

However, the German ships encountered bad weather soon after departure, which forced many light ships to leave the formation and turn back early on the 16th. Seydlitz, Blücher and Moltke were scheduled to bombard Hartlepool, while the cruisers Derfflinger, Von der Tann and Kolberg were to bombard Scarborough and Whitby.

The British defence of Hartlepool consisted of a battery of 152 mm (6 in) guns, two light cruisers, and some destroyers. The British artillery struck Blücher four times: one shell destroyed the 88 mm gun on the forward superstructure, killing nine men instantly; the second shell hit the starboard 210 mm gun turret, destroying the sight and rangefinder, but the gun was still able to fire; the third shell struck the lower armoured belt; and the fourth shell struck the foremast, damaging the antenna and some other equipment.

The cruiser Seydlitz was hit by three shells, one of which hit the forecastle, one shell penetrated the outer sheath of the front chimney, leaving a large hole of 4 to 5 square meters, and another shell hit the rear superstructure. The shell fragments penetrated the low-pressure turbine room, but fortunately no casualties were caused. The cruiser Moltke was also hit by a shell from British artillery, with slight damage to the front.

Only the first of the four Royal Navy destroyers patrolling the area had a chance to attack the German ships, but the three torpedoes it fired missed its target, and it was damaged and subsequently withdrew from the battle. Neither of the two British cruisers actually participated in the action, with the Patrol accidentally running aground after being hit twice by the cruiser Blücher, and the Advance leaving port only after the Germans began to retreat.

In the bombardment of Hartlepool, the German ships fired a total of about 1150 shells, killing 7 British soldiers and 86 civilians, injuring 14 soldiers and 424 civilians, destroying 300 houses, and severely damaging some industries and other infrastructure. In Scarborough, where there was no effective defense force, the secondary gun fire of the German cruisers caused significant damage to the local area, and the German ships consumed a total of more than 300 150 mm caliber shells and more than 440 88 mm caliber shells.

The cruisers Von der Tann and Derfflinger then headed straight for Whitby and destroyed the British signal station there with artillery fire. The two ships fired a total of 106 150mm shells and 82 88mm shells. After completing the attack on the other side, the German ships immediately headed for their rendezvous point and set off on their return voyage at noon that day.

Meanwhile, that evening, the Royal Navy ships and the German High Seas Fleet finally met. The cruisers "Dreadnought" and "Prince Heinrich" of the High Seas Fleet were the first to come into contact with the British destroyers "Hood" and "United", but there was no exchange of fire. The German Navy had been trying to avoid unplanned engagements with the superior enemy surface forces, which meant that the decision to withdraw the High Seas Fleet should be made at this time, which was unfortunate for the Germans. In fact, at this time, it was only a few minutes' sailing distance from encountering the branch forces of the British Grand Fleet, and once this strategic concept was realized, the enemy would undoubtedly be the victim of the High Seas Fleet.

But luck was not on the German side, and the High Seas Fleet missed the British Royal Navy's squadron. It can't be said that it was bad luck, but more importantly, the German Navy's desire for war was not strong enough, and it did not have the Royal Navy's tradition of "fighting every enemy". The Germans applied the army's combat methods to the navy, which made them lose the opportunity to severely damage the Royal Navy in the early stage.

A month later, when the British learned the true intentions of the High Seas Fleet, they were terrified. If the Germans had been more stubborn, the British might have lost several battleships. British warships generally had higher speeds, so they might have been able to withdraw from the battlefield in time, but they were more likely to fight the High Seas Fleet to the death according to the tradition of "fighting every enemy" and then suffer heavy losses.

Chapter 589: Hunger

The British and German navies fought not only in Europe, but also in the South Pacific and near America. The German fleet in the Pacific fought several battles with the British and gained an advantage at one point, but their fuel was almost exhausted and they had no way to return to Germany. They had no choice but to retreat to Qingdao and hand over the warships to the Chinese government. The squadron commander and naval officers stayed in China until the end of the war.

Compared to the Pacific Squadron, the German Squadron in South America achieved greater results, but their end was even more miserable. The German Navy deployed two armored cruisers and three light cruisers near South America. This squadron sank two British cruisers without any casualties, which was considered a victory.

When the squadron returned to Germany and passed the Falkland Islands, the fleet commander decided to bombard the British port of Stanley.

When they arrived at Stanley Port, they heard that the British Royal Navy fleet had arrived at the port. The commander of the German naval squadron was still considering whether to engage in battle with them, but the British Navy launched an attack first.

The first to launch the attack was an old battleship, a product of the pre-dreadnought era. But such an outdated battleship immediately scared the German navy away. At this time, the Germans had two armored cruisers and could fight the British. But the Germans had their own considerations. They just wanted to take advantage and didn't want to suffer any losses in the battle.

It was this mentality that led to the destruction of the German squadron. Seeing that the German navy retreated without a fight, the British warships added coal to the fire, chased the Germans all the way, and finally buried the entire German squadron in the waves of the sea.

After that, the German Navy fought with the British Royal Navy many times in Europe. Although it also sank some British warships, the losses were also not small. The combat effectiveness between the two countries' navies not only did not get closer, but became even greater.

When the High Seas Fleet was fighting the Royal Navy, it also had to allocate some of its strength to suppress the Russian Navy, which also weakened the combat effectiveness of the German Navy to a certain extent. The Russian Empire's navy was suppressed by Germany and almost dared not leave the port, but after all, it still had dozens of warships. They could not confront the High Seas Fleet head-on, so they used minelaying and shelling ports and coastal cities to disrupt the Germans.

The German Navy had an absolute advantage over the Russian Navy and controlled the Baltic Sea, but the High Seas Fleet was always suppressed by the Royal Navy and achieved very few results. Instead, it was the German raiders and submarine forces that caused more trouble for the British. At the beginning of the war, Germany had only 20 submarines, but they achieved extremely remarkable results. Even the powerful British Navy was unable to deal with these hidden killers. In the early stages of the war, due to diplomatic pressure and the laws of war, U-boat operations were restricted in various ways, but after the High Seas Fleet had no hope of winning, submarines had become the only powerful weapon of the German Navy.

Unable to defeat the Royal Navy head-on, the Germans had to think of other ways.

After Germany started to build submarines, China sold the blueprints of large submarines and technologies such as the "powerful Type 93 oxygen torpedo" to the Germans, charging them several million marks. In fact, China did not receive a penny, as it was deducted from the loan owed to Germany.

The German government readily agreed to the deal because the "machine gun fire coordinator" was so useful. After German aircraft were equipped with this thing, they simply beat the Allied air forces. German Zeppelin airships could drop bombs on the Allied positions without restraint, but the German army was unable to break the stalemate on the Western Front because the Allies also began to use poison gas bombs on a large scale.

You can't say that the German army can use poison gas bombs, but the British and French forces can't, right?

Under the attack of poison gas bombs, the German army suffered heavy casualties and had to urgently produce a lot of gas masks. Britain and France had some bottom line at the beginning, but after the Germans did not follow the moral code of war, Britain and France completely let themselves go, thinking about how to kill the Germans more effectively all day long. Gentlemanly manners had been used up by Christmas last year, and all that was left was beast-like killing.

The good times of the Germans dominating the skies only lasted for three months. After discovering that German aircraft had evolved, Britain and France also tried to find a solution. They bought a large number of fighter planes from China, brought them back by ship, and fought desperately with the Germans in the air, even shooting parachuting pilots into a honeycomb.

Britain and France not only bought the aircraft, but also the production license and technical data. They didn't want to buy the production license. The "machine gun firing coordinator" was not a high-tech thing. It was just that the technology tree didn't point to that. As long as they dismantled a few aircraft and reverse-engineered them, they could quickly copy it. But they had to buy it. If the Allies were unwilling to buy the production license, they wouldn't even get the finished product.

Lin Yongchang didn't ask for much, just 10 million pounds.

After the war lasted for a year, China and Japan had paid off all their debts to Britain and France. The Allies could only use hard currency to purchase materials and technical data. Britain wanted to pay with pounds, and France wanted to pay with francs, but both were rejected. The pound and franc are now depreciating very quickly, and they will continue to shrink if you hold them in your hands. It is better to use hard currency. Gold and silver are natural currencies.

The British government protested, but the protest was ineffective and they had to use real money to buy supplies. The US government did the same as the Chinese government and did not accept pounds and francs. If they wanted to continue buying supplies from the United States, they had to use hard currency.

The gentlemen in Downing Street were very angry about the Americans and Chinese taking advantage of the situation, but they had to compromise under the current circumstances, which made people even more depressed. Many people wrote down today's humiliation in their little notebooks, ready to teach these two rogue countries, China and the United States, a lesson in the future.

China sold a lot of new military technology to the warring parties. When the Japanese government learned about it, it cited the East Asia Mutual Defense Treaty and hoped that China would transfer the technology to Japan for free. The People's Government transferred part of it, but did not transfer the rest, because Japan did not have enough industrial strength and it would be useless to get the technology. It would be better to buy the finished product directly from China. It was guaranteed to be good quality and low price, and at most add 50% to the cost.

Hearing that the Chinese government had sold the same technology to the Allies, the French government was furious and thought that the Chinese were too dishonest. How could they do that? Tang Shaoyi claimed that

Everything is a business activity, and the Chinese government has not violated any agreement, which once again satirizes Germany.

Kaiser Wilhelm II saw that China was trying to have it both ways. But even if he knew it, he had no good solution. Germany was already starving. Although the newspapers kept claiming that the German army was moving from one victory to another, the food on the table had actually decreased. In the past, Germans could eat butter, but now they only had margarine.

Many Germans were worried that if things continued like this, they might not even have margarine to eat. They guessed right, and the Germans would spend the winter of that year in cold and hunger.

Chapter 590 Disaster

However, it was still a long way from winter, and after the Germans got the "machine gun fire coordinator", they launched a larger-scale offensive on the Western Front. Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn had always insisted on the strategy of "defending the east and attacking the west". The "Schlieffen Plan" had failed, and he believed that focusing on the Western Front was the right choice.

However, he messed up again. The poison gas bombs had a certain effect, but they did not have a decisive effect. The battlefield on the Western Front was in a stalemate, and both sides consumed their own forces in trench warfare. For the Germans, the consumption of time was the most fatal, so the German High Command decided to make Russia the main target of attack this year, defeat it and end the battle on the Eastern Front.

Prior to this, Germany had used a loan of 100 million marks in exchange for the Ottoman Turks' participation in the war. The Turks had a feud with the Russian Empire for hundreds of years and had always regarded the Russians in the north as their mortal enemies. Britain looked down on the Turks, the "sick man of West Asia", but Kaiser Wilhelm II claimed that Germany was a friend of Turkey. In order to win over the Turks, Wilhelm II even sent a marble coffin to Saladin, the hero of the Arab world 700 years ago.

Seven hundred years ago, Islam represented advancement and civilization, while the Christian world represented barbarism and brutality. After conquering Constantinople, the Crusaders killed all the Muslims in the city, leaving no old people, women or babies behind. Europeans claimed that killing Muslims was to please God. It was unknown whether God was happy or not, but the Crusaders were very happy, and they all made a fortune.

A few decades later, after Saladin recaptured Istanbul, which is now Constantinople, he did not launch a bloody revenge, but allowed Christians to return to Europe. In the Islamic world, Saladin has a lofty status, comparable to the Prophet Muhammad.

The enticement of German Emperor Wilhelm II worked, and the loan of 100 million marks was also a huge bargaining chip. The Turks decided to take revenge on the Russians without much hesitation.

The Turkish army was more backward than the Russian army and had always been at a disadvantage on the Caucasus battlefield, but they tied up a considerable number of Russian troops and consumed a large amount of Russian manpower and materials, which was enough.

Ludendorff was the commander-in-chief of the German army on the Eastern Front. He led the staff to formulate a bold and fierce offensive plan. On the Eastern Front, the German-Austrian coalition had less than 110 million troops, while the total strength of the Russian army exceeded 130 million. In terms of manpower, the German-Austrian coalition was at a disadvantage. Although the German army's technical and tactical level and weapons and equipment were much better than those of the Russian army, the Austrian army's combat was not as good as that of the Russian army. In this way, the combat effectiveness of the German-Austrian coalition and the Russian army should not be much different.

However, Ludendorff used tactics to make up for the lack of manpower, and gave full play to the power of new aircraft, poison gas bombs, machine guns and cannons, crushed the resistance of the Russian army in front of him, and adopted large-scale and wide-ranging penetration. The Germans' actions caused great panic in the Russian army. Although Grand Duke Nicholas tried his best to save the situation, he was ultimately powerless. With the entire army group surrounded, he could only make a heroic move and throw 200,000 troops to the German army. While the German army was annihilating the rear troops, Grand Duke Nicholas kept withdrawing the main force, trying to use space to buy time.

During the retreat, the Russian army suffered continuous attacks and suffered heavy losses. Fortunately, the city of Warsaw blocked the German pursuit, and Grand Duke Nicholas was able to withdraw half of his army. However, the Russian army lost a large number of artillery, vehicles and livestock, and there was little food left. The entire army lacked food, morale was low, and the army was scattered. It would take several months for them to recover their combat effectiveness.

After the Industrial Revolution, Russian Poland developed rapidly. Warsaw became an important metallurgical center, with a population of 1910 in 87, surpassing Kiev to become the third largest city in the empire. Lodz became an important textile center, continuously transporting large amounts of cloth to the East, and the Poles even called it "Manchester of Poland".

But this region could not provide the Russian army with food and munitions. Poor agricultural management and radical reforms of the serfdom system made agricultural problems increasingly serious. Even in the area north of Polesie, the residents themselves did not have enough food to eat, which forced the Russian army to rely on supplies from the rear for food supplies. After the outbreak of the war, the Russian railways were overwhelmed by the transportation of manpower and weapons and equipment, and the long-term war of attrition even caused the Russian army to face food shortages.

Major General Kondrachenko was ordered to garrison Warsaw. He tried every possible way to strengthen the defense here. First, he dug three trenches outside the city, set up machine gun forts and artillery positions, and built many offensive positions inside Warsaw. But the most important thing was that he found a way to transport a lot of food from the rear.

Nun

Many of the people that Grand Duke Gulas brought from the Far East were placed in the logistics system, so Major General Kondrachenko was able to get a large amount of food. But this also caused a lot of dissatisfaction for him and Grand Duke Nicholas. If you live by the mountain, you can eat by the mountain; if you live by the sea, you can eat by the sea. I don't know how many people are involved in the logistics.

Because they had stored a lot of food in advance, the retreating Russian army was able to avoid starvation and their morale was slightly restored. However, the German army followed closely and the Russian army had to continue to retreat to the east, leaving Warsaw in a heavy siege.

Major General Kondrachenko had been prepared for being surrounded. He only had one army, but if all the men in the city were incorporated into the army, there would be 200,000 people. Originally, there were not so many. After the German army came, too many people fled into the city. The Russian army burned, killed and looted in East Prussia and Galicia, and the German army came and attacked at night and did the same thing again. Relatively speaking, the German army was not as brutal as the Russian army, but the good ones were limited.

Before leading his army out of Warsaw, Grand Duke Nicholas gave Major General Kondrachenko the same order he had given eight years ago: "Hold on for at least ten days. When you can no longer hold on, you can surrender to the Germans."

The German offensive in Poland was a brilliant success, with more than 300,000 Russian troops killed or captured. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire performed very poorly in the war to retake Galicia. The Russian army was beaten by the Germans without any chance to fight back, but when facing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the situation was reversed.

However, defeating the Austrian army did not mean that the Russian army held Galicia. While the German army besieged Warsaw, it sent troops to cooperate with the Austrian army. After a series of battles, the Russian army was driven out of Galicia.

Because of the disastrous defeat in Poland, Grand Duke Nicholas was relieved of his post as the supreme commander of the Russian army. Tsar Nicholas II took back the military power and announced that he would lead the army in person, but this brought even greater disaster to the Russian army.

Chapter 591: A Magnificent Victory

Major General Kondrachenko - or rather Lieutenant General Kondrachenko, as Grand Duke Nicholas temporarily promoted him to Lieutenant General - was like a nail firmly nailed to Warsaw, blocking the German army's further advance to the east.

The defense line outside the city bought him four days to evacuate some civilians to the rear. When the German army arrived in large numbers, Kondrachenko had to shrink his army into the trenches. The Russian army's combat effectiveness was not as good as the German army. Although he had a large number of troops, most of them were militiamen who had only been trained for a few weeks and lacked weapons. There was only one gun for every three people. There were few artillery pieces, but a lot of shells. These shells were intended to be transported to the front line, but the front line collapsed too quickly, so there were only a few cannons, but a lot of shells.

Warsaw is an important city and transportation hub in Russia. The German army must capture it before it can continue to move eastward. It is not impossible to go around it, but there will be great hidden dangers. So let's fight. The German army has just annihilated 200,000 or 300,000 Russian troops. It is in high spirits and does not take the enemy in front of it seriously.

But after the battle, the German army found that they were facing a tough nut to crack. The German army's combat effectiveness was much stronger than the Russian army, but that was based on several times stronger firepower and stronger organization. The more troops the German army had, the stronger its combat effectiveness was. When the two armies fought in the trenches in company units, the German army still had some advantages, but the advantages were not so obvious.

After entering the hand-to-hand combat stage, the casualty ratio between the German and Russian armies was about 1:1.2. The German army was well-trained and could only fight a rough battle with the Russian army in the trenches.

Because the pursuit was too fast, the German heavy artillery was left behind. During the retreat, Archduke Nicholas blew up the railways and roads in western Poland. Not to mention the heavy artillery, even the 105mm howitzer was not so easy to transport.

The German infantry divisions were equipped with a large number of horses and other livestock, and there were several officers and military doctors who were responsible for livestock. With so many horses, the German army could maneuver quickly after leaving the railway line.

Theoretically, the German light infantry division could fight within a hundred miles of the railway line. However, the German army advanced more than a hundred miles. Horses and other livestock were also lost in the continuous fighting. All these reasons combined caused great problems in the supply of the German army, and both its offensive and defensive capabilities were greatly weakened.

It doesn't matter that the defense has been weakened. The Russian army has lost its organization and morale. Even if there are some small-scale counterattacks, they are mostly insignificant and can only play a harassing role. But the offensive power has also been weakened, which is fatal.

Ludendorff wanted to conquer all of Poland in one go, and he was very dissatisfied with the counterattack he launched after preparing for several months, only to annihilate 300,000 Russian troops. Hearing that the German army was blocked outside Warsaw, he became even more dissatisfied.

The Eastern Front commander ignored his subordinates' dissuasion and drove to the outskirts of Warsaw in person, using a telescope to observe the sawtooth-like trenches outside the city. After just a few glances, he had a familiar feeling.

"Who is the defender of Warsaw?"

Ludendorff was the commander-in-chief on the Eastern Front and was concerned with more than one battlefield.

"It's Lieutenant General Kondrachenko. He was in Siberia before..."

"I know him," Ludendorff laughed. "Kondrachenko is now a lieutenant general? What a pity! With his ability, he can only be a lieutenant general.

The admiral is also enough."

Ten years ago, he had fought Kondrachenko in the Far East. The last battle between China and Russia was in Shenyang, and Kondrachenko was the defending general at that time. At that time, Ludendorff stood outside Shenyang and looked at the Russian defense line with the People's Army. Ten years later, Ludendorff stood opposite Kondrachenko again.

At this moment, just as at that moment.

Ludendorff observed for a while, then gave the order, "Pause the attack and wait until the artillery arrives."

"But.........."

"No buts. There are few generals like Kondrachenko in the Russian army. He will not be defeated easily. Don't worry about the enemy in the east. Let's take Warsaw first."

After more than a month of fighting, the number of German troops on the Eastern Front increased to 120 million, but the number of Russian troops also increased. After losing more than troops and with troops trapped in Warsaw, the number of Russian troops on the Eastern Front exceeded million.

Although the Russian army's equipment was poor, it was a 1.5 million strong army after all, and it was not easy to defeat it. Even if it was defeated, so what? The Russian army could keep retreating. The further east they went, the more Russian troops there would be, and the longer the German supply lines would be.

When they reached Warsaw, the German army had already run into supply problems. Ludendorff suspected that Archduke Nicholas wanted to learn from Kutuzov, but he was not Napoleon and would not rush in recklessly. The German army was more powerful and could win as long as they took steady steps and pushed forward.

The German army planned to drag heavy artillery over to destroy Warsaw's defenses, but what Ludendorff did not expect was that the main force of the Russian army actually launched a counterattack. After Nicholas II personally led the army, he quickly launched a counterattack. The Russian army's counterattack caught the German army off guard and achieved some results.

However, this was useless. Ludendorff was worried that the supply lines were too long, causing the army to be stuck in the quagmire of war. Now the Russian army took the initiative to attack, which was exactly what he wanted. The German army first retreated, and then set up a pocket formation, making the 230,000 Russian troops into a big dumpling.

The Russian troops in Warsaw launched an attack with the help of reinforcements, hoping to attack the center. Kondrachenko sent out all his elite troops and defeated two German infantry divisions, which was a good result. However, the Russian army consumed too much ammunition in the battle, and was defeated by the German army in the following battle.

Kondrachenko lost more than 20,000 people and fled back to Warsaw in a panic.

The counterattack launched by Tsar Nicholas II in a hurry caused a great disaster. The 10,000 and 500,000 troops were only on paper. Tsarist Russia not only lacked cannons and shells, but also rifles and bullets. The Russian army could still fight in the trenches, but the offensive process was full of chaos. Nicholas II personally led the army to boost the morale of the Russian army, but after the loss of Grand Duke Nicholas, the orders issued by the Supreme Command were chaotic, and the troops below were often at a loss.

Ludendorff once again won a magnificent victory. The German army chased the Tsar northward and almost captured him alive. Almost means that he didn't capture him, which made Ludendorff very disappointed. If Nicholas II could be captured, maybe the war on the Eastern Front could be ended.

Now, we can only deal with the city of Warsaw first.

Ludendorff did not plan to attack St. Petersburg this year. What he had to do now was not to occupy some territory, but to repair Poland’s collapsed transportation system so that he could get a steady supply of supplies and ensure the combat effectiveness of his troops.

Chapter 592: Hungry