Throughout June, no major battle broke out. Ludendorff finally transferred the German troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. The German troops on the Western Front reached an unprecedented 215 divisions, with a total strength of nearly 4.01 million people.
Even so, if calculated only in terms of military strength, the Allies are not at a disadvantage. At the end of June, the French army on the Western Front already had 130 divisions with a strength of nearly 2.2 million. The British Expeditionary Force also reached an unprecedented 115 divisions with a strength of more than 2 million.
, even the U.S. military has a strength of 500,000, and its total strength still exceeds that of the German army.
Of course, the number of troops does not represent combat effectiveness. There are serious coordination problems among the Allied forces. If this problem is not solved, they will still be unable to compete with the smaller German troops.
At the end of June, Roque proposed the establishment of a coalition command to unify the coordination issues among the coalition forces, form a more effective synergy, and try to end the war as early as 1916.
This proposal was supported by Pétain and Pershing, but the issue of selecting the commander-in-chief of the coalition could not be resolved.
The British Empire wanted Roque to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, and the French government wanted Pétain to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces. Although the United States certainly could not get involved in this position, it demanded relatively independent command authority.
If the US military retained independent command authority, it would lose the meaning of establishing a coalition command, so Roque's proposal was stillborn.
On July 10, the Air Force's reconnaissance showed that the German army began to hoard a large amount of military supplies on the front line. There was also intelligence on the domestic front that the German army might launch an attack of unprecedented scale in the near future.
Roque informed Petain and Pershing of the situation and asked them to pay great attention to it. The Allies hoped to end the war within 1916, and the Allies thought so too.
The battle on the Western Front has not yet broken out, but the battle for Constantinople has already begun.
Some of the Russian Eighth Army stationed on the Garibaldi Peninsula were part of the Tsar's troops. During the period when the Provisional Government was established, the Tsar was under house arrest at a farm outside St. Petersburg. Finally, the Tsar's troops could endure it.
After the new government was established, the Tsar's family was secretly executed, and the generals loyal to the Tsar in the army were also purged. It was against this background that Alexander fled to Dingyuan Fort.
After the Dingyuan Fort defenders refused to hand over Dingyuan Fort to the new government forces, the new government forces did not launch an attack on Dingyuan Fort. However, a force of about 2,000 people moved to a location less than five kilometers away from Dingyuan Fort.
, to monitor the Dingyuanbao troops.
Ruiz wanted to send Alexander to Cyprus, but Alexander did not agree. After spending more than ten days in Dingyuan Castle, Alexander took the initiative to find Ruiz, hoping that Ruiz could secretly send him back to Constantinople.
Dinburg.
"There are still troops in Constantinople who are loyal to the royal family. When the Provisional Government was established, we still had illusions about the Provisional Government. Even if the Provisional Government ended the Romanov dynasty, at least they would not harm the Tsar's father——
The new government broke through our bottom line and secretly executed the emperor's family in the basement. The generals in the army who were loyal to the czar's father were also purged. But I believe this is not the final result. Give me a chance. Maybe I can do something else.
If I die in battle, I will die on the battlefield instead of cowardly dying in a hospital bed." Alexander had already made his decision. For the first time in more than ten days, he appeared neatly dressed at Ruiz and Wilson.
In front of him, he even shaved off his beard.
For Russians, beard is almost a kind of belief. When Alexander shaved off his beard, it had almost the same meaning as shaving off his will.
"I have to remind you that if you go to Cyprus, then at least you can save your life. If you go to Constantinople, you will escape death." Ruiz wants to enter the obligation, listen or not in Alexandria.
"I have thought clearly. If I die in battle, I will not blame anyone. You will always be my best friends. Even if I am in hell, I will pray for you." Alexander's expression was calm. He was still wearing
His chef uniform has the flag of the Russian Empire on it.
"Okay, tonight, you go with the supply ship. When the supply ship arrives in Constantinople, let the supply ship put you down - I'm sorry Alexander, I can't send anyone to go with you. This time it all depends on
Yourself." Ruiz would not let his men take risks. Even if Alexander died in battle, he would seek mercy and get mercy.
When Alexander boarded the ship, he only brought a Ruger pistol made in southern Africa.
This will not cause trouble for Dingyuan Fort. Luger pistols sell very well in Europe. Even if the Constantinople garrison seized this pistol, they would not be able to use this pistol to prove that Dingyuan Fort provided Alexander with supplies.
Too helpful.
The situation in Constantinople now is indeed very bad.
Although the Chinese Expeditionary Force has not yet declared war on the defenders of Constantinople, it has cut off its supply to Constantinople. Russia is now in chaos and cannot take care of the defenders of Constantinople.
The farms around Constantinople had been completely destroyed during the war. The Russian army never tried to restore the economy around Constantinople. As a result, by mid-June, the Constantinople defenders had eaten all the rats in the city.
Yes, hundreds of people flee with weapons every day.
Not far from Constantinople is the defense area of the Kingdom of Italy. As long as the defenders of Constantinople arrive at the defense area of the Kingdom of Italy with weapons, they can receive protection from the Kingdom of Italy.
Ruiz and Wilson didn't know how Alexander got in touch with the troops loyal to the Tsar. Gunfire rang out in Constantinople all night. After dawn, the defenders of Constantinople surrendered to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.
About one Russian soldier lowered his weapon.
Before the new government was established, Constantinople had approximately 60,000 garrison troops.
Just when the Constantinople garrison surrendered to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, there were still about 80,000 Russian garrison troops on the Garibaldi Peninsula. These garrison forces were also in extreme difficulties. After the Constantinople garrison surrendered,
Within half a month, the defenders of the Garibaldi Peninsula surrendered one after another, and the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force took back all the Garibaldi Peninsula, including Constantinople, without firing a shot.
After the surrender of the Constantinople garrison, the Northern Rhodesian Division, which had just been transferred to Cyprus, immediately headed to the Bulgarian border to prepare for a possible Bulgarian attack.
This was the first time that the Northern Rhodesian Division appeared in Europe. The Bulgarians did not even recognize the flag of the Northern Rhodesian Division.
The flag of the Northern Rhodesian Division is a heavily armed South African Mastiff.
"It's strange, what kind of army would draw a dog on the military flag?" In Oltenica on the Bulgarian border, several Bulgarian soldiers were sitting on sandbags beside the trench and chatting.
Oltenica is located on the Danube River. Before the Danube River was the dividing line between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. After the demise of the Ottoman Empire, both the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Russian Empire were somewhat wary of each other. Large-scale wars never broke out, so the Kingdom of Bulgaria guarded the Danube River defense line.
The soldiers were so relaxed that they nicknamed the job "vacation" to show their disdain for the Russians.
"South African Mastiff - it must be from the army in southern Africa. To the British Empire, isn't southern Africa just a dog?" The knowledgeable soldier immediately learned the truth.
"Isn't the area across the river controlled by the Russian Empire? Why was it replaced by southern African troops for defense?" Someone immediately asked this question -
Well, it’s worth investigating!
Before the knowledgeable soldier could speak, his whole head suddenly exploded like a watermelon hit by a bullet, and then there was the sound of sharp gunfire.
Boom!
The tranquility on the banks of the Danube was broken.
It took a long time before any of the soldiers reacted.
"Enemy attack——" The heart-rending voice just sounded, and then it suddenly stopped as if someone was choking on the neck.
Boom!
Boom boom boom!
More gunshots rang out, and none of the soldiers escaped. They were all shot to death beside the trench. The body closest to the trench was only about one meter away. It only took one step to jump into the trench. However, this meter was a chasm between life and death.
Subsequently, countless soldiers in iron-gray uniforms jumped out of the jungle. They crossed the Danube River in less than five minutes on simple rafts made of wood.
The defenders of Ortenica tried to resist, but this was a combat method they had never experienced. A company of about 150 men tried to support the front line, but was attacked by Rhodes while passing through a forest.
In the attack by the Northern Division of West Asia, the officers and machine gunners were targeted and eliminated by precision shooters at the first time. The infantry was attacked by a combination of light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers before they could get into formation. All 150 troops were killed within ten minutes.
, they did not even have time to launch an effective attack on the Northern Rhodesian Division in the woods.
At this time, Ortenica was still a small town. Some Bulgarian defenders tried to rely on the buildings in Ortenica to resist, but they were bombarded by aerial bombs and artillery shells. Close ground support aircraft of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force used
After incendiary bombs were fired, Oltenica turned into a sea of flames, and the defenders in the town panicked. When they tried to escape, they were pursued by armored vehicles and tanks of the Northern Rhodesian Division.
On June 25, the Northern Rhodesian Division launched an attack on the Kingdom of Bulgaria. In just two hours, the Northern Rhodesian Division captured Oltenica. About 3,000 Bulgarian defenders were killed, and 6,500
The troops surrendered, and the Northern Rhodesian Division lost less than 300 troops.
Next, the Northern Rhodesian Division continued to advance towards Bucharest. Oltenica was still less than fifty kilometers away from Bucharest. The Kingdom of Bulgaria urgently mobilized four divisions and was able to barely withstand the attack of the Northern Rhodesian Division.
At the same time that the Northern Rhodesian Division was attacking Ortenica, the 1st Cavalry Division also broke through the defense line of the Kingdom of Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast, and its troops were directed at the Falkenhayn Corps entrenched in the Kingdom of Romania.