However, even if the Allies invested these two under-manned armies in Ukraine, they could not change their situation there. Compared with their enemies' huge numerical advantage, these less than 300,000 people were insignificant. Ukraine's On the open plains, five million gray animals were like a flood that burst a dam, overwhelming any obstacles in front of them. In just half a month, except for the main German army, they were still able to temporarily hold the northwest of Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia. Outside Tovia's defense line, including the latest addition, a total of nine Austro-Hungarian armies have been driven out of Ukraine by the Russians and driven back to Galicia.
Moreover, this defeat greatly affected the already low morale of the Slavic soldiers. A large number of people even surrendered to the Russians on the battlefield, which made it even worse. Judging from the current war situation, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not be able to rebuild again. After fighting back to Ukraine, it will be difficult for them to hold even Galicia. The final result may be that they will have to retreat into the Carpathian Mountains. In this way, the German troops still stranded in northwest Ukraine will have to face flanking threats.
As for Marshal Goltz on the southern front, this cunning guy suffered the least losses in this great defeat. After Zhitomir was broken through, he immediately realized that the situation in Ukraine was irreversible. Dro who originally besieged Odessa The coalition forces withdrew across the Dniester River as quickly as possible and, with the help of the Romanians in Bessarabia, quickly reestablished their defense lines.
In order to prevent the Russian army from seizing Galicia again, Archduke Ferdinand, Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Army, and Baron Herzendorf, Chief of General Staff, no longer cared about Italy at this time, and then withdrew the Eleventh Army there. Reinforcement of Galicia reduced the total strength of the Allies on the Italian battlefield to four armies. In addition, in addition to the two Greek armies and the Montenegrin Army, the remaining German Sixteenth Army and the Austro-Hungarian Tenth Army were both understaffed, with four The total strength of the army group was less than one million, and their opponents were a full two million Italian troops and almost 700,000 British troops.
Under such circumstances, even idiots will inevitably become more motivated. After all, their country is occupied by the enemy. This is an unacceptable thing, both in terms of reputation and actual interests. There is a raging war in Italy. Amid criticism, and of course mainly with the full support of the British, the Italians finally broke out of the Apennines.
Then it was their turn to enjoy the joy of victory. With the three British armies as the forwards, the Italians attacked in three directions, one heading north from Genoa, one way out of Parma, and the other heading north from Florence to attack Bologna. The first two The goal of the first route is to recapture Milan, which is currently defended by the German Sixteenth Army. The goal of the second route is to recapture Bologna and then continue north to regain Venice.
General Francois, the commander of the German Sixteenth Army in Milan, wisely abandoned the city. He knew very well that Italy was a battlefield that was ready to be abandoned. In this case, there was no need to waste precious troops defending such a relatively isolated area. city, retreating eastward and placing the battlefield in the mountains on the right and the sea on the left. The relatively narrow Venetian region is the best choice under the current situation where the gap in military strength is too large. However, before retreating, this guy destroyed all the factories in Milan. They were all piled up and bombed into rubble, and even some machines were loaded onto trains and shipped to Austria. Italy's largest industrial center was almost turned into a white field.
While he was retreating, General Borojevich, commander of the Tenth Austro-Hungarian Army, also ignored Herzendorf's order to hold on to Bologna. The city also had no meaning in holding on, and the Greeks on his flanks could not
It is possible to block the British army on the coastal plain. Once the flank is breached, it will be difficult for him to leave. Like Francois, these two young group army commanders who climbed up with their military exploits in the war chose the real line of defense on the opposite side.
In the narrow Venetian region, the Austro-Hungarian Tenth Army retreated directly to the north bank of the Po River after destroying Bologna more thoroughly than Milan. Even the railways were demolished as they went.
Immediately afterwards, the Greek and Montenegrin armies were also defeated under the attack of the British army. However, these two miscellaneous fishes still performed very well, especially the Montenegrin mountain people who defeated the British in the early mountain battles.
Frightened by the news, with such a good teammate, the Greeks did not suffer much losses. In this way, the four Allied armies relied on the Po River to protect their flanks by relying on the Adriatic Sea and the Alps, establishing a new and stronger line of defense.
, the shrinking of the defense line brought about an increase in defense density, and then the British army and Yidai began to have a bloody encounter.
However, the stability of the Italian war situation did not mean much to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They still failed to defend Galicia. Fortunately, Marshal Goltz gave them a hand at this time, because it was not the main direction of the Russian army's attack, and Pisa was also included.
With the full support of the Romanians in the Labia area, he defended the Transnistria defense line relatively calmly, and even mobilized a German army group to attack the Russian army on the Galician battlefield from the flank. At this time, the German army on the northern front was in Poland.
The border gradually stabilized and began to pose a threat to the Russian army from the north.
Of course, the main reason was that the continuous attacks exhausted the gray animals, so that the Austro-Hungarian army once again defended the crucial Przemyshl, but the main force was still driven to the Carpathian Mountains.
But just as the eastern front gradually stabilized, the Germans on the western front encountered a real crisis. Under the British's crazy attack at any cost, the German Second Army, which was seriously attrited and could not be replenished, finally failed to
To defend Saint-Quentin, the British used a total of 300,000 casualties, almost five times that of the Germans. They just relied on the spirit of going forward and succeeding to open a fatal gap in the French front that had been in a stalemate for almost four years.
This gap was simply disastrous for the German army on the French battlefield, because in this way the British army was equivalent to cutting off the transportation line from Belgium to France. Before that, the French re-captured the salient at Verdun.
, has cut off the direct transportation line from Germany to France.
This also meant that the German 3rd, 4th, and 5th armies south of Saint-Quentin were separated. After understanding this, William and Schlieffen almost went crazy.
They did not hesitate to order all three armies to retreat to the French-German border, abandon the territory in northern France that they had occupied for almost four years, and concentrate all their forces to attack the Verdun salient, plus the Sixth Army that originally attacked here.
, the 15th and 2nd armies withdrew from the Netherlands. The German army, which had never had a strength advantage under the attack from the left and right, actually used a sea of people to overwhelm the French's tenacious blockade and re-open the transportation line.
But the price paid was also heavy. Under the attack of the following British and French troops, the German army not only lost almost all the French territory captured after the war, but also lost more than 150,000 people. Of course, more importantly, they were forced to France and France.
On the border between Germany and Belgium, any breakthrough by the Allied Powers would mean that the war would reach German soil.
The sudden reversal of the war situation in Europe made all the gamblers waiting to place their bets widen their eyes. It was obvious that it was time to place bets. Of course, there were not many spectators outside the battlefield at this time.
In Europe, there are only the three Nordic countries, Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria who is paralyzed in bed. In Asia, there are only China, Persia, and Japan, which can be completely ignored. The other largest countries are the American countries, especially the most powerful ones.
Qualified U.S.A.
But the United States is in trouble, because a terrorist attack that just happened in Alabama a few days ago suddenly broke down the reconciliation negotiations between the U.S. government and the Republic of Alabama. They were unable to reach a reconciliation, which meant that the Caribbean Alliance
The blockade will not be lifted, and the ports are blocked. How can Americans participate in the war? Besides, President Bryan is firmly opposed to any war. This president who enjoys pastoral life wholeheartedly is leading the American people to forget the worldly disputes and revel in the green mountains and green waters.
between.
This leaves only South America.
However, at this time, the Allied Group gained a victory in South America. The Argentine fleet that had completed repairs rushed out of Port of Spain. The British and Russian fleets had to attack again. As a result, this time the Argentines would not make such stupid mistakes, although they lost a
After the battleship, its strength was greatly reduced, but fortunately, the British and Russian fleets also lost more than half. The Rivadavia showed great power in the second naval battle south of Grenada, sinking one British and Russian battleship one after another, and they
The cruisers and destroyers also sank a British heavy cruiser, a light cruiser and four destroyers in the naval battle. It can be said that they won a complete victory and drove the British and Russian fleets directly back to Kingston and did not dare to go to sea again.
This actually means that the logistical supplies of hundreds of thousands of British-Russian coalition forces in Colombia are cut off.
Although there are not many real British troops in this army, and most of them are Russian troops, Canadian troops, and even Japanese mercenaries, the British cannot just sit back and watch them be destroyed by the Colombians.
Bringing Brazil or Chile or both into the battlefield becomes the only option.
Brazil has not agreed yet. After all, they do not like the Russians to infect the Colombian people again, and if they join the war at this time, they will offend all the surrounding South American countries. After all, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador are all supporting the Colombians and keep shouting
It is very disgraceful for Brazilians to stab a family of South American brothers in the back, and even if the Allied Powers win the war, Brazil will gain nothing.
But compared with Brazil's hesitation, the Chileans readily agreed to the British invitation. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!