The capture of Saraj meant that the main land supply of the Russian army was cut off, and the supplies blocked in the middle of the road could only be turned to a small road next to the coastline, which was fully guaranteed under the near-shore cover provided by the battle queen of the Black Sea Fleet, but the capacity was worrying.

The Russian army could rely on sea transportation to allow cargo ships to cross the Black Sea to deliver supplies to the front line, but the British Navy imposed a blockade in the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles, prohibiting all cargo ships from entering the Black Sea, and the Russians could only mobilize cargo ships already in the Black Sea for transportation, and these cargo ships were also attacked by Turkey's few submarines.

Although the development of military technology and theory in this time and space is slower than that of another time and space, the generals have long understood one thing from the last war: in modern warfare, the large armies on the front line are behemoths that devour supplies, and even a medium-sized front army with only a dozen or two hundred thousand people will consume thousands of tons of supplies every day - hundreds or thousands of tons of food alone, in addition to ammunition, rations, weapon consumables, fuel, and so on.

The seaside path alone will not work with this huge supply - Turkey's coastline on the Black Sea is a damn mountainous area, and the remaining so-called seaside path of the Russian army is actually a winding mountain road that stretches through the mountains, far less clean than the main road that runs straight to Istanbul on the west side of the mountain.

Therefore, the Russian army, unable to mobilize more transport ships, must organize an offensive to recapture Saraj.

On the D4th, the Russian army organized a counterattack, but this hasty counterattack was easily broken up in front of the international column supported by the British army's battle queen, and the Russian troops who participated in the counterattack suffered heavy losses, and the scattered troops ran out of several kilometers in one go before regrouping.

The Russian army and the British army who participated in the attack looked at each other, and after a round of very restrained firing at each other, the Russian army retreated.

It seems that Russia is indeed not ready to fight openly with Britain.

Shaposhnikov began to bring in heavy artillery from the Istanbul front and corps ready to fight for the next wave of attacks on Istanbul in preparation for the recapture of Saraj, while Iron Ji ordered the formation of the Western Turkish Front west of Saraj with Russian units that were originally intended to be replenished to the front line, vowing to wipe out the international column west of the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish military force.

Erelisi's International Column Command estimates that this movement and reorganization will give the International Column and the Turkish army at least a week's respite.

In any case, it is no longer possible for the Russian army to occupy Istanbul within this year, and the war will definitely drag on until 1936.

**

Viola looked at the British envoy across the table quietly, and the other party's mouthful appearance made Viola a little sleepy.

Since the German occupation of Saraj in Turkey and the cutting off of Russian supply lines, Britain has changed its attitude and become more concerned about the situation around Istanbul. British newspapers and broadcasts have changed their previous rhetoric of defending the Dardanelles to the death, and have begun to talk about how to expel Russian troops from the perimeter of Istanbul.

No sooner had the London envoy arrived in Berlin than he was on his way from the airport to the city and began to ask Viola when the immobile Germans planned to go on the offensive.

Viola prevaricated, and as a result, the goods took the trouble to test around the bend, and at this time, in the formal talks, they talked about the necessity of decisively starting the offensive and ending the war in Turkey once and for all.

Viola remained silent as he spoke impassionedly, hoping that her actions would make the English gentleman realise that she was not interested in the subject, but the other apparently did not notice this—or did, but pretended not to know.

Finally, the British may have been thirsty for too long, so they stopped, picked up the teacup on the table, Viola decisively seized the opportunity and said: "We also want to resume the offensive as soon as possible, but our army lost a lot of equipment in the battle of Saraj, and in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, we must wait for new equipment to arrive in Turkey." Unfortunately, much of that equipment is pre-production, and mass production capacity is limited. ”

"Is it impossible for Germany's vaunted industrial capacity to produce enough equipment at once?" The British envoy showed a deliberate surprise in his dismay.

Viola pressed the idea of slapping him a few times in her heart, it is said that this product is Chamberlain's diner, looking at his performance, Viola somewhat understands why Lin Youde wants to play a little trick Isabella replaced Churchill with Chamberlain.

"Mr. Special Envoy," Viola said to the British, still politely, "even the industrial production line in Germany needs to be adapted to the specifications of the new equipment before it can begin to produce a completely new piece of equipment. In the case of a general mobilization in wartime, this adjustment could be done very quickly, but now that Germany is not at war, and the industrial system has not entered the wartime system, there is no way for us to do it immediately. ”

"Oh, that's a shame," the envoy shook his head, "but, with the support of the British warriors, maybe the German soldiers don't particularly need the new equipment?" ”

"No, they need to." Viola said categorically, "Even with the support of the British warriors, our soldiers need more firepower and better protection, and they will always need these two things, and of course the mobility is even better." My husband has always tried to make the soldiers on the battlefield no longer a consumable, or at least, make them more meaningfully consumed, and I can't go against my husband's ideas, especially if he is wounded in bed. ”

"However, in a few weeks, the Russian army may launch a new offensive, and then the international column units embedded in the area controlled by the Russian army will be in danger."

"That's why we will continue to fill the 'fangs' embedded in the area controlled by the Russian army, just to resist the attack of the Russian army."

"Does that mean that the soldiers are sent to die in vain?" The envoy had a smug smile on his face, and he seemed to feel that he had thrown a brilliant question and cornered Viola.

But Viola's face did not change, and she replied calmly: "Mr. Envoy, soldiers are far more protected in the trenches than in the fields. We deployed our soldiers in strong fortifications that had been built in advance, rather than having them charge at the Russian machine guns on the plains, which is exactly what you British and French did in the last war, and I have always considered it irresponsible for the lives of the soldiers. ”

"Yes, and you Germany, in the middle and late stages of the last war, did use your precious forces carefully, but in the end, it was our countries that drove their soldiers into the battlefield and charged that won the victory."

With his chin raised in triumph, he straightened the medal he wore on his chest, which he said had obtained while fighting the natives in India.

Viola stared at the envoy, and couldn't help but complain in her heart, why would Isabella choose such a fool to be her envoy? He couldn't do anything but make things worse - or was Isabella sent him to make things worse?

Viola glanced at the British ambassador to Germany who accompanied the envoy, and found that the old gentleman's expression was also very complicated, and it seemed that he couldn't stand it anymore.

Viola decided not to waste any more time, and she cleared her throat - even if the envoy was a joke, she should understand that it meant Viola had something important to say.

The envoy looked at Viola with a serious expression.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Envoy, that we won't be able to attack again this year, and now we're ready to hold Saraj and the supply line between Saraj and Erelisi. My generals believe that the Russian army will not be able to sustain itself for long with the current supplies, and as long as we block their attack, the Russian army will be left with only two options: first, retreat from Istanbul, and second, throw in Shenji. Either way, it means that we have achieved our original operational objectives. ”

"But ......"

"Nothing." Viola interrupted the envoy, "We don't have much more to talk about on this issue. ”

**

London.

Isabella put down the emergency telegram from Germany, sighed softly, and lay back in her chair.

At this moment, Isabella was not in her office, but on the terrace of the palace, and she was having afternoon tea with two other English goddesses.

"What's wrong?" Mary the English goddess? Brigitte asked with concern.

"Germany refuses to continue the offensive before the Russian army counterattacks. They are ready to rely on positions to defend against the attacks of the Russian army. ”

"It's really stupid, I have such a sharp offensive knife, but I chose to defend." Brigitte shook her head, "Could it be that after that advisor fell into a coma, the entire NERV will no longer find someone who understands his military thoughts?" It's a shame that the military threat of NERV could be downgraded by a whole level. ”

"I think the envoy I sent screwed things up." The queen looked unhappy, "But in that case, I can't help but send him, politics is really tiring." ”

Brigitte looked at Isabella with a sympathetic expression: "It seems that a lot of things have happened in the royal council, and the queen is really not good." However, the Germans also refused to attack, probably because they wanted the war to continue. According to a report by Army Intelligence, as long as the war lasted until 1937, Russia was likely to face a new round of turmoil, and its economy would not be able to afford the war unless it was fully converted to a wartime system. ”

Isabella nodded: "That's right, this is also the reason why we desperately hope that the German army can attack, we can't let Russia be weakened too much, that would make Germany unscrupulous." We and France have agreed on this. ”

"Alright," said the third goddess, "since it's a tea party, let's not talk about those complicated things, let's do something like a girl, okay?" For example, drinking tea......"

"We're already drinking, Elena." Isabella gently picked up the teacup and shook it at the third goddess, then put it down again.

"For example, let's talk about poetry."

"I'm not interested in the wordplay that is sensational." Brigitte picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"So, it's not for nothing that Brigitte is privately called 'Strong-brother' by your subordinates." Elena said with a smile as she gently stroked her long wavy hair, which looked like the waves of the sea.

Brigitte squinted at Elena, and her gaze stayed on her breasts, which were the largest of the three, for a long time, before she said unhappily: "It doesn't matter what I'm called, but you, don't you think about losing weight?" ”

Elena chuckled, "Very well, Brigitte is finally starting to do what girls are supposed to do, this kind of jealous speech has a girlish taste, we are gods, we have to do what only men can do perfectly, and at the same time maintain our ladylike demeanor." ”

Isabella looked at Elena and sighed softly, "Before I met Elena, I thought that the Naval Goddess was like the world-famous Nelson. ”

"Until the seventies of the last century, the Navy Goddess was indeed as tanned as any other sailor, with muscles all over her body, and she could smell rum as soon as she approached her." Elena lowered her hands and pressed the lace-covered skirt to her skirt, "But that's in the past, and my adoptive father, Lord Cunningham, thinks I'm the best at it." ”

Brigitte and Isabella looked at each other.

"Indeed, you are the best way to put it between the two of us to obviously balance the secretion of hormones." Brigitte said.

"I think Isabella also has a feminine taste."

"Thank you." Isabella unceremoniously accepted the flattery.

But Elena's next sentence almost made her squirt tea all over the table.

"Especially after getting to know the German consultant, Her Majesty the Queen is paying more and more attention to dressing up, like today, obviously just a few girls come to drink tea, but Her Majesty's dress is the most thoughtful."

"That's your delusion." Isabella denied without hesitation, regretting that she had carefully selected the brooches and ornaments in her hair before she came, and that Elena must have noticed them before teasing her like that.

But Elena doesn't seem to be going to let go of this topic, in her cognition, this should belong to one of the so-called "things that girls should do".

"I've heard that in the recent meetings of His Majesty every morning, the first three questions must be asked whether the consultant has woken up."

"That's because it is necessary to determine the benchmark for judging the relevant events according to whether he wakes up or not, and that guy's way of thinking is different from ordinary people, and he must use different standards to examine the relevant events."

"Okay, okay, I understand, I understand, hee~"

Isabella looked at the grinning Elena, sighed, and stopped arguing - it didn't make sense.

At this time, Brigitte said: "Speaking of which, the military attache of the army has reported to us an interesting thing, and among the NERV members in Germany, it seems that there is a legend that Lin Youde is actually a messenger sent by heaven to lead mankind to the right path. It's strange to be an organization that claims that the light of technology will eventually replace God's grace. ”

Brigitte's words made Isabella's expression a little complicated, and she smiled and said, "Isn't the cult of personality always evolving like this after the worst of the time, and the Americans have also made a picture called "Washington Sanctification" and hung it on the dome of Capitol Hill in a grand manner." ”

Brigitte, apparently noticing Isabella's prevarication, was silent for a moment, then simply dropped the subject.

**

At this moment, in the largest room of Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Lin Youde, who had been sleeping for a long time, slowly opened his eyes.