"It's too early to talk about peace. www.)”

Berlin, Scholssplatz Imperial Palace, the new Chief of Staff of the German Army, Field Marshal Hindenburg, spoke in a tough tone.

Across the thick oak conference table, the Chancellor of the German Empire, Holwig, asked with a gloomy face: "When is it not too early?" ”

"At least until Russia withdraws from the war."

Hindenburg's expression is resolute, and his burly body is as immobile as a mountain, which looks like a sculpture at a glance.

"When?"

Halweg asked.

Hindenburg just blinked: "It's almost there." ”

Holweg squinted: "As far as I know, the offensive of the Baltic and Belarusian sides has stopped; The situation on the Ukrainian side is even more not optimistic - the shameful defeat of the Romanians in Bessarabia is exposing the right flank of our army to the enemy. ”

Hindenburg was unquestionably confident: "These are temporary difficulties, as long as we do not withdraw troops from the Eastern Front, and the Chinese can faithfully fulfill their promises, we will be sure to subdue the Russians by the beginning of spring next year at the latest." ”

"If you don't transfer troops from the Eastern Front, can the Western Front hold it? I heard that you transferred all the German detachments that assisted in the defense of Italy and the Balkan front to the Western Front? ”

Holwig looked like he was breaking the casserole and asking the question.

Hindenburg was obviously prepared, and he opened his mouth to come: "The Italians have just paid enough in Trentino, and as long as the Austrians honestly hold on to a few passes along the Izozo River and the Alps, there should be no major problems before the end of the year."

"As for the Balkan side, although the Entente has subdued the Turks, the Chinese are still marching through the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden towards Asia Minor and Egypt, and the Entente ** will inevitably divide their troops to deal with it, and there will be no spare strength to invest in other directions."

Horweg was apparently unconvinced: "The ambassadors in Vienna and Sofia have sent back information that Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Bulgaria have secretly protested against it, and intelligence officers in Bucharest have submitted reports that Romania is showing signs of vacillation......"

Hindenburg unceremoniously interrupted the Prime Minister: "The trouble that Romania's entry into the war brought us. Far more than it has helped us. Let me say that instead of spending precious arms and gold to trade with such a cunning and cowardly clown, it is better to occupy its territory and plunder its resources without compensation. ”

"But you don't have enough troops. The detachments drawn from the Italian and Balkan fronts were only enough to fill the gap in Arras, and there were still no reserves on the Western Front. ”

Halweg looked worried.

"Soon it will be there, and I have ordered the number of infantry battalions under each division on the Western Front to be reduced from 12 to nine, that is, the infantry brigade structure will be abolished, and the division will directly administer three infantry regiments. In addition, the number of artillery pieces under the jurisdiction of each field artillery battery has been reduced from six to four. The total number of artillery pieces per division was reduced from 72 to 48. So that we can build 30 to 40 new divisions in a month or two......"

"But the total number of troops has not increased, you are deceiving yourself."

Hindenburg looked disdainful: "On the battlefield of the Western Front today, the number of infantry and field artillery is no longer the decisive factor, and defensive operations need not more troops and artillery, but a more complete underground fortification system, as well as more machine guns and mortars. The new three-regimental division, equipped with sufficient automatic firearms and infantry artillery, can theoretically play the role of the previous four-regimental division in defensive operations. It is also easier to transport and command when used as a reserve. ”

Holwig furrowed his brows: "Theoretically? It is not my intention to discuss this technical theory with Your Excellency the Marshal, but I would only like to remind you that in the recent Battle of Arras. The fact that the Americans have begun to participate in large-scale offensive operations as military units shows that the quantity and quality of American troops on the Western Front have reached a considerable level. ”

"According to credible information, U.S. troops are arriving in France at a rate of 20 to 250,000 men per month, or five to seven large divisions, and by the end of this year, the U.S. military strength on the Western Front may reach 1.2 million to 1.5 million or 30 to 40 large divisions, which is equivalent to 70 to 100 current German divisions."

"At that time, the ratio of forces on the Western Front may be further expanded from the current three to five to two to five, or even one to three! If we are not able to bring Russia to its knees before then, will it be possible for the Western Front to hold on? ”

In the face of the Prime Minister's burning doubts. Hindenburg dismissed it: "How can an American, who is either a money-lover or a drunkard, rude and stupid, and vain, compare with my strict self-control and intelligent German soldiers?" ”

"The sacrifice of the German soldiers, which were rigorous and intelligent, was accelerating, and sooner or later the army would be swallowed up by the socialists and anarchists."

Halweg is not an alarmist, he has ample intelligence backing up. He also believed that Hindenburg would not turn a blind eye to this.

"Before that we have to get everything necessary for the survival of the German Empire - maybe we can't occupy the factories and iron mines of France and Belgium for long, but we must get the ports and factories on the Baltic coast, the grain and coal of Ukraine, the oil and non-ferrous metals of the Caucasus, plus millions of cheap labor."

Although the marshal's words were sonorous, they were not enough to impress the Imperial Prime Minister, and Holweg bowed his head expressionlessly to the Emperor who had been listening quietly on the throne for a long time: "Your Majesty, please make a careful decision, what happened to the Russian Tsar is just around the corner." ”

"My Prime Minister, are you threatening me?"

Emperor Wilhelm II's gaze was very unpleasant.

"Your Majesty, it is this war that threatens you, your throne, the survival of the empire, and the lives and future of tens of millions of imperial people."

"Enough, I and my army don't need a pacifist to point fingers, are you sure you're not a socialist?"

"I will always be a faithful servant of Your Majesty."

"Very well, then please recommend a faithful servant who can replace you for me."

Halwig's eyes suddenly lost their sparkle, and he grunted in his throat a few times, unable to speak for a long time.

Without time to take care of Halweg's feelings, Wilhelm II turned to Hindenburg with a straight face: "My marshal, as the former prime minister said, reducing the size of divisions will not increase the number of troops, and now that the Americans are accelerating their troop increases, the gap in the number of troops on the Western Front will become wider and wider, and you had better have other ways to stabilize the Western Front." ”

Hindenburg glanced at a bewildered Halweg. Nodding contentedly: "Your Majesty, I implore you to agree to the General Staff Headquarters to implement the following measures: in the next three months, withdraw the salient of the Somme between Arras and Noyon, and the defenders will retreat up to 80 kilometers. Entering a new, straightened line of defense, which would shorten the front by 50 kilometers and free up 13 divisions as new reserves. ”

The emperor hesitated: "Retreat? Will this affect morale? This land is the ...... that millions of officers and soldiers of our army have shed their blood and sacrificed in exchange."

"We will leave the enemy on the crater-riddled battlefield of the Somme, while also carrying out the most complete destruction on the land from which we have withdrawn."

Hindenburg's voice was low, cold, and irresistible.

"As a result, the enemy will have to cross a large man-made desert before reaching our new line of defense and building a new offensive position. They must rebuild all roads and bridges, transport millions of tons of supplies, from artillery shells to tissue, and find ways to resettle millions of homeless refugees. ”

"And not only will we have reserves, but we will also have months to settle the Russian problem with peace of mind – and when we settle Russia, we will have enough leverage in exchange for a dignified peace."

Hearing this, Kaiser Wilhelm nodded repeatedly: "Yes, dignity, I look forward to peace more than anyone else." But if this peace comes at the cost of the dignity of the German Empire, then I would rather fight to the end with my army! ”

"Your Russian cousin before being forced to abdicate. I'm afraid that's what I think......"

Halwig muttered in shreds as he got up and prepared to leave—he was clearly no longer needed or welcomed.

At this moment, the door of the conference room was pushed open from the outside, and under the guidance of the attendant military attache in a ribbon, a staff officer with a red thread on the seam of his trousers hurried in with a folder in his hand and presented a telegram with a small number of words to Field Marshal Hindenburg.

Hindenburg glanced at it quickly, his face darkened, and he looked at it again from the beginning, and then slowly got up and presented it to Wilhelm II.

The emperor read the first line of the telegram and blurted out: "The Austrian 1st Army is retreating? What's going on? ”

Hindenburg bowed his head and replied: "The two armies of the Russian army suddenly attacked from Bessarabia and attacked the flank of our southern army group to the north. The Austrian 1st Army, located at the far right end of the army group, was not well prepared, and the Czech nationalists in the army took the opportunity to sabotage, and many key positions were lost one after another. In order to avoid encirclement, the divisions of Army Group are retreating in a scattered direction in the direction of Lviv - it seems that the damned Romanians will not even be able to contain the Russians in front of them. ”

Wilhelm II's face darkened: "Can I understand it this way: our army is driving the enemy out of Ukraine?" ”

"Your Majesty, on the contrary, in my opinion. The enemy gave us a rare opportunity. ”

Suddenly, Hindenburg's face began to brighten.

"Opportunity?"

The emperor was momentarily puzzled.

"Your Majesty, in the past year, the Russian army on the entire front has been defeated and retreated, and it is simply unable to counterattack, and the current Russian army in Bessarabia has the ability to launch a counteroffensive on the scale of a group army, which shows that this is the most elite of the Russian army - and I am afraid it is also the most rear-range field mobile corps.

Hindenburg's gaze revealed the excitement of the hunter finally finding his prey after a painstaking search.

"So, as long as this enemy army is destroyed, we will have no decent opponents in Ukraine and even in the whole of Russia?"

Facing the emperor, who was finally excited, Hindenburg smiled and nodded.

Wilhelm II's excitement did not last long, and he quickly realized the crux of the problem: "This enemy force is advancing to the rear of the entire army group, and the lines of communication of our army may be cut off at any time, what are you sure that you can destroy the enemy army at this time?" ”

Hindenburg got up and walked to the huge map in front of the conference table, and waved his big hand down: "If they go north, we will go south, and in turn surround them." ”

"By what? Legs of infantry? Before they reached the enemy's lines of communication, the rear of our troops was long swept away. ”

The Emperor questioned what little military knowledge he had.

Hindenburg was confident: "By the gift of the Chinese - armored soldiers!" ”

…… To be continued ......)

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