Chapter 399 The Real European War

Nicholas II, who was far away in St. Petersburg, did not know that Arthur's plan extended the life of his dynasty, nor did he know that the turmoil within his empire was far more dangerous than he imagined.

But now, Arthur has a more important job, such as rotating the Fourth Division fighting in Europe.

The Fourth Division has been dispatched to Europe for more than four months. The current death toll and the number of injured have reached 1,524 and 5,323 respectively.

The total number of casualties was nearly 6,800, leaving the 16,000-strong Fourth Division with only a little over 10,000 combat-ready troops.

If the fighting continues like this, the combat capability of the Fourth Division will be a problem. The soldiers will also become war-weary due to long-term fighting.

After internal discussions within the Ministry of Defense, coupled with Arthur's own plan, it was decided that the new round of troops going to Europe to fight would be the Third Division and the Second Guards Division.

Although the biggest responsibility of the Guards is to guard the capital and protect the safety of Arthur and the royal family. But as the most powerful force in Australasia in Arthur's mind, it not only has to be equipped with the most advanced and luxurious weapons and equipment in Australasia, but also has to experience life and death that is difficult for conventional troops to experience, and it can also train The best and most elite soldiers.

The current Guards Division is an army formed by selecting the best soldiers in training from the conventional army. However, this does not guarantee that the Guards Division's combat capability in real battles can exceed that of the conventional division, especially like the Fourth Division. An army that has experienced real life and death.

Therefore, sending all two Guards divisions to the battlefield in batches was also Arthur's plan to increase the combat effectiveness of the Guards divisions.

Although the casualties suffered by the Guards Division after participating in the battle would certainly make Arthur feel distressed, compared to the increased combat effectiveness of the army and soldiers experienced in a real large-scale war, a few casualties are nothing.

Moreover, the 3rd Guards Division and the 3rd Regular Division have a total strength of 36,000 troops, which also helps the Australasian army to independently launch offensives on the Western Front battlefield. After all, the Australasian army has independent command authority and must take advantage of it. stand up.

Repelling the German attack and even recovering the territory occupied by the German army will become an excuse and bargaining chip for Australasia to obtain more benefits after the war.

If civil strife does break out in Russia after the war, only Britain, France, and Australia will be the Allied Powers.

However, Britain and France were greatly damaged by the war, so they needed the support of countries such as Australasia that were not greatly affected by the war, and they still had more time to recover.

This also led to the increased importance of Australasia after the war. Both Britain and France needed allies like Australasia to help them stabilize their international status.

After all, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire would definitely be divided, and the remaining territories would be subject to a lot of restrictions. The status and strength of the great powers would definitely not be guaranteed.

If Germany suffers from civil strife again, the three relatively powerful powers will directly lose their status as great powers.

This has also allowed Australasia's international status to skyrocket, and it even hopes to become the fourth great power after Britain, France, and the United States after World War I.

Of course, if the Australasian army breaks out with strong combat effectiveness in the war and increases the size of the navy, it is not impossible to surpass the United States and become the third largest power.

At least for now, it seems that the military strength of the United States is still very backward. The size and combat effectiveness of the army are vulnerable. The size of the navy is okay, but the combat effectiveness is another matter.

Following the Second Guards Division and the Third Regular Division to the European battlefield, there were also up to 200,000 indigenous troops.

The transportation of so many troops was a problem, so it also consumed a large number of British and French transport ships. In the next two months, these troops will gradually arrive on the European battlefield and join the Australasian Expeditionary Force to fight against Germany.

At the same time, the newly trained soldiers in France and the second expeditionary force dispatched by Britain also arrived in the European battlefield. As Russia planned a large-scale campaign on the Eastern Front, Britain, France, and Australia on the Western Front also planned and organized a large-scale campaign to defeat the German army. Total expulsion from French soil.

The preparation time for the two major battles on the east and west fronts was more than a month, and the specific launch time would not even be until two months later.

After all, the Western Front has to wait for the troops from Australasia to arrive, and the Eastern Front has to wait for the materials transported by Australasia to arrive at the front line. Well, they are all waiting for Australasia.

Of course, it’s not all about waiting for Australasia. Whether it is the Western Front or the Eastern Front, the large-scale battles planned are ultra-large-scale battles with more than a million troops. Naturally, more materials and weapons and equipment need to be prepared, and the time required is also longer.

It is no exaggeration to say that the eating, drinking, and drinking of millions of troops is a serious problem for logistics. Not to mention the frequent consumption of weapons, equipment, ammunition and artillery shells in wars, it is enough to exhaust a country's logistics system.

It is not easy for Britain and France either. Britain was responsible for half of the expenses of the Australasian Expeditionary Force, which was no small sum. Coupled with the British Expeditionary Force's own expenses, a large number of pounds were poured into this war, which also made the British more and more looking forward to ending the war.

Needless to say, France, of course, is currently occupied by Germany in part of its territory, and most of the wars on the Western Front are fought on the French border and territory.

The longer the war lasts, the greater the damage will be to France's domestic economy, and the greater the French people's expectations for peace.

On April 11, 1915, the 2nd Guards Division and the 3rd Regular Division successfully arrived in France and completed their rotation with the 4th Regular Division.

Thomas Johnson, commander of the 2nd Guards Division, succeeded Scott as the second commander-in-chief of the Australasian Expeditionary Force.

In order to express his support for the army, Arthur handed over the command of the expeditionary force to the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, and the Australasian side was only responsible for the logistics supply of the expeditionary force.

This also means that the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force has great power and can even decide the role of the Australasian army in the war.

Although it is said that the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. But the role of the commander-in-chief of the Australasian Expeditionary Force can also gain the greatest credit in the war.

Apart from anything else, after the victory of the war, all the commanders-in-chief of the expeditionary force, as long as they did not make too big mistakes in the war, can be promoted one level according to convention.

If you make a significant contribution in the war, you can even enter the defense department, or serve in important positions such as the Guards Division and the General Staff.

If Australasia establishes a military-level army in the future, the commander will also give priority to those who have made meritorious contributions.

Bartolo Udrog, commander of the Third Division, still felt a little regretful for not being able to become the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force.

Suddenly thinking of his competitor, Martin Ruth, commander of the Second Guards Division, Bartolo Udrog was somewhat open-minded.

Martin Ruth's ability is naturally needless to say as he can become one of the few commanders of the Guards Division in Australasia.

According to the promotion practice of the Australasian Army, in addition to the internal competition within the Ministry of Defense, the commander of the Guards Division is also a strong competitor for the next Minister of Defense.

And the commander of the regular division, no matter how great his achievements, cannot directly become the Minister of Defense.

Although the promotion from the regular division to the Guards Division to the Ministry of Defense is not rigid, no one can deny that there is indeed a certain gap between the regular division and the Guards Division in Australasia.

After arriving in France, the Second Guards Division and the Third Regular Division were quickly transported to the front line and stationed where the Third Division was previously stationed.

The next day, French Commander-in-Chief Joffre and British Expeditionary Force Commander-in-Chief Sir French visited together and expressed their importance to the Australasian Expeditionary Force.

In the jokes of Joffre, French and Martin, a large-scale battle involving more than 2 million people and four countries was planned, which easily determined the life and death of more than 2 million people.

The topic discussed by the three people is likely to cause hundreds of thousands of casualties on the Western Front again. But there is no way. For the victory of the war, compared with these hundreds of thousands of casualties, achieving greater results is the most important thing at present.

The specific offensive plan on the Western Front is divided into three directions. In the north, the Belgian army will drive the German army out of France and defend based on the strong fortresses of Belgium.

In the middle, attack Alsace and Lorraine again, and threaten the Ruhr area of ​​Germany as much as possible.

If Alsace and Lorraine can be captured, it will not only greatly improve the morale of France, but also reduce a large part of Germany's material supply, and threaten Germany's hinterland.

For the southern direction, the main plan is to win over Italy, unite with the Italian army to launch a counterattack, and threaten the western part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the southern part of Germany.

Combined with the large-scale campaign launched by Russia on the Eastern Front, Germany and Austria will be overwhelmed and exhausted from fighting on two fronts.

In order to make the campaign successful, the Allies have played all their cards. European countries that have not yet participated in the war, including Italy, are all targets for the Allies to win over.

If the war in the previous six months was a war between the Allies and the Central Powers, then from now on, this war will become a war for the whole of Europe, affecting no longer only Britain, France, Russia, Australia, Germany and Austria, but a mixed war involving multiple countries including Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Belgium, Montenegro, etc.

On April 17, 1915, Romania declared war on Germany and joined the Allies.

On April 18, 1915, Greece declared war on Germany and joined the Allies.

Montenegro followed closely and joined the Allies on April 18.

After that, Italy was the most difficult to deal with. After Italy gained some territory and a lot of benefits, Italy publicly declared war on Germany on April 21 and joined the Allied Powers.

Germany's opposition measures came soon. Because the Allied Powers were already at a disadvantage in the war, few countries joined the Allied Powers. Only Bulgaria and Turkey in the whole of Europe were willing to join the Allied Powers.

Starting from May 1915, the war between the Allies and the Allied Powers had more than a dozen participating countries, specifically: the Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia, Australia, Italy, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Montenegro, Belgium), the Allied Powers (Germany, Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria).

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