Chapter 402: Germany's Strategic Shift

May 11, 1915, Germany, Berlin City Palace, Imperial Military Conference.

The conference room of Berlin City Palace has been brightly lit for two days. William II and many German generals, as well as Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, held a two-day meeting here.

At such an anxious moment of the war, the only reason why William II, the German Chief of Staff and many generals gathered here for a meeting was naturally because Germany was currently facing a difficult choice.

Even if William II was arrogant, he had to bitterly admit that Germany had already lost in the current war, and any choice could lead to the destruction of Germany's decades of efforts.

If the defeat on the Western Front last year made Germany see no hope of a quick resolution to the war, then this year's successive defeats on the Eastern and Western Fronts have gradually led Germany to the abyss.

The balance of victory is not tilted, and it is almost about to fall to the Allies. If Germany cannot come up with corresponding policies to deal with it, I am afraid that the current situation will not last long, and the failure of the war is almost inevitable.

No one can deny the strength of the German army. In this war, the combat effectiveness of the German army far exceeded that of Britain, France and Russia, and in the early stage, France was almost defeated.

But unfortunately, in the end, France won a hearty victory. The Western Front battlefield became a protracted war of attrition under the joint efforts of Britain, France and Australia.

After entering the new year, the Eastern Front battlefield also suffered frequent defeats. Russia defeated the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German East Prussian Army successively, occupied Galicia and Silesia, and the eastern hinterland of Germany was already in danger.

At present, the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany's only reliable ally, was completely lost, and Italy also surrendered to the Allies.

The remaining two allies, Turkey and Bulgaria, did not play a key role in the war. Under the joint siege of the Balkan countries, these two countries could not support Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and their own safety could not be guaranteed.

Under all these current situations, the current situation of the Allies, especially Germany, can be imagined.

Even if it can withstand the strong offensive of the Western Front battlefield, there is still a big enemy, Russia, on the Eastern Front. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently seriously injured, and Turkey and Bulgaria are also restrained by the Balkan Alliance.

At present, whether it is the Eastern Front or the Western Front, the only army that can be relied on is the German army.

The pre-war Allied estimates were quite confident that the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies would have no problem protecting the shipping routes in the Mediterranean. Germany quickly resolved France on the Western Front, and the war could be ended within half a year.

But unexpectedly, Italy never thought of joining the Allies at all. The Austro-Hungarian navy was beaten by France and Russia in the Mediterranean, and it was a problem whether it could enter the Mediterranean, let alone protect the Mediterranean shipping line.

This also led to the Allied maritime shipping lines being almost cut off, and the Western Front battlefield fell into a protracted war of attrition, and the Allied countries, which were originally at a disadvantage in terms of resources, suffered terribly.

At this point, William II's hatred for Italy became even deeper. As a bottom-tier power, Italy's military strength was simply vulnerable.

If Germany had not seen Italy's naval strength as good, and had not concluded the Triple Alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary, Italy would never have been able to obtain the status it has today.

In the previous Italo-Turkish War, if it had not been for the support of Austria-Hungary and Germany to Italy, Italy would never have been able to expand in the Balkans.

If Italy had joined the Allies, the transportation routes in the Mediterranean would not have been completely cut off, and the supplies of the Allies would not have been so scarce.

The Italian army could also share the tasks of fighting on the East and West Fronts, so that the Allies' combat situation on both the East and West Fronts would be much better.

"Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, tell me about your plan!" William II looked at the successor of Moltke the Younger, Lieutenant General Falkenhayn, the former Minister of the Army.

The defeat in the war made the originally proud William II look much older, and his speech was not as extreme and arrogant as before.

"Your Majesty, the current East-West Front operations are very unfavorable to us. No matter what measures are taken, we must get rid of the situation of fighting on the East-West Front." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn answered affirmatively.

"It is difficult for us to make a breakthrough on the Western Front, and we must rely on most of our troops on the Eastern Front to deal with Russia and the Balkan Alliance. My suggestion is that we must keep our most important ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Once the Austro-Hungarian Empire fails again, they are likely to withdraw from the war, which is extremely disadvantageous for us. Turkey and Bulgaria have little help in the war. Without the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our failure is also obvious." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn stated the current situation and looked at William II.

William II nodded. Although William II's military talent was not excellent, compared with Nicholas II, who was completely ignorant of military affairs, he knew a little bit.

"So what is your opinion, Chief of Staff?" William II asked, ready.

"Your Majesty, although we also suffered a defeat on the Eastern Front, that was because the Russian army was mostly facing the armies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As long as our main forces go to the Eastern Front, it is not impossible to defeat the Russians or even force them to withdraw from the war completely. As long as Russia withdraws from the war, our dilemma of fighting on two fronts will be solved, and the Western Front alone will not be unmanageable for us." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn slowly spoke out the plan that he had already prepared in his mind.

William II nodded, but he was not ready to change the war strategy at this time. He looked at other generals and senior officials of the Ministry of Defense and asked for their opinions.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the general leaders of the Eastern Front, naturally agreed with Falkenhayn's point of view, while the commanders-in-chief of the army groups on the Western Front had different views, but generally supported continuing the Western Front offensive.

After all, if the strategic focus is placed on the Eastern Front, the logistics treatment of the army groups on the Western Front will also be reduced by one level.

Not only will the battles faced become smaller, but the opportunities for meritorious service will also be much less. After all, the Eastern Front was the main battlefield of the war at that time and the place where meritorious service can be achieved the most.

Seeing that William II had not made up his mind, Hindenburg threw out a bombshell at this time, saying: "Your Majesty, according to our intelligence, Russia has already stockpiled heavy troops in Galicia, and it is very likely that it will take advantage of this Western Front attack to launch another large-scale strategy.

If the Russians break through the front line and cross the Carpathian Mountains into Hungary, it will be a devastating blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire can hold on, the Balkan League will take the opportunity to open up a new front in the south of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Fighting on two fronts is already very disadvantageous for us. If a new front is opened, neither we nor the Austro-Hungarian Empire can hold on.

On the contrary, if we win on the Eastern Front, not only will the Austro-Hungarian Empire take the opportunity to take a breath, but it will also allow the Balkan countries to see who is the most powerful country in the world, and take the opportunity to win over the Balkan League to our side and change the current situation of the war."

For Germany, the worst news at the moment is that Russia is preparing to launch another campaign on the Eastern Front.

The Eastern Front battlefield has just experienced a new defeat, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is simply unable to withstand another major defeat.

This actually also represents a fact. Whether Germany is willing or not, the current strategy must be transferred to the Eastern Front, unless Germany is willing to lose the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an ally.

The German generals on the Eastern and Western Fronts looked at each other, and finally had to accept the fact that Germany's troops would gradually move eastward from now on, and the main offensive direction would be on the Eastern Front.

"Okay, everyone. Let's start now and discuss the specific plan for the Eastern Front battlefield!" William II was quite satisfied with the reaction of the officers, at least there was no dissatisfaction or quarrel due to the strategic shift.

William II first looked at Chief of Staff Falkenhayn. As the highest decision-maker of the German military, the opinion of Chief of Staff Falkenhayn was very important. After all, he was the first person to propose the strategic shift to the east.

"Your Majesty, the first thing we have to do is to completely stop the offensive on the Western Front. All troops on the Western Front battlefield will immediately switch to a defensive state. If necessary, they can abandon all occupied lands and only retain the Belgian region. This will be our reliance for the future counterattack on the Western Front." Falkenhayn did not hesitate at all and stated his plan.

"At the same time, we will transfer 20 to 30 divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern Front to help our allies defend the Eastern Front border. If possible, I hope that at least 50 divisions can continue to be organized in the country to join the battle, which will play a vital role in our Eastern Front battlefield."

Hearing Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's plan, William II was a little skeptical and asked: "Will 20 to 30 divisions be transferred from the Western Front battlefield? There will be no problem on the Western Front battlefield, right?"

"If the Western Front battlefield is in an offensive state, there may be problems. But as long as our Western Front battlefield enters a state of full defense, it is not a problem to transfer 20 to 30 divisions. As long as the recruitment speed of new soldiers in the country can keep up, we can completely fill the gap of insufficient soldiers on the Western Front battlefield within half a year, and strengthen the defense of the Western Front battlefield." Chief of Staff Falkenhayn answered with a little affirmation.

The combat capability of the German army is still good. If it is just defense, it is not a problem to block the enemy troops on the Western Front battlefield outside the defense line, at least Chief of Staff Falkenhayn thinks so.

William II nodded. If they only persisted for half a year, the German army on the Western Front should have no problem.

Half a year is enough for the government to train at least 50 divisions of new recruits, which will be of great help to the Western and Eastern Fronts half a year later.

More importantly, although the number of Allied troops on the Western Front is huge, the combat effectiveness of the 500,000 Italian troops is vulnerable, and the vast majority of the Australasian army is just ordinary indigenous troops.

Although the size of the British and French armies is as high as more than 1 million, their combat effectiveness is slightly insufficient compared to the German army. It is still no problem to hold on to the attacks of these armies.

With the large number of casualties on both sides, rounds of new recruits have gone to the Western Front, which has also reduced the combat capabilities of both armies to a certain extent.

Especially the British army. The number of British troops before the war was very small, and they were temporarily recruited after the outbreak of the war.

The combat quality of these recruits is much lower than that of the German reserve soldiers, and the combat effectiveness of the army naturally has a significant gap.

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