Chapter 455: Russia Is Back

The formal surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire made all the Allied countries more excited, and all the countries participating in the division of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's land became more proactive and turned their attention to the German territory.

In particular, Russia, which had experienced civil unrest before and repeatedly mentioned that it was only responsible for the defense of the war, is currently mobilizing frequently on the Eastern Front, with a tendency to launch a large-scale battle.

You know, with the assistance of Britain and France to Russia, coupled with the interest-free loans given to Russia by the United States, Russia has finally restored some order.

The land ceded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire also made some Russian people no longer oppose the war. After all, the government has been able to guarantee its own material supply, and the new constitutional government has also given the people hope.

The political situation in Russia at this time is actually somewhat special. The real power is the Russian nobles and the big capitalists, but there are also a considerable number of royalists, as well as the workers' union headed by the interests of workers.

The provisional government reached an agreement with the Tsar, which also led to the exclusion of the Moscow area controlled by the workers' union from the entire Russia. The workers' union headed by the Bushevik Party cannot affect more areas of Russia for the time being.

There is such a provision in the treaty between Russia and Austria-Hungary that prohibits the Austro-Hungarian government from allowing the real Bolshevik Party leaders headed by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov to enter Russia through Austria-Hungary.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov has another famous name, but it is not something that can be mentioned casually.

Without the leadership of a core figure and the Royal Security Intelligence Service has cleared most of the political parties of the Workers' Union in advance, the current Workers' Union is not a big threat to Russian politics.

After all, Russia still has the support of the Allies, and the Workers' Union is feared by all countries.

Nicholas II, who was very high-profile and autocratic before, also became low-key after Russia experienced civil unrest.

Although Nicholas II's military talent is indeed not high, his political ability is still not low.

Nicholas II clearly knows that the way to protect his rights and the status of the Romanov family is to stay at home and minimize the royal family's attention to the public.

Of course, Nicholas II did not do nothing. During these days in the Winter Palace, Nicholas II has repeatedly distributed food to the residents of St. Petersburg and nearby Russians to ease the Russians' bad impression of the Tsar.

At present, there is a delicate balance between Nicholas II and the Provisional Government. Because the Provisional Government is more afraid of the Workers' Union, Nicholas II's throne has been retained.

It is also because of this that there are still a large number of royalists in the Russian army and government. The existence of these royalists is also Nicholas II's hope to regain power.

Of course, Nicholas II still needs to face many problems to regain power, such as the distrust of the people, such as the defense of the Provisional Government, etc.

But in any case, Nicholas II is much better than the ending in history. If it is handled well, it is not a problem to become a constitutional monarchy with a stable status like the King of England.

After the Allies launched a full-scale counterattack on the Western Front, Russia will also face a problem, that is, whether to participate in this full-scale counterattack.

After thinking for a long time, the Russian Provisional Government finally decided to participate in this offensive.

There is no way, the Russians have tasted the sweetness of dividing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But a small Galicia and Austrian Poland could not satisfy the Russians' appetite at all, and the Russians were also unwilling to let go of East Prussia and German Poland.

More importantly, a small Austro-Hungarian Empire needed to pay 15 billion pounds in compensation, of which the Russians could get about 2.5 billion pounds.

The Germans would pay more, and the Russians would also get more war reparations to consolidate the domestic situation.

On August 17, 1917, the Russian army, which had rested for more than half a year, launched an offensive on the Eastern Front, attempting to recover all the areas occupied by Germany.

Germany occupied a large amount of Russian land through many previous wars. These lands are what the Russian government dreams of recovering, and they also have a good stabilizing effect on the domestic situation in Russia.

If the Provisional Government can recover these lands, or even end the war, the rule of the Provisional Government will become more stable. If Nicholas II wants to seize power, or if the Workers' Union wants to move to the Provisional Government, it depends on whether the Russians who actually benefit from it agree.

At present, there are still many areas controlled by the Germans, including Riga, Minsk and other places are still under the control of the Germans.

But most of the territory in Ukraine has been recovered. After all, after the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Germans did not have enough troops to occupy these areas.

Russia and Germany currently have a border of thousands of kilometers, but the German garrison has only about 1 million troops.

It is impossible to rely on this 1 million troops to defend the entire border, so the Germans have already carried out strategic contraction, focusing on defending major cities including Riga and Minsk, as well as Warsaw, Brest and other cities in Poland.

If there is a German defense map, it can be seen that the Germans focus on defending the large cities in the occupied areas, among which Poland is the most valued by the Germans.

As for why there are no German cities, it is actually very simple. The Russians must first recover the lost territory before the army can move to the German territory.

The Russians' re-entry into the war made the European media even more excited. They firmly believed that the Germans could not hold out for long under the siege from both sides.

After all, if we only look at the difference in military strength, the total army of the Allied Powers in Europe is close to 15 million, while the total military strength of Germany is only 5 million, which is a three-fold gap.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Although the Germans have made preparations for the possibility of Russia's attack, because the pressure on the Western Front is too great, a large number of heavy firepower weapons have all been mobilized to the Western Front.

In addition, the Germans do not attach importance to the combat effectiveness of the Russian army, and even believe that the Russian army is still the same as a year ago. Most of the troops do not have decent weapons, let alone heavy firepower machine guns and artillery.

But the Russian army's equipment at this time has changed greatly compared to a year ago. Because of the $2 billion loan from the United States, the Russians have the confidence to continue this war.

Although a considerable part of the $2 billion was used in people's livelihood and national development, more than $500 million was invested in the war, especially in the purchase of military equipment.

Moreover, the aircraft orders signed by Nicholas II and Arthur were still being fulfilled, and with the additional weapons and equipment newly purchased by Russia from Australasia, the 2 million Russian troops that launched the attack had sufficient equipment, which made the careless Germans suffer a great loss for a while.

As of mid-August 1917, the Russians already had up to 200 military aircraft, of which more than 150 were bombers.

And the Russian pilot training had been completed long ago, and these 200 military aircraft could take off at any time and be put into any war.

At the beginning of the war, the Russians dispatched all military aircraft and completely occupied the airspace of the Eastern Front.

A small number of German aircraft and airships were no match for Russian aircraft at all, especially airships, which were just live targets in the eyes of Russian aircraft.

Since the outbreak of the war, the importance of airships has been greatly reduced. If it were not for the fact that airships could transport more supplies or people, airships would have been eliminated by various countries long ago.

You know, there are not only airships of one country in the sky, but also competition and conflict between airships of different countries.

When facing more advanced weapons such as airplanes, airships have almost no resistance.

Aircraft can easily destroy airships, but it is difficult for airships to hit smaller aircraft, especially under the premise that aircraft are more flexible.

Obviously, the large amount of territory lost by the Russians before has helped the Russians now.

The Germans did not have enough troops to defend such a large and narrow territory, but instead dispersed the deployment of the German army on the Eastern Front.

Although the Germans had long anticipated the Russian attack, insufficient troops were insufficient troops, not to mention that there were more new recruits on the Eastern Front, and the real combat effectiveness had already been greatly reduced.

From the outbreak of the war to now, there have been many casualties among the Germans. Even if it is just the number of deaths, Germany has exceeded 2.5 million so far.

You must know that before the war, the entire German army added up to less than 1 million, which also means that a large number of new troops have been recruited to the battlefield and then died in various offensive and defensive battles in Germany.

Germany has a total population of so many, and does not have the colonial advantages of Britain and France, so it can only consume its own native population.

Under such circumstances, Germany has already recruited millions of troops. Under the premise of more than 2.5 million deaths, it can still maintain more than 5 million combat troops, which is enough to show the Germans' recognition and bellicosity of the country.

But the remaining 5 million combat troops are almost Germany's last trump card. Germany's blood is almost drained, and it is impossible to send all the women and the elderly to the battlefield.

Therefore, for Germany now, having new soldiers is already good news. When it really takes time for the elderly, women and children to go to the battlefield, the national strength will be crippled.

But it is obvious that 1 million German recruits cannot stop the Russian attack, especially when these 1 million troops are still scattered on the long front line.

The returning Russian army is very imposing. After besieging Riga for half a month, it successfully recaptured Riga and drove the German army back to the south of the Daugava River.

The recovery of Riga also opened a gap in the German defense line. The Russian army could even go straight down and attack East Prussia directly through the Lithuanian region, or first go south and then east to surround Minsk and annihilate the German defenders there.

Either option is a very effective blow to the German army, which also means that the Russian army has taken the absolute initiative on the Eastern Front.

The first update of 3,000 words, please vote for me, please support!