Chapter 459: Forcing France to Fight a Positional War

(The picture below is a map of Romania during World War I. Transylvania was Austrian during World War I and was assigned to Romania after the war. Most of the area was Romanian, but it was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is the relationship between Romania and The contradiction between the Allies is also the main reason why Romania joined the Allied Powers to fight)

"Oil, General." Charles analyzed: "Oil is the lifeblood of the Germans. Once Romania declares to join the Allies, the Germans will not hesitate to attack it and strive to defeat it in the shortest possible time."

Gallieni was stunned and nodded slightly.

Prior to this, everyone, including Gallieni himself, believed that joining Romania, an oil country, would be a good thing for the Allies.

But what Charles said, as long as Romania declares to join, the Germans will capture Romania and control the oil.

Ciel continued to analyze the map:

"If Romania was a neutral country, Germany would not go overboard in order to win her cooperation."

"Germany did not actually have much access to oil at this time, because Romania was also selling oil to the Allies."

Gallieni added: "But if the Germans take control of Romania, they will get all the oil and we will get nothing."

"Yes." Charles nodded: "So, it would be better for Romania not to join than to join. The Germans have no reason to go to war, and they don't want to push her into the arms of the Allies. They can only watch Romania cooperate with us. ”

Gallieni gasped. This guy was right. Everyone, including Joffre, was on the wrong path without knowing it.

But after thinking about it, Gallieni asked again: "But Romania can organize an army of 500,000, and there is the cooperation of other armies..."

"Look at the location of Romania, General." Charles raised his chin towards the map: "She is almost surrounded by the Allies. Once a war breaks out, we will not be able to provide reinforcements for it, except Russia."

(The picture above shows the location of Romania. Although it forms an encirclement with France, Britain, Italy, and Russia surrounding Germany and Austria, Romania is actually isolated.)

Gallieni stared at the map for a while and sighed softly: "Russia is retreating steadily and has no time to take care of itself. It is difficult to detach troops to reinforce Romania."

"Even if we can get reinforcements, it won't help," Ciel added.

Gallieni hesitated and had to admit this.

The Russian army's command is chaotic and its combat effectiveness is low. Even if it can be reinforced, it will not change anything. It will just send a bunch of prisoners to the German and Austrian troops.

As for the Romanian army, although there are 500,000 soldiers, they have almost never been on the battlefield and have neglected training. It is not difficult to imagine what they would look like under the German attack.

Gallieni frowned and sighed: "What the Allies are doing now seems to have won a rare ally, but in fact it is handing over Romanian oil to the Germans."

"They plan to have Romania declare war before the general attack, right?" Charles asked.

"Yes." Gallieni nodded.

"There's still time," said Charles.

Gallieni looked slightly nervous: "Although there is time, it is not much, not to mention..."

There was a hint of worry in his eyes: "I'm not sure I can convince them."

Ciel expressed his understanding that this was part of Xiafei's plan to defeat Ciel, and he would not give up this "big victory" opportunity easily.

Before leaving, Gallieni told Charles: "You don't know, understand? You don't know anything!"

"Yes, General," Charles replied.

This is a military secret at the Army Group Commander level, and Gallieni's discussion with Charles violated the rules.

But Gallieni didn't care about this. He was secretly glad that he had discussed it with Charles against the rules, otherwise big problems might have occurred.

…

Located in the Forget Palace in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, Wilhelm II and Falkenhayn strolled on the steps of the vineyard. They discussed the current situation while admiring the heavy fruits hanging on the branches.

(The picture above shows the "Palace of Forgetfulness", a palace built in Potsdam by King Frederick II of Prussia in 1744)

(The picture above shows the vineyards in Wangyou Palace)

There are fountains and statues all around the roadside, surrounded by patches of green leaves and bunches of grapes, giving people a sense of elegance and leisure.

However, William II frowned, bent over with his hands behind his back, and his steps seemed very heavy.

"We seem to be surrounded by enemies, Erich." William II said with a hint of desolation in his tone, and the war was moving in a direction unfavorable to the Allies: "I heard that the Romanians have recently been in contact with the British, and they seem to have the idea of ​​joining the Allies. "

Falkenhayn said "Hmm": "Transylvania is the sticking point, unless we are willing to give it to Romania."

This is just talk.

The point is that Transylvania was not a German territory but an Austro-Hungarian one.

Forcibly ceding Transylvania would only alienate the Austro-Hungarian Empire, not to mention that this was not the way the Germans dealt with the problem.

"Did you only think of this method?" William II smiled softly, with dissatisfaction in his tone.

"No, Your Majesty." Falkenhayn replied, analyzing unhurriedly: "I think it is unlikely that we will completely defeat the British, because they have a powerful navy on the other side of the strait. We want to Going to the island and occupying it will make you stronger than ever."

Isn't it obvious that Wilhelm II exhaled a breath of disdain?

Falkenhayn continued, "Russia can also be considered, because the army of Tsarist Russia has been defeated by us, and coupled with the victory in the Dardanelles, it is only a matter of time before Russia is defeated."

William II said "hmm" weakly, which can barely be considered good news.

"Don't even consider Italy." Falkenhayn's eyes flashed with contempt: "They are vulnerable, and the Austro-Hungarian army is enough to stop them."

"What do you want to say?" William II said impatiently: "You want to tell me that we don't need to worry about their encirclement? But all these unimportant things added together may be enough to make us collapse, General!"

"What I want to say is." Falkenhayn replied: "Our best plan should be to concentrate all our strength to kill our old enemy, France first!"

"You are crazy." William II looked at Falkenhayn in surprise: "France has Charles, he just defeated us and captured more than 100,000 people!"

"I know, Your Majesty." Falkenhayn stopped and turned to William II: "But I think Charles is better at mobile warfare. What if we can force France to fight a positional war with us?"

William II was stunned, then nodded slightly.

This may be a feasible solution!