The Rise of Australia

Although both the Central Powers and the Entente Powers have new allies, compared to the Allied Powers, which has roped in a major power and multiple small and medium-sized countries, the Allies have only roped in Turkey and Bulgaria, making them somewhat isolated.

As the only new power to join the war and a former member of the Allied Powers, Italy's behavior of rebelling against the camp during the war was somewhat disgraceful, but the Italians did not think so.

The Italian government proudly announced that because the country and its people had found a way to suffer less losses in the war, they could gain more benefits than before.

But no matter what, since Italy has joined the Entente, it is a member of the Entente and an ally of Australasia.

It's just that compared to countries like Australasia that joined the Allied Powers early, Italy's position among the Allied Powers is rather awkward and it is not at the decision-making level of the Allied Powers.

Even in their propaganda, Britain and France still used the names they used a year ago, which were the four major powers of the Entente.

This also made the Italians determined to do something big and change the existing layout of the Allied Powers. This was also to gain more benefits for themselves after the war.

With the help of Italy and other countries, the Allied East-West general offensive has become more massive.

In the southern region of the Western Front, 500,000 Italian troops will join the battle to eliminate the threat from the German army and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the southern region.

On the eastern front, while Romania, Montenegro, Greece and other countries are attacking Bulgaria, they will also send some troops to cooperate with Serbia to resist the attack of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

With the help of these Balkan countries, Serbia can attract a considerable part of the Austro-Hungarian army.

This will also significantly reduce the number of Austro-Hungarian troops faced by the Russian army on the Eastern Front. The Russian army can deal with the Germans with confidence without worrying that its retreat will be attacked by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The first to attack was Russia. After learning that Russia was willing to launch a large-scale offensive, Britain and France generously fulfilled their unpromised commitments, supported Russia with a large number of weapons, equipment and strategic materials, and also exempted Russia from part of its loans.

In addition, the materials transported by Australasia were also transported from Vladivostok to the front line. After obtaining sufficient weapons, equipment and strategic materials, the Russian General Staff also had the confidence to launch a large-scale offensive to advance the Eastern Front battlefield.

On May 2, 1915, after all supplies were mobilized to the front line, the Russian General Staff formally ordered the start of the next round of large-scale battles.

First, Archduke Nicholas transferred the Second Army in the northwest from the Narew River and the Neman River to Warsaw, and then transferred the Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Army in the southwest from the San River to Warsaw to Sandome day lot.

After defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Galicia, the Russians' next goal was obvious, which was to invade southeastern Germany and at the same time recover the Polish areas occupied by Germany.

In order to deal with the danger from hundreds of thousands of Russian troops, Germany also formulated corresponding combat plans, such as launching assaults on Warsaw and Ivangorod from Krakow and Czestochowa areas in an attempt to defeat the Russian army in the southwest The northern flank of the front detoured back to the rear of the Russian army.

Germany mobilized the newly formed Ninth Army and the Austro-Hungarian Empire's First Army, totaling more than 310,000 troops, to implement this plan.

On the Russian side, there are more than 500,000 garrison troops in the southwest and Warsaw areas, giving them a clear numerical advantage.

On May 3, 1915, the Russian Fourth and Ninth Armies successfully encountered the Austro-Hungarian First Army and the German Ninth Army near the mouths of the Vistula and San rivers.

The enemy was extremely jealous when they met, and the four armies immediately began to exchange fire on a large scale. The gunshots rang out all day long and showed no signs of stopping.

Due to their geographical disadvantage, the Austro-Hungarian and German armies wanted to forcefully cross the Vistula and San rivers, but were repelled by the powerful firepower of the Russian army.

In order to change its own decline, the German army decided to change its original plan and dispatch the 17th and 20th Army and the Mixed Army to form an army cluster, directly bypassing the Russian Fourth and Ninth Group Armies, and forcibly capture Warsaw.

Judging from the geographical location, as long as Warsaw is occupied, these Russian troops will be cut off from their retreat.

The next day, May 4, this newly reorganized army group successfully arrived in Warsaw and launched an attack.

The Russian side received the news, and the Fourth and Fifth Armies began to forcefully cross the Vistula River and retreat.

On the other hand, the Russian Second Army arrived west of Warsaw and defended the flank of the Warsaw garrison.

In the three days from May 5 to May 7, the Russian army and the German and Austro-Hungarian armies launched a fierce offensive. The death toll on both sides reached tens of thousands every day, and the number of casualties started in the tens of thousands.

On May 8, the German troops who suffered heavy losses withdrew from the Warsaw area, and the Russian army successfully defended Warsaw.

This was not over yet. Under the order of Grand Duke Nicholas, the Russian army opened a new landing site in Ivangrod, which was also the second battlefield on the Eastern Front.

The opening of this new front instantly weakened the German army's offensive. It was impossible for the German army not to defend its flanks. This distracted the German army on the front and had to divide its troops to move towards its flanks.

As the German offensive weakened, the Russian army took over the offensive banner, switched from defense to offense, and launched a fierce attack on the German army from the Singeorgievsk, Warsaw, Ivangorod, and Sandomierz areas.

At this time, the German army was exhausted, and after successive retreats, it had cut off contact with the First Austro-Hungarian Army.

The First Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to support the German army in the war, but accidentally fell into the encirclement of the Russian army. In the end, it suffered heavy losses and the entire army was defeated.

To borrow a word from Ludendorff: "A retreat was ordered on the 11th, but this retreat was completely involuntary. Our situation is already very critical, and now it seems that the Russian army is about to invade Poznan, Silesia and Moravi sub-region.”

In fact, Ludendorff's judgment was very correct. After the initial success in the battle, the German army accelerated its offensive to the west and southwest. The purpose was to occupy the Silesia region, and then enter the German hinterland from the Silesia region to cooperate with the Western Front. The four-nation coalition forces on the battlefield will end this war as soon as possible.

The Russians were very ambitious. After the initial victory in this battle, Russia even had plans to invade Berlin and end the war.

If Grand Duke Nicholas had not made an excuse to cooperate with the Western Front troops and could not blindly advance to delay, I am afraid that Nicholas II would really have made a plan for the army to attack with all its strength and capture Berlin.

Although the German army's offensives on the Western and Eastern Front battlefields have repeatedly failed, no one can guarantee that Berlin will be captured at this time. The German army still has the power to fight.

The battle on the Eastern Front was named the Battle of Warsaw-Ivangorod because it was fought near these two areas.

This battle played a vital role in the Eastern Front battlefield. Russia dispatched up to 800,000 troops (including garrison troops in Warsaw and other areas), and faced more than 300,000 German and Austrian troops, and achieved a hearty victory.

Although the Russian casualties were nearly 100,000, judging from the results of this battle, these 100,000 casualties were worth it.

More importantly, after this battle, the German army experienced a disastrous defeat on the Eastern and Western Fronts, which not only broke the myth of the German army's highest combat effectiveness, but also gave many countries, including Russia, the hope of directly defeating Germany. , the experience has also caused some forces in Germany to lose confidence, and the Germans' enthusiasm for the war does not seem to be that high.

Soon after the Russians launched the campaign, campaigns on the Western Front were also launched.

The Australasian army was divided into two parts. The Second Guards Division and the Third Conventional Division acted independently. Britain and France mobilized two more divisions to form a mixed army, which was commanded by Division Commander Martin to protect the flanks of the French Army Group.

The huge indigenous army of more than 400,000 was mobilized to the frontal battlefield and served as cannon fodder for the coalition's offensive.

The indigenous army did use this method. The commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Martin, had no complaints about such a plan. After all, Britain and France also mobilized two main divisions.

On May 7, 1915, with an order from the French General Headquarters, the Western Front campaign began in full swing.

The first action was on the center line, where the Australasian Expeditionary Force was also located. On the afternoon of May 7, two French armies, the Australasian Expeditionary Force, combined nearly 850,000 combat troops (400,000 main troops, 450,000 indigenous troops) marched towards Alsace and Lorraine, starting a campaign to regain lost territory. Second shot.

Then on the next day, a French army group, the British Expeditionary Force, a total of nearly 500,000 troops, and Belgium's remaining army of about 80,000 troops set out from northern France in a mighty manner, with the goal of regaining the French border and the Belgian part. fortress.

The battle in the southern region started last, where France only dispatched one army group to cover the Italian army.

The Italian army dispatched a total of 500,000 troops to launch a fierce offensive against the Austro-Hungarian Empire and conquer the disputed areas between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

The scale of the Western Front campaign was even greater than that of the Eastern Front. On the Allied side alone, the total number of troops participating in the campaign was nearly two million.

If you include the German army, more than 3 million people fought desperately on the Western Front alone.

In order to cope with this offensive, Germany spent all its capital, including various Kluber cannons, airships produced by Zeppelin Company, aircraft with no actual combat performance, and even cars with simple additions of some steel plates. and trucks, whatever is useful is sent to the battlefield. This is the current situation in Germany.

In order to deal with the German airships, the Allied Powers also took out their own airships that had been gathering dust for half a year.

In fact, when the war just broke out, various countries used airships with great interest, but they soon discovered that such airships were of little practical significance because the enemy also had airships. After two airships met, both sides would basically suffer losses.

Because they cannot achieve a technological lead over the enemy in airships, it makes it difficult for British and French airships to carry out combat missions after they meet German airships.

The current airship is too fragile and will basically crash if hit by enemy weapons. After dozens of airship operators were killed or injured, European countries generally chose to hide the airships, or put them directly in warehouses to collect dust, and then used them to transport supplies in the rear and occasionally conduct reconnaissance and intelligence.

Because of this battle, the airship was able to rejoin the war, and it was the kind where the entire army was dispatched.

The combined number of British, French, Australasian and Italian airships is close to 300, far ahead of the 100 airships owned by Germany.

In addition, each country has a small number of relatively backward aircraft models. Currently, on the battlefields of the Western Front of World War I, flying objects in the sky, large or small, can be seen frequently, demonstrating the technological progress brought about by the war.

We have to admit that war is the period when science and technology develop most rapidly. According to Arthur's understanding, Britain and France have improved the current airships and are about to develop a new generation of airships and put them into production.

In terms of aircraft, Britain and France have also renewed their attention and are already jointly researching military aircraft.

Although I don’t know what the progress of Germany is, but referring to the black technology that Germany frequently used in World War I in history, Germany’s progress in researching airships and aircraft will not be slow.

Conservative estimates suggest that Australasian aircraft should be able to enter combat soon. After countries pay more attention to aircraft, Australasia no longer needs to hide its aircraft.

Even if Australasia continues to hide, it will not stop the progress of British, French and German aircraft development.

Rather than doing this, it is better to debut the aircraft in advance and gain certain advantages in the war.

Then they will sell a large number of aircraft that are already obviously outdated, earn a lot of profits from Britain and France, and provide more impetus for aircraft research in Australasia.

As for whether Britain, France, and Germany will achieve overtaking in aircraft research and catch up with the progress of aircraft research in Australasia.

This status quo will not happen for at least ten years. Arthur has been planning the layout of aircraft for several years, or even ten years. Australasia has already attracted more than one-third of the world's talents in aviation power, airships, and aircraft manufacturing.

Unless Britain and France can always work together, there may be hope of catching up with the speed of aircraft development in Australasia in a short time.

But judging from some contradictions in the distribution of interests between Britain and France, after the war, the relationship between Britain and France will not be so close, and some contradictions will arise.

However, after the end of World War I, Britain and France were in a period of weakness, and the possibility of large-scale conflicts between Britain and France was almost zero.

With the maintenance of Australasia, interest organizations such as the Entente should be able to maintain their existence until World War II. Australasia, which is in the Entente, can also rely on the advantages brought by the Entente to gain more international status and benefits.

If nothing else, the international status of the United States after World War I was not necessarily higher than that of Australasia. On the one hand, it is the fear and preparedness of Britain and France. On the other hand, the United States is not a member of the Allied Powers. Facing such a behemoth as the Allied Powers, the United States alone appears to be somewhat weak.

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