Chapter 976 - 199: All Quiet on the Eastern Front
Yesterday’s Giant Ship World, Prussia.
Since the Crown Prince of Debang, Archduke Ferdinand, was assassinated by Serbian extremists while inspecting the Illyrian Crown Lands, igniting the catalyst for the great war between the Allies and the Allies, it has been the third year today.
Initially, people optimistically believed they could reunite with their families before Christmas.
But the cruelty of war far exceeded their imagination.
On the Western Front battle at the Somme River, in just one day, tens of thousands of soldiers were buried on the battlefield, and now the third Christmas is imminent, yet the end of the war remains a distant prospect.
Outside the command post, the soldiers retreating from the front for rest lazily warm themselves by the campfire, with their stinking feet soaked in the muddy trench water for too long.
Everyone is silent, like dull machines, and the urging and scolding from the officers can’t make them move a bit.
Inside the command post, Brandenburg Elector William II is wrapped in a thin blanket, resting on a military bed.
In the adjacent staff room, numerous staff members are busily typing away, printing out masses of paperwork ready to be issued to various division-level combat units, the Eastern Corps of Debang is brewing a grand offensive.
Ring ring ring—
The urgent ringing of the telephone wakes William, he rubs his weary face hard with his right hand, having not slept well for a long time, and quickly answers the phone.
"This is the Eastern Corps Command."
"Yes, I am William."
"What, the military aid promised by the British has been requisitioned? By whose order? The German Emperor? Are you sure?"
"I will personally inquire of the German Emperor, you arrogant fool!"
William angrily slammed the phone down, cursing, "What do you mean our Eastern Front has been in a sit-down war, Tsarist Russia’s gray livestock seem endless, the Eastern Corps has only two hundred thousand, if it weren’t for the reliable allies of the Knight Order, the gray livestock would have already invaded Silesia!"
The adjutant quickly counseled, "Your Highness, indeed the Western Front is brutal, the French are much more troublesome than the Russians."
In the development of these years, the Fasci Federation has fully equaled the strength of the former world hegemon,
"I certainly know the Western Front is the most important!"
Thousands die and are wounded daily at the Somme River, he, a grand Elector, stands equal to Kings of Württemberg, Bavaria, and the like, how could he not know.
"But the war has been going on for three full years, the Schlieffen plan for a quick victory against the French has already collapsed! Now, to win this war, defeating Tsarist Russia, occupying the entire black soil of Ruthenia is our only chance for victory!"
William wished he could personally charge to Schönbrunn Palace, to question the old, dim-witted Emperor why he was unwilling to change a plan that simply wouldn’t work!
At this time in Debang, each state had its own army, which during wartime was unified under the General Staff’s command.
The Eastern Corps personally led by William II has two hundred thousand men, mostly from the Brandenburg army, with the rest composed of troops from Saxony and other states.
On the entire Eastern Front battlefield, besides his Eastern Corps, there are also the Bohemia Corps, Hungarian Corps, Galicia Corps, but these Crown Lands’ armies suffered a humiliating defeat initially, with heavy losses, now can only assume defensive duties.
The true backbone of the Eastern Front still depends on those Baltic Germans, the Knight Order Country at its peak once mobilized 1.2 million troops, resisting the desperate collapse of Debang initially, stabilizing a tottering situation.
"The promised aid from the British must be prioritized for the Western Front, then what about the promised domestic supplies from the General Staff, why is every delivery lacking, reported as increasing civilian allocation, who is actually fighting at the front?"
The adjutant’s voice was somewhat bitter, "Your Highness, the domestic situation is also unoptimistic, due to mass issuance of government bonds, inflation is spiraling, the people’s lives are difficult, anti-war demonstrations and strikes are frequent, even Vienna is restless."
"They hide safely at the rear, isn’t it just a matter of eating less, doing more hard labor? My soldiers are on this damned front, constantly worrying about losing their lives, and end up having supplies slashed by the Emperor, allocated to civilians?"
William felt his temples throbbing, his blood pressure about to burst through his crown.
The adjutant just smiled bitterly, the domestic prices have skyrocketed tenfold, the allocation for everyone barely meets daily needs, fuel, food, clothing are all in short supply.
Bread is filled with wood shavings.
Women must replace their husbands, bearing heavy physical labor, causing many children to be uncared for and wandering the streets.
Many schools even dismantled desks for firewood, citizens have to go countryside to chop wood for winter.
In Berlin streets, even the garbage is left unmanaged, stinking heaps, rats, and vermin are everywhere, even spawning demons and the like, as if returning to the Middle Ages.
Really fulfilling the saying "Frontline soldiers must devote themselves wholeheartedly to the battlefield, obey orders, and fight fiercely, but those at the back must consider many things" is nonsense.
Domestic material shortages are unavoidable, firstly overseas routes are blocked.
The French blew up the Suez Canal, and occupied Gibraltar, the Mediterranean’s gateway, the Mediterranean has effectively become the Allies’ inland sea.
The Allies’ overseas routes must reroute to the Atlantic.
The British sea power advantage didn’t thus manifest, instead, the Allies’ "sea wolves," submarine forces, are active day and night in the Atlantic, wantonly hunting unprotected merchant ships.
Secondly, too many people are requisitioned for the front, and even logistics.
The Ottomans, originally planning to join the battle and avenge Tsarist Russia, hesitated when the Mediterranean was completely blockaded, and Debang’s Adriatic Fleet was trapped in the bathtub and unable to come out, repeatedly delaying the promised entry time.
"These cowardly and incompetent Turkic barbarians, do they really think that once the Allies win, Tsarist Russia will abandon its ambition to annex Constantinople?"
The territorial ambition of Tsarist Russia has always been unending, and their appetite is good enough. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have indiscriminately devoured so much land deemed worthless by many Europeans.
And those Czechs, I have long said they should be kicked out of Debang, but Franz insisted on bringing them into the Empire, and now they are causing trouble again.
The Habsburg Family has ruled Bohemia for nearly four hundred years, but in William’s view, its Germanization process is worse than the Teutonic Order’s integration of its Polish and Baltic people.
Now, with the first batch of loyal noble officers and soldiers to the German Emperor lost in this meat grinder of a war, Czech national sentiment has rekindled, and many Czechs believe the promises made by the Slav Father.
Conversely, the Poles of the Knight Order Country have no interest in the Slav Father, and can be said to be anti-Russian pioneers, with a fiercely strong fighting spirit.
Across the Eastern Front, currently only the Knight Order Country, Brandenburg, Bohemia, and other Eastern States, along with the Hungarian Kingdom, can fight against the Russian behemoth.
Tsarist Russia’s performance is far from what the Allies expected, not merely a colossus with feet of clay to be easily kicked over and fragmented.
The substantial capital injection from the Fasci Federation has enabled them to establish a rather robust industry, and then
Bang bang...
Heavy footsteps sounded.
"The Grand Master is back!"
"The Grand Master returns victorious!"
William dare not neglect this Grand Master in the slightest, as the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order is his cousin, who vowed to offer all of himself to God and thus did not marry nor leave offspring.
According to the family plans informed by his father, after his uncle’s death, the Teutonic Order would be reorganized into the Polish German Kingdom, to be inherited by himself through a will.
Then, if they could merge the kingdom into Debang, it would be a situation where Habsburg and Hohenzollern stand north and south, potentially restructuring Debang into a bi-realm empire co-ruled by two emperors.
But this is conditional upon their victory!
Otherwise, this country, cobbled together from Baltic, Prussian, and parts of Polish territory, would surely be dismembered after the war.
The Grand Master is a lean middle-aged man, with a personality resembling his brother—stern, rigid, even somewhat harsh—but still winning almost all the soldiers’ admiration.
Because he eats and lives with the soldiers, and always leads charge in battles.
This is the tradition of European nobles, but as many noble officers have died on the battlefield for this
"Cousin, how is the situation at the front now."
William clenched his fists as the situation had deteriorated to this state, thinking it meets what his father said before his death about reaching the critical moment of the family’s survival.
Just not knowing how much effect his father’s "trump card" could render.
Because he eats and lives with the soldiers, and always leads charge in battles.
This is the tradition of European nobles, but as many noble officers have died on the battlefield for this
"Cousin, how is the situation at the front now."
William clenched his fists as the situation had deteriorated to this state, thinking it meets what his father said before his death about reaching the critical moment of the family’s survival.
Just not knowing how much effect his father’s "trump card" could render.
Because he eats and lives with the soldiers, and always leads charge in battles.
This is the tradition of European nobles, but as many noble officers have died on the battlefield for this
"Cousin, how is the situation at the front now."
William clenched his fists as the situation had deteriorated to this state, thinking it meets what his father said before his death about reaching the critical moment of the family’s survival.
Just not knowing how much effect his father’s "trump card" could render.
Because he eats and lives with the soldiers, and always leads charge in battles.
This is the tradition of European nobles, but as many noble officers have died on the battlefield for this
"Cousin, how is the situation at the front now."
William clenched his fists as the situation had deteriorated to this state, thinking it meets what his father said before his death about reaching the critical moment of the family’s survival.
Just not knowing how much effect his father’s "trump card" could render.