Chapter 418 The Eastern Front Offensive Ends

While the German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn's plan to attack the Polish salient from the north and south was gradually being implemented, the German Eastern Front Commander-in-Chief Hindenburg and his Chief of Staff Ludendorff were also plotting their own plans.

On September 11, 1915, the German Neman River Army and the Russian Fifth Army fought fiercely in the Riga area.

Riga is located in the lower reaches of the Daugava River and is the first barrier for East Prussia to St. Petersburg.

If Riga is lost, the road to St. Petersburg will be extremely flat, and the safety of St. Petersburg will not be guaranteed.

As the capital of the Russian Empire, the importance of St. Petersburg is self-evident. In order to protect the safety of St. Petersburg, Grand Duke Nicholas ordered to defend Riga at all costs and block the German army on the other side of the Daugava River.

Nicholas II also sent an order requiring the defenders of Riga not to retreat a step. The city is still there, and the city is broken and the people will die.

The German Neman River Army is a small-scale army with only about 120,000 people.

The Russian Fifth Army was also understaffed, with a total number of only slightly more than the Neman River Army, but less than 140,000.

What's more terrible is that compared to the negligible difference in numbers, the Russian army had a greater gap in weapons and equipment.

Among the 140,000 Russian troops, nearly 20,000 lacked weapons and equipment, and even the most basic rifles were not fully equipped.

The Germans were uniformly equipped with standard weapons and had sufficient artillery and logistics.

The result of the battle between two armies with such obvious differences was actually predictable.

In this era of war, the number of people is not so important. Compared with the number of people, more advanced weapons and equipment and more sufficient logistical supplies are the key to determining victory or defeat.

But in these two aspects, the Russian army was far behind the German army, which also doomed the result of this war to be a tragic defeat for Russia.

Under the fierce artillery fire of the Germans, the Russian army retreated step by step, and successively lost the Shavli, Bonevizh, Mitau and Kovno fortresses. Riga was also declared broken after the Germans besieged it for more than half a month.

Starting from September, the Russians sent telegrams for help almost every day to London, Paris and Sydney.

From the initial request to the final request or even begging, the Russians were obviously panicked. They urgently hoped that their allies would launch an attack on the Western Front and the Balkans to force some German troops to return for assistance.

Arthur and Britain and France had the same view that they could pit Russia, but they must not harm Russia.

In order to save this endangered ally, Britain and France promised to launch a large-scale attack on the Western Front immediately. Arthur also personally called Nicholas II back, saying that the Australasian army would do its best to attack in the Balkans.

On September 11, 1915, while Hindenburg launched the Riga offensive and defense, Martin led an army of 200,000 to launch a fierce attack on Sarajevo, a major city in Bosnia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This originally not-so-famous small city became famous all over the world because of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before the outbreak of the war.

There were not many Austro-Hungarian garrisons in Sarajevo, with a total of less than 30,000 people.

In fact, looking at the entire southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there are less than 400,000 defenders.

Among them, there are more than 200,000 on the Serbian border, and the border with Romania, that is, the southern Carpathian Mountains, also has more than 100,000 troops.

The defenders in the Bosnia region near Montenegro only have more than 100,000 people.

After nearly a month of fighting, Division Commander Martin has eliminated nearly 40,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, and his own losses are less than 20,000.

Compared with Division Commander Martin, the progress of Serbia and Romania is much slower. Their weapons and equipment are not as advanced as the Australasian army, and the combat capability of the Austro-Hungarian army should not be underestimated.

In order to break through Sarajevo, Division Commander Martin assembled hundreds of artillery and launched a bombing of Sarajevo for more than ten hours.

Subsequently, a large number of Greek and Montenegrin troops launched a charge, followed closely by the Australasian army.

The reason why the Balkan army worked so hard is also easy to understand. Division Commander Martin promised personally that as long as the Balkan army performed bravely in the battle, Australasia would protect the interests of the Balkan countries.

How much territory the Balkan countries could occupy basically depended on the attitudes of the major powers. It would also be a good thing for the Balkan countries to gain the support of Australasia.

Before Riga was captured, Sarajevo had already been captured. Division Commander Martin, with less than 200,000 troops, decided to go around the Bosnia region to the other side of the Danube, unite with Serbia, and encircle the Austro-Hungarian army on the Serbian border.

The Austro-Hungarian army on the Serbian border had about 200,000 troops, more than half of which were deployed in the border area between Bosnia and Serbia.

As most of the Austro-Hungarian troops near Montenegro had been eliminated, the army led by Division Commander Martin did have the hope of bypassing Bosnia and encircling the main force on the southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

On September 23, the Austro-Hungarian army began to show signs of retreat. At the same time, Serbia also received a notice from Martin and launched a large-scale offensive in the border area, slowing down the retreat of the Austro-Hungarian army.

On the afternoon of September 24, after the Australasian army eliminated a small number of Austro-Hungarian troops, it finally arrived in the heart of the Bosnia region. To the east was the border between Bosnia and Serbia.

The retreating Austro-Hungarian army soon encountered the Australasian army, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle, but the Austro-Hungarian army was obviously unable to withstand the charge of the Greek and Montenegrin armies, and the retreat was repelled by Australasia.

You must know that while the indigenous army, the Greek and Montenegrin army launched a charge, the Australasian army quickly built artillery positions in the rear and launched a fierce bombardment on the Austro-Hungarian army.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire had world-class artillery technology, the long-term war consumed a large amount of material reserves in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition, in cooperation with Germany, a large number of elite troops were transferred away, resulting in insufficient weapons and equipment for the defenders in the border areas, and they fell behind in the artillery fire of both sides.

After the failed retreat, the fate of this Austro-Hungarian army can be imagined. Being attacked from both sides by the Australasian army and the Serbian army, and missing the best time to retreat, this Austro-Hungarian army was like a turtle in a jar, and there was no way out.

On September 25, almost at the same time, both sides launched an attack on the Austro-Hungarian army. More than 500,000 troops fearlessly charged towards the Austro-Hungarian army of less than 200,000, and the artillery fire and gunfire in the battle zone continued.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no reinforcements, and other troops on the southern border were either pinned down by Romania or had long been eliminated by the Australasian army.

The main force was far away in Poland and it was impossible to rush back in a short time.

Unless this Austro-Hungarian army of less than 200,000 can hold out for at least ten days, otherwise, its demise is only a matter of time.

On October 7, the Austro-Hungarian army held out for more than ten days, and was eventually eliminated and captured by the Balkan Front Army led by Division Commander Martin.

The Austro-Hungarian army totaled more than 198,000 people, with more than 55,000 killed, more than 118,000 injured, and more than 140,000 captured.

In addition to the Austro-Hungarian army that was previously eliminated in Australasia and on the Montenegrin border, the Austro-Hungarian border had lost more than half of its nearly 400,000 troops, and there were less than 100,000 soldiers left.

Such news was a devastating blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As early as when 200,000 troops were besieged, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had already withdrawn 300,000 troops to the south to support the southern border.

But the problem is that the mobilization of troops is not simple, especially when the army is deep in the Russian interior.

What's more, the Austro-Hungarian army also undertook part of the combat mission. If troops were suddenly withdrawn, it would also be a blow to Germany's combat plan.

At this time, Germany's offensive also encountered considerable trouble.

First, the Russian Fifth Army noticed Hindenburg's conspiracy to encircle the entire Shaveli region, and evacuated the Shaveli region despite the order of Nicholas II, avoiding the situation of being surrounded by Germany.

Although this led to Germany occupying a large area of ​​Russian territory, it also occupied the transportation hub of Shaveli.

However, Germany's plan to encircle and annihilate the Russian army on a large scale did not succeed. Although Russia suffered heavy losses, it still had the strength to fight.

At the same time, because the German army went deep into the hinterland of Russia, it also faced the pressure and trouble of logistics brought by the poor primitive roads in Russia, just like the Russian army.

The logistics supply line from Germany to the war zone is very long, and the transportation in the Russian area is not very convenient, which leads to the poor logistics supply of the German army deep into the hinterland of Russia.

When the supply of weapons, ammunition and artillery shells was not so sufficient, the German offensive also lost momentum.

After breaking through Riga, Germany's ice even reached the Minsk area, but did not cross the Tynieber River. It was like a deflation and could no longer move forward.

At this time, the news of the loss of the southern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire continued to come. After communicating with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire transferred most of its troops, resulting in the German-Austrian coalition forces lacking more troops to launch an attack, and the strategy of attacking the Eastern Front was forced to be suspended.

The German army currently does not have sufficient troops and does not have sufficient transportation capacity to meet the logistics supply of the front-line troops.

In addition, the battle on the Eastern Front had lasted for a long time, and the soldiers were very tired and in urgent need of rest.

After repeated consideration, the German General Staff chose to stop the offensive on the Eastern Front and temporarily focus on the Western Front to guard against the possible large-scale offensive by Britain and France that had been rumored.

Of course, the focus was only temporarily shifted back to the Western Front. Falkenhayn assured William II that as long as the transportation roads on the Eastern Front were improved, the offensive on the Eastern Front would continue.

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