Chapter 1335 The Helpless Russians 2
Chapter 1335 The helpless Russians 2
The third problem is that you have shortened the battle line and saved a lot of troops, but your opponent has also shortened the battle line and also has a huge number of mobile corps! The reason why Britain and France could resist the German attack on the Western Front was because they had strong industrial production capabilities! With lots of planes, tanks and heavy artillery, what about the Russians? There are not even enough machine guns and rapid-fire cannons. Therefore, the Russian General Staff concluded that if the front is shortened, the Russian Legion will still be unable to resist the opponent's attack!
Well, in this situation, once the Allies attack, they will definitely not be able to defend it, and even if they retreat, what should the Russian army do? In this case, besides resisting hard, holding back the opponent through huge sacrifices and losses, and then gradually retreating to delay time, the only thing the Russians can do is to discuss with their British and French allies, hoping that the latter can pull them back. Bundle!
It is now February. According to the original plan, Britain and France should launch the Battle of the Dardanelles in mid-March at the latest, that is, one month later. However, because the two fast battleships promised by the Japanese Navy were not in place, and the accompanying Japanese Army was also dead, the entire plan was delayed. Within 3 months, the Japanese Navy will not dispatch new battleships. But it doesn't matter. The British Royal Navy can consider temporarily sending a battleship squadron to fill this gap. Of course, the cost is also obvious. During this period, the Royal Navy can only stay in the port honestly, flying between aircraft, mine arrays and submarines. Protected by squatting pits.
However, it is not easy to replenish the losses in army and technical equipment. Britain and France understand very well that the German Army on the Western Front has also rested for a winter and will definitely find an opportunity to stretch its muscles in the coming year. Therefore, the British and French armies on the entire Western Front were ready. Most of the troops originally sent to the Dardanelles were mainly colonial troops, and the Japanese army formed the main force of the attack. However, now, without the main force, it is naturally impossible to act according to the original plan! (Don’t look down on the colonial army, the Anzacs are still very powerful)
So, after much talk, with Britain and France acting as intermediaries, and the Russians providing the Japanese with a batch of hard currency, the Japanese finally decided to send another batch of land forces to make up for the previous difference. However, even so, the arrival of this army was delayed until mid-April. The heavy losses of the Japanese fleet in the Indian Ocean also caused chain reactions, such as Greece's hesitation, which made Britain and France ready to take "special measures." Prepare for a change of leadership in Greece, but no matter what, the entire campaign will be delayed until early May!
But even so, while the Russians asked Britain and France to advance the attack time to the end of April, they were also mobilizing troops to the southern front. At this time, the Russian Legion no longer had the ability to launch a full-scale attack, so they could only Point attack, trying to delay time through continuous and short attacks. This time they chose the Hungarian troops in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and next time, at the beginning of the Battle of the Dardanelles, they will choose the German army!
To be honest, after a winter's rest, the Russian Legion did regain some strength. At least they have almost replenished their staff.
And it goes beyond that. The number of artillery and machine guns held has increased slightly according to the documents, but there are doubts as to the specific number that can be used.
The Russian Army has realized that if it cannot effectively conduct anti-tank operations, it will be difficult for them to contain the opponent's offensive, and using simple towed artillery and bunker firepower points for defense is too passive, so the Russians also learn from their opponents and use Trucks carry cannons for defensive operations, but because the stock of 3-inch rapid-fire cannons is not enough, they once again selected a batch of small artillery such as 6-pound cannons from supplies provided by the navy, warehouses, and the British. The principle of quantity over quality is an attempt to stop the German armor torrent. Of course, the specific effect can only depend on the battlefield situation.
The air force has also improved somewhat. It may be difficult for other things shipped from the Arctic Ocean route to reach the front line immediately, but engines and the like are still very fast, so the Russians used these engines to rearm their air force and maintained a strong presence in the Polish theater. An aviation force of approximately 400 aircraft of various types.
However, because a large number of pilots were lost before, the novices had little experience, so the combat effectiveness was relatively low. Moreover, the Russians seem to be very persistent in ground bombing. Even though the number of imported engines is not large, they still produce some bombers.
As for the navy? Admiral Essen's Russian Baltic Fleet is restricted to the Gulf of Finland and is not allowed to go out easily. The range of action of submarines and destroyers has also been greatly reduced. This is because the German Navy performed too powerfully in last year's battle, and the main force of the High Seas Fleet was fighting against the British. The Grand Fleet repeatedly gained advantages in the confrontation, and Count Spee also performed well. With the Russians covered by British bombers, he destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the first battle. After the Black Sea Fleet failed, the Russians really did not dare to fight again. Send the Baltic Fleet up.
And to be honest, because the army previously transferred a large number of artillery pieces from the navy, many Russian destroyers, cruisers and even capital ships did not have enough secondary guns... It is easy for the prince to raise artillery from the German High Seas Fleet, and a considerable part of it is raised from warehouses, not from the front line. But for the Russian Navy, the army had no intention of returning the artillery from the day it took it away... And they will definitely not come back. Most of these artillery pieces were either destroyed or became trophies of the Germans.
In short, with the arrival of the new year, before the start of the war, the Russian response was not active and focused on procrastination. This cannot be entirely blamed on the short-sightedness of the Russian commanders. More importantly, Russia's national power has been overstretched. If Russia could decisively choose to shrink and abandon Russian Poland last year, the current situation would be much better. But now, after losing a large number of experienced officers, soldiers and technical equipment, even if it realizes the benefits of shrinking There are also some limitations.
However, history, or the Germans, are not willing to give Russia a chance to make corrections. Just as the Russians are still thinking about how to stabilize the front and wait for a turnaround, Britain and France are preparing for the Dardanelles Battle that has been delayed and is expected to break the situation. At that time, the Allied Eastern Front Army was ready to launch the first offensive battle of the year!
Third update today~~~! Please subscribe and reward~~~!