Rise of Australia

Chapter 970: Each country has its own thoughts

The Germans chose to deploy an encirclement on the Eastern Front, and were forced to choose a strategic contraction on the Western Front to deal with the attacks from Britain, France and Australia.

Strategic contraction means being forced to give up large tracts of land in northern France, and even Paris will have to be handed over to the French.

There is no other way. The French are very persistent in Paris. If they want to fight the French to death in Paris, they will have to tie down more than 200 million German troops.

This is simply impossible for Germany today. Let alone 200 million troops, even 100 million troops are completely out of the question.

As a result, French cities such as Orleans, Paris, Amiens and Reims were on the list of cities to be abandoned by the Germans.

Although they were planning to give up these cities, the Germans would not give them to the French for nothing. Rather than handing them back to the French, the Germans hoped to have Britain or Australasia occupy these cities, or even find an opportunity to sow discord between the three great powers of the Allies, Britain, France and Australia.

In order to achieve this goal, the German army decided to temporarily hold the defense line from Tours to Orleans and adopt a strategy of gradual concession to the British, French and Australian troops in the Normandy region.

A very important reason for this was that the main French forces were located south of the Tours and Orleans lines, and most of the troops that landed in Normandy were British and Australasian troops.

If the army that landed in Normandy occupied Paris, Amiens and other areas, it would be uncertain whether the British would hand over these cities intact.

In addition to formulating plans for further strategic contraction, the German army on the Western Front also gradually transferred its main forces to Belgium and Luxembourg.

The strong fortresses in Belgium are still very useful. If used for defense, they can also delay the offensive speed of the British, French and Australian troops.

Of course, another important reason is that Belgium and Luxembourg have a large number of local people.

If Britain, France and Australia bomb Belgium and Luxembourg recklessly, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the Belgian and Luxembourg governments in exile, and even provoke hostility among the Belgians and Luxembourgers towards Britain, France and Australia.

But if these areas were not bombed, Germany's defenses in these areas would become extremely strong. If there were no harassment from the air force, it would be no problem to delay for several months or even a year just relying on the army's persistence.

This is equivalent to giving the choice completely to Britain, France and Australia. No matter which option is chosen, it will not make the attack of Britain, France and Australia so smooth.

One of the important reasons for establishing a defense line in Belgium and Luxembourg was to protect Germany's Ruhr area.

There is no way. The Ruhr area, as the industrial heart of Germany, is located in the west of Germany and quite close to the border.

The Ruhr area is much closer to Belgium and the Netherlands than to Berlin, the capital of Germany. If Belgium and the Netherlands were handed over to Britain, France and Australia, they would be able to launch attacks from these areas and reach the Ruhr area at a very fast speed.

Germany, which still has its homeland, can still try to resist, but if its homeland has been occupied, how can Germany win the war?
Starting from March 1939, the British, French and Australian troops that landed in Normandy were surprised to find that the attack on the German army suddenly became much smoother.

A position that used to take several days of fighting could now be taken with just a few waves of charge. Although a considerable number of soldiers would be killed or injured, the difficulty of conquering the position had been reduced by several levels compared to before.

Although the British, French and Australian troops did not understand what was happening in Germany, this was obviously good news.

Taking advantage of the German problems, the Normandy Landing Army quickly launched an attack on the entire Normandy, and it took only a few weeks to completely occupy the entire territory of Normandy.

Later, it became natural to recapture Paris, conquer Troyes, march into Amiens, and head north to Lille.

The French army recaptured Paris in March before the French themselves even realized what was happening.

Of course, it would be more accurate to say that the French army entered Paris together with the British and Australian troops rather than the French army recaptured Paris.

Because during the entire process of attacking Paris, the French contributed very little, or even nothing.

The total number of German troops stationed in Paris did not exceed 10,000. Under the continuous bombing by the British and Australian air forces, the German troops stationed in Paris soon chose to flee north.

Paris was recaptured in this way, which was something the British, French and Australian armies and governments, as well as most European people, had never expected.

Although it was easy for Germany to capture Paris at that time, Paris should not have been recaptured so easily.

This also led to a consensus among governments and people of almost all countries, that is, there were problems within Germany, and Germany no longer had enough troops to defend such an important city as Paris.

Upon hearing this news, the most excited countries were not Britain, France and Australia, but Russia, which had won two major victories in succession in the battles of Moscow and Sudalingrad.

Since there were problems within Germany, Russia should also launch a major counterattack. Not only should it fully recover the territories lost by Russia, but it should also fully occupy the entire Poland, even station troops in East Prussia, and first capture the German capital of Berlin.

This was the first thought of Russian ruler Sudarlin when he learned of the problems within Germany.

Although Germany is currently at the end of its strength, it is not so easy to conquer the whole of Germany.

More importantly, whoever can occupy more important regions and cities in Germany will be the first to benefit from Germany.

For example, the plan to occupy the Ruhr area formulated within Australasia was based on Germany's powerful industrial scale in the Ruhr area, wasn't it?

The same was true when Russian plotters occupied Berlin, which, as Germany’s capital and largest city, had countless assets to loot.

This is very important for Russia, which is currently poor and seriously injured. It can not only speed up Russia's recovery, but also allow Russia to quickly get out of the shadow of war and take this opportunity to become a stronger industrial and economic power.

As for the Ruhr area in Germany, the Russians also have ideas, but the problem is that the Ruhr area is in the west of Germany and is even quite close to the border.

Russia is located to the east of Germany. If Russia wants to occupy the Ruhr area, it must penetrate the entire Germany from east to west, which is much more difficult than occupying Berlin.

However, seeing that Britain, France and Australia have recaptured Paris, and their troops are even approaching the Franco-German border in front of the station, it is impossible for the Russian government and Sudalin to say that they are not jealous.

Because Russia occupied much more land than France, even though they took advantage of the victory in the Battle of Sudalingrad to push the front line hundreds of kilometers, they are still thousands of kilometers away from the original border.

Yes, the current front line is still thousands of kilometers away from the pre-war German-Russian border.

This only proves one fact, that is, Russia's strategic depth is too terrifying.

Excluding Russia, for any European country before the war, let alone the occupied land with a depth of more than a thousand kilometers, even if this range was reduced tenfold, just the occupied land with a depth of more than a hundred kilometers would still be a devastating blow to most European countries.

Even for most European countries, the occupation of land hundreds of kilometers in depth is likely to mean that the capital has been occupied or is very close to the front line.

For Russia, a country with an extremely exaggerated strategic depth, the occupied land of thousands of kilometers is still not far from Moscow.

In addition to recovering their own territory, the Russians also have ambitions for the Balkan Peninsula. Of course, since the Moscow Principality, the Russians' ambitions for territory have never stopped. Being able to create a country with a territory of tens of millions of square kilometers and a history of territorial expansion for hundreds of years, the Russians' ambitions for territory are beyond doubt.

After Italy surrendered, the two most influential countries in the entire Balkan Peninsula became Germany and Russia.

Germany is now losing ground. Given Russia's temperament, it is impossible for it to have no ideas about the Balkan Peninsula.

After all, Russia controlled most of the Balkan Peninsula before World War I. Faced with the Balkan Peninsula that was almost within reach, Russia had only one idea, which was to fight, and fight hard.

However, before attacking the Balkan Peninsula, there is a very important area that must be recovered, that is, Ukraine, the most important grain-producing area in the entire Russia.

Only by retaking Ukraine would Russia have enough food production to continue the war. More importantly, Ukraine borders the Balkan Peninsula, which is also the only possible direction for the Russian army to attack the Balkans.

Without Ukraine, Russia and the Balkans would not be connected, and an attack would be impossible.

The Russians were planning to retake their territory and attack Berlin and the Balkans, while Britain and Australasia were planning to occupy all of Northern Europe and attack Denmark.

There are no French participants in the current Nordic battlefield because France has deployed almost all of its troops in the battlefield in Western Europe.

This is also normal. Even after Paris was recovered, France still had large tracts of territory under the control of the Germans.

For the French government and the French people, it is obvious that regaining their territory is far more important than helping the Nordic countries regain their territory.

And for countries like Britain and Australasia, which do not occupy any territory, perhaps helping the Nordic countries will bring more benefits than helping France.

However, in terms of the division of labour among the Nordic armies, there was minimal cooperation between Britain and Australasia.

This is also normal. After all, the two countries have their own goals and each has the command of their own army, so it is naturally impossible for them to fight in coordination.

Australasia's main goal remains to help Nordic countries regain their territory and thereby deepen cooperation with Sweden.

If there is any hope, it would be best to bring all three Nordic countries into the Australasian sphere of influence and form a targeted Nordic defense alliance.

Currently, the plan is almost 2/3 complete. Except for Norway, which has not yet fully joined Australasia, Sweden and Finland are already considered to be Australasia's younger brothers.

However, the three Nordic countries are inseparable, and it is quite difficult for Norway to abandon Sweden and Finland and look for a strong partner on its own.

If Norway sided with Britain, wouldn't it become a common enemy of Sweden and Finland to a certain extent?

Judging from the pre-war appeasement policy, being a younger brother of the British may not be so reliable. This is also the reason why Sweden chose to embrace Australasia.

Whether it is a country in Europe or other regions, isn't the purpose of choosing a big power to ensure one's own security and development?

No matter how harmonious the relationship between two countries is, the most important theme remains to ensure one's own security.

The British may have a greater influence in Europe, but the British policy of appeasement alone is enough to dissuade some countries that are unable to protect themselves.

After all, relying on such a big brother still cannot guarantee your own safety, so why rely on such a big brother?

This is also an attractive point for Australasia, because while Britain and France were vigorously carrying out the policy of appeasement, Australasia representatives had repeatedly opposed the policy of appeasement at previous World League meetings and tried to protect the interests of those countries that were harmed.

In this regard, Australasia has undoubtedly gained a lot of goodwill, and with the contrast of Britain and France, the actions of the Australasia government have become more just.

Of course, Australasia’s choice to help Nordic countries regain their territory is not without demands.

As early as in the previous talks with the Swedish and Finnish governments, Australasia put forward its own request, which is to lease a piece of land on the Finnish island of Åland and the Swedish island of Gotland to build a military base.

Both islands are located in the Baltic Sea, and both islands are roughly located in the center of the Baltic Sea.

If military bases are established on these two islands, they will not only radiate to the entire Baltic Sea, but also expand their influence to Northern Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe.

If there are conflicts with the Russians in the future, the navy deployed here can threaten Russia's Baltic Fleet, and the air force and missile forces deployed here can threaten Russia's St. Petersburg and Moscow.

At the same time, the military bases deployed here can also serve as a form of protection for countries within Australasia.

After all, when Germany attacked Finland, the Russians took the opportunity to occupy large areas of northern Finland.

Coupled with the Russian Empire's long-term oppressive rule over Finland, the conflict between Finland and Russia is still very deep.

In order to protect a country like Finland, it is necessary to build a military base within the Baltic Sea.

This request was quickly agreed by the Swedish and Finnish governments, because Australasia also explained that the garrisons here are mostly small naval bases and air force bases, and not too many ground forces.

In this way, the military base will have little impact on Finland and Sweden and can also protect the two countries to a certain extent.

After all, it's not just Finland, Sweden also has a certain degree of defense against Russia. After all, the three Nordic countries are all monarchies. If they are accidentally involved in a Russian revolution, the Russian royal family will not have such a good ending.

If it weren't for Arthur's secret protection, coupled with a certain degree of threats, it would be questionable whether the Russian royal family could still exist in name only.

The Australasian army chose to continue to help Finland liberate its territory in order to intensify the conflict between Finland and Russia. After all, Finland is too close to Russia, and if some Finnish people are influenced by Russia, it will inevitably make Dmitry's rule in Finland unstable.

In order to avoid such an impact, it became necessary to make the Finns hate Germany.

Russia's sudden occupation of northern Finland was an obvious excuse. Even if the Russians chose to back down and return the land, Australasia could write off Russia's actions.

It would be even better if the Russians chose not to give in. Not only would it further intensify the conflict between Finland and Russia, but Arthur would not mind teaching Russia a lesson again when the war was about to end.

As long as Russia does not have an atomic bomb, Australasia can unscrupulously magnify Russia's actions.

Anyway, the entire United Nations is backing them up. At worst, they can give up certain interests and join forces with the British to push the entire United Nations to declare war on Russia.

To put it simply, the advantage lies in Australasia at this time, and Russia is simply unable to compete with Australasia in Northern Europe.

(End of this chapter)