I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 609 Revenge
George did not take the German fighter planes seriously. Germany's biggest problem was its lack of industrial capacity.

This sounds unlikely. Germany is the country with the highest industrial output in Europe. How could it have insufficient industrial capacity?

The industrial capacity here refers to peacetime.

After the war broke out, all countries had entered a state of war, and everything served the war. Germany immediately revealed its true colors.

In 1914, the population of the Russian Empire was 1.65 million, while that of Germany was only 6700 million.

When the war broke out, the Russian Empire and Germany were similar, both mobilizing about 300 million people.

For the Russian Empire, 300 million people was just a primary mobilization, not a total war mobilization.

For Germany, 300 million is not the limit, but it already accounts for 54% of Germany's working-age population.

In other words, Germany can continue to mobilize.

However, Germany's mobilization has reached a level that affects domestic industrial production.

The reason why the Germans did not continue to use poison gas bombs on a large scale on the battlefield was also due to insufficient production.

George's confidence lies in the fact that if the front line loses 6 bombers, Amur can produce 60 within a month.

The bomber has self-defense capabilities. There are machine gunners on its back and bottom, not only facing forward but also backward. More than half of the nine people in a crew are machine gunners, and its firepower far exceeds that of fighter jets.

While the Germans shot down 6 bombers, the bombers also shot down more than 20 fighters.

This was the first time German fighter planes appeared on the battlefield.

The next time Russian bombers are deployed, they will be escorted by fighter jets.

After Karl's wedding in Polis, he did not return to Germany immediately, but went to Petrograd with Nicholas.

George sent a telegram to Karl, telling him that the Russian army would launch a large-scale bombing of Berlin on January 1915, 1.

Karl took the train from Petrograd back to Constantinople that night.

"George, you can't do this!"

Karl was furious; his family was in Berlin.

"You didn't ask for my opinion when you used poison gas bombs on the front line."

George had to make William II feel fear so that the German army would restrain themselves.

"You were the first to use poison gas bombs, not us!"

Carl was very angry. The reputation of "Stingy George" was indeed well-deserved.

It’s really not the Germans’ fault.

A month earlier, French troops fired a barrage of tear gas shells at German positions.

Perhaps the French technology was not up to standard and the tear gas did not have the desired effect. The German army did not even realize that the French army had used chemical weapons until afterwards.

At the same time that the Germans were using chemical weapons to attack, the French were using chlorine gas in Ypres.

This time it finally worked, but not very well, because after the French used chlorine gas, the wind direction suddenly changed.

"Then you're going to take revenge on the French? Why are you using poison gas on my troops?"

George reminded Carl that every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor.

Carl looked embarrassed and speechless.

The Germans did not need to use poison gas against the French.

On the contrary, on the Tisza River line, the gap in strength between the German-Austrian coalition and the Russian-Romanian coalition was too large. Once Vasily and Andrei were prepared, even if Mackensen was a "tactical genius", it would be difficult for him to withstand the attack of the Russian-Romanian coalition.

The thing called "genius" falls too quickly.

Ruzynski, who performed outstandingly in the Battle of Galicia and was hailed as the "Conqueror of Galicia", performed mediocrely in the Battle of Łódź.

Hindenburg, who annihilated two Russian armies in the Battle of Tannenberg, was humiliated outside the city of Warsaw.

Alexander, who was praised by Peter after the Serbian campaign, was planning to compete with Stenovich for the control of the remaining Serbian troops in Sofia.

In the battle where Mackensen used poison gas, 7000 German soldiers were defeated by 100 Russian soldiers. The Germans had not even started to praise Mackensen before his halo was completely shattered.

In this situation, Mackensen could only rely on some auxiliary means to delay the Russian attack.

"George, Anne's relatives are also in Berlin—"

Karl tactfully reminded George that as part of the European ruling class, he should not kill each other.

Such is the nature of world war.

It is neither justice nor market. The reasons stated by newspapers in various countries are just excuses. What is written between the lines is ambition and power.

Karl probably believed that war was a game between royal families of various countries and that the traditions among the nobles should be followed and that doctors should not be punished.

There are some things George can't say directly.

The Russian Empire was not the only one to fall in World War I.

The four major empires, the Russian Empire, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, all perished in the First World War.

So William II should not think that he is safe hiding in Berlin. It is useless even if he hides in Antarctica.

"Nicholas, the youngest son of Amusa, was killed in battle on the Tisza River on the 25th—"

George sighed, this was why he had to take revenge.

Amusha is George's cousin Alexei Alexandrovich. Although not a direct relative, he still belongs to the Romanov family.

The reason why George informed Karl was that there were still some technical problems in bombing Berlin.

The nearest field airfield in the Russian Empire was more than 600 kilometers away from Berlin.

When fully loaded with fuel, the Russian bomber's maximum range is 800 kilometers.

This was a one-way ticket. Demeter's suggestion to George was to send fighter planes carrying aerial bombs from the aircraft carriers of the Baltic Fleet to bomb Berlin, shortening the distance to 200 kilometers.

This is indeed the best option, at least it can ensure that the fighter has enough fuel to return after dropping the bomb.

But this completely fails to reflect the significance of strategic bombing.

George only now realized the role of strategic bombers.

It’s not too late to realize it now.

Compared with Germany, Russia's biggest advantage is that it has abundant human resources.

Industrial production in Germany was very tight. Even though they recognized the role of airplanes and poison gas and had the corresponding technology, they were unable to organize large-scale industrial production due to limited human resources and raw materials.

The Russian Empire wanted to build it.

George has sent a telegram to Mario, asking Amur Airlines to develop a strategic bomber with a range of more than 1500 kilometers.

This requirement is not high.

Strictly speaking, it is not research and development, but production.

Because Amur Airlines' technology pool already had a design that met George's requirements, but there was no demand for it before, so it was not actually produced.

Like George, Vasily is not the type of person who would not fight back when he suffers a loss.

Since December 12, Vasily and Andrei concentrated all the heavy artillery of the 20th Army and the 12th Army to carry out intensive bombardment on the German defense line.

Mackensen's pressure doubled.

Large-scale artillery bombardment is a precursor to a campaign-level offensive, and the Russian army may launch an offensive at any time.

Although the Russian army does not have 305mm field guns, their 150mm heavy artillery is quite powerful and numerous. The 12th Army and the 13th Army have a total of 192 guns.

Only more professional artillery divisions are equipped with 150mm howitzers. The artillery regiments of ordinary infantry divisions are only equipped with 120mm howitzers.

For other countries involved in the war, 120mm is already heavy artillery.

305 That's perverted.

Germany also has the more perverted 420, but like the Austro-Hungarian Empire's 305, due to its small number, it does not have the ability to change the battlefield and can only be used to capture fortresses like the "Fortress of the Liège".

Under the intensive attacks of Russian heavy artillery, the German-Austrian coalition suffered heavy losses.

On the 29th, the Austrian Fifth Army finally could not bear it anymore and was forced to retreat.

George was stunned by the news.

The Russian army hadn't even deployed ground forces to attack yet, but they managed to drive the Austrians away just by relying on artillery fire?
This is too careless.

Conrad was helpless.

From the 20th to the 29th, the Russian army's large-scale artillery bombardment lasted for a full 9 days.

Before the German army launched the Battle of Ypres on the Western Front, it bombarded British positions for three days.

This was already the limit of the German army. Within these three days, the German army had used up all the artillery shells stored in the previous month.

Conrad didn't know how many artillery shells the Russian army had stored before the war.

Judging from the Russian army's posture, 9 days is obviously not the limit.

When the Russians first began their bombardment, Conrad, like Mackensen, ordered his troops to hold their positions.

Before the outbreak of the war, the military exercises commanded by Conrad mainly practiced offense and never defense.

Therefore, under the intensive attacks of the Russian army, the Austrian army suffered more serious losses than the German army, with more than 1500 soldiers killed and wounded every day.

Continuous bombardment was effective. The Austrian defense line was severely damaged and could not be repaired under the continuous bombardment of the Russian army.

On the 28th alone, the Austrian army suffered 4000 casualties.

Conrad finally couldn't stand it anymore.

The nine-day Russian bombardment earned Andrei the Order of St. George.

Artillery command has always been an art.

Artillery strikes are not random. Artillery shells have costs and artillery has a lifespan and cannot be wasted.

Austria is a weakling, so just ignore him.

The German defense line was very organized. When the Russian army bombarded, the German army hid in the anti-artillery holes, leaving only a few observers on the position. After the shelling ended, the soldiers in the anti-artillery holes quickly returned to the position to guard against the attack of the ground forces.

If no ground troops were deployed at this time and a second round of artillery bombardment was launched, the losses of the defenders could be imagined.

In that case, is it okay not to release the eagle until the rabbit is seen?

No.

The soldiers quickly returned to their positions after the shelling stopped, not only to guard against the attack of ground forces, but also to repair the fortifications damaged in the shelling.

Otherwise, under the continuous and intensive artillery attacks, if the damaged fortifications are not restored in time, once the ground forces are deployed to attack, the defenders will have no advantage at all.

Under Andrei's command, the Russian artillery performed brilliantly. Not only did the heavy artillery perform well, but they also made full use of the mobility of rocket launchers to hit and run, leaving Mackensen helpless.

The quality of the German artillery is no less than that of the Russian artillery.

One of the most important tasks of artillery is fire counterattack. Once an enemy artillery position is discovered, fire strikes must be launched against the enemy artillery position to destroy the enemy artillery.

The emergence of rocket launchers has completely changed this tactic.

Heavy artillery takes time to deploy, and once deployed it cannot be easily moved. This is the prerequisite for fire counterattack.

The rocket launcher fired and then ran away. By the time the German artillery technicians calculated the location of the rocket launcher position, the rocket launcher had already disappeared.

(End of this chapter)