I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 699 Old Friend
Germans don't need gas, they need bread.

As early as the winter of 1917, cabbage became the staple food of the Germans, and since then, Germany's food crisis has never been resolved.

After the United States entered the war, Germany's coastline was completely blocked and it could no longer obtain food from abroad.

Because the Paris Peace Conference had not yet ended, the Allied blockade of the German coastline had not been lifted. In the past winter, a serious humanitarian crisis broke out in Germany. Herbert Hoover, who was in charge of relief in Europe, estimated that at least 25 people died of disease and hunger.

A considerable number of them are infants and children.

The last time George saw Karl was in 1914.

When old friends meet again, they look at each other in silence.

Compared to five years ago, George has hardly changed, but Carl has aged a lot, and George is almost unrecognizable.

"At least I'm alive—"

Karl's voice was hoarse, and the smile he tried to force out was uglier than crying.

"Is Maria okay?"

Carl's wife is George's cousin.

"Not very well. Maria had an illness last year and almost took away half her life—"

Carl was talking about the American influenza pandemic.

The influenza pandemic was one of the reasons for the end of the world war.

Last year alone, the influenza pandemic killed more than 2500 million people.

Others say the number should be 5000 million.

Whether it was 2500 million or 5000 million, the death toll from the Spanish flu surpassed that of the world wars.

The situation in Russia is not bad and the impact is not great.

Germany was particularly affected.

"Berlin has become a hell on earth. All animals have been eaten by people, even bats are not spared—"

Karl burst into tears and asked George to provide assistance to Germany.

"Your Majesty has paid the price for his mistakes. The Germans spend every day in pain and regret. We made mistakes and deserved the punishment, but do we have to starve all Germans to death to atone for our sins?"

Karl was filled with grief and indignation; the situation in Germany could not be delayed.

Germany's surrender was based on Wilson's "Fourteen Points".

When Germany surrendered, there were still 250 million German troops on the front line, which meant they were not without the ability to fight.

The Germans thought that the Allies would punish Germany on the basis of the "Fourteen Points".

Unexpectedly, even Wilson had gradually abandoned the "Fourteen Points", and the Germans' wishes were completely dashed.

The German army was now disarmed and unable to fight again.

After the German surrender, the Allies did not lift the naval blockade on Germany, causing Germany to fall into a serious humanitarian crisis. The German army then blamed the defeat on the betrayal of the German government, which planted the seeds of hatred in the hearts of all Germans.

"Russia lost 2000 million people in the world war, what do you want me to do -"

George sympathized with the Germans, but that was all he could do.

The Germans are indeed pitiful.

Aren't Russians pitiful?
Don’t listen to what Karl said. If it was Russia that was defeated, Russia would not even be as good as Germany today.

In these troubled times, no one has the right to pity anyone else.

Carl stood up by holding the armrest of the chair, his body trembling, his head lowered, and he slowly knelt down facing George.

"George, please—"

George wanted to help Carl up, but Carl refused George's help, his eyes full of pleading. This——

That’s okay.

When George read this history in his previous life, he was very curious about why the mustache guy wanted to attack Russia.

If the little mustache guy didn't attack Russia, but instead integrated resources and focused on attacking Britain, would Britain really move its capital to Canada?
Before the outbreak of the World War, the strategy George formulated for the Russian Empire was to focus on defense, allowing the German and British-French coalition forces to consume each other, and the Russian Empire would reap the benefits.

Due to the mistakes of Nikolai the Younger and Zhilinsky, the Russian army did not resolutely implement George's strategy and ended up in a mess.

The conflict between Russia and Germany was mainly based on the conflict between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Germany and France are the sworn enemies.

Now, in the minds of Germans, hatred towards France has not only not decreased, but is continuing to grow.

If Russia takes action at this time, it will gain the gratitude of the Germans to a certain extent.

Of course, George would not take the Germans' gratitude as a talisman.

If Russia wants to protect its own interests, it still needs to have strong strength.

"My friend, I hope you understand that the situation in Russia is also very bad right now, so the help I can provide will be limited."

George made it clear first.

"Thank you, George. Thank you very much. As God knows, Germany will never forget this."

Carl hugged George and cried loudly. The emotions that had been pent up for five years were finally released at this moment.

Karl did not expect to get enough aid from Russia, as long as it could prevent the Germans from starving to death.

In fact, before Karl arrived in Constantinople, contact between the Russian and German armies had already begun.

When the armistice came into effect, there were approximately 60 German troops on the Eastern Front.

After surrendering, these German troops were imprisoned in prisoner-of-war camps by the Russian army and participated in Russia's reconstruction work.

Warsaw was badly damaged during the World War, with less than 100 intact houses left in the entire city.

Russia does not support idlers. The German army must work to get food.

During this period, an incident occurred that almost cost the lives of all the captured German soldiers.

During the World War, more than 200 million Russian soldiers were captured by the Germans.

After the armistice, fewer than 140 million prisoners of war returned to Russia from Germany.

Brusinov was furious and decided to take revenge on the German prisoners of war to avenge the dead Russian prisoners.

Brusinov’s adjutant reminded Brusinov that the situation of the prisoners captured by the Russians was not much better.

Not all of the missing prisoners of war were executed by the Germans; a considerable number of these deaths were caused by the American influenza pandemic.

The Russian prisoners of war were also restless in the camps, often rioting in groups and trying to escape back to Russia. Kornilov, who was appointed as the supreme commander of the Russian army by Kerensky, was once a prisoner of the Germans.

In 1915, the German-Austrian coalition launched a counterattack against the Russian army. Kornilov, then commander of the 48th Division, was seriously injured and captured.

In the prisoner-of-war camp, Kornilov tried to escape twice but failed. The third time, he drank a lot of water, which caused his heart rate to accelerate, so he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war hospital. Here he changed into an Austrian military uniform and escaped from the hospital. He hid during the day and moved out at night. With the help of a shepherd, he swam across the Danube to Romania and finally returned to Russia.

Kornilov's escape caused a sensation. Nikolai personally met with Kornilov and awarded him a hero medal. The media even promoted Kornilov as a national hero.

All Russian soldiers who escaped from the POW camps would be executed if they were caught by the German army.

Brusinov accepted this explanation, but did not give up his revenge.

There were also many German, Austrian, and Ottoman prisoners of war captured by Russia.

How many of them can return home alive depends on God's will.

(End of this chapter)