I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 883 The Big Talker

Whether George likes it or not, the arms race between Russia and Germany will eventually end in war.

Russia did not declare war directly on the Kingdom of Italy in accordance with the agreement between it and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Instead, it announced that it would provide aid to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to resist the invasion of the Kingdom of Italy.

It can't be called an invasion.

Because the Italian Kingdom's army never invaded Yugoslavia.

After Germany openly broke the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and marched into the Rhine demilitarized zone, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia quietly adjusted its strategy and strengthened its defense line in the Isonzo River basin.

During World War I, the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire staged a long soap opera on the Isonzo River. Both sides suffered losses of over a million, and neither side was able to completely defeat the other.

After the end of World War II, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed and the Kingdom of Italy's opponent became the newly born Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Unlike the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia made full use of the terrain advantages of the Isonzo River basin and built complete defensive fortifications to keep the enemy out of the country.

In recent years, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia has been strengthening the Isonzo River defense line. Many permanent fortifications are built with reinforced concrete. There are not only a large number of bunkers in the defense line, but also supporting facilities such as communication trenches, kitchens, power stations, hospitals, factories, etc. Some larger fortifications even have trams inside. In terms of defense capabilities alone, it is even better than France's Maginot Line.

Due to terrain restrictions, the Italian army's armored forces could not be deployed during the offensive and could only rely heavily on infantry to launch attacks, just like in the last World War.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia’s defense line was equipped with fortress guns with a caliber of up to 340 mm.

The locations of these fortress guns are very prominent. After the bunkers were built with reinforced concrete, they were reinforced with logs and sandbags. Even if they were directly hit by large-caliber artillery shells, it would be difficult to cause fatal damage to the artillery.

Of course, if it is really hit directly by a large-caliber artillery shell, the artillery will be safe and sound, but the artillerymen in the position will most likely suffer heavy casualties due to the shock wave of the shell.

The Kingdom of Italy also had no chance to push up its heavy artillery.

The first wave of Italian attacks was strangled by the Yugoslav Air Force and machine gun bunkers, and the Yugoslav heavy artillery also had no chance to fire.

For three consecutive days, the attacking Italian army suffered heavy casualties, with losses reaching 4.4 people.

While the Italian Army and the Southern Army were fighting fiercely, Hungary issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Romania, demanding Transylvania, which had been ceded to the Kingdom of Romania through the Treaty of Trianon.

Princess Helen and King Michael made an urgent visit to Russia, requesting Russia to send reinforcements to Romania.

"Helen, calm down, this is exactly what the Germans want."

George knew that Moustache's goal was to force Russia to divide its troops.

Unlike Yugoslavia, Russia has not built a strong defense line in the border area. Once a war breaks out between Russia and Germany, both Russia and Germany will have no defenses and the war will be extremely brutal.

The German army's advantage was its rich experience and the morale boost from successive victories.

Russia's advantage is its strategic depth and unfathomable war potential.

George did not have high demands on Yugoslavia and Romania, as long as they could hold their defenses and not be quickly penetrated by the enemy.

As long as Russia can defeat Germany, even if Romania and Yugoslavia are destroyed, George can allow Boris and Michael to continue to be kings.

If Russia loses the war, all will be lost.

So at this time, Russia would never dare to divide its troops.

Helen had to settle for the next best thing and asked George to allow Mihaly to live in Russia to avoid any accidents.

"Helen, Mihaly is the king of the Kingdom of Romania. He must return to Bucharest and encourage Romanians to fight to the end. This is his responsibility."

George would not allow Mihaly to back down.

The battle hasn't even started yet and the king has already run away. How can we still win?

Carol's successful coup proved that Michael's rule in Romania was not solid.

If we desert the battlefield at this time, the pro-German elements in Romania will become more rampant.

Not only did George not allow Michael to stay in Russia, but he also asked Michael to declare a state of emergency in the Kingdom of Romania and to carry out a general mobilization immediately.

Once a state of emergency is declared, anyone in Romania who dares to spread words of surrender can be executed for treason without trial.

The titles that Carol sold during his tenure as king can also be taken back. None of these people have clean asses, and they will be found out once they are investigated.

"I will send troops to continue to protect you and your mother. Sooner or later, you will have to face all of this alone. You must learn to be strong and face any challenge bravely like a brave man."

George soothed her gently.

"I will!"

Although Mihaly's words were firm, he was obviously not confident.

Mihaly just turned 20 this year, and it is unknown when the huge shadow cast by the Carol coup will completely dissipate.

On the same day that Helene and Michael visited Russia, Hungary declared war on the Kingdom of Romania.

As George expected, the Romanian army in Transylvania was completely unable to stop the attack of the Hungarian army.

Part of the Romanian troops recruited in Transylvania took the opportunity to rebel and, together with the Hungarian army, launched an attack on the Romanian army.

Some Transylvanian civilians also took up arms and attacked officials sent by Romania and Romanian civilians who had moved to Transylvania.

George was as steady as a rock. As long as the Romanian army could hold the mountain defense line, even if Hungary took Transylvania, it would sooner or later return it to Romania. Compared with these secondary battlefields, George's focus was still on Berlin.

After the New Year, Germany's air raids on Britain changed, from sending hundreds of bombers and fighters every day last year to mainly relying on rockets, with fewer and fewer bombers being dispatched.

Alpha's intelligence personnel in Germany are still working, and the intelligence they send back shows that German factories have not stopped production, and the bombers produced have been stockpiled by Germany and not used.

On June 6, the weather in Alexandria was fine, and George got up and took a walk with Anne as usual.

"Qina's health is getting worse and worse. She has been hospitalized twice this year. It's really sad to see her haggard appearance."

Anne held George's arm, and there was endless sighing in her words.

The girl who once claimed that she could buy the whole of Russia has also grown old.

Yusupov's health is not good and he relies entirely on medication to stay alive.

This is also thanks to the medical progress made in Russia over the years.

If it were the imperial Russian era, Yusupov and Yusupova would most likely have passed away.

"This kind of thing is always difficult to avoid--"

George is not sad. Yusupov and Yusupova have lived wonderful lives and I believe they have no regrets.

"After this time, you'll have to retire completely, right?"

Before Anne could finish her words, Mannerheim arrived in an electric commuter car.

George stood still, waiting for Mannerheim's report.

"Grand Duke, war has broken out."

At 6 a.m. on June 22, Germany officially declared war on Russia, and World War II broke out.

经过近一年的筹备，德国集结了190个师共550万人、4900架飞机、3700辆坦克、47000门大炮、190艘军舰，分为三个集团军群，以闪击战的方式对俄罗斯发动袭击。

Compared with Russia, Germany had no secrets at all. George originally estimated that the Germans could only mobilize 500 million people, but he didn't expect there would be 50 more.

The mustache underestimated Russia's familiarity with blitzkrieg.

The Germans tried to replicate their quick victory over France, and almost at the same time as the German government declared war on Russia, German bomber groups had crossed the border into Russia and bombed important strategic targets within Russia.

The Russian Air Force was well prepared. The air force fighters deployed at the border airport took off to meet the enemy, and the bomber groups also took off at the same time to bomb targets within Germany.

At the same time as the air battle broke out, the German army, led by armored forces, launched a ground attack on Russia.

The first batch of troops dispatched by Russia were also armored troops.

By the time George arrived at the combat headquarters, Russian and German armored forces were already fighting in former Poland.

The battle was extremely fierce. Within three hours of the outbreak of the war, Russia lost more than 500 fighter jets.

The number of fighter planes lost by the German army also reached 300.

Russia's first-mover advantage is still very obvious. Its fighter jets are superior to German fighter jets in both performance and tactics.

The German army's advantage lies in the quality of its pilots.

"The losses of the 80th Air Force's fighters have exceeded %. Kitkov requests to withdraw to the rear for rest."

"Tell Kitkov that there is no rear now and he is the pilot. If all the pilots of the Fourth Air Force are dead, let him take over."

Peter has brought his pillow to the combat command center and is on standby 24 hours a day.

"The Germans are very cunning. They will lure our pilots into German territory and cooperate with ground anti-aircraft firepower. Once our pilots parachute, it will be difficult for the rescue team to rescue the pilots."

The Air Force Chief of Staff was Denisov, who had participated in the First World War.

"Didn't they read the updated combat manual before the war?"

Peter was furious. Experience was what the Russian Air Force lacked the most.

No matter what military unit you are in, the value of veterans is very important.

Although Russia has a large number of pilots, it cannot withstand this rate of loss.

"It was difficult for our pilots to stay sane in combat."

Denisov was embarrassed. Russians are known to be easily angered.

"Don't tell me the reason, I just want the result."

Peter was very angry. On normal days, everyone was full of confidence and shouted that as long as the war broke out, they could launch an air raid on Berlin as quickly as possible.

When the real fight started, all the problems began to be exposed one by one. It turned out that the Russians not only love to be bossy, but are also big talkers.

(End of this chapter)