Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 117 Construction Begins! Eastern Front Fortress Group!
In Lane's plan, Ludendorff's attack on the Russian Empire should be an attritional attack consisting of a long front and prolonged trench warfare on the front line.

Its core purpose was to force the Russian Empire to realize that the empire was unwilling to expand its territory on the Eastern Front, and eventually, through a long tug of war, to drive the Russian Empire's troops to the southern border of East Prussia.

Such an operation would be enough to allow the Russian Empire's huge manpower and material resources to support them in launching front-line charges again and again, but it would also consume most of the Russian Empire's military forces in a foreseeable short period of time measured in months.

According to Ryan's own calculations, if the offensive originally planned for Tannenberg could have lasted from September 12th to October 12th, then at least 100,000 troops of the Russian Empire could have been consumed in that entire month.

This is not an exaggerated number, because in history, the Russian Empire was almost surrounded and annihilated by Germany at the military level. For this reason, their army commanders even chose to commit suicide to apologize to the Tsar.

Even taking a step back, Ryan actually told Ludendorff that they could advance first when attacking, but not too fast.

This statement was actually approved by Field Marshal Schlieffen, because advancing too quickly would have many adverse effects on the empire.

One is that the Empire is currently fighting a major war on the Western Front. If the Eastern Front advances too quickly, the Empire will lose its supply advantage on the Western Front, forcing the troops to slow down their advance.

The second reason is that the empire really does not want to engage in a large-scale war with the Russian Empire on the Eastern Front.

The Russian Empire had very deep trade relations with the Empire in the past few years. Going to war would not only affect the economies of both sides, but would also force the Empire to occupy the Russian Empire's territory to ensure its demand for agricultural products.

Of course, this is not an absolute requirement, because although the scale of trade is not small, the empire can still make up for it by purchasing from the Os Empire and the Hengali Kingdom.

After all, the current Russian Empire is not yet the future super-industrial giant that the Earth will become. Its main products are still agricultural and sideline products, and its impact on the empire is not serious.

On the contrary, the Russian Empire was more worried that its economy would fluctuate due to the lack of foreign exchange.

Therefore, it is obvious why the proposal requiring the Eighth Army to advance as little as possible or to reduce the speed of advancement was passed.

The Empire hoped to use low-intensity and more defensive battles to force the Russian Empire to recognize its current situation and make it consider sitting down at the negotiating table with the Empire.

but!

but! !! !!

Being conservative in attack does not mean not attacking.

Fighting defensively doesn't mean you can't push the front line forward!
This is what made Ryan angry.

But what made him even more angry was that Ludendorff actually had a different opinion from Hindenburg on the issue of the attack.

According to the information he learned from the General Staff, General Hindenburg, commander of the Eighth Army, was received by the old marshal before departure, just like himself, so Hindenburg must have understood the Empire's combat strategy on the Eastern Front.

As a non-noble officer like Ryan, Ludendorff was transferred to the eighth episode as the chief of staff of the army group by the Empire.

This was actually a very obvious backup plan, namely that the Reich hoped to use Ludendorff's decision-making ability to assist Hindenburg in fighting on the Eastern Front.

After all, the army chief of staff has almost the same command authority as the commander-in-chief.

The only inconvenience was that the army chief's orders had to be repeated by the commander-in-chief before they could be executed.

Obviously, Hindenburg would not disagree with the strategy of slow advancement, but the old Hindenburg did not launch the offensive according to the old marshal's instructions this time. There must be something wrong.

Ryan was no fool. He immediately understood that it was Ludendorff who instructed Hindenburg to do this.

Inside the General Staff meeting room.

General Constantine used all his strength to grab Ryan's shoulders and arms, and after a while of effort he pulled Ryan aside.

Admiral Tirpitz and Hindenburg sat opposite Ryan. Neither of them spoke, but the way they turned their backs to each other clearly indicated that a serious conflict had broken out before.

The Air Force Commander General Burke, who was supposed to be here, had left the table at the moment because he was discussing the production of a new generation of airships with people from the Imperial Equipment Development Institute. Otherwise, he would have been sitting with Tirpitz now.

But Ryan was not ready to let Ludendorff go.

Even though his military rank was the lowest among everyone present, his influence on the front line surpassed everyone, including Tirpitz.

If the war against Palu had been carried out according to Moltke the Younger's previous strategic conception and action plan, the empire might not have had the energy to call the two army commanders and two generals back to the imperial capital.

It can be said that whether it was Constantine or Hindenburg, at least 70% of the credit for their being able to sit safely in the imperial capital in such a wartime environment was due to the battle plan against Verdun planned by Ryan.

"That's enough, Lieutenant Colonel."

Constantine obviously did not want to have a conflict with Ryan, but he also did not want Ryan to fight with the Eighth Army in the underground conference room of the General Staff.

He pulled Ryan to a corner and asked his adjutant to fetch a document. He handed it to Ryan: "There is a lot of information about this meeting that you don't know. This is the document that His Majesty the Emperor asked me to pass on to you. Please read this first."

"The one who rides on the horse."

After hearing the word "Emperor", Ryan finally forced himself to control his emotions and took the envelope handed to him by Constantine.

The emperor will not interfere in military affairs. This is an unchanging understanding within the empire. Therefore, no matter what happens in the army, Ryan does not need to worry about the emperor interfering.

The emperor of the empire was not a fool. Almost all his abilities were in politics, so he obviously would not make a stupid mistake like Ludendorff.

Then Ryan felt that the emperor deserved to die.

"The Empire wants to unite with the Ottomans? To control the Black Sea?"

Ryan looked at the letter written by the emperor himself, and felt his eyes go dark.

An alliance with the Ottoman Empire is certainly a good idea, because it means that the empire will have the ability to completely cut off the Russian Empire's fleet from entering the Atlantic Ocean to fight.

As the United Kingdom hardly interferes in inland sea affairs, there is no need to worry about what the United Kingdom will think about such things.

After all, for the people of the United Kingdom, it was not important whether the Russian Empire's fleet could go out to sea. What was important was whether there was a fleet that would enter the Atlantic and threaten the United Kingdom's maritime hegemony.

And here lies the problem.

As mentioned above, the United Kingdom doesn't care whether anyone makes moves in the Black Sea, but the Empire naturally doesn't care either!
This is because the Empire's only current enemy is Farland, and the Russian Empire will not even cooperate with the Empire to sit at the same table for dinner.

But this is based on the premise that there is no essential conflict of interest between the Empire and the Tsarist Empire!

And now.

The emperor of the empire actually signed an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, which was equivalent to directly cutting off the Russian Empire's ability to transport supplies from the Far East to the Atlantic Ocean by sea.

What does this mean?
This means that as soon as the fucking Russian Empire knew that the Empire and the Ottoman Empire had signed a contract, it would immediately choose to go to war with the Ottoman Empire.

Ryan saw this, so he put down the letter, looked at Constantine, and glanced at Tirpitz.

He asked: "Does the emperor want to drag the Ottomans into trouble in this way? Or does he want to postpone the fighting on the Eastern Front in this way?"

"All."

Tirpitz stood up, and Constantine also felt that this matter should be discussed by the naval commander, so he did not say anything.

Tirpitz said: "The current situation on the Eastern Front is both complicated and simple."

"Although the Emperor cannot interfere with the Empire's war decisions, our actions are ultimately carried out in the interests of the Empire. The war on the Eastern Front has not progressed because of the letter in your hand."

"Your Majesty's idea is to form an indirect alliance through an alliance with the Ottomans."

"indirect?"

Ryan frowned. "Are you saying that the Russian Empire is also secretly negotiating with the Ottoman Empire?"

"That's not it."

Tirpitz waved his hand, his face showing an unhappy expression, but his emotions were well controlled. "The Emperor's idea is that we should first form an alliance with the Ottoman Empire to force the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hengali to make a decision to negotiate with the Empire in a short period of time. This will provide security for the Empire's southern border."

"At the same time, because the Black Sea outlet is controlled by the Ottomans, this will further increase tensions in the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Hengali, and other countries along the Black Sea coast."

"On this basis, the Ottoman Empire will send out alliance invitations to countries including the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Hengali, and Serbia one by one to stabilize the situation along the Black Sea coast..."

Ryan understood what Tirpitz meant: "That is to say, to establish a community of interests centered on the Black Sea. Since the Empire is an ally of the Ottoman Empire, it can indirectly become an ally of the Russian Empire and resolve the war on the Eastern Front in this way?" Ryan did not react on the surface, but in his heart he thought this plan was too stupid.

Putting aside the question of whether an alliance with the Ottomans would cause the Tsar to become a Spinosaurus like Hakimi, the idea of ​​resolving the crisis on the Eastern Front through an alliance is naive and terrifying.

The emperor of the empire obviously did not understand why the Russian Empire chose to go to war with the empire. Its fundamental purpose was obviously because it needed a springboard to allow it to interfere in the European continent.

This springboard can be the Empire, the Os Empire, or even the Kingdom of Hengali.

They don’t care what this springboard is, what matters is that this springboard exists.

As a country almost entering the Arctic Circle, the Russian Empire only had a small part of its territory close to the European continent with a good population base. But even this small part of the territory had few opportunities to intervene in European affairs due to its remote location.

However, the Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Hengali almost completely occupied the entire Eastern Europe, which directly shattered the Tsar's dream of entering the center of the European continent and participating in international affairs.

It is precisely because of this that the two empires and one kingdom occupying a large area of ​​the East European Plain will obviously be a great threat to them in the eyes of the Farland, the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire.

In their eyes, the Empire, the Os Empire and the Kingdom of Hengali are completely one country, and it is absolutely impossible to distinguish and treat them separately.

This is also the reason why France, Saudi Arabia and the Union were able to sign an agreement to form a Triple Entente camp.

"almost."

Hearing Ryan's words, Tirpitz nodded. "But at present, the Empire has not yet signed a formal alliance with the Ottoman Empire. Instead, it has made a verbal promise and provided tariff subsidies and exemptions, requiring the Ottoman Empire to prioritize negotiations with the Russian Empire."

"Oh?"

The emperor's move did surprise Ryan a little.

But this is indeed a good idea. He immediately asked: "What are the chances of success?"

"I don't know, we are still discussing it."

Tirpitz shook his head. "But we only knew about this one day earlier than you did. As for the Eighth Army..."

Ludendorff said directly: "We learned the emperor's intention the day after the Eighth Army was formed."

But Ryan didn't look at him at all, but kept looking at Hindenburg.

The formation of the Eighth Army was confirmed the day before he met Ludendorff at the Ministry of Defense, and the next day was the day Ludendorff went to the Ministry of Defense.

It can be said that it would not matter if Ludendorff did not mention this matter, but Ryan became even more angry when he mentioned it.

But the idiot obviously didn't understand this, so he was still looking at Ryan.

Hindenburg discovered what Ryan was thinking, and he and Ryan actually had the same opinion.

As someone who had come into contact with the old marshal, Hindenburg was as clear as Ryan that the empire had to resolve the conflict with the Russian Empire through war rather than peace talks.

Launching an attack at this critical juncture when Farland took the initiative to launch an offensive can be said to be a clear overreach of the Russian Empire's intention to enter the heart of the European continent.

The emperor's judgment was reasonable, but he ignored the actual situation. He wanted to stabilize the increasingly intensified situation between the two countries through the exchange of interests, but he ignored the size of the other party's appetite.

It's really ridiculous.

"I agree with the lieutenant colonel."

Hindenburg put down his pipe, put on a layer of armor, and then said, "There will be a war between the Empire and the Imperial State, but the Emperor's alliance plan has obviously disrupted our offensive plan."

"The Emperor has no right to obstruct our ability to conduct operations, nor has he obstructed the Empire's war plans against the Imperial State. However, the Ministry of National Defense still believes that we should postpone our actions."

"Lieutenant Colonel Flig, what do you think of this matter?"

When he said this, he didn't even look at Ludendorff who was sitting diagonally opposite him. This made Ryan realize that the fundamental reason why the combat order had not been issued and the combat plan could not be implemented was Ludendorff.

To put it bluntly, this guy must have understood that his main job in the Eighth Army was actually Chief of the General Staff and Army Commander. Considering that the Empire valued officers from the General Staff more, this was obviously also the reason why Hindenburg's opinions were ignored.

"Want to fight."

Ryan didn't hesitate.

He walked to the conference table, tore the letter into pieces and stuffed them into the ashtray.

The ash that hadn't been completely extinguished ignited the letter, and a faint blue smoke rose from it. Ryan's breath blew away the smoke: "We can discuss the alliance at any time, during peacetime, war, or economic blockade. It doesn't matter."

"What's important is that the Empire must maintain its ability to suppress the Russian Empire. We must ensure that the Russian Empire doesn't take this as a sign of weakness from the Empire, thereby emboldening them to break the alliance treaty."

As soon as the words were finished, Hindenburg's eyes widened immediately. He was waiting for Ryan to say this.

It was not someone else, but Ryan, who, like himself, had the old marshal's endorsement for every action.

Other people's opinions might have worried Hindenburg, but not Lane's.

He said, "Then I will immediately order the Eighth Army to launch an attack? Our troops are fully prepared!"

But Ryan's words made Hindenburg's face darken immediately: "It's no use now. It's best not to launch the attack."

"why?"

Hindenburg looked at Ryan with an unhappy look on his face.

"Because it's too late."

Ryan shook his head and said.

"Our action was delayed by a week. This period of time was enough for the Empire to assemble part of its forces into a complete army."

"If we launch an attack now, the Empire will have no choice but to advance in large strides and force the Imperial Army to retreat, but this will further increase the pressure on logistics."

Ryan paused and spoke while thinking.

"The most reliable solution at the moment is to sit in silence on the front lines."

"We can follow the Farlans' example, using East Prussia as the northernmost point of the front and the border of the Kingdom of Hengali as the southernmost point. We can use new blast-proof walls and reinforced concrete to build a simple war fortress complex to consolidate the Empire's front on the eastern border."

"The manpower for building the fortresses can be recruited from local civilians. We will provide them with salaries, which is higher than the income of adult laborers working in agriculture. This way, we can reduce the demand for soldiers."

"Once the fortress line is complete, we'll likely only need two armies to completely consolidate our front against the Imperial State. This will greatly reduce the pressure on the Empire when facing the Imperial State."

"You can start the attack after the fortress line is built, but don't attack on a large scale, as that will only expose the weaknesses of the fortress line."

After all, ESCO explosion-proof walls are not as good as traditional concrete, and insufficient strength is always a problem.

"Then when do we launch the general offensive?" Hindenburg obviously had no interest in defense.

However, Ryan immediately satisfied his offensive desire.

"Wait until spring."

Ryan said.

"We will continue to harass the enemy with small forces until spring, and then attack once winter ends and the permafrost thaws in the Russian Empire!"

"They spent the entire winter gathering their troops to the front lines because they thought the war would be over in a few months. So their soldiers had no idea they would have to wait until spring at the front lines."

"Those soldiers are busy going home for spring plowing. They definitely don't want to stay on the front lines if they're not home for the autumn harvest!"

"And we will launch the attack when their morale is at its worst, when they are having the most trouble transporting supplies!"

(End of this chapter)