The Rise of Australia - Chapter 983

c964 Nordic offensive

In Spain, millions of British, French and Australian troops have been gradually narrowing the encirclement and advancing towards Madrid, the center of Spanish power.

Although the advancement speed is not fast, the overall advancement plan is relatively smooth. The Spanish army is simply unable to resist the alliance of the three countries. After all, the number of troops in their hands is really small.

In North Africa, with the surrender of Italy and the defeat of the Spanish army, the situation in North Africa has gradually been regained by France.

Even the colonies that originally belonged to Spain were divided up by Britain and France, which also forced more than 100,000 Spanish troops to give up their weapons and surrender helplessly.

However, the most intense battle at present is of course the ongoing Battle of Sudalingrad in the Eastern European battlefield.

With the flames of victory in the Battle of Moscow, the Russian government and the people broke out with extraordinary fighting enthusiasm.

Sweeped by this fighting enthusiasm, the red fire of Sudalingrad seemed to engulf the black armor on the opposite side.

Germany was definitely the most uncomfortable at this time. Because of the problem of fighting on two fronts, the German government was in a dilemma at this time.

Spain could not hold out for a few days. If Spain also surrendered, Germany’s allies in Europe would only be Bulgaria, Romania and several puppet governments it supported.

But if the German army returned to help, the large tracts of land conquered in the Eastern European battlefield would be returned to the Russians for nothing.

These lands include not only Ukraine, which has a large area of ​​black soil, but also several of Russia’s most important industrial cities, St. Petersburg, Minsk and Kiev, etc.

After all, if the German army returned, the remaining small number of troops would obviously be unable to resist the attack of the Russian army.

The Battle of Sudalingrad was carried out in a dilemma for the German government.

The German government blocked the news of the counterattack from France in an attempt to stabilize the morale of the German army. Such a move was indeed very effective. Even though the Western Front was facing a serious crisis, the German soldiers on the Eastern Front still did not know what was happening.

Sudalingrad is backed by the Volga River, which is not only the longest river in Russia’s vast land area, but also the longest river in Europe.

Precisely because of the river, it became more difficult to conquer Sudalingrad.

Because of the existence of the river, the German army could not completely surround the city, and any of their crossing actions would be detected by the Russian army.

If Sudalingrad could not be completely surrounded, Russia could continuously transport supplies from the other side of the Volga River to help the army in Sudalingrad continue to hold on.

In this way, this blitzkrieg that was considered a quick victory by the Germans turned into a war of attrition between the two sides to compete with each other’s national strength.

If it was a one-on-one battle between the two sides, Germany would not necessarily be afraid of Russia. But the fatal thing at present is that Britain, France and Australia have launched a full-scale counterattack in the Western European battlefield, and the Germans are no longer qualified to consume with the Russians.

On July 15, 1938, the German Supreme Command held a military meeting.

In this military meeting, the German Prime Minister mentioned the battle of Sudalingrad many times, and asked the front-line troops to strengthen the offensive and strive to capture Sudalingrad within two months.

In the eyes of the German Prime Minister, two months is already quite ample time. After all, Sudalingrad is just a Russian city. It took the Germans just over a month to conquer Poland. It was a very conservative estimate to use two months to deal with a city.

But the German frontline army gave a time of up to six months, and also needed a large number of armored forces and aircraft support.

This made the German Prime Minister very angry. If Germany could take out additional armored and aircraft units, it would have been deployed to the Western European battlefield to save Italy and Spain.

Seeing that the request for support failed, the commander of the German army on the front line made another request, that is, he hoped that the German government could draw more manpower and weapons and equipment to support the Eastern Front.

In return, the Eastern Front will try to capture Sudalingrad within three months, advance the front line to the Caucasus Mountains within four months, and occupy Russia’s important strategic resources there.

Four months is barely acceptable to the German government, and this is the best plan at present.

Without thinking too much, the proposal was passed by a high vote in the vote of the Supreme Military Conference, which also announced the official start of the German team’s last attempt to defeat Russia.

First of all, it is the support for the Battle of Sudalingrad.

At present, the German army deployed around Sudalingrad has reached 3 million, which is also the largest number of soldiers deployed by a single country in a single battle so far in World War II.

But the Russians on the opposite side are obviously more crazy. Although the specific size of the Russians is not clear, the number is definitely more than 3 million.

At present, the casualties of the Russians are higher than those of the Germans, but new Russian soldiers are constantly coming every day, as if the Russian soldiers are endless.

Obviously, the urban area of ​​Sudalingrad is not large, but the German army’s occupation of Sudalingrad is so difficult and so slow.

Since the outbreak of the Battle of Sudalingrad, the German army has only occupied less than one-third of the urban area of ​​Sudalingrad.

But it is precisely this one-third of the city that has caused the Germans to lose at least 300,000 troops, which is a very terrible fact.

If we look at this ratio, if Germany wants to capture the entire Sudalingrad, doesn’t it mean that at least 900,000 troops will be lost?

The person who is most worried about the current situation in Russia is General Manstein, who leads the Second Armored Group to carry out the outflanking mission.

Manstein once asked a fatal question at the military meeting of the German Southern Army Group, that is, can the occupation of Sudalingrad end the war?

No one can give an answer, and this question directly caused the military meeting of the entire Southern Army Group to become a silent forest.

Manstein’s concerns are also reasonable. According to the current consumption of the German army, the capture of Sudalingrad may lead to nearly one million casualties.

Even if Sudalingrad is captured, the German army must at least occupy Moscow to end the war with Russia.

The failure of the last Moscow Campaign shows that if you want to successfully capture this city, you must pay more casualties than Sudalingrad.

Is it really a good deal to exchange the casualties of more than 2 million soldiers for the hope of defeating Russia?

And there is a terrible speculation buried in Manstein’s heart, that is, after occupying Su Dalingrad and Moscow, will the Russian army really surrender as planned?

Although the capital is very important to a country, it is definitely not the whole of a country.

If the Russians continue to resist, what can Germany do? Will they continue to waste the army and consume the Russians?

There are still many generals in the German military who have the same idea as Manstein.

But because the German Prime Minister has a high degree of control over the government’s discourse power, and William II behind him is like playing dead, directly refusing to show up at the government and military meetings, Junker nobles like Manstein are simply unable to oppose.

If you want to oppose a ruler like the German Prime Minister who holds great power and is deeply trusted by the people, you must have a person of matching status to be the leader.

But it is obvious that in the current German government, except for Emperor William II, no one has such reputation and status.

The glory of the Junker nobles has long passed. If Hindenburg is still alive, there may be hope to raise objections.

But at present, the Junker nobles who are doing well are only those like Manstein, and some of the senior generals have not yet gained the trust of the German government and the prime minister.

In this case, rashly raising objections is actually giving the German prime minister an opportunity to purge himself.

When it comes to politics, no one is easy. Especially for the German prime minister who climbed to the top step by step from an art failure and a low-level soldier, if he can’t be cruel and ruthless, he doesn’t deserve to be in this position.

There were people in the German military who originally opposed launching the Sudalingrad Campaign without stopping after the failure of the Moscow Campaign.

But unfortunately, the senior officer who opposed it was dismissed from his position the next day, and was arrested by the SS on various charges of treason, and was sentenced to death within a few days.

This made most of the senior officers shut up, and even if they had any dissatisfaction, they dared not mention it in front of anyone.

On July 29, 1938, after the white flag was hoisted in Madrid, the Spanish government also officially declared unconditional surrender.

With the surrender of Spain, the once glorious German-Italian military alliance was left with only the Germans lingering on, and its sphere of influence was limited to Central and Northern Europe.

On July 31, a brand new meeting was held in London, England.

Only representatives from Britain, France and Australia participated in this meeting, and the content of the meeting was very simple, which was to discuss the next offensive plan of the British, French and Australian coalition forces.

If they want to end the war quickly, Britain, France and Australia should put all their troops into the current French battlefield, launch a counterattack against Germany directly from the French region, and destroy the Ruhr area, the industrial heart of Germany.

After the war spread to the German mainland, the Germans’ resistance will weaken day by day.

After all, only when their own homeland is damaged, the Germans will understand how harmful this war is.

But it is obvious that neither Britain nor Australasia wants to do this at this time.

If the war spreads to the German mainland too early, the Germans will definitely withdraw troops from Eastern Europe to support.

In this way, it will not only reduce the pressure on the Russians, but also let the British, French and Australian armies bear the German counterattack.

After all, Germany was not at the end of its rope at this time. They still had millions of troops, and the domestic material reserves had not yet reached the point of running out of ammunition and food.

At this time, for Britain and Australasia, the best plan was to let Germany and Russia continue to consume.

When the manpower and material reserves of Germany and Russia were almost consumed, the British, French and Australian armies would attack Germany with one blow and end the war.

It was also because of this that the next offensive plan of the British, French and Australian armies should not only choose a more suitable area, but also reflect the firm attitude of the British, French and Australian countries to continue the war.

After careful consideration, it was finally decided to place the next offensive location on the three Nordic countries.

First, the three Nordic countries have a large land area and are relatively rich in mineral resources and other materials. Although Italy and Spain are missing, the Nordic region can still provide Germany with a large amount of iron ore and other mineral resources every year.

With these iron mines, Germany can naturally hold out longer, which is not good for the entire war.

Secondly, the three Nordic countries are all three kingdoms. If the three countries are liberated actively, it means that Britain and Australasia can reach an exchange of interests with the royal families of these three countries.

Monarchical countries still have common interests. Whether it is to consolidate their status in the future or seek a higher status, or simply want to obtain more resources through Nordic countries, they can all be done through such opportunities.

Another reason is that because the Nordic region is close to Russia, the British and French arrangements must be preemptive.

If the Russians gradually recover their power and take the initiative to send troops to liberate Northern Europe, then the future of the three Nordic countries will not be decided by the Russians?

The expansion of Russian power is something that none of the three countries want to see, which is why the three countries finally decided to target the attack on Northern Europe.

For Australasia, sending troops to liberate the three Nordic countries at this time obviously has more advantages than disadvantages.

Needless to say, Finland, after Dmitry announced the establishment of an exiled government, he only stayed in London for a short time, and then chose to come to Australasia.

On the one hand, it also needs the support of Australasia to resist the invasion of the Germans, and on the other hand, it is also a proactive statement of its position.

Dmitry is a smart man, and he naturally sees the development and direction of the current European situation.

In the long run, there will only be three powerful countries in the world after the war, namely Britain, Australasia and Russia.

These three countries are bound to launch an attack on the status of world hegemony, and continue to win over countries around the world to strengthen their voice.

At this time, the team is more important. For a country, a good team can not only allow itself to get more support, but also improve its voice and make the country stronger.

But if you stand on the wrong team and get implicated, it is also very likely that the country will fall into an irreversible situation. After all, standing on the team means supporting one of the powers, and naturally offending the other two powers.

The clear choice to support Australasia is also a choice Dmitry made without much thought.

First, Dmitry himself has a close relationship with Arthur. As the only brother of Queen Mary, Arthur was also quite concerned about Dmitri.

Even Dmitri was able to quickly grasp the right to speak in the Finnish government, and Arthur’s help was indispensable.

Second, Finland was too close to Russia, and it had to find a country that could stand up against Russia to rely on.

In this regard, Britain and Australasia were not much different, and their own monarchical system was a natural opposite to Russia.

But the problem was that the British were not keen on war, and they preferred to pursue a regional balance policy to maintain their status.

In particular, the appeasement performance of the British and French governments before World War II made Dmitri understand that relying on the British was not a good way out.

Australasia was different. Although Australasia was established only more than 30 years ago, it has experienced World War I and World War II, and has actively launched many small-scale wars.

This kind of country that is not afraid of war and threats is more suitable to be its big brother, and will stand up to protect itself when necessary.

In addition, Finland and Australasia had already established a very close cooperation. For Dmitry and Finland, changing partners at this time would not only ruin all their previous efforts, but also challenge the bottom line of Arthur and Australasia.