The Rise of Australia - Chapter 989

c970 Each country has its own tricks

The Germans chose to deploy an encirclement on the Eastern Front, and were forced to choose a strategic contraction on the Western Front to deal with the attacks of Britain, France and Australia.

Strategic contraction means that they must be forced to give up a large area of ​​land in northern France, and even Paris must be handed over to the French.

There is no way around it. The French are very persistent about Paris. If they want to fight the French to death in Paris, they must at least contain more than 2 million German troops.

This is simply impossible for Germany now, let alone 2 million troops, even 1 million troops are completely out of the question.

As a result, French cities such as Orleans, Paris, Amiens and Reims are on the list of cities that the Germans have given up.

Although they plan to give up these cities, the Germans will not give them to the French for nothing. Compared with handing these cities back to the French, the Germans hope to use means to let Britain or Australasia occupy these cities, and even find opportunities to provoke relations between the three major powers of the Allies, Britain, France and Australia.

In order to achieve this goal, the German army decided to temporarily hold the line from Tours to Orleans and adopt a strategy of gradual concession to the British, French and Australian troops in Normandy.

One of the important reasons is that the main French troops are located south of the Tours and Orleans lines, and most of the troops landing in Normandy are British and Australasian troops.

If the army landing in Normandy occupied Paris and Amiens and other areas, it is not certain whether the British would hand over these cities intact.

In addition to formulating plans for further strategic contraction, the German army on the Western Front also gradually transferred its main forces to Belgium and Luxembourg.

The strong fortresses in Belgium are still very useful. If used for defense, they can also delay the speed of the British, French and Australian troops’ attack.

Of course, another important reason is that there are a large number of local people in Belgium and Luxembourg.

If Britain, France and Australia bomb Belgium and Luxembourg recklessly, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the Belgian and Luxembourg governments in exile, and even arouse the hostility of the Belgian and Luxembourg people towards Britain, France and Australia.

But if these areas are not bombed, Germany’s defense lines in these areas will become extremely strong. If there is no harassment from the air force, it is completely possible to delay for several months or even a year by relying on the army’s persistence.

This is equivalent to giving the choice completely to Britain, France and Australia. No matter which choice is made, it will not make the attack of Britain, France and Australia so smooth.

One of the important purposes of forming a defense line in Belgium and Luxembourg is to protect the Ruhr area of ​​Germany.

There is no way. The Ruhr area, as the industrial heart of Germany, is located in the west of Germany and is quite close to the border.

The distance from the Ruhr area to Belgium and the Netherlands is much closer than to Berlin, the capital of Germany. If Belgium and the Netherlands are handed over to Britain, France and Australia, Britain, France and Australia will be able to organize attacks from these areas and reach the Ruhr area at a very fast speed.

Germany, which is still on the mainland, can still try to resist, but if the mainland has been occupied, what can Germany use to win this war?

Starting from March 1939, the British, French and Australian troops who landed in Normandy were surprised to find that the attack on the German army suddenly became much smoother.

In the past, it took several days of fighting to capture a position, but now it only takes a few waves of charge to capture it. Although a considerable number of soldiers were killed or injured, the difficulty of conquering the position was reduced by several levels compared to before.

Although the British, French and Australian troops did not understand what happened in Germany, such a thing was obviously good news.

Taking advantage of the Germans’ problems, the Normandy landing army quickly launched an attack on the entire Normandy, and it took only a few weeks to completely occupy the entire Normandy.

Later, it became natural to recapture Paris, capture Troyes, march into Amiens, and go north to Lille.

Even before the French themselves reacted, the French army recaptured Paris in March.

Of course, it is better to say that the French army entered Paris with the British and Australian troops rather than the French army recaptured Paris.

Because in the entire process of attacking Paris, the French contributed very little, or even nothing.

The total number of German troops stationed in Paris did not exceed 10,000. Under the continuous bombing of the British and Australian air forces, the German troops stationed in Paris soon chose to flee north.

Paris was recovered in this way, which was something that the British, French and Australian armies and the three governments, as well as most European people, had never expected.

Although it was easy for Germany to capture Paris at that time, Paris should not be recovered so easily.

This also made the governments and people of almost all countries reach a consensus, that is, there were problems within Germany, so that Germany no longer had enough troops to defend such an important city as Paris.

Hearing such news, the most excited were not the three countries of Britain, France and Australia, but Russia, which won two major battles in Moscow and Sudalingrad in succession.

Since there were problems within Germany, Russia should also launch a major counterattack. Not only should Russia fully recover the lost territory, but also fully occupy the entire Poland, even station troops in East Prussia, and take the lead in conquering the German capital Berlin.

This was the first thought of the Russian ruler Sudalin after learning that there were problems within Germany.

Although Germany is currently at the end of its strength, it is not so easy to conquer the whole of Germany.

More importantly, whoever can occupy more important areas and cities in Germany will be the first to benefit from Germany.

For example, the plan to occupy the Ruhr area formulated within Australasia is based on the strong industrial scale of Germany in the Ruhr area.

The same is true for the Russian planners to occupy Berlin. As the capital and largest city of Germany, Berlin has countless assets that can be robbed.

This is very important for Russia, which is currently poor and seriously injured. Not only can it accelerate Russia’s recovery, but it can also allow Russia to quickly get out of the shadow of war and take this opportunity to become a stronger industrial and economic power.

As for the Ruhr area in Germany, the Russians are not without ideas. But the problem is that the Ruhr area is in the west of Germany, and it is even quite close to the border.

And Russia is located in the east of Germany. If Russia wants to occupy the Ruhr area, it must penetrate the whole of Germany from east to west, which is much more difficult than occupying Berlin.

However, seeing that Britain, France and Australia have already recaptured Paris, and even the army is about to approach the Franco-German border in front of the station, it is impossible for the Russian government and Sudalin to say that they are not jealous.

Because the occupied land of Russia is much more than that of France. Even if they took advantage of the victory of the Battle of Sudalinrad to advance the front line by hundreds of kilometers, it is still thousands of kilometers away from the original border.

Yes, the current front line is still thousands of kilometers away from the pre-war German-Russian border.

This can only illustrate one fact, that is, Russia’s strategic depth is too terrifying.

Not counting Russia, for any European country before the war, let alone the occupied land with a depth of more than a thousand kilometers, even if this range is reduced tenfold, just the occupied land with a depth of more than a hundred kilometers is still a serious blow to most European countries.

Even for most European countries, the occupied land with a depth of hundreds of kilometers is very likely to mean that the capital has been occupied or is already quite close to the front line.

And for Russia, a country with an extremely exaggerated strategic depth, the occupied land of thousands of kilometers is still not as far as Moscow.

In addition to recovering their own territory, the Russians also have ambitions for the Balkan Peninsula.

Of course, since the period of the Principality of Moscow, the Russians’ ambitions for territory have never stopped. Being able to create a country with a territory of tens of millions of square kilometers and a history of territorial expansion of hundreds of years, the Russians’ ambitions for territory are beyond doubt.

After Italy surrendered, the two countries with the greatest influence in the entire Balkan Peninsula became Germany and Russia.

At present, Germany is already retreating step by step. With Russia’s temperament, it is impossible for it to have no ideas about the Balkan Peninsula.

After all, Russia controlled most of the Balkan Peninsula before World War I. Facing the Balkan Peninsula that is almost at hand, Russia has only one idea, that is, to fight, and fight hard.

However, before attacking the Balkan Peninsula, there is a very important area that must be recovered, that is, Ukraine, the most important grain-producing area in the entire Russia.

Only by re-recovering Ukraine can Russia have enough grain production to continue this war. More importantly, Ukraine borders the Balkan Peninsula, and it is also the only direction in which the Russian army may attack the Balkans.

Without Ukraine, Russia and the Balkan Peninsula are not connected, and there is no way to attack.

The Russians are planning to recover their territory and attack Berlin and the Balkans, while Britain and Australasia are also planning to occupy the entire Northern Europe and attack Denmark.

There is no French participation in the current Nordic battlefield, because France has invested almost all of its troops in the battlefield in Western Europe.

This is also normal. Even if Paris is recovered, France still has a large area of ​​territory under the control of the Germans.

For the French government and the French people, it is obvious that the importance of recovering territory is far greater than helping Nordic countries to recover their territory.

For countries such as Britain and Australasia, whose territory is not occupied, perhaps helping Nordic countries will benefit more than helping France.

However, in terms of the division of labor in the Nordic army, the cooperation between Britain and Australasia is minimal.

This is also normal. After all, the two countries have their own goals and each has the command of their own army, so it is naturally impossible to cooperate in combat.

The main purpose of Australasia is still to help Nordic countries recover their territory and deepen cooperation with Sweden.

If there is hope, it is best to include all three Nordic countries in the sphere of influence of Australasia and form a targeted Nordic defense alliance.

At present, this plan has been almost completed by 2/3. Except for Norway, which has not yet completely surrendered to Australasia, Sweden and Finland are already considered to be one of Australasia’s younger brothers.

However, the three Nordic countries are inseparable. It is also very difficult for Norway to abandon Sweden and Finland and find a big brother alone.

If Norway surrenders to Britain, wouldn’t it become a common enemy of Sweden and Finland to a certain extent?

From the perspective of the pre-war appeasement policy, being a little brother of the British may not be so reliable. At this point, Sweden chose to throw itself into the arms of Australasia.

Whether it is a country in Europe or other regions, isn’t the purpose of choosing a big brother to ensure its own security and development?

No matter how harmonious the relationship between the two countries is, the most important theme is still to ensure their own security.

The British may have a higher influence in Europe, but relying on the British appeasement policy alone is enough to dissuade some countries that have no self-protection ability.

After all, if you still cannot guarantee your own safety by relying on such a big brother, why do you still rely on such a big brother?

This is also an attractive point of Australasia. Because while Britain and France are vigorously carrying out the appeasement policy, the representatives of Australasia have repeatedly opposed the appeasement policy at the previous World Alliance Conference and tried to protect the interests of those countries that have been violated.

In this regard, Australasia has undoubtedly gained a lot of goodwill, and with the contrast of Britain and France, the behavior of the Australasia government has become more just.

Of course, Australasia’s choice to help Nordic countries regain their territory is not without requirements.

As early as in the previous talks with the Swedish and Finnish governments, Australasia put forward its own requirements, which is to lease a piece of land on the Finnish island of Åland and the Swedish island of Gotland to build a military base.

Both islands are located in the Baltic Sea, and the two islands are roughly located in the center of the Baltic Sea.

If military bases are established on these two islands, they can not only radiate to the entire Baltic Sea, but also expand their influence to Northern Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe.

If there are conflicts with the Russians in the future, the navy deployed here can threaten Russia’s Baltic Fleet, and the air force and missile forces deployed can threaten Russia’s St. Petersburg and Moscow.

At the same time, the military bases deployed here are also a kind of protection for the countries within the Australasia region.

After all, when Germany attacked Finland, the Russians also took the opportunity to occupy a large area in northern Finland.

Coupled with the long-term oppressive rule of the Russian Empire over Finland, the contradictions between Finland and Russia are still very deep.

In order to protect countries like Finland, it is necessary to build military bases within the Baltic Sea.

Such a request was quickly agreed by the Swedish and Finnish governments. Because Australasia also explained that the garrisons here are more small naval bases and air force bases, and not too many ground forces will be stationed.

In this way, the military base has little impact on Finland and Sweden, and can protect these two countries to a certain extent.

After all, not only Finland, Sweden also has a certain degree of defense against Russia. Who made the three Nordic countries all monarchies? If they were accidentally revolutionized by Russia, the ending of the Russian royal family would not be so good.

If it were not for Arthur’s secret protection, coupled with a certain degree of threat, it would be a question whether the nominal Russian royal family could still exist.

The Australasian army chose to continue to help Finland liberate its territory in order to intensify the contradictions between Finland and Russia. After all, Finland is too close to Russia. If some Finnish people are influenced by Russia, it will inevitably make Dmitry’s rule in Finland unstable.

In order to avoid such an impact, it becomes necessary to make the Finns hate Germany.

Russia’s sudden occupation of the land in northern Finland is obviously a good excuse. Even if the Russians choose to give in and return these lands, Australasian can also write about Russia’s behavior of adding insult to injury.

It would be better if the Russians choose not to give in. Not only will it further intensify the conflict between Finland and Russia, but Arthur also doesn’t mind teaching Russia a lesson once more when the war is about to end.

As long as Russia doesn’t have an atomic bomb, Australasia can unscrupulously magnify Russia’s behavior this time.

Anyway, there is the endorsement of the entire United Nations behind it. At worst, it can give up certain interests and join the British to push the entire United Nations to declare war on Russia.

In short, Australasia has the advantage at this time, and Russia in Northern Europe is simply unable to compete with Australasia.