The Rise of Australasia

As the situation on the Russian southwestern front deteriorated and the Third Army Group collapsed, the flanks of the nearby Fourth and Eighth Army Groups faced serious threats.

In order to ensure the safety of their flanks, the Russian Fourth and Eighth Army Groups had to retreat at the speed of the Third Army Group.

The Fourth and Eighth Army Groups were able to orderly retreat, but the Third Army Group, which was close to disintegrating, discarded their helmets and armor along the way in order to speed up the withdrawal, leaving behind inconvenient artillery, heavy machine guns, and some shells, ammunition, and supplies on the front lines and on the road of retreat.

If it weren't for the natural barriers of the rivers from the River San to the Dniester River, the German army might have advanced unimpeded and occupied the entire Polish region.

On August 7, the rested Russian army reorganized its defensive positions near the River San, in an attempt to fight a decisive battle with the German army.

However, at this point, the Russian army was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of firepower. The Germans had captured a large number of Russian artillery and heavy weapons, giving them an overwhelming advantage in firepower against the Russian army.

It was clear that the hastily constructed Russian defense line could not resist the German offensive.

Under the fierce bombardment of the Germans, the Russian army suffered tens of thousands of casualties every day, while the Germans suffered minimal losses.

If it weren't for an order from Russian Southwest Army Commander Ivanov demanding that the Third, Fourth, and Eighth Army Groups hold the Germans at all costs, the collapse of Poland might just be a matter of time.

Under the fierce bombardment from the Germans, the Russian soldiers had formed a tacit understanding with their enemies.

Whenever the Germans bombarded, the Russian soldiers would huddle in their positions, taking the opportunity to rest or regain strength.

When the German artillery fire ceased, the Russian soldiers would rush to the trenches, firing rifles and a few machine guns to counterattack the German army.

Even when the German-Austrian forces approached close to the front lines, many Russian soldiers would jump out and engage in close-quarters combat with the German-Austrian forces, using their lives and bodies to halt their advance.

Though the Germans held an advantage in firepower and weaponry, the numerical advantage of the Russian soldiers became apparent in bayonet fighting.

Victory in cold weapon battles ultimately depends on numbers. Although the Russian army could not achieve complete victory in hand-to-hand combat, they still used the lives and bodies of their soldiers to momentarily halt the German army at the River San defensive line.

Of course, the Germans were not without countermeasures. As their assaulting forces were temporarily held back, the Germans transported large quantities of supplies and reinforcements to the front lines.

This allowed the German artillery to fire at the Russians without restraint, covering the entire Russian position with their bombardment.

Fortunately, there was also good news for Russia. On the fourth day of the Battle of the River San, the Constantinople Treaty was signed, and the Ottoman Empire formally withdrew from the war. R̃åƝỐ𐌱ЁŚ

This meant that the hundreds of thousands of Balkan Nations' troops could be deployed to the Eastern Front, putting the Austro-Hungarian Empire's southeastern border in great danger.

On August 13, 1915, the armies of the Balkan Nations assembled on the border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and launched a fierce offensive against their border.

The Serbs were among the most ferocious attackers. Commander Martin led hundreds of thousands of Balkan troops from the borders of Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania, launching attacks on Sarajevo, the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains, respectively.

The force from Montenegro consisted of 80,000 Montenegrin troops, 50,000 Greek troops, 80,000 from Larasia, a total of 210,000 men.

The Serbian direction included 250,000 Serbian troops, 100,000 Greek troops, a total of 350,000 men.

The Romanian direction had only 200,000 Romanian troops, but there were also Russian forces in the northern Carpathian Mountains, allowing for coordinated combat.

With the participation of the Balkan Nations, the pressure on the Russian side was greatly reduced.

However, what Russia did not expect was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire organized nearly 200,000 troops to defend its southern border and diverted an additional 150,000 from other regions, without pulling away any troops that were cooperating with the Germans.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was obviously gambling that the German-Austrian alliance could obliterate the Russian main force and severely cripple Russia before the Balkan Nations broke through its borders.

At that point, with millions of German-Austrian alliance forces marching south, the Balkan Nations' troops would be no match for them.

On August 17, 1915, the Russians did not wait for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's withdrawal, but instead faced even more frenzied attacks by the German-Austrian alliance forces.

By this time, the Russian forces had been holding their ground at the River San defensive line for ten days, suffering more than 100,000 casualties. The Fourth and Eighth Army Groups suffered heavy losses, and the Third Army Group's combat power was reduced to less than a quarter of its original size.

A fitting description for the current state of these three Russian army groups would be "at the end of their tether."

On August 18, as the German-Austrian alliance forces pushed forward, the Russians had no choice but to abandon Przemysl.

It's worth noting that when the Russians initially captured Przemysl, they suffered a great number of casualties.

Faced with such a strategic location, the Russian army, if not driven to dire straits, would never willingly give up such a territory.

With the urgent retreat of the Russians, Hindenburg and Rudolf made a decisive decision to launch a pursuit and initiate a large-scale offensive on the whole line.

By this time, the central breakthrough tactic had been completely successful. The Germans deployed millions of German-Austrian troops, and the 11th Group Army's breakthrough went straight through, striving to inflict a fatal blow on the Russian army.

In fact, they did indeed achieve this. The Russian Southwestern Front Army had already been stretched to its limit, and the Russian army collapsed quickly in the face of the full-scale offensive of the German army.

By the end of August, the Russian Southwestern Front Army had been completely defeated, not only giving up the occupied Galicia but also retreating to the rear of Poland.

The Gorelitz Campaign, which lasted nearly a month, ended with the all-around defeat of the Russian army.

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The German-Austrian Alliance Army suffered less than 100,000 casualties, a significant portion of which were from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In contrast, Russian casualties exceeded 500,000, with more than 300,000 Russian soldiers taken prisoner.

Not only was the Third Army Group almost completely annihilated, but the Fourth and Eighth Army groups also each lost more than 100,000 men, with countless losses of equipment and supplies.

Meanwhile, Russia's previous achievements in fighting the Austro-Hungarian Empire evaporated after the loss of Galicia.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire reoccupied Galicia, it became difficult for Russians to recapture the region.

More importantly, the German-Austrian Alliance Army now had ample time and opportunity to resist or even defeat the Balkan Allied Forces.

Of course, Russia's losses were far from limited to these.

After this disastrous defeat, the morale of the Russian army plummeted, and the soldiers seemed to lose confidence in resisting the German-Austrian Alliance Army.

Some Russian officers were so afraid of the enemy that they fled in panic when they saw the German troops.

The spread of anti-war sentiment among ordinary soldiers grew, as they feared death and were tired of the war that yielded no results.

In Russia's political arena, this failure also caused a seismic shift. If the Russian government and Nicholas II had been able to suppress domestic rebellion before, after this defeat, Nicholas II seemed unable to control the domestic situation.

Demonstrations erupted in Saint Petersburg and Moscow's Red Square, with angry crowds not only demanding the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II but also insisting that the misguided queen be sent to a convent and Rasputin, the court's favorite, be hanged to restore peace to Russia's government.

As one of the old great powers, the Russian Empire, the people could not accept such significant losses in the war.

If it were not for the fact that the war was relatively successful in other regions, angry people might already be demanding the execution of Nicholas II.

It could be said that the entire Tsarist Russia was in a state of chaos at this moment. If it had not been for Arthur's pre-emptive orchestration to control some revolutionary parties, Russia might already have erupted in a rebellion, and Nicholas II's overthrow would not be far away.

In order to address the current severe crisis in the country, Nicholas II decided to send Cossack cavalry to suppress the unrest in armed areas.

Furthermore, if the unrest was too severe, Nicholas II granted special authorization to the Cossack cavalry commander to attack the protesting crowds.

Armed repression of demonstrations was the last resort and a decision made reluctantly by Nicholas II.

As casualties occur among the demonstrating crowds due to the use of force, it signifies that Nicholas II and Tsarist autocracy have turned to the opposite side of the Russian people.

If the suppression of the unrest fails, then the Russians might not demand a change of monarchy but rather demand the abolition of the entire monarchism.

In addition to various domestic crises, the Russian's situation on the frontline battlefield is also very dire.

After the defeat in Gorelitz Campaign, Russia's strategic situation is already extremely dangerous.

The entire Southwest Front has only three undersized army groups left, and the total number of soldiers adds up to just over 500,000.

Although the Northwest Army has eight army groups, they are being held by a portion of the German army, and their location is very unfavorable for the war.

From the map, it can be seen that the whole Russian army on the Eastern Front has been semi-encircled by the German-Austrian Alliance Army on the north and south wings.

If the German-Austrian Alliance Army launched a frontal attack from both sides, all Russian troops on the frontline would be captured in one fell swoop.

Of course, the German General Staff would not miss such a favorable opportunity, but the top-level decision-making on how to implement the plan to encircle all Russian troops was not unified.

There were two main factions with high influence in the German military at this time: German Chief of General Staff Fajinhan, and Eastern Front Commanders Hindenburg and Rudolf who had just achieved a major victory on the battlefield.

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