The Rise of Australasia

The formal surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has all the Allies more excited, and all the countries participating in the division of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's territory have become more proactive, turning their eyes to Germany's territory.

Especially Russia, which has experienced previous internal turmoil and mentioned several times that it is only responsible for defensive warfare, is currently mobilizing frequently on the Eastern Front, showing a trend of launching large-scale battles.

It should be noted that with the assistance of Britain and France for Russia, and the interest-free loans provided by the United States to Russia, Russia has finally restored some order.

The land ceded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire has also caused some Russians to no longer oppose the war. After all, the government can now guarantee its own supply of supplies, and the new constitutional government has also given people hope.

At this time, Russia's political situation is actually somewhat special. The real power is held by the Russian grand nobility and the big bourgeoisie, but there are also a considerable number of royalist factions, as well as the Workers' Alliance, which is dominated by workers' interests.

The Provisional Government and the Tsar reached an agreement, which also led to the exclusion of the Workers' Alliance-controlled Moscow and its surroundings by the entire Russia. The Workers' Alliance, led by the Bolshevik Party, has not yet been able to affect more regions in Russia.

In the treaty between Russia and Austria-Hungary, there is a provision that prohibits the Austro-Hungarian government from allowing the true high-level Bolshevik party led by Vladimir Eriksen Ulyanov to enter Russia through Austria-Hungary.

Vladimir Eriksen Ulyanov also has another famous name, but it cannot be mentioned casually.

Without the leadership of the core figures, and the premise that the Royal Security Intelligence Agency has already cleared most of the parties of the Workers' Alliance in advance, the current Workers' Alliance does not pose much of a threat to Russian politics.

After all, Russia still has the support of the Allies, and the Workers' Alliance is jealous of all countries.

Nicholas II, who was very high-profile and autocratic before, has also become low-key after Russia experienced internal turmoil.

Although the military talents of Nicholas II are indeed not high, his political abilities are not low.

Nicholas II clearly understands that the current way to guarantee his power and the status of the Romanov family is to live a simple life, to the greatest extent diluting the royal family's presence in the public eye.

Of course, Nicholas II did not do anything. During these days living in the Winter Palace, Nicholas II has released food to the residents of St. Petersburg and nearby Russians several times to ease the bad impression of the Tsar.

At the moment, there is a subtle balance between Nicholas II and the Provisional Government. Since the Provisional Government is more vigilant against the Workers' Alliance, Nicholas II's throne is still preserved.

For this reason, there are still a large number of royalists in the Russian army and government. The existence of these royalists is also the hope for Nicholas II to regain power.

Of course, Nicholas II's regaining power still faces many problems, such as the distrust of the people and the vigilance of the Provisional Government, etc.

However, no matter what, Nicholas II's current situation is much better than his historical outcome. If handled well, becoming a constitutional monarch like the King of England with a stable position is not a problem.

After the Allies launched a comprehensive counterattack on the Western Front, Russia also faced a problem, that is, whether to participate in this full-line counterattack. ŕᴀΝǑ฿ĘȘ

After a long period of contemplation, the Russian Provisional Government finally decided to participate in this attack.

There's no other option, Russians have already tasted the sweetness while dividing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, a small Galicia and Austrian Poland simply cannot satisfy the appetite of the Russians, and they are also unwilling to let go of the East Prussian region and German-occupied Poland.

More importantly, a small Austro-Hungarian Empire needs 15 billion pounds in compensation, of which the proportion that Russians can divide is about 2.5 billion pounds.

The Germans will only pay more, and the Russians will also receive a larger share of war reparations to consolidate their domestic situation.

On August 17, 1917, the Russian army, which had been reorganized for more than half a year, launched an attack on the Eastern Front, trying to recapture all areas occupied by Germany.

Germany, through previous wars, has occupied a lot of land in Russia. The government dreams of recovering these lands, which also has a good stabilizing effect on the domestic situation in Russia.

If the Provisional Government can recover these lands and even end this war, the rule of the Provisional Government will become more stable, and whether Nicholas II will attempt a coup, or the Workers' Alliance wants to move to the Provisional Government, depends on the actual beneficiaries of the Russian people.

There are still many areas controlled by the Germans, including Riga and Minsk, which are still under German control.

However, the vast majority of the territory in the Ukrainian region has been recaptured, after all, after the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Germans did not have enough troops to occupy these areas.

There are currently thousands of kilometers of borderlines between Russia and Germany, but the German defense forces are only about 1 million.

It is impossible to rely on this 1 million army to hold the entire border line, so the Germans had strategically retreated earlier, focusing on defending major cities such as Riga, Minsk, Warsaw and Brest in the Polish region, etc.

If there was a German defense map, it could be seen that the Germans focused on defending the major urban cities in the occupied areas, with Poland being the most important to them.

The reason why there are no German cities is actually quite simple; the Russians must first reclaim their lost lands before their military can reach German territory.

The reminiscence of the Russian army made the European media even more excited. They firmly believed that the Germans could not hold out for long under a two-sided encirclement.

After all, if looking only at the gap in military strength, the total number of Allied forces in Europe was close to 15 million, while the total German forces was only 5 million, a three-fold gap.

Indeed, although the Germans were prepared for the possibility of a Russian offensive, the pressure on the Western Front was so great that a large number of heavy weapons were transferred to the Western Front.

Furthermore, the Germans did not take the Russian military's combat capabilities seriously, and even believed that the Russian army was still as it was a year ago, with the majority of the army lacking proper weapons, let alone heavy machine guns and artillery.

However, the equipment of the Russian army had changed significantly since a year ago. A $2 billion loan from the United States gave the Russians the confidence to continue the war.

Although a significant portion of the $2 billion was spent on civilian livelihoods and national development, over $500 million was also invested in the war, particularly in the procurement of military equipment.

Moreover, the previous aircraft orders signed by Nicholas II and Arthur were still being fulfilled, and the purchase of more weapons and equipment from Australasia allowed the 2 million-strong Russian army to have sufficient equipment, catching the careless Germans off guard.

By the middle of August 1917, the Russians already had as many as 200 military aircraft, more than 150 of which were bombers.

Russian pilots' training had also been completed, and these 200 military aircraft were ready to take off and engage in any war at any time.

At the beginning of the war, the Russians deployed all their military aircraft and completely occupied the skies of the Eastern Front.

German planes and airships were no match for Russian aircraft, especially airships, which were like sitting ducks to Russian planes.

Since the outbreak of the war, the importance of airships had declined significantly. If not for their ability to transport more supplies and people, airships would have been phased out by various countries already.

It should be noted that there are airships from various countries in the skies, and there is competition and conflict between them.

When facing more advanced weapons like airplanes, airships had virtually no resistance.

Aircraft can easily destroy airships, but airships have difficulty hitting smaller aircraft, especially when they are more flexible.

Clearly, the loss of vast territories by the Russians earlier had actually come to their aid now.

The Germans simply did not have enough troops to defend such a huge, narrow territory, and their deployment on the Eastern Front was consequently dispersed.

Although the Germans had anticipated the Russian offensive, their military strength was lacking; furthermore, the weaker newer recruits had reduced the combat capabilities of their armies on the Eastern Front.

Since the start of the war, German casualties had been mounting. Even considering deaths alone, Germany had already exceeded 2.5 million.

It should be noted that before the war, the entire German army did not even number one million, which meant that a large number of new soldiers had been conscripted onto the battlefield and died in various offensives and defenses.

Germany's population was limited and had no colonial advantages like Britain and France, so they could only consume their own native population.

Under these circumstances, Germany had recruited several million more troops and was still able to maintain an army of over 5 million fighting units, which demonstrated the German people's identification with their country and their belligerence.

However, the remaining 5 million fighting units also represented Germany's final fallback. Germany's blood was running dry, and they couldn't possibly send all the women and the weak and old onto the battlefield in the end, right?

Therefore, having new recruits for Germany at this time was relatively good news. Once the elderly, the weak, and women had to be sent onto the battlefield, the country would be crippled.

However, it is clear that 1 million German recruits could not withstand the Russian offensive, especially when the 1 million soldiers were scattered along the lengthy frontlines.

The resurgent Russian army was in high spirits. After besieging Riga for half a month, they successfully recaptured Riga and drove the German forces back south of the Daugava River.

The capture of Riga also opened a gap in the German defense line. The Russian army could now either advance directly southward through Lithuania to attack East Prussia or move south first, then east to encircle Minsk and annihilate the German defense forces there.

Either choice would be very effective blows to the German army, which meant that the Russian army had taken complete control of the Eastern Front battlefield.

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