Chapter 459: Forcing France to Fight a Positional War
(The picture below is a map of Romania during World War I, in which Transylvania was Austrian during World War I and was assigned to Romania after the war. Most of the people in the region were Romanians, but they were under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was the source of the conflict between Romania and the Allies, and was also the main reason why Romania joined the Allies to fight)
"Oil, General." Charles analyzed, "Oil is the lifeblood of the Germans. Once Romania announces its joining the Allies, the Germans will not hesitate to attack it and try to defeat it in the shortest possible time."
Gallieni was stunned and nodded slightly.
Before this, everyone, including Gallieni himself, believed that the joining of Romania, a country rich in oil, would be a good thing for the Allies.
But after Charles said this, as long as Romania announced its accession, the Germans would attack Romania and control the oil.
Charles continued to analyze the map:
"If Romania were a neutral country, Germany would not have gone to such extremes to win her cooperation."
"At this time, Germany could not get much oil, because Romania was also selling oil to the Allies."
Gallieni added: “But if the Germans take control of Romania, they get all the oil and we get nothing.”
"Yes." Charles nodded. "So, it would be better for Romania not to join. The Germans have no reason to start a war, and they don't want to push Romania into the arms of the Allies. They can only watch Romania cooperate with us."
Gallieni gasped. This guy was right. Everyone, including Joffre, was on the wrong path without knowing it.
But then Gallieni changed his mind and asked again: "But Romania can organize an army of 500,000, and there are other armies to cooperate with..."
"Look at Romania's position, General." Charles raised his chin towards the map. "She is almost surrounded by the Allies. Once a war breaks out, we will not be able to provide her with reinforcements, except from Russia."
(The above picture shows the location of Romania. Although it forms an encirclement of Germany and Austria with France, Britain, Italy and Russia, Romania is actually isolated)
Gallieni stared at the map for a while and sighed softly: "Russia is losing ground and can hardly spare any troops to reinforce Romania."
Ciel added: "Even if reinforcements were available, it would be of no use."
Gallieni hesitated, but had to admit it.
The Russian army had chaotic command and low combat effectiveness. Even if they could receive reinforcements, it would not change anything. It would just be sending a bunch of prisoners to the German and Austrian armies.
As for the Romanian army, although it has 500,000 people, they have almost never been on the battlefield and are poorly trained. It is not difficult to imagine what they will be like under the German attack.
Gallieni frowned and sighed: "The Entente's current actions seem to have won a rare ally, but in fact they are handing Romania's oil to the Germans."
"They're planning to get Romania to declare war before the general attack, aren't they?" asked Charles.
"Yes." Gallieni nodded.
"There's still time," said Charles.
Gallieni looked a little nervous: "Although there is time, it is not much, and besides..."
There was a hint of worry in his eyes: "I'm not sure I can convince them."
Charles expressed his understanding that this was part of Joffre's plan to defeat Charles, and he would not easily give up this opportunity for a "big win".
Before leaving, Gallieni told Charles: "You don't know, understand? You know nothing!"
"Yes, General," Charles replied.
This was a military secret at the level of army group commander, and Gallieni's discussion with Charles was a violation.
But Gallieni didn't care about all this. He secretly thanked God that he had violated the rules and discussed it with Charles, otherwise there might be big problems.
…
At the Palace of Forget-Soul-Legend in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, William II and Falkenhayn were strolling on the steps of a vineyard, admiring the heavy fruits hanging on the branches while discussing the current situation.
(The picture above shows the "Sorrowful Palace", a palace built by King Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam in 1744)
(The picture above shows the vineyard in the Palace of Forget-Sorrows)
There are fountains and statues everywhere around the roadside, and surrounded by green leaves and bunches of grapes, giving people a sense of elegance and leisure.
However, William II frowned, bent over with his hands behind his back, and his steps seemed very heavy.
"We seem to be surrounded by the enemy, Erich." William II's tone was bleak. The war was developing in a direction that was unfavorable to the Allies. "I heard that the Romanians have been in contact with the British recently and seem to be thinking about joining the Allies."
Falkenhayn hummed: "Transylvania is the sticking point, unless we are willing to give it to Romania."
This is just talk.
The point is that Transylvania was not a German territory but one that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
If Transylvania was forcibly ceded, it would only cause the Austro-Hungarian Empire to become alienated, and this was not the German way of dealing with the problem.
"Is this the only solution you can think of?" William II smiled lightly, with dissatisfaction in his tone.
"No, Your Majesty," Falkenhayn replied, analyzing slowly, "I think it is unlikely that we will be able to completely defeat the British, because they have a powerful navy on the other side of the Channel. It will be extremely difficult for them to land on the island and occupy it."
Wasn't it obvious that William II let out a breath of disdain?
Falkenhayn went on to say: "Russia can also be considered, because the army of Tsarist Russia has been defeated by us, and coupled with the victory in the Dardanelles, it is only a matter of time before Russia is defeated."
William II said "hmm" weakly. This could barely be considered good news.
"Don't even consider Italy." Falkenhayn's eyes flashed with contempt: "They are vulnerable. The Austro-Hungarian army is enough to stop them."
"What do you want to say?" William II said impatiently: "You want to tell me that we don't need to worry about their encirclement? But all these unimportant things added together may be enough to make us collapse, General!"
"What I want to say is," Falkenhayn replied, "our best plan is to focus all our efforts on killing our old enemy, France!"
"You are crazy." William II looked at Falkenhayn in surprise: "France has Charles, he just defeated us and captured more than 100,000 people!"
"I know, Your Majesty." Falkenhayn stopped and turned to William II: "But I think Charles is better at mobile warfare. What if we can force France to fight a positional war with us?"
William II was stunned, then nodded slightly.
This might be a feasible solution!
(End of this chapter)
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