Chapter 689: Osman's Attack
As a German fan who was pro-Allied, Sheffield did not order his newspapers to rub salt into Italy's wounds. First of all, although the French army counterattacked to the mainland, Italy did not lose much land. The land occupied by the French army was less than 1,000 square kilometers.
Furthermore, compared with the Battle of the Marne, which caused 250,000 German casualties and 400,000 British and French Allied casualties, although the Italian Army suffered some humiliation, it did not suffer heavy casualties. Armies with weak combat effectiveness are often good at retreating, and the Italian Army only suffered a loss of less than 50,000 people.
Furthermore, as long as Italy joined the war, it would have helped the Allies a lot. At least it would have freed up the Austro-Hungarian Empire's mobilization force of one million, so that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could hold out longer when facing the Russian Empire. On the other hand, the Russian Empire would face greater pressure because it was surrounded by the Allies on the Eastern Front.
But the slave owners had previously killed Rasputin, who had messed up the Russian government during the war. There might have been less chaos within the Russian Empire, and the Russian Empire was also strengthened. The current situation is indeed more balanced.
These are all the credit of Italy. You should know that although Italy did not make much achievement in World War I, it also caused great trouble to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In two years, the Battle of the Isonzo River alone was fought twelve times.
Italy, which joined the Allies, quickly mobilized its troops to march to the Karst Plateau and the Julian Mountains, hoping to break through the Austro-Hungarian defenses with speed and overwhelming numbers. However, their opponents, relying on their superiority and fortifications, repeatedly repelled their attacks. In the first eight months of the declaration of war, the two armies fought five fierce battles in the Isonzo River Basin, with heavy casualties, but no one could break the stalemate.
In the following two years, the Italian army tirelessly troubled the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both sides suffered millions of casualties, and now the Allies could at least use these two million potential casualties elsewhere.
"The initiative of the war is still in the hands of the Allies. We can only say that the Allies have now passed the most dangerous time." The League of Nations' German-praising attributes are weakening, and now it can make light praises with reason and evidence.
After the Battle of the Marne, the Allies and the Central Powers entered a relatively peaceful period. Licking their wounds and preparing for the next round of fierce fighting, at this time, the factories of the United States began to enter a bonus stage because of the war.
A steady stream of orders floated into the United States like snowflakes, and fell into the hands of the slave owners who had been waiting for a long time.
In fact, since the beginning of the war, the United Company has been preparing for the war, with all the goods ready and waiting for customers to come.
"I know the British hate me very much, but so what? Originally they could go to the DuPont family, but a few years ago I forced the DuPont family out of the arms industry. Now the domestic military-industrial complex is in my hands, and I own shares in almost all companies. The British have no choice at all."
Lying on the sofa, his head resting on Louisa Morgan's thigh and his feet on Edith Rockefeller's legs, the slave owner lived a very comfortable life. It felt good to make money.
"The Civil War was the key to the rise of the Rockefeller family. Now it's your turn, but the war you face is much bigger than the Civil War." Louisa Morgan glanced at Edith Rockefeller on the other side and said, "Now it seems that you are really amazing for forcing the DuPont family to withdraw from the arms industry."
"Don't mention the Civil War. Our family lost too much in the Civil War. If a group of slave owners hadn't fled to Brazil, the Civil War would have been a complete loss-making business for the United Company." Sheffield sighed, "I am also doing this for the good of the DuPont family. Using war to do business and selling death will definitely not be a good reputation. I am leaving the opportunity to be a good person to others. I have done all the bastard things by myself. I think God is no better than this. There is a saying in the East that makes a lot of sense. If I don't go to hell, who will?"
"As expected, the United Company has reached a stage of rapid development. You have money, so everything you say is right." Edith Rockefeller rolled her eyes at the slave owner. "But isn't it a losing deal for you to support the Ottoman Empire? Is a barren piece of land worth risking your life for?"
"When it comes to talking about money, we are at a disadvantage. Sometimes, some things are more important than money. I want to protect Christians in the Middle East from being used by the belligerent countries." Sheffield turned over, facing Louisa Morgan's full chest, and said vaguely, "Well, this kind of oppression is what I want."
At the port of Kuwait, a huge fleet was approaching. The port was already crowded with Christian militias, unloading the military supplies from the ships. Each ship was filled with different supplies, even rubber shipped from Manila.
There is one thing that a slave owner can do, and that is when he is determined to help, he really helps, and that is what he did with the Ottoman Empire. Of course, deep down in his heart, he also has a bit of sympathy for these ancient powers that have declined since the Industrial Revolution.
It was only the Ottoman Empire that was beaten by Europe, that was the fault of the Ottoman Empire, it was only the Mughal Empire that became a colony, that was the fault of the Mughal Empire, it was only the Qing Dynasty that was humiliated, that was the fault of the Qing Dynasty. But these different civilizations were all beaten to a pulp, there was no other reason, the reason was that Europe was too powerful after the Industrial Revolution.
Compared with civilizations other than Europe, the Ottoman Empire has a notable characteristic, which is that it is a strong military empire. In the early days, it was known that there were ten generations of wise rulers in power. The fundamental reason for this was that the Ottoman Empire had a tradition that after becoming a sultan, one could kill his brothers and relatives. Therefore, each generation of monarchs must have gone through wars and conspiracies, and each of them had experienced the Xuanwu Gate Incident on the scale of the Nine Dragons Fighting for the Throne.
The Ottoman Empire's system, which was similar to the imperial examination system, provided a way to get promoted by joining the army. Due to various factors, the Ottoman Empire's combat effectiveness was stronger than that of all civilizations except European countries.
The nominal population of the Ottoman Empire was only over 20 million. However, considering that the Ottoman Empire was far inferior to the Qing Dynasty in terms of internal affairs, this number could not even be estimated. Constantinople had no idea how many subjects it had.
So why did Britain and France always negotiate peace after fighting the Qing Dynasty after 1840? They were completely shocked by the population size that should not have appeared in the agricultural era. The Ottoman Empire with a population of more than 20 million people finally suffered such a fate. What about the Qing Dynasty with a population 20 times larger?
Only William Pasha's territory knew exactly how many residents there were in the area and how many soldiers could be mobilized to fight.
The world war had broken out for three months. Compared to the bombardment in Europe, the tranquility near the Persian Gulf was like heaven. A steady supply of food supplied the Kuwaiti territory, and more and more Christians came to the country after hearing the news.
"Transfer these supplies to inland ships and send them to the north. The imperial army is waiting to receive them." An officer in dark uniform was directing some soldiers to carry the supplies.
"Sir, why should we help the Ottomans?" a soldier replied dissatisfiedly, "William Pasha is a good man, but he is too good to the Ottomans."
"Don't we always talk about this? We have to fight for our peaceful life, but we have to be smart in how we fight for it. Besides, there are still many Greeks and Armenians in their hometowns. We are protecting the southern line of the empire, and we are also protecting them." The officer said coldly, "Our regiment is responsible for transporting supplies this time. When you meet the imperial army, don't say anything that will affect unity. Be polite. We are also William Pasha's army, and we are all serving the same goal now."
At the end of the year when the war began, the Ottoman army, which had been reinforced by the world's second largest conglomerate, could no longer endure and prepared to attack its arch-enemy.
In terms of command, the highest commander of the Ottoman Empire was naturally Enver Pasha. The Russian army was led by Grand Duke Nicholas, the commander-in-chief of the southern front, and General Vorontsov, the commander-in-chief of the Caucasus Army, who also served as the administrative governor of the Russian Caucasus, so he handed over the military power to the deputy commander-in-chief Meshlayevsky and Yudenich.
In December, when the Caucasus was snowing heavily, Enver Pasha commanded the Ottoman Third Army to start the operation. According to the plan, the 11th Army would bypass the south and tie down the main force of the Russian Caucasus Army on the Aras River. The 10th Army would occupy Ardahan from the north and cut off the railway in Sakalemish, and then join the 9th Army in the middle to capture Sakalemish and finally annihilate the First Caucasus Army. This was a genius plan in the style of Tannenberg.
In order to ensure the effectiveness of the surprise attack, Enver ordered the troops not to carry fuel, tents and bedding, and even only half of the food ration, hoping to obtain supplies from villages along the way and enemy strongholds. In the severe winter wind and snow in the Caucasus, they struggled to move forward on the ridge in the wind and snow.
If Sheffield knew Enver had such an order, he would not have worked overtime to rush the work. You didn't bring anything with you, so why did you ask me for military supplies in the beginning? To ensure the surprise attack, you burned your boats and crossed the river? When did you know the story of Xiang Yu?
The Ottomans did achieve the effect of surprise. Borgmann had no idea of the enemy's movements, so when he found the enemy approaching the city, the Russian army fell into chaos. Meshlayevsky, in particular, panicked and ordered the destruction of all warehouses and retreat, and kept issuing contradictory orders, leaving the Russian army at a loss.
(End of this chapter)
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