Chapter 125: The Lushans’ Countermeasures
Some rejoice, some worry.
One day in mid-June, just as Germania, Austria, and other countries were celebrating this great victory of annihilating over one million enemies and destroying two nations.
In the Summer Palace in Petersburg, the bearded Nicholas II was locking himself in his study with a face full of worry.
After learning that the Southwestern Front had been almost entirely annihilated, he seemed to age several years in an instant and shut himself away. Even Empress Fyodorovna was refused an audience.
In the end, it was a shabby priest who never bathed who requested to see him, and only then did he reluctantly grant an audience.
“Your Majesty… please take care of your health and do not let a momentary setback cloud your judgment.” The shabby man with curly hair and beard comforted the Tsar thus.
“Mister Rasputin! You said the Empire could crush the Austrians in one go this year, so why has the situation turned out like this!” Nicholas II’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse like a beast’s, revealing his extreme unwillingness.
It turned out that this shabby man wearing a priest’s robe was none other than the Rasputin charlatan, who had recently been quite adept at bewitching the Imperial Family.
Speaking of which, Rasputin was also quite helpless; he merely understood a bit about reading people’s hearts and said what the Tsar liked to hear. After flattering him, if the Tsar’s own army couldn’t realize the Tsar’s ambitions, there was nothing he could do.
But now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue giving the Tsar more resolve, offering various persuasions.
Nicholas II had been dejected for a long time, then let out a long sigh: “Last year the Empire lost over 1.5 million troops, and in the first five months of this year, on the Northern Front in the Lithuania direction, the Empire lost another 500,000 to Hindenburg and Mackensen.
Now with another 800,000 lost on the Southern Front, plus other miscellaneous losses, the Empire has already cumulatively lost 3 million men in this war! The war has been going on for less than a year, just 10 months, and the Empire has lost 3 million troops!”
The “Northern Front Lithuania loss of another 500,000 men” mentioned in Nicholas II’s words was also a solid defeat, occurring around the same time as the disastrous defeat in the Hungarian Campaign on the Southern Front, even slightly earlier at the end of May, when 500,000 troops in Lithuania were annihilated. （Historical Fact）
Not to mention, when this news later reached Lelouch’s ears, it was also a case of helpless sighing: he had finally helped the relatively controllable Marshal Leopold and Duke Rupprecht rack up military merit by annihilating 770,000 Russian Army troops in the south; if war maniacs like Hindenburg and Ludendorff didn’t win more military merit, then Leopold’s prestige should clearly surpass Hindenburg’s.
But in the end? The Lushans themselves were not up to par, and right around the same time, they sent another 500,000 between East Prussia and Lithuania on the Northern Front, allowing Hindenburg’s total enemy annihilation count to surpass again.
Who could he reason with? If Lelouch wanted to brake for the Empire in the future and not fight the World War until both sides were exhausted to death, he could only think of ways to boost his own faction’s military merit beyond Hindenburg’s.
No choice, next time he could only annihilate another 2 million enemies, or even more. In short, it had to clearly outpace the Northern Front’s kills by a lot.
Rasputin kept his head down in silence until Nicholas II finished his rambling, then he offered gentle persuasion: “Your Majesty, the Empire has 180 million people, 90 million males, and 30 million men of military age. The loss of 3 million is about one-tenth.
Fortunately, up to now, the Empire’s territory has not been significantly occupied by the enemy. Last year’s battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes took place on enemy soil, and this year’s bloody battles of Krakow and Hungary were also on Austrian land. The enemy’s territory has already turned into ruins in the war, with productivity and civilians suffering greatly. As long as we persist, it will inevitably be the enemy who cannot hold out in the end.
The land the Empire has lost so far is merely the western part of the Kievan Rus’ Plain, the narrow strip from Lviv to Bessarabia, and part of northern Lithuania; the total population of the enemy-occupied areas is less than 2 million, with only about 300,000 men of military age among them.
As long as the Empire’s population core remains intact, plus the wealthy Britain continuously supplying us with blood, materials, and arms, victory will inevitably belong to the Empire. At the start of the war, all countries had large population surpluses and such high unemployment rates. Therefore, at the very beginning of the war, those who rushed to enlist were often speculators looking for a place to get a meal and earn merit for promotion.
It’s no surprise that such armies lack combat effectiveness. Although there have been losses now, the ones who died were speculators; those recruited next will mostly be true patriots defending home and country, and the situation will surely turn around…”
Rasputin’s stream of nonsense didn’t care about logic; it just provided full emotional value.
This is the standard operation of charlatans the world over.
Just like people who feel life isn’t going well going to a psychologist, who always says a bunch of uncomfortable things, making it seem like everything is one’s own fault and needs fixing.
But if they go to a fortune-teller, whether Buddhist, Daoist, or Western style, one sentence settles it: There are villains sabotaging you! It’s not your fault!
As long as the blame is shifted away, even if the problem isn’t ultimately solved, it sounds good, and the originally dejected person feels pleased and no longer anxious.
That’s why throughout history so many emperors liked flattering treacherous ministers.
Moreover, what Rasputin said wasn’t entirely unfounded. In a country like Lusha, at the very outset of the war, many eager enlistees were indeed speculators seeking merit and promotion; Rasputin just elevated these individual cases to the general, giving the Tsar a way out.
Nicholas II finally perked up a bit: “Well said, indeed, the Empire’s 3 million-strong army has such low combat effectiveness, surely because there were too many speculators among the early enlistees! From now on, the army must strictly enforce discipline and emphasize loyalty; everything can definitely be turned around.”
Rasputin knew he had persuaded the Tsar back, and finally summed up profoundly and compassionately: “It is truly wonderful that Your Majesty can rally; there is no need to worry too much about those lost speculators.
True patriots dare to face blood and failure squarely. At the start of the war, it was precisely because the Empire seemed too strong that so many wanted to sneak in for an easy ride. Now that the situation isn’t so smooth, those who come next are the true patriots—
True patriots cannot emphasize defending home and country only when their homeland seems strong. If so, all you’d get are fence-sitters. If one day the homeland is no longer strong, would they stop defending it?”
Nicholas II’s spirits lifted, and his determination to continue the bloody battle burned even fiercer.
……
After sending away the charlatan, Nicholas II finally rallied and no longer shut himself away, starting to normally receive courtiers and handle state affairs.
The situation in Petersburg finally stabilized a bit.
The next day, the Lusha Army Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich, requested an audience with the Tsar regarding the near-total annihilation of the Southwestern Front, to present strategies and countermeasures, and discuss post-campaign rewards and punishments.
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich was the third brother of the previous emperor, thus the current Tsar’s own uncle.
Nicholas II still respected this uncle somewhat, but the uncle always despised the charlatan Rasputin around Nicholas II and hoped he would “favor the wise and distance the villains.” Yet Nicholas II needed Rasputin to use certain “miracles” to alleviate the Crown Prince’s hemophilia symptoms, as no one else could cure it.
Over time, Nicholas II came to feel that his uncle’s advice to “favor the wise and distance the villains” was fake, and that his real aim was to remove the man who could treat the heir’s hemophilia, ultimately to harm the Crown Prince, so that once Nicholas II suddenly died, the uncle could seize the throne.
Once such a chain of suspicions formed, the conflict between uncle and nephew within the Imperial Family grew ever more severe. Moreover, since the uncle was the army’s Commander-in-Chief, it made Nicholas II feel like a fishbone stuck in his throat.
When Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich came to the Summer Palace study for an audience, Nicholas II put on a cold face, expressionless, and asked:
“Uncle, have you come with some new views on the Hungarian campaign? To blame me for forcing Udovici to charge ahead with the entire Southwestern Front?”
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich also kept a cold face, expressionless, as he admonished: “How dare I blame Your Majesty; Your Majesty’s original intent was of course good, but in execution, certain charlatans urged a bit too hastily. I believe this was not Your Majesty’s intent. As long as Your Majesty no longer heeds slanderous words in the future, the state can still rally.”
Nicholas II’s mouth twitched as he listened; the previous advance order was indeed his own decree. Though Rasputin had flattered his wise decision-making, ultimately it was because he himself believed it was right, with others merely agreeing.
The uncle, upon entering, indirectly scolded that this decision was “due to being misled by villains”—wasn’t that secretly slapping his own face? This was intolerable!
“Then Uncle is truly disappointed; ordering Udovici to rush straight for Budapest was indeed my own intent!”
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich was stunned; firstly, he hadn’t expected this truly to be the Tsar’s intent. Secondly, he felt that if the Tsar had any political wisdom at all, at a time like this he should shift blame to subordinates rather than stubbornly own it.
He had already given the other a way out—why not take it?
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich didn’t want to tear faces; he just wanted to play the art of compromise, giving the Tsar a step down to make him realize his mistake, facilitating further persuasion and making the Tsar more amenable and obedient thereafter.
But the conversation had escalated to this point, the atmosphere tense as drawn swords, making subsequent compromise deals hard to maneuver.
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich thought for a while before finding words to smooth it over: “Even if it was Your Majesty’s intent, who is without fault? Since the battle has turned out this way, please Your Majesty choose the good path in the future. Do not persist single-mindedly…”
As he spoke, he carefully listened to the Tsar’s breathing and tonal reactions.
Nicholas II was angry for a while, then felt he should compromise a bit, and the two finally entered a normal rhythm of discussing strategy.
“So, Uncle has come this time with some strategic deployment he hopes I will support? Speak freely; I also want to know, after the Southwestern Front’s destruction, how to proceed next and what to prioritize.”
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich: “I have carefully analyzed the battle situation these past days. The Germanian people have achieved great victories on both the Northern and Southern Fronts this year; the north has already taken half of Lithuania, and the south has occupied from Lviv to Bessarabia in Kievan Rus’.
This makes the Empire’s central Polish salient appear even more protruding. If I were in Hindenburg’s position commanding troops, I would definitely organize a north-south pincer in the late summer and autumn offensive.
North wing advancing south from East Prussia and Lithuania, south wing advancing north from Lviv, ultimately linking up near Brest Fortress along the Bug River, capturing this fortress straddling the Bug River, and finally annihilating the entire Polish salient under Empire control!”
Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich’s words might not be understandable to laymen.
But if someone could gain heavenly insight to assess the battlefield situation, they would find the Grand Duke was not wrong—because in Earth’s history, in the second half of 1915, Germania and Austria’s main offensive direction on the Eastern Front was exactly this. And they did quite well, ultimately forcing Lusha’s “Great Retreat from Poland in 1915,” annihilating 1.5 million Lusha troops and occupying the entire Polish region.
（Note: The following image shows what Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich believes to be the Germanian people’s next offensive direction. Thus persuading the Tsar to beware and deploy troops to defend the Polish region.）
Moreover, in Earth’s history, Germania and Austria had performed far worse on the Southern Front than in this timeline beforehand, because in history the Gorlice campaign, due to untimely encirclement follow-up, only annihilated the Russian 3rd Army Group, while the 8th and 11th nearly escaped encirclement intact.
In this timeline, thanks to Lelouch’s butterfly effect and various enhancements, the result of “merely encircling 1 Army Group” was expanded to encircling almost the entire Front in one go, with only a small half Army Group of 5 divisions from the 8th escaping.
Thus in this timeline, Lushans’ worries about “whether the Polish salient will be cut off” were even greater than on Earth at the same time. Defending it would also be more difficult.
On Earth, to hold Poland, Lushans assembled over 2 million troops in 1915 and still lost, annihilated 1.5 million.
Now, the Germanian northern encirclement launch base is exactly the same as in history. But the Southern Front launch base is better—from Rzeszów north in Earth history, whereas now from Lviv north.
Lviv is over 100 km further east than Rzeszów, with better northward road conditions and infrastructure; an offensive north from Lviv is thus harder to defend.
The defense line is longer, the enemy stronger, and the enemy’s offensive routes better.
By this calculation, to hold Poland, could it be done without assembling 3 million men?
But when this number came from Grand Duke Nikolai Yevgenyevich’s mouth, the Tsar nearly jumped up in fright.
“Assemble 3 million to defend Poland? Uncle, have you gone mad? Do you know how many troops the Empire can currently muster in total? Barely over 5 million. You’d put six-tenths of the national total force in Poland? What about everywhere else?” Nicholas II grew angrier, feeling his uncle was utterly unreliable.
What was he trying to do? Truly intending to hold military power for himself?
——
PS: Too busy over the weekend, manuscript depleted. This morning first wrote and posted 4,000 words; will slowly add the second update this afternoon and evening.
