War is a continuation of politics, and this war cannot continue indefinitely; it will eventually have to be resolved at the negotiating table.
However, the German Army had too few bargaining chips and was unable to speak at the negotiating table, leaving it almost at the mercy of others.
But now, with this victory that dealt a heavy blow to Allied Powers ‘ morale, they finally have a little leverage at the negotiating table!
However, the situation remains very unfavorable for Germany, since a small victory is not enough to change their status as a defeated nation.
“Your Highness, the situation in the country is becoming increasingly chaotic.
Our enemies include not only the millions of troops of Allied Powers, but also the soldiers who have revolted and the revolutionaries who have rebelled within the country.” As the saying goes, “To repel external enemies, one must first secure internal stability.” Without resolving internal problems, no matter how valiant and skilled our army is, it will be impossible to stop the Allied Powers ‘ offensive.
“Therefore, I suggest ending the fighting in the Western Front as soon as possible, and before our ammunition and supplies are completely exhausted and the morale of our troops is completely broken, we should lead our troops back home to quell the rebellion.” Hindenburg’s words were those of a seasoned strategist, and although they sounded like a surrender to Allied Powers, one had to admit that he was telling the truth.
The German Army, or rather the Royalists, are currently in a very difficult situation.
They not only have powerful external enemies, but also internal enemies that are growing stronger every day.
William heard that the Bolsheviks were inciting workers to strike, march, and even carry out armed revolutions.
Every day, countless workers are absorbed into their ranks and become part of their organization.
These workers were educated, thoughtful, and highly organized.
Some unions even seized control of the empire’s military factories and warehouses, giving them access to weapons.
If left unchecked, it probably won’t be long before they can muster an army of hundreds of thousands or even millions.
The longer the conflict dragged on, the greater their strength became, and the more difficult it would be for the German Army to wipe them out.
Although the German Army has better equipment and more combat experience, it would normally be able to win.
However, due to the collapse of the German Empire’s government, the German Army at the front is now like a rootless duckweed, and it can no longer receive supplies such as weapons, ammunition, food, and medicine from the country.
Furthermore, they also had to face attacks from Allied Powers forces.
If this dragged on, the German Army at the front would only become weaker and weaker.
Therefore, the German Army simply could not afford to drag things out, and had no other choice but to compromise with Allied Powers and try to secure a relatively less bad armistice agreement.
William sighed.
The situation was indeed quite hopeless.
No wonder Hindenburg and others signed the Treaty of Versailles, a treaty that was so harsh on Germany.
“Alright, I understand.
I won’t escalate the war proactively.
But if the Allied Powers army continues to attack, my legion and I will hold them firmly here, deliver the most devastating counterattack, and try to gain some leverage for you!” Upon hearing Crown Prince Wilhelm’s words, Hindenburg finally felt relieved.
“In that case, I will return to begin the next round of negotiations.
I hope Your Highness will take care of your health and refrain from taking such a dangerous step as personally going to the front lines!” The Crown Prince’s change made him very gratified.
He felt as if he had found his backbone again and had the motivation to do things.
The confusion and ambition he had felt due to the defeat had dissipated considerably.
If His Highness the Crown Prince can always be so brave and intelligent, then why not be Bismarck for once?
Bismarck was able to assist Emperor Wilhelm I in expanding the territory, unifying the entire German region, and establishing the powerful German Empire.
He, Hindenburg, could also assist Crown Prince Wilhelm in building the Third Reich, a city belonging to all Germans, from ruins!
Although he is 70 years old, so what if he is 70?
At 70, he was at the prime of his life, and his ambitions had not diminished with age.
…
Hindenburg’s visit was brief, and he only spent less than half a day at Army Group B.
After Hindenburg left, William didn’t stop working.
On the one hand, they seized the time to build fortifications and strengthen the defense of the position.
On the one hand, the troops at the front line were arranged to rotate in an orderly manner, so that the soldiers who had participated in the battle could withdraw and rest.
Before the enemy’s counterattack comes, we must seize the time to complete the deployment of the defensive line.
Otherwise, it will be too late to prepare for battle once the enemy has attacked.
Before doing so, he opened the system panel to check his current gains.
[Military Merit Points: 43221↑ (Can be exchanged for supplies and equipment)] Overnight, the system panel gained more than 40,000 military merit points, which can be considered a small windfall.
If calculated based on the purchasing power of the night vision devices purchased previously, this military merit is roughly equivalent to 430 million RMB.
For ordinary people, this is an astronomical sum.
But for a country, this amount of money is not enough.
For example, weapons and ammunition urgently needed by the German Army can be purchased directly from the system mall.
However, a single large-caliber howitzer shell costs as much as 5,000 yuan, and with his money, he could only buy 80,000 shells, which wasn’t even enough to supply the needs of a single campaign.
It is said that the participating countries in World War I burned through more than $200 billion in military spending, averaging $200 million per day!
If we take into account the associated economic losses, this figure will double!
This is a US dollar that could be directly exchanged for gold during World War I!
War is such a damn money-burning thing!
However, William did not intend to use these valuable military merits to directly purchase consumables such as weapons and ammunition, as the cost-effectiveness was too low.
This kind of thing can be produced by ourselves; there’s no need to buy it from the system mall.
Conversely, if this money were used to purchase advanced machine tools, technologies, and design blueprints for future generations, it would be a very cost-effective investment.
It’s a pity that there wasn’t enough money; it felt like it wasn’t enough to spend!
Thinking about this, William felt an urge to launch another night raid.
Unfortunately, such victories cannot be replicated.
Once the enemy is on guard, the same tactics will no longer work, and may even lead to them walking into a trap and wasting their few elite troops.
Stormtroopers are not ordinary soldiers; they are elite veterans selected from the best of the best in the military.
Each soldier has at least three years of combat experience, and their physical fitness, mental fortitude, and even marksmanship far surpass those of ordinary soldiers.
Army Group B has 740,000 men, and only 8,000 Stormtroopers were selected.
The selection ratio of 100 to 1 is comparable to the threshold for special forces in later generations.
These elite troops should be used in key positions, not used arbitrarily for gambling.
The U.S.
military’s counterattack was much slower than William had anticipated.
France’s transportation network has limited capacity, and it took the US military several days to redeploy the Second Army to the front lines to replace the First Army.
However, the French cannot be entirely blamed.
The two sides have fought countless battles in this area near the front lines over the past few years, and even the best infrastructure has been destroyed.
In addition, the Americans were too extravagant, carrying far too much supplies and having an excessively large military force.
At this time, the average strength of a division of the British, French, and German armies was between 16,000 and 18,000 men, while the strength of a US division was 28,000 men, which was half the size of the divisions of the other participating countries!
Towards the end of the war, other countries opted to downsize their organizations and abolish brigade-level units in order to facilitate command, replacing them with a standard organization of three infantry regiments.
The Americans, who had just entered the war, were still using the outdated block division organization, which consisted of two brigades under one division and two regiments under one brigade.
This resulted in their troops being bloated and lacking flexibility.
The US military’s previous defeats were largely due to its organizational structure.
But Pershing’s staff believed that a division of 28,000 men was excellent and could greatly reduce the need for well-trained officers.
The U.S.
military has not fought a war for too long, there are too few commanders with combat experience, and the U.S.
military has never been large in the past.
The current army of several million was hastily assembled.
With the sudden expansion of over a hundred divisions, officers could only be selected from military academies and the existing army of less than 100,000 men who lacked combat experience, resulting in a huge shortage of personnel.
If the United States were to truly reform its military like Britain, France, and Germany, it would need to recruit at least tens of thousands of mid-level officers.
But the United States simply doesn’t have that many officers, so it has to make do with what it has.
After we’ve fought many battles and our talent has been gradually developed, it’s not too late to summarize our shortcomings and make improvements.