The Rise Of Australasia
Chapter 512: Chapter 401: Germany's Strategic Shift

11th May 1915, Germany, Berlin City Palace, Imperial military conference.

The meeting room in the Berlin City Palace had been brightly lit for two days. William II, along with several senior German officers and Chief of Staff Fakinham, had been holding a conference that lasted for two full days.

The time of war was so urgent that the sole reason William II, the German Chief of Staff and numerous high-ranking officers were summoned here was that Germany was facing a difficult choice at the moment.

No matter how proud and arrogant William II was, he too sadly had to admit that Germany had been defeated in the current conflict. Any decision could possibly lead to the obliteration of Germany's painstaking efforts over decades.

If the failure on the Westline battlefield last year had dashed Germany's hopes for a quick end to the war, the successive defeats this year on the Eastern Front and the Westline had gradually led Germany to the abyss.

The scales of victory were not just tipping but nearly completely leaning in favour of the Allies. If Germany couldn't come up with a corresponding policy, the current situation couldn't hold on any longer, and defeat in the war was almost inevitable.

No one could deny the strength of the German military. In this conflict, the German forces' firepower far exceeded that of Britain and France, and in the early stages, France was almost on the verge of collapsing under their attack.

However, sadly, France had repelled them with a splendid victory. The Westline battlefield, under the joint efforts of Britain, France, and Australasia, had turned into a war of attrition.

As the new year dawned, there were frequent reports of defeat on the Eastern Front. Russia had successively defeated the Austro-Hungarian army and the East Prussian army of Germany, occupying Galicia and Cilicia. Germany's eastern hinterland was under imminent threat.

At this point, Germany's only reliable ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had lost most of its main forces, while Italy had joined the Allies.

The remaining two allies, Turkey and Bulgaria, played no key role in the war. Together, these two countries were under attack by the coalition of the Balkan nations. Needless to say, they couldn't even provide support to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, let alone ensuring their own safety.

Given these circumstances, one can imagine the current plight of the Central Powers, especially Germany.

Even if they can withstand the fierce attacks on the Westline battlefield, there is this major enemy, Russia, on the Eastern Front. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently severely injured, and Turkey and Bulgaria have been restrained by the Balkan League.

At present, on both the Eastern Front and the Westline, the only force we can rely on is the German Army.

Before the war, the Central Powers had been quite confident. It was not a problem for the combined forces of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to protect the sea lanes in the Mediterranean. Quickly resolving France on the Westline, the war could end within six months.

But, unexpectedly, Italy never intended to join the Central Powers. The Austrian navy was driven into disarray in the Mediterranean by France and Russia. They were far from being able to protect the Mediterranean's shipping lanes, even entering the Mediterranean was a question.

This led to the near severance of the maritime transportation routes of the Central Powers and, coupled with the protracted war of attrition on the Westline battlefield, the Central Powers, initially at a disadvantage in terms of resources, was extremely frustrated.

Speaking to this point, William II harboured even deeper resentment towards Italy. As an inferior power, Italy's military strength was simply disastrous.

If it had not been for Germany's appreciation of Italy's somewhat decent naval force and the establishment of the Triple Alliance with Italy and Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy would never have been able to achieve such a status today.

During the Italo-Turkish War, without the support of Austria-Hungary and Germany, Italy would never have been able to expand in the Balkans.

If Italy had joined the Central Powers, the transportation routes in the Mediterranean would not have been completely cut off, and the material supplies of the Central Powers would not have been so scarce.

The Italian army could also share the burden of combat operations on the Eastern and Western fronts, and the Central Powers' combat situation in both the East and West would have been much better.

Chief of Staff Fakinham, tell me about your plan!" William II's gaze turned to the successor of Little Maurice Johnson, Major General Fakinham, the former Secretary of Army.

The failure of the war had aged the previously arrogant William II considerably, and his speech was no longer as extreme and haughty as before.

"Your Majesty, the current situation in the Eastern and Western fronts is very unfavorable for us. Whatever measures we take, we must break away from the situation of the Eastern and Western fronts." The Chief of Staff, Fakinham, replied with certainty.

"We are replaceing it difficult to make breakthrough progress on the Westline. Even on the Eastern front, we need most of our troops to deal with Russia and the Balkan League. My suggestion is that we must ensure the survival of our current most important ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Should they suffer another defeat, they are very likely to withdraw from this war, which would be extremely detrimental to us. Turkey and Bulgaria have little to offer in terms of wartime assistance; without the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our defeat is quite expected." The Chief of Staff, Fakinham, explained the current situation and then turned his gaze towards William II.

William II nodded. Even though William II's military aptitude wasn't all that great, he understood matters a bit more compared to Nicholas II, who was completely clueless about military affairs.

"So, Chief of Staff, what is your opinion?" William II was well-prepared, asking the question.

"Your Majesty, even though we have suffered a defeat on the eastern front, that is mainly because most of the forces faced by the Russian army were from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As long as our main forces head to the eastern front, defeating the Russians, even fully driving them out of the war is not impossible.

Once Russia withdraws from the war, our dilemma of fighting on two fronts would be resolved. A single western front won't be beyond our capability," Fakinham, the Chief of Staff, slowly outlined the plan he had been considering.

William II nodded but was not prepared to fully change the war strategy right away, instead, he looked at other generals and high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Defence, asking for their opinions.

The person in charge of the Eastern Front, Hindenburg and Rudolf naturally agreed with Fakinham's view, whereas the opinions of Group Army Commanders on the Western Front varied, but were generally in favour of continuing the Western offensive.

After all, if they moved their strategic focus to the Eastern Front, the logistical privileges of the group armies on the Western Front would be downgraded.

Not only would they end up facing smaller campaigns, but their opportunities to achieve significant feats would also become less. Because the Eastern Front would be the main battlefield of the war, where the opportunity to gain fame and glory is most substantial.

Seeing that William II was still undecided, Hindenburg threw out some critical intelligence: "Your Majesty, according to our intelligence, the Russians have amassed a large amount of troops in Galicia, likely to seize the opportunity of our offensive in the west. They might initiate another large-scale strategy.

If the Russians break through the line and cross the Carpathian Mountains into Hungary, it would be a devastating blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even if the Empire can withstand it, the Balkan League will take the opportunity to open a new front in the southern region of the Empire.

Fighting on two fronts has already proved to be adverse for us; it will be impossible for us and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to sustain if a new front opens.

On the contrary, if we achieve a victory on the eastern front, not only can it provide the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a breather, it can also demonstrate to the nations in the Balkans who the most powerful country in the world is, potentially drawing the Balkans League to our side, changing the current situation of the war."

For Germany, the worst news at present is that Russia is preparing to launch another campaign on the Eastern Front.

The Eastern Front has just suffered a defeat, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is simply not capable of sustaining another significant loss.

This actually represents a fact, no matter whether the German side is willing or not, the current strategy must be shifted to the Eastern Front unless Germany is willing to lose the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an ally.

Senior military officers on the eastern and western fronts in Germany looked at each other and eventually had to accept the fact that Germany's military strength was gradually shifting eastwards, with the primary offensive direction being the Eastern Front.

"Alright, everyone. Let's now discuss the concrete plans for the Eastern Front!" William II was somewhat satisfied with the reactions of the officers, at least there were no discontent or disputes arising from the shift of strategy.

William II first set his eyes on Chief of Staff Fakinham. As the highest decision-maker of the German military, Fakinham's opinion was crucial, especially since he was the first to suggest a strategic shift to the east.

"Your Majesty, first and foremost, we need to entirely halt the advances on the Western Front. All forces on the Western Front need to immediately switch to a defensive mode. If necessary, we can surrender all captured territories, retaining only the Belgian Region, which will provide a base for our counter-offensives on the Western Front," Fakinham confidently laid out his plan without hesitating.

"At the same time, we need to redeploy twenty to thirty divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern Front to help our allies retain the eastern border. If possible, I hope that the our nation can continue to organize at least 50 divisions to join the fight, which would be crucial for the Eastern Front."

Hearing Fakinham Chief of Staff's plan, William II was somewhat skeptical and asked, "Are you sure about redeploying twenty to thirty divisions from the Western Front? Will the Western Front be alright?"

"If the Western Front were in an active state of assault, perhaps there would be a problem. But as soon as we enter a comprehensive defensive stage on the Western Front, it wouldn't be a problem to redeploy twenty to thirty divisions.

As long as we can keep up with the recruitment speed of new recruits in the country, we can completely fill the shortfall of soldiers on the Western Front within half a year and also strengthen the defense on the Western Front," replied Chief of Staff Fakinham with slight reassurance.

Despite some apprehension, the combat capability of Germany's forces was good, and if they were only defending, barring the enemy from breaching the defense line on the Western Front should not be a problem. At least, that's what Chief of Staff Fakinham believed.

Only then did William II nod. If they just had to hold out for half a year, the German forces on the Western Front should be able to cope.

Half a year would suffice for the government to train at least 50 divisions of new troops, which would render significant assistance to the Western Front and the Eastern Front six months later.

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More importantly, though the Allies on the Western Front are sizable, the 500,000 Italian forces were notoriously mediocre. Most of the Australasian forces were also largely indigenous armies of only ordinary capability.

Although the British and French forces numbered over 1 million, their combat capabilities were somewhat lacking compared to German forces; resisting their offenses should not be an issue.

Following the heavy casualties suffered by both sides, waves of new soldiers have already been sent to the Western Front, which to a certain extent lowered both sides' combat capabilities.

The British forces, in particular, had initially very few troops and had to recruit soldiers temporarily when the war broke out.

The combat quality of these new recruits compared to Germany's reserve soldiers was much lower, thus creating a significant disparity in the combat power of the respective forces.