The Rise Of Australasia
Chapter 593: Chapter 455: Darkening Skies and Earth_2

Because Hindenburg was the Chief of General Staff at that time, he had to deal with quite a bit of pressure.

Fortunately, there were two previous Chiefs of General Staff, Little Maurice and Fakinham, who also shared a significant amount of the pressure.

However, since Hindenburg was still active in German politics, he was the one who bore the brunt of the pressure.

Due to the harassment from the Allied aircraft and the frequent setbacks on the frontlines, the prestige of the military government led by Hindenburg had declined greatly.

Even some non-Junker nobility members in the military higher-ups began to protest, arguing that the current predicament faced by Germany was due to the blind command of the General Staff.

These people demanded that Hindenburg return power to Emperor William II of Germany, so as not to let Germany go further down the wrong path.

In fact, compared to the more extreme Junker nobility and military government, the German government under William II's rule was somewhat more rational.

More importantly, William II was not a staunch advocate of war. The interest group represented by William II was more like a faction of balance. Although they hoped for victory in the war, they were also able to accept defeat.

After all, for William II, his throne was the most important thing. People like Hindenburg, who had directly undermined William II and the government, were the biggest threats to the German monarchy and government.

Although there had been some voices from the military and the people, Hindenburg would never pay attention to their doubts.

What a joke, Hindenburg had barely managed to usurp William II's power, gaining actual control of the military government.

There was no way he would give up his power willingly just because of some people's opinions within the country.

After all, William II had grievances about being sidelined, and as the mastermind behind it all, Hindenburg was definitely one of the people William II resented.

If Hindenburg dared to return power to William II, he should be prepared to be brought to account by William!

Although the Germans seemed to be in crisis, the Allies also consumed a great deal of resources.

After merely half a month of the war, the Russians once again sought assistance from Australasia, requesting to purchase more weapons and equipment.

If it were in the past, Arthur would replace ways to stall the Russians, creating greater profits for himself.

But now, Arthur agreed to the Russians' demands without hesitation. There was no way around it, even if Australasia didn't sell weapons to Russia, there was the United States eagerly eyeing the arms trade of various countries.

If Australasia rejected this order, the Americans would definitely intervene and take over the deal.

It was better for Australasia to earn this money itself rather than let the Americans make a profit from it.

Furthermore, a stronger Russia was good for Arthur, as it would at least allow the Russian monarchy to last a little longer.

Arthur knew very well that the greatest threat to Russian monarchism was the Workers' Alliance that controlled Moscow.

What the Russian Provisional Government actually wanted was a constitutional monarchy, which was something Arthur could accept.

After all, a constitutional monarchy was still a monarchy, a highly prestigious monarch could still wield a certain amount of power, such as Queen Victoria in the past.

Even a constitutional monarchy had the hope of transforming back into an absolute monarchy, as long as there was a prestigious and popular monarch who could make it happen.

But if it were transformed into the republic that the Workers' Alliance desired, it would be virtually impossible to restore the monarchy.

Not everyone is willing to have a king rise above them for no reason, a king who would take a share of the government's wealth and even have the nerve to command them.

On September 1, 1917, the long-planned counterattack by Hindenburg finally arrived.

A million German troops on the Southern Front broke through the defenses of the Allies, mainly the defenses of the Italian Army, and even approached the Marne River line.

Keep in mind, Paris is located downstream of the Marne River, only about 100 kilometers from the German front line.

The German counterattack caused some panic among the Allies – if Paris were to fall, it would be no joke and would be an unparalleled blow to the Allies.

After all, of the 10 million Allied troops on the Western Front, a considerable part was contributed by the French.

If the Germans were to succeed in a surprise attack, forcing the French to surrender, then it would be questionable whether the remaining Allied forces could withstand the German offensive.

In order to support the French, and appease the French government and public, the British urgently announced the deployment of an additional 500,000 troops to the Western Front.

Under pressure from the Allied countries, Italy also increased its forces by 200,000 to block the German offensive.

At this point, the nearly 2 million reserve forces that had been reserved earlier became useful.

Following the order from the Allies General Headquarters, reserve forces stationed along the Marne River and in the rear of Verdun began to mobilize frequently, intent on driving the Germans back to their original frontlines.

The final outcome was good – millions of Allied troops successfully blocked the German offensive and pushed the German Army back over 20 kilometers near the Marne River, just 70 kilometers from Paris.

This avoided another outbreak of the Battle of Paris, giving the entire Allied Nations, especially France, a sigh of relief.

At the same time, it made all the Allies realize that relying on the Italian Army as the main offensive force was untrustworthy and would even burden other fronts.

The Allies General Headquarters swiftly decided to transfer 300,000 troops from the Northern Front to the Southern Front, replacing the 300,000 Italian troops.

Relying on the well-developed transportation network in Belgium and France, the transfer of up to 600,000 troops could be completed within two weeks.

In order to maintain frontline stability during the troop rotation, the Allies General Headquarters decided to increase offensives on other fronts during the rotation period, while sending out a large number of reconnaissance planes to determine German movements.

Of course, during the rotation period, up to 500,000 reserve forces were on standby to fill any gaps created by the rotation.

At the same time, the Allies General Headquarters also asked the Russians to step up their offensive on the Eastern Front, so the Germans didn't have any thoughts for launching a surprise attack like before.

Under the counterattack of millions of reserve forces, the Germans were driven back to the front line after spending more than half a month.

Meanwhile, the Australasia Army and the Italian Army completed their troop rotation within this half a month, with the Australasia Army now being the main offensive force on the Southern Front.

This was a daunting task for the Australasia Army. On the Northern Front, they could follow the British and play a supporting role.

But on the Southern Front, mixed in with the French Army, Italian Army, Balkan Allied Forces, and American army, as well as the just-completed troop rotation of the Australasia Army, it could be considered a multinational camp without any issues.

As the main offensive force on the Southern Front, the Australasia Army faced the greatest German counterattack.

This also meant that the Australasia Army could not avoid casualties, and the number of deaths and injuries would inevitably be higher than before.

However, as long as Germany could be defeated, all sacrifices would be worth it.

At present, almost all participating countries are longing for peace, and Arthur is also looking forward to the post-war distribution of interests in Australasia.

Sacrificing one Germany to bring happiness to all the countries in the Allies and strengthen Australasia, why not do it?