The Rise of the Empire

The telegram from the Kaiser caused some changes in Ruprecht's plan. After making some arrangements with Prince Leopold on the military mobilization of Bavaria, the prince and his entourage boarded the special train to Berlin. , before the war started, the Kaiser thought it was necessary for the commander-in-chief of Germany's second largest state to come to Berlin.

The meeting was held at the German General Staff. In addition to the Kaiser, the Prime Minister, and himself, those present were the top brass of the General Staff and the commanders of a total of 9 army groups. Among them, the 1st to 7th Group Armies were responsible for the war against France on the Western Front. , while the Eighth Army is responsible for guarding East Prussia, the Bavarian Army is listed separately. What surprised the prince was that this time, the commander of the Eighth Army was Mackensen, which was a big deal for the prince. The good news is that having a teammate like this will save you a lot of trouble.

The meeting first discussed the issues on the Western Front. Generally speaking, Xiao Maoqi once again introduced the battle plan and the tasks of each group army to the big bosses. This process is very fast, it can even be said to be a formality. After Little Maoqi finished speaking. The Kaiser spoke: "Ruprecht, do you have anything else to say about the Western Front?"

"Our troops can take a proper rest after arriving at the border of Belgium and France, because starting from the border area, the railway line will not be able to help us. After coming down from the last section of the railway track, we can only rely on vehicles and legs. Walking the last stretch will be fatal to the exhausted legion."

"The French will not sit back and watch their territory be occupied by us. They will mobilize their legions to counterattack. The French also have armored units, and the British heavy artillery is also very powerful. Offensive operations have no advantage for us who are exhausted, but with Belgium If the railway system is repaired and our air force and heavy equipment can be transported to the front line, then we will regain our advantage. As long as the battle lines between the two sides have not been solidified, we will always make money."

"If our army is blocked in the direction of Paris, we can actually try to develop southward. In this way, the battle line will be longer and the troop density of both sides will decrease. This is actually a good thing for us who have air superiority and armored unit advantages. ." Ruprecht said.

This meeting was a mobilization meeting in front of the station. Naturally, the prince could not say that your plan would definitely fail, but he still tactfully proposed some plans that seemed quite conservative to outsiders. Whether the other party listens or not is beyond his control.

"Do you have any new ideas about the war situation on the Eastern Front?" the Kaiser asked.

"I have no control over the Austro-Hungarian Army. I believe that the Eighth Army can still defend East Prussia. Within one month of the war, I will defeat the two Russian armies opposite me. There is no problem with this, and then Depending on the situation, I may continue to attack eastward or go north," Ruprecht said.

"It seems that you are very confident in yourself." The Kaiser said with a smile. "What do you think of the Austrians?"

"If they are on defense, there may not be any big problems, but if they want to attack, they are no match for the Russians, especially the current organization of the four armies in the north and the two armies in the Balkans is simply terrible." Ruprecht said.

"Your Highness, if possible, after you defeat the enemy in front of you, I hope that we can cooperate to defeat the Russian Northwest Front. We have built a double-track railway in East Prussia, and your army can enter East Prussia smoothly. Then attack the Russians from the flanks. And your army that invaded Russian Poland can also attack the Russian rear,

If successful, we could bring half of Russian Poland into our hands. Mackenson said suddenly.

"This is a very tempting plan, but it is impossible for me to give an answer now because we don't know the situation on the Austro-Hungarian side. If our allies have no objections, we can cooperate." The prince said.

After the Army meeting, the Navy also held a pre-war meeting. After Ruprecht and the Kaiser left the Prussian General Staff, they immediately went to the Admiralty, where there were also a lot of things waiting to be dealt with.

Compared with the Army's radical and proactive strategies and tactics, the Navy has to be more conservative. In Tirpitz's plan, the Navy's main task in the first two months is to dispatch submarines to break diplomatic relations, and at the same time begin to defend its own waters. Bray. Subsequently, the main fleet will carry out limited attack operations. Of course, how to do it depends on the situation...

"This plan is basically equivalent to no plan!" Ruprecht said with some dissatisfaction.

"I still believe that the two warships produced for Argentina should implement Plan B. Although it is a bit risky, the benefits are huge. Even if we can only succeed once, it is enough."

"Secondly, we must take action against the North Sea blockade. Even if the risk is relatively high, even if we have to fight in the open sea, we will not hesitate to use not only submarines, but also capital ships. Of course, the navy can collect intelligence in the first two months , but then the blockade fleet must be struck.”

"Don't always think about bombarding a few undefended cities. The damage we cause to them may not be greater than the loss and fuel consumption of our battleships. And doing so will also bring great risks. In the open sea, our maneuvering space It will be bigger.”

"As for the direction of the Baltic Sea, we must take offensive mine laying and submarine operations. To lay the foundation for future large-scale operations in the Baltic Sea, long-term fatigue will cause an extremely fatal blow to morale. Only continuous victory can keep the army's high morale. .”

Although Germany took the lead in this dimension, overall the gap between the fleets of the two sides at the beginning of the war was still very huge. Currently, except for the two super-dreadnoughts built for Argentina, the German High Seas Fleet has a total of 18 active battleships. However, three of them are being prepared in the dock, so the number has further declined. The British now have more than two dozen battleships, and various armored cruisers, light cruisers, and pre-dreadnoughts are even larger. Therefore, even if there is a big operation, we have to wait until the three warships being prepared in the dock come out.

But even so, the prince believes that small-scale high-speed warship attacks are still necessary, especially to break the blockade. The German Empire's overseas registered shipping companies and Americans will try their best to transport supplies to the Allies, but the premise is that the German fleet must be as strong as possible. Weakening the British naval blockade.

"This is a very good suggestion, Tirpitz, you should consider it carefully." the Kaiser finally said.

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