The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 490: Chapter 388: We were defeated

The Battle of the Marne ended with a victory for the British and French forces.

Of course, this victory was rather tragic; to eliminate the German First and Second Army Groups, France suffered close to 220,000 casualties, while the British Expeditionary Force suffered over 40,000 casualties.

On the German side, the First and Second Army Groups lost much of their combat power, with almost 220,000 casualties.

This was a battle in which the French and German forces had relatively close casualties since the start of the war, and it was the German army's biggest loss.

When William II heard the news about the defeat at the Marne River, he angrily questioned Little Maurice Johnson, "Why did you order the retreat from the Marne River?"

Seeing that the German forces were already very close to Paris at this time, this retreat not only signified the failure of Germany's intended westward attack and eastward defense strategy, but also meant that the chances of a German victory were greatly reduced.

At this time, Little Maurice Johnson was speechless, pale-faced, and despondent. After hesitating for a long time, he said to William II, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not just a matter of retreating from the Marne River. I think we have already lost this war."

The failure of the modified Schlieffen Plan also meant that Germany had completely failed at the strategic level.

Germany, unable to defeat France within a short period of time and facing war on both the French and Russian fronts, simply could not be a match for the Allies.

Moreover, France and Russia received support from Britain and Australasia, which the Schlieffen Plan did not mention, meaning France and Russia were even stronger than Germany.

The Schlieffen Plan was an excellent strategic plan for fighting against France and Russia, but it did not take into account the influence of other countries, such as Britain and Australasia.

In the previous Battle of the Marne, the British Expeditionary Force played a crucial role, sharing a considerable part of the pressure faced by the French forces.

What's more, without the material support of Britain and Australasia, the military mobilization of France and Russia could not have been so successful and swift, and the pressure on Germany to fight on two fronts would have been somewhat relieved.

But the impetuous William II could not accept the failure of the war. Just the second day after the Marne River, William II dismissed Little Maurice Johnson from his position as Chief of the General Staff on the pretext of illness, and appointed Minister of Defense Fakinham as the new Chief of the General Staff.

On the day Fakinham took office, William II patted him on the shoulder and said a crucial sentence: "I will not accept the failure of this war, nor will Germany. Either fight to the last soldier or destroy the damned Allies and end this damned war."

Unfortunately, after Germany's defeat at the Battle of the Marne, they had already lost the initiative in the war.

French forces relieved a significant portion of the pressure they faced and successfully turned the western front into a protracted war of attrition.

French forces built numerous trenches and defensive positions in the current frontline area, implying they would either step over the corpses or remain in front of their positions.

Another bad news for Germany was that in addition to the western front, Russia organized large numbers of troops on the eastern front and attacked German positions.

In the month before the war began, Russia had mostly focused on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire bore most of Russia's military force for Germany, allowing Germany to have enough time and troops to complete the western front.

But the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not withstand the entire Russian offensive, especially with Serbia assisting them on the side.

Perhaps out of his own selfishness, under the command of Francis the First, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not execute William II's suggestions well, which were to take defensive measures against Serbia and launch a full-scale attack on the Russian border.

This resulted in a significant portion of the Austro-Hungarian forces remaining on the Serbian border and being obstructed by the iron-like confidence of the Serbian people.

After receiving material aid from Britain and Australasia, Russia made significant progress in its military mobilization, organizing hundreds of thousands of troops to launch an offensive against the German border.

Although the Russia-Germany border offensive was defeated, it still caused a significant impact and heavy casualties on the German eastern border.

Although Russia's casualties were even greater, what Russia lacked the least were peasants who could readily take up arms to become soldiers.

Of course, the severe problems Germany faces now had nothing to do with Little Maurice Johnson. All the mess was left to the new Chief of the General Staff, Fakinham, to solve.

Fakinham's first order after taking office was to send troops to attack Antwerp in Belgium to eliminate the threat to the German forces' rear flank in French territory.

Antwerp was an important port in Belgium, only about 80 kilometers away from the North Sea, and was considered a safety valve by Britain.

In Antwerp at this time, there were 150,000 Belgian troops and 20,000 British troops.

In order to capture the stronghold of Antwerp, Fakinham not only dispatched German troops with combat power, but also gathered a large number of university student reserves and volunteers within Germany.

Reportedly, Fakinham gathered as many as 36,000 university student reserves alone to participate in the Siege of Antwerp.

This exaggerated number also attests to Germany's efforts and achievements in education.

It is worth noting that the total number of university graduates in Australasia each year is only about 4,000.

Over the past decade or so, Australasia's education has developed to accommodate nearly forty thousand university students.

Germany deployed nearly forty thousand university students in a single battle; such audacity is something a country like Australasia cannot even imagine.

Of course, the outcome of this audacity was also tragic. Of the 36,000 reserve university students, less than 6,000 survived after the Antwerp campaign, or just one-sixth of the total number.

It is worth mentioning that among these surviving reserves, there is a well-known name - Adolf Hitler, the man who launched World War II.

At this time, Hitler was just a sergeant, an ordinary soldier fighting for his country.

At this point, he could not foresee his future glory, nor the disaster he would bring to the people of Europe.

The German army captured Antwerp on October 10th, and a few days before the fall of Antwerp, the Australasia Expeditionary Force arrived in France and traveled to the Franco-German border by French trains and transportation means, joining the battle of attrition.

Because the Australasia Ministry of Defense and its subordinate General Staff are far away from the European battlefield, at Arthur's command, Brigadier General Scott Malone was promoted to temporary Commander-in-Chief of the Australasia Expeditionary Force, commanding up to 300,000 colonial troops.

According to Arthur's plan, every division commander sent to the European battlefield will become the temporary commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force.

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During the time they serve as temporary commanders-in-chief, it is not only a test of their leadership abilities but also represents trust in them.

After all, it is a force of more than 300,000 troops, and all command is in the hands of one person, showing the trust of the nation and the royal family in them.

In fact, although these 300,000 troops were hired mercenaries, Arthur was not worried that there would be any unexpected incidents, such as the officer mercenaries becoming independent.

After all, the issue of material consumption for these 300,000 troops was problematic; although Britain was responsible for half of it, the other half fell on Australasia itself.

In addition to the good relationship between Britain and Australasia, if the Australasian Expeditionary Force broke away from the government's control, the first problem they would face is handling the food, drink, and waste issues for 300,000 people.

As time moves into October 1914, the European battlefield has become much quieter. The large-scale offensive and defensive operations involving millions of troops are over, and the war to follow is one of attrition and national potential.

Among all the warring nations, the most relaxed should be the British Empire and Australasia.

If a winner must be determined, Australasia might be even more relaxed than the British Empire.

After all, the British Empire is still within the scope of Europe and is very close to France and Germany.

If France is defeated and Germany annexes part of Western Europe, it is entirely possible that its influence will expand to the British sphere of influence, such as across the English Channel and the North Sea.

This is unacceptable to the British Empire; if Germany alone dominates the European continent, Britain's hegemony will cease to exist.

However, Australasia has no such worries, as it is located far away in Oceania and does not need to worry about the influence of European nations.

This also leads to Australasia being the only country in the war that is not severely affected; even its economy achieves significant growth, largely due to its massive exports to the Allies.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kevin, once joked with Arthur in his report that if the current situation continues, Australia's fiscal situation in 1914 will become even better, and fiscal revenue will continue to grow.

More importantly, as the army and navy are cooperating with the Allies in operations, Britain has taken on nearly half of Australasia's military expenses.

In this calculation, while Australasia's fiscal revenue is increasing, fiscal expenditures, especially military spending, are actually reduced.

This is still under the premise that European countries have a certain reserve of supplies and do not require a large number of foreign orders.

As the war continues to develop and European nations need large quantities of weapons, equipment, and resources, Australasia's finances have even more room for growth.

It is only now that Arthur understands how good the Americans felt during World War I in his original history.

This feeling of watching the tiger fight from the mountains while making a fortune is simply too wonderful. If Britain and France were not allies of Australasia, and Australasia still needed the support of Britain and France to resist the United States, Arthur may have even wanted to add fuel to the fire of the European war, balance things out, and show off the British advantage.

Balancing policy and stirring the pot: these are the policies and reputations of the British Empire that enjoy worldwide fame in this era.

As a monarch who originated from the British Royal Family, Arthur believes that there is something to gain from such a policy, at least when applied to enemies it is no loss.

At the end of October 1914, Arthur visited the Royal Shipyard for an inspection of the warship construction situation and delivered a speech, receiving cheers and applause from everyone on site.

Immediately afterward, Arthur visited several major military factories to inspect the current employment and production status.

Production at the military factories is linked to the income of the royal family and the Australasian government, and Arthur takes it very seriously.

After all, only by producing can money be earned. If only orders are signed, Russia will not foolishly pay the full amount upfront.