The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 500 : 395: The Crisis Brought by Victory

While the East Prussian Battle was underway, the Russia-Austria border was not idle. Urged by Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire assembled three army groups, totaling 48 infantry divisions and 11 cavalry divisions, preparing to launch an attack on Russia nation.

On the Russian side, they had accumulated the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Army Groups, intending to take the whole of Galicia in one battle.

If the East Prussian Battle was a hastily fought war, Russia nation had no choice but to embark on under pressure from the British and the French.

Then the encounter between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian forces along the border revealed the ambitions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia nation in this war.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to defeat Russia nation, march southwards, and become the only powerful nation in the Balkan region, taking over all Balkan states.

Russia, on the other hand, naturally wanted to annex the fertile land of Galicia and, at the same time, diminish the influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkan region.

The number of troops that Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire put into the border areas reached millions, close to two million, to be precise.

This also made the number of soldiers on the Eastern Front no weaker than that on the Westline Battlefield. If we look at the scale of both sides' soldiers, there might be even more on the Eastern Front.

But in fact, this was only false prosperity. Everyone knew that the fighting capacity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russian armies was far inferior to that of France and Germany. If the German main force were on the Eastern Front, Russia nation would have no chance to fight back.

On February 1st, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's First Army Group encountered the Russian Fourth Army Group in the Krasinik Region and immediately engaged in fierce battle.

However, the Russian army's combat capability was much inferior to that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After a fierce battle, the Russian army was successfully repelled.

But this battle was far from over. Soon, Russia nation organized the Third and Eighth Army Groups to attack Lvov and Galich.

At the same time, the Fourth and Fifth Army Groups carried out a flanking maneuver on the left flank of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army, cutting off its retreat route to Krakow and attempting to encircle the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army.

The real fight began on February 3rd. The Russian Third and Eighth Army Groups quickly clashed with the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Third Army Group, while the Fourth Army Group successfully delayed the First Army Group of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, forcing it to call the Second Army Group from Serbia.

Gunfire continued until the afternoon of February 7th. After suffering heavy casualties, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Second and Third Army Groups were forced to retreat.

The Russian army, taking advantage of the victory, captured Galich and Lvov.

Thanks to Archduke Nicholas' personal command, the Russian army displayed formidable fighting strength, winning every battle it fought and quickly capturing the entire Galicia region.
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This battle, which lasted for half a month, resulted in over 400,000 casualties for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army, while the Russian casualties were less than 230,000.

This outcome was a significant blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Allies. After Russia occupied Galicia, it posed a threat to Germany's Cilicia and Austro-Hungarian Empire's Hungary.

Facing such a dangerous situation, the Austro-Hungarian Empire reluctantly sought help from Germany.

Germany could not ignore the danger to their homeland and their ally, so they had to transfer troops from the Westline to strengthen the Eastern Front and temporarily halt the Russian offensive.

Arthur, looking at the war reports coming from Europe, couldn't help being amazed.

That the Russian army could easily defeat the Austro-Hungarian army was something Arthur hadn't quite expected.

After all, the Russian system was too corrupt, and the eruption of such powerful fighting capacity by this ancient enemy nation was not easy.

However, thinking about the weapons and equipment sent to Russia nation from Australasia several times after the outbreak of the war, Arthur suddenly wasn't surprised.

One of the most important factors determining a soldier's combat capability is the soldier's weapons, equipment, and logistical support.

Currently, a large number of frontline Russian forces have been equipped with military weapons produced in Australasia, which has indirectly increased the combat capability of the Russian army.

However, the victory on the Eastern Front was not a good thing for Russia, as Germany had already assembled a large number of troops to move towards the Eastern Front.

Although Russia could show off its military prowess against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it had little resistance against the strongest army in the world, the German Army.

More importantly, the internal situation in Russia was not very stable. If Germany reinforced the Eastern Front, leading to a crisis within Russia, Russia's internal turmoil might come earlier than its historical counterpart or even trigger a more significant crisis.

Without Russia's involvement, the strength of the Allies would decline quite a bit. Although the Britain-France-Australia three nations could join forces to defeat Germany, the price they would have to pay would undoubtedly be much higher.

Remember, in World War I, Russia deployed over 10 million troops in history, with nearly 2 million casualties.

These numbers were still because statistics were very backward in Russia nation, and the actual casualties would certainly be higher.

This also meant that the other three countries in the Allies would have to fill the gap of more than 10 million troops. Unless Australasia could organize millions of Indigenous Peoples' army units, they would have to send conventional forces to promote the victory of the war.

This also meant that maintaining stability within Russia and on the Eastern Front was crucial.