Chapter 5: A Blood-letting in Transylvania
By the end of September, the Danish resistance is finally broken. British navy evacuates Allenby's expeditionary force and the Danish government flees to Iceland, where it vows not to surrender to Germany and fight with Entente until the final victory.
Victory in Denmark allows Germany to redeploy the 4th Army back to France. It is decided that a new offensive will be launched in Brittany in hopes that the British bridgehead can be crushed before the winter arrives. Three German armies attack in the north of Brittany and after days of savage fighting resulting in high casualties on both sides they manage to unhinge the British defence.
The Germans push on relentlessly, but despite their success in recapturing most of Brittany, the British re-establish their defensive perimeter around the port of Brest. German generals decide to delay the final assault to spring of 1916.
Front lines in the West remain calm throughout the winter. In the East, the Russians continue their advance into Austria-Hungary.
In March 1916, the Germans launch the final assault against Brest. The fighting in what many will later call a "meat grinder" lasts for weeks, until the British realize their position is untenable. Reluctantly, they begin evacuating their troops. Even so, when Brest finally falls they will have lost over half the men who landed in Brittany the year before.
Germany is eager to take advantage of the window of opportunity that has opened to them after the British defeat. They quickly redeploy their armies to the east for a major offensive against the Russians that has been planned for some time now. The Russians remain oblivious to the threat on their flanks and instead push deeper into Hungary and Transylvania. The Germans decide to strike now.
Desperate to help the Russians, Britain lands another expeditionary force in Brittany. The British high command believes that the Germans will least expect them to do what they unsuccessfully tried before. They are right - the Germans are again caught by surprise. However, they don't give the British time to unfold their offensive and force them to evacuate the beachhead shortly afterwards. Even worse for the British, their hastily organized excursion failed to affect the great eastern offensive in any way.
In June, the Germans finally manage to cut off the Russians in a huge kessel in Transylvania. Nearly a million Russian soldiers are now trapped in the vast areas of deep forests, high mountain ranges and mysterious mediaeval castles. Their morale quickly plummets. General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck* and his elite Alpine troops are tasked with assisting the Austrians in reducing of the giant pocket.
Taking advantage of the demoralization of the Russian army, the Germans swing north. The Russians are again caught by surprise and are unable to mount an effective defence.
By September, another 300,000 Russians are pocketed in Warsaw.
When they surrender the city two weeks later, the Russian army is in ruins. After having lost nearly a quarter of its strength in just 3 months, the morale hits an all-time low. Tens of thousands of soldiers desert and flee back to their homes as the Russian high command struggles to maintain discipline by imposing harsh punishments for defeatism. One thing is for sure: the Russians won't be able to launch another offensive in the East for a long time.
Germany has won a great victory. Will it be able to capitalize on it?
----------------------
* - I am a huge fan
If you're wondering what he's doing in Europe, the answer is I transported everything from Africa to Europe before the war started. In my opinion, fighting in Africa is useless and pointless. Once I tried sending really significant amount of divisions to my colonies, hoping to hit Britain when it hurts the most - in her colonies - but it only led to embarrassing defeats, first in Europe and a bit later in Africa as well. There is no way you can win the war like that.Story-wise, let's say that von Lettow-Vorbeck was on holiday in Europe when the war started
.
Last edited:
