Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 537 Germany's Plans

If the Battle of the Somme was the first appearance of tanks, then this summer offensive is the first large-scale tank offensive in history.

After months of copying, Britain and Germany each produced dozens of relatively simple tanks. Although the number was small, together they numbered over a hundred, which still looked quite impressive.

Because the tanks being copied were relatively simple models, they could only be used in relatively flat plains.

Germany and Britain deployed these tanks on the eastern flank, which was the western flank of the Allied forces, on the Belgian border.

Of the 150 million troops in the Allied western flank, French and Spanish forces were the absolute mainstay. The Spanish army was the largest, with 80 men, while the French army had 70 men.

Almost immediately after the Allies began using tanks extensively, Spain mobilized hundreds of tanks to the western front, and large-scale tank battles ensued between the two sides.

The tanks, on which Britain and Germany had placed high hopes, were virtually helpless against the genuine Spanish tanks. These hastily modified tanks were quite intimidating to infantry, but their effectiveness against the Spanish heavy tanks was negligible.

The tank battles were quite spectacular, but the Spanish tank forces maintained the upper hand throughout. After several hours of fighting, of the hundreds of tanks deployed by the British and German forces, only a handful managed to escape back to their positions.

Most of the remaining tanks were either destroyed by the Spanish or malfunctioned and lay lying on the battlefield, leaving the soldiers inside to become prisoners of the Spanish.

With the defeat of the tank units, the situation on the western flank of the Western Front changed significantly. The Spanish tanks did not withdraw from the battlefield; after a brief rest, these hundreds of tanks were recommissioned and deployed to attack German and British forces.

Even though the Allied powers had prepared a large number of machine guns and artillery in advance, they were unable to effectively contain the tank offensive.

Especially when hundreds of tanks were deployed at once, the Allied forces could only watch helplessly as the enemy approached their positions, and were subsequently forced to abandon their forward positions under the threat of enemy tanks.

This situation lasted for several days, during which the Spanish army, together with the French army, invaded Belgium.

The Belgians were quite welcoming of the Spanish and French troops who had traveled a long way. Belgium had had enough of the oppression inflicted by the German army and was eagerly awaiting the arrival of their allies to restore Belgian rule and launch a counter-offensive against Germany.

Upon learning that the Spanish army had successfully entered the province of Haino in Belgium, Prince Albert I, the current King of Belgium and son-in-law of Carlos, excitedly published an article entitled "To All Belgians," calling on all Belgians to help the French and Spanish armies, resolutely resist the German invasion, and drive the Germans out of Belgium.

In order to set an example and also to win over the hearts of the people, Albert I, along with his wife Sofia, personally went to the western front of the Western Front, intending to announce the return of the Belgian government-in-exile to Belgium as soon as the Allied forces captured Mons, the capital of Haino province.

Albert I was eager to return to Belgium for two reasons: firstly, he wanted to regain his power, and secondly, he wanted the Belgian government to control Belgium and allow Belgium to join the subsequent world war as a member of the Allied Powers.

Whether or not Belgium is a member of the Allied Powers is still very important to it.

If Belgium had been part of the Allied Powers, it would have been a victorious nation after the war. Not only would it have been able to fully liberate its territory, but it would also have gained certain benefits after the war, such as German lands bordering Belgium and war reparations.

If Belgium fails to join the Allied Powers, it will no longer be a victorious nation, and the post-war distribution of spoils will naturally have nothing to do with Belgium.

Fortunately, Albert I was Carlo's son-in-law, and Spain now held considerable prestige among the Allied Powers, so Belgium's interests would naturally be respected.

Albert I understood this point, and while taking his wife to the front lines, he left both of his sons in Spain to make his stance clear.

Carlo was quite fond of his two grandsons, Leopold and Charlie. The two little ones were born in 1901 and 1903 respectively, and were only in their early teens, a rather mischievous age.

Perhaps inspired by the news of Belgium's German occupation, the two boys remained very well-behaved in Spain and completed all the training and education tasks that Carlo arranged for them very quickly.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, one of Leopold and Charles will certainly become King of Belgium. This also means that the blood ties between the Spanish and Belgian royal families will continue into the next generation of monarchs.

Because of this relationship, Belgium will be a staunch supporter of Spain for decades to come.

Although Belgium's overall strength is not as formidable, its position remains extremely important. Situated between the three great powers of Britain, Germany, and France, Belgium can help Spain better reconcile relations among these powers and shape the future of Europe.

Regardless of which side Spain takes in World War II, as long as Belgium and Spain are on the same side, Spain can use Belgium as a springboard to extend its reach into the sphere of influence of the three great powers: Britain, France, and Germany.

Even after World War II, Spain could still do this. Small countries like Belgium, in order to maintain their independence amidst the three great powers, also needed to find a sufficiently powerful ally outside of them.

It can be said that the union of Belgium and Spain is a win-win situation, and a good relationship is beneficial to both sides.

The Allied forces' smooth progress on the Belgian front alerted Britain and Germany to the impending crisis.

However, Spain quickly gained the upper hand with its large tank force. Unless the Allied powers could also produce tanks with similar technology, they would have no choice but to accept the advantage that the enemy possessed.

Producing a sufficient number of tanks of the same level as those of Spain in a short period of time would have been quite difficult for both Britain and Germany.

Given the industrial strength of Britain and Germany, it would be possible to copy some relatively simple tanks. However, to reach the same level as Spanish tanks, it would require at least several years of research and development.

But what the Allies lack now is time; the German government has no time to wait for arms factories to develop tanks over several years.

There was no other way. Since they couldn't achieve parity in weaponry, they could only rely on manpower to wear down the Spanish tanks one by one.

The good news is that Spain also has a limit on the number of tanks it can deploy. During the last Battle of the Somme, Spain only deployed a little over 300 tanks.

After suffering losses at the hands of the Allies, Spain was unable to produce any more tanks in the later stages of the Battle of the Somme. Now, several months later, Spain has produced several hundred more tanks, which is roughly the limit of its production capacity.

For Britain and Germany, as long as they can eliminate Spain's hundreds of tanks, Spain's tank forces will no longer pose a threat for the next few months.

Taking out Spanish tanks one by one is difficult, but it is currently the only solution for the British and German armies.

If left unchecked, these tanks would be the most lethal weapons on the battlefield, capable of relentlessly breaching German and British defenses and slaughtering soldiers in their positions. Apart from artillery, no other weapon could pose a threat to them. Furthermore, artillery accuracy was alarmingly low; when these tanks were at full speed, it often took a prolonged bombardment to destroy just a few.

Meanwhile, their own positions had already been thrown into chaos by the enemy's tanks, and it was even possible that the enemy had already reached their positions in the midst of the chaos.

Having learned from the experience of the previous Battle of the Somme, the Spanish army now has some experience with the concept of combined arms warfare.

German and British forces also found Spanish tanks more troublesome because the soldiers behind the tanks perfectly protected them, effectively reducing casualties among ordinary soldiers.

The Allied summer offensive was massive and achieved remarkable results.

For the first two weeks of the summer offensive, the fighting was mainly concentrated on the three offensive routes on the Western Front. As time went on, Allied forces along the Austro-Hungarian border also joined the battle, launching an offensive against German territory.

This resulted in Germany facing a situation of fighting on almost three fronts. On the western front, it had to contend with as many as 400 million Allied troops, on the southern border with nearly 200 million Allied troops, and on the eastern front, it had to fight against Russian troops from time to time.

The fighting was originally concentrated on the Western Front, and the Germans had not yet realized the problem.

With the Allied forces joining the fighting on the Austro-Hungarian border, the pressure on Germany suddenly increased. Despite the high-speed operation of all logistics departments, it was still unable to meet the consumption needs of the troops at the front.

Although Britain would occasionally send supplies to Germany, these supplies were only a drop in the bucket and could not possibly make up for the huge losses on the front lines.

The German government also understood that continuing the war in this manner would not lead to victory. How long Britain could hold out was not important; what mattered was that Germany, under such immense pressure, simply could not sustain the conflict for long.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff made a prediction about the current situation in Germany. At a military conference of the German High Command, they formally proposed that if Germany continued to fight on three fronts, the entire human, financial and material resources of Germany could only last for a maximum of 6 months.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff's intention was to remind the German government of the urgency of the current situation, forcing Kaiser Wilhelm II to make a choice and abandon one of the front lines of the war.

Germany at present is simply unable to sustain a three-front war. The most reasonable solution is to completely abandon the fighting on the Eastern Front and, if possible, sign a peace agreement with the Russian Provisional Government and the Soviet Russian Government.

Russia is currently embroiled in internal strife, so this peace agreement is likely to pique the interest of the Russian people. After all, compared to the arduous goal of defeating Germany, ending the civil war is clearly a higher priority for both Russian governments.

If Germany could end the war with Russia, it would be able to free up resources to focus on the remaining two fronts.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire claimed to have 200 million troops on its borders to attack Germany, these troops came from Balkan countries and countries such as Spain, France, and Italy, and the mobilization of these troops would take much longer.

Having defeated Austria-Hungary, the Balkan states had essentially completed their territorial expansion, and their will to continue fighting was naturally not strong.

The Italian army was utterly incompetent and was completely disregarded by the German forces. The only real threat was the small number of French and Spanish troops, but in the Balkans, the French and Spanish were ultimately a minority.

According to Hindenburg and Ludendorff, if Germany could end the war with Russia in time and the Eastern Front was completely peaceful, only a few hundred thousand troops would be needed to be deployed in the Balkans.

In this way, Germany would have nearly 300 million troops available for deployment, all of whom could be committed to the Western Front and have a real chance of fighting the Allied Powers to the death.

At that time, Germany will no longer be at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength on the Western Front. With the number of troops on both sides being roughly equal, Germany will still have a good chance of winning.

Even if they cannot defeat the Allied forces, they can still leverage the stalemate on the battlefield to create more bargaining chips and secure more benefits for themselves in peace negotiations.

The situation on the battlefield will determine Germany's bargaining chips during peace negotiations. Even if the goal is not to win the war, Germany must prepare more chips to avoid having no say at the negotiating table.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff understood this very clearly. Although the German army no longer had much of a chance of winning, this did not mean that Germany would be 100% defeated in this world war.

If it could preserve some of its strength, even if forced into peace negotiations, Germany could retain most of its territory and strive to minimize its losses.

While the idea was excellent, Kaiser Wilhelm II saw Hindenburg and Ludendorff's public disclosure of Germany's embarrassing situation as a threat to the German government and to himself.

Who caused Germany's awkward situation? Wasn't it the two Chiefs of the General Staff of the German Supreme Command, Moltke the Younger and Falkingham?
Wilhelm II promoted both men to the position of Chief of the General Staff of Germany. In the eyes of the sensitive and arrogant Wilhelm II, Hindenburg and Ludendorff's actions were undoubtedly a coup, forcing him to hold Falkenhahn accountable so that Hindenburg could become the Chief of the General Staff of Germany.

Although Wilhelm II was well aware that Falkenhahn's abilities were indeed lacking, as the Emperor of Germany, he could not accept being pressured by Hindenburg and Ludendorff in this way.

After the routine military meeting of the German Supreme Command concluded, Kaiser Wilhelm II immediately summoned Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn and demanded that Falkenhayn immediately produce an offensive plan sufficient to resolve Germany's current predicament, or he would lose his position.

Clearly aware of the urgency of the situation, after several days of deliberation, Falkenhayn finally submitted an offensive plan for the Balkans to Kaiser Wilhelm II, attempting to break through in the Balkans while the Allied forces were concentrated on the western front.

The 200 million Allied troops in the Balkans consisted of forces from multiple countries, which was good news for Germany.

In particular, there were easy targets like the Italian army. If they could be used properly, Germany could not only defeat the Allied forces in the Balkans, but even occupy Austria-Hungary.

If Austria-Hungary were unwilling to rejoin the war, it could simply reinstate governments in Austria and Hungary, using them as buffer zones with the Balkan countries.

After dealing with the Allied forces in the Balkans, Germany would be more confident in signing a peace treaty with Russia and then move its troops to the Western Front.

The result was the same as the plan proposed by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, but the process was slightly different.

If the objectives could be achieved without adopting Hindenburg and Ludendorff's plans, then for German Chief of the General Staff Falkingham, this would be enough to undermine Hindenburg and Ludendorff's prestige and thus preserve his own position as Chief of the General Staff.

For Kaiser Wilhelm II, a completely new plan with a similar final outcome but slightly different process from the plans proposed by Hindenburg and Ludendorff was certainly a better choice.

Regardless of which plan is more reasonable, Wilhelm II does not want to be forced to listen to Hindenburg and Ludendorff's opinions on this matter.

(End of this chapter)