Nanyang Storm 1864

To fight or not to fight?
This is a no-brainer. The better the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force performs on the eastern front, the more important it will become, strengthening the empire's voice in the military alliance and facilitating the division of post-war interests.

As for how to fight, Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Empire had already chosen his target: the weak Bulgarian Kingdom, which was part of the alliance led by Germany and Austria.

By late September 1917

The total strength of the Eastern Expeditionary Force of the Great Chu Empire in Europe has reached more than 82 men, and it is still growing at a rate of 3 to 4 men per week. The whole of Romania has become a huge military camp.

By the first week of October, the total troop strength will have grown to over 900,000, possessing all the conditions to wage a powerful campaign, and it is time to show our fangs.

Another reason

The Tunisian king and a group of nobles were traveling to France on September 16 when their passenger ship sank, which is suspected to have been attacked by a German submarine.

With unrestricted submarine warfare escalating, no one can guarantee the safety of merchant ships and cruise ships.

In order to completely control this small North African country with a population of less than one million, the Great Chu Empire forcibly incorporated the vast majority of its able-bodied men into its army, recruiting almost everyone from the cities to the countryside.

In addition came Chinese immigrants from the empire's homeland. With the arrival of the large fleet, they took full control of Tunisia's urban and rural areas and became the new masters of this land.

Besides Tunisia, Crimea is also undergoing the same change, with a flood of Chinese immigrants arriving and replacing the original inhabitants.

These Chinese immigrants arrived at Romanian ports, were then transported by train to Odessa, and from there took passenger ships to Crimea, thus avoiding the need to cross the Bosphorus Strait controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

White Russian men from Crimea were being continuously sent to the battlefield. It was planned that in the major counterattack at the end of the year, these volunteer divisions composed of Russians would undertake the spearhead assault mission, rushing to the most dangerous front line of the battlefield.

At this point, the British and French wisely chose to ignore it.

All these factors combined determined that the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force had to take action, and the final target was Bulgaria.

First, defeat this weakest Allied member, and then shake the Allied military alliance's belief in fighting to the end.

Bulgaria?
In response to the supreme directive from the empire's homeland, the expeditionary force quickly formulated several feasible operational plans, which were then put to a vote at the highest military council.

The Russian army did not participate in this supreme military conference because it was already in disarray.

The power struggle within the country is becoming increasingly fierce, and even the crucial logistics supply system has been paralyzed. Large-scale desertions of Russian troops have occurred again across the board, with countless Russian soldiers deserting.

The highest military conference in Kiev was attended by senior officers of the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force, at the division level and above. Hundreds of officers gathered together for a three-day conference.

After deciding on a feasible battle plan, the empire's war machine began to operate at high speed as the generals rushed back to their posts.

1917st January 10

After bombarding Bulgaria for more than four hours with a total of over 2100 cannons, the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force split into two lines, north and south, and launched a fierce attack on Bulgaria simultaneously.

This is like two iron clamps, clamping down hard on Bulgaria, this walnut.

In this large-scale offensive, the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force assembled a total of 31 infantry divisions, 3 artillery divisions, 5 tank regiments, and 11 artillery battalions, and deployed two regiments with a total of more than 370 biplane fighters to participate in the attack, with a total force of more than 35.5 people.

After half a day of bloody fighting, the Chu army attacking from the Greek direction made the first breakthrough, breaking through the defensive line and crossing the heavily guarded Bulgarian border, penetrating deep into the territory like a sharp wedge.

The stalemate on the northern front lasted for a day and a half. Under the alternating assaults of artillery and tanks, the Bulgarian army, which was putting up a desperate resistance, was finally defeated.

A massive Chu expeditionary force surged into the heart of Bulgaria and advanced rapidly!

Faced with such a critical situation, Bulgaria desperately sought help from its allies in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Telegrams requesting assistance poured in, prompting the German and Austrian allied forces to act swiftly.

On the Eastern Front
The German-Austrian coalition launched a series of fierce attacks, intending to force the Great Chu Empire's army attacking Bulgaria to retreat through strong military pressure, thus achieving the goal of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao".

Unfortunately, the Chu expeditionary force had anticipated this move and used its superior trenches to fight the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties on the German-Austrian allied forces.

One time
The central and southern parts of the entire Eastern Front were engulfed in flames of war, and the fighting was unprecedentedly fierce. Millions of troops from both sides fought desperately, and the battle reached a fever pitch.

The Chu expeditionary force, with its tank regiments as the spearhead, stormed into Bulgaria, capturing dozens of towns in a whirlwind. The more than 300,000 troops rampaged through Bulgaria, almost unstoppable.

In just six days, the two armies advancing from the north and south converged at the gates of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, causing chaos in the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

The bombing of Sofia by hundreds of biplane fighters further fueled the coup in the city.

A coup d'état occurred in Bulgaria, and a number of hardline politicians and senior military officers were arrested, along with the king, who was placed under house arrest. Under pressure, the pro-peace political forces abandoned resistance and announced unconditional surrender.

November 27st

On the tenth day after the start of the campaign, the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force marched into Sofia in a grand procession, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria announced its unconditional surrender, which shocked the whole of Europe.

This major victory was a landmark victory in the four years since the outbreak of the war, and it had an undeniable impact on the future course of the war, making the Allied military bloc ecstatic.

News came out
The German and Austrian armies, which had been launching a frenzied offensive on the Eastern Front, seemed to have lost their momentum and quickly ceased their pointless attacks, beginning to clean up the mess.

In particular, the Ottoman Empire, a member of the Allied military bloc, found its western border with Bulgaria to be a weak point after Bulgaria's unconditional surrender, and urgently needed to mobilize a large number of troops to defend it.

The Allied military alliance also recognized this and quickly urged the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force to take a break and launch a new offensive campaign within the next two weeks.

While the main force of the Ottoman army was concentrated in the Garibaldi region, they sought to achieve a breakthrough on the border between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, catching the enemy off guard.

The outstanding performance of the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force won high praise from the Allied Supreme Command.

It was precisely because of this outstanding achievement that an imperial edict was issued from the Great Chu Empire, promoting Chu-Zheng Hui, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, to the rank of marshal of the Imperial Army, giving him control over all troops fighting in Europe, including the Mediterranean fleet.

At this time, the Royal Navy of the Great Chu Empire dispatched a naval force mainly composed of cruiser and destroyer fleets to join the Allied escort fleet and was carrying out a full-scale encirclement and suppression of German submarines. The battle was equally fierce.

Just when the situation seemed to be looking very promising, a disruptive message came from Tsarist Russia.

On November 7, the former Tsarist Russian capitalist provisional government was overthrown, a new workers' government was established, and the situation in Europe underwent another dramatic reversal, bringing the cheers of the Allied military bloc to an abrupt halt.

The Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force, which was planning a new offensive against the Ottoman Empire, was immediately ordered to remain on standby in the empire's homeland, and the new campaign ended without a trace.

Britain, France, and other countries were hit like a ton of bricks, and were almost stunned.

Soon, more unfortunate news arrived from St. Petersburg: the Russian workers' government had decided to withdraw from the ongoing European war and unilaterally negotiate an armistice with Germany, refusing to fight any further. European diplomats stationed in Russia were frantic and exerted immense pressure, even threatening military force, vowing to never allow Russia to unilaterally make peace, or else it would be considered a betrayal.

Just as the dawn of victory was breaking, Russia's actions dragged them back into the abyss.

This huge psychological gap made French Prime Minister Clemenceau so angry that he overturned the table and cursed Tsarist Russia as "a bunch of untrustworthy barbarians, utterly despicable."

His anger was not without reason.

France paid an unparalleled and heavy price to win over Tsarist Russia as an ally, with loans of over 160 billion francs alone, which were used to build the industrial base of Tsarist Russia.

The French were furious that the government wouldn't recognize such a large sum of money from the newly minted workers.

Russia's withdrawal made it possible for Germany to withdraw at least 25 to 30 divisions from the Eastern Front to join the Western Front, which would have been a complete disaster for Britain, France, and other countries.

The entire eastern front stretched for over 930 kilometers, but the Great Chu Empire only defended 406 kilometers of it. The rest required the defense of the Russian army, keeping the German forces constantly on edge.

If, like the Russian Workers' Government, the entire 900,000-strong Great Chu Empire Expeditionary Force were sent to the Eastern Front, it would not have stopped the Germans from redeploying troops to reinforce the Western Front.

As can be seen from the map
The Central Powers military alliance, led by Germany and Austria-Hungary, was operating in an environment of fighting on the inner lines, making it very convenient to move troops from the eastern front to the western front, as almost all of them were within German territory.

With the unobstructed railway lines, the German army was able to easily move troops between the eastern and western fronts.

It's unrealistic to expect the Great Chu Empire to take over the remaining parts of the eastern front now.

Because the central part of the Eastern Front, extending to the Baltic coast, is mainly within Poland, if Tsarist Russia were to unilaterally annex the region, the Chu army entering the area might face an extremely unfavorable situation with German troops in front and Russian troops behind.

If things go wrong, we'll be caught in a pincer movement.

Without the permission of Tsarist Russia, the Chu army could not enter the aforementioned areas, nor could it take over the Russian defenses. Tsarist Russia was not some small European country.

The highest decree from the empire itself;
Immediately adopt a full-scale defensive posture, consolidate and occupy the existing areas, including Bulgaria, and await the arrival of reinforcements before taking further action.

The current situation requires us to wait and see; it is truly unpredictable.

In mid-November

The Great Chu Empire's army that had entered Europe had reached 107 million. The Bulgarian campaign resulted in tens of thousands of casualties, especially from the Volunteer Army Division and the Black Auxiliary Division, mainly due to the frenzied attacks by Germany and Austria-Hungary.

The Chinese main force division also suffered nearly 2 casualties, mainly from the offensive against Bulgaria, but fortunately, the results were equally remarkable.

For now, we should stabilize the situation and wait for reinforcements from the Empire to arrive. There will be at least 10 divisions, as well as a batch of biplanes and field artillery shipped by sea.

At this juncture, American troops also began arriving in Europe, with the first batch of approximately 8 troops landing in France and soon to be sent to the front lines.

The United States has mobilized more than 3 million troops and will send no less than 700,000 troops to Europe between March and April next year, forming a clear advantage in military strength.

This was originally planned, as 1918 was also the year of the decisive battle.

Now that one of the three pillars of Britain, France, and Russia has suddenly collapsed, the Allied Supreme Command has been forced to urgently request assistance from the United States and France, namely, to continue to send reinforcements.

Britain, France, and other countries hoped that the State of Chu would send at least another 100 million troops, all of whom would be in place by the third quarter of 1918.

It is hoped that the United States will send no less than 80 troops, bringing the total number of US troops in Europe to 150 million, thereby regaining an advantage in terms of troop size.

No one can deny the important role played by Tsarist Russia, which mobilized more than 1600 million troops and tied down more than 113 divisions of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria on the Eastern Front, greatly relieving the pressure on the Western Front.

Up to the current war

The casualties of the Tsarist Russian army have exceeded 870 million, and this is just the statistical figure; the number that has not been counted is certainly much higher.

Now that Tsarist Russia has unilaterally made peace with Germany, a huge gap has appeared on the eastern front. No matter how strong the small European countries like Greece, Serbia, and Romania are, they cannot fill such a large gap in manpower.

The only state with sufficient strength to fill the gap was the State of Chu.

Some people question whether the US military is adequate.

This isn't a question of whether it's possible or not; it's a question of 1+1 being far less than 2.

The State of Chu and the United States were never on good terms. Their conflicts were extremely sharp on various issues in Central America, North America, and South America, and they were completely incompatible.

Before this
The State of Chu had repeatedly threatened the United States with force, and the provocation was all too obvious, yet the Americans tolerated it all.

If these two major powers from outside the region were to fight together on the eastern front, would they listen to the commander of Chu or the commander of the United States?

If things go wrong, they might start fighting amongst themselves.

If the Chu army is deployed on the eastern front, then the American army will have to be deployed on the western front. We must not let these two enemies get together, or things will get complicated if they really start fighting.

Even the slightest possibility must not be allowed to happen.

The Supreme Command was willing to transfer some French or British troops to reinforce the Eastern Front rather than send American troops; they had that much awareness.

The world powers, including Britain and France, were well aware of the conflict between Chu and the United States. It was simply a case of two tigers not being able to share the same mountain, and such a contradiction was unsolvable.

As Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Empire once said, "The Pacific Ocean, though vast, cannot accommodate two world-class powers; a choice must be made."

from the heart
The European powers, such as Britain and France, were more than happy for Chu and the United States to fight each other, the bigger and more intense the better, ideally resulting in a bloodbath.

This is a typical example of a narrow-minded mentality where one feels inadequate and is unwilling to see others prosper.

The key point is that we can't fight now.

Today, the whole of Europe is dependent on Chu and Mei for firefighting, and is heavily reliant on them for military strength, loans, supplies, and many other things.

Once the European war is won, even if we break the sky, nobody will care; that's definitely not possible now. (End of Chapter)