--Remember!

Since the beginning of the European War until September 1915, when Tsarist Russia retreated from the Gulf of Riga to the Dniester River, it lost more than 1.7 million troops in the entire battle, and also lost Przemyshl one after another.

Lemburg, Ivangorod, Warsaw, Brest, Wilno and Riga.--./--./It can be said that the Allies achieved a great victory in the war against Russia on the Eastern Front. Germany

, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire attacked from the north and south, and with a dazzling combination of punches, the ambitious and incompetent Tsar Nicholas II was beaten to the point where he complained endlessly.

Nearly two million troops were lost in one battle. Even Nicholas II's Czarist Russia, which claimed to have the largest army in the world, could not withstand such a defeat. Relying on the endless human sea tactics and the cold wave that turned Russia into ice,

Lao Maozi barely stabilized the front line, but faced with the strong military pressure from the three major Allied forces, the situation on the front line was still not optimistic.

While Nicholas II was stepping up his efforts to recruit troops, a worse news came. Italy, which had joined the Allied camp, was in vain and actually lost more than 30 troops under the fierce attack of 40 divisions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At the same time, Bulgaria joined the Allies and sent 300,000 troops to cooperate with the German and Austrian forces to attack Serbia. Soon the Allies occupied the entire territory of Serbia.

One bad news after another made Nicholas II anxious. Fortunately, the business negotiations with China were finally signed at this time. Tsar Russia, who received the first batch of supplies, was like a shot in the arm. Nicholas II immediately ordered

, the newly built four front armies must be completed within three months. All of them must be put into the front line.

"I heard that the old fool on the front line lost millions of people. The Germans are so powerful!"

The person who spoke was Xiong Shihui. He was wearing the military uniform of the Chinese National Defense Force with the rank of colonel and a red armband of a military observer on his left arm. The other colonel of the National Defense Force who was stamping his feet in a coat beside him was none other than someone else.

It’s Xiong Shihui’s old classmate and partner—Liu Zhi.

The military observation group, headed by Wu Peifu and composed of officers from the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff Headquarters, the Eighth Division, the Fifteenth Division, and the Central Military Academy, was formally established more than half a month ago. Due to the commercial conflicts between China and Tsarist Russia, the German Empire

Due to the agreement, Fang Zida specifically selected the first batch of military observation groups on the eastern battlefield of the European War. The observation group would start from the northeast, transfer to the Siberian Railway via the Middle East Road, and then first arrive at St. Petersburg, the capital of Tsarist Russia.

According to the plan, after a short stay in St. Petersburg, the observation group will go to the front line and be divided into two to observe and inspect the war process of the two camps of the Entente and the Alliance. Wu Peifu is the leader of the group, and he will be the person in charge of going to the Allied side.

As for the Russian side, Wang Chengbin, former commander of the 11th Regiment of the 6th Brigade of the 3rd Army Division, current Army Major General of the General Staff Headquarters, and Deputy Head of the Military Observation Group, will be in charge.

It is winter now, and the Russian land is covered with white everywhere, and the cold wind blowing from hell envelopes the entire Siberia. Although there are heating facilities on the train, Liu Zhi, who has always been afraid of the cold, still wrapped up his coat on the road.

Dressed like a bear, he was rarely teased by his colleagues.

"In my opinion, the old man is not easy to mess with. The Germans are very powerful. But the old man is not bad either. He has lost millions of troops and has not yet collapsed. In addition, the weather is freezing to death. Who will win in this battle?

It’s not certain who will win.” Liu Zhi curled his head and took a puff of cigarette. He was very dissatisfied with Xiong Shihui’s optimistic view of Germany.

"I think what Brother Jing Fu said makes sense. I heard that Lao Maozi is still recruiting troops to form four new front armies to fight on the front lines. Victory or defeat in war is a common thing for military strategists. The defeat of a battle is not a big deal. The key is

Let’s see who has the toughness. The German army is strong, but the Germans are fighting on two fronts now, and Lao Maozi’s territory is vast. The number of soldiers is almost endless. Over time, no matter how strong the German army is, they may not be able to withstand the attrition. "Just now.

Yang Aiyuan, who graduated from the military academy and worked in the Ministry of National Defense, interjected from the side, causing several people on the side to nod in agreement.

"Hmph. The old Maozi soldiers are useless. The war relies on elite soldiers and strong generals. Compared with the Germans, the old Maozi soldiers are at most just mud-legged men who have just picked up their guns. Such an army should not be said to be hundreds.

Wan, even more is not what the Germans like. In my opinion! Brother Tianyi is right, the German team is strong!" The person who said this is Shang Zhen. In terms of age, he and Yang Aiyuan etc.

He was about the same age, but his military qualifications were much older than that of Yang Aiyuan. In 1912, he was promoted as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Civilian Army Outside the Passage" and was later awarded as a senior advisor by the Ministry of War. He later served as a battalion commander under Lu Jianzhang and participated in the battle to encircle and suppress Bailang.

, was promoted to Army colonel after Bai Lang's annihilation, and was incorporated into the Central Military Academy to receive senior officer training. In the military academy, Shang Zhen especially admired the German instructors for their rigorous teaching and strong tactical ability. He often got together with the German instructors on weekdays.

He was a typical pro-German group among the students. Hearing that Yang Aiyuan and others were optimistic about Lao Maozi, he immediately felt unhappy and stood up to refute. Several other people who had the same views as him also started to argue with Yang Aiyuan and others.

During the boring journey, such arguments often occur. Except for the fact that the group leader Wu Peifu and the deputy group leader Wang Chengbin are slightly older and have high positions, these frustrated young people can always find opportunities to argue with each other. Such things have already happened

Not once or twice. Wu Peifu, who was sitting in his seat with his eyes closed and concentrating, heard the noise and opened his eyes. He didn't say anything. He smiled faintly and scooped up the steaming water cup and took a sip of tea.

"Brother Ziyu, who do you think will win this battle?" Wu Peifu neither agreed nor objected to the arguments among the group members on the way, almost letting it go. This was also the reason why the group members argued more and more as they got closer to the destination.

The more intense the reason. As for the deputy leader Wang Chengbin, he felt it was inappropriate to participate due to his status, but after listening to it all the way, he couldn't help but feel a little itchy in his heart, and he couldn't help but ask Wu Peifu.

"Haha, how can there be a debate in the war that can determine the winner? The ancient art of war has this saying: weather, location, and harmony, if you get the three, you will win. But in fact, in a real war, is there really a winner?

The third reason? Most of them are just an afterthought and forced by future generations. What's more, modern war is different from previous wars. The war relies on national power and steel. In addition, this war swept the entire Europe, and there were many participating countries.

There are so many uncertain factors. Until the last step, no one knows who will win and who will lose in this battle. What does Brother Xiao think?"

"Brother Ziyu makes sense." Wang Chengbin nodded slightly. He and Wu Peifu were colleagues in the Third Division back then. They had a good relationship and were old acquaintances. They talked very casually and immediately asked another question.

: "However, I also want to hear Brother Ziyu's opinion on who is the most likely winner in this battle."

"Victor?" Wu Peifu laughed dumbly and shook his head: "The war was raging. In just one battle, I lost nearly 2 million troops. This did not include the numbers on the Western Front. Such an unprecedented world war was fought.

, Brother Xiaobo, do you think there is still a winner? He who wins cannot win, and who loses cannot lose!"

Wu Peifu's last meaningful words made Wang Chengbin thoughtful. He nodded knowingly and laughed together with Wu Peifu.

The train passed through the cold Siberia, and after a journey of more than ten days, they finally arrived in the European region of Tsarist Russia and approached their destination - St. Petersburg.

As the train travels westward through Asia, the atmosphere of war becomes more solemn. Through the train windows, you can see large groups of troops heading to the front line. There are also countless recruits gathering at various stations to get on the train. They will

They were sent to a place not far from the front line for a short training before being put into the front line. Looking at these new recruits who were obviously ordinary farmers, Wu Peifu couldn't help but sigh in his heart that the cruelty of this war was far greater than what he had initially expected. At the same time, he also felt sorry for Tsarist Russia.

The war potential of the war was so powerful that I was amazed. Among the Allied Powers and the Central Powers on both sides of the war, Tsarist Russia was just a second-rate power that was inferior to Germany, Britain, France and other first-rate powers. Only such a country has such a powerful power.

In contrast, although China's national defense force construction has made great progress, China still has a long way to go to become a powerful country.

Two more days later, the train finally arrived at its destination - St. Petersburg. China, the oldest empire in the East, had been invaded by Western powers since the Opium War and had long lost its former glory. It was not until the founding of the Republic of China that it gradually recovered through hard work.

It gained some strength and began to make its new voice in the world. But in the eyes of Tsarist Russia, even so, they believed that China was still a poor and weak country, and they simply dismissed it. But because of the current European war, the Russian Empire is now trying its best to

In order to seize China as the last life-saving straw, in order to appease these Chinese people who originally looked down upon them, Tsar Nicholas II not only gave extremely high treatment to the Chinese Security Observation Group, but also specially asked Finance Minister Witte and Crown Prince Alek to

Xie came to the station to welcome these "Chinese friends" who came from afar.

Finance Minister Witte is an important minister of the Russian Empire. Although he is too old to walk and his days are numbered, his status in the empire is extremely high. And although Crown Prince Alexei is young, he

It also directly represented Nicholas II, the supreme ruler of the empire. From this aspect, it can be seen that Tsar Nicholas II was deeply interested in winning over the Chinese.

As the head of the Chinese military observation delegation, Wu Peifu expressed gratitude to the Russian Empire on behalf of the Chinese government for its sincerity, and made a diplomatic speech at the station about friendship between the two countries. Afterwards, the delegation was checked into the hotel and after a short rest for a day,

Wu Peifu will meet with Tsar Nicholas II as scheduled and discuss military observation matters with the Tsarist Russian Cabinet.

*************************************

Sorry, there was something going on at home yesterday and I didn’t update. I couldn’t inform you all because I was outside. Please forgive me (to be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (shuhaige.) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is

My biggest motivation.)--remember it!
Chapter completed!