On September 21, special train Oscar arrived at Berlin. Minister of War von? Falkenhayn went to the train station in person to greet Oscar.
"Your Highness, welcome back to Berlin. Your Highness commanded 8th Army Corps and achieved a great victory on the Eastern Front. Your Majesty is very happy, and the whole German Empire is cheering for Your Highness's victory!" Feng Falkenhayn had an old face, smiling like a chrysanthemum.
Of course, Feng Falkenhayn now has enough reasons to be happy. First, Oscar's 8th Army Corps won on the Eastern Front, wiping out more than 900,000 enemies. This is undoubtedly a huge victory for Germany. Feng Falkenhayn, as a member of the Oscar family, was naturally happy about this. Secondly, Battle of the Marne is over. German military lost 220,000 people, but still could not push the front to the gate of Paris. Instead, Anglo-French Allied Forces persisted under German military's fierce attack, which made Anglo-French Allied Forces more determined to resist Germany. It can be said that the plan to end the war quickly has gone bankrupt. This is undoubtedly very bad news for Germany, but for Feng Falkenhayn, it is different. This means that his old rival Moltke the Younger is in big trouble now.
Feng Falkenhayn has always wanted to replace Moltke the Younger as chief of general staff and become the first person in the military. However, he has always been suppressed by Moltke the Younger. Now, Moltke the Younger himself made a big mistake, which gave him a chance. What's more, with Oscar's great victory on the Eastern Front, Oscar's domestic prestige once again rose to a higher level. Even Wilhelm II has to pay attention to the opinions and attitudes of Oscar. If Oscar fulfills his promise and supports him, Feng Falkenhayn believes that the possibility of him successfully squeezing out Moltke the Younger and becoming chief of general staff is undoubtedly very high. It can be said that he has seen the post of chief of general staff beckoning to him.
"Minister of War, you are so polite, how can I bother you to come and greet me in person!" Oscar also had a smile on his face. He knew clearly what Feng? Falkenhayn was thinking. However, he is also willing to help Feng Falkenhayn achieve his wishes. After all, Feng Falkenhayn took the initiative to seek refuge with him. Due to both emotion and reason, he should let Feng? Falkenhayn take another step forward.
"Your Highness, let's go to the palace, Your Majesty is waiting for you." Feng Falkenhayn said.
Oscar nodded.
Oscar and Feng Falkenhayn took a car together and headed to the palace.
The war has broken out for more than a month, and it has had some impact on Germany. Even as the capital of the Empire, Berlin is somewhat depressed. At least, there aren't that many people on the street anymore. From what Oscar learned, due to sufficient pre-war reserves, Germany has not yet experienced a shortage of supplies. However, if the war continues, this phenomenon will inevitably happen and will become more and more serious. However, there is no way around it. This is one of the effects of war. The only thing Oscar can do is to try his best to try to end the war as soon as possible. Apart from that, he had no other option.
"Your Highness, Battle of the Marne ended, we lost 250,000 people. Anglo-French Allied Forces's losses were slightly more than ours. However, our strategic goals were not achieved. Paris is still dozens of kilometers away from our front. For us, Paris is so easy to reach. However, we have lost the opportunity to capture Paris." Feng Falkenhayn sighed.
"Well, no one thought that the situation on the Western Front would become so bad." Oscar said. Although, he already knew that in another time and space, German military and Battle of the Marne still ended in failure. In the next two years, no matter how hard we try, we will not be able to achieve a breakthrough. But in this time and space, at least because of him, German military's strength has strengthened. Originally, he thought that it might bring about some changes. But I didn't expect that the inertia of history would be so strong, and German military still failed.
Feng? Falkenhayn nodded. "In this battle, we not only lost a large number of troops, but also consumed a large amount of combat supplies. The soldiers are also very tired after continuous fighting. Therefore, we may not be able to launch another attack in a short period of time. This war will inevitably fall into a protracted war."
"Your Excellency, there is no need to be so pessimistic. Even this time, we have no chance to capture Paris. However, this does not mean that we will never have a chance. 8th Army Corps will continue to attack Russia launches an attack. If we can fundamentally change the situation on the eastern front, we can end the two-front battle and concentrate our main forces on Anglo-French Allied Forces," Oscar said.
"Your Highness, do you want to defeat Russians just by relying on 8th Army Corps? This may be very difficult!" Feng Falkenhayn frowned.
"Your Excellency, I won't say what we will do specifically for the time being. It needs to be kept confidential. However, 8th Army Corps hopes to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the future to take action against the Russian Southwestern Front Army. Have you discussed with them about joining forces with the Austro-Hungarian Empire?" Oscar asked.
"General Staff Headquarters is advancing this matter. However, because someone has been out of shape recently, there is not much progress. However, I think there should be no big problem. Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered a lot of defeats under Russians's Southwestern Front "If they can join forces with us to get rid of Russia Southwestern Front, it will undoubtedly be a great thing for them. As long as those guys at the Austro-Hungarian Empire don't get caught in the door, they won't object," said Feng Falkenhayn.
"Has Father Emperor's attitude towards Moltke the Younger changed?" Oscar asked.
"Because of Battle of the Marne's defeat, Your Majesty's attitude towards Moltke the Younger has changed a lot." When he mentioned this, a smile appeared on Feng Falkenhayn's face. Seeing Moltke the Younger losing ground, he was undoubtedly very happy.
"That's good! Moltke the Younger has great ambitions but little talent. He modified Schlieffen Plan indiscriminately, so that Imperial Army was in a disadvantageous situation in this war. He should be responsible for it. When the time comes, I will recommend to Father Emperor that your Excellency should concurrently serve as the chief of general staff." Oscar said.
"Thank you Your Highness. I promise that I will follow Your Highness's lead in the future!" Feng Falkenhayn was even more excited after receiving Oscar's guarantee.