Belarus, Stavka, Russian Army High Command.
Russian Commander-in-Chief Grand Duke Nicholas, looking at Telegram in his hand, said nothing. This is Battle Damage Report from the Russian Southwestern Front Army Commander General Ivanov. The heavy loss made Grand Duke Nicholas feel very sad.
According to General Ivanov's report, Russian Southwestern Front Army's main force in this battle has been eliminated. Originally, Southwestern Front had 1.2 million people. But now, Southwestern Front has only 250,000 people left, and a total of 950,000 people have been lost, which is almost one million. If we include the previous losses of the Russian Northwestern Front Army, Russia has lost nearly two million troops on the Eastern Front. Even though Russia has a huge number of troops, it can't afford such losses!
What's more, the troops lost were almost all their elite troops. This will put them at a serious disadvantage in the next battle!
"Perhaps, we were wrong from the beginning. This war is no longer something Russian Empire can participate in. Russian Empire's strength is too weak, and there is no possibility of winning in this war." Grand Duke Nicholas looked bitter.
Originally, Tsar Nicholas II, the Commanders of the Russian army, and senior government officials all believed that with Allied Powers's strength, defeating Allied Powers was a sure thing. Especially after Italy betrayed Allied Powers and turned to Allied Powers, Allied Powers became even weaker. However, the victory they had high hopes for has yet to come. Instead, one failure followed another.
The Russian army suffered such heavy losses in this war, which directly made it impossible for them to win on Eastern Front. From Grand Duke Nicholas's point of view, Russian Empire's next role in this war is probably to play a role in the war! The only role they can play is to contain some of German-Austrian Allied Forces's troops. Also, a lot of territory will be lost. Unless Allied Powers can win this war, otherwise, Russia may never get back the territories it lost.
However, can Allied Powers win this war? If it was before the war broke out, Grand Duke Nicholas would definitely think that Allied Powers would be able to win the final victory. But now, he doesn't dare to be so sure. Apart from anything else, the explosion of Germany's military strength in this war was enough to shock everyone. German Army is worthy of the title of No. 1 in the world. Even though they were fighting on two fronts, they still had an advantage in the battle. Even German Navy gained an advantage over British Navy in the naval battle. From Grand Duke Nicholas's point of view, this is really incredible. But the fact is the fact, even if he thinks it is impossible, it will not change.
"May God bless Russian Empire, and hope we can win in this war!" Grand Duke Nicholas murmured. It seems that praying for the blessing of the illusory God has become their only way.
"How to report the specific situation of Your Excellency Grand Duke and Southwestern Front to Your Majesty?" asked a Russian general.
After all, as the Russian army suffered successive defeats on the battlefield, this made Tsar Nicholas II very angry. If Nicholas II learns that Southwestern Front also experienced a fiasco, the consequences may be very serious. None of them, the generals of the military, could afford to eat.
"Report the truth to Your Majesty! It is impossible to hide it for a long time. Once Your Majesty knows the truth, the consequences will probably be more serious." Grand Duke Nicholas said.
Grand Duke Nicholas is very clear about his nephew, Nicholas II's character. Not only is he headstrong and arrogant, but he also has a bad temper. In particular, you cannot suffer losses and cannot tolerate being deceived by others.
The battle ended like this. Although Grand Duke Nicholas felt very guilty, he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. If he conceals it, the consequences will be more serious. By then, even if he is Nicholas II's uncle, Nicholas II probably won't let him go easily. Therefore, Grand Duke Nicholas is unwilling to do that.
"Yes, Your Excellency Grand Duke." The general nodded and immediately went to prepare to send Telegram.
Russian Empire Capital St. Petersburg, Winter Palace.
Tsar Nicholas II sat behind the desk expressionlessly. There are several Telegram scattered on the desk. That was exactly Telegram sent back by Grand Duke Nicholas. The content of Telegram is the battle damage of the Russian Southwestern Front Army.
Nicholas II immediately became furious after seeing this Telegram. Although, he seems to have become accustomed to failure. However, the repeated failures almost made him numb.
In front of Nicholas II's desk stood a group of Russian generals and senior government officials. However, everyone remained silent, as if they were sinners waiting to be judged.
"First Northwestern Front Army was annihilated, and then Southwestern Front was almost wiped out. So far, we have lost nearly two million troops. You know, before the war broke out, our standing army was only It's only 1.4 million! What's even more terrible is that these troops lost are still our elite troops. In this case, how can we continue this battle?" Nicholas II looked at the Russian generals and government officials with red eyes.
Everyone was silent. Everyone knew that the current situation was really too bad for Russia. The performance of the Russian army in this war can be described as terrible.
It can be said that precisely because of this, many Russian government senior officials and military generals are very negative about this war and believe that it will be difficult for them to win.
Tsar Nicholas II, looking at the reactions of these ministers and generals, was also very helpless. Just like the current war situation.
"Everyone, what do you think of the current war situation? What should we do next?" Nicholas II asked.
"Your Majesty, in view of the heavy losses of the troops. It is best not to initiate an attack again before our newly mobilized troops are ready. Otherwise, we are very likely to be defeated again." Minister of War Sukhomlinov said.
Nicholas II nodded gloomily, even if a large number of troops were mobilized again, those ragtag groups obviously cannot be sent to the battlefield! Letting them go to the battlefield means simply letting them die.