The Germans' Plans

When Grand Duke Mikhail decided to reclaim his throne by force, he had already taken precautions against the Ottoman Empire, his old enemy.

Although Grand Duke Mikhail had taken most of his main forces with him when he headed north,

the five infantry divisions and four mountain infantry brigades left behind were enough to deal with the threat from the Ottoman Empire.

What was more, the Caucasus Military District had swiftly mobilized and formed another twenty infantry divisions to meet the coming war.

The Ottoman Empire's strength had declined severely, and its standing forces numbered only three to four hundred thousand.

Besides, its main forces still had to be deployed on the Balkan Peninsula to deal with threats in the Balkan region.

The troops the Ottoman Empire could commit to the Caucasus region were therefore undoubtedly very limited.

Even though Kör Ahmed Pasha personally led an army of a hundred thousand in the attack,

his troops had barely left Van and entered the southern Caucasus region when they ran into a blocking force consisting of the Caucasus Military District 2nd Infantry Division, led by Major General Mikhail Belyayev, and two mountain infantry brigades.

After a major battle, Kör Ahmed Pasha discovered that, although they had a huge numerical advantage,

they were completely outmatched in firepower and combat effectiveness.

Not only had they failed to break through the Caucasus Military District's blocking force, but they had also suffered heavy losses.

In particular, once another infantry division and mountain infantry brigade from the Caucasus Military District entered the battle, the battered Ottoman Empire Army had no chance of breaking through the Russian lines.

Instead, a Russian counterattack drove them back step by step.

Even though the Ottoman Empire Army had instructors from the German Empire,

they still had no answer to the situation.

On the one hand, the Russian troops' fighting strength and weapons and equipment exceeded their expectations. On the other, the Ottomans' fighting strength was far too low, and their will to fight was extremely fragile.

Once an attack was thwarted, getting them to hold their ground against the enemy's fierce counterattack was undoubtedly even harder.

With the battle going like this, no wonder Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II was furious.

But things had come to this. Surely he could not just let the matter drop?

If he lowered his banners and silenced his drums, it would deal another crushing blow to the prestige Abdul Hamid II had struggled so hard to build.

Thus, even though the fighting was going badly, he could only grit his teeth and carry on.

Otherwise, he would face even more problems.

Abdul Hamid II ordered more troops assembled in preparation for the attack.

At the same time, he urgently placed more orders with the German Empire for weapons and equipment to use in the coming war.

Abdul Hamid II also hoped that the German Empire would send more military instructors to help the Ottoman Empire.

With his own generals unfit for important responsibilities, Abdul Hamid II could only pin his hopes on the Germans.

After all, the German Empire was the foremost land power on the European continent.

The German Empire gave the Ottoman Empire's requests its full support.

The German Empire was also watching the situation in the Tsarist Russian Empire closely, waiting for the right moment to pounce and tear off a fat chunk of meat.

Since the Ottomans were willing to join the war against the Tsarist Russian Empire, the German Empire certainly would not stop them.

Was it not a fine thing to use the Ottoman Empire to test the Tsarist Russian Empire's present strength and weaknesses?

Besides, the German Empire could make a fortune selling arms.

For the Germans, this was undoubtedly a chance to kill two birds with one stone.

The Germans were also eager to make even greater trouble for the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The Poles and the resistance forces along the Baltic Sea coast all received strong support from the Germans.

These resistance forces also began to rebel against Tsarist Russian rule in Poland and along the Baltic Sea coast.

If the Tsarist Russian Empire could not quickly suppress these rebellions, cleaning up the mess afterward would undoubtedly be even harder.

If this continued for long, it was bound to deal a considerable blow to the Tsarist Russian Empire's strength.

When the German Empire moved against the Tsarist Russian Empire, it would have much less trouble.

It could be said that the German Empire had already begun making all kinds of moves to establish hegemony over the European continent.

Of course, the Tsarist Russian Empire was the world's largest country by territory and also the most populous country in the Western world. Its overall strength still could not be underestimated.

Although civil war had now broken out in the Tsarist Russian Empire, as long as the whole country did not descend into a boiling cauldron of chaos and get smashed to pieces,

the Tsarist Russian Empire would still be very far from collapse.

Even for a great power like the German Empire, defeating the Tsarist Russian Empire would still be extremely difficult.

If the two sides went to war, the German Empire might win in the early stages by relying on its superior military strength.

It might even defeat the Tsarist Russian Empire again and again in a short time, inflicting enormous losses on it.

But as long as the Tsarist Russian Empire held on and recovered its strength,

its vast territory, population, and army would allow it to withstand the German Empire's attack without any trouble.

It might even drag the German Empire into the quagmire of war.

The two world wars in another timeline had already proven this.

At the beginning of those wars, the Russians were pounded by the Second Empire and the Third Reich, suffering heavy losses.

But they were still the final victors.

That was also why the German Empire stayed behind the scenes and would not readily enter the fray.

Besides, the cautionary example of Napoleon the Great's expedition to Moscow was still vivid: he had returned in utter defeat, leading to the collapse of the Gallic First Empire.

In the eyes of the European nations, the vast Tsarist Russian Empire was still a giant.

Even a giant with feet of clay was not so easy to topple.

For the Tsarist Russian Empire, this undoubtedly provided an opportunity.

As long as a top world power like the German Empire did not go to war directly with the Tsarist Russian Empire, the threat posed to it by other countries would undoubtedly be very limited.

It was precisely because Grand Duke Mikhail understood this that he had resolved to reclaim the throne by force, regardless of the cost.

Even though this would put the Tsarist Russian Empire in danger.

But in Grand Duke Mikhail's view, all of it was temporary.

A short pain was better than a long one. Only after these problems were resolved could the Tsarist Russian Empire halt its decline and have a chance to rise again.

Thus, when Grand Duke Mikhail learned that the Ottoman Empire had launched an invasion but its offensive had been repelled, he finally set his mind at ease.

The Ottomans were as feeble as ever.

For them to hope to loot a burning house at a time like this was nothing but wishful thinking.

Perhaps, after the civil war ended, he could turn around and use the Ottoman Empire to demonstrate his might, leaving the Ottomans trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it!