The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 500 : 395: The Crisis Brought by Victory

While the East Prussian Battle was underway, the Russia-Austria border was not idle. Urged by Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire assembled three army groups, totaling 48 infantry divisions and 11 cavalry divisions, preparing to launch an attack on Russia nation.

On the Russian side, they had accumulated the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Army Groups, intending to take the whole of Galicia in one battle.

If the East Prussian Battle was a hastily fought war, Russia nation had no choice but to embark on under pressure from the British and the French.

Then the encounter between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian forces along the border revealed the ambitions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia nation in this war.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to defeat Russia nation, march southwards, and become the only powerful nation in the Balkan region, taking over all Balkan states.

Russia, on the other hand, naturally wanted to annex the fertile land of Galicia and, at the same time, diminish the influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkan region.

The number of troops that Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire put into the border areas reached millions, close to two million, to be precise.

This also made the number of soldiers on the Eastern Front no weaker than that on the Westline Battlefield. If we look at the scale of both sides' soldiers, there might be even more on the Eastern Front.

But in fact, this was only false prosperity. Everyone knew that the fighting capacity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russian armies was far inferior to that of France and Germany. If the German main force were on the Eastern Front, Russia nation would have no chance to fight back.

On February 1st, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's First Army Group encountered the Russian Fourth Army Group in the Krasinik Region and immediately engaged in fierce battle.

However, the Russian army's combat capability was much inferior to that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After a fierce battle, the Russian army was successfully repelled.

After all, the Russian system was too corrupt, and the eruption of such powerful fighting capacity by this ancient enemy nation was not easy.

However, thinking about the weapons and equipment sent to Russia nation from Australasia several times after the outbreak of the war, Arthur suddenly wasn't surprised.

One of the most important factors determining a soldier's combat capability is the soldier's weapons, equipment, and logistical support.

Currently, a large number of frontline Russian forces have been equipped with military weapons produced in Australasia, which has indirectly increased the combat capability of the Russian army.

However, the victory on the Eastern Front was not a good thing for Russia, as Germany had already assembled a large number of troops to move towards the Eastern Front.

Although Russia could show off its military prowess against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it had little resistance against the strongest army in the world, the German Army.

More importantly, the internal situation in Russia was not very stable. If Germany reinforced the Eastern Front, leading to a crisis within Russia, Russia's internal turmoil might come earlier than its historical counterpart or even trigger a more significant crisis.

Without Russia's involvement, the strength of the Allies would decline quite a bit. Although the Britain-France-Australia three nations could join forces to defeat Germany, the price they would have to pay would undoubtedly be much higher.

Remember, in World War I, Russia deployed over 10 million troops in history, with nearly 2 million casualties.

These numbers were still because statistics were very backward in Russia nation, and the actual casualties would certainly be higher.

This also meant that the other three countries in the Allies would have to fill the gap of more than 10 million troops. Unless Australasia could organize millions of Indigenous Peoples' army units, they would have to send conventional forces to promote the victory of the war.

This also meant that maintaining stability within Russia and on the Eastern Front was crucial.