After a month of active attack, the Russians suffered less than 100,000 losses on the battlefield, while Hetzendolf's army lost at least 150,000. As long as the Austro-Hungarian soldiers heard the terrifying cry of "The Cossacks are coming", they would cause uncontrollable panic and riots. The Russian troops who were fucked in front of the German army before finally found their own war rhythm in Austro-Hungary. One of the important reasons why Nikolai dared to continue the war was that the Russian army's victory on the southwest battlefield gave him confidence.

As Russia's mobilization continued, a large number of Russian troops continued to go to the front line from the rear. As of mid-to-late June, the Russian troops, which were slow to heat up, had already tied the Austro-Hungarian troops in the front line and were in a big way to surpass them. This situation immediately made the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Hecendolf, unable to remain calm anymore. When the troops were stronger than the opponent, he was bleeding in front of the Russians; once they recovered, the situation on the battlefield on the Eastern Front would be completely out of their control!

In this case, while adjusting his own deployment and increasing the mobilization, Hetzendolf could only ask Berlin for help, asking his Prussian allies who also had the word "Feng" to help him support him on the Eastern Front battlefield. At first, Moltke did not pay enough attention to Hetzendolf's request for help: in his opinion, it was very likely that the Austrians had let the Germans use as much force as possible to deal with the Russians for their own selfish interests in order to alleviate the pressure they were under. However, when Hetzendolf sent another telegram for help the next day, with detailed process and casualty data on the previous Eastern Front battle, Moltke, who was determined to lose before winning, suddenly realized that these Austrians might really not be able to beat.

After despising the unreliability of the Austrians countless times, Moltke responded to Hetsendolf. In principle, Germany agreed to send troops to aid Austro-Hungary, but the German army is currently fighting fiercely with the British and French troops on the Western Front and is preparing to launch a large-scale attack on Paris. Each battalion on the Western Front has its indispensable role. Therefore, Germany can use the troops to aid Austro-Hungary's coordinated operations. Only the Eighth Army on the Eastern Front and the Ninth Army on the Eastern Front are reorganized and gathered. At present, these troops are fully commanded by Hindenburg. Moltke asked Hetsendolf to discuss with him first, and after a consensus result, he would just give him a briefing.

After receiving the affirmative reply from Moltke, Hutzendolf couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although Moltke only agreed to let the German army on the Eastern Front fight with him, this army had already shown amazing power in the previous battle. After receiving support from local troops, the German army on the Eastern Front had nearly 40% of the troops. The role it played in combat against Russia would be even greater than the entire Austro-Hungarian army!

Hutsendorf immediately contacted Hindenburg, far away in East Prussia. At the same time, the German General Staff asked him to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian army to fight and also sent him to his table. Xing Lu, who had just won the Blue Marx Medal for the complete victory of the two battles in Tannenburg and Lake Mazuri, attached great importance to the joint combat request from Vienna; because in Hutsendorf's request, they found help to achieve the next goal.

After the Battle of Lake Mazuri, the Russian Northwest Army Group had fallen apart. Only more than 20% of the Russian army survived. Their morale was low and their fighting spirit was dispersed, and they lost almost all their heavy weapons, posing no threat to East Prussia. Under this situation, Xinglu decided not to advance along the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg, but to head south and bring the entire Russian Poland into its own control.

In 1795, the third joint division between Russia, Prussia and Austria was completed. Poland, which lasted for more than 800 years, officially disappeared from the European map. In this division, Russia was undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary. They obtained nearly two-thirds of Poland's territory, and most of them were rich and economically developed lands. Most of them were fertile lands with rich resources and rich economy. Most of them were the Russian army that could directly reach the depth of Poland through the Warsaw Railway, and the routes from Berlin and Vienna were greatly closer. Once the German army seized Poland, it would not only cut off this prominent part that penetrated the hinterland of Germany, and ensure the absolute security of Berlin and the prosperous Silesian region; it could also take the developed agriculture and a large number of factories on this land for its own use. It greatly enhanced Germany's war strength.

If the attacking party wants to remove the tumor deeply embedded in its own position, then launching an attack from the roots of the two wings of the protruding part is undoubtedly the most effective strategy. However, the German army alone cannot implement this strategy. Opening a map of Europe, you can understand that the entire southern Poland borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and is not connected to the German territory. This means that Xing-Lu can only move south from the East Prussian side, and the effect of such an attack will definitely be greatly reduced than the North-South Combination Attack.

Hötsendorf's request for help was in line with Xing Lu's intentions. It was their duty and mission to defeat the Russian army on the Eastern Front. If joint operations were carried out, the German army could also use Austro-Hungary to launch an attack from southern Poland. In addition, the German army could also use the huge Austro-Hungary army to make up for the shortcomings of its number of troops and clear away many troubles and obstacles for the next step of seizing Poland. On June 27, Xing Lu and Lu made a special trip to the Przemesil Fortress in southern Poland to prepare for discussion with the Austrians on matters related to joint operations. Unfortunately, the Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungary Army encountered a road blockage on his way back from the front line, so that after Xing Lu arrived, he still did not appear in the living room.

Seeing this situation, Rudendolf was very displeased. Even the garrison commander of the Austro-Hungary Fortress was sitting opposite him, he did not give the other party any good expression. With the unstoppable combat power shown by the German army in the previous battle, Rudendolf had every reason to think that he could win without the help of the Austrians; Hetsendorf was late in such a meeting between the leaders of the two armies, which was undoubtedly a very disrespectful act. He turned his head away from the door next to him, and he glanced at the calm and almost numb Hindenburg from time to time, and waited in his seat impatiently; and the cup of coffee on the table had been drunk by him at this moment, and the bright inner wall emitted a shining glory under the chandelier.

———————————————

After a while, a sound of gentle footsteps finally rang out of the door. Hindenburg's eyes narrowed and turned to look, and saw an old man with extraordinary temperament slowly walking to the front door surrounded by several officers. He was tall and thin, with a tough and clean face. The white beard on his lips not only did not make him look old and stupid, but instead added a little bit of the graceful attitude of a noble Martial Confucian general. Hindenburg had seen this face several times in the photo, and was Heczendolf himself, who is currently in charge of the Austro-Hungarian Army!

"P? General Hindenburg, General E? General Ludendolf, please allow me to express my deepest apology to you for my late arrival." Hetzendolf walked into the living room and bowed to Xinglu who stood up. He was also a rigorous and punctual German nation, and he knew very well what he had done before. Seeing this, Ludendolf's face cleared a little, but there was still a hint of displeasure in his eyes. After the opening remarks between Hindenburg and the other party ended, he found the right opportunity and spoke directly: "General K? General Hindendolf, our army has been ordered to cooperate with your army. I want to know what the current situation of your army is. You have just returned from the front line troops, so you should have a deep understanding of this?"

"Due to some complex factors, the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army was not as good as we thought before the war. In the previous battle, we suffered a lot of losses than the Russians, which is why I wanted to fight with the Youth Army in joint battles and fight against the Russians together. The organization of the four Imperial Army is still there, and the officer system with the Germans as the core has not been greatly damaged. As long as the cooperation of the Youth Army is in cooperation, we can fight again with the Russians again." Faced with Rudendolf's direct inquiry, Hetzendolf cleverly responded indirectly with the Spring and Autumn style. A hint of expectation appeared in his eyes and said: "At present, the focus of the Eastern Front battlefield is undoubtedly in the Galician area less than 100 kilometers away from this Przemesil Fortress. I wonder how many troops your army plans to send to the south to resist the Russians together with us?"

"If your country's railways release all the passes bordering Germany, we can transfer a four and a half armies from East Prussia to the Krakow region in southern Poland within a week. After that, our army will attack from East Prussia and Krakow from north to south, with the target directly aiming at Warsaw on the Vistula River. For the Russians, they will definitely not give up this key stronghold, but choose to transfer a large number of troops here; in this way, the troops deployed by the Russian army in front of Galicia will be weakened, and your army can take advantage of the situation to attack." Rudendolf briefly introduced to the Austrians in front of him.

"Do you want to attack Warsaw?" To Rudendolf's surprise, after hearing his combat plan that was obviously to unilaterally swallow a large area of ​​Russian territory, Hetsendolf not only showed any indignation, but was full of solemnity and worry. Hetsendolf took a deep breath and said, "If this is the case, our army will be completely unable to attack other places, and can only follow your army to act together. Because at present, the deployment of the Russian army's troops has changed."

PS: Thanks to book friends Feng Yunzaiqi 2204 and Xichen for their monthly ticket support...
Chapter completed!