Falkenhayn, the German General Staff Officer, came to the palace to meet Kaiser Wilhelm II. After waiting for a long time, Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived late with a stern expression. The news that the United States and Germany had severed diplomatic relations made Wilhelm II

I have a heavy heart. According to information from secret channels and a serious decision made through repeated comprehensive consideration through democratic resolutions, it may take two months for the United States of America to sever diplomatic relations and declare war. Of course, how long will it take for the US military to train before it can rush to the European battlefield?

neither knows.

A man who is working outside the two camps and is preparing to join the enemy's camp is not good news in any case. The final possible result will be that Germany will pay a heavy price. William II is frowning when he thinks of this.

exhibition.

"Your Majesty!" Falkenhayn saw the look of William II, he hesitated to speak and finally let out a sigh. How could he not know that in terms of grand strategy, Germany had narrowed its path?

"Chief of the General Staff, you're here, what's going on?" Wilhelm II forced himself to speak, maintaining the majesty of the emperor.

"There is a new battle plan, and I hope His Majesty will approve it." Falkinghan said solemnly, "I hope this attack can save the war situation."

"Oh? Are we still going to launch an attack on the Western Front? Since the beginning of the year, I have been hearing news about the British and French allied forces taking the initiative to attack." William II was noncommittal, obviously having some understanding of the character of the chief of staff who launched the Battle of Verdun.

If it were not for the fact that the German army had always suffered less losses than the enemy on the battlefield, and that the British and Indian Army had lost a large number of men in the Battle of the Somme, Falkenhayn would not be able to continue to direct the country as Chief of General Staff today.

"I believe that after the start of this offensive, the British and French forces will attack soon." Falkenhay cheered up, "Since taking over Moltke as Chief of General Staff, all I have been thinking about is how to gain an advantage.

Your Majesty will end the war. Today I am willing to express my thoughts in front of His Majesty without any concealment. This time I strongly support Hindenburg and Ludendorff's idea of ​​launching an offensive on the Eastern Front with unprecedented intensity to withdraw the Russian Empire from the war.

"

"Oh? This is a new thing." William II was a little surprised. Falkenhayn's attitude was very different from before. The two generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff on the eastern front had always advocated taking measures on the western front.

Going on the defensive, concentrating our forces and focusing on combining the power of the Allied Powers to defeat Imperial Russia, was contrary to Falkenhayn's idea.

Seeing that the Chief of General Staff and the important frontline generals were in harmony, Wilhelm II showed a rare smile on his face and acted as if he was listening. Falkenhayn told all his thoughts.

On the Western Front, the defense line was arranged at 1.5:1:1, allocating the positions of the German army, the Austro-Hungarian army, and the Italian army. In addition to allocating a section of positions, the remaining German troops adopted a flexible defense posture, waiting for the British and French allied forces to attack.

Attack. The main force merged with the Austro-Hungarian army on the eastern front to launch the attack.

A total of 1.3 million soldiers were invested on the Eastern Front this time, and together with the Austro-Hungarian Empire's one million troops, they launched a decisive offensive against Imperial Russia.

"Since I took over as Chief of General Staff, I have been thinking about how to end the war with an advantage. Your Majesty, please give me your full support. For the sake of the Empire and Your Majesty, the soldiers who are about to enter the battle will definitely fight with blood.

." Falkingham bowed slightly when he said this, and said very sincerely.

"I hope you can unite the two generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff. The situation has reached a point where you must unite." William II thought for a long time and said, "Forget the previous debate about whether your eastern front is the main one and the western front is the main one.

Focus on where the greatest progress has been made.”

For German soldiers, the three years of war have already adapted many soldiers to the high-frequency mobilization of war. They run from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and then from the Western Front to the Eastern Front. Even some troops are no longer in the first round.

Turn back and run. In mid-September, 700,000 German soldiers had reached the Eastern Front.

The news that the German army would transfer its main force to the Eastern Front did not go unnoticed by the British and French coalition forces on the Western Front. After learning that the United States was optimistic about joining the Allied camp, the British and French senior officials believed that Germany's defeat was a foregone conclusion and that Germany's final offensive power would be exhausted.

There was no reason for Germany not to surrender. But the top leaders of the two countries also knew that Imperial Russia on the Eastern Front was actually Germany in their eyes. Imperial Russia, which had been surrounded by the Allies since the beginning of the war, was about to run out of fuel.

The news that German soldiers appeared in large numbers on the Eastern Front was well known to the British and French allied forces through British and French reconnaissance on the Western Front and telegrams sent back by Imperial Russia. Now of course they can guess what the Germans were thinking. When the German soldiers had just arrived on the Eastern Front,

The British and French forces on the Western Front launched another offensive to save Imperial Russia, which was about to face annihilation.

In early September, the Allied forces launched an all-out attack on the German forces facing them. The British Fifth Army served as the main attack; the French First Army and the British Second Army served as assists. On that day, the Allied forces broke through the first German position at a heavy cost. On September 16, the Allied forces launched the third

The second attack was blocked in the main direction of attack. The German Fourth Army organized a "flexible defense" and placed its main support on the Italian front between the German position and the Austro-Hungarian position. It built a series of forward positions surrounded by water on three sides, easily

The difficult-to-defend bunker group was equipped with some troops to block the enemy, and the main force was deployed in depth to counterattack, forcing the coalition forces to pay a heavy price for every step forward. The German army's new tactics and the harsh weather once again delayed the coalition's offensive.

After five days of offensive, the British and French forces suffered heavy losses. At this time, the British once again mobilized two Indian armies to maintain the offensive. Countless Indian soldiers entered the battlefield and were exposed to the Allied soldiers.

While the British and French allied forces on the Western Front sounded the clarion call for attack, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II also understood that the Allied camp was preparing to give him a hard blow, and he and Archduke Nicholas and the commander of the Russian Southwest Front Alexei Alley

General Kseyevich Brusilov met and asked if he could preemptively disrupt the Allied offensive.

As a front-line general, General Alexey Alexeyevich Brusilov was worried and said that the front-line soldiers were exhausted to the extreme and that the attack was unrealistic. Nicholas II was greatly disappointed!

"Should we wait for them to come knocking on the door?" Nicholas II said angrily, "What we need now is persistence. We are already standing on the eve of victory."

In the end, Brusilov agreed to try an attack to boost the low morale of the Russian soldiers. The direction of the battle was set on the southwest front, and Brusilov set the capture of the Galician town of Lemberg as a phased goal. This is to maintain the

The communication and communication center between the Austro-Hungarian army and the German army. The offensive force strives to cause as much damage as possible to the Austro-Hungarian army in Galicia, and if possible, try to force it to withdraw from the war.

In the capital of the United States of America, this day was not a particularly important day in the First World War, but for some people, this day was much more important than any other world war.

Sheffield, along with a group of New York banks and bank representatives from various places, plus Mellon Dupont, Morgan Jr. and Rockefeller Jr., negotiated the Federal Reserve System with Federal Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo.

McAdoo worked as a lawyer in Tennessee in his early years, and later moved to New York, where he formed two companies and dug tunnels under the Hudson River. He supported Woodrow Wilson in both the New Jersey gubernatorial election and the U.S. presidential election in 1910.

When he was Secretary of the Treasury, he won the trust of President Wilson.

Sheffield actually trusted McAdoo, although on some issues, such as loans to the Allied Powers, McAdoo also stood with most people rather than with him. The latest loan to the Allied Powers

It has been put on the agenda and is being communicated with Britain and France. Once the donation is successful, counting the first three loans, the United States has already issued loans to the Allied Powers of US$18 billion.

This is an astronomical amount of money. If the expenses of slave owners in the Persian Gulf are excluded, the net profit of the United Company in recent years has not reached one-tenth of this amount.

When a slave owner attends a major event, he must bring Edith Rockefeller and Louisa Morgan with him, as a constant reminder to the scumbags that there are two ruthless characters around me to deter other people with evil intentions.

The establishment of the Federal Reserve received strong support from the federal Treasury Secretary, and even went overboard smoothly.

"I have some understanding of domestic financial history. Several finance ministers have overturned the National Bank matter." Louisa Morgan lamented, "This time it went so smoothly."

"Where are the connections here?" Sheffield said disapprovingly, "McAdoo has good relationships with all the major bankers."

"Of course my relationship with you will be even better." Edith Rockefeller smiled, "Who dares to offend your foundation in the Democratic Party?"

"That's not the case, because McAdoo is President Wilson's son-in-law, and our relationship is pretty good. But it's not closer than his relationship with the New York banking group, but he likes to travel, and Gale has a good relationship with him.

That's right." Sheffield corrected Edith Rockefeller, "When we went to Puerto Rico, Gail personally hosted her."

"The president's son-in-law!" Louisa Morgan glanced at her head, obviously catching the point of the question, but said nothing.

There is no point in complaining. The slave owners will definitely try to explain away the situation by saying that they should not avoid relatives and make democratic decisions through discussion.

In the sense of the Federal Reserve, the negotiations with the Secretary of the Treasury this time can be said to have progressed extremely quickly. All procedures were completed the next day, and the Federal Reserve was officially established. At the same time, McAdoo used the Secretary of the Treasury's call to issue the third announcement to the Allied Powers camp.

The four-round loan initiative has also received support from everyone.
Chapter completed!