Iron Cross Fire

Russia's strength is no longer what it was when Peter the Great fought north and south. The glorious era of beating Sweden and Poland is over. Now the Romanov dynasty is facing an unprecedented crisis.

The Allied forces have far more advantages than them, whether it is the sparsely populated Livonia, the rice-rich Ukraine, or even the endless North Caucasus.

They are not dominant on every front. Artillery shells have been in short supply since last year, weapons are gradually insufficient, and even the manpower that once dominated the world is no longer glorious.

Now their mother river is also threatened by foreign involvement. Kust's army crossed the mountains and let Russia's rear area leak directly.

This raid was very successful. The infantry made more than a dozen gaps on the more than 600-kilometer front. Mobile units such as armored and cavalry drilled into the gaps and directly penetrated Russia's lifeline.

Along the way, they met many Russians who had not yet evacuated. Their organization was exhausted. At this moment, they surrendered without firing a single shot when they met the army. The defenses in many areas collapsed.

The mobile troops marched non-stop to the destination. They did not need to adjust the route because there was no resistance on any road. Instead, many local residents took the initiative to help them find the way.

They did not need to worry about a sudden attack by the Russian army. The Russian standing army had long died in Poland. The mobilized soldiers who took over were a group of rookies who could not even raise their guns accurately and could not give any strong counterattack.

Moreover, many of them had been trained in Galicia and had fought with the Russian elite with real swords and guns. The remaining valuable experience was enough to support them to survive every war.

The roads in Russia were very inferior to those in Western Europe, but they were still roads after all, much better than the conditions in the wild, and they just had to make do with it.

In particular, the roads were completely undefended, even looser than the defenses of Paris 25 years later.

The original order issued by Kuster was to encircle the enemy from the breakthrough point and attack the enemy's rear in a roundabout way, but in fact it was no longer necessary because the Russians had retreated across the board and there was no profit in flanking at this time.

So he urgently contacted the mobile troops and changed the combat order in time, asking them to occupy important urban areas.

Strictly speaking, this is a very aggressive action. The Russians may enter the urban area and fight with them in street battles at any time.

Street fighting is the most brutal way of fighting, and there are many uncertainties in it. From time to time, there will be a guy squatting in the corner of a window of a house to snipe you, and even if you are shot, it is difficult to find where he is.

However, after the previous tsar's forced conscription, people in various regions rose up. The North Caucasus was deeply influenced by the rebellious thoughts due to many factors. Many local people did not support the government, resisted the tsar's army, expelled them, and made the city peaceful and deserted.

Of course, it is not ruled out that some soldiers with abundant martial virtues broke into the house by force, but once the battle started, I believe that many Russians did not die at the hands of the enemy army, but at the hands of their compatriots.

As for how Kuster knew it, Falkenhayn told him. As for how Falkenhayn knew it, Kuster did not know.

The only thing we know is that the Russian army is very weak, and they can't win even in street fighting. This is why Kuster is so bold.

It turned out to be just as Falkenhayn said and Kuster guessed. There was no resistance in the various urban areas of the North Caucasus. They surrendered directly when they saw the black iron division and the fierce cavalry division.

As of noon on May 3, the Russian army in the North Caucasus completely collapsed, and the Allies took the opportunity to advance and push the front line to the plains.

This is extremely fatal to Russia. The armored forces of the Allies can penetrate into the depth of Russia at any time and establish contact with friendly forces far away in Ukraine.

But fighting in the plains also has some help. When the Turkish army was in Anatolia, which had rugged and complex terrain, the Russian naval guns could not hit the Turkish army behind the mountains at all, and it was difficult to help the friendly forces. They could only act as an atmosphere group.

Now the plains are endless. If the Allied forces dare to march along the coastal areas, the Russian Black Sea Fleet will blow them up.

Kuster also made some countermeasures. He modified the heavy artillery in the army as coastal defense artillery and deployed them in important areas. At the same time, he asked for some mines from Istanbul and transferred them to this area.

But this did not have much effect. The initiative was in the hands of the Chinese and Russian fleets. They came and went as they pleased. The coastal defense artillery converted from mortars had very poor accuracy. It was a blessing to be able to hit one shot. At best, it could only be used to scare the Russians.

To solve this problem, we must break away from conventional thinking and solve the problem from the source.

The home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is Sevastopol in Crimea. It is only a Kerch Strait away from the area controlled by Kuster now. As long as it is captured, the entire Black Sea Fleet can only sink in the Black Sea.

Although it is less than 50 kilometers away and can be reached in a few steps, it is actually very difficult. It is still the same problem: the Russian Navy.

They are not fools. If Kuster occupies Crimea, then they can only hide in the Sea of ​​​​Azov, which is worse than the current situation.

There were several warships patrolling the Kerch Strait at all times, occasionally bombarding the Allied positions on the other side to prevent them from preparing for landing.

Custer also wanted to get rid of these navies, hoping that a friendly fleet of the same size would fight them.

But none of the Allied countries had a decent navy. The German High Seas Fleet was blocked in its own port, and Austria-Hungary was an inland power, so a few symbolic ships were enough; as for Turkey, what could a sick man of Europe ask for?

If William II had been more even when looking for allies, the navy would not have been destroyed.

Fortunately, the Allied countries were connected by land, and the main transportation of goods depended on road transportation.

On the other hand, the East and West of the Allied Powers were far apart, and Britain and France had to rely on sea transportation to support Russia. The problem was that they could not transport goods anywhere, and the transport fleet was blocked outside the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and the Russian fleet could not get out.

But they could bombard the cities of the Allied countries in the bay, just like the Black Sea Fleet's wanton bombing of the North Caucasus. Kuster could not get through, so he had to passively endure the bombing and plant some mines to make the Russians pay the price.

Of course, Kuster could take another route to capture Sevastopol: enter the Ukrainian area along the Sea of ​​Azov, and then capture Crimea.

But even a fool would not go so far. Even if Russia's internal affairs are close to collapse, its military strength cannot be underestimated.

So Kuster did not plan to attack Crimea. He only left a few hundred people as garrison troops, and the main force was re-invested in the war in the North Caucasus.

But he always wanted to get rid of these Russian fleets. If he couldn't get rid of them, he had to let them suffer.

What can cross the strait and directly attack ships? Airplanes look like a good choice

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