As time went by, the war between France and Russia became more and more intense, blood almost stained the entire Eastern European plains, and thousands of people died almost every day.
"Your Excellency Marshal, the 4th Infantry Division has suffered heavy casualties, and we request to withdraw to rest." Admiral Edmondo, deputy head of the French 2nd Army, reported to Marshal Bessières.
"How long has the 4th Infantry Division held out?" asked Bessières. It is now August 15th. Starting from August 6th, their legion began to attack Kaunas, a city heavily defended by the Russian Northern Front. After more than a week of war, the Russian Northern Front suffered heavy losses, but The French 2nd Army also lost a lot. For example, in the 4th Infantry Division, the casualties of the entire division have reached 30%.
"The 4th Infantry Division has been attacking for two days in a row, and it's time to replace them and rest." Edmondo said.
"Okay. Order the 4th Infantry Division to retreat and rest, and the 5th Infantry Division to go on top. The attack power cannot be reduced, and the Russians will soon be unable to hold on." Bessières said in a deep voice.
Almost, on the main front, things similar to the French 2nd Army happened. They continued to attack these big cities that the Russian army focused on defending. The air force and artillery were all put into battle, and the battle became more and more fierce. But on the whole, the French army still has the upper hand. This can be seen from the battle damage ratio. The battle damage ratio of the two sides has almost reached about 1:4. In other words, the French army lost 1 soldier, while the Russian army had to lose 4 soldiers. Under such a ratio, the Russian army has been consumed a lot, almost on the verge of collapse.
Moscow, Kremlin.
"Your Majesty, there is another telegram requesting reinforcements from the front line. I'm getting bored to death." Kutuzov complained to Nikolai. Although the telegraph machine made him no longer have to go to the front line in person, he found that his workload did not seem to decrease, but rather increased. In fact, the reason is very simple. In the past, he could only command the actions of one or a few troops on the front line, but now, he wants to command the overall situation.
"Your Excellency Marshal, how many troops do we still have?" Nicholas asked in a panic. From the help telegram after another on the front line, he could also see that the situation on the front line was really critical.
"Your Majesty, we don't have many troops now. There are only two regiments of the Central Front, two regiments of the Ural Front, and two regiments of the Don Front. As well as the Royal Guards guarding Moscow, the total number is 30. By the way, there is also the Asian Front, but due to the distance and the situation in Asia, we cannot count on them." Kutuzov said helplessly.
"How are the casualties of the troops on the front line? Where is the most critical situation?" Nikolai asked.
"The casualties on the front line are very heavy. So far, the average casualties of the troops on the front line have reached more than 30%. The most serious area is the Minsk area. The main force of our army's Central Front is defending Minsk. There are more than 220,000 troops, but the enemy they face is also very powerful, which is the 88th Army of France. The fierce battle has been going on for 9 days, and more than half of the defenders in Minsk have suffered casualties, and the city of Minsk was also killed yesterday. It was broken through by the 88th Army Corps of the French Army, and the two sides are engaged in street fighting. But the situation is very unfavorable to us. I can be sure that if our front line is broken through, it must start to collapse from Minsk." Kutuzov was a little frustrated Said. Once Minsk is broken through, the French army can march directly to Moscow, which is bound to affect other areas, causing turbulence and even complete collapse of the entire front.
"Since the situation is so critical, why haven't you sent reinforcements yet?" Nicholas asked suspiciously.
"The reinforcements have already been dispatched, consisting of two regiments of the Central Front Army and one regiment of the Don River Front Army. They are probably still on their way. It will take about two days to reach Minsk," Kutuzov replied.
"Two days? What if the French army completely occupied Minsk within these two days?" Nicholas asked suddenly.
Nicola nodded. "Marshal, I think our current strength is still very empty, do we need to form a new army again?" Nicholas asked. Under the strong pressure of the French army, he didn't know how to offset the pressure led by the French army, or he could only use his troops to offset the gap between the French army and the Russian army.
Kutuzov frowned, and then said: "Your Majesty, our country has lost a large number of young and middle-aged people in the past few years of war. If we continue to recruit troops, it may affect the future development of our country? Besides, time It seems too late."
"But if we lose this war, we will be even worse!" Nicholas said through gritted teeth.
"Okay then, I'll let the General Staff start a new conscription work." Kutuzov said helplessly. Now, the scope of conscription in Russia has been expanded from 16 to 40 years old, but it is still unable to recruit enough soldiers. If there is no other way, there may be only mandatory conscription in the end.
"By the way, let the Asian front army also withdraw to Europe." Nicholas said suddenly.
"Why? Are we going to give up our interests in Asia? That's something we have worked hard for hundreds of years?" Kutuzov said.
"Our focus is on Europe. If we lose Asia, we still have a chance to regain it. If we lose Europe, we will never have another chance," Nikolai insisted.
Kutuzov was silent for a while, facing Nikolai's insistence, he could only compromise.
On August 16, the French 88th Army finally made a breakthrough in Minsk. After 10 days of fierce fighting, they finally occupied this important town in western Russia. For this reason, they paid a full price of more than 30,000 people, while the Russian defenders in Minsk had less than 20,000 people who successfully broke through. Since then, the second line of defense of the Russian army was torn apart by the French army, causing the entire front of the Russian army to become turbulent.
In order to resist the attack of the French army, the Russian reinforcements from Moscow immediately retreated to Borisov after learning that Minsk had been captured by the French army, in an attempt to build a new line of defense here.
Due to the victory in the Minsk area, other troops were greatly encouraged. On August 19, the Iberian 1st Army and the Iberian 2nd Army, which went north from Ukraine, severely damaged the Russian Belarusian Front Army and a part of the Don River Front Army in the Gomel area, annihilating more than 100,000 enemies. After that, they continued to attack north along the Dnieper River. In Bobruisk, they joined forces with the French 4th Army and severely damaged the main force of the Russian Ural Front, forcing the Russian army to retreat. At the same time, it also caused the troops of the Belarusian Front to retreat to the north of the Pripet Marsh to be surrounded. In the end, the entire Russian Belarusian Front was almost wiped out.
On August 25, the French 2nd Army and 3rd Army captured Kaunas and Vilnius one after another. The Russian Northern Front and Northwest Front lost more than half of their troops and had to retreat to the north. The French army took advantage of the victory to pursue and continue to march towards St. Petersburg.
The fierce battle in eastern Ukraine also had results. The Iberian 3rd Army and the Russian Liberation Army finally won the Battle of Dnepropetrovsk, defeated the Russian Southern Front and part of the Don Front Army, and drove them out of Ukraine. , Burning the flames of war to the Don River area.
At the end of August, the 88th Army broke through the defense line rebuilt by the Russian army in Borisov~www.mtlnovel.com~ and occupied Vitebsk, which is less than 700 kilometers away from Moscow, which has seriously threatened the security of Moscow. Nikolai and Kutuzov had to send the last less than 200,000 troops to the Smolensk area, hoping to withstand the French attack. At the same time, it began to actively shrink the line of defense and establish a new line of defense with Moscow as the center. However, now the Belarusian Front Army of the Russian Army has been completely lost, the Central Front Army has no more than 60,000 people left, the Ural Front Army has only 150,000 people left, and the Don River Front Army has only 130,000 people. There are only 40,000 people left. In total, there are only about 450,000 people left, and the French army still has many hands, excluding the French 2nd and 3rd Army Corps, which are chasing the Russian Northern Front Army and the Northwest Front Army, the French Army also has 460,000 people. There are tens of thousands of people from the Russian Liberation Army, as well as servants from Poland and other countries. Now, the French army can be said to have an absolute advantage. It is no longer just a delusion to complete the "Bear Hunt" plan before October.
In early September, the French army launched a four-sided attack on Moscow from the northwest, west, southwest and south of Moscow. Under the fierce attack of the French army, the Russian army retreated steadily. If the Russian Asian Front Army hadn't arrived in time and stabilized the front line, the French army might have already approached the city of Moscow. But the Russian army paid a very heavy price for doing so. As soon as its Asian front army withdrew to Europe, the Persian Empire immediately tore up the armistice agreement and dispatched more than 200,000 troops to attack Russia's Central Asian region. Russian **** in Central Asia and began to threaten Russian Siberia.