Iron Cross Fire

On January 17, Kust officially came to the Caucasus region as a military adviser.

But in fact, he completely controlled the Turkish army in the Caucasus.

Hussein had appointed him as his adjutant before, mainly because he was timid and easier to be dominated.

Now, Kust and his party were reviewing the soldiers. Seeing the Turkish army's attire, he was very angry.

The elite troops were okay, they were wearing sleds on their feet and holding a ski pole in their hands; the rest of their bodies were also covered by thick clothes, as if they were ready to keep out the cold.

But the later it was, the worse the Turkish army's equipment became, and it was even unbelievable: Is this really worn in the ice and snow?

They didn't have boots suitable for the snow, and many people wore slippers; their clothes were ragged and it was difficult to resist the harsh climate of the Caucasus.

When the slippers got wet, they would freeze, and then freeze the toes; then the cold would spread to the whole body, freezing the whole person.

Not only the Turkish army, but also many Russian casualties were frozen. All I can say is that these two are a perfect match.

Although he was very disappointed, there was nothing he could do. After a brief review, Kuster walked into the headquarters and prepared to command the entire army to fight.

At this time, Brother Franz, who was far away in Ukraine, told him through a message:

Just after Kuster was ordered to support Turkey, his eldest son Vasa was coaxed and deceived by the Austro-Hungarian high-level officials to join the army, but fortunately Franz was well-informed and took him in. Now he is a guard, and he will send him to the Caucasus to accompany his father when he has time.

The Austro-Hungarian high-level officials can be said to have done a great job. Not only did they drive Kuster out of the center of the empire, but they also drove out his son.

But if it weren't for Wiltok's turning a blind eye, it would be difficult to do so. Kuster also knew the boasting of him in the newspapers in the rear these days, and at the same time he was on guard against Wiltok.

Putting attention back on the battlefield, the Turkish army is currently in the upper hand, and the successive offensives have beaten the Russian army back step by step.

There are certain risks in every battle, not to mention the rugged terrain. With Turkey's poor pre-war preparations, Kuster dared to guarantee that if he were a Russian, he could conquer Asia Minor in a few months.

At this time, the Russian army's situation was even worse: after the Battle of Przemyśl, their front line was full of gaps, and they had to withdraw troops from the Caucasus, turning the original advantage here into a disadvantage.

But the Turkish army failed to seize the opportunity to defeat the enemy, but instead made the situation here evenly matched.

After a long time, the Russian army has established a solid defense line here. Their commanders also adopted the method of clearing the fields, making the Turkish army pay a terrible price for every step forward.

The Russian defense line is about 350 kilometers from the Black Sea to Lake Sevan, and Russia is heavily defended here; from Lake Sevan to the Persian border, there are not many defenses for 150 kilometers.

It seems that it will be easier to break through from the south. In fact, the terrain here is very rugged and there is sufficient strategic depth. If the Russian army can't hold on, they will retreat 50 kilometers. Several peaks on the road are enough to make the Turkish army suffer.

But this does not mean that there is no possibility of a breakthrough. After all, Kuster is very flexible in fighting. If he is defeated, he will change the direction of attack.

After preliminary analysis, Kuster decided to keep enough reserves, put a considerable number of troops in the north, and then try to make the Russian army believe that they will attack from the north.

As long as the Russian army is deceived, the reserve troops will be quickly deployed to the south to prepare for a breakthrough.

But it is undoubtedly stupid to pin the hope of victory on the enemy's mistakes. So while conducting psychological warfare, let the north launch an attack and force the Russian army to transfer troops through tough means.

If the Turkish army cannot break through the enemy's defense because its combat effectiveness is too low, then ask the German-Austrian-Bulgarian coalition to launch an offensive to make the Russian army here even smaller.

After the failure in Serbia, the Balkan war temporarily stopped. Austria and Bulgaria only left a small number of troops here to suppress the guerrillas, and all the others were sent to fight in Russia in the east.

Today, on the Eastern Front of Europe, the Allied Forces have 1.8 million troops, enough to launch an attack on the Russian army.

Kuster has 100,000 ways to prevent Russia from concentrating its forces in the Caucasus, which will also doom Russia to failure.

But the battle will definitely proceed slowly. After all, Turkey's combat effectiveness is there, and the harsh terrain and climate are obstacles to the attack.

On January 20, the 9th, 10th and 11th Armies of the Turkish Third Army launched an attack on Tbilisi from two directions, and the Greater Caucasus Campaign officially began.

The Turkish army tried every means to get the Russian army to move north:

They sent a bunch of prisoners with the same caliber, and everyone said that the Turkish army was going to re-attack Georgia.

The intelligence department also instigated some Russian peasant soldiers to go to their superiors with the "intercepted information".

They even used clear codes to indicate that the Turkish army would attack Armenia, trying to make the Russian army misjudge their actions.

But this did not seem to have much effect. The Russian Caucasus Army remained unmoved and still held on to Armenia.

Perhaps in their minds, the Turks are just a bunch of idiots.

The Turks have been frantically spreading the two regions of "Armenia" and "Georgia" related to the Caucasus in the past three days, which makes it hard not to think of their next actions.

The other members of the Allied Powers were very afraid, especially at this time when Russia had lost all its battles and could not break through the Allied defenses.

They were worried that Kuster, an extremely dangerous general, would lead the Turkish army to break through the defense of the Caucasus. At that time, Russia would no longer have the Caucasus Mountains as a line of defense, but the vast grasslands.

The final result can only be the defeat of Russia, which will inevitably lead to the collapse of the existing Russian political system, and thus His Majesty the Tsar will be shot.

For this reason, Russia must not be careless at such a critical moment, so they will not deploy troops for quite some time.

This is also within Kuster's expectations, and he has long thought of such a result.

But how many days can a few mountains hold? How can they cover Kuster's prestige?

He believed that as long as the Russian army in Georgia could not withstand the pressure, Russia would be on the verge of extinction.

So he ordered the front-line troops to slow down the attack and launch an attack on Georgia after the artillery and ammunition were transported.

In such a complex terrain as the Caucasus, surprise attacks are not uncommon. And to prevent this risk, you must not be anxious, take it slow, fight a protracted war, and let the poor logistics drag down Russia, which is the most suitable method.

Although Turkey does not look like a European country at all, its transportation and logistics are worse than Russia. But at this time, the connection with the Balkans has been opened, and the support of the Allies can be in place at any time.

On the other hand, Russia, whether it is the Baltic Sea or the Black Sea, was tightly blockaded by the Allies. Domestic workers were basically transferred to the front line to fight, and factories were abandoned, with no productivity at all.

There were many internal contradictions and powerful enemies outside. Under such conditions, Russia had no chance of winning.

Perhaps 1915 was the last year of the Romanov dynasty?

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