Iron Cross Fire

On March 31, Kuster was very pleased to learn that his son had successfully captured the highlands, and used some tricks to get Enver to award him a medal.

At the same time, he ordered three divisions to use the highlands as a base and try to advance a few kilometers to the north.

This was not because he wanted to threaten the rear of the Russian army, but because Turkey was under too much pressure in Gallipoli and kept withdrawing troops from the Caucasus.

According to the principle of proximity, the western front of the Caucasus is relatively close to the Turkish capital, so they mainly withdraw Turkish troops from the western Caucasus to support.

The Turkish intelligence department was also unreliable as usual. They didn't even tell the soldiers where to go, let alone tell Kuster about the transfer of troops.

This made all the defense lines that Kuster had made on the western front go down the drain. Fortunately, the Russians thought it was an empty city plan and did not dare to act rashly, and they only advanced 20 kilometers a day.

What's more outrageous is that even after Georgia completely fell to Russia, no one told Kuster.

By the time Kuster learned from the three deserters, it was already April 2nd. He was very angry:

Ah, I was dismissed for failure and exiled for victory. It would be fine if it was in Austria-Hungary, but why did they withdraw my troops when I did nothing in Turkey? Isn't this bullying an honest man!

Although Kuster was very annoyed by the actions of Austria-Hungary and Turkey, the threat from the Russians made it impossible for him to divert his attention.

They successfully fought to the East Black Sea Mountains and headed straight for Asia Minor; but they didn't dare to go halfway and turned their guns to attack the Turkish army in the central part of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains.

After a series of friendly exchanges, the Turkish army, which had a greater advantage in artillery, successfully blocked the attack, even at the cost of losing its combat capability.

The Turkish army in the Caucasus was surrounded by enemies, and it was too late to provide support, and it was too difficult to relieve the pressure.

So they could only make a noise when they had an advantage to attract the attention of the Russian army.

But many Allied troops were delayed by the rugged terrain, and it was a problem to climb out of the mountains, let alone launch an orderly attack.

There are many convenient trails in the Caucasus, and most of the local mountain people know them, but their IQ is only one of the best, and asking them to tell the specific location is simply a joke.

The quality of the Turkish army is not high, and their IQ is only slightly better than those mountain people who have dropped out of prenatal education. They are even more mediocre in language, and it is very difficult to communicate.

They have not thought about incorporating mountain people into the team, after all, the Russians have done this.

But these mountain people's brains are really hard to describe. Those who are slightly intelligent have already gone to the center of Russia. Those who stay are a group of idiots, and they are just trying to exalt them by dying. In addition, they hate war very much, so when they see the Turks handing them guns, they turn their faces on the spot.

Under the dual pressure of shortage of troops and slow marching, Kuster couldn't hold it anymore.

He wanted to find support, but all members of the Allied Powers were deeply involved in the war and disdained his request for help.

After hitting a wall everywhere, he reluctantly made the last call to the Allied leader-William II.

As expected, William II agreed to Kuster's request.

Surprisingly, he actually sent troops to Asia Minor, and quite a few, a full 6 divisions! They were completely under Kuster's command.

Once these elite Germans arrived in the Caucasus, they would definitely drive the Russians to death!

But they were intercepted halfway, and in the end only 4 divisions went to the Caucasus. Kuster was furious and wanted to know which monkey dared to steal his troops.

When he learned that it was the German decision, he had to swallow his anger. After all, the German emperor said that he wanted to send them to "Asia Minor" instead of "Caucasus".

Using two divisions to buy a lesson is still a good deal for a big man like Kuster, at least he will no longer suffer a loss in politics.

On April 7, before the German support arrived, the Caucasus Mountains were undergoing huge changes all the time.

The Turkish army successfully crossed the Greater Caucasus Mountains, and with the help of the Baku army, occupied the flat area in the east.

The Russian army was shocked and quickly sent troops back to block the offensive, while launching an offensive in the west to relieve the pressure on the eastern front.

When the combat order was just issued, the entire battlefield was still normal, but the battle line was a bit wide.

When the western Russian army advanced a distance, they found that there were only a few Turkish battalions stationed on the East Black Sea Mountain.

Good guy! With just these few people, my superiors still want me to be careful. Is this reasonable? No way!

So, the Russian army, which suddenly realized, advanced by leaps and bounds, deep into the depths of Turkey.

According to normal people's thinking, they should be going to surround the Turkish army in the Caucasus.

But their commander was obviously not an ordinary person. He thought it was too difficult to cross the mountains, and time would not allow anyone to climb the mountains, except the Turks, after all, they really climbed the Caucasus Mountains.

This commander took a very outrageous route. He ordered his troops to follow the mountains, go straight to Trabzon, and then rush to Istanbul to support the British in Galicia.

This behavior seems bold, but in fact it is bolder than bold - really bold.

But it must be said that it is quite advanced compared to the current tactics of digging trenches and waiting to die, but it is too advanced, directly skipping the fighting stage and jumping to the stage of cutting off food and supplies.

The Russian Caucasus Front had no jurisdiction over this, not only because of the poor command, but also because Russia really needed to open Istanbul. In addition, this unit had only one division, and it would not hurt to lose it, so it simply ignored it.

But the Russian high-ranking officers could not sit idly by in the following situation, because of the positive role played by this division, the entire western Russian army realized the arrival of the war opportunity, and attacked the Turkish army on the opposite side, and occupied most of the small Caucasus Mountains.

The Turkish army was also very cooperative. They collapsed very quickly. They planned to run away as soon as they opened fire, and lost Tbilisi ten hours after the battle.

Although Kust did not classify Tbilisi as a defense range, in the plan, it would at least be lost in May. You just lost it, who are you perfunctory?

However, the situation of the war could not be changed by personal psychology, and the 50,000 troops in the west collapsed. Kust wanted to defend it, but he couldn't. He really had no troops to support him. The 170,000 troops in the east were all delayed by the enemy and could not move at all. Moreover, with the increase in the number of Russian troops, the offensive and defensive sides in the east were exchanged. It was good enough for the Turkish army to maintain the front line, so how could there be troops to return to defense.

The Russian troops in the west stopped after attacking for a few kilometers. You thought they were normal, but they just wanted to see what the Turkish army would do.

After seeing that the Turkish army did not send even one soldier here, they marched without hesitation, intending to attack the Turkish rear.

But none of their marching routes were normal. Some went to the southern coast of Asia Minor, trying to cut off the connection with Arabia;

Some went straight to the Middle East, trying to save the locals from the reactionary rule of the Ottomans.

In short, they were all heading for strategically significant areas, and they were all taking huge risks. It can only be said that they are worthy of being the predecessors of those who have carried out deep operations.

As for how Kuster viewed this situation, he just smiled contemptuously:

In World War I, only army-level troops could barely play a role in strategy, and this kind of small troops should just do tactical things honestly. It is not the job of this level to carry out deep operations. They should surround us. Moreover, in Asia Minor, where the terrain is complex, every step forward requires huge losses. There is no need to send troops to stop them. When the Russians arrive, only a few people are left alive.

The fact is just as Kuster thought. After three days of madness, the Russians desperately found themselves trapped in the mountains and could not find the north at all. The farthest march was only 50 kilometers, which was not enough to threaten Turkey.

But they were still trying until April 11, when the Germans came.

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