Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 394



Only Noblemtl

#2 Part 4. Butterfly’s Wings (4)

“I didn’t know that Qingdao would fall so easily.”

“His Majesty the Emperor would have been so angry when he saw that. If we had been brought in, wouldn’t the leader have been controlling the whole thing by now… … .”

As they said, the emperor was furious when only the Kyoju fell to the hands of the Japanese army, and he threw away his usual hesitation and immediately criticized the commanders of the Marshal’s Office as cowards. He saw this war as an opportunity, and it seemed that he wanted the Korean Empire to show off its power beyond South Manchuria.

“I explained to you that there would be no benefit to us from occupying that place.”

“You won’t even listen. You’re going wild, saying that our army blew the chance to raise the reputation of Korea.”

If we delve a little deeper into his psychology, it may be that he felt even more hurt by the sight of the Japanese Empire boasting about its victory as a member of the Entente. Japan had already been drinking a bowl of kimchi stew, saying that it would split the pie in Manchuria and North China as compensation for its participation in the war.

Even without looking directly, one could guess how excited the emperor must have been at the sight.

“Anyway, back to the topic, I heard that the Privy Council will soon discuss our dispatch of troops. Just a few days ago, Minister Noh Seo-ah personally appeared in the Privy Council and raised the issue of dispatching troops… When I judge the situation from various perspectives, it seems that unlike last time, it will not be easy to stop it this time either. Since His Majesty is carrying on his own will, disguised as public opinion… … .”

Min Yeong-hwan looked at me and said, perhaps asking me to tell him if there was a way.

I sighed, but in order to change the subject a little, I looked at Lee Gap Jeong-ryeong, the first chief of the Operations Department, who was reviewing the daily report right next to me, and said, “In the end, I felt like I had no choice but to show the cabinet and the Privy Council the horrors of the war unfolding in Europe.

“Manager Lee, have you heard any news about the overall situation on the front lines?”

“Ah… the entire front is nothing but a meat grinder. All we see is reports of millions of mobilized troops, hundreds of thousands of casualties, and a terribly slow front.”

As he said, the observers posted all over Europe had terrible stories to tell. As in the original history, the front was in a state of stagnation after the Germans failed to break through the French lines at the Battle of the Marne.

“The Russian army is continuing to retreat from the German Empire in East Prussia. They are retreating at an average of 20,000 casualties per day, and if this trend continues, the entire Galicia region could collapse.”

“What a war machine. They have to be satisfied with just repelling the Habsburg army that invaded Poland.”

I clicked my tongue and said, “The Russian army was already greatly weakened on the Eastern Front. I had hoped that by pushing a large force against the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, I could act as a steamroller on the Eastern Front, but I was wrong.

In the campaign that unfolded in Galicia over the Carpathian Mountains, the Russian army suffered several defeats against the Austro-Hungarian army, losing 70,000 men and losing face. At the same time, the Russian army that was advancing to pressure East Prussia also faced a military disaster as it lost 120,000 field troops to Hindenburg at Tannenberg.

By October 1914, the Russian army had lost nearly 200,000 men and was struggling in a complete defensive situation to the point where they had to make a full-scale retreat to the west bank of the Vistula-Bug River. The only consolation was that the German army began to concentrate on the Western Front and the Austro-Hungarian army’s advance was stalled due to its lack of supply capacity, allowing them to hold on to Warsaw and Lublin.

The Russian army, having reorganized its front, began to strike again in the Galician direction, taking advantage of the fact that the Austro-Hungarian army was divided between Serbia and the coastal Vojvodina, and gradually pushed the front forward. If done well, it seemed that the Russian double-headed eagle could defeat the Austrian double-headed eagle here.

But this time, the Russian army’s lack of reinforcements and supplies due to Sukhomlinov’s mistakes began to hinder it. The Russian army’s counterattack was fierce but slow, and while it was able to overcome the strong resistance of the Austro-Hungarian army, it was not being replenished, so it was actually weakening over time.

“Didn’t you say that the Ojiri army was generally inferior to the Nosoa army?”

“It looks like that on the surface, but the differences are significant when you look at the details. See this data.”

Of course, like the apparent magnitude of stars, the Austro-Hungarian army was inferior to the Russian army in many ways. Most simply, from the number of mobilized troops to the number of railways and wagons available for Galicia, the range of artillery and the number of batteries, and the supply of ammunition, the Russians seemed to have the advantage in most situations.

“Shortly after Konrad von Hötzendorf had made some military reforms, the Habsburg infantry, with its elite infantry of a similar type to ours, began to crush Russian armies one after another.”

Perhaps, based on what Lieutenant Colonel Burchani had learned from me, he had produced some rather passionate officers at the War College. To those who did not know, it might seem like a simple convergent form of assault unit operation, but if you look at the supplementary work in more detail, you can see that they had learned quite a bit from us.

“The Russian army is being pushed back more than we thought. It seems that the Russian construction company is not just coming in like that to ask for our support again. They say they have already lost 300,000 troops in Galicia.”

The Russian ambassador contacted us informally and repeatedly requested us to send troops. Of course, it was the Russian Foreign Ministry that took action directly when the front became urgent, without the approval of Sukhomlinov, instead of war. They asked us for an expeditionary force of about 100,000 men, organized into one corps and three divisions, and through this they formally requested the stabilization of the entire Galicia.

There were also discussions about financial loans to protect the value of the ruble, which was falling day by day, and various other things, including equipment transactions that could immediately arm two corps. Every time, the cabinet and the Marshal’s Office would think about each other’s cards and calculate the pros and cons several times, but the answer always came down to the same thing.

The opinion was that even if financial loans and equipment transactions were possible, it would be difficult to dispatch troops unless the territories under the Far East Governor-General’s jurisdiction, including Lushun, Dalian, and Harbin, were ceded. In response, the Russian ambassador often cut off contact, saying that we were being too greedy, but soon after, he repeatedly proposed negotiations again.

“It seems things have changed a bit since the North Korean construction company is going to the Privy Council.”

“But there has still been no request for aid from the government or cabinet level. It is only at the level of an unofficial prodding by the North Korean ambassador… … .”

“But wouldn’t an official request for help come soon? If we say that we lost 300,000 in Galicia alone, the actual loss could be much greater. If we include all of East Prussia… it could be close to a million casualties.”

As reports of casualties grew, estimates of the actual number of casualties grew. Given that the Russians themselves had suffered 5.3 million casualties after the Voroshilov Offensive, that figure may have been possible.

“It is a terrible loss to even think about. If you think that 5% of the Korean people disappeared in one year. And it ended at that level because the Austrian army was dispersed to Vojvodina… … .”

I said, clicking my tongue. Of course, the Russian army was also of the same weight class, and with its superior artillery assets, infantry numbers, and railway network that could replenish its losses, it pushed back the Austro-Hungarian army, whose supply lines were limited on the Galician front.

Unlike Russia, which was able to quickly send troops and supplies to Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian army, which had to reinforce troops and supplies across the Carpathians, was forced to gradually retreat to Przemysl in September 1914, two months after the outbreak of the war.

But even the process of counterattacking was hell for the Russians, who had close to 300 trains available – twice as many as the Austro-Hungarian army had available – to supply troops and supplies.

“…the Russian army made a huge mistake.”

I said this while putting a cigarette in my mouth. The adjutant next to me lit a match and handed it to me, and soon acrid cigarette smoke came out of my mouth. Conrad von Hötzendorf acted cleverly here, as if he had learned something different from the original history.

Even as they retreated, they continued to delay the Russians, accumulating casualties and making Przemysl the final stop for their offensive. Whenever the Russians counterattacked with all their might, the 900,000-strong army, including the 120,000-strong Austro-Hungarian army stationed at Przemysl, fought desperately to inflict casualties on them on all fronts, resulting in enormous casualties for the Russians.

“You’ve put too much effort into Galicia. You’ve probably forgotten the great defeat you suffered in East Prussia.”

“… It’s not that I forgot, but maybe I just focused too much on my weak points. If that’s the case, then I can understand.”

“The conclusion is the same. Either they tried to forget the existence of the German army, or they really forgot about it… Either way, it’s not a good thing. Especially if the command that has to deal with the entire theater makes such a choice, it’s something they’ll regret for a long time.”

As I said softly, the Russian army seemed to have forgotten the direction of the Northern Front, which depended solely on the Germans’ intentions. When the crisis was detected in Przemysl, the German army quickly withdrew some of its troops from the Western Front and began to respond to the two-front war they were facing.

Warsaw and Lublin were suddenly attacked by German and Austro-Hungarian forces, and naturally the battle around Przemysl was also affected. The Russian army, whose northern front was in danger of being breached in an instant, gave up the encirclement, and the 120,000 Austro-Hungarian troops trapped there leisurely withdrew, waiting for the next time.

This was hardly a Pyrrhic victory for the Russians, as they allowed the well-trained and well-fought standing units of the Austro-Hungarian army to retreat across the Carpathians. In the end, the Russians were left virtually paralyzed on the entire Eastern Front, and forced to take a defensive position in Galicia and East Prussia.

“The only good thing is that the Austrian army has difficulty crossing the Carpathians… … .”

“As all Russian counteroffensives in East Prussia have failed, some German units are turning around and moving south towards Warsaw and Przemysl. Warnings are coming from Paris that if things continue this way, Russia will be defeated in Galicia by June 1915.”

“St. Petersburg is also in chaos for the same reason.”

These chain reactions continued one after another. France, contrary to expectations, was suffering as it shouldered more German corps and divisions as Russia was unable to avoid defeat. They wanted the Russians to capture at least one more German division, but that was not possible.

“The French Foreign Ministry is also demanding that we participate in a full-scale war. They have requested that we send as many troops as possible to the Eastern Front to hold back the German and Austro-Hungarian armies. They say that it is too difficult to stop the enemy pouring into the Western Front.”

“It seems that the Serbian army has also suffered severe damage and cannot hold out any longer.”

Serbia was still holding out with a desperate, desperate courage that was beyond its limits, but the Russians’ failure to capture Przemysl was slowly beginning to cast an unbearable shadow over the situation. The loss of more than 250,000 men on the Austro-Hungarian army was a loss of 170,000 men, which was equivalent to losing a third of the entire force.

It was overwhelmingly predicted that Serbia would be almost incapable of defending its own country in the additional fighting that would probably take place this year. Even now, the Serbian army, under the encouragement of Peter I, was barely holding the line, but it was equally struggling under the crushing wrath of the Habsburgs.