Berlin Brandenburg Gate is the gateway to ancient Berlin in the imperial era. It is a witness to the unification, division and unity of the German nation. It is a witness to the history of the east and west of Europe and also a witness to the history of the world.

The building, designed by Karl Langhans, is more than two centuries old. He watched Napoleon ride beneath it. He witnessed William I's victory parade after his victory over France. He also witnessed the King's Army marching from there in 1914.

Set off here to attack France

You can witness the rise and fall of Prussia here, and the Goddess of Victory, the symbol of the Brandenburg Gate, has witnessed from the completion of the Brandenburg Gate in 1791 to the completion of the bronze carriage statue of the Goddess of Victory praying for peace and victory two years later.

At that time, this place seemed to witness the power of Prussia.

After more than ten years, Prussia declined rapidly and France rose. Prussia's disastrous defeat not only forced Prussia to cede territory and pay huge indemnities, but also the victorious Napoleon declared the goddess of victory to transport his spoils back to France. From then on, the Brandenburg Gate stood on

The lonely iron bracket pointed to the sky, always reminding the Prussians to remember this shame. From then on, the goddess of victory, which was taken away, became a national symbol of the struggle for freedom. It was not until after defeating France 8 years later that she was amidst the joy of the whole country.

Marshal Scheer reinstalled the Goddess of Victory on the Brandenburg Gate

In the next century, the story of the Brandenburg Gate may have been silent, but the Brandenburg Gate and the goddess of victory above it have been silently watching Prussia, watching it unify the entire German world, and realize its long-cherished wish to unify Germany.

Two years ago, the goddess of victory watched silently as she fell into a patriotic fervor of nationalism and chauvinism. Under the call for God and motherland, in the cheers of the people, in the sea of ​​handkerchiefs constantly waved by women, she walked along the Royal Forbidden City here.

Guards, hussars, lancers, artillery and infantry, dressed in gorgeous military uniforms, marched off to the front amidst the deafening cheers of the welcoming crowds.

But within a few months, Berlin, which was once full of fanaticism, and Germany, fell into a state of lethargy about the war. Victory reports from the front were getting fewer and fewer. Luxury goods and consumer goods on the market were becoming increasingly rare. Fresh fruits were becoming more and more rare.

High-end wine, coffee, candy, silk clothes and leather shoes first disappeared from the stores, followed by eggs, white bread, meat products and lard, and even potatoes, flour and coal became scarce and in-demand commodities.

With the stalemate on the Western Front, this war seems to have become an endless war. Almost every German is discussing a topic: how to break the deadlock. Civilians are discussing this. For the German Army Staff, such problems also trouble the commander-in-chief.

The staff officers of the Ministry

The opening scene of 1916 was staged in the conference hall of the German Army Staff. The protagonist was General Falkenhayn, the de facto commander-in-chief of the Central European empires. On the night of September 14, 1914, Falkenhayn, then Minister of War, was appointed by the Kaiser to serve in the German Army.

The Chief of Staff, because General von Moltke said to the king when the victory of the Battle of the Marne was clear, Your Majesty, we have lost this war, and retired from this position physically and mentally broken. The new commander of the German Army was still there for a period of time.

Retaining the post of Secretary of War; he surrendered the latter post at the beginning of the new year, but was later succeeded by himself. Thus Falkenhayn consolidated the military power in one body, and for almost a full two years he continued to exercise undisputed power. He inherited

A shattered legacy that was the big bet his predecessor had made and lost. The surprise attack on Paris devastated Belgium and the failure of all hopes of ending the war with a single blow. It brought Germany into disrepute in the world and forced the British Empire to

Use your wealth, navy, and growing army to fight against her

In the east the Austrians' defeat at the Battle of Rambert canceled out the victories of Hindenburg and Ludendorff; thus their armies were stagnant and their territories were blockaded. Maritime trade was hampered. The German rulers had to prepare for a war with almost double the population and wealth.

They are engaged in a protracted war with their own alliance of countries; with the help of naval power, these countries not only control the world's resources, but also have the choice of where to strike the next strike at critical moments. This also adds too much to Germany's victory.

At this time, in the German Army Staff, General Fagin Khan was telling the generals of the staff his plan...

... Because of the mistakes of the enemy and Germany itself, which adopted the policy of attacking the weak, she was able to save herself in time from the disastrous situation she had found herself in at the end of 1914. Opportunities and initiative returned to the German side. The next move was in her hands. How the situation would develop in the future

The impact on Germany of the stalemate on the Western Front and the disappearance of Germany's weakest ally, Bulgaria, was as serious a blow to their morale as the worst blow they had ever suffered on the Western Front. The reaction of the German staff to the evolution of the whole situation was one of eagerness and anxiety.

Falkenhayn, who has the main responsibility, naturally needs to take pains to explain the reasons why he launched this campaign at this time

Victories at Salonika, Suez, and Mesopotamia alone strengthened the confidence that was already emerging in the Mediterranean countries and the Islamic world that Britain was not invulnerable. It was helpful to us... we

Under no circumstances can it be expected to be accomplished in a single battle, as those who advocated an Alexander march to India or Egypt or a crushing blow at Salonika hoped...

Because Hindenburg and Ludendorff won various honors for their victories on the Eastern Front and had quite a few supporters in the staff, they believed that Germany should first defeat Russia and then consider counterattacking on the Western Front to face this.

Falkenhayn naturally resisted this statement and resisted the plan to continue attacking Russia. At this time, he explained to these generals the reasons for resisting continuing to attack Russia.

According to various reports, the internal difficulties of the 'Colossal Empire' are rapidly increasing. Even though we may not be able to foresee a large-scale revolution, there is reason to believe that Russia's internal troubles will force it to surrender in a relatively short period of time...unless we prepare again.

To place a disproportionate burden on our troops that the state of our reserves does not allow, given the weather and ground conditions, it is impossible for us to conduct an offensive aimed at achieving a decisive victory in the east before April in the fertile territory of Ukraine.

was the only objective that could be considered. There was certainly insufficient transportation to the area. It could be assumed that we should either gain the loyalty of Rumania or resolve to defeat it; but neither would be practical for the time being. If this operation were to be obtained, we should go straight to Petersburg.

There are millions of inhabitants there, and we have to feed them from our own meager reserves, so this move is not the final victory. The march to Moscow will take us who knows where. We don't have enough troops to accomplish any of the above tasks. For all these reasons, we should counterattack.

The target Russia must be excluded from consideration…

After analyzing the pros and cons of entering Russia, Falkenhayn turned his attention to Major Danvey. He was Hindenburg's savior of East Prussia. The officer sent to the staff here served as Hindenburg's spokesperson to a certain extent.

He is the de facto leader of the Eastern Front faction of the General Staff

Your Excellency General...

Before Major Danvey could express his opinion, Falkenhayn interrupted him rudely and then further analyzed the battlefield on the Western Front that he had personally inspected for several months last year.

Let's take a look at the current Western Front in Flanders as far as the Lorette Ridge. Due to ground conditions, any deep military operation will be impossible before mid-spring. To the south of the mountain, local commanders believe that about 30 divisions of troops will be needed. To the north,

An attack would also require the same number of troops, but it would be impossible for us to concentrate such a number on a single point on our front... Moreover, the lesson to be drawn from the failure of a large-scale offensive by our enemies is that their warfare must never be imitated.

Methods: An attack with a large-scale breakthrough must not be considered to have any hope of success even with a high concentration of troops and material equipment when faced with a well-equipped, highly motivated enemy who is not at a serious numerical disadvantage. Defenders can usually successfully close the gap.

; If he decides to retreat on his own initiative, it will be easy to do. It will be almost impossible to prevent his retreat. The protrusion formed by trying to stop it is largely exposed to the range of side fire, and there is a danger of becoming a slaughterhouse. Command and supply a large number of our troops surrounded by the enemy.

The technical difficulties faced by the troops were extremely great and practically insurmountable....

Because everyone in this conference hall is a military expert, Falkenhayn, who had already convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II, knew that he could not hide anything.

We must equally oppose any attempt to attack the British theater of operations by less adequate means. We favor such action only if the attack can achieve a reasonable degree of objective, which is not the case at present; we must at least drive the British troops completely out of the area.

Mainland and force the French army to retreat behind the Somme. If this minimum goal is not achieved, the attack will be meaningless...

After discussing all of the above options, General Falkenhayn came to his carefully considered conclusion:

Then only France is left... The tension in France has almost reached the explosive point... It is unnecessary for France to carry out an uncertain large-scale breakthrough. In any case, it is not among our considerations. The scope of our offensive is in the West.

There are several points behind the French defense line that the French General Staff has to devote all its forces to defend. If the French hold on, they will fight bloody battles because there is no question of voluntary retreat. It doesn't matter whether we can reach the goal. If they don't hold on, we will reach it.

Obtaining the target would have a huge impact on French morale, and Germany would not be forced to concentrate so much energy on a narrow front because all other fronts were actually gradually shrinking. Germany could face with confidence those that might arise.

The enemy on the front of the line can save herself from attacks and can indeed hope to have sufficient ready forces to answer these attacks with counterattacks, since she has full freedom to speed up or prolong the attack, intensify it, or suddenly stop it at any time according to her own purposes.

As soon as his voice fell, Falkenhayn said without waiting for others to interrupt.

The objectives to which I now refer are Balfort and Verdun. The above considerations apply to both objectives, but priority must be given to Verdun. The French front there was less than twelve miles from the German railway lines of communication, so Verdun.

It was the French's attempt to render the entire German defense line in France and Belgium undefendable at a relatively small military cost. At Christmas I decided to implement the views formed from this process of reasoning.

At this time, most of the generals on the staff were stunned by Falkenhayn's bold decision. They knew clearly that implementing Falkenhayn's new policy required an almost complete relaxation of pressure on Russia.

What about the Eastern Front?

Major General Danvi asked rhetorically

What I am saying is that if there were no further large-scale military operations against Russia in 1916 and the Eastern Front could not expect any reinforcements, all German troops would be withdrawn from the Galician Front to the south, and this battlefield, which had both threats and advantages, would be completely entrusted to Austria.

military……

As soon as Falkenhayn's words fell, everyone understood that this move was indeed a major decision. It led to General Falkenhayn's complete change of the policy used to restore the situation in Germany in 1915. Falkenhayn gave up his advantage over his weaker opponent and chose the strongest enemy.

The strongest point was the target of a large-scale German military campaign in 1916. Events turned out to be a disastrous decision, but it may have been recognized that it was a wrong decision.

Your Excellency Chief of Staff, it is now imperative for Germany to break the blockade. Unless she can obtain far greater resources than can be found within the borders of the Quad Alliance, the long war in which the world is plunged will inevitably be exhausted by Germany's financial resources.

ended in failure

Yes, the most important thing now is to break the blockade. But what I need to remind you is that Germany does not have the strength to break the naval blockade. The huge power of the British fleet towers majestically, so no one really doubts what the outcome of the showdown at sea will be.

Generals, naval powers and land powers, were waiting for each other. If Germany could not defeat Britain at sea, where would she turn? There was only land. Although neutral maneuvers might undermine the effectiveness of the blockade, the scarcity of food and supplies necessary for a modern army continued relentlessly and persistently.

There is only one direction in which the earth can be saved, that is, if it cannot break the blockade from the sea, it must break the blockade from the land. If the sea is closed, Asia is open. If the Western Front is blocked by the confrontation between the three armies, there is nothing in the East.

Obstacles Only in the east and south-east and in Asia could Germany find a place of nourishment and breathing space - but also men - without which her military power, however formidable, would be nothing more than an ever-depleting defensive force....

Faced with Falkenhayn's insistence, Major Danway immediately argued

Only in this way can they become fully functional, self-sufficient organisms. Only by becoming such an organism can they deprive their enemies of the ultimate lethal weapon - time. Now the only thing we need to do is to completely defeat Russia. If Russia is defeated, then...

Yes, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the most urgent thing now is to completely defeat Russia when Russia is severely weakened, and to invest more troops in Russia instead of France...

His Majesty the Emperor has agreed to my plan

Faced with the surging doubts, Falkenhayn used his trump card. Sure enough, when he mentioned His Majesty the Emperor, although the opposition still existed, it became much weaker.

As for the Eastern Front, in the so-called fertile land of Ukraine, there are serious transportation difficulties...

Perhaps in order to emphasize that he was correct, Falkenhayn began to set up his working methods. In fact, he analyzed the pros and cons of the East and West fronts. In the end, in each of his working methods, Russia's final destruction, Romania's subjugation and transformation, one granary after another and

One oil field after another was conquered, the British Empire's Asian colonies were threatened indefinitely, and the British army's attention would be diverted and distracted, etc. All of this was given up by Falkenhay in a few boring words.

Finally, the formulaists among professional staff officers like Falkenhayn defeated the factists. The ideological tendencies of professional soldiers overwhelmed the pragmatic tendencies. Submission to theory replaced the exploration of reality. Attack the strongest points of the strongest instead of attacking the weakest.

Weakest point is once again declared the guiding principle of Germany's military policy

General, what if you blow up the gap in front of you? Are you going to march through the gap and march toward Paris? What happens next if you break through the defenses and the armies elsewhere are not defeated? Are you really going to stick your head through the hole?

After the incident became a fact, Major Danvi suddenly asked:

No

Facing the major's question, Falkenhayn replied:

We are not that stupid. We are not after Verdun. Nor are we after blowing a hole. Nor do we want to march through such a hole. Our goal is very different. We seek to exhaust the enemy, not to create a breach; we seek to shatter a nation.

The intention was not to punch a hole in the line. We chose Verdun because we thought the French would defend it at all costs, and because we could place our artillery around the highest points of their line, where we would have advantageous range.

and superior firepower to strike hard at the enemy's most important positions, forcing our enemy to expose division after division of troops to this anvil for us to beat (to be continued). If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it (.)
Chapter completed!