The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1347 - 971 The Function of the Encirclement

Chapter 1347: Chapter 971: The Function of the Encirclement

Chapter 1347 -971: The Function of the Encirclement

Arthur was somewhat disappointed, since the Russians had voluntarily withdrawn from the urban city in the northern part of Finland, Australasia had lost a direct reason to declare war on Russia.

However, this also directly reflected the strength of Australasia, that even Stalin, who was reluctant to be subordinate, had to submit to Australasia at this time.

The minor conflicts between Australasia and Russia were just a minor event in the European War. As long as there was no outbreak of fighting, its importance could not compare with the war against Germany.

With time reaching April 22, 1945, with the help of the Australasia Army, the entire territory of Finland was declared liberated, and Dmitry had long returned to Helsinki to preside over the order of the entire Duchy.

Also in April, the urban cities in the northern parts of Norway and Sweden were mostly recaptured, and the German Army had been completely driven out of the Northern Europe region.

A part of the Australasia Army in Northern Europe chose to head south to Denmark, while another part crossed the sea from Finland to the Baltic States.

Although Arthur wanted more to occupy Saint Petersburgh, the capital during the Tsarist Russia era, the current Russian Government obviously would not give the Australasia Army the opportunity.

As early as when the Russian army withdrew from Sala, parts of it had already moved south toward Saint Petersburg.

Of course, the Germans would not simply allow their army to be pincered by Australasia and Russia from the south and north; they had already evacuated the troops in the Saint Petersburg region to the further south line of Luga and Pskov by mid-April.

This not only facilitated the Russians in reclaiming Saint Petersburg but also facilitated Australasia’s attack on the Mediterranean Triad.

Although the puppet governments occupied by Germany in the Mediterranean Triad had deployed tight defenses along the coastline, these military forces’ combat strength could certainly not compare with the German Army.

Why wouldn’t the Germans dispatch armies to help these countries maintain their coastlines? Clearly, the Germany Mainland had a greater need for these defensive forces.

From May onwards, the British and Australasian assault had already moved from Skagerrak to Zealand, the largest island in all of Denmark’s native land and even the original capital of Copenhagen is located on this island.

In reality, if one starts from a conventional geographical notion, Denmark’s capital should have been placed on the much larger Jutland Peninsula that is connected to the European Continent.

But precisely because of Denmark’s historical reasons, the capital is situated on Zealand, above the Mediterranean Sea.

After all, Denmark was once one of the dominators of the entire Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, centrally governing both large countries of Norway and Sweden, and had established Scandinavia, a huge entity formed by the union of these three countries.

Compared to Denmark, Australasia’s focus of attack was more on the Baltic States.

Firstly, the British definitely wanted to draw Denmark to their side. Even though the importance of Denmark diminished after Germany constructed the Kiel Canal, as a traditional and historically rich Monarchical country, Britain also enormously valued Denmark’s status and influence among all the Monarchical countries in Europe.

Secondly, the southern region of Denmark is none other than the Germany Mainland, and Germany would undoubtedly defend the Denmark region fiercely, or at the very least, they would staunchly hold the Jutland Peninsula.

After all, in the Schleswig-Holstein region south of Denmark, there is not only the Kiel Canal built by Germany but also Hamburg, a vital northern city of Germany.

Going further south from Hamburg leads to Hanover, deeply entrenched in Germany Mainland and very close to both the Ruhr District and Berlin.

No matter how one thinks about it, it is absolutely impossible for the Germans to abandon crucial regions like Schleswig and Holstein.

Instead of fighting a desperately deadly battle with the Germans in the Danish region, it would be wiser to concentrate on recapturing the Baltic States and at least possessing two seats among them.

After all, the Russia nation’s native land adjoins the Baltic States. If Australasia didn’t hurry to conquer the Baltic States, the Russians would definitely have plans for these three countries.

Once the Russians occupied the Baltic States, not only would this vastly expand Russian shoreline in the Baltic Sea, but it would significantly strengthen Russian influence across the entire Baltic Sea region.

This would be a loss Arthur and Australasia could not afford; for Australasia’s strategic deployment in the Baltic Sea, the Baltic States must not fall into Russian hands.

Moreover, if control could be obtained over the Baltic States, it would be possible to move south from these three countries to Poland and capture this former strategic buffer area between Germany and Russia.

This move has a benefit, directly severing the path for Russian Army forces heading toward the Germany Mainland. As long as Russian forces could not penetrate into Germany Mainland, their contribution in this war would be inevitably minimal.

As long as the contribution remains minimal, Australasia and Britain could unite to reduce the share of benefits Russia receives post-war.

Even more radically, by supporting a new Polish government in the Polish region and benefiting from this new Polish government before the Russians had fully reclaimed their native land, a large piece of Russian territory could be occupied, causing some trouble for the Russians.

Arthur believed that the United Kingdom, in order to maintain its policy of regional balance, would not want to see the vast area of Eastern Europe dominated by Russia Nation alone.

With the support of Britain and Australasia, two Powers, the new Polish government would certainly not behave like pre-World War II Poland, clinging to dated Cavalry and dreaming of a Greater Poland.

Among the three Baltic States, Arthur valued Estonia the most, as it was located in the North.

The reason was simple—if Australasia could control both Finland and Estonia, it could directly blockade the Russian Baltic Fleet stationed around Saint Petersburg.

Deploying numerous radars and Missiles along the coastline of these two countries, it was even possible to blockade the Russian fleet outside their harbors, ensuring they could never enter the Baltic Sea again.

On May 7, 1945, after a brief respite in Finland, the Australasia Army landed in Estonia covered by the Air Force with numerous landing crafts.

According to intelligence from all sides, Estonia was garrisoned by only 50,000 Local Army and a division of the German Army, with the Germans located in the southeastern region of Voru.

Clearly, as part of the German strategic contraction plan, the vast lands of Estonia were also expendable.

By May 11, Arthur sat in his Office Room, watching the war reports transmitted from Europe.

The attack on Estonia these past few days had been very successful. After thousands of Indigenous Peoples and several thousand Australasian Soldiers had died, the army finally took Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and gained control over the upper echelons of the Estonian puppet government.

Arthur was immersed in the joy of the good news for not long, soon after, the heads of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Royal Intelligence Bureau reported together, providing news that slightly surprised Arthur but made him even happier—it was the latest on the German-Russian war.

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The Germans had established an effective encirclement near Kiev, the Russian Army had completely entered this massive circle, and were tightly trapped by the German Army within the encirclement.

As of the day the news reached Australasia, it had been confirmed that at least 1.5 million of the Russian army was trapped, and many of them were elite soldiers who had experienced the defense of Moscow and the Stalingrad battle.

These 1.5 million troops also had thousands of Tanks and Firearms with them; their complete loss within the encirclement would be a severe blow to Russia Nation at this time.

This made Arthur respect the audacity of the Germans.

It was known that before deploying the encirclement, the Germans had already suffered two major losses at Moscow and Stalingrad on the Eastern European Battlefield.

The Germans even had to shrink strategically, abandoning vast tracts of land on the Western Front as well.

But under such dire circumstances, the Germans still dared to enact a massive encirclement operation and even successfully trapped at least 1.5 million of the Russian army.

If this operation had failed, the only outcome for the German troops defending the encirclement would have been annihilation, further worsening the already dire defensive line of Germany.

But now, it was clear that the Germans’ gamble had paid off.

If not many of the 1.5 million Russian troops managed to break out and escape, the situation on the Eastern European Battlefield would change drastically.

Though this would not allow the Germans to switch from defense to offense, at least the Russians would not have many troops left to counterattack the mainland of Germany.

In thinking this, the greatest beneficiaries of the German encirclement operation turned out to not be Germany, but Britain and Australasia.

If the German encirclement could be successfully tightened, Russia Nation would also practically lose the possibility of breaking through to Berlin.

Although the Russian Government could still muster troops to invade the mainland of Germany, the Russian army at that time would not have much strength to occupy many areas.

Thus, the threat from Russia Nation would be significantly reduced. Even if Australasia acted a bit quicker and supported a new Polish government before the Russian army entered Polish lands, perhaps Russia Nation’s advance could be permanently halted at the borders between Poland and Russia Nation.

Thinking of this, Arthur was very much looking forward to the next steps.

Moreover, the first batch of troops from Island Nation prepared for the expedition to Europe was ready, and Australasia had announced a reinforcement of 500,000 to Europe to help European Nations recover their Native Lands faster.

Of course, over half of these 500,000 troops were composed of Island Nation Soldiers. Among the less than 250,000 remaining troops, the forces from the Philippines and Kalimantan exceeded 150,000.

This also meant that the real core force of the Australasia Army was less than 100,000. But considering that there were stronger combat Island Nation troops as Cannon Fodder, the comprehensive combat capability of these 500,000 troops was still passable.