"Russia, Moscow..."

Chen Tian murmured alone in the armored command car.

"Your Highness, what's wrong with you?" Hoffman discovered that Chen Tian had fallen into a strange state since he met with the Grand Guild of Friedrich.

"Oh! Nothing!" Chen Tian raised his head, and the others were busy collecting the latest information from their own troops, including equipment losses, personnel combat effectiveness and current marching position. Only Hoffman sat quietly in front of him.

"Col. Hoffman, go ahead and get busy! Don't worry about me, report to me if there is any situation!"

Hoffman did not intend to walk away, but lowered his voice, "Your Highness, we have just won a big victory, but you look depressed. This really makes me feel uneasy. Is it the last time that person..."

"That's not, okay, Colonel Hoffman, come here!" Chen Tian signaled him to sit next to him. Hoffman hesitated for a moment, and finally sat over.

"Our initial plan was to destroy the Russian Northwest Army Group first, which we had done in August; next we would cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian army to defeat the Russian Southwest Army Group. Although we encountered some trouble in Biawestok in the process, we still achieved this goal!" Chen Tian said that, he picked up a map album from the table next to him, turned to the page with the world map printed, and painted it on it with a red brush.

Soon, a large red area suddenly appeared on the map.

"Russia has a vast territory and a huge strategic depth; the winter is extremely cold!" Chen Tian said softly.

"Indeed, Russian giant!" Hoffman nodded, but he didn't quite understand what Chen Tian wanted to express.

"We hope to be able to keep the Eastern Front in a relatively stable state to ensure that the main force on the Western Front can attack France with all its strength! But from yesterday's conversation, I found that the Austrian commander, Grand Duke Friedrich, not only wanted to drive the Russians away from Poland, but even planned to advance toward the heart of Russia!" Chen Tian connected Warsaw and Moscow with a straight line on the map. Compared with Russia's huge territory, this straight line is not long, but its actual distance is more than 1,000 kilometers.

"Yes, Your Highness! When we initially planned, we considered that neither the Russian army nor the Austrian army had the ability to continue to launch a large-scale attack, and then calmly waited for changes in Russia!" Hoffman gradually followed Chen Tian's thoughts, "Now, the Russians' military strength in Poland is very weak. Even if they stayed in Minsk, it would be difficult for them to confront the Austro-Hungarian coalition forces of Grand Duke Friedrich in terms of quantity and equipment!"

"When Grand Duke Friedrich mentioned to me yesterday about marching towards Moscow, I realized that he was serious! His troops were indeed very powerful, but entering Moscow not only requires maintaining a long supply line, but also facing the upcoming Russian winter!" Chen Tian looked helpless, "If Grand Duke wants to go to Moscow, the emperor may let our army go together! But, I don't want to be the second Napoleon!"

"Napoleon? But His Highness, our weapons and soldiers are much better than the Russians. Besides, we have internal aid, right?" Hoffman paused because other staff members all cast curious eyes.

"No matter what, Russia is the place I don't want to go the least!" Chen Tian understood how great a glory it was to lead the army into Moscow, but the lessons of Xiaona and Xiaoxi's past were simply two insurmountable mountains for him. Although the failures of those two people can be attributed to some accidents and mistakes, the territory and weather of Russia are simply an irresistible invisible trap. What's more, the combat effectiveness of these Austrian troops is not reliable. Although the army of the Allied Powers is more beneficial to the uprising of the Russian Revolutionary Party, once they fall into trouble, the situation on the Eastern Front will become difficult to control. At that time, Germany may have to draw troops from the Western Front, and every time a German division is drawn from the periphery of Paris is very unfavorable to the Western Front. "I would rather wait in peace on the Eastern Front until the end of the war than venture into the Russian hinterland!"

"Then are you planning to convince Grand Duke Friedrich to stabilize the front between Poland and Belarus?" Hoffman waved his hand to signal the staff to be busy with his own affairs, and he suppressed his voice even lower.

"Yes, at least this will be the case before next spring!" The carriage was swaying slightly, and Chen Tian's expression had eased a lot, "It's better to let the Russians subvert the Tsarist regime by themselves!"

"Then, Warsaw!" Hoffman thought for a while, "We must successfully capture and attack Warsaw, drive the Russian Southwest Army Group out of Poland, and then confront the Russian army between East Prussia-Russia, Poland-Russia!"

"That's right!" Chen Tian's expression eased a little, "The problem is Grand Duke Friedrich, once this man makes up his mind, he can't pull back even if he has ten horses! He rushed to Moscow regardless of everything, which is what he wants to do! If you want to convince him, you must do something cruel!"

"So what if he suffers a little in Warsaw?" Hoffman forced a smile. It was not a pleasant thing to conspire with his allies after all. "After all, there are about 400,000 Russian troops in Warsaw, and the fortifications there are a bit more! If the Grand Duke's army suffered a lot there, then he might give up and continue his march!"

"If I were the Russian commander of Warsaw, I would give up Warsaw and retreat to Belarus or Ukraine immediately. Of course, based on the current situation, retreating to Minsk in Belarus is the wisest move. Then, join forces with Agreni and wait for 700,000 or more troops. They have every hope of resisting the attack of the millions of Austro-Hungarian coalition forces!" After yesterday's battle, Chen Tian felt that Ivanov and his soldiers were scared. Maybe the group of people were packing their clothes and preparing to run away. "The Russian cannons are now in the hands of Grand Duke Friedrich. If they continue to stay in Warsaw, I promise that they will not only not block our footsteps, but will also die ugly!"

Hoffman raised his head and looked thoughtful, "Will the Russians really give up Warsaw so easily and Poland so easily? Although I have thought so, I can't believe such an easy victory!"

"Unless the Russian commander is a fool! When we siege Warsaw, he can't even run away half of the soldier! If Agreni comes to rescue them, I will be happier!" Chen Tian wanted to say something, and the staff officer handed a telegram to Hoffman.

"At 9:00 a.m. on September 29, according to the reconnaissance of the Third and Fifth Reconnaissance Aircraft Teams of the Legion, the Russian army is evacuating from Warsaw!" Hoffman read it softly, but he didn't know whether to be happy or worried. Anyway, the other staff members in the car were cheering.

Chen Tian had an idea at this moment, so he suddenly stood up and ordered, "Stop! Colonel Hoffman, please invite Grand Duke Friedrich to come for the talks, and also invite Colonel Olger to come!"

On the German positions in northeastern Warsaw, General Markens stood at a high place and looked into the city. The city was full of chaotic scenes, like bandits or robbers entering the village. He also received a report from the reconnaissance plane. The Russian army was retreating in panic along the Warsaw-Minsk railway. The train was crowded with Russian soldiers, and more people were evacuating along the railway line. In fact, after the remnants of the 3rd and 4th Army commanded by Ivanov were withdrawn from Warsaw in the middle of the night, the city was never quiet. At first, Markenshin thought that the Russian army was preparing to attack him with superior forces, and he specially ordered the soldiers to prepare for retreat. After all, before the main force returned here, there was no suspense to use one army's strength to fight several Russian army. However, no Russian soldier left the city from this direction. He realized it until the reconnaissance plane sent back the report.

"General, the Legion Command sent a telegram asking us to act accordingly and occupy Warsaw at the smallest price possible!" The communications officer trotted all the way to his hand, and he took a look and put it aside. General Markens was a fair figure, but his appearance was unforgettable: his pair of sharp eyes like an eagle, gray and neat hair, and a beard with the same color as his hair under his slightly curled nose, which was not thick or western, with a bright chin and a neat military uniform. Since the outbreak of the war, he and his Second Army did not show any outstanding performance. In the Battle of East Prussia, he stayed in East Prussia when the Legion broke into Russian Poland. He only brought his troops to the front line after Matthew's 4th Army returned to East Prussia for rest. The assault ability of the armored army in the Battle of Lev River made it easy for people to forget the contributions he and the Second Army.

Markensen didn't complain. On the contrary, he firmly believed that gold would always shine. He originally wanted to have a beautiful battle with the Russian army in Warsaw, but the Russians ran away without saying a word. This was really not good news for Markensen and the Second Army.

After a while, the communications officer ran over again, "General, the artillery commander asked if we needed to shell the Russian army outside Warsaw, and he said the Russian army was evacuating from the frontier positions!"

"Why not? Even if you please send the Russian army away!" Markenson replied with a serious face. Sometimes he even doubted his value, but Chen Tian always said to him, "General, you are a person who can stand alone. I think one day you will win a big cross for yourself!"

"Big Cross!" Markonson murmured with a little self-deprecatingly, "I can't even get a Blue Max medal for my current military achievements!"

Chen Tian will remember that in history, there were only 5 people who received the highest military honor in the Second German Empire - the Great Cross in the Iron Cross, and Markensen was one of them. The Eastern Front was his world. Originally, he would participate in all the battles on the Eastern Front and command the German and Austrian coalition forces to sweep Serbia and occupy Poland and Romania.

But now, the legend is still standing outside Warsaw City in a daze.

The rumbling sound of cannons sounded, and the explosion of fire and smoke covered the Russian troops' positions outside the city, and several lonely artillery batteries were also attacked. One by one, the figures running into the city were swaying faintly under the smoke, and soon the Russian soldiers there disappeared.

Markenson put down his telescope and called the communications officer to instruct, "Let the colonel stop the shelling! Order the First Division to prepare to march into the city!"

Under the general's gaze, more than 10,000 German infantry began to advance towards Warsaw in scattered formations. The smoke of gunpowder on the positions outside the city had gradually dissipated, and the huge city was right in front of them, with the houses and streets inside endlessly visible. After the sound of cannons stopped.

The pointed helmets slowly moved forward, and the Russian army's positions in northeastern Warsaw were in a mess. The ground was full of smoked craters and abandoned equipment from the Russian army, several cannons, some flags with countless footprints, damaged carriages, military caps, and almost no Russian corpses were seen on the wide positions. This was enough to prove that the Russians here were ready to escape.

The gray scattered line gradually crossed the fields to the edge of the city, and houses stood silently on both sides of the street. The stone-paved streets were not muddy, but they gave people a feeling of being dirty and messy. The feeling came from scattered Russian discards, useless cooking utensils, broken boxes with big mouths, brown hair and feces from war horses, and blood-stained bandages. All things that the Russian army would not want to take away were thrown away on the street at will.

The city has long lost its hustle and bustle. After the German shelling stopped, all the streets seemed even more silent and as quiet as death, as if the city had been abandoned by people.

The soldiers put their steps very lightly, those who want to cough, those who want to speak, those who want to be convenient... Find a secluded place to solve the problem alone, and everyone cannot bear to destroy the peace here. The soldiers carefully moved along the street towards the city center, pointing their guns at the windows of the houses on both sides, as if the enemy would poke their heads out from there in the next second; near the corner, the soldiers slowly moved to the corner against the corner, fearing that the streets on the corner were full of Russian soldiers; the machine gunners tiptoed to a high place to set up machine guns, and when the bolt was pulled, everyone seemed to cover their ears, worried that they would wake up the enemy who was sleeping soundly in a corner; however, nothing happened, and the city was still calm.

When the buzzing sound came, all the German soldiers were almost scared.

"It turned out to be our plane! I thought it was a Russian car!" The soldiers comforted each other, and then waved their fists to the plane painted with white iron crosses in the sky, "It will scare people to death!"

"General, the reconnaissance plane sent a report, all the Russian guards were withdrawn from Warsaw, and our soldiers could occupy that city with confidence!" When the communications officer brought the telegram, Markens still looked calm.

"I know, send a report to the Legion Command! In addition, order the 2nd Division to enter the city and control the city as soon as possible. No one is allowed to enter the Poles' houses without receiving the order, and no shooting is allowed. Report an abnormal situation immediately!"
Chapter completed!