Chapter Seventy-Six: The Rise of a General

Even without a deep understanding of World War I history, Feng Chengqian could easily deduce that Russia would inevitably attack East Prussia.

After the outbreak of war, the German army advanced triumphantly on the Western Front. Though the formidable Liège fortress caused the Germans some trouble, the French army fared even worse. Due to misjudgments about the overall situation—especially the German offensive—the French fought in an extremely passive position from the outset.

By mid-August, the mood among the French public was deeply pessimistic.

At that time, even some French generals believed the Franco-Prussian War would repeat itself, with the French army defeated within months.

In such circumstances, France pinned its hopes on its allies.

On August 10th, France appealed to both Britain and Russia, requesting Britain to immediately dispatch an expeditionary force and Russia to launch a large-scale offensive against the German Empire on the Eastern Front. In France’s view, only the British expeditionary force and timely Russian action could halt the German advance and slow its pace. If the Germans continued to advance as rapidly as in the previous days, Paris would fall by the end of September.

Clearly, British support could only be a drop in the bucket.

Before the war, the total strength of the British Army was less than two hundred thousand men, with a voluntary service system. Two-thirds of its ground forces were stationed overseas. The garrison left at home was hardly sufficient to maintain order, let alone support France or repel a potential invasion.

More importantly, Britain was a well-established democracy governed by the rule of law.

Even if the British government wished to assist France, it still needed parliamentary approval before sending any expeditionary force. Moreover, changing the conscription system would also require Parliament’s consent. Clearly, even if Parliament approved sending troops to the Continent in the short term, changing the conscription system was unlikely.

In other words, Britain’s capacity to aid France was severely limited.

To a large extent, the British expeditionary force could do little more than boost French morale, reassuring the French military and populace that Britain was standing alongside them in the fight.

To actually relieve pressure on the front lines, only Russia’s actions on the other front could be counted on.

At that time, not only France but even Britain placed their hopes on Russia. Together, they petitioned the Tsar to launch a major offensive on the Eastern Front. The British clearly understood that if France fell, they would be next in line for attack.

At this point, the Tsar dared not procrastinate.

In the Tsar’s view, if France were quickly defeated, Russia would bear the full brunt of the German army. The Germans’ combat prowess was well known. Even if the Tsar had the utmost confidence in his forces, he could not expect those soldiers, many of whom were former serfs, to prevail over the Germans on the battlefield.

Amusingly, in mid-August, the Tsar was indeed full of confidence.

This was largely because, on the front facing Austria-Hungary, the Russian army had won significant victories, encircling and annihilating over a million Austro-Hungarian troops in Silesia alone.

Such decisive victories gave the Tsar a false sense of security.

Perhaps, he believed that several million Russian troops could easily defeat the East Prussian defenders, who numbered only a single corps.

Consequently, when France and Britain made their appeals, the Tsar agreed without hesitation, promising that Russian forces would attack East Prussia in August.

Unfortunately, the Russian army’s actions were neither aggressive nor decisive enough.

It was not that the Russians were unable to fight, but that, in mid-August, Moltke the Younger, unable to withstand pressure from both Falkenhayn and the Kaiser, restructured the Ninth Army, forming the Tenth Army by splitting the Ninth and supplementing it with local reservists called up after the outbreak of war.

The German Empire was a nation where every citizen was a soldier; the quality of reservists was hardly inferior to that of the regular army.

Thus, East Prussia now had two corps.

Although neither the Ninth nor the Tenth Corps was particularly large, German combat effectiveness was formidable, and Russian commanders had their doubts.

As a result, the Russian army did not attack in mid-August but delayed until late August.

This delay fundamentally changed the course of the campaign.

On August 23rd, under Ludendorff’s command, the German army captured the Liège fortress, clearing the way to Brussels and eliminating threats to the First, Second, and Third Corps. In doing so, they also gained a reserve force of twenty-one divisions.

This battle had a significant impact—Ludendorff’s fame was made in a single stroke.

After seizing Liège, Ludendorff became the first commander to receive the Blue Max, the highest imperial honor, after the outbreak of the war. Although Moltke did not recall him to the General Staff, Ludendorff had already caught the Kaiser’s attention and received a new appointment: Quartermaster-General for the German forces in East Prussia.

Within the German army, the Quartermaster-General’s position was second only to the Chief of Staff.

In fact, at that time, the Kaiser intended to appoint Ludendorff as Chief of Staff for the East Prussian Army, but Ludendorff’s seniority fell short. Instead, the Kaiser appointed Hindenburg as Chief of Staff, while Ludendorff, as Quartermaster-General, effectively commanded the army in battle.

This appointment was also connected to Feng Chengqian.

When he and Tirpitz used their resignations to pressure the Kaiser, Feng Chengqian had pointed out that Russia was sure to come under pressure from Britain and France and would soon attack East Prussia. If the Imperial Army responded by reinforcing East Prussia, it would play directly into the hands of Britain and France, as it would weaken German forces on the main front and give France a precious respite. The best response was not to send more troops to East Prussia but to dispatch a capable general to mount a brilliant defensive campaign with the two corps already there.

Clearly, the Kaiser listened to and adopted Feng Chengqian’s advice.

Amusingly, as chief architect of the Western strategy, Moltke the Younger insisted on reinforcing the Eastern Front, believing that two corps could not withstand a million Russians.

Then another interesting event occurred.

When Ludendorff returned to Berlin to receive his appointment, he was invited by the Kaiser to dine at Potsdam Palace. There, he assured the Kaiser personally that, given sufficient authority, he could defeat the Russian offensive in East Prussia with just the two corps, without needing any reinforcements from the Western Front.

Perhaps, at the time, Ludendorff was motivated by a desire to contradict Moltke, as their mutual resentments ran deep.

Yet, there is no jest in the military. The Kaiser granted Ludendorff’s request, appointing him Quartermaster-General in East Prussia and naming his former superior, the semi-retired General Hindenburg, as Chief of Staff. Since Hindenburg rarely involved himself in army affairs, real power fell to Ludendorff.

Could Ludendorff really hold off a million Russian troops with just two corps?

The Kaiser may have doubted it, knowing all too well the realities of land warfare.

Feng Chengqian, however, had little doubt, for he knew that East Prussia had another figure of major influence, no less important than Ludendorff.

This was Colonel Max Hoffmann.

In the history familiar to Feng Chengqian, it was not Ludendorff who turned the tide in East Prussia, as in that version of events Ludendorff had not yet arrived when the Russians were repelled. The real hero was Hoffmann, then serving as staff officer to the Ninth Corps.

Though history had shifted, the overall pattern remained unchanged.

More importantly, since returning from China, Hoffmann had not been given an important post. Having questioned Moltke’s war plans, he had been sidelined but remained with the East Prussian Army for several years and thus understood the region and the opposing Russian forces intimately.

With Hoffmann’s assistance, Ludendorff was certain to achieve greatness.

In Feng Chengqian’s view, as long as Ludendorff made proper use of the two corps and fully considered East Prussia’s unique geography, exploiting the Russians’ weaknesses, fighting a defensive battle within the border would be no difficult feat; he might even dramatically alter the situation on the Eastern Front.

By August 26th, under the Tsar’s “prodding,” the Russian army finally invaded East Prussia.

Even so, another event that day was even more dramatic.

Though enough information had surfaced by mid-August to show that the British Expeditionary Force had arrived in France, German commanders such as Moltke paid it little heed. The reason was simple: Britain had not yet fully mobilized for war, its army was limited in size, and the expeditionary force could hardly be considered formidable.

But near Mons, the Germans got a rude awakening.

The engagement was brief—a small German detachment on the advance encountered the equally hastily assembled British Expeditionary Force. The battle lasted less than two hours before the Germans withdrew, and the British did not pursue, instead falling back several kilometers to break contact.

In their reports, the frontline German commanders described coming under intense fire from the British Expeditionary Force, suffering heavy casualties.

In reality, the British force engaged was less than a division and possessed only a handful of machine guns. The “intense fire” referenced was actually concentrated volleys from their Enfield rifles. These rifles had a remarkably high rate of fire—a skilled marksman could shoot sixty rounds per minute, while the German Mauser could manage only twenty. The massed Enfield fire easily created the illusion of machine-gun fire.

A few days later, the frontline Germans had figured out the truth.

The British Expeditionary Force’s participation was more symbolic than substantial. At the time, its total strength in France was just over twenty thousand men. Even by year’s end, it would be fewer than two hundred thousand. Compared to the more than a million Germans and the similarly sized French army, it was insignificant. Only a year later, when Britain introduced conscription, would the Expeditionary Force become a mainstay.

Of course, the British presence meant one more adversary for the Germans.

For the Empire, Britain’s real impact would be felt not on the battlefield, but behind the lines: in the material support it provided to France and the naval blockade it imposed on Germany.