Chapter Ninety-One: Turning from Attack to Defense

When Feng Chengqian returned to Kiel Harbor, Ludendorff had already sent back news of victory from the front: the Battle of the Masurian Lakes had ended in a great German triumph.

While the German army had won a major victory on the Eastern Front, it had suffered a crushing defeat in the west.

Although the Kaiser had already pensioned off Moltke the Younger and appointed Falkenhayn as Chief of the General Staff, Falkenhayn had not worked miracles as Ludendorff had. After enduring a fierce counterattack by the Anglo-French armies, the German forces had withdrawn to the north bank of the Marne. Even if the situation remained unfavorable, they had at least managed to steady themselves.

At this stage, the question confronting the German army was no longer whether it could end the war quickly, but whether it could avoid being quickly defeated.

On October thirtieth, Feng Chengqian and Hipper returned to Berlin.

Although Falkenhayn assured the Kaiser that he could reverse the situation on the Western Front and launch an offensive in November, the Kaiser’s trust in his Chief of the General Staff had greatly diminished after Moltke’s failure. Besides, Frederick III had taken part in every major war that had founded the Empire; not only Falkenhayn, but even Moltke the Younger’s uncle, the elder Moltke himself, would have found it difficult to mislead the Kaiser on military matters.

By this time, the Kaiser had already realized that the risk of the Empire’s defeat had grown enormously.

It was against this backdrop that he decided to convene a high-level military conference, and not for the army alone. Naval commanders had also been invited.

Though Feng Chengqian was not yet truly a naval commander, he held the honorary rank of major general and served as an operations staff officer of the High Seas Fleet.

Of course, even more important was his private relationship with the Kaiser.

After arriving in Berlin, Feng Chengqian did not immediately seek an audience with the Kaiser. Instead, he went to Tirpitz’s residence.

“What do you make of this?”

“It is not a bad thing,” Feng Chengqian said, rubbing his temple. “Months ago, I told His Majesty that Moltke’s plan contained grave flaws, that it had strayed far from Field Marshal Schlieffen’s fundamental design, and that serious trouble was inevitable. Although His Majesty did not force Moltke to revise the plan, what has happened recently shows that he had long grown impatient with him. He merely lacked a proper reason to dismiss him.”

“I saw that as well. Though replacing Moltke only now seems rather late, it is still far better than letting him remain.”

“What do you think of Falkenhayn?”

Tirpitz paused, then smiled and shook his head. “Much like Moltke. Stubborn by nature, and inclined to look down on us. The difference is that his footing in the army is not nearly so secure, so he is easier for His Majesty to control.”

Feng Chengqian nodded thoughtfully. Plainly, this was the chief reason the Kaiser had chosen Falkenhayn instead of Hindenburg.

“In truth, the key is neither Moltke nor Falkenhayn, but His Majesty.”

“That is why I said it is not a bad thing.”

“You mean...?”

“Before this, when had His Majesty ever allowed us to take part in a military conference centered on land warfare?”

“Well...”

“Now that he has asked us to attend, it means he has begun to attach importance to the navy, and understands that the navy will be the chief force capable of changing the course of the war.”

Tirpitz nodded, showing that he understood Feng Chengqian’s meaning.

“Of course, His Majesty may not yet understand it with complete clarity.”

“In what sense?”

“In your view, what is the greatest difference between this war and those of the past?”

Tirpitz pondered for a while before replying, “As I see it, the greatest difference is that the army is no longer the sole decisive force.”

“You are right, but not yet deep enough.” Feng Chengqian paused slightly. “Though this war has only been fought for a few months, it has already shown us that it is a total war. Not only must national strength be joined with military force, but the army and navy must be joined as well. Only by bringing all our strength together and using it well can we defeat our enemies and win final victory.”

Tirpitz did not argue, for strategists such as Clausewitz had advanced similar views decades earlier.

In a certain sense, the Second German Empire was the first nation to elevate the concept of total war to the level of fundamental state policy. It was precisely by doing so that it had forged the strongest army on the European continent and, within a few short decades, defeated the two mightiest powers there in succession, unifying northern Germany.

The problem was that this understanding belonged only to the Imperial Army.

One must not forget that for a very long time, the Imperial Navy had existed in little more than name. Only after Feng Chengqian appeared had it truly stepped onto the stage of history.

And so another problem had arisen: the overwhelming majority of officers and men in the Imperial Army did not regard the Imperial Navy as comrades in arms.

To say nothing else, after the outbreak of war, the Imperial Navy’s two operations in the Gulf of Finland had both been undertaken in active support of the army, while the Imperial Army had never once taken the initiative to support the navy. The clearest proof was that, on the Western Front, the Imperial Army had never considered seizing the ports of Belgium.

If the Imperial Army had been able to capture the Belgian ports, even a single one of them, operations by the Imperial Navy in the North Sea would have become far more convenient.

In truth, Tirpitz had recognized this problem long ago, but had never raised it.

After speaking with Tirpitz, Feng Chengqian felt it necessary to speak with the Kaiser alone. Just as Tirpitz had said, the key lay with the Kaiser.

Early the next morning, Feng Chengqian went to the imperial palace at Potsdam.

Because the Kaiser was well versed in military affairs, Feng Chengqian did not bother with preliminaries. He put forth the most crucial question directly: did they still have confidence in winning this war?

Clearly, Feng Chengqian had grasped the Kaiser’s state of mind with great precision.

At that moment, the Kaiser himself had been considering that very question. It was for this reason that he had decided to convene a military conference attended by senior commanders of both army and navy.

In a sense, after the Battle of the Marne had ended, the Kaiser had begun to doubt victory.

Before the great war broke out, no one had believed that the Empire could be defeated. In the Kaiser’s view, if Field Marshal Schlieffen’s plan had been carried through to the end, then despite the severe alterations Moltke the Younger had made to it, which had sharply reduced its viability, there had still been great hope. It might even be said that it was precisely because the Schlieffen Plan stood there before him that, during the crisis in June, the Kaiser had adopted so hard a stance.

After the Battle of the Marne, the German offensive had been forced to halt, and the Kaiser could not help but question the final outcome.

But what use was doubt?

The war had already begun, and the Empire had only two roads before it: victory or defeat.

Though in the circumstances of the time peace negotiations were not impossible, they would have required a heavy price. France had made its position plain: unless the Second German Empire surrendered every gain won in the Franco-Prussian War, including the return of Alsace and Lorraine, France would not agree to an armistice.

This war, then, had to go on. The only question was what shape it would take.

“Beyond all doubt, we must not be defeated, not even defeated in name alone.” Feng Chengqian understood the Kaiser’s mind perfectly. “Britain, France, and Russia stirred up and provoked this war, and joined together in alliance, for one purpose only: to crush us utterly. Their motives are not the same—Britain wishes to prevent us from becoming the world’s foremost power and to preserve her own global supremacy; France seeks revenge for the Franco-Prussian War and wants to recover Alsace and Lorraine; Russia wishes to remove the obstacle to its westward advance into Europe and replace us as master of the continent—but one thing is perfectly clear: Britain, France, and Russia will never let the matter rest. Even if we make concessions, the war will not end.”

The Kaiser nodded and did not dispute Feng Chengqian’s view.

“It is plain that we have only one way out: to defeat all our enemies and win final victory.”

“You still have confidence?”

“I do, certainly. Confidence is the one thing we can least afford to lose now.”

“Or rather, confidence is the only thing we still possess.”

“If Your Majesty wishes to put it that way, I will not argue. But we must also see where hope of victory lies.”

“And where is that hope?”

“Britain, France, and Russia were not truly prepared for war. For at least the next two years, we still retain a fairly marked advantage. If we can secure decisive victories within those two years, then we still have a strong chance of winning this war and obtaining the outcome we desire.”

“What constitutes a decisive victory?”

“There are three.”

The Kaiser nodded, signaling him to continue.

“First, we must shift the center of gravity.”

“You mean to place the main weight on the Eastern Front?”

Feng Chengqian nodded. “Though Falkenhayn claims he can achieve a breakthrough in the west, with the British Expeditionary Force arriving in large numbers, our chances of defeating France in the short term are virtually nil. If we continue to pour heavy forces into the Western Front, it will become nothing but a bottomless abyss.”

“The problem is that if we do not fight in the west, it does not follow that Britain and France will cease fighting us there.”

“That is precisely the crucial point I wished to make.”

“You mean...?”

“Even if we do not launch offensives in the west, Britain and France will still fight us there. And the harder we strike in the east, the more fiercely Britain and France will attack in the west.”

The Kaiser nodded, showing that he understood.

“But the essential question is this: are Britain and France capable of defeating us on the Western Front?” Feng Chengqian paused slightly before continuing. “After returning to Berlin, I spoke with Admiral Tirpitz and obtained some reports on the fighting in the west. From my judgment, the Imperial Army is facing an extremely grave problem: its offensive power is inferior to the defensive strength of the Anglo-French armies. To many, perhaps, that seems a serious disadvantage. But why should we not look at it the other way round? If the Imperial Army goes over to the defensive, what can the Anglo-French armies really do?”

The Kaiser did not answer at once, but reflected on Feng Chengqian’s words.

“More importantly, the battlefield lies on French soil, not on the soil of the Empire. No matter how the fighting goes, so long as we hold the present line, it is France that suffers. The homeland of the Empire will not be affected, nor will the industrial strength that supports our armies be damaged.”

“You are right,” said the Kaiser. “And the second point?”

Seeing the Kaiser’s interest quicken, Feng Chengqian’s confidence rose with it.