Reiwa Chemist Yōko Takatsukasa Reincarnation: Saving Japan with Plastic Material

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Thank you for your patience. It's time to digest the flags.

- Toshitsugu Utei

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The Japanese response to the outbreak of hostilities in Europe was cautious and considerate of Austria-Hungary, but it did not necessarily mean siding with the Alliance.

Immediately after the Sarajevo incident, Emperor Taishō issued "words of sympathy to those affected by the incident" in his name and demonstrated a stance that did not support radical nationalists resorting to violent means. According to some accounts, Japan's attitude towards Austria at that time may have contributed to the motivation of Germany and Austria to present Serbia with excessive demands, with the hope that Japan might possibly stab Russia in the back.

"Thank you, Takatsukasa. I apologize for keeping you up late for writing."

"It's my pleasure, Your Majesty."

"...Do you think Austria will stop at this?"

With a worried expression, Emperor Taishō asked Hiromichi. He had a strong admiration for Europe and did not wish for conflict to erupt there.

"To be honest, it's difficult to say. Those who attacked the Austro-Hungarian Archduchess and his wife sympathized with Russia's Pan-Slavism. Germany and Austria are likely to believe that true peace will not come unless they strike at Russia."

"I see... Has Russia forgotten how we defeated them to hell and back? They are stubborn people who never learn."

Emperor Taishō was indignant. While it was true that both Germany and Austria, whom Japan supported, advocated similar ideologies like Pan-Germanism, Hiromichi had a leaning towards Germany emotionally, so there was no need to bring that up.

Subsequently, Japan sent a small fleet consisting of the armored cruisers Kongō and Hiei, along with the protected cruisers Tone, Chikuma, Yahagi, and Hirado, towards Britain together with the newly-formed Russian Pacific Fleet, which was rerouted to the Baltic Sea. However, Japan maintained silence until Austria declared war. But when Germany declared war on Russia without demobilization, the Japanese government issued a condemnation statement to both Germany and Russia, expressing regret for interfering in bilateral issues out of selfish desires and unnecessarily spreading the flames of war, a traditional art of modern Japan. While condemning Russia and showing consideration for Austria-Hungary, Japan also criticized Germany and indirectly sided with the Entente by sympathizing with France as a "victim coerced by Russia."

Now, regarding France, who was facing off against Germany, there was initially widespread optimism at the outset of the war. There were fortress zones scattered along the border with Germany, and Germany had assured, contrary to OTL, that they would respect the neutrality of Belgium as questioned by the British, which eliminated the possibility of the fortifications on the northeastern side being bypassed via Belgium.

"Finally, the time has come to avenge the Franco-Prussian War!"

"I'm excited at the thought of shooting those cabbage-eaters with my own hands!"

The French soldiers on the front lines laughed and said such things, but their confidence was quickly shattered.

"Don't just besiege the fortresses and leave them! Identify the enemy's vulnerabilities in advance, concentrate your forces there, and relentlessly advance towards Paris!"

As mentioned earlier, the Germans had studied the movements of the Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War and had adopted a tactic known as "German Infiltration Tactics" or "blitzkrieg on foot," as opposed to the Japanese strategy of "launching an offensive on a broad front to attack more vulnerabilities." The effectiveness of each tactic depended on the situation, but against France, which only had old-fashioned tactics to rely on and had built shallow defensive positions, it didn't really matter.

Before Britain fully entered the war, the German army had captured Épinal and Chaumont. Finally, when Britain declared war on Germany alongside France, they confronted the German army at Troyes. The British Expeditionary Force recognized that the German tactics involved infiltration and assault and tried to resist staunchly by setting up deep defensive positions. However, due to a lack of preparation time, the French army couldn't absorb the know-how that the British tried to convey and ended up retreating. In order to avoid being surrounded, the British had no choice but to abandon Troyes. In response to the French army's performance, Field Marshal John French, the commander of the BEF, sarcastically remarked, "It seems the people of the Grande Armée cannot forget the glory of the Napoleonic era."

As Troyes fell and both Britain and France prepared for urban warfare in Paris, Germany found itself in a dire situation as well. Russia's mobilization was faster than expected, and they were launching a major offensive on the Eastern Front.

"Don't waste the ammunition our comrades used! Advance without fear of casualties!"

Under the command of General Aleksei Brusilov of the 1st Army and General Alexander Samsonov of the 2nd Army, the Germans were also subjected to attacks using infiltration tactics.

"Damn it! They keep coming even when we shoot them—Agh!"

"Dumb Germans. They don't even notice our men behind them."

While the German army was at the forefront of military technology in terms of offensive tactics, such as further improving infiltration tactics, their defensive tactics were only studied to the extent that "taking deeper defensive positions makes it easier to counter infiltration tactics." Moreover, at this time, the power ratio on the Eastern Front was approximately 1:2 to 1:3 in favor of Russia over Germany. Even if the Russian offensive was somewhat unrefined and the German defense was clever, it had no impact on the overall situation. The German army attempted a counterattack at Tannenberg but failed, as Samsonov's skillful elastic defense and Brusilov's swift reinforcements repelled them. Subsequently, the Germans continued to retreat, eventually losing East and West Prussia in the autumn of 1914. Due to this setback, Germany had to divert forces from the Western Front, and the possibility of a swift conclusion to the war with a German victory was dashed.

Now, regarding the Austro-Hungarian army, they held up relatively well. Based on the results of exercises with the Japanese army, they concluded that they couldn't defeat the Russians in open-field combat on the plains. They strategically retreated to the Carpathian Mountains, destroying infrastructure along the way, and forced the Russian army into mountain warfare. Despite the reputation of the Austro-Hungarian army for being weak, it was difficult for the Russian army to attack them while they were entrenched in the highlands. As a result, the Russian Southwestern Front (equivalent to a regional army group in the organization of the Russian army) piled up numerous casualties due to reckless attacks against the Austro-Hungarian forces. This led to the sacking of General Paul von Rennenkampf, the commander of the 8th Army, and others, who were held responsible for the "considerable losses against the likes of the Austro-Hungarian army."

Furthermore, the mountainous terrain persisted for a while, making it difficult to launch an offensive against Austria, which consisted of flat and fertile lands with greater potential gains upon occupation compared to Germany. Therefore, Russia did not focus too much on launching a major offensive against Austria-Hungary, and Austria-Hungary understood that they would face a major defeat if they initiated an offensive themselves. Consequently, the front lines on the Eastern Front reached a stalemate as early as 1914.

Regarding the Balkan front, the Central Powers didn't have the resources to send reinforcements to the German side, so Austria and Bulgaria had to deal with it alone. However, the Central Powers were making advances on the Balkan front and had the upper hand in the fighting.