Chapter 1343: Chapter 969: Every Country Has Its Own Ulterior Motives_2 Chapter 1343: Chapter 969: Every Country Has Its Own Ulterior Motives_2 This was the first thought of the Russian ruler, Stalin, upon learning of internal issues within Germany.

Although Germany was already at the end of its tether, conquering the whole of Germany was by no means an easy task.

More importantly, whoever could occupy more important regions and cities in Germany would be able to benefit from Germany first.

For instance, the plan formulated by Australasia to occupy the Ruhr District was motivated by the strong industrial scale Germany had in the Ruhr.

It was the same with the Russian strategists’ goal to capture Berlin, as the capital and largest urban city of Germany, the assets that could be seized were innumerable.

This was extremely important for Russia, currently impoverished and severely wounded. It would not only accelerate Russia’s recovery but also allow it to swiftly emerge from the war’s shadow and, with this opportunity, become an even stronger industrial and economic power.

As for Germany’s Ruhr District, the Russians certainly had designs on it. But the problem was that the Ruhr District was located in the western part of Germany, even very close to the borders.

And Russia was situated to the east of Germany. If Russia wanted to occupy the Ruhr District, it would have to break through the entire country from east to west, a much more difficult task than taking Berlin.

Nevertheless, seeing that Britain-France-Australia had already recaptured Paris and even had their military close to the France-Germany Border, it was impossible for the Russian Government and Stalin not to feel envious.

Because the territory Russia had lost was much more extensive than that of France, even though they had advanced the front line by hundreds of kilometers following the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad, there was still a distance of thousands of kilometers from the original borders.

Yes, the current front line was still thousands of kilometers away from the pre-war German-Russian Border.

This only illustrated one fact: Russia’s strategic depth was frightening.

Excluding Russia, for any European nation before the war, the idea of having over a thousand kilometers of their territory occupied was unimaginable. Even if this range were reduced tenfold, having over a hundred kilometers of their territory occupied would still be a crippling blow for most European nations.

In fact, for most European countries, having over a hundred kilometers of their territory occupied might well mean that the capital had already fallen or was very close to the front line.

Yet for Russia, a country with an extreme strategic depth, even the loss of a thousand kilometers of territory had not yet reached the distance to Moscow.

Beyond reclaiming its own territory, Russia also had ambitions for the Balkan Peninsula.

Of course, since the time of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Russian territorial ambitions had never ceased. Being able to create a country with a territory spanning tens of millions of square kilometers, and with a history of territorial expansion that lasted hundreds of years, Russia’s ambition in terms of territory was beyond doubt.

After the surrender of Italy, the two most influential countries in the entire Balkan Peninsula were Germany and Russia.

With Germany in constant retreat, it was impossible for Russia not to have designs on the Balkans.

After all, Russia had control over much of the Balkan Peninsula before World War I. Faced with the nearly obtainable Balkans, Russia had only one idea, and that was to strike fiercely.

However, before the assault on the Balkans, one particularly important region had to be reclaimed, which was Ukraine, the most crucial grain-producing area for the entire country.

Only by reclaiming Ukraine could Russia have enough food production to continue the war. More importantly, Ukraine bordered the Balkan Peninsula and was the only direction from which the Russian military could possibly launch an assault on the Balkans.

Without Ukraine, there was no connection between Russia and the Balkans, and the attack could not even be discussed.

While the Russians were planning to reclaim their territory and to assault Berlin and the Balkans, the United Kingdom and Australasia were also planning to occupy the entirety of Northern Europe and attack Denmark.

The current situation in Northern Europe saw no involvement from the French, as France had committed almost all its military to the Western European theatre.

This was quite natural; even though Paris had been recaptured, a vast portion of French territory was still under German control.

For the French government and people, it was clear that the importance of reclaiming national territory far outweighed that of helping the Nordic countries reclaim theirs.

However, for countries like Britain and Australasia, whose territories were not occupied, assisting the Nordic counties might be even more beneficial than helping France.

Nonetheless, in the division of labor among the Northern European military, the cooperation between Britain and Australasia was minimal.

This was also normal, as each country had its own objectives and command over its military forces, making joint operations unlikely.

Australasia’s main goal remains to help the Nordic countries recover their territories and to deepen cooperation with Sweden in the process.

If possible, the best outcome would be to bring the entire Nordic Trio into Australasia’s sphere of influence and establish a targeted Nordic defensive alliance.

Currently, this plan has been nearly 2/3 completed. Besides Norway, which has not fully aligned with Australasia, Sweden and Finland were already considered one of Australasia’s subordinates.

However, as the Nordic Trio were inherently inseparable, it would be quite challenging for Norway to abandon Sweden and Finland and seek support on its own.