A group of officers of the German General Staff were reluctant to put down their binoculars, and on a lawn in the distance, several figures in iron-gray military uniforms were forming a strange triangular formation and attacking a defensive position that was obviously a trench barbed wire. Although there was no machine-gun fire or the dull sound of rifle fire in the position, the attacker's firepower was now terrifying to the staff officers who had taken the place on the defensive.

The precise throwing of grenadiers, the blowing of dirt from machine gun fortifications and infantry trenches, assuming that there were people inside? The survival rate is probably no more than 1 in 10. As the apex of the rear end of the triangle, the light machine gun moved quickly with the coordination of the two soldiers, and from time to time fired a few bursts to break the wooden stakes supporting the barbed wire, and the riflemen also fired from time to time, and the bullets whizzed across the edge of the trench and buried in the chest wall behind. The barbed wire was blown up in all directions, and the soldiers of the attacking side quickly drilled into the gap in the barbed wire, and when they were less than thirty meters away from the trench, a rain of hand * grenades flew into the trench that had just been turned over like a crow, and then the soldiers threw away the rifle as the main weapon, picked up the large pistol behind them, well, it was a freshly baked submachine gun, and quickly jumped into the trench, and after a period of strafing, the soldier who changed the magazine continued to rush forward, and the machine gun group that was dragging behind had begun to overshoot the shooting, The second line of trenches began to be suppressed by fire.

"2 minutes and 35 seconds." The officer in charge of the timekeeping hurriedly pinched the time and sighed, "This is too fast." "Everyone is a staff officer, all of them have the experience of leading troops in the grassroots company, this kind of complex and tight fortifications, if it is not for the other party to suddenly show his head and give up the defense, then basically it will take several repeated rushes and fights to have a chance to capture, and the time will never be shorter than half a day.

However, the actual combat drills of these Chinese soldiers opened the eyes of the German staff officers, and the firepower configuration, offensive and defensive formations, tactical movements, and squad command were all not possessed by ordinary German troops; although they did not brave the bloody battle of bullets and bullets, the staff officers all understood that even if the German army came to defend by itself, it might not be able to stop the attack of these Chinese soldiers in the case of equal numbers and equal firepower.

"General Sean, your soldiers are very brave and good at fighting, your tactics are very original, and your weapons are very concise and practical." The old marshal put down his binoculars and admitted very frankly, "If the level of your soldiers has reached this level, I think you will be able to dominate the Far East." ”

"Your Excellency, thank you for your appreciation." Wu Chenxuan respects this old man very much, although he is not as famous as Moltke Sr., Wadsey, and Moltke Jr., but many of the rules and tactical ideas of the German Army were formed when this old man was in office, if Moltke Sr. is the soul shaper of the German army, then Marshal Schlieffen cast Germany? The steel skeleton of the army.

"I have to admit that these are pacesetters in our army, who have been serving for about five years in the army in the position of non-commissioned officer to second lieutenant. Of our 100,000 troops, there are no more than 5,000 soldiers like them, and more than seventy percent of them are recruits within two years, and our military-industrial system cannot support such ammunition consumption. Wu Chenxuan spread his hands, "In fact, such high-intensity tactics are not used in wars in the Far East at all, and economy is often more important in low-intensity conflicts in the Far East." So this tactic is basically tailor-made for European armies on the offensive. ”

"Gentlemen, I hope to see your observations tomorrow after tea." The old marshal's words made the staff officers collectively say goodbye, joking, who dared to disobey the old marshal's expulsion.

"All right, dear General Sean. You don't like the French, and you hate the Russians, and I've got some reliable information about that. The old marshal took coffee and observed Wu Chenxuan's performance from the monocle, "Everything you performed, believe me, only Germany?" Only then can the army bring them to the battlefield. The French are cowards who hide in the trenches and wait for someone to come and change shifts to find a woman to fool around, and the British are more concerned about the safety of the colonies, anyway, they have the protection of the Royal Navy, and the army is dispensable. The Russians, these guys don't even have rifles, His Majesty's money is used to buy vodka, there is no money to sell these weapons, Russia? What the army needed was a million spears and a wagon of liquor. ”

"As you say, Your Excellency Marshal. These European powers will not be interested in this new tactic and weapon, but you know that the American cowboys are still concerned about these, and they have already begun to order. You know, even if they organize a million troops, they will not be able to break through the British fleet to Europe to help Germany enter the war, so I think they would be wise to buy a large number of advanced weapons to help their Anglo-Saxon cousins in Europe when there is a large-scale unpleasantness in Europe, in that case, do not know Germany? Can the army deal with 10 million US troops on top of the 10 million troops of Britain, France, and Russia? ”

"Your Excellency, General, your language is a little disrespectful to a German marshal who has a good impression of the Qing Dynasty." A lieutenant colonel chimed in, his Aryan arrogance coming to his face.

"Really? I'm just telling you one fact. Honestly, Germany? I admire the bravery of the soldiers, but God doesn't favor this country, his strategic location is just too bad, isn't it? Wu Chenxuan smiled: "If it weren't for this, would you need to bother to come up with a quick plan that is almost gambling?" Thirty-nine days to conquer the Champs-Elysées, what do you think if these weapons fall into the hands of the Anglo-French forces, how much will the German right hook have to pay to complete this quick victory? Maybe 30 million or 35 million. ”

"Damn." Although his face was expressionless, Schlieffen understood that this meant his own plan, and that the former top secret of the German army had been leaked: "Your Excellency, I think if you don't mind, we may be able to have a relatively small exchange of views in the conference room of the Hamburg garrison. ”

"What range?"

"You and me." Schliefen gave a rare mischievous wink, "My French may be okay, but of course it may not be as good as yours." ”

"The right flank, with this fortified area of Verdun as the pivot, will be made up of fifty-three divisions to pass through Belgium into France, and will be followed immediately by a second reserve such as the War Reserve. The smaller left flank, consisting of eight divisions, would remain on the Franco-German border. Like a giant revolving door, the Germans, in this pivotal motion, would sweep all the way to the French coast, encircling Paris from the north, west, and south, and then turning to the east. Wu Chenxuan looked at Schliefen who was sitting opposite, and saw that the other party listened attentively, as if this was not his own plan at all, so Wu Chenxuan continued to explain in French.

"Of course, it would have been better if the French soldiers had left their fortress of Lorraine and driven ten German stationary divisions to the Rhine. In such a situation, the Germans advancing east would attack the French from behind. The French fortress artillery only faced Germany, could not turn west to deal with the Germans attacking from the French side, and the French army without the support of the fortress artillery would become Germany in the wilderness? A great meal for the soldiers. That's pretty much the case on the Western Front, am I right, Your Excellency Marshal? Wu Chenxuan smiled and put down the whip, looking at the old marshal who was still staring at the map of Germany and France, although the old marshal had no extra words, but the slightly trembling hands in his sleeves betrayed him, obviously he was very angry or afraid.

In order to avoid the four strong fortresses encountered by the direct attack on France at the beginning of the war, Schlieffen planned that 53 of the 72 divisions of the Western Front would be assigned to the right flank in a roundabout way, and that the detour would have to pass through the Netherlands and avoid the Belgian fortresses of Liège and Namur. Attack or encircle Paris directly into French territory, and then attack from the weak rear of the four French fortresses. The role of the entire right wing was to sweep through France like a scythe. The 10 divisions in the left flank faced Verdun, as the hub of deployment, the deployment of this hub played a crucial role, to avoid the gap between the left and right flanks in the planning process, and specially used the deployment of 10 divisions to fill the vacancy in Verdun. The left flank was deployed at the border with France with 9 divisions, while blocking the French breakthrough while luring the French army deep into German territory, and then the detour troops on the right flank outflanked it from behind and annihilated it in German territory. Brussels, the capital of Belgium, was also within the reach of the German army on the right flank, and it was tentatively estimated that Schlieffen's plan included the annexation of Belgium.

"I have to admit that this is really an option for us, and it is very likely to be chosen." When Marshal Schlieffen spoke, the majesty on his body suddenly collapsed, and there was no obvious change, but Wu Chenxuan could already clearly feel that the old man's spirit was close to collapse. "Germany is too weak, we have no choice. Yes, we have no choice but to take risks and pray for God's grace. ”

From the day this "Schlieffen Plan" was drawn up, even Schlieffen himself had a sense of powerlessness, knowing that his great plan was not a formula for victory, but an extremely risky gamble. He used to say that we are too weak (toowea*k) for such great things. He served as Chief of Staff for 15 years and failed to expand the German Army to the number needed to achieve its plans. He had thought that at least eight "ersatzcorps" should be cobbled together, but this ideal was not achieved. It would be too much to hope that even Schlieffen, a strong old marshal, could do it, and that the cowardly little Moltke could do it.

The real reason is An? For the entire decade of the early twentieth century, Germany was ostensibly strong and prosperous, but in reality it was strong on the outside. Wilhelm II was so pleased that on the one hand, he engaged in a naval shipbuilding race with Great Britain (which proved to be dependent only on submarine warfare), and on the other hand, he did not make a reasonable distribution and mobilization of combat power. So by the time the war began in 1914, France had recruited 80 percent of its total age men, while Germany had recruited only 50 percent. France's total military manpower was only 60% of Germany's, and France was able to mobilize 62 divisions, while Germany had only 87 divisions. This responsibility was, of course, the responsibility of Wilhelm II and his government, but Moltke Jr. (and even Schlieffen) were not without responsibility. The Germans intended to hide their war intentions, just like a kindergarten child who does not admit that he has a balloon in his hand behind his back, but everyone can see the big red balloon swaying from side to side behind his head, such a strategy of hiding has no effect at all except to delay his own mobilization, and even a wandering painter in Lisbon in 1908 knew that the Germans would provoke a life-and-death war with France in a few years.

Moltke predicted in 1890 that the next war might take seven years (or even 30 years) because the resources and intensity of the modern state are too great to be forced to lose the ability to fight in a single battle. Moltke put it more thoroughly in 1906: "It is a national war, not a decisive battle, and it must be exhausted after a long and bitter war, otherwise a country will not give in, and in such a war, even if it is victorious, it will not be worth the loss." "The Crown's saying is that there are only losers and no winners in this kind of war. Although Schlieffen planned to solve this problem by a quick victory, even Schlieffen himself understood that Germany had neither the strength nor the luck to carry out this seemingly perfect plan.

"Your Excellency, if Germany can meet my conditions, I think I can offer a low-cost and cost-effective option." Wu Chenxuan waved his hand, and an internal guard soldier came in, turned on the light on the projection on the table, and in the sound of Bibi Lulu rolling the film, the old marshal's distracted gray eyes gradually became sharp and burning, and he didn't notice Wu Chenxuan's signature smile of a profiteer behind him at all.

A demon, a demon that would wreak havoc on the European continent in a few years, taking away thousands of living beings, will be unleashed, and it is the old and the young in this ordinary conference room on the second floor of the Hamburg Military District that will open this box...