Chapter 483: Defensive Counterattack (Asking for a Monthly Pass)

After Marshal Xia Fei's speech, the ordinary generals all left the conference room. They needed to rush back to their troops as soon as possible www.biquge.info prepare for the German attack. No one knows when the German offensive will begin. Therefore, it is best to prepare early, so as not to be caught off guard by the German army.

The commanders of several army groups, however, remained. They also had urgent military situations to discuss with Marshal Xia Fei.

After those ordinary generals left, the atmosphere in the conference room also became solemn.

"Gentlemen, those words just now are just to boost everyone's morale. I hope that you, as commanders of army groups, do not take it seriously. You know, our enemies are still very strong. After half a year of preparation, we will face an even greater threat from them. This time the battle is crucial. If we can't stop the German attack, then everything is over! The French Republic will be finished, and so will the British Empire! Marshal Xia Fei said with a serious face.

The generals of the Anglo-French alliance also had solemn faces. They all knew that Marshal Xia Fei was not alarmist. This is a very real situation. The Entente, or rather, Britain and France, were already in an extremely unfavorable situation in this war. If you don't get it right, you'll be defeated in the end. Once it fails, the consequences can be imagined.

"According to the information we have, the Germans have completed their preparations. Not far from here, Reims was the headquarters of the German army. This battle will be personally commanded by the German crown prince. However, he seems to have mistaken us as weak Russians, thinking that we are as vulnerable as the Russians. Marshal Xia Fei continued.

"Isn't the German crown prince only in his twenties? It was child's play that Wilhelm II dared to hand over so many troops to him for command. A middle-aged general shook his head. He was a general in the British Army, commander of the 2nd Army of the British Expeditionary Force, General Roy.

"Perhaps Wilhelm II was deceived by the performance of the German Crown Prince on the Eastern Front! The Western Front is not the Eastern Front, and we are not poorly equipped and vulnerable Russians. "The commander of the French 2nd Army, Decarthy? Admiral Terno said.

"Haha!" The generals laughed. Indeed, they have the right to laugh. The strength of the Anglo-French alliance is indeed much stronger than that of the Russian army. Therefore, they did not believe that the Germans were capable of defeating them as easily as the Russian army. In their opinion, this is absolutely impossible.

"All right, everybody. Let's be serious! The German army opposite us had four army groups and more than 800,000 men. Although, we have already assembled six army groups on this line of the Marne, 1.2 million men. However, I still have no bottom in my heart. I hope that in the next battle, our army will be able to withstand the German attack. Even if you try your best, Yun must resist them, and try your best to consume their vitality. Marshal Xia Fei said.

"Your Excellency, we have built a strong fortification south of the Marne. These fortifications, consisting of trenches and barbed wire, were sure to withstand the German attack. The commander of the French 6th Army, General Maunuri, said.

"Your Excellency, what are we going to do with the German tanks? The German tanks played a great role in the Eastern Front. The reason why the German 8th Army was able to defeat the Russian army on the Eastern Front was that tanks played a great role. Admiral Foch, commander of the French 9th Army, asked with some concern.

"We are already actively working on tanks. But, unfortunately, we did not have a similar design at all, and we were only able to copy it after the German tank. But there are a lot of internal structures that we don't know. So, the progress of imitation is a bit slow. Mass production is expected to begin at the end of this year. The progress on the British side is about the same. So, until now, we have not been able to supply tanks to the troops. Marshal Xia Fei said.

With the help of Qin Tian, Germany took the lead in developing tanks and equipping troops, which also played a very big role in actual combat. Britain and France, by contrast, have been left far behind in this regard. This made it difficult for the Anglo-French forces to suffer if they encountered German tanks in battle.

Sure enough, after hearing such words, the smiles on the faces of the generals of the British and French coalition suddenly disappeared completely.

"But, folks, we haven't been able to develop a tank. However, we have developed weapons that can restrain tanks. Aren't all those weapons already equipped with troops? Believe our scientists and engineers, those weapons will definitely make a great difference in battle! Marshal Xia Fei said.

In the event that the tank could not be put into service as soon as possible, Britain and France jointly developed an anti-tank gun and an anti-tank gun. The former was based on the British Army's two-pounder gun, with a strengthened barrel and an increased rate of fire, giving it good armor-piercing capabilities. The latter is a large-caliber rifle capable of firing 13 mm rounds. This rifle bullet has an extremely strong armor-piercing ability and is capable of penetrating the armor of ordinary tanks.

After the large-scale production of anti-tank guns and anti-tank guns in Britain and France, the British and French forces were equipped with quite a few. This made them at least not helpless in the face of German tanks, as the Russians did.

"Your Excellency Marshal, in the face of the German attack, can we only blindly defend? That's not good. "said the commander of the 4th French Army, Colonel Nevel.

"Alright, I'll do my best to figure it out when it comes to armaments. Your task is to hold the line and inflict as much damage as possible on the Germans. Get ready for a follow-up counteroffensive. I hope you will be able to do that. In this way, we will be able to defeat the Germans in future battles. Marshal Xia Fei said.

The tactics discussed between Marshal Xia Fei and the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Sir French, was to defend and counterattack, first relying on strong fortifications to resist the German attack and deplete the German army's vital forces. Then gather superior forces and launch a counterattack to defeat the German army in one fell swoop. Therefore, at the beginning of the battle, it is undoubtedly the most important thing to resist the German attack. If it is impossible to withstand the German attack, let alone any follow-up counterattack.