With an area of just over 2,000 square kilometers, Luxembourg is the smallest pocket country in Western Europe, located between Germany, France and Belgium. If the border between Germany and France, which stretches for hundreds of kilometres www.biquge.info, is compared to a gate, Luxembourg's geographical location and transportation network are equivalent to the axis of this gate, and if it cannot be opened by its turn, it will be broken with ten times the force.

Because of its important geographical value, Luxembourg has been a battleground since ancient times, and it has been invaded by different countries again and again, and has been ravaged by wars. Since the 15th century alone, Luxembourg has been ruled by Spain, France, Austria and other countries for more than 400 years, during which time it has been destroyed by war more than 20 times. In order to defend against foreign enemies, the Luxembourgers have built many fortified castles, and the small Luxembourg has become the famous "country of a thousand castles", but due to the terrible destructive power of modern warfare, the Luxembourgers are unwilling to let their country be scorched again, so in the scorching summer of 1914, this small country with a population of less than 500,000 chose not to resist in the face of powerful invaders, and surrendered all the land and the extensive railway system to the German army.

As a compliment to the Luxembourgers' cooperating, the German army adopted a relatively lenient occupation policy towards Luxembourg during the war. When Natsuki came to Luxembourg for the second time after the outbreak of war, many shops were open as usual, residents were deliberately unfettered during the day, and German soldiers with neat faces and easy-going expressions could be seen drinking coffee and shopping for goods. Even so, the wary and indifferent eyes of every Luxembourger reminded the Germans that it was unwelcome for them to enter Luxembourg by force.

Soon after the German corps had fully crossed the border, Moltke the Younger moved with his Army General Staff from home to Luxembourg, further to the front, where he took full command of operations on both the eastern and western fronts. The military system of the Second German Reich basically followed the well-known Prussian General Staff system, during the war, the General Staff was the highest command body of the entire armed forces, directly responsible to the Kaiser himself, and in most cases, the Kaiser did not interfere in specific military affairs, and the chief of the General Staff was the core person who really determined the war strategy.

In a castle of the Luxembourg monarch, Archduchess Adellaid, Natsuki meets the haggard little Moltke and the sullen Wilhelm II. In order to witness the decisive victory on the Western Front, Kaiser Wilhelm II and a number of royal family members and dignitaries arrived here, setting up a military base in the occupied territory for the first time since the outbreak of the war. Contrary to the expectations of most senior German officers, the Allied forces launched a massive counterattack on the lower Marne in the face of gradual defeat and demoralization, and after three days of fierce fighting, the situation of the Kluke Corps on the right flank of the German army was precarious, and the Bülow Corps was also in danger of being repulsed, and although the reinforcements of the Hausn and Albrecht Corps arrived in time, their soldiers were also exhausted by the days of marching. The situation on the Western Front was changing subtly from moment to moment, and it was too early to say that the German army would be defeated, but judging from the situation on both fronts, the opportunity to defeat France in one fell swoop was fading......

"Three naval brigades?"

The Kaiser touched his upturned beard and glanced at Helmut von Moltke, who looked like a little daughter-in-law. The chief of the army general staff has always been cold-eyed to the formation of a marine unit in the German Navy, and he has neither explicitly opposed nor actively supported it. Now that the last reserve division of the Western Front had been put into battle, he was so anxious that he had nothing to do in the face of the telegrams from the commanders of the legions asking for reinforcements, and suddenly three well-trained and well-equipped brigades joined the battlefield, and he could not ask for anything in his heart, if these three brigades could have the shocking performance of the naval chariot unit, the gloom on his brow could be reduced by half, to say the least.

However, Prince Joachim did not say directly how the three naval brigades would be deployed, and Moltke deliberately probed: "Your Majesty, since the navy is convinced that the transfer of these marine units will not affect the defense of the home coast, we can deploy these naval units in Belgium to replace Sigmund's 32nd Infantry Division and Lescher's cavalry brigade, and let them go to Reims by train and force their march to support Kluk." I don't know what you think? ”

The Kaiser gave a noncommittal "um" and then asked Natsuki what his plans were.

Since Moltke did not exclude naval forces from entering the battlefield on the Western Front, Natsuki unhurriedly came up with a combat plan discussed by the Navy's high-level combat meeting: assemble ferries at the ports of Wilhelm, Hamburg, Bremen, and other ports, and let the marines swagger through the city, so that the enemy, a German naval general, would launch a landing operation with the victory of the Second Battle of Flanders, and secretly transport the troops of three Marine brigades to northern France and launch a surprise attack from Amiens in the direction of Paris.

The Kaiser had always favored such imaginative tactics rather than how feasible they were, Moltke pursued a cautious and measured strategy, preferring to follow the rules rather than take risks. So after listening to Xia Shu's statement, one of them kept nodding their heads, and the other shook their heads again and again, their attitudes were obvious.

"More than 100 kilometers from Amiens to Paris, it takes at least three corps to have a chance of victory." Moltke Jr. said.

Natsuki retorted gently: "As far as I know, many of the enemy's divisions and brigades originally deployed in northern France have been transferred to the Marne River to participate in the battle, and the rotation of the past is only a few disabled divisions, and the number of troops does not seem to have decreased, but the actual combat effectiveness has decreased a lot. ”

Moltke's tone was not impatient, but the content was very pertinent: "What His Highness said is true, but even if the enemy only has half a legion of troops, it is much more than the number of our three naval brigades. In the present situation, even if we do not withdraw troops from northern France, it will be difficult to provide military support for His Highness's plans. In case the commander of the naval forces puts the troops in a difficult situation because of lack of experience......"

Hearing the meaning of Moltke's words, the Kaiser's hopeful face suddenly became gloomy. It is true that the German Marine Corps has been formed for a long time, and the soldiers have undergone formal combat training and the level of equipment is also ideal, but the young officer corps has generally not been tempered by the war, and most of the generals of the German Army have experienced the Franco-Prussian War, although they are low-ranking officers or even ordinary soldiers at that time, but at least they know what war is.

Natsuki was silent for a moment, and looked at Wilhelm II with a confident and determined gaze: "I will personally command them to fight." ”

Moltke wanted to refute, but hesitated for a moment and did not speak.

The German fleet defeated the British Navy again and again, and its performance far exceeded the expectations of the Chinese people, and Natsuki's image in the mind of Wilhelm II gradually became deified, but even so, the Kaiser still raised questions that Moltke did not explicitly say: "Jochen, in the naval world, you are definitely a genius once in a hundred years, but land warfare is very different from naval warfare, and the positions of chief of staff and commander are also different, you ...... Identifying a position that competes as an Army commander? ”

"Sure." Natsuki replied without thinking, but he saw that the Kaiser still had concerns, and Moltke Jr. also had a gloomy face and did not say a word, so he decisively resorted to the strategy of retreating as advance: "Your Majesty, although I myself have full confidence in myself, your worries are not unreasonable. To be on the safe side, we can place three naval brigades under the command of an army general, and I myself will continue to serve in the post of chief of staff that I do best. ”

This alternative did not completely satisfy Moltke Jr., but it had reached the Kaiser's psychological bottom line, and he immediately asked Natsuki if he had a suitable candidate.

"General Oskar von Hurtier, 1st Guards Division." Natsuki replied.

Neither the Kaiser nor Moltke Jr. was too unfamiliar with this name. After all, the 1st Guards Division was a Prussian ace unit with high hopes, and during his long military career, the noble-born von Hurtier alternately served as a staff officer and a front-line commander, both under Moltke the Elder and as a staff assistant to Moltke the Younger. Historically, Huttier is known for his infantry assault group tactic, which is also widely regarded as the prototype of the German mechanized blitzkrieg. It is worth mentioning that in his early years of training at the Richfield Non-commissioned Officer School, Hurtier was highly praised by Paul von Hindenburg, and was recommended to serve in the Army General Staff after graduation, and Erich von Ludendorff happened to be his cousin, and the ability and connections enabled the historical Huttier to be promoted from major general to army general in just three years from 1914 to 1917.

The reason why Xia Shu chose Huttier was not just a choice. He and Hurtier have known each other for many years, and their first meeting stemmed from the brief time that Natsuki helped Crown Prince William plan the autumn parade, and they were impressed by each other's open and flexible tactical thinking, and have maintained correspondence since then, and after the establishment of the Marine Corps, Natsuki invited Hurtier several times to give lectures to young officers, and also hired him as a visiting professor at the Danzig Naval School. Because of this relationship, Huttier knew more about the Marines than most German army generals, and his excellent command ability and steel-like character were very well proven in the past month, when the 1st Guards Division became the best and most successful infantry division of the Bülow Army, for which Huttier himself was awarded the Iron Cross twice.

The Kaiser did not say anything, but Moltke suddenly remembered something, and he called the adjutant to confess a few words. After a short time, the lieutenant returned with a telegram, which Moltke presented to Wilhelm II, and the German Emperor glanced at him and said, "If General Hurtier himself has no objection, let us appoint him acting commander of the three Marine Brigades!" How about provisionally renumbering them as the 1st Marine Division? ”

At this time, little Moltke Fang glanced at Xia Shu with a resentful expression, and he obviously fell into the logical trap dug by the other party. At present, as soon as Kaiser Chrysostom is opened, the matter is a foregone conclusion, if the Marine Corps is defeated, the problem will not be so bad, if it can win by surprise, it will also be a blessing for the whole country, but the position of the German Army in the country may have to completely give way to Tirpitz's great navy.

(End of chapter)