Those who have tickets smash tickets, and those who don't have tickets smash people!!!

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Paris, France.

The day after Falkenhein arrived here, he convened a military conference on the Western Front in the name of the chief of the General Staff, on the one hand, announcing that he had officially succeeded Moltke Jr., and on the other hand, naturally for the sake of the war situation here, the Kaiser's patience was not very good.

When Chentian's 8th Army, the East Prussian Army, arrived on the Western Front, the eight main German armies gathered on the Western Front, and the main generals of the eight armies attended the meeting on this day.

In addition to Falkenhein, there were also the commander of the 1st Army, General Billo of the 2nd Army, General Hausen, the 3rd Army, the Duke of Württemberg of the 4th Army, the German Crown Prince of the 5th Army, the Bavarian **** Ruprecht of the 6th Army, and General Heringen of the 7th Army, as well as the commander of the Cavalry Corps, General Mawitz, and General Ludendorff, then Chief of Staff of the Second Army.

In the corner of the conference room, little Moltke, who had been dismissed, sat there with a blank face. Although Falkenhayn had de facto taken his place, none of this was announced, so Moltke the Younger would attend every future military meeting, but no one would consult him or take him seriously, which was the best punishment for him.

Chen Tian silently observed the expressions of the other generals, and after the defeat of the attack on the French Seine line, the level of frustration on everyone's faces varied. Some had no expression on their cold faces, others frowned, and in short, the welcome to the new Chief of the General Staff in this atmosphere was more like a mourning ceremony for the dead.

Crown Prince Prince, who was sitting next to Chentian, was surprisingly quiet today, neither expressing his welcome nor dissatisfaction, he just said hello when he took his seat, and then sat there with a sad face. In the previously concluded Second Battle of the Seine, Prince's 5th Army suffered the heaviest casualties. As for how miserable it was, Chen Tian opened the report in front of him and took a cursory look, this statistical report that had just come out this morning really startled him.

The previous 7 armies of the Western Front basically participated in the campaign to attack the French Seine defense line, with the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th armies as the main attackers, while Prince and his 5th army were the main arrows of the assault. As a result, after four days of fighting, the German casualties reached 230,000, of which the casualties of Prince's division reached 21%, and the loss of equipment was even more serious.

If he hadn't seen this report with his own eyes, Chen Tian couldn't believe that the attacking side with the advantage would have become like this, he glanced at the little Moltke in the corner again, it seems that this guy will not give up without his own stupidity to bury the victory of Germany. Looking at his pitiful appearance, Chen Tian didn't bother to humiliate him at all.

However, the report in front of him only contained casualty data, and did not introduce the course of the battle and the reasons for the defeat, so Chen Tian actively waited for the battle summary at the meeting to solve this mystery that he couldn't figure out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to be here to meet you, and although our army has just suffered a defeat, there is no doubt about our great superiority over the French. I hope that I can lead the German officers and soldiers here to victory together with you! The main character here, Falkenhein, spoke, and the reaction of the crowd was not enthusiastic, but out of politeness and respect, everyone still turned their attention to the new chief of the General Staff.

"In addition, our esteemed Prince of East Prussia and the 8th Army also came to the Western Front after the victorious conclusion of the Eastern Front, and I think His Royal Highness will not hesitate to bring their good fortune here on the Eastern Front." This time there was finally a relatively neat round of applause, and Chen Tian deeply felt that winning the respect of others did not rely on his identity, but on his own strength and performance. The victory he and the East Prussian Army won on the Eastern Front seemed to have been recognized by these people, and even Prince barely bothered to pat his head on the face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I feel very honored to be able to fight alongside all of you!" Chen Tian stood up and said hello to everyone briefly. With the exception of Prince and Moltke Jr., he didn't know much of the other generals either. As for the legendary Ludendorff, who was first-class in strategy and tactics, he personally did not particularly appreciate it, after all, the guy in history lost even the courage to fight when the war was almost over.

"We are also honored to be able to fight together with His Royal Highness the Prince, who wiped out a million Russian troops with 200,000 people! I hope that the prince will also be able to let the French have a good taste of the strength of our Eastern Front Corps, as he did on the Eastern Front! "It was General Kluk who spoke, and his army group was by far the most prominent on the Western Front.

Of course, Prince's 5th Army also had a good record, breaking through the border, capturing Verdun, and occupying Paris, but the casualties of his troops in the battle remained high, and a large number of new recruits were bound to have a certain impact on combat effectiveness.

"Well, now let's all get a look at the situation here, and you can add to it at any time when I report!" Falkenhein glanced at the crowd, and after no one expressed disagreement, he began to speak:

"At present, the entire army of our army in France includes 8 army groups plus 1 cavalry corps, with a total strength of 2,173,421 men, and after the replenishment and strengthening of new recruits, the current number of our army is 2,647,533. With the support of the 8th Army's air force, our army now has a total of 905 aircraft of various types in France. There are 17,355 cannons of various types, more than 400 rounds of artillery shells, 1,033 tanks, 1,457 armored vehicles, 5,612 trucks for combat and transportation, and 12,457 motorcycles. ”

"The French army had about 830,000 troops deployed on the Seine Line, and their reinforcements were constantly coming from the south of France, and it was estimated that by the end of October the French army would number more than a million. At present, 58 divisions of the five French armies are deployed on the Seine River defense line with Versailles as the center and 156 kilometers wide from north to south, and the defense system includes 7 fortresses and 21 fortresses, and the depth of the defense line in each region is 1-3 kilometers. The French had more than 4,000 artillery pieces and an ominous number of trucks, and about 10,000 British soldiers fighting alongside the French, but the British troops' lack of weapons and ammunition and low morale were almost impossible to consider in battle. ”

At this point, Falkenhain paused for a moment and turned his gaze to the group again, "Do you have anything to add or correct?" ”

"Uh...... At present, the French army includes the French Foreign Legion, which is small in number but extremely combative, including Africans, Arabs and Asians. In the previous battles, the troops of our army group that crossed the Seine were met with a frantic counterattack by this army! Kluke said a little depressedly, being able to meet a small number of French Foreign Legions on a long front may be regarded as winning the lottery.

"Asian?" Chen Tian thought about it, it should be the Vietnamese recruited by France in the Vietnamese colony, and it seems that the combatants in this war are becoming more and more complicated.

"The most infuriating thing is that those fools in the intelligence department can't even figure out the specific number and location of the French artillery, and our biggest mistake in this campaign is that we didn't knock out the French artillery positions, resulting in our army being attacked by the French when crossing the river, most of the pontoon bridges were damaged, and the troops who had crossed the river were trapped on the other side of the river. The three tank regiments of our army group that crossed the river first could not advance or retreat, and as a result, my tankmen could only swim back in embarrassment after blowing up the tanks! In my opinion, the man who insisted on attacking without suppressing the enemy's artillery fire should be pulled out and shot! Prince suddenly stood up angrily, slamming his fist on the table, and everyone present was stunned for a moment. Especially little Moltke, Chen Tian seems to be able to feel that he is shivering like a leaf in the wind at this time, and it is not a good thing to be targeted by the crown prince.

Chen Tian didn't feel injustice for Prince, with this guy's character, if he had been aware of this before the attack, he would not have obediently carried out Moltke's orders. After the attack failed, he dragged the hapless little Moltke out to pay for all the blame for the defeat.

After Prince's mood eased a little, Falkenhain spoke:

"Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has mentioned it, let's now make a summary of the battles that ended before! Our army invested a total of 1.69 million men in 86 divisions, more than 10,000 artillery pieces, and more than 700 combat planes to launch a comprehensive river-crossing attack on the French defense line along the Seine, with a total of 32 river crossing sites. Before the attack, our troops carried out a whole day of artillery bombardment and bombardment, but because the French artillery was all hidden in the bunkers, and our troops did not know the specific location of the opponent's artillery positions, the French artillery retained at least 80% of the firepower when the attack was launched. ”

"Our first wave of attack invested about 700,000 soldiers in 36 divisions, using the forced crossing method of erecting pontoon bridges and boat ferries, after our vanguard troops reached the other side of the river, the French suddenly carried out a long and heavy artillery bombardment of the river, and the troops who were crossing the river were heavily damaged, and the pontoon bridges and boats also suffered heavy losses, as a result, more than 100,000 soldiers were stranded on the opposite bank, and were fiercely counterattacked by the French army. In the end, less than 30,000 people swam and retreated, and almost all the equipment that had already crossed the river was lost. ”

"So far, we have lost a total of 231,061 wounded, dead and missing soldiers in this battle, lost 3 aircraft, 165 artillery pieces, 172 tanks and 154 armored vehicles. Thankfully, the officers and men of the tank and armored forces blew up most of the tanks and armored vehicles before retreating, although I think a small number of tanks and armored vehicles still fell into the hands of the French. ”

After Falkenhain finished speaking, everyone was silent, although these losses were very embarrassing to them, but they were indisputable facts.

"Oh God!" Chen Tian then understood why there were so many casualties in this battle, the decision-maker of the battle, Mr. Moltke Jr., relied on his own strength to force the river, but was half-crossed and attacked, this chief of the general staff is not an ordinary nest. As for those tanks and armored vehicles, it seemed necessary to speed up the pace of exterminating the French army, trying not to give the French time to study and imitate this mechanized weapon.

"The French artillery only required a range to cover the Seine, so most of them were deployed at a distance from the river banks, and our artillery could hardly reach them. And the artillery positions of the French were so well hidden that it was difficult for our planes to detect them, and even if they did, it would be difficult to destroy those that were hiding under fortified bunkers. The French were also constantly reinforcing and setting up new artillery positions, often taking advantage of the night to move them. If this problem is not solved for a day, it will be more difficult to capture the defense line of the Seine than to ascend to the sky. "It was General Hagenlin, the former Minister of War, who seemed to have a deep hatred for the French artillery.

"Is there no way around this line of defense?" Chen Tian asked cautiously, why is it better to ask more questions and express fewer opinions when you first come, and besides, there are some things that cannot be seen on the map.

For the newcomers on the Western Front, General Kluke kindly explained: "I'm afraid it's very difficult! The Seine is like a large fence that stretches from the coast to the interior of France, blocking large swaths of central and southern France from its back. If we want to go around, we have to take a detour back to the place close to Switzerland, where although the French army is weakly defended, but our logistics and transportation lines are also much longer, and the distance of the Seine River can almost cross most of France! ”

Chen Tian nodded, it seems that the danger factor of a detour is higher than a frontal attack, and it is undoubtedly stupid to pull a long transportation line on the enemy's territory, not to mention that the current tanks have to refuel once when they go dozens of kilometers, and they do not have the ability to run long distances for the time being.

"I think it's enough to use poison gas, poison all the French! Let them be arrogant, huh! Billo's proposal was immediately met with nods of approval from several generals.

Falkenhain did not speak.

Is the use of poison gas still inevitable? Chen Tian thought to himself in his heart, he didn't really want to see the use of poison gas in war, it would be best if he could defeat his opponent with only conventional weapons. He always had a very ambivalent view of poison gas. After the Germans used poison gas, the French army would soon return a tooth for a tooth, which would be very cruel to the soldiers killed by the gas on both sides, but if the Germans did not use poison gas, who could guarantee that the French would not throw it into the battlefield first?

"But how much damage can our poison gas do to the French artillery in the bunker, and besides, the number of our poison gas shells is not many for the time being, and I am afraid that it will not cover many French artillery positions! Even if the French artillery in the front of the assault is killed, the French artillery fire in other positions can still shell our river-crossing troops! "The Duke of Württemberg doesn't seem to be very supportive of the use of poison gas.

"Our artillery can't reach their artillery positions, aerial bombs can't penetrate their artillery bunkers, and the French have finally become smart! Xia Fei is Xia Fei, fame is not blown! For the creator of the miracle of the Upper Marne, Chen Tian felt that the battle on the Western Front was much more interesting than on the Eastern Front.

"Oh well! Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our business for today. I hope that everyone will go back and gather the officers of their respective units to sum up the experience of this campaign, and at the same time the various army groups will seize the time to rest and recuperate, and we will try to end the battle on the Seine this month! Falkenhein paused, "There are still 10 days to go, I hope you will work hard!" ”

Everyone got up and left one by one with the same blank faces as they had at the beginning, and there was nothing exciting about today's meeting. Especially Prince, this guy who has never been frustrated seems to have really been hit this time, and he doesn't know how long the bitter gourd face will last, and he left without saying hello in the end.

Chen Tian didn't bother to pay attention to this guy, but Falkenhain warmly invited him to inspect the front line together.

"It's an honor!" Chen Tian also wanted to see with his own eyes what kind of line of defense it was.