On an autumn afternoon, the bright sun shines on the unsheltered fields. The dazzling halo of pen and fun www.biquge.info and the sultry air vaguely evoke people's memories of summer. In the vicinity of the stadium in the western suburbs of Amiens, the dry wheat fields were full of charred craters, the corpses of British riders and horses had not been cleaned up, and the shocking images were filled with the remains of hundreds of the dead.

Shortly after the slaughter of the elite British cavalry units, about two regiments of British infantry menaced the German airfield and heavy artillery positions. Although the infantry was superior to the cavalry, they lost the possibility of gunboat support when they reached the western outskirts of Amiens, and their field artillery was small in number and slow in movement, and the range and power were not enough to compete with the German train guns. In the face of the unprecedentedly powerful three-dimensional defense of the German marines, except for a few more German firepower points in the battle, the sacrifice of the British infantry failed to exchange for any breakthrough.

With a crisp roar, a gray-painted Hubert-E attack aircraft landed smoothly. While the plane was still taxiing, the bombardier and machine gunner in the back seat made a triumphant gesture to his companion on the ground, and when the plane was stable, the guy couldn't wait to climb out of the cockpit and excitedly shouted, "The British are retreating!" We kicked them in the ass hard! ”

Natsuki and Colonel von Lipseye were standing not far away, and when they heard the news, their facial expressions were like a breeze blowing on the surface of a lake, with only faint ripples, which was not only due to cultivation and character, but also to control the situation calmly. Since the night before, the British expeditionary force that landed at Abbeville had launched five attacks in Amiens, but it had failed to break through the German defenses, but had lost its troops and demoralized, and the situation on the Western Front simply did not allow them to continue to wear down with the German defenders, and this British army, which was considerable in strength and sharp combat power, had fallen into a dilemma.

"Hey, Ludvik!"

The Colonel beckoned to the pilot in the front seat of the cockpit, and the well-mannered young pilot seemed calm and calm compared to his somewhat overly excited companion, and he stepped on the wings of the plane unhurriedly, walked up to Colonel Lipseye and Natsuki, took off his high-quality flight gloves, and saluted them generously and decently.

"Your Highness, this is Second Lieutenant Ludwijk von Genennert, our number one flying ace." Colonel Lipseye introduced Natsuki.

"We've met." Natsuki shook hands with the young pilot, who was half a head taller than himself and a little too thin, and said, "At last year's Hamburg International Air Race, Ludwik was the third place winner. ”

"The Colonel was the champion of that competition, but he was our number one ace here." The lieutenant said humbly.

"Only those who can fly are trump cards." Colonel Lipseye replied, "I have not carried out a single combat mission since the beginning of the war. ”

"Commanders have the responsibilities of commanders, and responsible men deserve respect." Natsuki said this sentence almost without thinking, but when he came back to his senses, he found that it seemed to remind himself that when he realized his ambitions one by one in the war and continued to gain the glory of the world, on the other side of the English Channel, there was a woman who was deeply entangled in contradictions because she fell in love with her.

"Your Highness, the British troops are retreating west-north." Ensign von Geennate said to Natsuki in a rational tone, "It looks like they are in a state of panic and chaos, but in fact they are in good order, and I think their morale has not been broken. ”

Natsuki was a little distracted because he thought of Charlotte, but he still heard the meaning of the second lieutenant's expression clearly, and commented more objectively: "It was a completely professional army, just like the ancient Roman legions more than a thousand years ago, they were more disciplined, obedient, tenacious, brave, tenacious, and difficult to deal with than ordinary armies." ”

Colonel Lipseye took over: "It is fortunate that we are the side with absolute superiority in aviation power. Before dark, we were able to keep a firm grasp of the whereabouts of the British troops. ”

"And constantly attacked them with bombs and machine guns." The second lieutenant added, "In most cases, dropping bombs is more lethal and deterrent than machine-gun fire, especially against cavalry." ”

Bombs have the power of bombs, machine guns and machine guns, before the emergence of rockets and guided weapons, they have always been the two fists of the aviation troops, there is no need to distinguish between the superior, but Xia Shu did not deny the second lieutenant's view, but depicted the future battlefield from the perspective of historical development: "When aviation technology develops for another ten or twenty years, it will be possible to defeat a ground force by relying on aircraft forces alone, and the competition in the air will be dozens of times more fierce than today." ”

While the three were talking, two gray open-top cars were driving from the direction of Amiens. A few minutes later, Brigadier General William Grientz stood in front of Natsuki and said in his loud and hearty voice: "Great, Your Royal Highness, you repelled the attack of one regiment of cavalry and two regiments of infantry of the British with only four battalions. ”

Natsuki and Grientz are old acquaintances, and despite the age difference of more than 20 years, the tone of conversation is like that of a close friend - Natsuki admires Grientz's ability and is very satisfied with his personality, so he chooses him as commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade among three candidates. Grientz admired Natsuki's talent and admired his incredible strategies.

"You didn't come all the way to congratulate us, did you?" Natsuki quipped.

Grientz didn't sell it, and he asked the adjutant to take a piece of paper from his briefcase and present it to Natsuki.

"This is a secret telegram that has just been sent from the headquarters of the 2nd Army Corps."

Before reading the contents of the telegram, Natsuki had a rough guess in his heart, glanced at it, and his premonition came true: General Bülow had ordered two rested infantry divisions to assemble and board in Namur and Mons in Belgium, and to arrive in Amiens by the morning of the next day at the latest, even if more British troops landed in Abwey, there would be little chance of capturing Amiens.

After carefully reading the contents of the message for the second time, Natsuki asked Brigadier General Grientz: "What do you suggest?" ”

Grienz replied with naval humor: "The English will have to wait until after the end of the war, when they are supposed to be travelers." ”

Natsuki smiled knowingly, and after talking to Colonel Lipseye for a long time, he never had such a relaxed expression on his face.

Grientz wasn't just joking, his next remarks were to Natsuki's operational concerns.

"But now there is a question of where the British will go if they withdraw from the Amiens front."

Natsuki immediately replied, "In fact, they are retreating in the direction of the sea. ”

Grienz was not surprised that he had not yet received the news of this hot and new thing. He crossed his hands on his hips and thought for a moment: "Are they ready to withdraw to England?" Or retreat to a coastal position protected by warships? ”

The next topic seemed to have little to do with naval aviation, but Natsuki still invited Colonel Lipseyer, Second Lieutenant Jeannat, and Brigadier General Grienz over for a cup of coffee.

After taking the first sip of rich and mellow coffee, Natsuki said: "If I were the commander of the British army, I would never give up the attack at this time. The war on the Western Front has reached a crucial stage, and we are the superior and active side, so we can sit here and drink a cup of coffee quietly, while France and Britain are at risk of losing the war, and we can only turn the tide with all our might. ”

"That's right." "Maybe they're retreating just to let our guard down and wait until it's dark before turning around and giving us a surprise attack." ”

"It's likely, but it's very unlikely." Natsuki paused, "I'm guessing that the British commander will march on Paris. ”

Both Colonel Lipseye and Ensign Jeannath expressed surprise at Natsuki's inference, and it was clear that the situation could turn very bad once the British expeditionary force reached the front line in Paris, and the German army and navy, which had just won victory at the Oise, would be caught in the flanks of the Allied forces.

Grientz immediately responded: "This is also the question I have been thinking about on the way - how to prevent the British army from going to Paris. Supposedly, we have just thwarted the British attack, and it is the best time to launch a counter-assault, but we have so few troops that they can easily repel our counterattack unless the British troops have lost their normal fighting order. ”

Natsuki was delighted to be able to get the sympathy of Grienz, saying, "While you were on the road, we also happened to discuss the possibility of launching a counterattack. According to the observations of our best ace pilots, the British troops deliberately put on a false appearance of retreat in order to lure us into pursuit. ”

Grientz snorted coldly to show his contempt for the British commander. To the east from Amiens was the heavily defended front of the Crook Corps, and the British Expeditionary Force was dominated by infantry cavalry, lacking air support and ground artillery. To the west of Amiens was the German line of communication leading to the Paris front, and the British could temporarily cut it off with weak garrisons, but this would not have a major impact on the German frontline offensive for a few days, and only a march on foot to the line of the Oise River would have an immediate effect.

Natsuki continued: "Based on aerial reconnaissance, we estimate that this British force has 25,000 to 30,000 men, and cavalry accounts for a quarter. Excluding the wounded, wounded, and a few captured by us, they still had at least fifteen thousand troops, and between two and three thousand cavalry. The railway line from Amiens to the Oise River will certainly not be needed by them, and this journey, the fastest for cavalry is one day, and the fastest for infantry is two days, and we have enough time to find out their movements. If they do want to go to Paris, we'll follow them. ”

With a similar way of thinking, Grienz quickly grasped Natsuki's intentions: "Attack Abwehr? ”

"Yes, take Abwehr!" Natsuki nodded vigorously, "Turn the war materials transported ashore by the British army into our trophies, encircle the Allied forces in northeastern France and northwestern Belgium into our land encirclement, and at the same time use aviation units to constantly attack the British troops marching towards Paris, so that they will decline before they fight, and they will be defeated in the first battle." ”

(End of chapter)