From the perspective of a mechanical engineer, it is not difficult to see that the naval combat vehicle of the Germans is like a war escalation of the tracked tractor, and the invention of the tractor can be traced back to the distant 30s of the 19th century. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info to the beginning of the 20th century, this kind of agricultural machinery in the United States and many European countries is not a rare thing, they often appear in machinery fairs, buyers are not limited to the rich class who like to try new things and own farmland, but also some discerning ordinary farmers to buy, the improvement of arable land efficiency is undoubted. With the rapid development of industrial machinery technology, countries such as Sweden, Germany, Hungary and the United Kingdom have all manufactured their own tractors powered by diesel internal combustion engines, but the early tractors still used wheels of various textures, and by the outbreak of the First World War, the tracked tractor was still a new thing that had only been around for a few years. The construction of metal tracks and load-bearing wheels allowed the bulky tractor to use the soft ground of the field, and the production model quickly became popular in the United States, but most French officers and soldiers had never seen this new tractor, so they were particularly surprised and frightened by the screeching power system of the German tank.

German chariots painted in dark gray ran over the French forward positions with a strange rumbling sound, and the French soldiers in the trenches were suddenly frightened like a flock of birds perched in the woods. The cowards who were afraid of death, the reckless men who lost their souls, and those who wanted to stay alive all rushed to the communication trenches, which immediately brought catastrophic confusion to the French lines, and when the French infantry fled in panic, their most vulnerable backs were completely exposed to the Germans.

According to the simple and clear tactical instructions, the German tanks that broke through the French defense line did not break away from the infantry cover and rushed back and forth on the French positions, using tank guns and machine guns to clear the French fire points and attack the densely populated places. At this time, they are like executioners sent by death, ruthlessly harvesting the lives of groups of young Frenchmen. The French officers and men who were determined to hold their positions were few in number, but they fought very bravely, and the strong intrusion of German tanks and the surging onslaught of German infantry echoed each other. Under this terrible pressure, which was simply unbearable, the morale of the defenders quickly collapsed, and the remaining officers and soldiers continued to fight to the death with the will and courage of the soldiers......

Knowing that the Villeparisi front was collapsing, Gallieni should have been the most distressed, but the veteran with a strong personality did not fall into despair, but was unusually calm to save the situation. He ordered the command of the 3rd Army to call the reserve units deployed behind the battle line, asking them to shelter the officers and men who had withdrawn from the front line on the spot and arrange for these soldiers to defend themselves in accordance with the terrain. If a person disobeys the order, he will be executed immediately by the Judge Advocate General's Corps without trial.

Strict military orders may have temporarily controlled the momentum of the hasty retreat of the front-line troops, but the reserve forces of the 3rd Army totaled only four and a half regiments, and they only built trenches against enemy shelling in the assembly and standby area, without the fire support of field artillery, and without the auxiliary defense of trenches and barbed wire, it was difficult to resist the morale of the German army by relying on the reserve troops and the soldiers who had just been withdrawn from the front line and were in a very unstable state. Under these circumstances, Gallieni urged the two divisions he had previously transferred to arrive as quickly as possible, and on the other hand, ordered the front-line troops to fully cover the field artillery and their equipment to withdraw safely to the rear positions. Gallieni then made urgent contact with the 9th Army, which was located on the left flank of the 3rd Army, and, with the consent of Ferdinand Foch, mobilized the entire reserve of the army - about 7,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and a field artillery unit - to rush in for reinforcements.

In addition to the movement of ground troops, Gallieni communicated the situation with Colonel Lefèvre, commander of the French Air Force stationed in Paris, and asked him to prepare all the pilots to fight the Germans. If the battle for Ville-Parisi continued after lunch, the French fighters deployed around Paris were dispatched in batches, targeting any German aircraft that appeared over the battlefield.

Near a village half an hour from the Ville-Parisi front, the French infantryman Michiel Blérien sat in a trench in horror. Although it was used by the reserve troops to assemble and stand by and in case of emergency, the trenches were still dug deep and reinforced with wooden poles and bars to prevent rainwater from collapsing, and Blerian finally found a sense of security in such a trench. Retreating from the forward position, he kept seeing his companions being knocked down by the enemy's guns and cannons, and the fear of dying at any moment made him feel breathless all the time, and his mind could not help himself, and he was almost instinctively driven to stumble backwards. Fortunately, the German chariots and infantry did not chase after them, otherwise the scattered French officers and soldiers would have suffered more casualties.

When the breath calmed down, Bririan unscrewed the kettle, took a few big sips, and gradually became conscious. He looked at his equipment, and the Lebel rifle was still there, the bayonet was still there, and there were still two dozen rounds of ammunition in the cartridge box. Looking at the companions around them, those who were withdrawn from the front line together, except for the wounded soldiers, the vast majority of them carried their own weapons with them, after all, it is not tolerated by military law to abandon equipment on the battlefield without authorization.

Hearing the artillerymen's call to move the artillery together, Blerian poked his head out curiously, and a field artillery unit was passing by the road not far away. A "Miss 75", that is, a field rapid-fire gun of the M1897 type, had a gun wheel stuck in a mud pit. Four military horses dragged in front, and a dozen gunners pushed and pulled on the side, tossing back and forth for a while before it was able to get it out.

Since the beginning of the war, the aggressiveness of the French army has been repeatedly attacked by the Germans in the face of artillery and machine guns. From the air to the land, the German army's weapons and equipment have a significant advantage, the French lack of aircraft, artillery, machine guns, the soldiers' Lebel rifles are still using tube magazines, the firing speed is much slower than the German Mauser 1898, field artillery seems to have become the only bright spot in the French camp. With a stormy firing speed, the French field artillery battalion equipped with the M1897 defeated the German attacking troops again and again, defeated the German field artillery again and again, and saved the French infantry from the abyss of despair again and again. As a result, field artillery soon replaced cavalry as the most popular unit in the French army, and where they appeared, the morale of the infantry was always boosted.

"Attention! Here comes the Germans! ”

Hearing this, the French soldiers in the trenches got up trembling and frightened as if they had been electrocuted. From here you can see the smoke of Villeparisi, where the sound of gunfire has gradually subsided, and in the fields ahead, demonic gray iron bumps with gray waves are slaying mighty, even without the direct support of heavy artillery, they still make the French officers and soldiers in the trenches feel deeply afraid.

Brarian turned his head to look back, but fortunately the field artillerymen did not abandon the infantry and evacuate alone, they left the east-west road at a fork in the road not far away, and spread out behind the north-south path, and the trees planted along the road provided them with good cover, and that position was not far from the trench, and when the German tanks advanced in front of the trench, they could be strafed with shrapnel shells. In the previous battles, the French field artillery and machine guns deployed in the forward positions should have played some role, and now the German tanks engaged in the attack are less than half of the previous ones, so Breriand comforted himself.

Just when people thought that the next battle would be in full swing, a group of German cavalry suddenly appeared in front of the French trench, no one knew where they came from, but in broad daylight they were real, not the hallucinations of fear.

Unlike the usual German lancers, this German cavalry unit was a copy of the French cuirassiers. Riders wore battle helmets, vest-like cuirass, and gleaming sabers, forming a typical cavalry charge array. This was the German Guards Cavalry Regiment, one of the few remaining heavy cavalry units of the German army. In this era when artillery and machine guns dominate the battlefield, heavy cavalry has quickly become an outdated antique, but neither the commander of the cavalry unit nor the commander of the army is willing to accept this ruthless reality, after all, the cost of forming and maintaining the cavalry unit is much higher than that of the infantry, and the knights have been practicing the skills of riding and slashing for many years, they have high morale and the spirit of seeing death as home, how can such a unit be allowed to only serve as a guard of honor?

A young second lieutenant officer, Ulrich von Blovo, was a member of the German Guards Cavalry Regiment, and since the outbreak of the war he has been on the road to Belgium and France, where most of the time their duties are only to escort prisoners of war and escort baggage, and rarely have the opportunity to gallop across the battlefield. Not long ago, they had beaten a French light cavalry on the Marne that had come to attack the German baggage troops, which rekindled the knights' desire to charge into battle and kill the enemy to serve their country.

"Assault!"

As the leading cavalry officer shouted, the German cavalry at trotting speed rode their horses and whipped up. Although this unit was classified as a heavy cavalry, the combat load of the riders was not much heavier than that of the light cavalry, and their mounts were the best of the best horses, and they were faster than the light cavalry.

The roundabout tactic of a covert march - a stealthy approach - a sudden charge was a wise choice for the German cavalry to evade enemy fire on the battlefield, while the French were so focused on the German chariots and infantry groups engaged in a frontal attack that they ignored the German cavalry that had taken cover from the flanks and through villages, woods, and canals. It was only when they were only five or six hundred meters from the trench that the French artillery and machine guns opened fire in a hurry.

"Attack!"

Second Lieutenant von Blovo raised his sword high and led his cavalry forward bravely. The brilliance that has been rampant for thousands of years shines again at this moment.

(End of chapter)