In times of war, all the military and civilians of the same country and the same camp should be united in their external efforts, but the reality is often unsatisfactory, and fierce internal strife and internal friction are even more destructive than external enemies. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoTo solve all kinds of problems caused by the joint operations of the army and navy, Natsuki's royal status is not a master key, and improper use may also bring him negative effects, so he maintains a low-key posture most of the time, but when it comes to the critical moment, he stands up as always.

“…… To sum up, my opinion is...... At 7 o'clock sharp, the artillery fire was suppressed, at 7:40 the fire was extended to the rear, and at the same time smoke bombs were fired, and at 8 o'clock the assault team crossed the river, and at 9 o'clock the attacking troops crossed the river on all fronts. Do you have any objections to this timeline? ”

In addition to the commander of the 1st Marine Division, General Huttier, there were General von Holfer, Chief of Staff of the German 1st Army Corps, General von Matska, General von Matska of the 9th Cavalry Division, General Koser of the 14th Infantry Division, and General Heinak of the 40th Infantry Division.

General von Holfer said in a tactful tone: "From past experience, there are many advantages to launching an attack in the early hours of the morning. For example, if the advance force launches an attack before dawn, the cover effect of darkness is no worse than that of smoke bombs, and it is not easy for the enemy to find out our deployment, and when the advance force opens a breakthrough in the enemy's defense line, it is almost dawn, and the follow-up troops can quickly and accurately reinforce in place, and the artillery can also find the enemy's troop concentration area to carry out artillery bombardment. ”

Natsuki retorted in the same euphemistic tone: "In terms of tactics alone, an early morning attack is indeed ideal—we think so, and our opponents will be so prepared, and if nothing else, they have a considerable number of flares in stock, and when it is dark, it is difficult for our gunners to find the enemy's frontline fire." Rather than this, it is better to simply launch an attack at the enemy's breakfast point and take them by surprise. ”

After speaking, Natsuki paused for a moment, skipped the question just now and continued to elaborate: "When it comes to the command ability of land warfare, everyone here is the best among German officers, and the world is even more first-class among the first-class. Based on your tactical suggestions, I propose that the 8,000-strong advance commando team be split into two, with the 2nd Corps selecting 5,000 of the most experienced elite soldiers to form the main attack force, and the 1st Marine Division selecting 3,000 naval soldiers to form the response force. The active forces launched an attack on position No. 10 on the opposite bank, with 15 naval combat vehicles acting in tandem; The response force launched an attack on Position 16, supported by five naval combat vehicles. As is my personal habit, there are still 6 tanks on standby as reserves. Do you have any objections? ”

Army generals, look at me, I look at you, the three lieutenant generals von Holfer, von Mattska, and Koser did not say anything, and the rest of them chose to remain silent with interest.

"Since there is no objection from everyone, and His Majesty the Kaiser and General Moltke, Chief of Staff of the Army, have agreed that we will be fully responsible for this offensive operation, and the battle plan has been finalized, and the time of the attack is set for tomorrow." Natsuki raised his hand and looked at his watch, "From now on, we still have 20 hours to make final preparations. ”

At this time, General Henak, who was relatively junior but had excellent command ability, spoke: "Has Your Highness considered it...... Now that the Dauphin's forces have broken through the outermost lines of defense in Paris, and the French forces are retreating towards the city of Paris, perhaps in less than 20 hours, or a little longer than 20 hours, the French army opposite us will retreat on its own, is there any need for us to launch such an attack at the cost of thousands of soldiers? ”

Natsuki glanced at everyone and replied categorically, "It's necessary!" ”

A few syllables, sonorous and powerful, loud and silent.

"If the French army on the opposite side is packing up and preparing to retreat, why don't we attack and crush them, but let them retreat to Paris to continue the resistance. If we don't annihilate them here, it won't be long before they stop the rest of our forces elsewhere, and the Germans will still be wounded and killed. Moreover, Paris is likely to be the end of the Franco-German war, do you want to end the journey with the regret of being blocked out of Paris by the enemy? No, of course not, for the sake of the overall situation of the war, and for the sake of our unwavering belief in the soldiers, we must launch this offensive and break the French defense! ”

Within a few days of the cessation of the offensive, the number of German troops transported along the railway line to the banks of the Oise River had increased to more than 90,000, while according to aerial reconnaissance reports, the French troops on the opposite bank did not exceed 30,000 at most. The Germans were supported by naval air forces and some army aircraft, while French aircraft were rarely seen here; The German army has field artillery, light and heavy howitzers and a number of long-range and powerful train guns, while the French army only has field guns and machine guns, and the firepower output of the artillery on both sides is definitely not at the same level; The Germans had little to worry about, and the French officers and men kept an eye on the situation east of Paris, and the deterioration of the situation made them panic.

All the way from Amiens, the bloody and brutal battles have made the 1st Marine Division, a rookie unit that has never fought a battle, grow, although there is still a gap with the old units of the German Army that are full of honor and dare to fight, but it is like a sword with a blade and a bloody drink, and its temperament has undergone a fundamental change. The selection of the advance assault force began before the operational plan was adopted by the Joint Command. As in the past, this selection is based on voluntary participation and is based on the application of the squad, that is, only one squad of soldiers who have all volunteered to join the assault force will be eligible for the selection of this squad. Because not every soldier is fearless of life and death, squad leaders must do all the work of their subordinates in order to meet this basic requirement, and in the selection stage, there is also a very important principle of priority, if all the officers and men of an entire platoon voluntarily join the assault force, the platoon will be selected with a higher priority than a single infantry squad.

Inheriting the military tradition of Prussia, the military atmosphere of the Second German Reich was very strong, and most of the young people who grew up in the glory of the empire were proud of joining the army, advocating bravery, and thirsting for meritorious service, so the work of recruiting 3,000 commandos in the 1st Marine Division was very smooth, and the assault troops raced against time to carry out training exercises in order to give full play to their combat effectiveness in a calm and orderly manner when they were put into actual combat.

The German troops on the opposite bank sharpened their knives, and the French troops on this side of the river could not have been unaware. For several days, they continued to consolidate the fortifications and reorganize the army, but the number of defenders did not increase accordingly, and even the ammunition supply and logistics could not keep up in time, and the French officers and soldiers could only nibble on bread on clear soup, and this was not the worst. As part of the Grand Paris Line, their front was placed under the command of the French 4th Army, but the forces involved in the battle were divided into three different army groups, and the problems of command and coordination were no less than those of the Germans opposite. As the Germans launched an offensive on the Paris Line, capturing Meaux and advancing on Schelle, the 3rd Army was overstretched and the situation was critical, and they hoped to bring back the infantry brigade that had rushed to the Oise line earlier.

Gallieni did not make up his mind, but personally called the commander of the 4th Army, General de Langer, to ask him if he could urgently transfer two infantry divisions to the eastern defense line of Paris, and De Langer politely refused, and suggested that Gallerien draw troops as much as possible from the western and southern defense lines, which were not fighting for the time being, which aroused the dissatisfaction of some generals of the 4th Army, selfish guys are keen on despicable internal friction.

The countdown to the second offensive of the German naval forces against the French line of the Oise River had already begun, and to the east of Paris, the situation on the battlefield was changing at a dizzying pace. After the capture of Villeparisi, the 5th Army Corps under the command of Crown Prince Wilhelm took only 4 hours to capture the headquarters of the French 4th Army and an important fulcrum of the eastern defense line, Schelle. This development led Crown Prince William and his staff to think that the complete collapse of the French army was imminent, but the French army was far more resilient than they thought. At Livry-Gargaon, the German advance force was stubbornly resisted by the Allied forces - the reserves of the French 9th Army arrived in time to resist the German attack together with the troops of the 3rd Army, and the British Expeditionary Force, which had been deployed in northern France, urgently transferred troops, and two battalions of Scottish cavalry bravely launched a battlefield counter-assault under the cover of French artillery.

Soon after, units of the French 6th Army, transferred by Gallieri from the southern line of Paris, launched a counterattack to recapture Scherer, and skirmishes broke out with German troops west of Scherer. For a village of slight tactical value, the two sides could fight back and forth seven times in four hours, each paying three or four thousand casualties, and the ditches in the open area, the roads in the fields, and the isolated mills could be the targets of the German and French armies, and the tragic scenes of the Battle of the Marne were repeated again. At dusk, the Germans still controlled Scheler, but were countered by the French pincers from the north and south, so they switched from offensive to defensive, and in Livry-Gargaon, the Germans organized two more attacks in succession after the initial setback, and barely captured the town with heavy tanks, but the front troops were not stable. After nightfall, the French launched a counterattack against Villeparisi with two cavalry divisions and four infantry divisions. The French command apparently realized the great value of the town, so it ordered the counterattacking forces to recapture it at any cost, and in the offensive that lasted more than six hours, the six French divisions were almost exhausted, and the successive attacks gradually made the German soldiers who thought victory within reach, and once this key breakthrough was lost, the more than 50,000 German officers and soldiers who had crossed the French line would be surrounded by the French, and the course of the Battle of Paris could be dramatically reversed. After all, at this time, both sides each invested hundreds of thousands of troops in the battlefield of Paris, and neither the attacking side nor the defending side was absolutely sure that they would be able to control the battle situation.

(End of chapter)