In the morning light, drops of crystal clear water hang on the yellow and green blades of grass. A strange wind blew, and they slipped down one by one, wetting the dry sand below.

In the vast meadows, ground crews are busy refueling hundreds of various aircraft with fuel and ammunition. These planes are large and small, the largest and most conspicuous is the two-winged and twin-engine "Owl" bomber, their 35-meter-wide wingspan and 23-meter-long fuselage, two large 300-horsepower engines, and a 2.5-ton fuselage make them stand like giants among a group of small aircraft; The smallest were the single-wing, single-engine "Hummingbird" fighters, compared to the "Owl", they had only a 10-meter-wide wingspan and a 7-meter-long fuselage, a 150-horsepower engine gave it a speed of 170 kilometers per hour, and two 7.92 mm side-by-side machine guns, making it difficult for any Allied aircraft to escape from it;

The grass was already shrouded in rumbling engines and puffs of smoke, and many planes began to glide out of neat queues one by one, and then turned onto the makeshift runway in front of them, while other planes on either side of the runway seemed to see them off.

Next to some of the planes that had not yet started, groups of pilots either straightened their chests and listened attentively to the officers' lectures and advices, or gathered together around the map to discuss something.

"It's nice to be back!" A young pilot muttered softly, waving his arm, it seemed that the arm was almost good, although the scheduled recuperation period was 3 months, but it was only 2 months, and he was already impatient to return to the battlefield.

"Oh, dear baron, good luck! Don't get hit by those despicable infantry again! ”

The other pilot enthusiastically reminded, but Manfred didn't seem to appreciate it, at least in his opinion, the knight didn't need the sympathy and pity of others. He straightened his chest, the Iron Cross of the First Class shining brightly in the sun, an enviable distinction he had already received for shooting down two British planes and being honorably wounded, even when most pilots were still accumulating merit according to the number of hours of service.

What Manfred wanted to do most now was to move up the rank of second lieutenant, but if he hadn't encountered an enemy plane, he would have to work as much as everyone else. He walked over to his plane, the red-11 Hummingbird fighter had been kept for him, and it seemed that he was the only one who was the most suitable rider for this plane.

"Good luck!" The ground staff who had finished the inspection waved their arms enthusiastically.

Manfred took a deep breath, "Blue sky, I'm back!" ”

By this time, on the long line of defense on the west bank of the Seine, the various divisions of the French army were already in disarray. As if rubbing the backs of the French, the German armored units calmly and quickly advanced along the artillery positions behind the forward positions of the French army, and the German armies on the east bank of the river also began to cross the river. Without the help of French artillery fire, the French infantry along the river could not resist the German soldiers who were holding back their strength to make a comeback.

The battlefield was still German territory, and the huge airships used for calibration and observation flew slowly in the middle of the air, while the German planes shuttled at low altitudes like industrious bees, and wherever there were French soldiers, they were going to collect nectar flowers.

After all the measures to plug the leak were effective, Xia Fei had no choice but to admit the fact that the defense line had been broken, and he had no better way than to retreat the whole army to the southwest. At the moment, he is concerned about how many troops he can bring back to the south of France.

"Marshal, nearly half of the divisions of our army are still uncontacted, the 4 infantry divisions at the southernmost end of the defense line have begun to retreat, and the 7 infantry divisions at the northern end of the defense line have been completely blocked by the German armored forces. Worst of all, the last units of the British Expeditionary Force left in France were also trapped there! Xia Fei's staff officer reported anxiously.

"British...... What a damn thing, how could we have deployed them there! We'd better get them out now, or the consequences will be terrible! Cavalry, send our cavalry to try! Xia Fei said with great annoyance, after the German armored troops rushed out of the defense line of the Paris section of the Seine, he had already realized that it was irretrievable, and more than 2 million German troops on the opposite side would pour into the defense line from that breach like a turbulent sea, so he left the most valuable cavalry troops at the end, and originally planned to use them to contain the German pursuers by surprise attacks and counterattacks during the retreat, so that most of the French troops still had the possibility of retreating. But now it seems that leaving the last British allies who landed in France to the enemy would have a very detrimental effect on the situation in France, both militarily and politically.

To be precise, without these hostages, the British would probably have gone on to defend the British Isles on their own.

Hearing Xia Fei's words, the staff officers all gathered around, but most of them didn't seem to approve of this dangerous action.

"Marshal, I'm afraid there is little hope! The sky was already dominated by the Germans, and there were 3 times as many German troops on the ground as ours. Although most of the German troops were still on the east bank of the Seine, they had already crossed the river on all fronts. Our line of defense was like a dilapidated embankment, ready to be crossed by the Germans at any moment. Our cavalry is not large in the first place, and I am afraid that this last group of cavalry will not be able to keep it when the time comes! ”

"Yes, all our actions can hardly be concealed from the Germans!"

"The Germans threw a lot of armored forces, and our cavalry was no match for them at all!"

"It's daytime, and German planes will kill and wound our cavalry units in large numbers!"

"Marshal ......"

The voices of the group of people surrounded Xia Fei's ears like flies, and after being dizzy, the old man finally became angry.

"That's it!" Xia Fei slapped the table hard, and was targeted by a group of flies, I am afraid that the Buddha will have fire.

"I have decided that the divisions will temporarily stop retreating and hold the line at all costs until the cavalry troops rescue the British Expeditionary Force! Guys, let's believe in the French cavalry units with glorious traditions! ”

The crowd fell silent as the last traditional French cavalry units went to the rescue of the last British infantry who had landed on the French mainland, as if to herald the end of an old era.

At the beginning of the war, the French army had 12 cuirassiers, 30 dragoons and 26 light cavalry regiments, most of which retained equipment in the style of the Napoleonic era. Cuirasmen were clad in glittering iron chestguards, with long black ponytails hanging from their helmets, and armed with spears or swords; Dragoons are a type of cavalry between heavy cavalry and light cavalry, they generally do not wear armor, carry cavalry with short rifles and knives, at first they were used by Emperor Napoleon as "infantry on horseback", that is, they march as fast as cavalry, and when they arrive on the battlefield, they dismount and fight on foot, but later, these dragoons are more inclined to charge with swords like ordinary cavalry; The light cavalry was equipped with the same equipment as the dragoons, except that their horses were smaller, and many of the horses were temporarily requisitioned from the civilian population, and they were mainly responsible for reconnaissance, patrolling, and auxiliary infantry combat.

In the face of the machine guns and artillery of the German army, the French cavalry suffered heavy losses, and the French generals no longer used them to attack the opposing positions. Now, these cavalry are more responsible for reconnaissance, patrolling, covering transport lines, and raids. What Xia Fei had left was only 3 cuirassiers, 7 dragoon regiments, and 5 light cavalry regiments, with a total of 21,000 men available for battle.

Such a pitiful little cavalry was not enough for the Germans on both sides of the Seine, but Xia Fei still gave the order without hesitation. He felt that as long as half of the French cavalry could rush to the side of the British army, he would be able to rescue the nearly 10,000 British troops with one person. As for the other 7 French divisions that were trapped, they were not in his consideration. People were originally equal, but at this time, the lives of the British seemed to be unusually delicate, and the French soldiers were about to be ruthlessly abandoned like weeds.

In the crowd of French troops who retreated in panic, the ranks of French cavalry marching in the opposite direction were particularly conspicuous, they were holding the reins in one hand, holding weapons or palms on their thighs in the other, their chests were arrogantly erect, and their bodies shook up and down as the horses ran, everyone was full of spirit, and seemed not affected by this atmosphere of defeat at all.

On several pontoon bridges in the southern section of the Seine, several German cavalry units with similar expressions and postures to the French cavalry were crossing the river. In addition to the usual Prussian lancers, there was a small cavalry unit of brightly dressed, richly decorated cavalry with white horses under their crotch, and they were all young men with aristocratic temperament. The task of these men was not to charge, but to escort the most distinguished men of the Western Front, who were the Guards Cavalry Regiment of Crown Prince Prince.

At this moment, Prince was sitting on a sturdy warhorse with a blank face, and a large number of horsemen were tightly clustered around him, lest the crown prince accidentally fall into the Seine.

Fortunately, the passage of many cavalry at the same time did not crush the pontoon bridge beneath his feet, and Prince stopped when he reached the west bank of the river. The well-trained cavalry had already spread a cordon nearby, and no one was allowed to approach within a few hundred meters.

"Map!" Prince said coldly.

The staff officers quickly unfolded the map and held it high in front of the crown prince, who was still on horseback.

Prince poked the map with his horsewhip, "Order all troops to speed up the river crossing!" We are going to attack the retreating French army immediately! ”

At the stern urging of the 5th Army, the 5th Army forcibly erected a pontoon bridge before the threat of French artillery fire was completely lifted, and at this time there were many corpses in gray uniforms floating on the nearby river, which Prince turned a blind toe.

"Your Highness, all the 30 pontoon bridges needed for our group army to cross the river have been erected, which is the fastest among all the group armies on the whole line! The troops are crossing the river, but the tank and armored units will not reach the West Bank until 2 hours! The staff officer who spoke had no intention of taking credit, and as long as he was not punished, he was satisfied.

Sure enough, Prince just snorted from his nostrils, "You're not right! The 8th Army had already crossed the river with all its troops, and now even their infantry was attacking the French positions near Paris! A bunch of waste, what to do is always left behind others! ”

The staff officer did not explain, but silently accepted the prince's scolding.

"The troops that had already crossed the river immediately advanced to the south! The lancers are in front, the infantry is in the back! As for the armored forces, let them complete the build-up in the West Bank as soon as possible, and then quickly follow up! ”

With that, Prince continued with his Guards Cavalry Regiment. His Fifth Group Army can be described as the largest group army with the largest number of troops and the most diverse arms among the eight group armies, and when he sees a good branch of the army, he will try by all means to pull it into his group army. Traditional lancers, light cavalry, infantry, armored troops, airship troops, aircraft units, balloon troops, in addition to the navy, almost all other units can be found here, war horses, all kinds of infantry guns, rapid-fire guns, heavy howitzers, large-caliber mortars, mortars, tanks, armored vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, horse-drawn artillery carts, zeppelins, school-shooting/observation balloons, reconnaissance aircraft, fighters, bombers, attack aircraft, weapons other than ships are also readily available. No matter how strong the combat effectiveness of this unit is, logistics alone is enough for the soldiers to be busy.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is really flattering in the use of these arms, and many times he gives orders for battle based on his own interests. During the assault on Verdun, he had his armored units charge like cavalry; During the assault on Paris, he had his cavalry charge through the streets. This time, he arranged for the armored troops and artillery to cross the river last, and let his two Prussian lancer divisions cross the river first in pursuit. Perhaps in his opinion, the cavalry could be most useful in the pursuit of the rout, and the cavalry did not need to stop and wait for fuel to be refilled.

Neither Moltke Jr. nor Falkenhein would interfere with how he attacked and defended, as long as he was soft and hard, the Kaiser would let him go to the British negotiations. The only thing they cared about was that the crown prince didn't hurt his toes by playing.

The enemy on the opposite bank of Prince and the 5th Army, in addition to the ordinary French army, also included the British Expeditionary Force, which was considered weak by the German generals.