Europe.

The third large-scale offensive of the Germans began!

The performance of the French [***] team was so disappointing, under the fierce offensive of the Germans, they were simply defeated step by step, and they could not stop the German army at all.

Since the entry of the American [***] troops into Europe, it was clear that Germany knew the grave situation they faced, and if they did not defeat the British and French armies as soon as possible, then German defeat would be inevitable.

The two previous large-scale offsets had fully embodied the change in the thinking of the German high command.

The Supreme Commander of the German Army, Erich. Feng. Ludendorff completely abandoned the operational guiding ideology of "holding the position at all costs." He believed that heavy artillery fire could wipe out all the defenders of the forward positions, and that the positions could not be held even if the men were wiped out, so the troops should be withdrawn to the rear far from the forward positions to preserve the vital forces to the greatest extent.

When the last major offensives ran aground, the Germans were not far from their final defeat. Commando tactics failed to break through the Allied resistance, and the Allied tanks made the Germans feel heavy pressure and the soldiers were discouraged, which was a sign of the imminent demise of the German army.

But Lloyd. George believed that if the British could not win at Ypres or Cambrai with the help of new weapons and tactics, how could they have made a breakthrough this time? Therefore, it is no longer necessary to continue the offensive on the Western Front, which has suffered heavy losses, and it is better to transfer troops to other European theaters.

The Supreme Commander of the German Army, Erich. Feng. Ludendorff is also full of confidence in the situation. His troops are now experienced with new forms of attack and, most importantly, they have a numerical advantage. At this time, Russia, which was involved in the revolution, had declared its withdrawal from the war, and soldiers from the eastern theater could also be transferred to the west. Ludendorff saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack, and British and French troops were stationed in the area between Arras and Rafael on the old Somme battlefield, and Ludendorff would choose this place as a point of attack and decided to attack by surprise. The British received the task of defending the French border front.

On 21 March, the five-hour artillery bombardment began the offensive. Under the cover of mist, poison gas and smoke grenades, the offensive was in full swing.

On a front line nearly 100 kilometers long, the British and German 65 divisions engaged in a life-and-death struggle. The British 4th Army suffered a crushing defeat, creating a gap in the front; The British 3rd Army, located north of the line, withstood the German attack. Haig urged the French authorities to help him close the breach. Once the position is not secured, Paris will be within range of long-range artillery. But Petain had no interest in defending Paris.

After pressing about 65 kilometers to the Allied positions, the German [***] team stopped while waiting for supplies.

Despite his stellar record, the first offensive cost Ludendorff dearly. 250,000 German casualties. But the key problem was that the Allies lost nothing more than some of their most elite commandos.

In April, Ludendorff began a new offensive near Ypres, with the aim of seizing the canal port and cutting off French support to the British. The Germans chose a weak point, which was guarded by the Portuguese army, and broke a gap in the Allied front. After several rounds of attacks, all the lost ground in the third battle of Ypres was recovered by the Germans. The British, Belgian and French forces fought bloodily and managed to prevent the continuation of the German breakthrough in this victory.

The third large-scale offensive continued later.

Ludendorff launched another assault on the Allies, this time picking the French on the Aisne. The Allies were defeated by the onslaught, and the Germans advanced 30 kilometers.

The Germans were only 37 kilometers from Paris!

The British and French armies alone could no longer stop the German offensive, but alas, the Germans had to continue to face a new opponent:

United States!

The U.S. military has overcome the chaos of its first arrival in the European theater, and they have accumulated a certain amount of combat experience, and they are more mature in terms of strategy and tactics than before.

After a great success, the Germans continued to launch new attacks on the Allied lines.

"The Miracle of Mipans" Pete and his troops had to be put on the front line again.

But this time, Pete and his troops were fully replenished!

The formalities for Colonel Pete's promotion to brigade commander were in progress, and Commander-in-Chief Pershing made a bold decision to make Pitt act as commander of the 11th brigade before the formalities were finalized.

This is a U.S. military unit that has just been transferred to Europe. Like the soldiers Pitt had commanded before, they had exuberant energy, were curious about the battlefield, and at the same time had no idea how terrible war was.

Pete is very nerve-wracking for such soldiers.

You'll have to tell these recruits that the battlefield isn't as romantic as they thought it would be, but that people can die anytime and anywhere.

You also have to tell them how to defend themselves when the enemy attacks; How to attack when your side launches a counteroffensive.

Fortunately, some of Pete's subordinates before were allowed to be brought to the 11th Brigade, which also made Pete's work a lot easier.

These subordinates include Hei Tie, Charles, and of course, Yu Yun.

When veterans look at the recruits, they always feel that there is something ridiculous. As soon as the cannon sounded, the soldiers who had just stepped onto the battlefield for the first time, those romantic fantasies quickly disappeared without a trace, and were replaced by chaotic exclamations and loud scolding from the veterans.

Many of them didn't know how to find cover, and ran around the positions in a panic, or pouted and begged for God's blessing.

Then when the Germans attacked, the officers had to kick them in the ass and get them back to their damn positions.

Death was happening every minute, and seeing the bloody and horrific corpses, some wept, threw away their guns, and some even had a nervous breakdown

There were also some people, because they could not bear this huge mental contrast, and even rushed out of the position desperately, and the result is naturally conceivable, they were beaten by the enemy and fell in front of the position like a hornet's nest.

The soldiers, who were barely able to cheer up, trembled and raised their guns in their hands, closed their eyes and fired the bullets, as for whether they had hit the enemy or not, it was not for them to consider.

But as soon as you shoot your first bullet and kill your first enemy, this fear will disappear in the shortest possible time, and you will soon be a ruthless killer.

Either kill the enemy or get killed by the enemy.

There is no other option.

The Americans had at least one advantage, they had an inexhaustible supply of bullets and grenades, and behind them, there was artillery support at all cost.

There is a huge gap between the fighting quality of the US military and the German army, but there is also an irreparable gap between the material reserves of the Germans and the Americans.

Some of the positions had already been captured by the Germans, but before the well-trained and brave German soldiers could catch their breath, the Allied shells fell again.

Under the heavy attack of artillery shells, the German soldiers could not gain a foothold in the positions they had just captured, so they had to retreat again, and the positions that had been won with great difficulty were returned to the hands of the Americans.

Relying on the strong artillery support, despite the emergence of some deserters in his own troops, and the soldiers who died inexplicably, Pete still firmly grasped the position that should be defended by himself.

So Pete added a new nickname after "The Miracle of Mipans":

"Insurmountable Steel Pete"!

About his deeds, more and more appeared in the newspapers, of course, when interviewed by reporters, Pete also gave full play to his "expertise":

Rely on your imagination as much as possible to describe your "heroic" achievements!

This specialty has been vividly exerted by him when he was in China!

Reporters especially noticed that when Pete was interviewed, the name of a Chinese girl was always mentioned:

Yu Yun!

Once the curiosity of journalists is aroused, it is very "scary".

They tried their best to know what kind of story this Chinese girl named Yu Yun had.

In the interview, Pete's old subordinates also fully described the girl:

She came to Europe from far away China, and she treated every wounded in the midst of artillery fire, desperate for life and death, and on several occasions she was almost hit by enemy shells, but she was undaunted.

Countless soldiers wanted to see nothing more than the priest before they died, but the beautiful face of this Chinese girl.

Under Yu Yun's soft prayers, these soldiers would die quietly.

"Nightingale in the United States" and "Flowers on the Battlefield" soldiers have various descriptions of this girl, but it is obvious that the title "Flowers on the Battlefield" is the most romantic.

Under the imaginative descriptions of the reporters, "The Insurmountable Pete" and "Flowers on the Battlefield" Yu Yun were completely interpreted into a battlefield romance.

And the name "Flowers on the Battlefield" is also known to more and more Americans and Europeans.

The United States is a country that loves heroes, and it loves all things hero-related. And a photo published in the New York Times after that also greatly shocked Americans:

Yu Yun took a real flower and placed it on the body of an American soldier who died in battle, and if you look so closely, you can even see the tears in Yu Yun's eyes.

God bless America, and God bless this beautiful and kind Chinese girl.

May all romantic stories be resolved romantically, and may this Chinese girl survive the cruel war.

Race is a very strong issue in the United States. But at this moment, the vast majority of Americans accepted this yellow-skinned girl, and her name spread throughout the United States:

Flowers on the battlefield, Yu Yun!

(To be continued)