On July 20, 1910, it was undoubtedly a sad day for France, as the Germans continued to attack the Le Mans front, causing almost the collapse of the entire front, and the Seventh Army, which was engaged in the Le Mans line, could not repel the German attack even with the support of the British Army's Second Army, let alone a counteroffensive in any situation.

When the German 2nd Panzer Division entered the battle of the Western Front at Le Mans, the entire Anglo-French Western Front defense line was broken through a huge gap 5 kilometers wide, which forced Marshal Xia Fei to shrink his forces and plan to defend along the Sarthe River, but the defensive retreat on the 20th evolved into a veritable retreat in the pursuit battle led by the German Second Panzer Division.

Nearly 500,000 French troops and British troops retreated 60 kilometers back in the next two days, and the British and French forces were captured more than 75,000 people and suffered nearly 40,000 casualties...... The good news, however, was that the British convoy that had been resupplied upstream along the Loire had also arrived, bringing with them a large number of new anti-tank guns that the British Empire had produced to counter German tanks.

The power of anti-tank guns has not yet been tested, and the news from the Far East has once again greatly demoralized the French army in the entire European war, and the attack of the German Far East Fleet in the Indian Ocean has almost annihilated all the main forces of the French Far East Fleet, in addition, nearly 6,000 French expeditionary forces died in the sea, and a large number of military supplies were sunk in the sea, at the same time. This also meant that the route from French Cochinchina to the country was no longer safe.

France's Brian cabinet hastily issued a new round of conscription orders across the country, and at the same time borrowed money from the U.S. government to buy large quantities of military supplies. Requesting the British government to continue to reinforce at least 1 million troops, Chancellor Brian made a tough statement to Germany, claiming that military operations would be launched in all French territory to halt the pace of the German offensive.

The development of the war took an unexpected turn for the German War Ministry as the war progressed steadily, with the successful implementation of the Schlieffen plan and the successful crushing of the defenders of Paris after the introduction of armored forces. The goal of full control of the French industrial zone was achieved, but the British completely turned to France. This gave France a constant supply from the sea.

Even though Admiral Moltke had developed a further plan for the attack, the military operation that had been going on for several months had used 1.2 million elite German troops, which was almost the entire strength of the entire German Western Front. Although the reserve forces have been massively replenished. But it will obviously take time to put it into the front-line battlefield, and in addition, the German army on the Eastern Front faced the six armies of the Russian Empire, although it had the assistance of Austria-Hungary, but to annihilate such a large number of Russian troops, it was obvious that another sophisticated new Schlieffen plan was needed...... This is obviously not an immediate strategy!

But what really put Germany under pressure was the weakness of the Army's offensive strategy in previous campaigns. The British and French armies were also heavily armed with MG series heavy machine guns that purchased technology patents from China, in addition. With the sharp increase in the rate of rifle fire, the military superiority accumulated by the excellent military qualities of the German army began to show fatigue from the beginning of the Paris Line.

Even with a partial military superiority, the German army could not easily break through the defensive line constructed by the British and French armies in conventional warfare, and in the battle from Paris to the Sarthe River, only the tactics of multiple army groups to divide and outflank could achieve a strategic victory over the huge enemy army and finally tear apart the opponent's defense line...... Among them, the only three armored divisions of the German army played an amazing surprise effect according to the tactics provided by the Chinese side.

It's just that the German Empire is now all armored forces, and there are only three armored divisions today, and the new Leopard series tanks imitated by German factories have entered a state of trial production after 5 months of technical running-in, but to form a real production capacity, it will take at least a year, this thing is not the production of tractors, weapons equipment and special armor need to be re-customized production, sporadic production in the short term, and it is difficult to maintain the supply of three armored divisions.

So, the big problem before Admiral Moltke arose - if all the panzer divisions were thrown into the Western Front and could not drive the French out to sea, it would mean that the plan to destroy France by army tactics would be bankrupt, and the German Empire would be dragged into a protracted war of attrition, and a qualified strategist would understand the huge risks involved!

At the end of July, with the direct intervention of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German General Staff began to plan a new strategy to accelerate the annihilation of the French army...... And in Beijing, a sudden storm began to sweep across the Pacific Ocean.

In the early morning of July 30, Spee's fleet, which had disappeared from the sea for more than ten days, suddenly appeared in Saigon Bay, Cochinchina, France, and attacked several French merchant ships outside the bay.

Because the main French fleet was sunk or seriously damaged in the last naval battle of Great Nicobar Island, Saigon had no repair capability at all, and China refused to provide maintenance in South China with an attitude of not intervening in the war, so it had to sail to the British military port in India for repairs, and there were only more than 10 French destroyers and torpedo boats left in Saigon Port.

However, the fate of the French had apparently just begun, and at noon that day, a huge German army easily broke through the defenseless Mekong channel, and the French batteries were all set up at the mouth of the port of Saigon, ignoring the Mekong River 30 kilometers away, and as a result, this amphibious assault war directed by the Germans was carried to Saigon in less than a day.

In the face of the sudden and frenzied land attack of the Germans in the Far East, which absolutely surprised all European countries, the French expeditionary force stationed in Saigon originally had four brigades. Half of the three brigades that returned home earlier were fed sharks, and the rest were still recuperating in India from the psychological wounds of the Great Nicobar naval battle, and the expeditionary force that had been planned to be redeployed from Xining and Pinglong. It also had to be redeployed because of the sudden outbreak of indigenous rebellions in Pinglong, Xining, Aolang and other places.

As a direct result, the French expeditionary force in and around Saigon was less than 7,000 men in total, and was scattered along the long coastline from the Mekong River to Phan Thiet City...... By the time the French fleet had sunk into the sea, these areas had become lambs to the slaughter under the guns of the German navy.

Major General Olava of Saigon hastily assembled a 5,000-strong Expeditionary Force Infantry Brigade and dispatched nearly 10,000 Vietnamese servant troops from almost all available to form a temporary Saigon defense system. As for the combat effectiveness of the German Army, Major General Olava naturally knew very well that he would use a makeshift patchwork team to take out an unknown number of German troops. He was clearly reluctant to take such an adventure.

Therefore, after weighing the various interests, the commander of the French expeditionary force, Major General Auraware, suggested to Governor Simon that he should protest to the Chinese government in this regard. Ask the Chinese to take care of the lawlessness of the Germans. This completely undermined China's Far East peace plan, which demanded that the Chinese government immediately intervene to expel the German warships roaming the coastline of Cochinchina, so that at least the threat on the coastline of French Cochinchina could be removed.

However, it was clear that the plans of Governor Simon and Major General Olava were too paper-based, and in the early hours of 31 July, while the entire defensive line of Saigon was still being heavily defended, it came under heavy attack from the Germans on both the eastern and western flanks. The strength of the opposing forces was also far greater than the French expected, and the 1st Brigade of the French Expeditionary Force was assembled on the Eastern Front. The standard French mercenaries, with more than 2,000 black soldiers and 3,000 mercenaries from European countries, engaged in a fierce exchange of fire along the Songsai River in the eastern suburbs of Saigon, which once stopped the German offensive.

However, before noon, an expeditionary battalion and nearly 6,000 Vietnamese servant troops deployed on the Western Front resisted stubbornly for less than half an hour under the heavy mortar fire of the German army, and more than 2,000 Vietnamese servant troops were still in rebellion, and the entire Saigon defense line was punctured like a bulging balloon, and the entire defense line completely collapsed.

After the fierce positional battle turned into the street battle in Saigon, the direction of the whole battle situation was no longer suspenseful, the German army did not take the lead in attacking the French army in the French gathering area near the governor's palace, but with the assistance of the anti-rebellion South Vietnamese servants, they swooped down on the port battery, and easily surrendered the South Vietnamese servant troops stationed in the fort!

When the huge cannon barrels of the Queen's battle patrol pointed at the besieged Saigon Governor's Palace, Governor Simon clearly realized that the tide was turning...... After a desperate telegram to Paris, at 4 p.m. on the 31st, in order to avoid the bombardment of the entire French settlement by 343mm heavy artillery and senseless resistance, Governor Simon announced a dignified surrender to the German Far East Army led by Lieutenant General Spee.

According to the information provided by the Chinese side, after all, the French have been working in South Vietnam for decades, which can be described as deep-rooted, and the total number of French expeditionary forces in the local area even exceeds the total number of army and marines that can be assembled in the German Far East, and he finally abandoned the military fortress of Nagasaki, and the huge force of nearly 15,000 troops was assembled in the Palawan military port, thanks to the cover of the Chinese, successfully evaded the search of Britain, France, and the United States, and the original planned arduous landing operation, but obtained the counter-rebellion response of the South Vietnamese servant army!

Among them, he naturally saw the shadow of the Chinese, but at this time, victory is the ultimate thing, as for what benefits the Chinese want to gain from it, he has some understanding, but he does not see it very clearly, but the Far East Fleet and the Far East Army led by him have achieved results that can shock Europe, and the German army has seized the territory of the French in South Asia, but in order to contain the British and French forces in the whole of Asia, it has taken an excellent good move!

The control of French Cochinchina changed hands, and the British, who were close at hand, were separated by China's strong military power, and could not even transfer their fleet into the South China Sea, and any attempt to attack South Vietnam by crossing Burma, Thailand and other South Asian countries was even more fantastic!

When the telegram from Saigon spread all over Europe, Wilhelm II was very excited to send a special commendation order to Lieutenant General Spee, awarding Sir Speese the rank of General, in the Far East with the meager military strength in his hands, he actually fought such a delicate good situation, although there were only more than 10,000 German troops, but Lieutenant General Speeze had already said that he was reorganizing the local South Vietnamese servant army, and could quickly form combat strength, and the French in Saigon A large number of supplies turned out to be an important capital for Germany to take root in this French territory......

This meant that the German Reich had inserted a sharp spike in the backs of Britain and France, who had to face a powerful military offensive on the one hand, and a threat from the new German territories behind them! However, Schleier brought a new piece of news that poured cold water on Wilhelm II!

"What? Beijing is ready to expel the Spee fleet in order to ensure peace throughout the Pacific region! Prime Minister Hohenlohe took the place of Wilhelm II and issued a disgruntled question.

"Yes! Your Excellency the Prime Minister! Foreign Minister Schleier frowned and handed over a telegram from the Chinese government, "The Chinese government earlier announced a declaration of ensuring the security of the entire Pacific region, and our fleet ...... This manifesto is clearly contrary to this declaration, and if they do not act decisively, I am afraid that the British will unite with the Americans in a military operation in the Far East that we will not be able to cope with! ”

"Chinese must be allowed to suspend action...... At the very least, Admiral Spee has to consolidate Saigon's defenses! There are still quite a few French troops in Cochinchina who have not surrendered, and I am afraid it will take a little time! Admiral Moltke, who had arrived in a hurry, immediately made a request to Schleier, "If Sir Speege can contain more British forces in the Far East, it means that our Grand Fleet will have more opportunities!" The pace of British troop transfers from India will also be more constrained! ”

Schleier showed a bitter melon face and made an impotent expression towards the several war maniacs here, "Your Majesty the Emperor, I'm afraid we can't say Chinese make such a concession...... However, the Chinese ambassador, Wang Li, was outside, and he hinted to me that he had brought important news! But definitely not such a concession! ”

At this moment, Wang Li, who was calmly watching several German soldiers in straight military uniforms patrolling back and forth outside the palace, had already made a small calculation in his heart, the European war had entered the current stage, although the Germans had achieved amazing results, but they had not changed the actual balance of power, which means that Germany still has a difficult and long road to go to finally win the European war, and the news he brought was mixed for the German Empire! (To be continued......)