The allied forces, which had shifted from offensive to defensive, ushered in the German offensive in the confusion, and the French Second Infantry Corps, which was responsible for pinning down in the rear, was dragged by the Germans and suffered heavy losses. The German Fifth Army, attacking from the other direction, rushed forward furiously, threatening the right flank of the British and French forces, and the main force of the coalition forces was facing a huge crisis, the German army was rampage in Belgium, and the Fifth Army, with the cooperation of the air force, cut through the plain area west of Emar, and brilliantly completed the task of covering the flank of the Fourth Army.

Unfortunately, when they were in a hurry to expand their gains, they encountered the two main cavalry divisions of the French 1st Cavalry Corps, which were the vanguard of a large number of British and French soldiers who marched north into Belgium to meet the Germans. The strength of the two sides was equal, and the two sides fought fiercely, and the flames of war burned for three whole days in one go. From near Arnie, 25 miles west of Liège, it stretches to 15 miles from the city of Jean-Blou.

Traditional infantry and cavalry encounters would become rare after the war, with far-sighted officers believing that tanks would eventually replace cavalry, the dominant branch of the Cold Weapons era, and the popularity of machine guns turned cavalry charges into suicidal attacks. But the old generals were still superstitious about this class, and the tall and mighty cavalry became the killer weapon of the French, who tried to break the German Fifth Army offensive.

The two strong meet and fight. The French relied on the advantage of high cavalry mobility to storm the German army, creating a situation of fighting more and fighting less one after another. The Germans lost 110 guns, which made the top brass really distressed for a while.

However, the excellent quality of the German officers and the resolute soldiers showed themselves vividly in the course of the battle, and the French unwittingly paid a heavy price of 5,000 cavalry in the process of destroying 110 guns.

This partial Anglo-French counterattack stabilized the Allied defensive line in Belgium, defused part of the German superiority in forces, and prevented further attacks by the right flank of the German Fourth Army and the Fifth Army in Belgium.

After such a tragic battle, the commander of the British expeditionary force and the French commander Xia Fei believed that the main German force was in Belgium, so within a few hours, the main force of the British and French forces, which had already penetrated into Belgium, actually walked out of the trenches again and continued north.

In order to meet the surging German forces in northern Belgium, the Allied 40 main divisions, almost all of the elite of the French field forces, plus the entire British Expeditionary Force, and Belgian troops guarded their planned defensive lines.

They were fortified along a long defensive line of 65 miles south from the Dutch radius near Antwerp through Brussels to Namur, and stationed a large number of troops in these areas, where the combined strength of the French and British was in danger of even approaching the Germans over time.

The Anglo-French forces held their ground in Belgium. They were able to consolidate their strength and establish a strong defensive line, and the attention of high-ranking French generals such as Chauffy shifted from the fragile Sedan line to Belgian territory.

And when the more than 300,000 traditional infantry of Moltke's regiment passed through the Ardennes Forest, all resistance had been cleared by the armored forces ahead. They crossed the mountains and over the barricades and trenches that had long been undefended, and made their way through the Ardennes Forest with ease. By the time they appeared in Sedan and strengthened the German defenses, laying a solid foundation for the continued advance of the two elite armoured armoured units of the 1st Panzer Army and the 2nd Panzer Army, no one was aware of the true intentions of the German troops.

The battle on the right flank was very difficult, and the collision of the two main forces could not be decided in a moment, and the 6th Infantry Division stopped in front of Antwerp, an important city in northern Belgium, and did not succeed in advancing 1 km for 2 consecutive days; The 7th Infantry Corps fought a bloody battle in an area 35 kilometers north of Brussels, losing 3,000 men and taking only 7 kilometers of land; The 1st Infantry Corps was no better, having to dig trenches to cope with the counterattack of the increasingly powerful British Expeditionary Force.

The old and serious generals were worried, fearing that Germany would be bogged down in the quagmire of war and that the Russians on the Eastern Front would take advantage of it. But Field Marshal Schlieffen was unimpressed by all this, because the punch that Germany was really prepared to play was actually on the front line, so he still believed that Germany had a chance to win.

Therefore, after introducing the current battle situation, Schlieffen pointed to the German unit identification in the Sedang area with his whip, and confidently said to Wilhelm II: "In the next stage, the army will cooperate with the air force to fully implement the revolving door operation, and attack here, here and this area at the same time." ”

"Will we be able to achieve victory in the area west of Sedang and ensure that the troops can advance quickly? You must know that we do not have many armored forces in our hands, and once we get into a war of attrition, the situation will be unfavorable for us. "Wilhelm II had to ask his most important questions.

"It's a very easy problem to solve." Pointing to a large area to the west of Sedan, Schlieffen said: "The French troops do not have any main forces here, and our armored forces are able to reach the designated targets as quickly as possible." Our infantry also captured a large number of French transports, in the hope that these units could keep up with the pace of the armored attack. ”

The French high-level planning was also completely chaotic, and they only prepared 130,000 defenders in the Sedan area, where the Germans were mainly attacking, but they had to face a full 3 panzer divisions and 600 tanks under Moltke Jr.

They were scattered over a 95-mile radius, crisscrossed by German forces that had invaded Sedan. To the southeast, on the Maginot Line, 40 French divisions were pinned to the spot by the bluffing German 11 divisions, unable to move a single bit.

Just a few hours after the German 1st Panzer Division crossed the river at Sedan Bridge, the French commanders, who were late to the scene, finally took the German attack from the Ardennes Forest. To be precise, the German army originally advanced on all sides, leaving Britain and France with no choice but to defend in an all-round way, so Xia Fei really had no way to judge the direction of the German army's main attack.

But not so long ago, the Anglo-French forces on the territory of Belgium stopped the rapid assault of the German army and stabilized the situation of the war. When the fighting in all areas became a stationary line, it was inevitable that the only German unit still in motion would be noticed. Therefore, Xia Fei also decided to send some forces to deal with the German army on the Sedang side, which was still advancing.

In addition to the officers and staff officers who came and went, the increasingly powerful Field Marshal Schlieffen, and His Majesty Wilhelm II, who came to the headquarters in person, there were also three strange Orientals, who had personally experienced the Great War in Europe as members of the Chinese officers' field observation group. They usually sat quietly on the sidelines, like obedient schoolchildren, and Schlieffen didn't pay attention to them after asking them a few times and getting no satisfactory answers. However, these officers had already memorized every detail that passed through the staff headquarters during the battle, compiled them after returning in the evening, and then sent them back to China for Lu Liang's reference, that is, they acted as Lu Liang's eyes, not to provide advice.

The wars in which China participated were never isolated, but closely related to Europe, and the performance of the German army was related to the follow-up long-term strategy, and Lu Liang was no less concerned about this place than the fighting at home. His aim was not to use the war to plunder the wealth of Europe, but to gain world leadership, and the smooth progress of the German war was very helpful to the realization of China's long-term goals.

At present, it seems that the cooperation between China and Germany has achieved good results, the Luftwaffe has an overwhelming advantage in the face of the Allied forces, the appearance of paratroopers also helped the German army to get out of the fortress quagmire of Belgium and the Netherlands, and the special armored units have also broken through the Ardennes Forest and appeared in the Sedang area, and the help of Chinese laborers has given the Germans more sufficient troops. The success of the European war allowed Lu Liang to see the dawn of breaking the old world order and establishing a new order.

However, if he wants to meet a bright future, he will need to fight for a long time, and for the time being, he will turn his attention from the European battlefield, and focus on the upcoming battle of the Japanese archipelago in China.

It is necessary to convince this small and narrow country in the twilight of the Qin Dynasty, so that China can be regarded as having no worries about the future, and if it cannot completely conquer Japan, China will not be regarded as having the leadership of the Far East. Lu Liang estimated that even if the blockade was ten years, the country would not give in, and only by eliminating their soldiers, destroying their government, abolishing the emperor system and militaristic ideology, and letting them suffer unbearable casualties, can they know who is the boss of the Far East and let them willingly submit to the feet of China.

This is what Lu Liang said to his staff, and also to many ordinary generals, the supreme prestige and absolute concentration of power have made Lu Liang achieve the unity of China, and the people have no slightest doubt about Lu Liang's decision. Under the leadership of Lu Liang and in the expansion of the army, the people are moving towards food and clothing and prosperity, and they are more willing to believe that Lu Liang will lead them to a better future. Some people have been clamoring in the newspapers to eliminate Japan and the United States, and seize Siberia, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East, because these places mean endless resources and markets, and they have expressed their support for military expansion with practical actions, and many factories under their command have willingly joined the government's action to integrate industrial resources and provide more weapons and equipment for the army. (To be continued.) )