Major General Haig's Third Army of the Expeditionary Force was undergoing a severe test, the situation of the war was becoming more and more unfavorable for the coalition forces, the main force of the German right flank was strongly attacking French territory from the direction of Belgium, and the fortresses of the Low Countries and the containment of the Russian army on the eastern front did not slow down the German advance. The Anglo-French army suffered losses and losses, and more than 40,000 French soldiers and more than 7,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded in the border battle, and more than 200 artillery pieces were lost.

Although the losses were not small, the coalition forces were not yet wounded, and if it were not for Moltke's army, Xia Fei could have set up a defensive line on the Marne River and fought to the death with the Germans. But the direction of the Ardennes Forest, which was neglected at the beginning of the war, became the biggest outlier of the war, and nearly 300,000 people of Moltke's First Army broke through this gap, and then the German Second Army poured into the territory of France, that is to say, nearly 500,000 German soldiers appeared in this direction!

After such a huge battle cluster captured Sedan, the German Second Army took advantage of the situation to expand the depth of its defense, and Moltke's main armoured troops, cavalry units, and infantry corps advanced northward, occupying a large area of land with great momentum, directly threatening the more than 700,000 main forces of the coalition forces in the border area -- the coalition forces were faced with the embarrassing situation of being cut off from the rear and surrounded by the front and rear.

In the French border town, the original tranquility was broken, the leisurely pasture was replaced by weapons and the rigidity of the soldiers, several girls probed their brains to look at the handsome and mighty young officers, chattering and laughing, and the bolder ones went over to deliver eggs or cheese, and soon the allied officers and girls were in pairs. The low-ranking soldiers of the hierarchical army were so resentful that they could only greet the shameless officers with the ruest expletives when they talked in the dormitory. The fat aunt was also a little resentful, and the fat aunt, who was not more than sixty years old, also wanted to flatter the young officers, but found that those officers avoided when they saw her.

The situation was unfavorable, but the tension did not seem to have reached here, because this was the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force, and the dense antennas, high-power radios, and power generation equipment were buzzing, and everywhere there were patrolling British soldiers, their steel helmets on their heads were ugly and scary, and only the officers were dressed to be cute. There was also anti-aircraft artillery nearby, and the troops of a division were guarded on all sides, so that even if the situation of the battle was unfavorable, the command could easily escape.

In the mayor's office in the center of the town, a military meeting without the participation of the French was being held under the service of the servants, and more than a dozen Indian Asans brought desserts and black tea to the generals, and the sand tables and maps in the conference room were cleared. If it weren't for these generals in military uniforms and soldiers standing guard outside the door, no one would have thought that this was a crucial military meeting.

Except for the commander of the Third Army, Haig, and the chief of staff, Kitchener, most of the generals had good faces, especially Sir French, the commander of the expeditionary force, and he had the heart to slowly taste the black tea brought by the servants. Before French could speak, the generals whispered to each other, turning their gaze to Kitchener and Haig.

The two frail-looking, stern-looking but straight-looking generals had been questioned since their return to England when they commanded the British army to wipe out the Free Army of Burma, which took three and a half years and involved more than 27,000 British casualties (more than half of them jungle-factored non-combat casualties) at a cost of more than £12 million. The last point is the main reason why the British questioned and even criticized the two, that it would cost more than 10 million pounds to pacify a Burma, and that there would be no gold and silver minerals like South Africa!

Fortunately, the British upper echelons knew the hardships of the two men, and also knew the importance of Burma, which was not only the forward position to defend India, but also one of the fortresses to contain China, and it must not be defended. The tropical jungle is one of the most brutal battlefields for the army, and the army that is not familiar with the jungle will be overwhelmed by the jungle, and the soldiers of the Free Army of Myanmar with poor tactical literacy will become monkeys jumping up and down in the jungle. Kitchener and Haig were already credited with keeping the Free Army in the northern corner, so they were greatly honored, and in addition to their ranks, they were received by the royal family, and Kitchener was knighted for his exploits. The two later joined the British Expeditionary Force and became part of the senior command.

It's just that in the expeditionary force, both of them don't have much foundation, and their power is controlled by French and his men. The French faction was still jealous of the exploits of the two, and among the generals, it was rumored that Kitchener and his wife enjoyed great glory without any military exploits, and there were many people who were red-eyed. Crucially, Kitchener, Haig, and French were in conflict with their views, which was the main reason for their exclusion.

French slowly put down the delicate teacup, looked around and said, "Gentlemen, we must plan for our future, yesterday I received a secret telegram from London, everyone knows that our home fleet has lost the battle, and the timid Jericho has returned to Scarpa Bay with a few poor capital ships. This had a very serious consequence, that is, our sea transport lines were greatly threatened by German warships, and perhaps after a while our soldiers would have to use French weapons and ammunition. ”

"Sir Excellency, I think the reality is much more grim than you describe. The main force of the right flank of the Germans was violent, and the momentum of the attack did not weaken in the slightest, and a division of German strikers appeared on the right flank of my Third Army, followed by an unknown number of German soldiers, and I did not order a retreat for the safety of the defensive line, so now my troops suffered heavy losses, and with the increase in the strength of the enemy, the defensive line of the Third Army was in danger of collapsing at any time. What is even more alarming is that the German middle lane cluster is attacking our rear, and if the rear road is cut off, the end will be unimaginable! Haig couldn't help but speak, although the words were right, and everyone present could see it, but no one said it, just waiting for French to speak first. Haig didn't say anything, and when he said it, he offended French.

"General Xia Fei means that the expeditionary force and the main force of the French army will hold on to the same place to resist the attack of the main force of the German right flank in the north, and then we will send a part of the troops to the south, and Xia Fei will mobilize a part of the troops from the German-French border area to the north, flanking Moltke's middle road cluster and breaking the unfavorable situation." At this time, Kitchener added another sentence.

French was furious, if it weren't for the aristocratic status that constrained his behavior, he would have scolded him a long time ago. Xia Fei sent a letter to Kitchener, but did not discuss it with himself, the commander of the expeditionary force, doesn't he look down on people? And that Haig, it seems that you are powerful, right, it took more than three years for you to pacify Burma!

A dog-legged general was good at observing words and feelings, and he knew French best and immediately picked up: "Little Moltke's central cluster has more than 500,000 troops, and it is impossible to mobilize enough troops to break the German blockade in a short period of time, and it is still a question of how long the main force of our coalition army can hold out, you must know that there are nearly a million German troops in front of us - they are the main force of the Germans." ”

Haig was furious, he and Kitchener were in Burma for more than three years, by the erosion of the rainforest, in addition to becoming very weak physically, the psychology has also become a little distorted, in layman's terms, I don't understand human feelings. He was kind enough to help French come up with ideas, why didn't anyone agree?

"If you don't go south and defeat Moltke, do you have a better way to deal with the current situation?" Haig turned his gaze to the dog-legged general, his gaze burning for the man to look at him directly.

After a few seconds of General Dogleg lowered his head, he raised his head and said with a smile: "General Haig is right, we will definitely not be able to defeat the main German army in the north, and Moltke's central cluster is weaker, so it is better to negotiate with the French to send troops south." A group army was drawn from the French army, an army was drawn from our army, and then Xia Fei drew troops from the south to the north. ”

French frowned, how did this dogleg start to turn to Kitchener's side? However, his next words made French feel very relieved, and he deserved to be his loyal subordinate.

"Defeating Moltke Jr. is the key, so I suggest that the troops to be transferred must be the most combat-effective troops, and looking at the expeditionary force, the strongest combat effectiveness is General Haig's Third Army, you must know that the Third Army has more than 150 tanks, and the proportion of tanks in the expeditionary force is the largest."

French was overjoyed: "That's it, General Haig, I'll send you two more tank battalions, the Third Army will start preparing to go south now, and I'll discuss with the French about replacing your defensive line." ”

"Is there too few troops in one army?" Kitchener opened his mouth and said, how can Haig's Third Army be considered the most combat-ready because the previous battles were incomplete and very tired, and the tanks had also lost more than half of them due to the back and forth movement of troops and many battles.

"Yes." French nodded, and then said: "I think the war is won or lost not by the number of troops, but by the quality of the commanders. Well, Sir Kitchener, you are also going south with General Haig, and it is better for two men to discuss it than to have one to make an idea, what do you think? ”

If you don't agree, you have to agree, the army is not a place of fairness and democracy, Kitchener and Haig were sent to the most dangerous battlefield, and the two of them came out of the conference room to realize that this was a framing of French himself, how much of a crippled infantry army could help? Plus two tank battalions are less than a hundred tanks, how to deal with Moltke's two armored corps? When they heard that the French army had sent only two infantry corps and that Xia Fei had sent two infantry corps from the south, Kitchener and Haig were desperate, such a small number of troops, they had to cross a long distance to reach the front of Moltke Jr., and they had to face an army of nearly half a million people, which was an impossible task. (To be continued.) )