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Chapter 421 Tank Battle [Second Update]

[Today's second update, update the 9,000-word chapter, and there will be one or two more in the evening, so stay tuned]

Whether it is the Allied side or the Entente side, when the number of tanks or combat vehicles increases to more than 5,000, the names of armored armies, armored divisions, etc., naturally appear. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info╔╗//Since the belligerents have no experience in large-scale armored force operations, they basically refer to the establishment of the First Armored Division of the Imperial Guard of the Chinese Empire, and then expand each armored division into an armored army, an armored army, and the Entente even appeared in the establishment of an armored army group because of the deployment of 7,000 tanks.

The armored army group that should have appeared only in World War II had already appeared in World War I because of the deliberate instigation and covert operation of the Chinese Empire.

On 3 November 1915, the Anglo-French forces repelled a tentative German attack at Blange, on the Brelle River, and won the Battle of Bronge. This victory gave the Anglo-French command confidence again, and Xia Fei hoped to annihilate the arrogant German army with a defensive counterattack after a lured attack.

He proposed a bold operation code-named "Defensive Counterattack" in the winter, the purpose of which was to encircle the Germans by making a detour to Verton, northwestern France in the English Channel, but the British High Command opted for a more traditional positional assault operation intended to crush the salient at Currehion.

The reason why it was chosen in early winter was mainly because the tanks produced by the Entente could not achieve a reasonable layout in terms of aerodynamic layout (air circulation) and timely heat dissipation like the tanks of the Chinese Empire, which made the tanks of the British Empire like microwave ovens, and it was difficult for soldiers to stay in them for a long time.

In order to take into account the overall situation of the British and French coalition forces, Xia Fei had to accept this idea. Major Li Fei, a member of the Battlefield Observation Group of the Chinese Empire in the Entente Countries, said after the battle that the Battle of Curreyhion was not the earliest plan from Xia Fei, and that the siege and annihilation of the French coast in the English Channel was his original idea, and that Xia Fei later formulated the plan for the Battle of Curexion and insisted on carrying out this battle to the end. Because Xia Fei had previously reminded the British and French high commands that in any case, postponing and aborting this campaign would be very disadvantageous in terms of the whole strategy, so Xia Fei was extremely resolute in the course of the campaign to persist in this campaign. This situation is particularly easy to mislead people into believing that Xia Fei advocated the planning and implementation of the Battle of Curehion. As for the Battle of Curehion, Xia Fei also put forward his own two suggestions, one is to take advantage of the German army's unstable foothold to launch an offensive campaign in advance, and the other is to wait for the German army to attack first, and after it is exhausted and exhausted, the Anglo-French army will counterattack and copy the German army's rear road. The latter Xia Fei is more optimistic.

However, the British and French high command rejected the latter tactic, believing that it was too risky to let the Germans attack first. However, although the British and French high command chose the former and tried to attack first, it repeatedly hesitated and postponed, and waited for the main force of the American army to arrive and wait for its own strength to increase. Of course, the strength of the German army increased even faster with the covert help of the Chinese Empire, which is a fact that everyone in the Entente and even in the world knows.

The Curehion Bulge was like a fist extending out of the German front, about 250 miles long on the front and less than 70 miles at the bottom, and after careful reconnaissance of the salient, numerous formed units were found in the salient, and Xiafei planned to encircle and annihilate the entire German heavy group in the salient through a coordinated pincer attack on the north and south flanks. ╔╗ And the success of this battle will shorten the front of the British and French forces, so that the mobility of the British and French troops will be greatly increased, not only can recapture the western line of the Somme, but also can drive the German army out of France in one fell swoop, and even win the war.

Xia Fei's plan was given the help of Field Marshal Henry, commander of Army Group Center of the British and French? Willie? Sir Norman (who received the rank of marshal in 1902) and General Johnson, chief of staff of the Army Headquarters, supported but also opposed by the commander of the 9th Army, General Peter, and the commander of the armored forces, General George. The opposition was justified, and in the spring of 1915, the Anglo-French forces suffered huge tank losses on the Eastern Front. Moreover, the Mark Type 2 and No. 3 tanks, which were the main force, have proved to be no match for the German A7V-1 and A7V-2, while the new generation of Renault FT-17 tanks of the British and French forces has a low monthly production and is obviously at a disadvantage in terms of quantity compared with the ready-made combat vehicles purchased directly by the German army from the Chinese Empire. George believed that the attack on Kurechion would inflict great losses on the Entente tank corps, and his plan to reorganize the Allied Panzer Army would also go bankrupt. The Allied High Command finally decided to adopt Chauffeur's plan, and on 15 October issued Operational Order No. 6, in which the Anglo-French forces launched a pincer offensive with Army Group Center and Army Group South to destroy the main German force in the Kuresian salient. The combat code name was "Shield".

Operation "Shield" was supposed to be launched on November 4 as planned, but because the Allies were hit by a major blow from the German naval engagement, winter clothing was delayed in reaching the front line, and millions of British and French troops refused to fight in the cold winter, forcing the British and French high command to repeatedly postpone the battle plan.

At a meeting in the middle of the month to discuss the "Shield" plan, the commander of the 9th Army, General Peter, brought a stack of aerial photographs, which showed that the Germans had built a large number of fortifications on the offensive route planned by the Anglo-French forces, Peter believed that the best opportunity for the offensive had been lost, the Germans had recovered, and the "Shield" plan should be abandoned. The Entente High Command again showed hesitation, but in the British Field Marshal Henry? Willie? At the insistence of Sir Norman, British Chief of Staff Johnson, and French Field Marshal Chauffeur, as well as confidence in the sudden German victory in the Third Battle of the Somme a few months earlier with the "Blitzkrieg" plan proposed by the Imperial Chinese Army University, Cui Ming Bosch, Operation "Shield" was finally decided to be launched on December 5.

The Entente finalized the deployment of forces, and General Peter's 9th Army, which belonged to Army Group Center, was south of the Kurlyhion salient, which had 21 French and 3 British divisions and 335,000 men, including 6 tank divisions, a total of 1,790 tanks and 424 artillery pieces. In the center of the salient is the 2nd Army of the Entente Army Group Center, 96,000 men, who will play an auxiliary role in this offensive, and the main task is to maintain the connection between the British, French and American forces in the east and west of the salient.

To the south of the salient was Xiafei's Army Group South, including General Leiden's 4th Panzer Army and Thomson's group. The 4th Armored Army has a total of 224,000 men, 1,925 tanks and 704 artillery pieces under the jurisdiction of the 52nd Infantry Corps, the 48th Armored Corps and the 2nd Armored Corps. Thomson cluster on the right flank, with 10 divisions, 126,000 men, 1,344 tanks and 125 artillery pieces.

In addition, about 20 divisions were deployed on the flanks of the various assault groups mentioned above. The aviation of the 4th and 6th air forces is responsible for supporting the army. ** This combined the Anglo-French offensive with a total strength of more than 1.9 million men, about 10,000 artillery pieces and mortars, 6,000 tanks (another 1,000 in reserve), and 3,050 combat aircraft of various types. The British and French forces also invested a large number of weapons of mass destruction for this offensive, including white phosphorus bombs and poison gas bombs imitated in the Chinese Empire.

On the German side, while the generals of the British High Command were arguing over the "shield" plan, the Germans were also planning their next move. The commander of the Bettina Front, General Falkenhein, advocated a preemptive attack in order to disrupt the offensive preparations of the Anglo-French forces and regain the strategic initiative lost at the Battle of Verdun, which William II himself was inclined to, and Paul? Feng? Hindenburg, Keynes and others believed that the German army should first remain on the defensive, consume the offensive energy of the British and French forces with a strong defense, destroy its armored forces, and then launch a counteroffensive.

Such a decision was made, mainly because the officers within the German army at this time were very fond of the Imperial Chinese Army, not only admired the powerful equipment of the Imperial Chinese Army, but also admired the tactical thinking of the Imperial Chinese Army, and the blitzkrieg tactics proposed by the Imperial Chinese Army to the German Army gave the German army a big advantage in the third Battle of the Somme.

Based on the worship of this victory, most of the officers of the German army began to study the Art of War of the Chinese Empire, and studied the tactical courses of the Imperial Chinese Army University, especially the Chinese Emperor ** used defensive counterattack warfare many times in the Sino-Russian War, and repeatedly tried, and achieved great battle victories, so the German army decided to follow the example of the Chinese Emperor ** once this time, and play a defensive counterattack war.

At this time, according to reconnaissance and espionage intelligence from the front, the Anglo-French army would launch a large-scale attack on the German forces in the Kurechion salient, and at a meeting on November 12, Wilhelm II was finally persuaded to adopt Paul? Feng? Hindenburg's plan. So the Germans began to move to active defensive preparations in Kuresion.

On the forward positions, the Germans carefully designed their defenses, constructing several lines of defense with a depth of more than 100 miles, and the entire defense system consisted of a large number of closely coordinated trenches, barbed wire, anti-tank fire points and anti-tank trenches, and minefields, and gathered a large number of troops and firepower in the most likely direction of attack of the British and French forces.

Eventually, the Germans were in the northern part of the Kurechian salient, facing the direction of Army Group Center of the British and French forces under the direction of Prince Wilhelm's Central Front, including the 70th, 13th, 48th, 60th, 65th Armies and the 2nd Tank Army, with a total strength of 711,000 men, 11,000 artillery pieces and mortars, and 2,785 combat vehicles.

Since the Germans believed that the powerful Anglo-French Army Group Center would be the main attack of the Entente, the German army was also the strongest in this direction, Paul? Feng? Field Marshal Hindenburg also personally commanded here.

To the south of the Kurechion salient, facing the Entente Army Group South was the Bettina Front of Falkenhein, under the command of the 6th and 7th Guards Armies, the 40th, 38th, and 69th Armies, the 1st Tank Army, and the 35th Infantry Army, with a total strength of 625,000 men, 8,718 artillery pieces and mortars, and 1,704 combat vehicles.

In the rear of the Central Front and the Bettina Front was Art's Rhine Steppe Front, whose task was to provide reinforcements to the two fronts when the situation was tight, and that once the Curreyhian Line was broken through by the Anglo-French forces, it would be the last line of defense, and when the Germans switched to a counteroffensive, it would provide fresh forces. ╔╗ This front has jurisdiction over the 4th and 5th Guards Armies, the 27th, 47th, and 53rd Guards Armies, the 5th Guards Tank Army, the 3rd, 5th, and 7th Guards Cavalry Corps, the 4th Guards Tank Army, and the 1st and 3rd Guards Mechanized Armies. The total strength is 573,000 people, 8,510 artillery pieces and mortars, and 1,639 combat vehicles.

The days of what was thought to be a possible offensive by the Anglo-French army passed peacefully, and the front appeared very calm for three months, and in November Ludendorff wrote to Wilhelm II that the Germans should take the lead in the offensive, because the preparations made by the Germans were for the Anglo-French offensive in winter. If by the spring and summer of the following year, the German fortifications would be ineffective.

The German High Command ordered the capture of an Anglo-French prisoner, and then on the night of December 4, the German Guards 6th Army in the south of the salient captured a soldier of the Anglo-French 168th Infantry Division, who confessed that the Anglo-French army was about to begin the offensive the next day.

In order to disrupt the steps of the Anglo-French offensive, Paul? Feng? At 2:20 a.m. on the 5th, Hindenburg issued an order to carry out artillery counter-preparations for the positions of the British and French forces, and the prelude to the Battle of Curehion began.

On the Southern Front: German shelling was completely unexpected by the Anglo-French forces, resulting in heavy losses to the Entente**. Although it was 3 hours later than originally planned. The 4th Panzer Army of the Entente Army Group South launched an offensive according to the predetermined plan, and after the loss of 36 tanks, the Entente ** crossed the German anti-tank minefield with difficulty, and stormed the defense line of the German 67th Guards Infantry Division, and in the face of the attack of the 3 divisions of the Entente, the German 67th Guards Infantry Division was difficult to resist and was forced to retreat, so Falkenhain transferred the reserve of the Front Army to block the British and French forces outside the second line of defense. Unfortunately, however, the Entente** opened a gap in the second line of German defense on the 6th and forced the crossing of the Brennes River.

As the Entente** offensive was much more intense than expected, Falkenhayn was forced to cancel the counteroffensive scheduled for 6 December, and instead deployed some of the vehicles of the 1st Tank Army, which was planned for the counteroffensive, behind the line to support the infantry for defense, and some on the flanks to attack the Anglo-French forces.

On this day, the British and French air forces made more than 11,000 sorties, and thanks to the strong support of the Entente from the United States, their aircraft were so large that they completely suppressed the Luftwaffe.

After a day of fierce fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses.

On the evening of the 6th, Falkenhain asked Keynes for reinforcements, and the latter, with the consent of the High Command, immediately transferred 453 tanks of the 2nd and 10th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Army of the Rhine Steppe Front to the Bettina Front. At the same time, Falkenhain received a personal call from Wilhelm II, asking him to stop at all costs the breakthrough of the Entente** in the southern part of the Kurechion salient.

In the battle on the 7th, the Anglo-French forces advanced only a few kilometers and failed to achieve the task of breaking through the German lines. The next day, the Anglo-French forces continued their offensive stubbornly, and Falkenhain was planning a counteroffensive, for which he requested the High Command to transfer the 5th Guards Tank Army and the 5th Guards Army of the Rhine Steppe Front to him for command. His request was quickly granted, but it took several days for the troops to arrive.

In the struggle for air supremacy, through the two-day air battles on 7 and 8 July, the Luftwaffe gradually reversed its disadvantage by virtue of the genuine and original Cat Demon fighters obtained from the Chinese Empire, and it was only a matter of time before it completely seized air supremacy. ╔╗

On 9 December, a crucial day in the Battle of Curehion, Falkenhain commanded his troops to continue to fend off the advance of the Anglo-French forces on the front of the Comblon, while launching successive counterattacks on both flanks, which, despite repeated failures, prevented the Anglo-French forces from attacking their main targets with all their might.

Seeing that it was impossible to break through from the front, General Hoss, commander of the 4th Panzer Army of the Entente**, decided to break through from the right flank first, and he ordered the 2nd Panzer Army to turn to Abwehr in the northeast. In the next two days, the Anglo-French attack was relatively smooth, they attacked the city of Abwey, and the battle of Curehion was staged.

On the morning of December 12, the battle began, and the two sides launched an attack almost simultaneously, in which the German M10 tanks had a clear advantage in attack, while the Entente Renault tanks could not pose a threat to the Germans at the same distance, and a large number of Allied tanks were destroyed by the German tanks at a distance beyond the engagement. However, the number of tanks in the Entente** was huge, and the offensive against the German tanks quickly reached a point of 3 to 1, as a result of which the qualitative superiority of the German tank regiments was neutralized. Eventually, the battle report of the German 5th Guards Tank Army reported that its tank corps had lost the ability to continue the offensive and had incorporated the remaining tanks into infantry units.

In this day's tank battle, the Germans destroyed more Entente tanks with relatively small losses, and the Entente eventually defeated the German chariot corps with a numerical advantage in tanks, but they failed to capture Abwey, and the subsequent arrival of German reinforcements made their defenses stronger.

The battle can be described as tactically costly and the Germans were forced to retreat, neither the German 5th Guards Tank Army nor the Anglo-French 2nd Panzer Army could achieve their objectives, and the loss of tanks was already a subject of debate, with the Germans losing 1,822 vehicles, most of them absolutely. Similarly, the losses of the Anglo-French forces amounted to 2,300 vehicles.

When the exact figures of losses on both sides were determined, the outcome of the battle was clear, the German 5th Guards Tank Army could not achieve the goal of attacking advantageous terrain or defeating the 2nd Panzer Army of the Entente, and both forces were weakened in the battle, and Art's decision to use the tactics of the 5th Guards Tank Corps against the Entente ** had a great impact on the situation of the battle, because this was the main offensive direction of the Entente**.

In fact, the sudden attack of the strong German reserves and the Allied 9th Army Corps north of the Kuresian salient were forced to suspend the offensive due to the German action of Mayville, and the Allied High Command decided to halt the entire assault. The German offensive against the Allied 6th Army at the Somme River south of Folville necessitated the Allied High Command to transfer the reserves originally used to achieve the final victory south of the Curehion salient, and the British Wehrmacht High Command decided to transfer part of its forces to the Mediterranean theater to deal with the landing of the Anglo-French-American forces in Sicily on 10 December.

Regardless of the tactical outcome, the outcome of the battle turned into a psychological and substantial victory for the Germans, who had expected the Germans to go defensive and have no more anti-tank guns and anti-tank rifles. On the contrary, the Germans still had more than 2,000 tanks, which clearly showed that the Germans were far from defeated and that this seriously affected the strategic decisions of the Allies.

This also showed the weakness of the Allied Allies in the quality of officers and soldiers, and the German army was more confident that it would launch a large-scale offensive to drive the British and French forces into the sea, and the strategic initiative would fall into the hands of the German army. ╔╗

On the Northern Front, German artillery bombardment also delayed the Anglo-French offensive by two and a half hours than planned, and after dozens of minutes of artillery preparation and aerial bombardment, the Entente 9th began the offensive as planned.

In order to divert the attention of the Germans from the main direction of the Anglo-French attack, Crodeau first made a feint on the left flank with three infantry divisions, but was stopped by the Germans.

In the direction of the main attack, the Anglo-French forces concentrated the forces of 4 armored divisions and 3 infantry divisions, and after fierce battles, they broke through the first line of defense of the German 13th Army and advanced 5 kilometers with difficulty. But on both flanks, the Germans stubbornly held their positions.

At the same time as the fierce fighting on the ground, the air forces of both sides were also engaged in fierce battles, and on this day the Allies flew 9,000 sorties, and the Luftwaffe also made more than 8,000 sorties.

By the evening of the 5th, the Entente had only broken through less than 10 kilometers and lost at least 700 tanks.

The next day, Crown Prince Wilhelm began a counterattack, and Crodo also threw his reserves into battle, and a large-scale tank battle began. After a fierce battle, six tank divisions of the German army suffered heavy losses, losing about 700 tanks, but the Entente** also lost 800 tanks.

The Anglo-French forces advanced all the way to the second line of German defense, but were stopped by the German 17th Guards Infantry Corps and the German 17th Tank Corps, which arrived to reinforce them.

In the early morning of December 7, the Entente ** launched another attack, trying to seize the transportation hub of Shenglikiye, the battle was extremely fierce, the British and French forces attacked the city several times, but were driven out by the stubborn German army, and the Luftwaffe after fierce fighting, seized air supremacy in the northern area of Curreyhian, and since then the British and French ground forces have been a great deterrent.

The battle lasted until December 8, and although the Anglo-French forces inflicted heavy losses on the German army, the German army relied on the superiority of strong equipment and personnel quality to hold the position.

In the city of Shenglikiye, the Anglo-French army occupied most of Shenglikiye after paying a heavy price, but the Germans still controlled some important strongholds in the city, and the Anglo-French army could not continue to advance.

On 9 December, Crodeau launched a final assault on German positions with 1,300 tanks, but still found nothing, by which time the Allied 9th Army's offensive energy had been exhausted, and Clodeau was forced to go on the defensive on the 10th.

The Anglo-French forces began to retreat on December 17, and by the 23rd, the two sides had largely returned to their pre-engagement posture.

When the Entente** offensive was halted on December 10, the Germans decided to attack on the 12th and captured the German Field Marshal Helmut, who had won the Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III. Feng? Moltke's name was used as the code name for the campaign.

In the early morning of the 12th, the Germans carried out artillery bombardment of the Entente ** position in the Kurissian salient for more than two hours, and then Moltke Jr. personally went to the battlefield to direct a major counteroffensive. The Anglo-French forces put up stubborn resistance, inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans.

On the 15th, the 70th, 13th, and 48th armies of the German Central Front under the command of Crown Prince Wilhelm also joined the attack. At this time, the Luftwaffe also had full control of air supremacy, and the Austro-Hungarian air wing also fought alongside the Luftwaffe in the skies over Curehion.

On the ground, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire miscalculated, thinking that the German Army would be completely defeated by the 7,000 tank corps of the Entente, in order to support the German Army, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire sent the Atlantic Fleet to cover a caravan composed of 20 large transport ships, and at the risk of being discovered by the French Coastal Fleet, quietly provided the German Army with 300 M10 unshrunken combat vehicles in the German-controlled port of Le Crotuis in northwestern France.

The German losses in the area were quickly replenished, and the official version of the M10 tank was so powerful in attack and mobility that it quickly gained ground superiority.

Unable to stop the offensive of the newly built Eighth Tank Corps of the Germans, armed with 300 of the most advanced M10 tanks, Crodo's tank corps realized that it was only a matter of time before he lost Kuresion.

On 16 December, Crodeau petitioned the Allied High Command to abandon Kurision and withdraw to the "Breyge" line, but was vetoed by the Allied High Command.

By December 25, the domestic political situation in Russia on the Eastern Front was seriously unstable, and the Soviets led by Lenin were preparing to overthrow the Tsarist rule. The Tsarist Russia on the Eastern Front stopped its offensive operations, so that the German army on the Eastern Front was no longer contained, so the Entente on the Western Front had to consider the situation of being counterattacked by the German army on all fronts.

At the same time, the Anglo-French forces in the Kurechian salient were in danger of being encircled by the Germans. After Crodo's request to withdraw again, the Allied High Command finally agreed to abandon Currehion and redeploy the 2nd Panzer Army to stabilize the situation.

On 31 December, the Entente** withdrew to the "Bresge" line of defense on the Brennes River, and during the retreat, the Entente** pursued a brutal scorched earth policy.

On January 5, 1916, the Germans conquered Kurechion, and continued to pursue the retreating Anglo-French forces, captured Muvanna on the 10th, and entered Vasmont on the 15th.

In the entire Battle of Curehion, the German army destroyed 600,000 enemies, 5,044 tanks, 12,402 artillery pieces, 3,029 aircraft, and advanced 150 kilometers to the west, leveling the Curlyhian defensive line, but failed to complete the plan formulated before the war to encircle and annihilate the British and French Army Group Center, and the German losses were also huge, with 42 casualties, 3,586 combat vehicles, 3,892 artillery pieces, and 2,104 aircraft.

On the Southern Front, when the Anglo-French forces disengaged with the Germans on December 23, Wilhelm II demanded that the Germans launch an immediate counteroffensive. Feng? Hindenburg believed that after a series of hard battles, the Germans should make the necessary additions and repairs before launching the offensive, so that the Germans finally set the date for the offensive on January 3, 1916, and the operation was codenamed after the German Chancellor Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War. The offensive was tasked with the Bettina Front and the Rhine Steppe Front, with a total strength of 900,000 men and more than 2,800 tanks.

At 5 o'clock in the morning of January 3, nearly 10,000 German artillery pieces fired in unison, and a large number of shells were dumped on the positions of the British and French forces, and the shelling lasted for more than two hours, turning the Entente positions into scorched earth.

Then the chariots and infantry began to attack. The surviving British and French soldiers in the shelling were unable to stop the advance of the German army, and the German army soon broke through the first line of defense of the British and French forces, and after a day of fighting, the German assault groups advanced an average of 10~15 kilometers to the depth of the Entente. In the ensuing days of fighting, the Entente**'s defense was unusually stubborn, and although the German tanks continued to break through, the infantry was entangled in the Entente** and made slow progress.

By 5 January, the German 1st Tank Army had captured Scarboch, cutting off the 255th, 332nd Infantry and 19th Panzer Divisions from the Entente**, and their fate would be annihilation.

However, the besieged Anglo-French forces still put up desperate resistance, and it was their stubborn resistance that bought time for the withdrawal of the main forces of the Entente from Abwehr to Briges.

On the 6th and 7th, as the German convoys advanced rapidly and the infantry were busy clearing the encircled Anglo-French forces, the German convoys and infantry were once again repeating the situation of the Third Battle of the Somme, and the situation had begun to become disjointed. The Entente** hoped to seize this weakness of the German army and begin a planned retreat to gain time to gather forces, and then carry out a counterattack when the German offensive energy gradually depleted.

At this time, Falkenhayn was very optimistic about the situation, believing that the Entente** was on the verge of collapse, and he ordered the front-line chariot troops to continue the offensive, cutting the railway line in Briges and preventing the Anglo-French army from escaping.

On January 11, the Anglo-French forces had been assembled, and the 12 elite American replenishment divisions had been replenished, and enough ammunition and fuel had been replenished, and Xia Fei began a counteroffensive.

At this time, the German chariot units were still in pursuit, the various units were widely dispersed, while the infantry and artillery were still in the rear, and after many days of fierce fighting, ammunition and fuel were seriously insufficient, and more importantly, the Germans were unaware of the attack of the British and French forces.

On the evening of the 11th, the 49th Tank Brigade and the 17th Tank Regiment of the 1st German Tank Army were surrounded and annihilated by the British and French forces.

On the 12th, under the attack of the British and French forces, the German army was forced to retreat, and then the 6th Chariot Army of the German 6th Guards Army was surrounded by the British and French forces on the 14th and suffered a crushing defeat.

The battle ended on January 17, both sides suffered huge losses, although the counterattack of the British and French forces inflicted heavy losses on the German army, but Xia Fei did not have the strength to further expand the results of the battle, and the German army was already limited in strength, could not afford to lose, and could not launch a large-scale counteroffensive.

The Fourth Battle of the Somme, which lasted for nearly three months, ended with neither the Allies nor the Allies achieving the objectives of the campaign, but instead engaged in a tug-of-war between the two sides, resulting in heavy casualties and exhaustion of the armies on both sides.

Although the Germans won individual battles with relatively small casualties, the German population was small and the army was on the verge of exhaustion, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of troops was a major blow to Germany. On the contrary, on the side of the Entente, although the loss of troops was hundreds of thousands more than the German army, but fortunately, the Entente side had a large population, especially the United States, a large number of cannon fodder saved the Allied countries in time, and in the long-term war of population attrition, the Entente was undoubtedly the victor.

However, on the whole, although the Entente received the entry of the United States into the war, they received a large number of military and material supplements. But Tsarist Russia, which had the greatest restraining power against the Allies, was now in the midst of a turbulent domestic crisis. Lenin, who came from Bolshevism, was planning to overthrow the tyranny of Tsarist Russia, so on the Eastern Front, Tsar Nicholas II had to suspend the offensive and mobilize the elite to return home, while saving money on the front to stabilize the Russian people.

As a result, from 1916 onwards, the Allies were largely free of war on the Eastern Front. The almost unanimous armistice between Tsarist Russia and Germany reduced the pressure on the Allies on the Eastern Front, allowing them to draw more troops to the Western Front, which offset the pressure on the American forces to join the German-Austrian forces on the Western Front.

Similarly, in terms of material replenishment, the Chinese Empire focused on exporting arms and strategic materials to the Allies, which also offset the huge strategic material replenishment brought by the United States to the Entente countries, which once again fell into a delicate equilibrium on the European battlefield.