Chapter 247

The Germans, under the cover of more than 100 tanks, launched a fierce attack on the French army, which was 20 kilometers wide. After two days of fierce fighting, Germany advanced ten kilometers and opened a less obvious passage.

On the night of the 16th, the German army continued to attack uncharacteristically, and when the French army was exhausted, the German armored assault group that had been hiding was dispatched.

The Battle of the Somme, on which Xia Fei had high hopes, did not bring the expected results. The Germans had long been prepared for a large-scale attack by the British and French forces. The Anglo-French army had a lot of tanks, more than 800 of them, and it can be said that the coffins were all taken out.

The Anglo-French forces hoped for victory in the Battle of the Guò Somme, turning the war into a war of movement, and thus defusing the German threat in the direction of Paris. For this battle, there were huge divisions within the French army, and neither Petain nor Neville advocated fighting this battle, but preferred to concentrate their forces on the front line with Verdun and Reims, hold their positions and consume the living forces of the German army, and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

The Battle of the Somme was defended by the German Second Army, which defended about 58 kilometers on a frontal basis. In this time and space, because of the appearance of the squadron, the French army did not draw too many troops, so on the front line of the Somme, the British army had 25 divisions, and the French army also had 25 divisions. It can be said that there is an absolute superiority in troops.

The tension of the battle situation was beyond the expectations of the British and French forces, and the tank tactics of the coalition forces can be said to be quite backward, just to cover the infantry. Even in order to strengthen the defense, the Allied tanks increased the thickness of their armor, and the speed was greatly slowed down. The coalition tank, which has a speed of only 20 kilometers per hour, is obviously far stronger than the "water tank" in parallel time and space.

Unfortunately, the Germans had already prepared and built three supposedly the most fortified defensive lines, withstanding the seven-day artillery preparation of the British and French forces, when the allied tanks appeared in the sight of the German army. The Germans introduced a large number of improved versions of 70-mm infantry guns, direct-fire guns that specialized in fighting tanks. The Germans, who were wounded by tanks, would naturally be prepared.

On the first day of the charge, the Anglo-French army lost 300 tanks, and the result was only 500 meters of advance on the front.

It was a blood-doomed battle, with a large number of light and heavy machine guns and mortars inflicting huge casualties on the British and French forces. On the first day of the war, the coalition forces suffered more than 10,000 casualties, and at this time the Marne defense line. is in a precarious situation. At this time, the Battle of the Somme had just begun with the infantry input, and Xia Fei, who was in a dilemma, had to gamble and strictly order Petain again to immediately organize the French Second Army to launch a counterattack. At the same time, Nivelle was in a hurry, at any cost. Let the Chinese expeditionary force reinforce Epernay and withstand the German attack.

Nivelle couldn't stand it, all the troops in his hands were thrown into the defensive line, and Reims did not dare to draw any more troops, otherwise what would happen to the German army rushing from Ravov. The only thing to hope for was the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and Neville personally set out overnight. Rush to Saint-Martin, Dablois. Seeing Cai Ye and Zhang Xiaohuai, Nivelle said in the first sentence: "General Cai, General Zhang, the German army has advanced five kilometers, and the Epernay defense line cannot be held without reinforcements." Then there is no point in you coming to France to go to war. ”

Cai Gong did not answer his words, and silently handed over a telegram from China, Nivelle could not read Chinese, and handed it to the translator. The telegram was sent in the name of the Chinese Civil Affairs Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Staff Headquarters. It is intended to inform the country about the difficulties of customs negotiations. and demanded that the expeditionary force must pay attention to its own safety, so as not to be used as cannon fodder by Britain and France.

One of them reads: "Britain and France want to continue to control our customs, and it is clear that they want to keep control of our customs." The so-called allies are nothing but cannon fodder. ”

Neville was stupid, how could he pull this thing up at this time. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the British are not doing this authentically, and they obviously signed an agreement to return it to customs, but now they regret delaying it, isn't this a cheat? How can you let the army at the front of the family fight with peace of mind?

Just when Nevelle didn't know what to say, Cai Ye took the initiative to take the telegram back and said: "General Nevelle, since our army has come to France, we will not sit idly by and watch our friendly forces be wiped out. The five divisions of the 1st and 5th armies under our group army have already rushed to Epernay to reinforce friendly forces. Fang Jianxiong, chairman of the Military Commission, sent a telegram stressing that the Chinese Government is a responsible government, and since we have signed the agreement, we will abide by it. The British government's ugliness in customs matters should not abdicate its responsibilities. ”

When Neville heard this, he was even more speechless with excitement. The Chinese had already sent reinforcements, and as soon as he breathed a sigh of relief, Zhang Xiaohuai continued: "Saint-Martin and Dablois are very fatal, according to aerial reconnaissance, the Germans have assembled a large number of tanks, and only one-third have appeared on the battlefield so far. Where did the rest of the tanks go? Our judgment can only be obvious, and it can only be here. ”

With an uproar, a map was opened, and Zhang Xiaohuai pointed to the map and said: "Here and here, our army has been ready to fight."

In preparation, the German tank units did not come, but they came and got into the pockets of our army, and our army concentrated the forces of five armies, ate this German army, and then launched a counterattack on the flank of the German army. If the Germans do not come, within three days at the latest, our army will launch an active attack, flanking the Germans, and replacing defense with attack. In order to achieve the purpose of this campaign, first of all, our army's heavy artillery and tanks were replenished as much as possible, and secondly, General Petain's Second Army launched a counterattack from the south to the north. In this way, it was difficult for the Germans to continue the offensive under the simultaneous attack of two heavy groups, and once the Germans switched to the defensive, our strategic objectives were achieved. ”

It was a brilliant battle idea, and while Neville was secretly admiring it in his heart, he was also a little difficult. If you fight according to this plan, it will be tantamount to the Chinese commanding the French. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaohuai smiled and rolled up the map and handed it to Neville. The meaning was clear, and Neville understood it in an instant.

"I would like to thank your army for its timely reinforcements, and I will also give feedback to the government in a timely manner on the difficulties of your country and your army. I believe that the French Government will attach importance to the issue of Sino-British customs negotiations. As for the replenishment of your army's heavy artillery, the government has already approved it, and it will be delivered in full tomorrow. As for the tanks, please understand, the production is really limited, and General Chauffy put all the tanks of the French army in the Battle of the Somme. Frankly, there's nothing I can do about it. "Nevelle was telling the truth, and that was to be expected.

On 16 March, the Germans continued to use heavy artillery fire as a precursor to the start of the attack. The line of defense commanded by Gallieni was crumbling under artillery fire, but he was not too worried about the positions defended by the French, but about the ** squadron in Aviz. Gallieri was still very satisfied with the timely reinforcement of the squadron, and when the liaison officer of the squadron arrived last night, the French defense line was already full of holes. With the reinforcement of five more infantry divisions, Gallieni decided to hand over a section of the French defense line to the squadron to defend, while the French army made a certain contraction. The benefit of this arrangement made the French defense line much tighter.

The commander of the squadron was willing to obey Gallieni's dispatch and took over the French position overnight, and it was tossed until more than four o'clock in the morning before the two armies completed the handover of the position.

The frontage of the 1st and 5th armies of the expeditionary force was about 10 kilometers wide. The Germans concentrated fifty tanks, three hundred heavy artillery pieces in this direction. The fierce artillery fire made the Chinese people feel the cruelty of the European war for the first time, but fortunately, the position dug by the French army was strong enough, and after the squadron took over the position, it was strengthened again.

The battle of March 16 was a painful ordeal for the French army. The fighting in the direction of the Somme was extremely fierce, and the fifty infantry divisions of the Anglo-French army continued to launch fierce attacks. This kind of attack is actually exchanging human lives for the opponent's position. After a fierce battle, the British and French forces successfully broke through the first line of defense of the German army, but also paid a huge loss of 100 tanks destroyed and more than 15,000 casualties.

The Epernay Line, which was also mired in fierce fighting, was attacked by the French with a fierce attack that was in no way inferior to the German army on the Somme, and even surpassed. The reason is simple, the German skirmish line attack tactics were obviously superior to the French group's charge.

Also under heavy attack, Shuy's French army soon became unable to hold out and frequently made urgent decisions. Gallieni had no choice but to put the troops withdrawn from Aviz on top in advance, refusing to use the reserves of the last division in his hands. On the other hand, the squadron he was most worried about had no intention of shaking its position. Gallieni was really not at ease, so he sent a major adjutant, Armand, to Aviz, ostensibly as a liaison officer, but in fact he was worried that the squadron would flee without a fight.

Major Armand was not very willing to do this job, but this was a military order, so he had to rush over. It can be said that the march was difficult, and you can see craters blown up by German artillery everywhere, which shows the fierceness of the battle. By the time we arrived at Aviz, it was noon, and the German attack came to an end for a short period of time. When Armand walked into the command post of the squadron, he saw several Chinese generals together, around a huge sand table, discussing something.

After a brief introduction, Armand obediently saluted the group of generals, albeit with great reluctance. But it is certain that the position is still in the hands of the Chinese, and these officers seem to have a relaxed expression.

Armand said that he had come to learn about the war, and the disdain in the eyes of a group of Chinese generals made Armand look up in shame. Fortunately, a general named Leng Yu took the initiative to lead Armand to an observation point and pointed to a German-made cannon mirror for him to see.

Armand had just gotten on his stomach when the German shelling began again.

"Spicy next door, 420 howitzers." Armand couldn't understand Chinese, and when he subconsciously looked back, a loud noise sounded in his ears, and the entire command post shook violently like an earthquake. The shell of a huge cannon fell about 500 meters from the command post, if this happened directly on the command post, the generals here would not all be finished?