A German counterattack? This statement made Pershing very unhappy, and he felt that the Chinese expeditionary force was passively avoiding war. The very simple line of thinking is that the US army is coming, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force does not intend to continue to fight to the death. The benefits have been taken a lot, and when the war is about to be fought, they will retreat. Pershing despised this kind of behavior. The tone of his speech is not so pleasant, and the corners of his eyes are beginning to tilt upwards.

"In that case, your army will cooperate with our army in accordance with the agreement between the Chinese and American armies. The attack was carried out by our army, and your army was responsible for defending against the counterattack of the German army. When it comes to fighting back, Pershing's tone is disdainful.

Feng Guozhang, a good old man, couldn't bear it, and he was about to take the case when he arrived. Cai Ye stretched out his hand in time to hold it down, turned his head and said to Pershing with a cold face: "Since this is the case, let's march separately, our army is responsible for attacking the German defense line on Champagne Beach, and your army is marching in the direction of Verdun." ”

When Pershing heard this, he thought it was quite appropriate. At least the Chinese did not pick a son and were responsible for the attack on the left, so that the American troops on the left could be transferred to the center, plus tanks and artillery, the American army could concentrate 600,000 troops, there should be no big problem. With the squadron covering the left flank, the U.S. military can indeed launch an attack with peace of mind. Then after some discussion, how to contact, how to cooperate and other details, all handed over to the following staff officers to contact.

Pershing got this result, and left the liaison staff team satisfied, and left with the others. After sending Pershing away, Zhang Xiaohuai was very dissatisfied and said to Cai Yi: "Songpo, how can you compromise? Fu Commander repeatedly stressed that it was necessary to prevent the German tank units from outflanking on a large scale and not to expose the loopholes in the German defense line. Be sure to push forward slowly and steadily. As far as these young soldiers of the U.S. Army are concerned, once the German army launches a counterattack, a certain local breakthrough will be formed. There is no guarantee that the army will not be defeated. ”

Cai Ye smiled bitterly: "Runnong, don't be too excited. At present, the Chinese and American armies combined are more than one million, how big is the eastern front? France is not domestic, let alone Eastern Europe, such a large place, even if the German army wants to outflank it on a large scale, it must have that space, right? ”

"Matsupa has a point. The U.S. army is nearly 600,000, and no matter how bad it is, it will be difficult for the German army to defeat the U.S. army in a short time. Divide and encircle. To put it bluntly, the eastern part of France does not have the conditions for the tactical execution of a large-scale outflanking. Feng Guozhang persuaded him, but Zhang Xiaohuai did not argue again. Now within the expeditionary force, two points of view are formed. One is that the U.S. military has no experience in world wars. There were too many recruits, and it would be difficult to resist a large-scale attack by the Germans. One point of view is that the US military is well-equipped and not badly trained, and should be able to display tremendous combat effectiveness. Zhang Xiaohuai is the former, and Feng Guozhang is the latter. Cai Ye has no attitude.

In any case, a compromise was reached between the Chinese and American militaries. The main forces of the Chinese expeditionary force crossed the Obu River. Complete the handover with the U.S. military. Considering that this was the first cooperation between the Chinese and American militaries, Cai Ye and others discussed it. Don't attack successfully, but defend steadily. In fact, with the entry of the American army into the war, the General Staff of the Wehrmacht concluded that the war was almost over. No matter how strong Germany is, it will not be able to win the war. Under this premise, any adventure is superfluous.

The expeditionary force spread its forces along the line from Feuchamp-Nes to Vitré-Leo-François, seeking first to hold its ground and then to advance. After this tactic was reported to the U.S. army, Pershing was very dissatisfied, but he did not have a good way to deal with the Chinese Expeditionary Force, so he had to ask the Expeditionary Force to move forward as much as possible.

The straight-line distance from Baledique to Verdun is not too far, about fifty kilometers. But the road in this direction is not easy to walk, there are no high-grade roads. In addition, a rain fell, the already narrow road was muddy, and the US military was equipped with a large amount of heavy equipment, which can be regarded as a big trouble.

After the rains, the temperature began to rise, and the march became a chore. Although the American advance was not met with strong resistance from the Germans, it was only twenty kilometers forward after a day's march. After dark, the U.S. troops could only camp in the field, and because they were the attacking side, the U.S. troops did not make much defensive preparations. On the periphery of the camping quarters of the troops, they dug a shallow trench and barely managed to cope with the situation.

At five o'clock in the morning on June 11, the sky was just a little cloudy, and there was a sharp whistling sound in the sky. By the time the U.S. forces reacted, the camp of an infantry division in the vanguard had turned into a sea of fire.

The vanguard of the American army, which had been hit by a sudden blow, fell into confusion, and Pershing was shocked when he learned of the battle report. But he quickly adjusted. First, five divisions of its follow-up troops were ordered to move forward to reinforce the two infantry divisions that were being attacked in front, and second, to order the tank units, which had not been able to leave Baledik because of the difficult roads, to form a battle formation and strike forward; Third, the Chinese Expeditionary Force is required to move closer to the US military as much as possible. The Chinese side reacted quickly, and the triumvirate of the expeditionary force immediately called back, saying that the German army had been attacking the east and the west, and the British and French troops in the western theater had fallen for the German army's tactical deception. And build a U.S. army, immediately organize a defense on the spot, and don't act rashly. At the same time, the tank forces of the US army were asked to advance to Vitré Leois François in the west to prevent the German army from breaking through the junction here and dividing the Chinese and American armies.

Pershing also informed the French about the situation, asking about the situation in the western theater. The reaction of the French army was as slow as ever, and it was only two hours later that they called back, saying that the German troops on the opposite side had not moved, and it was estimated that they were still preparing.

Pershing almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood, and at this time he was still emphasizing that the Germans would attack from the west. Before Pershing's depressed mood could be relieved a little, two worse news came from the front.

The first, the two infantry divisions of the American vanguard, were covered by at least 600 large-caliber guns of the German army. That is, it was a premeditated action of the German army. The two infantry divisions of the US army had already lost more than half of their lives without firing a single shot, and they had basically lost their combat effectiveness. The second bad news is that just five minutes ago, many artillery positions of the US army were bombed by German aircraft. The Germans dispatched at least 500 bombers, and the positions of more than a dozen artillery regiments of the American army were attacked by aircraft, and the losses were huge, and it is currently estimated that at least 200 large-caliber guns were lost.

At this time, Pershing could be regarded as waking up from a dream, and he could be completely sure that the main direction of the German army's attack was not the western theater at all, but the American army in the eastern theater.

Like the British and French armies, the Germans also considered the U.S. military to be rookies. The German General Staff drew up a battle plan to attack the east from the west. A lot of tactical deception was carried out in the western theater, and the German tanks found by French planes were all models made of wood. The artillery positions of the German army are also a mixed bag.

The German plan was to encircle and annihilate the American forces in the east and inflict heavy losses on the Chinese expeditionary force. In order to achieve the goal of this campaign, the German army quietly moved to the line from Reims to Verdun, and before the American army launched the attack, the German army had completed the campaign deployment, gathering 70 infantry divisions, 1,200 tanks, and 1,500 aircraft.

Coincidentally, the U.S. troops took the initiative to attack, and the German General Staff made a judgment based on accurate intelligence, ordered the abandonment of Baledik, lured the U.S. troops forward, and formed a salient to facilitate the encirclement and annihilation.

Fortunately, there is a tactical disagreement between the top brass of the Chinese and American militaries. The U.S. military made adjustments and was delayed for two days. When the German reconnaissance found that the squadron was changing defenses with the American army, they suspected that the intention of the battle was detected, so they decided to launch a general attack in advance. If the German military top brass had been a little calmer and waited for the US troops to advance for another day and approach Verdun before launching an attack, the US troops might have suffered a heavier blow.

Humans are a species that likes to ask for trouble, and this last large-scale active offensive campaign of the German army took place in mid-June 1918, and later military history enthusiasts have made countless assumptions. For example, joining the U.S. Army and pushing forward one day, joining the Seventh Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force failed to hold the junction of Vitré-Le-Iv-François, and so on.

When human beings think, they are always confused by some superficial things, and ignore many essential things. For example, in the two world wars in parallel history, there were always people who were willing to find many reasons for the defeat of the losing side. Completely ignoring how powerful the opponent Germany faced after the two world wars were in the event of a detonating war.

In the case of World War I and World War II, Germany's geographical position and the opponents it faced determined that Germany had no chance of winning. The main factor that determines the outcome of the present war is the comprehensive strength of the two belligerents, and the pattern and terrain of the First World War determined that the belligerents will inevitably fall into a situation of fighting for attrition.

The history of this time and space, despite all the distortions, in the end Germany could not escape the fate of its defeat.

But from a purely military point of view, the German army completed a beautiful strategic deception and a beautiful local annihilation war in June 1918.

Five hours after the start of the battle, the two infantry divisions of the American assault were subjected to devastating artillery fire, and the five infantry divisions that followed collided head-on with a torrent of steel composed of 500 German tanks and a powerful infantry group accompanying the tanks.

The U.S. military, lacking defensive preparations, initially looked extremely disorganized in the event of a sudden blow. For a whole day, nearly twenty infantry divisions were broken up, and the German tanks and infantry advanced at a frontal pace that caught up with the speed of a day's march of the American army. Had it not been for Pershing's acceptance of the Chinese expeditionary force's construction and the organization of a defensive line on the spot at Baledik, and the onset of night, the Germans would have temporarily halted the offensive. The whole situation of the war will develop in an uncontrollable direction.

While the Germans launched a fierce frontal attack, the armored forces, which had always been strong, rushed out of the Champagne beach on the left flank and quickly pounced on Vitré-Leo-François. The intention of the German army was obvious, to divide the Chinese and American armies and concentrate on the elimination of the American army.