The German-Austrian high command in Saarburg was surprised by the course of the war, and according to the original estimates, the German-Austrian army would definitely encounter stubborn resistance from the French army if it wanted to break through to Paris, and the attacking German-Austrian army was ready to suffer huge losses. According to the estimates of the Chief of the General Staff, Ludendorff, the German-Austrian casualties during the entire campaign would have been as high as 600,000, or even more. But in fact, the breakthrough of the German-Austrian army on the line of the Maas was so smooth that so far the rough statistics show that the casualties are less than thirty thousand, while the Austrians have broken through to the line of the Seine and are marching on Paris.

On the northern front, the Germans had already surrounded Sedan and the French line of defense on the Somme had collapsed almost entirely. Now a steady stream of German-Austrian armies was pouring into France from the Maas River, and the advance of the troops in front of the assault could be described as overwhelming, they did not meet the organized large-scale resistance of the French army, and only a few scattered French troops were still fighting.

The German and Austrian emperors, who personally rushed to the front high command to pay close attention to the progress of the battle, did not expect that this battle would be so smooth, and Li Haidon had already expected that the French army might be defeated before the battle, but he did not expect such a result, so he had to be a little calm and calm. On the other side, Wilhelm II's expression can only be described as ecstatic, and now the German army will once again capture Sedan after 1870, and he will enter Versailles again as a victor like his grandfather, Emperor Wilhelm I, and in less than 50 years, the Gauls will once again taste the taste of being the Germans. The German Emperor, blushing all over his face, continued to dictate the order of commendation, and did not hesitate to praise anyone he could see in the High Command, even the guards standing guard outside the door.

The plan drawn up by Ludendorf and Bolojevich before the war was very effective, the armored forces in front were interspersed and broken through with all their might, and the French did not have time to organize and build a defensive line at all, leaving some of the French strong-fortified fortresses to the follow-up troops to solve, and the German-Austrian forces and the French army were mixed up, thus leading the entire French army to have the illusion that its rear had been broken through and the troops had been surrounded, so that most of the troops lost the will to fight.

Now the French army was in a desperate situation, and after only seven days of fighting, the French army lost millions of troops and was unable to organize an effective defensive line. The French General Staff also lost control of the troops in front of it, and could only shrink its forces to the vicinity of Paris as best they could, preparing to hold on to the capital.

Now the high command of the German-Austrian forces has finally figured out the main reason why the campaign is proceeding so quickly: the French themselves have civil strife.

"It is clear that France's poor and chaotic political system was one of the reasons for their defeat, and their cabinet continued to change during the war. If they hadn't removed Marshal Xia Fei because of the political struggle, our offensive would have been much more difficult. But now, they're done. Ludendorff had drawn a conclusion about the war, and now there was an atmosphere of optimism in the High Command, and some were even beginning to discuss what kind of armistice should be reached with the French.

Wilhelm II seemed to be in a very good mood, optimistic that the war in Europe, which had been going on for years, would end within a few months. And he took it for granted that the British would accept his peace proposal: "The Anglo-Saxons should understand that they have no good to fight to the death with the Germans...... It will only cheapen the Americans, the Japanese and, of course, the South Americans. ”

"You are mistaken, the British will not negotiate with us unless we knock them down." Lechelton unceremoniously poured cold water on the German emperor at the right time.

"Why? What's in it for them? ”

"No why, just because the 'European pest' still wants to continue to rule the world." Helton Lee said.

"European pest" is the name given to the British by some European scholars, and Helden liked this metaphor very much, and was indeed very vivid, and always used it instead of the British name. A look at the history of Europe shows that the British, in order to maintain their hegemonic position, have been pursuing in Europe to suppress emerging countries that might become hegemons.

For example, when the Russians expanded to the south, the British supported the Turks against Russia, and in order to prevent Russia from gaining control of the Black Sea, the British even did not hesitate to personally go into battle and fight for the Turks, which caused Russia's defeat in the Crimean War. Later, with the rise of Napoleon, the French Empire, which had a large European framework, became the target of the British, who worked with the German states, the Austrian Empire, and the Russians, and eventually exiled Napoleon, who had been in Europe for a long time, to a small island in the South Atlantic, where he lived for the rest of his life.

As a result, the French Empire was shattered, and France was in decline.

With the rise of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Hohenzollerns eventually unified all of Germany except for the Austrian Empire, and the rise of the emerging German Empire challenged the British. Although the British secretly supported the French and Austrian empires in the Franco-Prussian and Austro-Prussian wars, the two old empires were so uncompetitive that they quickly collapsed before the British could rush in.

Later, the British formed a military alliance with the German-hating French, and enlisted the Russians to limit and suppress the rise of the emerging German Empire.

It can be said that the British are the bane of all European wars and even this world war, and the British always try to keep Europe in war in order to maintain their hegemony, and even if there is no war, the British will find a way to create a "preventive war" to defeat those emerging European countries that pose a threat to her position in advance.

The method adopted by the British, to put it simply, was to support some of the weaker powers to join forces against the strongest European countries, so that the national strength of the European countries would be exhausted in the war, thus interrupting their rise to the road.

Lechelton always believed that the British were the real culprits in the great war that killed and wounded more than 10 million people in Europe, and that without their covert support, the Russians would not have dared to openly stand up in the Serbian crisis to challenge the united Germany and Austria-Hungary. Even after the start of the war, the fear of the Russians for the Prussian army was never eliminated.

The atmosphere in the High Command became somewhat awkward, where the Austro-Hungarian Emperor was constantly criticizing the British for their repeated interference in the affairs of European countries for their own interests, and for triggering one boring war after another, resulting in the depletion of the wealth, resources and industry of European countries. As the minutes ticked by, the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire seemed to have no intention of stopping. It was not until the Chief of Communications came in from the outside and reported to the Chief of the General Staff that the Austro-Hungarian Forward 7th Panzer Division and the German 3rd Panzer Division had broken through the French defenses and entered the suburbs of Paris.

There was a cheer in the war room, and the Austro-Hungarian Emperor's tirade was finally interrupted.

I1153