On the one hand, of course, because the attack was blocked, there was no good way to break through the German defense line on the south bank of the Loire, and on the other hand, the British and French forces needed to replenish ammunition and other military supplies. In addition, the fierce fighting for more than a month has caused considerable losses to the troops, with more than 100,000 wounded soldiers alone, so the troops urgently need to rest and regain their morale and offensive capability.

Of course, this is only an internal factor, there are also external factors, the German defense line on the Western Front has been strengthened, the commander of the coalition forces, Hamilton, saw that there was no way to break through the German defense line for the time being, so he had to stop the offensive, and the German army was also accumulating strength, and there was no movement on the Western Front for the time being.

Some time ago, the Russian temporary organization of troops fought a war on the Eastern Front, which scared the German army a lot, although the Russian army's offensive failed, but this also gave the German army a wake-up call, don't look at the chaos in Russia now, but the Russian army still has offensive capabilities, so the German army can not weaken the defensive strength on the Eastern Front.

For the German army, the biggest threat to it now is the western front and the southeast defense line, on the western front, the first phase of the offensive force of the British and French forces has been exhausted, there is no threat for the time being, but the German army wants to fight back is not so easy, if you want to launch a counteroffensive against the British and French troops on the western front, you must also accumulate strength, so that the German army is afraid of the Chinese army in the southeast defense line.

Now the Chinese army has captured all the areas east of the southeastern part of the Carpathian Mountains in Romania and most of the Balkan Peninsula, which makes the German army very jealous, and now the closest to the Chinese army is the defense zone of Austria-Hungary. The top brass of the German army knew very well that with the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian army, they were afraid that they would not be able to stop the advance of the Chinese army, and now the Chinese army did not move because the Chinese army's offensive some time ago had exhausted its offensive strength. Once the Chinese army eases up, I am afraid that the Chinese army will advance to the west and northwest. Therefore, in order to curb the speed of the Chinese army's westward advance, the German army decided to organize forces to launch an attack on the defense area of the Balkan Peninsula occupied by the Chinese army, and recapture the southeastern part of the Carpathian Mountains and the mountain passes, river valleys and gorges in them. Then concentrate forces on the Western Front to defeat the Anglo-French forces, and the Anglo-French forces drove down the Atlantic.

Immediately after such a decision was made by the German military leadership, the German General Staff began to draw up operational plans and began to draw troops from all over the country to move southeast. All kinds of war materials were also transported to the southeast in large quantities of wagons. China's intelligence department has reached the point of pervasiveness, how can the German army hide such a big move from the eyes and ears of China's intelligence department? Xiao Zhenlei was soon learned by the intelligence officers of the Iron and Blood Investigation Bureau and reported to the capital.

Huaguo Jingcheng, Presidential Palace.

After receiving multiple telegrams and having intelligence analysis experts analyze them, Wang Yaqiao, director of the Iron and Blood Investigation Bureau, came to Xiao Zhenlei's office with the analysis results.

"President, Director Wang of the Iron and Blood Investigation Bureau has an emergency report!" The secretary Xiao Gao knocked on the door and immediately reported to Xiao Zhenlei when he came in.

When Xiao Zhenlei heard this, he put down his pen and leaned back on the back of the chair and said, "Please let him in!" ”

"Yes, President!"

After a while, the office door was opened again. Wang Yaqiao came over with a briefcase and stood up in front of the office desk and saluted: "President, Wang Yaqiao came to report on work!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei got up and pointed to the rest area next to him, the two came to the rest area and sat down on the sofa, Xiao Zhenlei asked, "Jiuguang." What's new? ”

Wang Yaqiao opened the briefcase and said: "President, in the past four hours from five o'clock this morning to now, our headquarters of the Iron and Blood Investigation Bureau has received a total of five telegrams from various locations in Europe. Each telegram was related to the movements of the German troops, and I had an urgent analysis carried out by the intelligence analysis specialists in the bureau. It is concluded that there are signs that the Germans are preparing to launch a large-scale attack on our Balkan defense line in Europe. Moreover, according to intelligence, the German army is currently occupying the southeastern part of the Carpathian Mountains and the mountain passes, gorges and river valleys in various sections of the precipitous military fortification areas occupied by our army! ”

Xiao Zhenlei raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and asked, "Is there any other more detailed information?" ”

"There are some!" After Wang Yaqiao finished speaking, he handed the intelligence analysis results in his hand to Xiao Zhenlei, and said: "Our intelligence officers have investigated the transportation of military materials by the German army, and according to the number of train wagons used by the German army and the Austro-Hungarian army, the strength of the German army this time is about 900,000 troops, and it is estimated that there are three group armies, including two group armies of the German army and one group army of the Austro-Hungarian army!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the coffee table and lit it and smoked it, and after smoking half of the cigarette, he said to Wang Yaqiao: "You immediately go back and urge the intelligence personnel distributed in Europe to make every effort to collect the intelligence of the German and Austrian military operations, and do their best to find out what the targets of the German army are. ”

"Understood! If the president has nothing else to do, I'll go back first! ”

"Well, there you go!"

After Wang Yaqiao left, Xiao Zhenlei got up and came to his desk to pick up the phone: "Xiao Gao, immediately notify the other members of the Supreme Military Council in Beijing and the members of the military side of the President's Staff Group to hold a meeting!" ”

"Yes, President."

An hour later, Xiao Zhenlei came to the conference room, followed by the secretary Xiao Gao. The people who were notified had already arrived, and at this time everyone was sitting on both sides of a rectangular table, Xiao Zhenlei came to the first place and sat down, looked at everyone, and said after seeing that everyone had arrived: "I informed everyone to hold this emergency meeting because the Iron and Blood Investigation Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau have just received several urgent telegrams from Europe, and the intelligence analysis experts of the two intelligence departments have analyzed this information and agreed that the German army is likely to launch a large-scale military attack on our Balkan defense line, and the intelligence showsAt this time, the German army was heading for our dangerous military defense in the southeastern part of the Carpathian Mountains and the mountain passes, gorges and river valleys in its sections, and the intelligence department has not yet figured out which section or which mountain passes, gorges and river valleys the German and Austrian troops are going to attack, what we know is that the German army is dispatched by the 15th and 16th armies, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is dispatched by the 7th Army, and the total strength of the German and Austrian troops is about 900,000 to 1 million peopleWhat was the purpose of the German army this time? What are their strategic goals? And how should our army respond? ”

After Xiao Zhenlei finished speaking, he waved his hand to the secretary, and Xiao Gao sent a copy of the intelligence information in his hand to each of the generals and staff members attending the meeting.

The generals and staff took the intelligence materials and looked at them carefully, and the intelligence showed that the German-Austrian army did have signs of taking military action against the Chinese army's defense line on the Ergan Peninsula, and it was very obvious, and this situation made the staff and generals present not understand, it stands to reason that the Chinese army is basically in a period of recuperation in the southeast defense line, and it did not provoke the German and Austrian army, but the Anglo-French army frequently attacked the German army on the western front, and the German-Austrian army did not deal with the British and French forces, but they wanted to attack the Chinese army's Balkan defense line one after another. Which one did the German-Austrian army sing?

Xiao Zhenlei saw that everyone frowned and was silent after reading the intelligence materials, so he personally asked by name: "Xingcheng, you have studied the German army a lot, this German military operation must be led by the German army, Austria-Hungary has not yet had the courage to fight like this, why do you think the Germans did this?" Could it be that Germany really eats too much? In the west, the Anglo-French forces attacked the city one after another, and the Germans did not send heavy troops to deal with the British and French, but pointed their guns at us like a nerve, and we did not provoke them in the past two months! ”

Yang Shiqi's brows furrowed even deeper when he heard this, he pondered for a moment and shook his head: "President, please forgive me for being a shallow learner, this time I was really stunned by the Germans, I can't see what Germany's purpose is."

Xiao Zhenlei was a little disappointed and looked at Yang Du: "Huizi, what do you think?" ”

Yang Du is not good at international affairs, nor is he good at military affairs, this time Germany's behavior is really abnormal, he also shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, president, Yang is incompetent and doesn't see Germany's intentions."

Xiao Zhenlei took a puff of cigarette and looked at the military generals on the right, Jiang Fangzhen was the first to ask: "Mr. Jiang, what do you think Germany is trying to do?" ”

Jiang Fangzhen was pondering at this time, and after being named by Xiao Zhenlei, he stood up after a moment of silence, he walked to the map next to him, tore open the curtain to reveal the map on the wall, pointed to the map and said: "President, please see, judging from the number of troops dispatched by the German and Austrian side, I don't think the German and Austrian side will not fight with us, and the intelligence also shows that the target of the German and Austrian army is very likely to be the defense line on the Carpathian Mountains and the mountain passes, canyons and river valleys in various sections of the mountain range. I believe that the real purpose of the German-Austrian military action is not to launch an all-out attack on our Balkan defense line, if it is an all-out attack, less than a million troops will not be able to do it at all, and the German-Austrian army has only dispatched three army groups, and I believe that the purpose of the German-Austrian military action is only to seize the defense line of our army in the Carpathians and the strategic points such as the mountain passes, gorges and river valleys occupied by our army, because everyone knows that as long as these strategic points are occupied, they will occupy the initiative in the war, and they can attack and retreat and defend. Last time, the German and Austrian troops were defeated too quickly, and our army took advantage of the situation to seize these strategic points in one fell swoop, the German army did not want to be in the process of passive defense, they wanted to recapture these strategic points, so as to prepare for a larger-scale counteroffensive on the Western Front, if the German military operation was successful, they occupied these strategic points, but it was not easy for our army to recapture them, so the German army could hold these strategic points, and then concentrate on the British and French forces on the Western Front to launch a large-scale counteroffensive! (To be continued......)