Chapter 251

To be precise, the Third Army commanded by Li Yifeng defeated the German army of a corps stationed in Shuy. This army is a tired division in the true sense of the word, and after half a month of fierce fighting in the French army, the dissatisfied members of the army are only sixty percent of the full strength. Epernay's counterattack reflected Cai's offensive tactical thinking. Objectively speaking, no matter from which point of view, Cai Yi's move is a bit risky. If Fang Jianxiong was to command this battle, he would probably choose to retreat and defend.

But Cai Ye no, he dares to take risks. As long as there is a fifty percent certainty of a trembling battle, Cai Ye is willing to take risks. And Fang Dashuai has always advocated the smallest price in exchange for the greatest victory. In this kind of battle, it is difficult for Fang Jianxiong to make up his mind.

There was a strange situation on the battlefield, the German Fifth Army was divided into three parts, ostensibly the expeditionary force had absolute superiority, but in reality it was not. The night battle beat the German army unprepared, and the German army after dawn was not so easy to fight. Especially in the German army around Epernay, there were three armies. These three armies were tantamount to the back of the expeditionary force. Fortunately, the Sixth Army commanded by Lan Tianwei arrived in time, and the Gao Sheng Fourth Army, which was reinforced, could be regarded as having the strength to truly resist the German army. As for the fierce attack at night, it was an act of last resort, for which the Fifth Army paid the price of more than three thousand casualties.

In the Aviz direction, five divisions of the 1st and 5th armies were confronting the Germans. The enemy was a German corps with an armored cluster commanded by Bob. Last night's attack by the two armies was more to counter the Third Army.

That is, so far the expeditionary force did not have enough strength to eat the German army group that was cut off in Epernay. It can even be said that there is no ability to defeat. Don't look at the lack of ammunition in the German army. But this is the German army, the German army of three armies. Mortars are not counted, five or six hundred artillery pieces of various calibers. If you want to eat this German army, you don't know how many lives you have to take to fill it. Moreover, with Epernay backed by the Marne, it would take a day for the Germans to move south from Lavov to open the road.

After dawn, Ludendorff and Auguste also fell into a kind of helplessness. Last night's chaotic fighting. Not only on the other side of the Marne, the special operations division can be said to have turned the hinterland of the German army around the Marne upside down.

Dozens of battles, large and small, were fought, and it turned out that Wei Yue had scattered the 1st Brigade of the Special Operations Division and concentrated the 2nd Brigade to fight the command of the German Fifth Army. The rest of the troops were all companies and platoons and took the initiative to attack in all directions.

The dispatch of the special operations division was very immoral, and if it could make a sneak attack, it would attack secretly, and if it could not succeed in a sneak attack, it would shoot a few shots and leave, and the roads and bridges were destroyed to death, and dozens of bridges and roads south of Verdun were severely damaged. The German army's logistical supply lines were practically paralyzed.

The Germans, who were struggling to resupply, yesterday's battle would have been a gambling attack. If it weren't for this premise, Li Yifeng's Third Army wanted to crush three German divisions in six and a half hours, even if it was a night battle. It can't be like a real fight. In the early hours of the morning, many of the German troops in Shuy had only one magazine of bullets in their hands, and there were no anti-tank weapons at all. The tanks of the German army were all in Epernay, even if there were tanks. There weren't many shells left.

Taken together, Ludendorff realized that the Chinese expeditionary force was under-strengthened. Nor is it possible to launch a full-scale offensive. Judging by the current situation, the Germans needed at least a week's ammunition reserves in order to launch a new large-scale offensive. Not to mention, dozens of bridges have been blown up by the special operations divisions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the past few days.

So it's just that this battle is very aggrieved.

Neither side had the strength to take out the other, and strange scenes appeared, and there was a brief triangular confrontation on the battlefield. The positions of the Chinese and German armies were misplaced in a vast area, and the expeditionary force cut off the German army, but was unable to destroy the German salient group. The Germans were able to flank Shuy in front and rear, but because the supplies could not keep up, they could not start the attack at all. Even in terms of total strength, the German army had a total of eighteen infantry divisions and an expeditionary force of twenty-one, and the German army did not have an advantage. It will take at least three or four days to draw reinforcements from Verdun and Lavov, and the heavy equipment has not yet been headbanded, and now the road has to be stopped to repair after a section of the road. In any case, when the day came again, Ludendorff and August had an urgent discussion on how to resolve the situation. Just when Ludendorff and August were having a hard time deciding, another piece of unfavorable news came. The French Second Army under Petain's command, after a period of replenishment and recuperation, slowly moved northward, with the intention of launching an active offensive.

Originally, the strength of the French Second Army on the southern border was not very sufficient, and at this time, whether Petain would take the initiative to attack or not, there could not be the slightest carelessness, otherwise the Fifth Army would be entangled in the Chinese Expeditionary Force and could not extricate itself, and the entire group army would be

There is a danger of being surrounded.

Despite his reluctance, August made the decision that the German army in Epernay would build a bridge over the Marne and withdraw to Lvov. Other troops also withdrew across the Marne on their own initiative, abandoning plans to seize Paris.

Another very important reason was that the German Second Army's defensive battle on the Somme River was fought very hard. The German troops, which were originally planned to be used to reinforce the Fifth Army, were all transferred to the Somme battlefield. In this sense, the Battle of the Somme is still of great strategic value.

The retreat of the German army was very well organized under the command of Ludendorff, and even if the expeditionary force had strength, it might not be able to take advantage of much. However, it was not so easy for the Germans to withdraw across the Marne. It was not a matter of a day or two at all, the planned withdrawal of the entire German army lasted a whole week.

During this period, Xia Fei asked Neville several times to let the Chinese expeditionary force attack the retreating German army, but Neville was unwilling, and the Chinese finally stabilized the war situation. So, Nivelle didn't look for Cai Ye and them, and directly called back to Xiafei, the casualties of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were too great, and the equipment couldn't keep up, so first put the 152.4 heavy artillery in order, and then talk about anything else. There are also 240 howitzers, which promised to give people a regiment, but there is no shadow of it now.

The implication is that Nevelle is responsible for the stability of the front. In fact, Cai Ye really did not mean to attack the German army, but the casualties were too great, a counterattack and sporadic battles were fought afterward, and the casualties of the special operations division were more than 2,500, and the direct casualties were 500. Li Yifeng's Third Army suffered the largest casualties, reaching more than 6,800, of which 1,500 were killed. The Fourth Army suffered more than 4,000 casualties and 1,000 casualties. The 1st and 5th armies combined suffered more than 8,500 casualties and 2,080 casualties.

The 1st and 5th armies are good to say that they fought positional defensive battles before, and the German heavy artillery was not vegetarian. Li Yifeng and Gao Sheng's two armies, that really made Cai Yi feel distressed. When I was at home, I didn't feel too hard to fight the Japanese army, and it was really hurtful to fight the German army, especially as the attacking side, the German artillery fire and machine guns were really deadly. Although the expeditionary force was also very good, after a battle, three German divisions were routed and more than 5,000 prisoners were captured. But the cost of this battle is too great.

The night battle is still like this, attacking the German army during the day, and not giving enough equipment, whoever likes to go.

A very strange phenomenon happened, after the unexpected ceasefire, the Chinese and German armies maintained a tacit understanding to occasionally fire a few shots, showing a sense of survival, and there was no more fierce fighting. In fact, in the expeditionary force, there are still many pro-German officers. All along, there was a voice of opposition to war with Germany. If it weren't for Fang Dashuai's prestige being too high, this argument would not be suppressed at all.

Not everyone has a vision of the world, and the vast majority of people are short-sighted and accustomed to blind obedience.

In fact, in his heart, Fang Jianxiong was unwilling to fight with the Germans, but there was no way. If China wants to rise, it must somehow make the strongest voice and show the strength to impress Europe and the United States, and with this strength, it will be qualified to want this and that. Let's put it this way, in the next twenty-five years, and beyond. If China wants to speed up its pace of development and catch up with the rest of the world, it must make such and such huge sacrifices. If you don't see this, you're not a qualified leader.

Don't take the example of the Soviet Union, how rotten Russia is, it is an industrial country that also produces 4.5 million tons of steel per year. An industrial country with its own defense industrial system, hundreds of thousands of scientific and technological talents, and millions of skilled workers.

And what about China? What's there? Science and technology talents, if they can make up one or two thousand, that is God's face. It is not too much to say that one is poor and two white. To give a not very suitable example, during World War II, the United States built nearly 400,000 airplanes from the time it entered the war to the end, what kind of concept is this?

To put it mildly, if it weren't for the golden finger, Fang Dashuai would really have no way to betray the country.

The retreat of the Germans came at a price. Especially in the German army in Epernay, the heavy equipment could not be taken away at all, and the tanks and heavy artillery were all blown up before retreating. The German troops, who had retreated across the Marne, despite maintaining a great threat in the direction of Paris and Reims in terms of strategic posture, appeared extremely active. But both warring parties understand the fact that Paris, held!

On the day when all the German troops had retreated across the Marne, French Prime Minister Viviani came to Saint-Martin and Dablois. All the high-ranking members of the expeditionary force came out to greet them, and the stars shone brightly. After giving an enthusiastic speech, Viviani privately held a secret meeting with the triumvirate of Cai, Zhang, and Feng.

The next day, all the newspapers in Paris were headlined in huge black letters, and the two headlines were used most intensively. One is "a savior from the East" and the other is "Paris, held." ”