Chapter 249: The Only Lifeline

It was the tanks that crushed the French defenses. Ludendorff concentrated all the existing tanks of the German army, a total of 130 tanks, and once again staged a good show of concentrated assault. Fierce fighting continued until noon, when Shuy was captured by the Germans, and the Epernay Line was pierced with a gap. The Germans used tanks as groups as arrows, and infantry followed.

Before dusk, the French line completely collapsed, Galleriani ordered the troops to retreat, and the situation of the battle changed dramatically, and after the German army occupied Epernay, it faintly formed a situation of encirclement of Reims. Paris, on the other hand, is like a beautiful woman with only a thin veil, which will be naked in the sight of the German army as long as she pulls it lightly.

Neville was dumbfounded by the change, the French army had been defeated too quickly to be saved. The most critical thing in this battle is Ludendorff's genius adjustment, Bob's assault centralization turned into a false shot, turned around and entangled the Chinese expeditionary force in Aviz, under the fierce attack of the German assault group and infantry, although the expeditionary force caused huge casualties to the German army, more than 80 tanks alone were destroyed, but it was unable to reinforce Shuy.

The war has developed to this point, and the only thing Neville can count on is the Chinese Expeditionary Force. The commander-in-chief of the French army, Xia Fei, personally sent a telegram to Cai Ye, asking the Chinese expeditionary force to hold out for more than 15 days.

Due to the tenacity of the Chinese, Aviz was still on the side of the Entente, and the German front was not complete. This is also the last hope of Xia Fei and Neville.

At this time, Cai Yi, Zhang Xiaohuai, and Feng Guozhang can be said to be annoyed and angry. The Chinese are good at the art of war, and this has always been complacent. I didn't expect to fight in France and be played by Ludendorff. Open pockets, prey does not tie in, the whole plan is all in vain. Epernay was also lost.

Judging from the deployment of the entire campaign, the reason why Neville agreed with the construction of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was based on his trust in the combat effectiveness of the French army. Neville was also full of confidence in the fighting power of the French army. What I didn't expect was that something happened to the most trustworthy ring. What to do? Nivelle was already at a loss, on the one hand, he asked Xia Fei for reinforcements, and on the other hand, he went to Saint-Martin and Dablois again.

When Neville arrived, at the door of the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, three high-ranking officials were waiting at the door. Neville noticed their expressions first. I found that I was quite calm, and I felt a little comforted in my heart. The Chinese did not show the scene of chickens flying and dogs jumping, which means that there is no intention of running away.

"General Neville, you have just arrived, our army has just drawn up a battle plan. The expeditionary force will fulfill its duties as allies and has decided to launch an all-out counterattack against the Germans this evening. When Cai Ye solemnly announced this decision, Nivelle was directly stupid, stood in place, and instinctively asked: "Tonight?" ”

"That's right, it's tonight. This was a very helpless choice, because our artillery was compared to the Germans. It's just too weak. So the only option is to launch a large-scale counterattack at night. There is still time, but may I give you a brief introduction to the counterattack deployment. ……。 ”

After World War I, General Nevelle wrote of this process in his memoirs: "I was in a state of near-despair. The loss of Epernay meant that the 200,000 French troops on the Reims side were in a state of semi-encirclement by the Germans. If Reims's French army were to move east, it would mean that the Germans would have to get Paris without a single bullet. It's in this situation. Chinese General Cai told me that his troops were ready to counterattack. The expeditionary force was to concentrate the forces of two corps and one tank brigade and launch a fierce counterattack on the Germans in the direction of Shuy at midnight on the 20th. This decision, incredible! ”

The Germans were on the offensive, and the Germans had at least two corps in Shuy and the surrounding areas. The squadron launched a counterattack with the strength of two armies, will there be a weakness of insufficient troops?

"It's a blind attack! But it's also the only way to save the day! Nevelle said in his memoirs!

Was it really a blind attack? Objectively, yes! But there is no other choice, in order to salvage the defeat, it can only be so. But this blind attack was based on the occupation of Shuy after the hard fighting of the German army, and the German army was also unstable.

It was dark, time was quietly moving forward, and Nevelle stayed in the war room of the expeditionary force, looking at the huge sand table in the center, marked with red flags, and the Wehrmacht attack troops had all moved to attack positions. Neville admired the courage of the Chinese, but was also disturbed by the fact that their heavy artillery combined was only five regiments.

Neville did his best to make amends, handing over the remaining French regiment of heavy artillery and a regiment of 400 mm heavy artillery to the command of the expeditionary force. Subconsciously, Nivelle glanced at Cai Ye, who had been standing with his hands on the other side, looking very calm. The sound of the telegram outside the war room seemed to have no effect on him.

At this time, Zhang Xiaohuai came in, and raised the telegram in his hand: "I have contacted the special operations division, their current position is here, and after the battle starts, the special operations division will swoop down on the command of the German Fifth Army and strive to disrupt their command system." ”

"Okay, once it succeeds, I'll ask for credit for Wei Yue." Cai Ye clapped his hands happily, the special operations division has not been contacted, this is his biggest heart disease. Whether or not this battle can be successful or not, the role of the special operations division is very crucial.

"There is a problem, the special operations division is running out of ammunition. After several days of harassing attacks, they basically ran out of ammunition and rations. A lot of soldiers, only two magazines left. Zhang Xiaohuai's words gave most of Cai Yi's good mood at once.

Neville's heart raced as he listened to the translation. Just then Nevelle's adjutant came in and handed over a telegram. After seeing this, Neville immediately handed it to Cai and said: "Our presidents, Raymond and Poincaré, have telegraphed to say that he will do his best to support China's negotiations on the resumption of tariff autonomy on behalf of the French government, and regret that the British government has failed to abide by the agreement on this issue." The French government will urge the British government to respond positively to the negotiations with the Chinese customs and to expedite the process of returning the customs to the Chinese customs, and President Poincaré also said that he thanked the Chinese expeditionary force for the great contribution made to France by its allies. ”

Cai Yi didn't read the telegram, smiled and handed it to Feng Guozhang and said, "Hua Shuai, you can prepare a telegram for Fu Shuai and report the matter." After Feng Guozhang took the telegram with a smile and went out, Cai Yi said to Nivel: "Actually, what I am more concerned about is the rest and supply of our army after this battle." ”

Neville immediately took out a small notebook, wrote a paragraph in his own handwriting, signed and handed it to Cai Yi: "I guarantee in my personal name that after the war, I will personally supervise the logistics department to meet your army's supply needs." ”

At the same time, in Paris, in the office of the commander-in-chief of the French army, there was a conversation between French Prime Minister Viviani and the commander-in-chief of the French army, Chauffeur. The topic naturally turned to the battle of Epernay, the collapse of the French army, which not only disrupted Nivelle's plans, but also put Xia Fei in a crisis situation. The dilemma in front of Xia Fei is that whether Paris is lost, or the Battle of the Somme does not achieve the purpose of the campaign, Xia Fei will step down.

Of course, the biggest crisis at hand is whether the Chinese expeditionary force can succeed in counterattacking. Once the counterattack is unfavorable, then the entire front will be crushed by the German army, and the German army will drive straight in, and France will abandon Paris, not only Xia Fei, but also the possibility of the government stepping down. So, it's not just Xia Fei who is paying attention to this battle, but also the French government. How to say, if it were not for the collapse of the French army, the Epernay Line would hold out for another week, and new troops would have come in. In this sense, the French government now regrets very much that it has been unable to meet the needs of the Chinese expeditionary force in terms of equipment. Not because of guilt, but because now the Chinese Expeditionary Force has become the only straw.

"Joseph, do you think the Chinese can fight back?" Viviani asked uneasily, and Xia Fei shook his head: "I don't know, let's go and prepare." General Nevelle will do his best. ”

Viviani got up to say goodbye, and Xia Fei's counterattack against the ** team seemed to have no hope. Paris, it's really going to be lost. Seeing Viviani away, Xia Fei looked into the distance, and the end of the sky was dark.

As soon as the morning dawned, the door of the general staff's war room opened, and a puff of smoke overflowed from it. The lights were still on inside the door, and a pile of smoking guns surrounded the huge map, studying the trend of the battle. Yang Yongtai opened the door and came in, quietly walked to Fang Jianxiong, who had not slept all night, and handed over a telegram.

Fang Jianxiong glanced at it and said angrily: "Now I know that I am in a hurry, what did I do earlier?" Of the seven heavy artillery regiments of the expeditionary force, only two were in place. The tank also has only one brigade. These foreign devils just don't shed tears when they don't see the coffin. ”

Jiang Fangzhen heard the movement, came over and took the telegram and glanced at it: "The key depends on Songpa and Runnong, if this battle is successful and the Paris defense line is stabilized, the French will have to desperately fight us." ”

Fang Jianxiong raised his hand and looked at his watch, at 6:05 in the morning, there were still fifty-five minutes before the expeditionary force launched a counterattack. "This time, the special operations division is estimated to be hurting his muscles and bones. The troops are short of ammunition and have to gnaw hard bones. Fang Jianxiong muttered to himself, Jiang Fangzhen silently looked up at the west, took out a cigarette casually, handed it to Fang Jianxiong and said: "Supporting the country, didn't you say it, if the Chinese nation wants to rise, it can only rely on iron and blood." ”

Fang Jianxiong took a deep breath, he was so hard that he was choked, coughing again and again, and tears came down. After relieving himself, he said slowly: "That's right, the Chinese nation will definitely rise, and no one wants to stop it." ”

French time, 0:00 sharp. The quiet night sky was pierced by three red flares, and the earth suddenly burst violently at this moment. The first to fire was the French 400-mm large-caliber howitzer.