On July 24, 4615 (17) of the Yellow Emperor Era, the Battle of Arras officially began, and the British Expeditionary Force and the Canadian Army concentrated thousands of cannons to carry out fierce artillery bombardment of the German positions near Arras. The artillery preparation was carried out for a week, and more than two million shells were thrown on the German positions, which directly turned the German positions into the surface of the moon, with large and small craters everywhere.

Of course, it is very difficult to say how many casualties the Germans who hid in the trenches paid. After three years of trench warfare, the Germans have long been familiar with this method of warfare. The trenches were up to two meters deep and could withstand heavy artillery shelling. If you hide in a strong anti-artillery hole, you will not lose anything at all. The British Expeditionary Force and the Canadian Army hoped to use heavy artillery bombardment to destroy the German fortifications. For example, mine arrays, barbed wire, exposed machine-gun fire points, artillery positions, etc., clear the way for subsequent infantry attacks.

The fierce shelling of the British and French forces naturally stunned the Chinese expeditionary force. From the point of view of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, they already attach great importance to the use of artillery. The entire First Army of the Expeditionary Force had more than 200 cannons with a caliber of more than 100 millimeters. This ratio is not at all less than that of the European armies, and even a little more. In the battle to defeat the Japanese Army and the Russian Army, the powerful artillery of the Chinese Army also played a great role. However, there is absolutely no precedent for the Chinese Army to carry out a week-long artillery preparation and fire 2 million shells in a single battle. After all, these shells are all money! These shells alone are probably worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Tsk, these Europeans are really rich! The artillery preparation for a battle has been going on for so long. There were so many shells, which was beyond our expectations! Admiral Shi Tianchuan sighed with a look on his face, both envious and incredible.

"General, the industrial power of the countries of Europe is strong, except for Russia. The rest of the countries are small and lack strategic depth. This led them to form the tactics of trench warfare in the war. In order to break through the enemy's trenches, the attacking side must have strong firepower. Otherwise, we will definitely pay heavy losses and will not achieve any results. Major General Jiang Baili, commander of the First Division of the First Army of the Expeditionary Force, said. He had studied in Germany and had a deep understanding of the combat effectiveness of the German Army.

"This time, anyway. We also fought for the Europeans. Since they are accustomed to preparing for artillery fire for a long time before each battle, consuming a large number of shells, then we naturally have to follow the local customs. Anyway, they will pay for the weapons and ammunition consumed, and we won't feel distressed. Major General Zhang Yunnong, commander of the Third Division of the First Army of the Expeditionary Force, said with a smile.

"Haha, that's right. The war in Europe has become a rotten debt of trench warfare. Many times, it is often the strength of the two sides that compete. Tactics and stuff like that. It can play a different role. In this case, then we don't have to be stingy with the consumption of weapons and ammunition. Anyway. These weapons and ammunition are all purchased from the Empire by the Entente, and the more we consume, the more the Entente needs to buy, and the Empire will be able to make more profits. Major General Cai Songpo, commander of the Second Division, also said.

"Hmmm! This time, let's get a good look at how tragic the war really was in Europe. The divisions must hold their own lines of defense and not retreat without orders. We can't let these Europeans look down on us. Admiral Shi Tianchuan said.

"Yes, General." Jiang Baili, Cai Songpo and Zhang Yunnong said immediately. They naturally hope that they can play the demeanor of Chinese soldiers in this battle. Let the Europeans know how strong the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army is.

Before the expeditionary force set off, Emperor Wu Haoxuan personally summoned them. Wu Haoxuan also hopes that they can become famous on the European battlefield. Although, now China has joined the Entente and is one of the important members of the Entente. However, once the war was over, the contradictions between the countries of the Entente would certainly come to the fore. China made a windfall in the war and began to expand outward, which would certainly cause discontent in Britain, France, and the United States. When the time comes, countries will definitely put pressure on China. If the Chinese Expeditionary Force can show extremely strong combat effectiveness on the battlefield. Then, if Britain, France, the United States and other countries want to find trouble with China after the war, I am afraid that they will have to carefully weigh what the consequences of doing so will be.

On the frontal battlefield of Arras, after a week-long artillery preparation, the offensive of the British Expeditionary Force and the Canadian Army began. More than 300,000 troops launched a fierce attack on the German positions, and in one fell swoop, they broke through the German positions and captured the momentum of Arras.

However, when the British Expeditionary Force and the Canadian Army began to attack, tragedy struck. On the German position, which was ravaged by the Allied artillery, machine gun fire points suddenly appeared, and these light and heavy machine guns were frantically strafing at the Allied soldiers. Many coalition soldiers fell to the ground screaming. The rest of the coalition soldiers went over the corpses of their comrades and continued to attack.

The Germans were on the ground, using weapons such as machines and mortars, inflicting huge casualties on the coalition forces. At the same time, the German artillery, which had been silent since the beginning of the battle, also began to shell fiercely. This made the coalition forces that launched the attack experience what is called a rain of bullets and what is called a rain of bullets. Countless coalition soldiers were either killed by bullets or torn to pieces by shells. The whole battlefield was full of stiff corpses, and stumps and broken arms were flying everywhere, and the whole scene was like hell.

The British Expeditionary Force and the Canadian Army suffered more than 100,000 casualties in three days of fierce attack. However, their progress has been limited. Although, some unimportant positions have already been broken through by them. However, the main positions remained in the hands of the German Army. Moreover, the casualties of the German army were much smaller than those of the allied forces.

In this case, if the coalition forces want to capture Arras, they will have to be prepared to pay more casualties. At the same time, because of the heavy losses, the morale of the coalition forces was greatly affected. At the beginning of the campaign, the Allied forces were in high spirits, believing that the Germans had reached the end of their power. As long as the Allied forces launch another large-scale attack, they will definitely be able to tear through the German defense line and win.

However, the strength of the German defense was like a basin of ice water poured on their heads, which made them cold from the bottom of their hearts at all. Even the previously invincible Canadian army was scattered. Of the four infantry divisions of the Canadian Army, two were crippled in three days, with losses of more than 10,000 men. If the battle continues, and when the battle is over, perhaps the Canadian army will be completely lost.

By this time, Field Marshal Douglas Haig had realized that the battle was probably going to end in defeat. However, he could not afford to fail lightly. Otherwise, this will be a great blow to the morale of the coalition forces. However, if the fight continues, the coalition forces will probably pay a heavy price here, which is not conducive to the continuation of the subsequent campaign.

Field Marshal Douglas Haig found himself in a difficult situation. In fact, this also reflects the current situation on the battlefield. The German army was constrained by the shortage of materials, and the combat effectiveness of the troops was greatly affected, and it lost the ability to launch a large-scale offensive against the coalition forces. But again, after a long and arduous war, the main forces and losses of the coalition forces were exhausted. Although, the total number of troops put into the battlefield by the coalition forces is still in the millions. But many of them are just hastily recruited recruits, and their combat effectiveness is not strong at all. If you want to use these low-fighting recruits to defeat the German army, the result is naturally predictable.

Subsequently, the British Expeditionary Force and the Canadian Army, although still continuing to attack Arras. However, there are not as many troops as before.

At this time, the Germans had also been preparing a counterattack. Although the German army suffered heavy losses, at the same time there was an extreme shortage of war materials. However, this does not mean that they have lost the ability to attack. In particular, launching a counterattack in the face of heavy losses of the Coalition forces would undoubtedly allow the Germans to achieve the greatest victory at a very small cost.

At the beginning of August 4615 (17) of the Yellow Emperor era, Field Marshal Hindenburg, the chief of the General Staff of the German army, gave the order to counterattack. The German general in charge of the defense of Arras, Admiral François, ordered the Germans to counterattack. More than fifteen divisions of Germans, attacking from the right flank of the coalition forces. And defending the right flank of the coalition was originally the frightened French army.

In just two days, the French army collapsed, and the Germans made a breakthrough on the right flank, directly threatening the rear of the frontal attacking forces of the coalition forces. More than 200,000 British Expeditionary Force and Canadian troops are in danger of being surrounded.

At this time, Marshal Douglas Haig had no other regard and immediately gave the order to retreat. More than 200,000 British expeditionary forces and Canadian troops abandoned their positions in disarray and retreated south. Before the Germans surrounded them, they escaped from the encirclement of the Germans.

At the same time, Field Marshal Douglas Haig also ordered the Australian army and the Chinese expeditionary force to retreat to Amiens for defense. It's just that this order was given a little late.

By the time the Chinese expeditionary force received the order to retreat on 11 August, the Germans had already begun to attack Duran. The Australian army, which was located in the rear of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, retreated first regardless of the safety of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. (To be continued.) )

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