On April 10, 1914, just as the fighting in Evry, south of Paris, had just subsided, a deafening roar of artillery rang out again at Deleux, 120 kilometers to the northwest; 100,000 shells were rained down on French positions in just three hours, followed by hordes of German assault detachments. Although this attacking force was not under the command of the Qing Ying, the successful experience of the previous Crown Prince's campaign cluster in the assault was widely imitated by this German army cluster, both in terms of personnel composition and execution tactics. The originally solid French front was once again broken through by these invulnerable German commandos like mercury; The French defenders, who were divided and isolated, received a heavy blow that the other side had been preparing for a long time when communications and support were cut off.

The smoke of gunfire was thick and the artillery fire continued. This extremely aggressive German offensive was fundamentally different from the previous offensive launched by the British and French forces on the Western Front with the intention of recovering lost territory. The defenders on the front line of the battlefield were so overwhelmed by the barrage of roaring attacks that they could not get up to meet them until the opponent rushed to a place less than 400 meters away from them; And the troops who came to reinforce were also blocked by the barrage, so that the officers on the front line and in the rear jumped and cursed in the command post. After a short time, the situation on the front line was out of control. Out of national hatred of the Germans, French commanders generally chose to fight to the death after the defensive line was breached; This was certainly a heroic example of stubborn resistance, but in this case it gave the Germans a great opportunity to outnumber their outnumbered enemies and destroy their living forces in large numbers!

On the first day of the battle, the French troops stationed there suffered more than 30,000 casualties, and a large number of battalions and companies were erased from the military registers. Even some regiments and brigades were broken in the backbone. Casualty rates of more than 60% abound. The frenzied German attack made the French military tremble. Even Xia Fei, who had always been in front of Mount Tai and his face did not change, couldn't help but tremble slightly in his hands after receiving this shocking battlefield report. In the core game, he knew best that what the current French army needed most was rest and recovery, and by no means such a tragic struggle with the Germans: whether it was in terms of troops, weapons, or ammunition, the current French army had a huge gap with the German army. If you continue to fight with the current battle losses, only yourself may be consumed, not to mention that Austria-Hungary, another army with 2 million troops, has not yet participated in the battle!

"The offensive launched by the Germans. In a way, it was a shot in the arm to save our soldiers from the depression of the defeat of Russia: they realized that their homeland was being ravaged by foreign aggression, and that it was their only mission to rise up and fight. Unfortunately, however, the shape of our army in concrete battles has become more severe than ever. The Germans used a new type of infiltration tactic, and in offensive battles, they were able to achieve a casualty ratio of more than 1 to 1.6 against our troops, which was unacceptable to the French in any case! We tried to make changes, but it didn't work out well; The advance of the Germans continued, while the current our army lacked sufficient strength to drive out and counterattack. Xia Fei said openly and honestly for the first time in his report to the government. He already vaguely realized in his heart that the current situation was no longer the time when he could prevaricate with the government in the past. After the defeat of Russia, the whole of France had to think seriously about its future fate, and Chauffeur was the commander-in-chief of the army. We must take responsibility for the future of our country and our nation!

After receiving a report from the Front Command, the top of the French government in Bordeaux held an almost sleepless emergency meeting. Xia Fei's frank statement of the decline of the battlefield. There was no doubt that there was a considerable increase in the voice of capitulation in the cabinet: a considerable part of the vacillating members began to support the strategy of peace with Germany, advocating an end to the war before the entire German and Austrian forces were committed to the Western Front, in order to salvage more legacies in the armistice negotiations. In addition to the national hatred that had been fried for more than 40 years, they put forward a new argument: that is, only France persisted in the war of resistance to the end, and the Germans paid a heavy price through repeated desperate battles, so that the Germans would feel that the cost of continuing to fight was not proportional to the gains, and thus reached peace with France with a relatively lenient treaty. At present, the military will is available, and it is an excellent opportunity to put up a desperate resistance and demonstrate the indomitable will of the French nation.

"Gentlemen, I do not think that the Germans will choose to give in and back down because of our insistent resistance. These Prussians were beasts of war hatched from shells, and their blood was full of dangerous and brutal elements; Now that they have conquered Russia, and the ambitions of the government and the army are at their peak, our insistence on fighting will only further arouse their fighting spirit, and they will be determined to destroy our French resistance once and for all. ”

The voice of Foreign Minister Briand resounded in the chamber, and for a time the noisy two sides stopped arguing: "If we can effectively resist the German aggression, then the situation is different, and the brave French soldiers are not afraid to fight to the death with the enemy; But now even General Chauffeur admits that the French army is in danger of not seeing a future! Under these circumstances, the Germans would not let go of this opportunity to dominate Europe once and for all; And the result of such a continuous fight will almost certainly be that we will fall before the Germans! At that time, what will the Prussian beasts, also bloodied by us in the war, do to us, an adversary who has inflicted such a heavy blow on itself? Perhaps the division of the country during the Hundred Years' War will be repeated in our body, and that will be the dark end of the entire French nation! ”

Hearing Briand's words, all the French dignitaries present couldn't help but feel a pang in their hearts. For every Frenchman, the 116-year war that broke out in the 14th and 15th centuries was a painful past they did not want to look back on: France had been defeated by the British for most of the war, and had repeatedly signed humiliating treaties for land reparations; Its situation was so bad that it was on the verge of being declared dead under the invasion of foreign enemies. It wasn't until the 17-year-old rural girl Joan of Arc came out to lead the French army with the Will of Fire and won a series of unimaginable victories that the tide of the war was decisively reversed, and France won the final victory 30 years later, in 1458.

At present, if France continues to postpone the war, it is very likely that the situation will be as Briand suggested. Germany, which had won the victory at a high price, would inevitably inflict the harshest punishment on this defeated adversary: not to mention the payment of reparations, and even the independence of the country could not be guaranteed. Will France be divided into a series of small states, such as Burgundy and Orleans, as it did in the Hundred Years' War? Furthermore, it was even divided by the three countries of Germany, Austria and Italy, as Poland did in the past? You must know that now Britain, the European "offshore balancer", is also difficult to protect itself, even if the Germans are sick after the war, they are completely powerless!

"Gentlemen, although it was a painful choice to admit defeat to the Germans, we now have no other choice. We must not be blinded by the anger of national hatred and driven by this 'impulse' to do more harm to the interests of France; Brian's voice echoed through the chamber, his words heavy and condensed, but they pierced into the hearts of everyone like Huang Zhongdalu, "Our generation has failed, but it may not have a chance to rise again in the future; Every penny of wealth that has been preserved now, every life of a young Frenchman, is a precious force for us to rebuild our country after the war. It was out of this interest in preserving the flame that Mr. Messimi chose to leave the hope of survival to the young officer, and he resolutely rushed to the front line of the war! So, let us put an end to the current tragedy that is taking place on French soil. ”

Briand's remarks sparked a violent reaction among the French government. As a key member of the Cabinet since 1906 and twice as Prime Minister, Briand himself is not without weight; And his remarks also destroyed the theoretical foundation of the main battle faction in the analysis of the situation. The only thing that remains on the road to an armistice is the national hatred that has accumulated over the past decades. Nearly a year after the war, most of the French are still furious after paying the price of more than 1.5 million dead and wounded; A large number of government officials and elites, including those of the German class, gritted their teeth at the mention of the word Germany, and had an almost innate resistance to surrendering to the other side.

The fierce quarrel of the French government continued until April 23. At this time, the German offensive near Dreux had achieved remarkable results: the French army in the battle suffered heavy losses, with a total of more than 200,000 killed, maimed, captured and missing. The 9th Army was relegated to the 9th Army, and after several divisions were defeated, the remaining combat force was less than 1,500 men, including the lightly wounded. The Germans lost nearly 130,000 troops and advanced nearly 60 kilometers on a 70-kilometer front. Counting the previous battle that broke out in Evry, the French army lost nearly 400,000 troops in less than a month! Directly stimulated by the defeat at the front, the originally resolute main battle faction also appeared panicked and at a loss: perhaps, as Briand said, only peace talks are the only way to save France at present! (To be continued......)

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