The light is bright, and the pendulum is swaying. It wasn't long before Xia Fei understood all of Gallieni's intentions.

According to reports from reconnaissance aircraft, the German First Army, led by Crook, had crossed the Marne, exposing its flanks to the defenders of Paris. Gallieri decided to take advantage of this opportunity to give this force a head-on blow, so that the German right-wing force, which had swept through France, could no longer advance as before. The key issue, however, is the chain reaction that will inevitably ensue when this offensive is launched.

At present, the commander of the Paris garrison, Gallieni, has only six divisions and one brigade in his hands, with a total of only 110,000 men, and four of them are reserve divisions that were widely despised by the regular army before the war. The First Army under Crook's command was the strongest of all eight German armies, with a total strength of more than 320,000 at the time of departure; Even after deducting previous battle losses and the occupation forces remaining in Belgium and France, their frontal strength near the Marne would not be less than 250,000. With just the little power in Galieni's hands, unilaterally challenging Crook is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.

Therefore, this Gallieni offensive could never be done alone, and must rely on the support of friendly forces. The Fifth Army was required to launch a counteroffensive in order to contain Crook's large number of troops in the front; The British Expeditionary Force was needed to launch an offensive from Le Bey to fill the gap between Gallieni and the French Fifth Army. If one of these two armies fails to advance, the Gallienian counteroffensive will be a sure defeat!

The counteroffensive of the Fifth Army was no more. Although the force itself had become problematic as a result of the successive retreats, the officers and men were eager to get some rest before meeting the enemy. But they are still the army of France after all. As long as Xia Fei gives an order. It is certain that none of this force will be able to disobey the orders of the commander-in-chief. However, the British Expeditionary Force was a very different story. This force is small although. But its commander John? Fritsch was independent of France, and was only under the orders of the War Secretary Kitchener in London, and Xia Fei had no authority to command him at all. As for convincing the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, who had ordered all the way to escape from the day of the war and whose sole purpose was to preserve his strength, to join the ranks of the counteroffensive, Xia Fei thought that it was no easier than getting Grandet to willingly donate all his possessions. At this moment, Xia Fei's heart is already full of resentment towards Gallieni, if he abandons Paris according to his strategy, where will these thorny problems arise?

"Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, what did General Gallieni say in the telegram?" Seeing the uncertain expression on Xia Fei's face, Betelo couldn't help but ask.

"Damn Joseph. He would only look at things a meter away with his highly myopic eyes, like a poor mouse! Xia Fei slammed the telegram in front of Bertlow, her face flushed with anger, and she said loudly, "He's going to attack Crook's flank." He didn't know the specific situation of the Ludao Field Army, so he had to force our whole army to cooperate with him, and more importantly, this operation had to rely on the British Expeditionary Force who could only escape! Did he think it would be easy for the British to strike back? ”

After reading the telegram, Betlow's eyes showed doubt, and he said, "But Your Excellency, didn't you also formulate a strategy to launch a counterattack with the Sixth and Fifth Armies a few days ago?" General Gallieni's plan is not fundamentally different from your strategy. ”

"Look for yourself the date of action proposed by Gallieni. My plan for a counterattack was to wait until the field units had completed their rest before launching it, but this old guy was asking for an all-out counterattack to be launched early tomorrow morning. It's less than 18 hours away! Xia Fei glared at Betlow, and then said angrily. The old guy had only one thought in his head to defend Paris. He only knew that the longer the road dragged on, the stronger Crook's defensive forces would be on his flank, and he never knew or cared about the situation of other friendly forces. Yes, God, I really want him to face Crook alone, so that this old guy will be completely honest after being beaten up! Speaking of this, Xia Fei's heart was even more unbearable: Gallieni only had to mention the core combat objectives, but he had to improve a series of thorny affairs after that, was he the commander-in-chief or himself the commander-in-chief?

Hearing Xia Fei's words, Betlows suddenly felt slightly embarrassed, in front of these two people, it was inappropriate for him to express his position no matter what. Fortunately, Xia Fei's anger did not last long, and after a while, his face gradually returned to his usual expression. After a long silence, Xia Fei finally spoke slowly: "You immediately get in touch with Despére and Foch to inquire about the current situation of the Fifth and Ninth Armies, and I need them to give a clear answer as to when they can launch a counteroffensive. In addition, I told the Chief of Staff, Beran, that I was immediately ready to go to the British command and let him take command during the time I was away. ”

Betlow should claim to be. He glanced at Xia Fei and said, "Your Excellency, have you agreed to General Gallieni's counteroffensive plan?" ”

"Whatever strategy is taken, knowing what is going on at the front and contacting the British Expeditionary Force that will only flee is what we should do now. If the conditions allow us to launch a counterattack early tomorrow morning, it is also God's will, and it has nothing to do with that old fellow in Gallieni. Xia Fei spoke slowly, with a hint of determination in his words, "For the sake of France, I will let him go again this time and fully cooperate with his plan." And yet I swear, I'm going to make him pay for his actions today! ”

Looking at Xia Fei's kind face, Betello's heart was slightly cold, and a chill crept up his back.

"By the way, I almost forgot the most important thing." Xia Fei's eyes flashed, as if he remembered something important, and said, "We must also understand the current situation of Saraj's Third Army. Ever since the idiot of Luff had buried two-thirds of his main force, they had been under the greatest pressure of almost all the legions; A few days earlier they had just lost Verdun, and immediately the defense on the Maas River had been broken by the Germans. Although I sent another army and a half to reinforce them, they continued to retreat under the German attack. If our army were to break through in this area by the Germans, then the troops on the Alsace front would have been cut off from retreat, and the consequences would undoubtedly be unbearable for France! ”

Berthelow nodded, "I'll then go and get in touch with General Saraj." ”

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With the faint chime of the transmitter, a telegram was sent from Charillon to the forward headquarters of Desperet, who had replaced Ronlezak as commander of the French Fifth Army just a day earlier, and Foch, who was in charge of a newly formed Ninth Army consisting of two armies, now deployed in the gap between the Fifth and Fourth Armies. The telegram was as succinct as ever: "It seems advantageous to attack the German First and Second Armies by the whole army of the Fifth and Ninth Armies early tomorrow morning, together with the British and the mobile forces of Paris." Please let me know if the group army can do the same and be sure of victory and speedy recovery. ”

After receiving this telegram, Foch was in high spirits. Before the outbreak of the war, he was the most staunch attackist in the French army, and he had been promoted by Xia Fei after thwarting Ruprésit's offensive with a resolute counteroffensive at the Battle of Alsace a week earlier. At this moment, Foch saw that there was an opportunity to fight back in front of him, and immediately replied affirmatively. Most of his recently formed troops have not experienced the retreat of friendly forces, and the physical strength and fighting spirit of the officers and men are in an ideal state.

After a short time, the commander of the Fifth Army, Despére, also made a practical and pertinent reply: "Our troops can fight on June 4, but the situation of the troops is not very good. "The general who replaced Langlezak was an energetic, talented, and fearless tyrant-like being, but even more imperious, ruthless, and arbitrary than Xia Fei. On the way to retreat, if the road was blocked, his solution was to pull out his revolver and shoot out the window from the car. After replying to Xia Fei, Despeire immediately ordered the whole army to dispatch troops and prepare materials this afternoon, and launch a full-scale counterattack early tomorrow morning. Upon hearing this news, Lieutenant General Ashe, commander of the Third Army, who was subordinate to him, "felt as if he had been hit on the head."

"Crazy!" On the phone, Ashe objected to Despére, "The whole army is exhausted, can't eat or sleep—it's been two weeks of marching and fighting!" We are short of weapons, ammunition and equipment. The situation was bad, morale was low, there were two division commanders that I had to replace. The General Staff Office is worthless and useless. We will need at least two more days of rest before we can get back to normal...... "The new Despere did not listen to these explanations. He roared, "The commander-in-chief has given the order that the march must be made. You either launch a counteroffensive or just fall down and die, there's nothing to talk about. With that, he hung up the phone.

A short time later, Saraj, 100 kilometers away, also sent back a telegram that relieved Xia Fei slightly: after receiving the replenishment, he was able to withstand the attack of the German Fifth Army in the upper reaches of the Aisne River, which was rugged. Xia Fei did not hesitate any longer, and immediately drove to Melun on the Seine to meet French. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the reward of zhouyu1976~~