Chartilon and Melun are both on the banks of the Seine, but they are 185 kilometres apart; It was already noon when the driver, who had previously been an ace race car driver, delivered Xia Fei to the gate of the British army headquarters. In the headquarters, which was generally frowned upon by French officers and soldiers, Xia Fei finally met the commander of the British Expeditionary Force with a clear and elegant face, Field Marshal John? French.

For French and the group of Saxon pirates on the other side of the channel, Xia Fei really didn't have a good impression in his heart: this was not only because of the centuries-long feud between Britain and France, but also because of the hesitation, lifelessness, and extreme chain-dropping behavior of the British in the war.

According to the secret agreement signed between Britain and France before the war, in the event of a war between Germany and France, Britain would send an expeditionary force of six divisions and one brigade to France within 15 days to cooperate with the French Army in the war against Germany. However, when the war broke out, the British were slow to gather only five divisions, and it was only late after the seventeenth day of mobilization. Russia, another ally of France, was the complete opposite, in order to fulfill the agreement with France, Russia, despite the extremely incomplete mobilization of its own situation, still gathered its forces at the predetermined time and forced an all-out attack on German East Prussia. Although the Russians paid the heavy price of the almost total annihilation of the entire Second Army in the Battle of Tannenberg, they succeeded in getting Germany to transfer the two armies away from the Western Front, creating a ray of life for France in a desperate situation, which is a good ally that is truly trustworthy and entrusted!

If only that's it, in front of the German and French armies, which have 85 and 70 divisions respectively. The British Expeditionary Force had one or two divisions less. It will have little to no impact on the overall situation of the battle. However, this British force was after the landing. However, they had no desire to suffer side by side with the French army - not only were they completely independent in terms of command power, but they were even more cowardly and fearful, and they were unwilling to fight the Germans even if they were killed. At the first meeting between the heads of the British and French armies, French, who had just arrived in France, directly said that his army could not go to the front without a 10-day rest. Later, the British finally got to the front, but they only fought for half a day on the Mons Canal on the Franco-Belgian border. After losing 2,000 men, he marched south to Paris, where he never had any contact with the Germans. Compared with the dedication and uprightness of the Russians, the shameless behavior of the British undoubtedly made every French officer and soldier since the fall of the sun resentful and despised.

When Xia Fei asked French to have the British Expeditionary Force cooperate with the French in launching a counterattack, there was a long silence at the command post. In this silent waiting, the sharp-eyed Xia Fei saw a British major general, who was secretly and constantly tugging at the corners of French's clothes. After a while, I saw that French shook his head slowly, and said a lot of reasons why he could not launch a counterattack in extremely solemn words. It is said that if the British army forcibly launched a counterattack, then there would be a risk of annihilation.

If it were in normal times, Xia Fei would definitely be unable to suppress the anger in his heart. The talks will also end unhappily; At this moment, however, he desperately needed the help of the British Expeditionary Force.

Although in the Boer War at the turn of the century, the British Army was defeated by the Boer Resistance Army, which was absolutely inferior in numbers and equipment, and was rumored to be the laughing stock of the world, this does not mean that the Anglo-Saxons in this island country will not fight on land in their bones, like the lovely Italians. In the world-famous Battle of Waterloo in 1815, it was the British Army led by General Wellington who fought to the death against the invincible Napoleonic army for a long time and finally won the decisive battle. In fact, since the end of the Boer War, the British Army has begun to make drastic improvements and innovations to the various chronic diseases that exist in the current army.

By the time the war broke out in May 1913, the British had six divisions of about 100,000 native army troops. And today, a month after the outbreak of the war, the British have sent all this force to the French front. Unlike the scum divisions stationed overseas, which were no different from the police, because this unit was to be sent to the French battlefield after the outbreak of war to fight a decisive battle with the German Army, which was the largest in the world, the British could be said to have put a lot of effort into the construction of this native force.

In addition to the rigorous and extravagant training on a daily basis, the British army was fully equipped with all kinds of light and heavy equipment, which had to be said to be a miracle at a time when the British Navy was being overwhelmed by the dreadnought race initiated by Germany, and was digging into the ground to scramble for funds to build ships. And their combat effectiveness is beyond doubt: even compared with the regular field troops of Germany, the quality of their officers and soldiers at all levels is not inferior, and their marksmanship is even better than that of the German army! Without the help of this British expeditionary force, the French army would not only have no capital to launch a counterattack in terms of troops, but the gap between its fifth and sixth armies would have doomed their counteroffensive to failure!

In this case, Xia Fei could only force himself to suppress the surging anger in his heart. This time his lobbying was clearly a bit of a work, and his speech was not as concise as usual, but emotionally charged and gushing. "The decisive moment has come. The order to attack had been given, and no matter what happened, in order to save France, even the last French army had to go into battle. "I can't believe that the British army would shirk its responsibilities at such an urgent juncture...... History will judge you for not taking part in the fighting. ”

In the face of Xia Fei's urgent urging request, French began to waver slightly. Not long after, Gallieni, the commander of the Paris garrison, unexpectedly arrived. Seeing the generous figure of Xia Fei in the field, a flash of gratitude flashed in Gallien's eyes: Xia Fei, who was far away in Chartilon, must have traveled nearly two hundred kilometers because of his proposed counteroffensive plan, and came to Melun to seek reinforcements for his attacking troops to cover the flanks. Galieni did not hesitate to join the lobbying camp for French.

After some rhetoric, French finally slowed down in front of the two giants of the French Army. He proposed to them that if the French Sixth and Fifth Armies were the first to attack and ensure that the left and right flanks of the British Expeditionary Force in the center were not outflanked by the Germans, his army would counterattack tomorrow. Although this condition is still a proper sale of teammates, it is already a relief for Xia Fei and Gallieni to get French to agree to act with the French army.

Due to the urgency of time, Xia Fei, who had not eaten lunch, hurried back to the headquarters of Chartilon by car. It was the time for Crook's army to lie down on their positions and sleep and regain their crumbling strength. He signed the order to be read to the troops as soon as the trumpet sounded the next morning. This time, the wording is bland and even clichéd, but its message is uncompromising and uncompromising: "Now the battle has begun, and the safety of the country is at stake." Everyone must remember that now is not the time to push back. It is necessary to attack with all your strength and repel the enemy. If the troops feel that they cannot advance, they must hold their ground at all costs and prefer to die rather than retreat. In the current situation, there is no room for failure. ”

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The moonlight was cold, covering the gurgling waters of the Seine with a silvery white veil. On both sides of the riverbank, the shadows of high-rise buildings are longing, and they are like ancient beasts crawling in the dark night, showing a strange scene of overlapping under different angles, which makes people feel frightened. At this time, Paris had completely lost the splendor and grandeur of her peacetime, and had become somber, cold, dead, and depressing.

On the Champs-Promenade, the last group of French soldiers was marching towards the east of the city, the horses' hooves clattering softly and the wheels neighing. Gallieni, the commander of the Paris garrison, stood at a crossing, silently gazing at the troops who were about to embark on a counteroffensive. The night breeze blew his coat into the air. Monuri, the commander of the Sixth Army, who was wearing a round military hat and a straight uniform, walked slowly to Gallieni's side and asked in a deep voice: "General, if this battle is defeated, do we still have the most retreat route?" ”

Gallieni had a gloomy look in his eyes, and he said slowly: "We have no way out. I only ask God to bless France, and in this battle to repel the evil German invading army. And as soon as the catastrophe strikes and the Germans break through us, I will be here, annihilated with the capital of France. ”

Monuri didn't speak, but tears rolled in his eyes, and his shoulders couldn't help but start to tremble slightly. Gallieni patted him on the shoulder and said in a dumb voice: "As a soldier of France, it is our highest honor to be able to die defending the motherland. Take your impulse and courage and fight the Germans! ”

Monuri nodded tearfully. He raised his right arm and drew an arc in the air, and a subtle but clear impassioned Marseillaise was played by the marching band, and spread far away in the night sky. (To be continued......)

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