On January 11, 1917, the German 11th Army broke the long-dormant calm of the battle line, and hundreds of artillery pieces violently bombarded the northern flank of the Chinese army, opening the prelude to the German offensive. The next day, the German 9th Army on the southern flank launched an attack, and heavy artillery and aircraft began to bombard the positions of the 7th and 16th armies of the Chinese army indiscriminately.

Due to the "concealment and suddenness" of the German offensive, by the 13th, the positions of the 1st Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had been broken through, and the five armies under the jurisdiction of the 1st Army began to withdraw from the positions they had been stationed for several months, with the northern flank in the direction of Lublin and the southern flank in the direction of Lviv, beginning the first major retreat of the Chinese army since entering the war.

On the 15th of January, Colonel Vlasova, a French colonel who had rushed from Vinnitsa to Lublin, was horrified to see a scene that he did not want to see, albeit in an orderly manner, but the headquarters of the Chinese expeditionary force was already withdrawing from Lublin.

"Why retreat? As far as I know, the positions of your army in the Gruets direction are quite strong, what exactly is happening? Colonel Vlasova shouted to the Chinese major who received him, who always had a gloomy face.

Martial law was already under law in Lublin, and Colonel Vlasova was blocked by gendarmes wearing white armbands, and after showing his identification, a Chinese major came, claiming to be an officer of the headquarters of the expeditionary force, indicating that the Germans had broken through their positions and that the Chinese army was retreating in the direction of Kovelli.

"The Germans have concentrated their main forces in the area of our 1st Army, and we did not expect the Germans to attack. If you want to ask why, ask the Russians and see what they have done in the past few months. "The major was clearly wounded in the mouth, and his speech was leaky.

"I want to see your Supreme Commander! I came on orders from General Pétain! ”

"No way. The chiefs were directing the operation and did not have time. "The major indifferently refused the request of the French colonel.

"Major, I warn you, you have no right to prevent me from entering Lublin, much less to prevent me from learning the truth......"

"Then you can complain to the top. I'm just doing what I'm told. I also warn you that if you continue to stay here, beware of being captured by the Germans. The major turned to the second lieutenant of the gendarmerie and said, "Look at him and escort them out of here before 17 o'clock." With that, the major left the house where the French allies were "imprisoned".

Colonel Vlasova sensed that something was wrong. He was on his way to Lublin. I saw the various vehicles of the Chinese army flowing endlessly to the east. Cars, animal-powered carts, heavily armed soldiers, military supplies, and even various machine tools, did not look like they had lost a battle at all. The Germans were negotiating an armistice with the damned Russians, and relations between France and the new Russian regime had broken down. Most of the members of the French military delegation have already departed for their home country. He was the head of the liaison office of the French army in Moscow. A new order has been received to contact the Chinese Expeditionary Force only and to report the latest situation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to the country. Originally, he was going to serve at the headquarters of the Lublin Expeditionary Force, but the Chinese did not allow him to go to Lublin. So he stayed in Vinnitsa. Before New Year's Day, the fighting resumed, but Vinnitsa was as good as ever, and there was no tension in sight, and the Chinese troops stationed in Vinnitsa did not move to the front. The country was in a hurry, and sent him to the front to understand the situation, and everything he saw made him suspicious, and Chinese did not allow him to enter Lublin, and only sent a major to receive him......

"The Chinese have abandoned the rublin. They were retreating towards Kovelli, in a very orderly manner, and there was no sign of suffering a severe defeat...... I can't see the senior generals of the Chinese army, they refuse to see me! In that makeshift lounge, Colonel Vlasova wrote a brief telegram and sent his retinue back to Vinnitsa to send it home.

The day after the Germans launched the offensive in Grujetz, the offensive in the Tomaszow direction also began. Seven days later, both Lublin and Ostorowitz fell to the Germans. The 1st Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, under the "oppression" of the German army, slowly retreated to Ukraine, carrying with it something that could be taken with it, except for the personal belongings of the residents. Industrial facilities in Polish cities such as Lublin were demolished, leaving empty cities to the Germans.

Colonel Vlasova was received by Chen Hao, who had been released. Instead of being sent to the Far Eastern military station, as were the thousands of prisoners of war who returned to the unit, he was left at the headquarters and immediately reinstated to his rank and position - deputy chief of the intelligence department of the major. General Wang Mingyuan spent fifteen minutes talking to him and comforting him, and Chief of Staff Xue Xiaocai was in his busy schedule to pick up the wind for him, all thanks to his identity and General Ye Yanbing's care.

The so-called humane treatment is bullshit in Chen Hao's eyes. He was beaten for refusing to answer the Germans about the troops, the bridge of his nose was broken, and three ribs were broken. The blow from the butt of the rifle broke off eight of his teeth and he was disfigured. The physical damage is secondary, and the scars left on the soul are afraid that it will be difficult to heal. In his short military career, he has been a prisoner of war twice, the first time was captured by the Beiyang Army, and he was really not mistreated that time, if he didn't have enough to eat, it was not abuse, but this time he was captured by the Germans and it was much more miserable. In the prisoner of war camp, he was tempted to end his life, and in his opinion, his two captures had ruined his future, and no one could afford to look up to him. It was the consolation of the refugees and the responsibility for their mothers, wives and children that they survived tenaciously, but what they did not expect was that they returned to the army before the end of the war.

"Commander Ye has always cared about you, and I regret sending you on that mission. You write a letter to Commander Ye to reassure him as well. When Commander Wang met him, he told him, "As long as there is war, there will be prisoners of war, so don't care." Do a good job, and after a while, I'll let you go down and lead the troops. ”

Chen Hao was grateful for Commander Wang's tolerance. He understood that apart from him, other prisoners of war were afraid that they would not be treated like this, they would be screened, and even if they remained in the army, their future would be greatly affected. If their subordinates knew that they had been captured by the Germans, would they forgive themselves as well as the commander?

"But I didn't betray the motherland, I have a clear conscience. Those comrades-in-arms who have shared hardships with them will prove ...... for themselves," Chen Hao said to himself more than once, "and. In many cases, it is harder to live than to die. ”

The Germans fulfilled a secret agreement with the Chinese in Lublin, exchanging 4,367 living Chinese prisoners of war for more than 23,000 officers and soldiers captured in Romania, which in the eyes of the Germans was an extremely cost-effective deal. Even the delivery of Russian-made weapons that could equip the Chinese with three divisions was worth it, and the Germans' thirst for human resources was unprecedented, and the released prisoners could form two new divisions. The Chinese were also trustworthy, and in addition to receiving prisoners of war and weapons, they began to withdraw from their front-line positions and abandoned the Polish towns of Lublin and Ostorowitz according to the "timetable". The Germans followed behind the Chinese army and gradually took over the territory. These are all things that Germany needs. They needed more food, livestock, and needed to support the war.

Major General Strauss, who brokered an armistice with the Chinese and enabled the Germans to advance the front eastward, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general for his merits.

The leaders of the Entente expressed their concern about the events in southern Poland in different ways, and there was news that the defeat of the Chinese was false. It seems to be actively retreating. But without solid evidence, an important ally cannot be accused of "collaborating with the enemy". Therefore, the United States, Britain, France, and other countries only expressed some kind of concern about the war situation. In their opinion, there was nothing wrong with the Germans attacking eastward. They were worried that the main German forces on the Eastern Front would be transferred to the Western Front, not that Poland or Ukraine would fall into German hands. The task given to China at the Rapallo Conference was to do their best to contain the German army, and from a military point of view, the Chinese did not lose their word, and according to the battle situation reported by China, the strength of the two armies of the German army attacking the Chinese expeditionary force was strengthened, and the 9th and 11th armies each increased by one corps, which increased the pressure on the Chinese army, and the German army also used tanks.

The Brest Conference was not over yet, because the Germans had overpriced and demanded the three Baltic states and the whole of Poland, which triggered a fierce quarrel in the Central Committee of the Brest Party, which caused a backlash from the upper echelons of the Russian army. The Russian army is stepping up efforts to rebuild the army, but the soldiers and officers have to rely on the old Russian army, and it is just a large number of lower-level officers who are loyal to the party, and the company commanders of the Russian army are promoted to regiment commanders because they are members of the party, and there are not a few who have been promoted to division commanders.

Without an armistice with New Russia, German troops could not be moved off the front. Even Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who "kidnapped" Germany, did not dare to do that. Now a new development has arisen, that is, the signing of the secret agreement on Lublin, which has provoked a debate among the top echelons of the German army.

It was originally to remove the threat from the back road, but it got an unexpected ending. The Chinese even offered to cede Poland and even Ukraine, and General Hoffman, who was in charge of the war on the Eastern Front, was overjoyed. Originally, the most headache of the German Eastern Front Command was the Chinese Expeditionary Force, because of the existence of this force, the peace agreement between Germany and Russia was extremely variable, and the battles in Romania and Poland had long proved that the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army was above the Russian army, even if all the German troops on the Eastern Front were gathered, they were not sure to annihilate or severely damage the Chinese army, and now they actually put forward conditions that made the German army excited - the exchange of prisoners of war needless to say, it must be Germany taking advantage, and it is not a problem to deliver a batch of Russian-made weapons to the Chinese, Since the beginning of the war, the Germans have captured a large number of Russian weapons, which the Germans cannot use due to different calibers, and there is a pile of waste, but if it is exchanged for the retreat of the Chinese, its significance is not ordinary.

For Germany, the importance of the three Baltic countries cannot be compared with Ukraine, the war has been going on so far, what Germany lacks most is food, due to the naval blockade of the Entente, there has been a food shortage in Germany, but Ukraine is the granary of Russia, and the occupation of Ukraine will greatly alleviate Germany's food problem. So the generals of the Eastern Front, led by General Hoffman, strongly urged the Chinese to expel the Chinese army from Ukraine, and he said to Ludendorff, who rushed to the Eastern Front, "There is no need to care about any agreement at all, a fake retreat may turn into a real rout, it is much more difficult to organize a retreat than an attack, if there is an opportunity, I will teach the Chinese a lesson, these yellow-skinned monkeys teased the German Empire, now the opportunity has come, why not seize it?" ”

Ludendorff became famous in the fortress of Liège, but he really became famous on the Eastern Front. He understood the situation on the Eastern Front and the importance of Ukraine no worse than Hoffman, and after careful consideration, he agreed to Hoffman's plan. However, it was stressed that caution must be exercised, as the Western Front was in dire need of reinforcement.

History has proven that Ludendorff could be regarded as the best military commander of the German army in World War I, but he was not a clever politician. He considered the problem more from the military point of view than the overall political situation. Now that it is recognized that the Western Front is the key to the fate of Germany, then no effort should be spared to strengthen the Western Front, and not to think about what Ukrainian grain is. It's winter, it's too early to harvest the next crop, to rob grain from the inhabitants of Ukraine? But Ludendorff was really blinded, and the strengthening of the Western Front and the march to the East were the opposite of each other, how could they be both?

By 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II's control over the situation had weakened to an unprecedented level, and the power of the chancellor and other civilian officials had been almost weakened, and Germany's hopes were entirely pinned on Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who had become more and more a front, and Ludendorff's decision was almost the final decision.

General Hoffman was given autonomy of action.

On January 18, the Germans occupied Lublin. According to the agreement, they were to wait for the main force of the Chinese army to withdraw from Kovelli before marching, but the German 11th Army did not comply with the agreement, but clung to the 1st Army behind the palace, and in the suburbs of Kovelli, the real battle between the two armies took place. (To be continued......)