Three things that did not appear in history changed the course of history: the Chinese European Expeditionary Force, the Second Battle of Verdun launched by the German army, and the Verdun counterattack launched by Bai Chongxi.

This counterattack had a great impact on the course of the whole war, Marshal Petain commanded 500,000 French troops and then invaded the Luxembourg area, lacking supplies, weapons and fortified positions, and at the same time, the German army ordered by the Kaiser not to retreat was unceremoniously defeated by the powerful French army, and the 100,000 German troops who had just retreated from Verdun were surrounded by the French army in the Luxembourg area and surrendered, and Ludendorff was helpless about this. And France was boiling again, and now everyone was convinced that the French army under the command of the invincible Marshal Pétain was about to win Zuihou, and that France was finally going to be disgraced.

The Germans immediately realized the gravity of the problem, and in the eastern sector of the Western Front, half a million elite German soldiers were wiped out in less than a week. And it is not so easy to build such a large number of troops again, it requires a large number of officers, enough weapons and equipment, enough training time, and all this will not be solved in a moment. In this way, the Western Front is tantamount to being broken through!!

At this time, Marshal Petain personally rushed back to Paris and demanded an attack on all fronts, and the defeat of the German army was at this moment. But Marshal Fuxi once again stubbornly raised objections, and the interests were very simple, the existing Liliang of the coalition forces alone could not break through the western section of the Western Front.

Petain shouted angrily: "Then give me enough troops, I can achieve a comprehensive breakthrough from the eastern sector, I don't believe that I will enter the territory of Germany, and the German troops in the western sector can still hold there." ”

Marshal Fuxi had already persuaded the leaders of Britain and France, and he said very arrogantly: "This will not work, there is no material to support the operation of 500,000 troops now." And Marshal Pétain, you are not good at attacking, and I am afraid that if you enter the territory of Germany, you will bury our French army. ”

The Frenchman's infighting character broke out at this moment, and in short, Prime Minister Clemenceau, under the persuasion of Marshal Fosseau, coupled with the bitter memory of the Battle of the Somme last year, had recently vetoed the continuation of Marshal Petain's attack. The French army was asked to stay on the Luxembourg line and build strong fortifications and stop advancing. Ludendorff naturally did not miss this opportunity, and the 200,000 troops drawn back from the Eastern Front and the 150,000 German troops drawn from the Western Sector built a strong defensive line in the Rhineland Pulz and Saarbrücken, while in Baden-Württemberg, the German troops withdrawn from the Alsace region and the improvised German army of about 120,000 also built a strong defensive line, and the wheel of history once again stubbornly returned to the original track after deviating from the original track.

Nevertheless, the French army's successful recapture of the Lorraine-Alsace region, which had been lost since the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, was a very celebratory victory, and the reconquest of Luxembourg greatly boosted the confidence and morale of the Allies.

However, the biggest winner was not France, but the Chinese, and in June, as the front stabilized again, French Prime Minister Clemenceau fully realized that if the Chinese army could reach 500,000, then this time he would not have to listen to Marshal Fuxi's advice to be satisfied with the small victory of recovering the Lorraine-Alsace region, and if he allowed, he even hoped that Petain would plant the French flag in Berlin. It is a pity that the Chinese expeditionary force only has 240,000, and it has been exhausted by almost 100,000 after the first battle. The army, which had suffered more than 40 percent casualties, had to be withdrawn to rest, and Clemenceau complained to British Prime Minister Lloyd George: "Those short Japanese are unreliable, the Chinese are our good friends of civilization, if I can, I hope the British government will come up with some more money, we need more Chinese soldiers to help us defeat the damned Germans." ”

Lloyd George couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this, the wealth accumulated by the British Empire over the past few hundred years was basically wiped out. If I continue to fight now, I will probably have to borrow money from my American cousins, and the descendants of those exiled prisoners are all misers, and they have no gentlemanly demeanor at all. But the war has already reached this point, if you don't continue to throw money, then once you lose this damn war, then the previous investment will be all tantamount to waste, damn it.

Lloyd George nodded helplessly, and then decided to go back to London to lobby the members of Parliament, who were probably going to wave their hats and boo themselves again. On the one hand, due to the war, the British government had to do everything possible to raise all kinds of materials to be transported to Europe to fight, which increased the plundering and exploitation of the colonies, which caused serious dissatisfaction among the colonists, and the separatist tendency became increasingly serious; On the other hand, because of the large number of men on the battlefield, British women filled the positions of men as labor, but the salary was only half that of men, if it was a short-term act, this is understandable, after all, patriotism needs. But after three years of war, patriotic fervor could not be sustained for that long, and British families, who had lost their male laborers, were under pressure to live, and women began to demand the same political status and economic treatment as men. In short, ** country also has ** national troubles, and being old nature in such a country is not as enjoyable as ** country. However, George Lloyd did not see it that way, and many years later, he insisted that the fundamental reason why Britain was able to defeat Germany in the same difficulties was because of the ** system. Although the ** system can form a strong combat power and destructive power in an instant, but in the final analysis, the benefits are the monarch and the **, and the disadvantages are everyone's. And the British ** system seems to be inefficient, but in the final analysis, every Briton is still willing to fight to the end for such a country before there is no more system choice.

On 3 June, British Prime Minister Lloyd George George, on behalf of King George V, presented the Order of the Legion of Honor of the Second Class (also known as the Order of the Grand Cross) to three high-ranking generals of the Chinese European Expeditionary Force, Bai Chongxi, Jiang Baili, and Zhu Zhixin, while French President Raymond Poincaré personally awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor (also known as the Grand Cross) of the second class to 10 Chinese officers, including Zhang Zizhong, Jiang Zhiqing, and Liao Lei, who had performed valiantly in the Battle of Verdun. French Prime Minister Clemenceau awarded 127 Chinese officers, including Zhao Yong, Zhao Wenxiong, and Wang Zhenpeng, the Order of the French Legion of Honor of the Third Class (Grand Officer Rank), with a star on their badges. In addition, more than 2,300 people were awarded medals, and this victory was too important. In China, the reform plan for the medal system of the Youth Army has been discussed and voted on in both houses, and the original medal system has been accused of being too cumbersome.

The new medal system is divided into five grades: Qinglong (marshal level), White Tiger (general level), Suzaku (school officer level), Xuanwu (captain officer level), and plum blossom (soldier level), which are divided into large medals, medals and medals; The title is divided into three levels: Chinese Hero, Chinese Guardian (officer level), and Chinese Warrior (soldier level). However, it was only at the level of the Grand Medal that it was allowed to be added.

According to the list drawn up by the Political Guidance Department of the Military Commission, Bai Chongxi will be awarded the White Tiger Grand Medal and will also be awarded the title of Chinese Guardian, and he will be the first person to receive the medal after the implementation of the new medal system.

However, Wang Zhenyu is not worried about this matter, as Napoleon said, medals are just toys used to motivate soldiers. Wang Zhenyu's real concern was the Soviet Union, and for more than a dozen days since he met Gu Weijun, Wang Zhenyu has been studying the economic reports provided by the Nanjing Nationalist Government and the secret data report of the UnionPay Reserve, which was spun off from the China Development Corporation. In order to stimulate the further expansion of domestic production and increase production capacity, in the past year, the UnionPay Reserve has issued an additional almost 20 billion Chinese yuan. That is to say, the amount of Chinese dollars currently circulating in the market has reached 46 billion, but because of the abundant foreign exchange reserves and the fact that most of this money is absorbed by industrial investment enterprises, although it has doubled the banknotes, it has not caused any currency depreciation. On the contrary, due to the stability and prosperity of the southern region, the northern region has now begun to accept the Chinese dollar as a trading currency, which makes Zhang Gongquan and his colleagues double this money supply next year. The UnionPay Reserve can almost be said to have mastered the lifeblood of the country's economy, but at the request of Wang Zhenyu, in order to further promote the development of industrial enterprises and the speed of urban construction, the five major banks took the lead in implementing the so-called policy of state subsidies for industry, that is, the China Development Corporation, the general guarantor of industrial loans, bears all the bank interest for the first year, and the enterprises only need to repay the principal. Although there were risks, Wang Zhenyu still insisted on doing so, and the Nationalist Government abolished the centigold system, so China's private industry had a particularly good year. As for the additional currency to be issued in the next year, Wang Zhenyu's idea is that in addition to reserving 10 billion yuan as the bank's principal to continue to provide financial support for industry and commerce, it is still necessary to start the previous large-scale transportation of the Ministry of Communications of the National Government, that is, to invest in the construction in the name of the China Development Corporation, and the recovery of costs will be repaid to the China Development Corporation in the form of taxes in 30 years. The China Development Corporation's money comes from bank loans, which can not only promote the development of transportation, but also avoid inflation caused by large-scale over-issuance of currency. On the one hand, the monthly salary of government officials has reached 400 yuan, recruits have reached 120 yuan, and veterans have reached 160 yuan (including food and shelter). But in the vast rural areas, where the clan shili are still strong and abject poverty has not been effectively addressed, the Nationalist Government has focused all its attention on the cities over the past year. Looking at the imminent birth of the red regime in Russia opposite, Wang Zhenyu felt that it was inevitable that the most dangerous part of Chinese society would be alleviated as soon as possible.