On the same day, Western Front, the city of Paris.

Burning and ruined, the once most prosperous and shining art capital on the European continent is now in disappearance and devastation under the smoke of war. From a bird's-eye view, all you can see is crumbling buildings and broken roads. The corpses of German and French officers and soldiers were scattered in every area of engagement, blurring flesh, yellow bullet casings, and various debris damaged and discarded, merging into a tragic scene of bloody killing.

On 20 July, the Germans broke through the fortified positions on the outskirts of Paris with unprecedented artillery support, but they were greeted not by carpet bunting leading to the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower, but by a rain of bullets from the French army. When facing the German army, the French, who had been immersed in the atmosphere of "ideals in mind and sword in hand" for decades, chose to fight, and did not hesitate to let the city of Paris, which has condensed the wisdom and painstaking efforts of dozens of generations, burn the jade of the Germans. In the planning of the German General Staff, the capture of Paris was already the only way for them to consume a large amount of the living strength of the French army and force it to negotiate peace with themselves; Coupled with the strong desire of the German grassroots officers and soldiers to capture the capital of the long-cherished enemy, this urban street battle entered a white-hot stage from the very beginning.

For the Germans, street fighting in the city was undoubtedly a completely new subject that they had rarely touched before. Although the capture of Paris was included in their pre-war Schlieffen plan, it was a huge right-wing cluster sweeping through a peaceful city that was undefended, and the current situation of fierce fighting in the streets was completely different. After a day of fighting, the Germans were a little apprehensive to find out that since the beginning of the war. For the first time, the course and outcome of the battle were out of their control.

Towering buildings are densely populated. Divide the fighting space into a single street. It is surrounded by buildings that are more than seven or eight meters high. In this combat environment, the firing range of the heavy artillery that the German army was proud of was severely limited, and the artillery fire deployed in the rear could not support the front line in the heat of fierce fighting. Although it is slightly more advantageous than the game of a science fiction author to "restore history", the German army can completely destroy these buildings with artillery fire, but as the second largest city in the world after London, Paris has more than half a million buildings of all kinds, which is obviously beyond the reach of German artillery. You know, even a heavy grenade with a caliber of 150 mm. It is impossible to destroy a house with more than two floors in a single shot!

And in the specific process of advancement, the German army also suffered far more obstacles than before. In the traditional positional battle, almost all the firepower that the attacker has to bear comes from this one-dimensional line of the opponent's position; In the current street fighting, the German soldiers were suddenly hit by a three-dimensional all-round attack. In the cold windows that swayed in the air in the wind, I don't know that in that window, there was a black hole in the muzzle of a rifle, like a poisonous insect lurking in the swamp, ready to strike a fatal blow at the prey that dared to step into the forbidden area.

In many cases, German soldiers had no idea where the sneak shots were fired. Sora was beaten but the culprit could not be found. And even experienced veterans discovered the location of the other side, and they lacked direct artillery support. It is also difficult to punish the French accordingly when they retract into a blind spot. If you want to seize that building, you will be met with cold shots from another building in the course of your operation. The French planted fuse-activated explosives behind some of the doors, and the Germans had to deal with the house-to-house scramble with extreme care. And even when they were surrounded, the French officers and soldiers were able to retreat in some cases. Gallieni had opened the sewers of all of Paris and sent maps to the front-line troops; As long as there was a tin manhole cover near the house, the French army could quickly move in and evacuate.

Those tanks and armored vehicles that once showed their might in the vast wilderness are now restrained by the special terrain in street battles. The Molotov cocktail in another plane, which did not appear until the Second World War, was now being made in the hands of the French, who were under great pressure; Although the French did not yet have an RPG as an individual anti-tank artifact, the Molotov cocktail was sufficient for the original generation of tanks with poor mechanical stability, and a large number of German tanks caught fire due to engine overheating, so that German commanders had to abandon the use of such weapons in some areas. So the French began their black guns like antelope horns, which were traceless, and the German soldiers were inflicted heavy casualties, but in vain, and the offensive momentum.

After a month and a half of fighting, the Germans had captured less than 30% of the eastern part of the city, and they had suffered heavy casualties of nearly 100,000 men. At the cost of more than 80,000 casualties and nearly 10,000 prisoners, the French army for the first time took the lead in terms of personnel losses over the German army, which was superior to itself in terms of officers and men, weapon performance, and firepower allocation. After being humiliated and ravaged by the Germans for more than three months, Xia Fei finally breathed a sigh of relief and fled south to the government radio station in Bordeaux, announcing to the world the news that the German attack in the city of Paris had been blocked. Galliene, who was in charge of defending the city of Paris, also boasted that with the continuous flow of British expeditionary forces to the French mainland, he would be able to transfer the troops originally deployed in northern France back to the core of Paris, and take the opportunity to drive the German invaders out of Paris in one fell swoop, sounding the historic voice of a full-scale French counterattack.

"Your Highness, we can't continue to fight like this. The shameless French use the building as a cover to give the Imperial soldiers the power to fly a bull without being able to do it, while they can sneak up like the lowest type of poisonous snake! At the field headquarters on the eastern outskirts of Paris, the 67-year-old commander of the Third Army, Hausen, complained loudly, "I have organized the soldiers in the companies and platoons with excellent marksmanship, and made them pay close attention to the Frenchmen who may appear in those windows, but the effect is still not as remarkable as expected." The French began to pry bricks into the walls as shooting holes, and our guys could hardly teach these guys a lesson. And the French who scurried around the sewers like rats, and their actions were simply unworthy of being soldiers! My army suffered heavy losses, and in some companies there were even less than twenty soldiers left. ”

A few steps away, Qingying, dressed in a gorgeous dress and ribbon, was sitting quietly on a seat against the wall; After the baptism of military service, he has completely faded away from the weakness and immaturity brought by living in the palace, and has condensed the perseverance and decisiveness that belongs to the bloodline of the Prussian royal family. Hearing Hausen's words, he spread his hands slightly, and said to the person in front of him in a clear voice that was still full of magnetism: "General, I don't have any extra troops in my hands to help you. Previously, the four new armies had been organized into the new Tenth Army, with General Eichhorn as its commander; This time, all three reserve corps were sent to the Eastern Front, and my Fifth Army did not receive any supplementary support. ”

was so directly pierced by Qingying that the German veteran generals who had participated in the Franco-Prussian War were slightly embarrassed. He pulled his chair in front of Qingying and said, "Your Highness, I didn't come to you this time to ask for support. The Fifth Army also sent troops to participate in the assault on Paris, and His Highness was all too clear about the shape of Paris at this moment. We must respond to this new tactical form. At present, the whole world is watching this battle of Paris closely, and if we do not conquer it for a long time and are so endlessly delayed by the French, it will inevitably have a negative impact on our Germany in the international community. And even if we carry out the strategy we set out in the beginning, and have all the armies take turns in battle, it is essentially no different from what it is now. Is there only one way we can do that with artillery, we can destroy the whole city of Paris? ”

Qingying glanced at Haosen with a little surprise, and had a new position for the person in front of him. He froze and then said: "Under the current tactical system, it is indeed difficult for us to do anything about the French's stubborn defense of the city. My army had tried to find a breakthrough through the sewers, but the French seemed to have been prepared for it, and their blasts at some key points had made our efforts ineffective. Seeing Haosen's face that gradually revealed a solemn expression, Qingying paused slightly, and then said slowly: "However, things are not completely unmanageable. ”

Haosen raised his head in surprise, his eyes were full of hope, anticipation and hesitation, and said, "Your Highness, do you have any good strategy?" ”

"In a few days, the cool weather in Paris is coming, right?" Instead of answering Hausen's question directly, Qingying asked a question that seemed unrelated to the current war. Hausen was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "The hottest time on the plain of Paris is about to pass, and we will usher in a cooler time. But what does this have to do with the war between us and the French, Your Highness? ”

"In early autumn, there are usually strong northeasterly winds in Paris; This is due to seasonal climatic phenomena caused by hydrological changes in the North Sea, which borders the European continent. Qingying spoke slowly, but there was no joy in his words as Hausen imagined, "If we release a gas that is enough to kill people at this time, then when these poisonous gases drift to the French positions with the wind, what awaits the French will be the devil's gnawing." Dr. Haber of the William Royal Institute of Chemistry has repeatedly told the government that poison gases should be used on the battlefield, and now is the time to use them. (To be continued......)

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