"The fortifications of the British were being targeted and strengthened. The artillery preparations carried out by our army before the battle were already difficult to kill and wound too many opposing soldiers, and when the warriors of the empire attacked, the main army deployed by the opponent in the deep defense line would become a new resistance force for our army on the way forward. ”

Moltke, the head of the German General Staff, who had moved west to Beauvais, was standing in front of an unfolded map of operations, listening to the summary report of his deputy, Lieutenant General Stein, with a frown. Although the four armies on the right flank were still advancing, the important town of Evreux west of Paris was captured by the Germans, and Crook's 1st Army even approached the town of Troarn, which was less than 10 kilometers from Caen; However, compared to the mileage of the first two days, the German army did not advance as smoothly as it did then. As of October 8, the casualties and missing of the participating armies have exceeded 40,000, which is still the number when the British front line was taken by surprise by their own side at the beginning!

The large-scale encirclement and annihilation of the enemy army, which Moltke regarded as the top priority, did not come for more than a week after the offensive began. The swift and unhurried retreat of the British troops was fundamentally different from the clumsiness of the Russian army on the Eastern Front: on several occasions the Germans saw that they were about to form an encirclement, but these Saxons forced their fingers like loaches to slip away. The largest encirclement formed by the Germans also captured only one British infantry regiment that had taken the wrong path during the retreat. At present, the German prisoner of war camp has 15,000 new recruits, and the confirmed results of the enemy are more than 30,000. However, the British army did not have a large number of main forces as the Russian army on the Eastern Front was annihilated. These losses can also be quickly made up for by the other party.

Besides. The French Army, which had been pressed and beaten by the Germans before. There are also signs of recovery that have been shown over time. During the months of fierce fighting in the sea and the storming of Paris, the French war planes did not stop working at all, and a large number of French soldiers who had been mobilized and conscripted were formed into battalions on the spot, and then went to the front to form a more advanced field organization and even a group army. At present, the strength in Xia Fei's hands has increased compared to five months ago, and the size of 78 divisions in 7 group armies has restored his full confidence when the war first broke out. Coupled with the 26 divisions of the 2 armies of the British Expeditionary Force, the strength of the German army and the Anglo-French alliance on the Western Front was actually in an equal position!

According to the latest battlefield intelligence information. A French army of no less than 11 divisions has appeared in the area of Chartres, 80 kilometers southwest of Paris. After a little analysis, Moltke could almost conclude that this was the newly formed 7th Army of the French. Should it choose to support it in the north, the resistance to the advance of the German right flank will further intensify. At this rate, the Germans' advance to the Cotentin Peninsula west of Jersey would be halted, and they would be a long way from Brest, the westernmost point of France, or even Saint-Nazaire in the Bay of Biscay. The mere occupation of the Cotentan Peninsula would have prevented the Germans from reaching out of the English Channel, and the British would have been able to mine and patrol the western part of the Channel, so that German submarines hunting in the Atlantic could not take advantage of the nearby port.

Moltke's fears soon became a reality. Less than a day passed. The French 7th Army advanced to Deleux, 60 km west of Paris, and engaged in a fierce confrontation with the German 10th Army, consisting of four volunteer corps, near Anne. Although they were under the command of Eichhorn in the field, they repelled the advancing French army. But it also made the opponent's main force fully unfold during this time, completely lying in front of them. As far as the Germans could see, the fields ahead were full of faint figures who relied on the terrain to build fortifications, and behind the cannon fodder of these fronts, there were more French people consolidating the defensive line.

On 11 October, the German 3rd and 5th armies in the center also joined the offensive as a new revolving axle. However, as they had lost so much energy in Paris, the French defence was surprisingly strong, and after a difficult capture of Versailles, which was close at hand, they began to regain their vitality. In fact, at this time, there was an indescribable hesitation and exhaustion in the hearts of the German officers and soldiers: Didn't they say that after the capture of Paris, the French would come to surrender in despair as they did 42 years ago? Why is it that after holding back his strength and doing his best to complete this epic goal, the opponent's will to fight is still high and resolute, and there is no tendency to waver in the slightest? The time for the triumphant return has dragged on and on, from the first six weeks of the confident assurances of the officers, to the three months since the defeat of the Russian offensive, and now the five months since the capture of Paris, there is no sign of a victorious end to the war. Under the domination of doubt and anxiety, the fighting spirit of the German officers and soldiers also declined like that of the British army, and it was no longer as high as it was at the beginning.

On 15 October, after a series of bloody battles, the German 1st Army advanced with great difficulty to Bayeux, located on the eastern roots of the Cotentin Peninsula. Since Caen in the rear had not yet been captured due to the strong defense of the city, Crook, who had nails behind him, feared to repeat the scene in the Battle of the Marne, and immediately ordered the front army to switch from attack to defense and wait for follow-up reinforcements to arrive. In the course of its half-month offensive, his troops advanced 100 kilometers along the straits, which was an absolutely remarkable achievement for the Western Front five months after the outbreak of the war. At this time, however, the 1st Army was faced with the constraints that they were familiar with and that the advance of the large corps of this era would inevitably encounter: that is, logistics and transportation could not keep up with any blitzkrieg-style rapid advance.

There were no trucks with considerable performance in World War I, supplies were almost entirely dependent on animal power after leaving the railroads, and heavy artillery maneuvers were even slower to crawl. Thus, even if the attacker has the ideal opportunity to advance, its logistical constraints will inevitably slow it down or even halt it, while the defender can take the opportunity to rebuild forces to strengthen the defensive line, thus dragging the opponent's long-drive idea of a quick decisive battle into a protracted trench battle.

The night was deep, the moon was clear, and in the luxurious and solemn study of the imperial palace, Qingying was reporting his achievements in the past ten days to the uninvited emperor. After this period of hard work, he has a fairly full understanding of the current situation in Russia, and is ready to start doing something in some areas.

"The core of the Romanov's rule was in St. Petersburg. With millions of citizens and 300,000 workers in the vicinity of the city, any unrest would have a great impact on the Russian government. However, it is also the place where the activities of the secret police are most rampant, whether it is the distribution of revolutionary pamphlets or the holding of clandestine propaganda and evangelistic gatherings under various names, it is difficult to escape the dogs of these lackeys. Therefore, we can only induce a general outburst of discontent among the Russian people from the flanks by indirect means. And the supply of materials in the market is the best place to start. ”

After days of hard work, Qingying's face looked a little tired, but on that beautiful and handsome face, a pair of eyes were still as clear and shining as stars: "Since the beginning of June, there have been cases in some Russian cities where merchants have hoarded goods and raised prices to make a fortune; Although Interior Minister Oginets severely suppressed this phenomenon, the hoarding and reselling of daily necessities continued due to the fact that the profits were so large during this period. In mid-August, prices in St. Petersburg also soared, and the people complained, and Oginets, who was thoroughly investigated, found that these speculative businessmen had direct connections with the royal family and nobles, and immediately wrote to the tsar asking for disposal. However, this note, which should have been sent to Nikolai Shu Xiao, was intercepted by his royal friend Rasputin; Because in the midst of this, Rasputin himself also shared a big piece of the cake! ”

William raised his eyebrows, and there was already a slight brightness in his eyes.

Qing Ying smiled and said: "With this powerful royal friend playing a role, this loyal and capable minister's weeping blood recital will naturally never appear in front of Nikolai Shuxiao." A month later, Nikolai left St. Petersburg with the commander-in-chief, leaving the empress with all the power of the country; And the Empress obeyed the words of this holy master who could cure the crown prince's hemophilia, and he has now become the de facto number one ruler of the Russian Empire! So just a week ago, the obstructive Oginets was dismissed from his post and imprisoned on trumped-up charges, and the 78-year-old Galev, who had tried hard to conspire with Rasputin, became the Minister of Internal Affairs and Economy. Naturally, there was a gap outside the oversight powers of the secret police. ”

"It is foreseeable that in the near future, prices in St. Petersburg will inevitably get out of control. And what we are going to do is to make the relationship and the money that Guò Falcon has established in St. Petersburg to make this hoarding even more violent, and pour some more gasoline on this fire! As November begins, Russia will usher in a frosty winter, and the scarcity of supplies and skyrocketing prices in St. Petersburg will surely become the fuse that can directly detonate the anger in the hearts of the Russian people more than a leaflet or a speech. At that time, as long as the Red Bolsheviks raised their arms, were they afraid that they would remain silent? Qingying said pleasantly.

William nodded slightly, and his face showed a little satisfaction. The fact that the person in front of him was able to grasp the chaotic and complicated clues in such a short period of time was already greatly beyond his expectations. William paused, then spoke, "I await the good news from Russia. Now there's one more thing I want to know your opinion. We're in some trouble in the north of France. (To be continued......)

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