After the guard left, Cai Ye and Xiao Yongyan glanced at each other, and then the two of them looked at each other and smiled.

"Are you going to receive the medal?" Hearing the news, Xiao Yongyan looked at Cai Ye and laughed softly. This time, you, the hero of Verdun, will probably be genuine, so I'll congratulate you first..."Xiao Yongyan is very clear that this medal is awarded to the officers and generals who have made meritorious contributions in the Battle of Verdun.

Although Xiao Yongyan is also a member of the expeditionary force and the commander of the Second Army, he has only arrived in France for a long time, and he has not made even the slightest meritorious achievement, and the medal or anything is naturally not his turn, and he does not have to have the idea of going to Paris with Cai Yi.

"Maybe," Cai shook his head. But if possible, I still hope that they can send more reinforcements or artillery, and you know, this is what we are most lacking here at the moment..."

"Is this the ......... It depends on Britain and France, although the country can also manufacture large-caliber heavy artillery, but it is limited to 240mm, although the larger caliber artillery is not without the ability to manufacture, but the president does not seem to be interested in this, so the current domestic equipment is only 150mm, 210mm and 240mm three caliber heavy artillery, and the number is not very much, if you need artillery support, this aspect is also dependent on Britain and France..."Speaking of this, Xiao Yongyan frowned slightly, in fact, after a long period of development, China has already made a breakthrough in the arms industry.

Except for the Navy, which has no experience in building ships with a displacement of more than 20,000 tons, there are almost no problems with the others. Such as rifles, machine guns, mortars, and ordinary artillery.

Even if it is an aircraft or a tank, with the leading technology of Yushi Group in engines and other aspects, the equipment manufactured will definitely not be inferior to any country in the world. And even in terms of fighters and bombers. There has been a breakthrough in the Nationalist government...

This is not surprising, as early as the former Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty itself had already designed modern rifles such as the 'fast gun'. Ordinary artillery and even machine guns also have the ability to imitate, such as the Madsen light machine gun, the Guangdong Arsenal imitated even earlier than Yan Shao bought from Denmark. So there is no problem with the technology, the real tragedy is the production capacity...

As for airplanes and tanks, etc. The most critical engine can be said to have no problems due to the existence of the Yushi Group, so it can be said. Naturally, the development has been extremely smooth. After all, things like airplanes and tanks are all new things in this era, the former China is not slow to start, and the latter is even faster than the great powers.

Only the Navy ...

This one is the most time-consuming. Again, it takes a lot of things. The pace of development of the navy is already very advanced. At present, only one 10,000-ton cruiser has been built, and the construction has just started ...

As for large-caliber heavy artillery, after solving the problems of technology, technology and materials, the Nationalist government was already able to manufacture 240mm caliber heavy artillery on its own. In fact, they did manufacture and have installed a certain number of them, but for larger caliber heavy artillery, although the Wehrmacht repeatedly asked for instructions, Yan Shao never approved it...

The reason...

There was no need to create larger caliber guns at all. Judging from the level of infrastructure in this era, 240mm is already the limit. Bigger, though not impossible. But it's too much of a waste of time. And the larger caliber guns are mainly used against some strong fortresses, the question is, is the fortress still useful?

The Battle of Verdun now seems to be useful, and the historical victory at the Battle of Verdun led France to believe in the fortress defenses, which led to the construction of the Maginot Line, and the Battle of Verdun became a symbol of France's determination to defend itself.

But the fact is that the reason why France lost World War II was completely due to the Maginot Line.

The fortress was dead, the people were alive, and the Germans simply bypassed it, turning the defense line that the French had spent so much money to build into waste.

Since there is no need to fight at all, there is naturally no need to waste resources to create useless things.

If a similar situation really happens, Yan Shao can dispatch bombers to strike at the fortifications with more than a ton of aerial bombs—————— the German-made, 420mm caliber 'BigBertha' heavy howitzer weighs only 820 kilograms, and the 380mm 'MaxE' railway/shore defense gun is only 400 kilograms, not to mention many factors to consider...

Naturally, a bomber capable of carrying a 1-ton bomb is still relatively difficult for the current technology. But at least for 5 years, it is impossible for China to attack the kind of fortress that requires 1 ton of heavy bombs or heavy guns with a caliber of more than 300mm, so Yan Shao can have enough time to get what he likes...

Bomber swarm ...

Although bombers cannot replace artillery, it is still okay to replace useless heavy artillery.

However, although Yan Shao is very clear about the development law of weapons and equipment in the future, Xiao Yongyan does not understand them, so they are somewhat puzzled by Yan Shao's insistence. It was only because of Yan Shao's prestige that he did not show dissatisfaction.

It wasn't until many years later, when a bomber dropped a large number of aerial bombs on the ground, that Xiao Yongyan, who was already a general, understood Yan Shao's good intentions.

Although at that time, even rocket artillery was about to come out ...

In fact, there were already large bombers in this period, and they were created by Igor? Ivanovic? Sikorski's bomber, and at the same time the first large four-engine aircraft, 'Ilya? Muromets' bomber, if you remove the miscellaneous machine guns or something, the load can reach more than a ton, but the performance is not very perfect.

The Yushi Group actually came up with something similar, but because it was not very urgent about this weapon, it was still in a state of perfection and did not plan to put it into active service, of course, if necessary, it could be put into production at any time in a short period of time...

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"I know this too," Cai Yi said slightly, and then walked to the desk in the room. poured a glass of water for himself and Xiao Yongyan. "My body is not very suitable for coffee and alcohol, and tea is not very palatable. So I can only drink water..."

"It's nothing..."Xiao Yongyan said with a smile as he took the cup from Cai Yi's hand. But you can also drink juice like the president, and it's very popular in Japan right now..."

This Xiao Yongyan is not lying, because it is indeed very popular to drink fruit juice in China.

Unlike at the same time in history, the national income is only slightly stronger than in history, but society as a whole is still very stable. Without such a thing as centigold, the cost of domestic circulation of goods is much lower. Even prices have fallen a lot.

And now the international trend is the gold standard or the silver standard, or the lame standard like China. Gold and silver are relatively hard currencies, and silver is a little worse. However, gold, if it depreciates, usually does not depreciate too much, so there is no need to worry about currency depreciation.

As a result, although the per capita income of the country is low, it is not comparable to that of Western countries such as the United States. But due to the decrease in prices. So the standard of living has increased a lot.

As a result, people can more or less consume some things that were more luxurious in the past, such as bicycles, etc., or some fruits that could not be enjoyed in the past—————— in the past, they could not even eat enough food, coarse tea and light rice were luxury, let alone fruits.

Now there are special orchards dedicated to growing some economic fruits, and when the supply is large, the price will fall. In addition, there is such an example of Yan Shao in front of him. The end result is that fruit juice is very popular in China, but usually only young people have some of it. The older ones are more or less unacceptable.

For example, like Cai Yi, as the commander of the dignified expeditionary force, the general of the Wehrmacht, let him drink juice in front of people, this is more or less...

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Hearing Cai Ye say this, Xiao Yongyan smiled and didn't say anything, just picked up the cup and drank it in small sips. In fact, fruit juice is also a bit controversial in China, after all, this kind of thing in the past usually only...

But Yan Shao was standing there, so no one dared to say anything.

On the other side, after drinking all the water in his cup, Cai Ye was very straightforward. "After this arrival in Paris, I intend to speak to the French about this, and if they still want to regain the positions that Verdun has lost, they must give us more support, including troops and heavy artillery. The Germans outnumbered us in men and artillery, and it would be very costly to recover the positions taken by the Germans with our existing forces, and we would always have to suffer as an attacker..."

"I guess it's going to be difficult, I've heard that the French are also strained, and the British seem to be hesitant to expand their army..."

"Yes..."Cai Ye nodded and sighed softly. Now the main force on the Western Front is France, and the British side ......... They had always been dominated by the navy, and suddenly they were turned from the sea to the land

After all, there will be a lot of controversy at home, especially after we arrive in Europe, and the British seem to feel the need to continue to increase their investment in the army, and the situation has become much more difficult..."

"A group of guys with no vision..."Xiao Yongyan pursed his lips disdainfully, he didn't have a good impression of the British, after all, compared with the French, the British were obviously much more cunning, and they bullied China the most in the past history. Could it be that the Germans could be defeated by the navy? Now the main battlefield is on land, as long as the Germans can be defeated on the Eastern Front or the Western Front, this war will naturally be won, but they are pushing back there..."

"It's not necessarily that you don't have a vision......" After finding a place to sit down, Cai Yi groaned. It is also possible that they were frightened by the situation on the Western Front, after all, they died a lot on the Western Front in this war. However, judging from the situation on the Eastern Front, it is basically hopeless to expect the Russians to defeat the Central Powers, so if the Western Front does not have enough fresh troops or breaks the stalemate at this stage, I am afraid that it will take some time for this war to end..."

"Do you want to consume the strength of the French by the way?" Xiao Yongyan pouted. Haven't they thought about what to do if they mess up? Just like in Turkey, the Turks didn't intend to get involved. As a result, they were forced to rebel, and as a result, the British suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties in Gallipoli, and if they concentrated all these forces on the Western Front. Maybe we'll have won the battle a long time ago..."

Hearing Xiao Yongyan say this, Cai Ye chuckled lightly and put the already empty cup on the table.

"Do you have to think about it in the long run, Britain and France are feuds, and they will only be united because of the relationship between the Germans, and the Russians, why did Britain want to ally with Japan in the first place. Isn't it just to deal with Russia, and now to deal with the Germans, isn't it also an alliance with Russia? From this point of view, the British still have some courage. But......... Russia is okay, the losses in this war are too great, we see that the French have suffered a lot of losses? In fact, it was Russia that suffered the most losses in this war, otherwise why would Britain be in such a hurry to open up the shipping lanes of the Gallipoli Strait? In addition, it seems that there is chaos in Russia right now. Wait until this war is over. Russia may not be a threat in the short term..."

"On the contrary, France, Britain and France have always been opponents in history, and without Germany, there is no other country on the European continent that can have the possibility of unifying Europe, let alone threatening Britain, except for France..."

"So taking advantage of this war to consume the strength of Germany, Russia, France and other countries at the same time, this is a very correct choice. Not to mention that the losses of Britain in this war are not small, if France does not have greater losses than him. Wouldn't Britain be unlucky......... In fact, we didn't do this, watching the Europeans kill each other and bleed, the purpose is not to weaken the strength of the great powers and create space for us to rise, the British are actually doing the same as us..."

"Of course, this is only a possibility, but in fact it is not a small possibility..."

Saying that, Cai Ye couldn't help but laugh. "But speaking of which, the Germans have done a lot of work to offend people, Britain, France, Russia, and a potential United States, how many years have passed since Bismarck? He had offended all of these powers, and if it weren't for this, he wouldn't have had to look for allies like Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey, and as a result, Italy had jumped ship to the Entente halfway through, which was really ......... If Italy hadn't made the switch, maybe Germany would have fared better..."

"This also shows that people have strength..."Xiao Yongyan also said with a smile. If it were us, with such a group of second- and third-rate goods, there would definitely be no way to confront others, at least it would be impossible to fight on both sides and maintain such a situation..."

Hearing Xiao Yongyan say this, Cai Ye also nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Britain, France, and Russia, all of which were first-class powers at the time, plus 'teasing' countries like Italy and Japan, the Germans were able to bring second- and third-rate countries like Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria to a par with these powers, which in essence already showed the strength of the Germans.

Although I don't want to admit it, at least at this time China does not have the strength to confront these countries at the same time. If you have to fight, you can only rely on the vast territory and huge population, little by little, drag the opponent to death—————— of course, there is a key point here, that is, the industry must not be damaged, otherwise...

Broadswords and spears, and can't fight machine guns and cannons...

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In the room, Cai Ye and Xiao Yongyan chatted happily, and the two chatted until more than 9 o'clock in the evening.

After that, the two of them left the room together, went to the communications office, and explained to Yan Shao about going to Paris to receive the medal—————— although he will not be subject to the foreign monarch's order, but in fact, for subordinates who like to make their own decisions, I am afraid that few superiors will like it, even if this subordinate is capable.

So no matter how Cai Yi gets Yan Shao's reuse, this kind of superficial article still needs to be done.

Due to the time difference, although it was more than nine o'clock in the evening on Cai Ye's side, it was actually only three o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived at Yan Shao's side, which was one of the most energetic times of the day.

However, unlike the European side, the atmosphere on Yan Shao's side is obviously much calmer.

Especially after everything is on track, although there are still a lot of things to do every day, you can find more time to spend with your family...

"Look, I'll just say it, Cai Yi and they must be fine..."Looking at the telegram sent by Cai Yi, Yan Shao smiled at Elano with some smugness.

"Yes, yes, you're amazing..." But Elaline spoke. "By the way, do you want to tell General Xia Cai about that matter first? also let him have a psychological preparation..."Obviously, following Yan Shao's side, let Ileno know a lot of things.

Hear Elano say that. Yan Shao lowered his head and thought about it, and nodded after half a sound. "It's okay, but there's no need to say it too carefully, just let him be mentally prepared..." After speaking, Yan Shao looked at Lu Ying and Otsuki Kaoru on the side, and asked them to help draft a message...

They sent the telegram at nine o'clock, and by the time they received the telegram, it was already 10 o'clock. Having said that, Cai Ye and Xiao Yongyan still didn't expect that they would receive a reply telegram so quickly.

Merely...

There seems to be a little bit of intriguing about what was on Telegram.

First of all. Needless to say, allowing Cai Ye to go to Paris, now that the relationship between China and France is very good, it is impossible for Yan Shao not to allow Cai Ye to go to Paris. Not to mention the matter of medals, which is also a good thing. If it is properly publicized, it will not only be beneficial to the Entente, but also increase the support of the national government, and there is no need for Yan Shao to oppose it.

But the next thing is...

"Be mentally prepared in advance. The trip to Paris was not just about the medals. In addition, the Third and Fourth Armies will go to France with special units, and they will be burned immediately after the reading..."

"It's not just for the sake of the medal..."Looking at the text on the telegram, Cai Ye and Xiao Yongyan glanced at each other, their eyes full of confusion...

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Although he felt a little strange in his heart, Cai Ye quickly straightened his mind. Anyway, nothing will happen to Paris, and since there is no way to say it in the telegram, it will naturally be known when you get to the place.

So in the past few days, Cai Ye has mainly worked under the arrangement of the fortress—————— although the French asked him to go to Paris. But you can't always leave immediately, you always have to be prepared. At the same time, you can only go after explaining the work.

In fact, Cai Ye was not the only one who went to Paris this time, and there were many others who went with him.

Among them, the expeditionary force is mainly Cai Yi, Liu Guangyuan, Xiang Xinyuan and others, and the affairs of the expeditionary force are temporarily handed over to Xiao Yongyan. Although Xiao Yongyan had just arrived in France, with his ability and qualifications, it was no problem for us to manage the expeditionary force during the period when they left.

As for the French army, it was Petain of the Second Army and Leonard, the former commander of the French army, who went to Paris. As for the replacement, it was Petain and Leonard's deputies.

There was also the matter of succession, after arriving at Verdun, the Second Army rested for only two days and then went to the front to take over the work of the First Army. At the same time, the equipment brought from the country was supplemented to the First Army, and this time the Second Army brought a considerable number of light and heavy machine guns and shotguns from the country, which were specially brought from the country in consideration of the losses of the First Army at Verdun, which could completely restore the equipment level of the expeditionary force to its heyday, especially the 34th and 35th Divisions, which were equipped with shotguns for the first time, and now they only need to wait for the arrival of the reservists sent from the country to return to the state they were in when they first set off, and they will only be stronger than then. After all, the expeditionary force at this time already had a considerable number of veterans ...

After that, Cai and Petain helped to formulate many plans, and after making sure that they would be safe even if they were not there, they set off from Verdun and headed for Paris.

Riding on the road in a new off-road vehicle, looking at the troops on the side of the road that were constantly advancing in the direction of Verdun, Cai Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

In the past month or so, it is with this only road that is still connected to the outside world that they have been able to hold on to Verdun for more than a month.

Now, more than a month later, Cai Ye has become more and more confident in holding Verdun.

At the same time, the French and colonial troops standing on the trucks were also looking with curiosity at the Far Eastern troops with the 'Red Dragon Flag' hanging from the front of the truck.

In France, the expeditionary force flying this flag is already known to women and children, and almost everyone knows that it is a Far Eastern army with strong combat effectiveness, which can almost be compared with Britain and France.

And this is exactly what Cai Ye is most proud of, but at this time Cai Ye does not know what will greet him after arriving in Paris...

Fresh flowers? Applause? And cheers?

Of course, this one is right, there are many other things that greet him with flowers and cheers... (To be continued......)