853 Wilhelm II was going to take an adventure

"We won, you French stupid pigs!"

"Frenchman, now this is ours!"

After a long winter, the Great Plains of France finally ushered in a hearty spring rain, although the rain made the roads muddy and potholes affected the speed of the troops, but in this should be a busy agricultural day, all the roads to the south of France were crowded with German soldiers striding forward, after more than three years of suffering in the swamps, the loud Rhineland song finally began to gradually sound over France. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

Just a few days after the night of Bōerdo, the wheels of war began to accelerate.

First of all, Hua suddenly made a big attack in the United States, with more than 50 divisions and more than one million men, supported by hundreds of warships and nearly 1,000 aircraft; at a time when logistical constraints were becoming more and more serious, Hua suddenly abandoned the conventional army advance tactics, and with a Marine division as the vanguard, it unexpectedly bypassed Florida and crossed more than 1,000 kilometers to land in Delaware, not only penetrating into the heart of the United States in one fell swoop, but also cutting off New York and Washington.

It was only a matter of time before Washington fell.

In Europe, after receiving the news of Sneijder's success, the ten armies of the German Western Front attacked on all fronts, and in just one week, they broke through three lines of defense one after another and began to penetrate deep into southern France.

Unlike the German soldiers, who were elated and longing for the end of the war, they were met by French prisoners of war who had been shooting at each other through the trenches not long ago, killing each other.

In the face of the sudden revolutionary wave, these soldiers, who had fought with the German army for more than three years, and who were willing to starve in order to recover the country, and who were charged under dense machine-gun shells and artillery fire, suddenly seemed to have their bones drained.

Someone in later generations said that France "fell" in World War I, and after the so-called world's first army was disabled by Germany in World War I, France has not recovered, so that World War II was bulldozed by Guderian in a short period of time, and even after the war, there was no tough posture of a great power.

Now the same is true, these French soldiers could not understand what was happening, and just after they had survived the harsh winter, and before they could see the German army, they were dragged out of the trenches by the officers in rags, and then they laid down their arms in groups and raised their hands to the Germans.

Confused, incomprehensible, hateful, and helpless, from the faces of these soldiers with yellow faces and thin muscles, most of whom were workers and peasants before the war, and many baby soldiers who were only fourteen or fifteen years old can be seen in the ranks, who, like adults, will meet an unknown fate from now on.

In the face of the curses and provocations of the German soldiers, the French soldiers mostly hung their heads and were speechless, and could only spit fiercely and then headed north to the prisoner of war camp at gunpoint.

Looking at the very different scenes of the German and French soldiers outside the car window, the corners of Ludendorff's mouth hooked up a smile, standing in his position will not humiliate the enemy who has put down his gun, but he likes to see this kind of thing, the more such pictures the more it shows that the German army is advancing under his leadership.

Max Hoffmann, the staff officer of the Western Front Army Major General sitting next to him, disdained Ludendorff's somewhat narcissistic likes and dislikes, but although he and Ludendorff did not agree, he would never disturb the commander's excitement at this time, after all, Germany had been greatly damaged by barbed wire, machine guns and trench warfare in the past three years, and everyone had reason to laugh at the moment when victory had been put in their pockets.

"Max, that old classmate of yours is great." Ludendorff admired the "view" for a while and knocked on the front seat. After the car restarted, he turned to Hoffman and continued: "Very good tactic, abandoning a frontal breakthrough and using the sea and depth to make a sudden landing in Delaware. ”

"Hehe, I believe that the United States should be thinking about surrender now."

Max didn't like the other party, but he couldn't help but admit that Ludendorff was a very capable general, and as long as it was very likely to succeed Field Marshal Hindenburg to the throne of the chief of the general staff of the high command, so he said politely on the surface: "Lieutenant General, you said a lot, Sun was very insightful in long-distance tactics during his study in Germany."

However, his tactics are also very adventurous, if it were not for the tight logistics that could not be consumed for a long time, and if the US army still had enough combat effectiveness, I believe that he would never use only one marine division to take risks. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)"

Ludendorff nodded slightly, and suddenly asked, "Max, with what you know about Sun Jiugong, do you think he will cross the Atlantic?" ”

"Attacking the British?" Max shook his head: "Lieutenant General, I think you are afraid that you have misunderstood, as far as I know, Sun Jiugong is only the commander-in-chief of the North American Theater of Operations, once Hua crosses the Atlantic Ocean to attack the British mainland, it means that he has exceeded his authority, which is an extremely serious violation of discipline in the Chinese army, so I don't think your question is possible at all." ”

"Perhaps." Ludendorff continued: "So do you think Hua will attack the British mainland?" ”

"It's a hard question to answer." Hoffman said bluntly: "From Limer's position, there is no need for him to attack the British mainland, because their goal has always been clear, to seize control of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and defeat the United States, which may become a big rival, and now both goals have been achieved, and Britain will not have the opportunity to enter the East for many years after losing India and Egypt." ”

"Do you think Li Mo will give up the chance to defeat Britain?"

Hoffman waved his hand and continued to analyze: "It can't be said that if Li Mo wants to end the war, then the navy must be sent to bomb the British mainland, as for the army, I personally think it is unlikely, but whether to bomb the British or not actually depends on us." ”

"Oh? Why do you think this way? Ludendorff frowned, he admired Max Hoffmann's learning, but he couldn't tolerate this person being too dazzling, so he deliberately asked, "Do you think Li Mo will be afraid of us?" ”

Max sighed secretly in his heart, compared with Chen Ping, Sun Jiugong and others beside Li Mo, Ludendorff and these German officers may be comparable in tactics, but they are inferior in strategy, of course, this is mainly because Germany has been confined to the European continent for too long, and unlike China, which clearly began to compete for hegemony in the ocean at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, looking at the whole world, and training a large number of military personnel with broad horizons.

There is another point that is taboo in Germany, that is, the essential difference between Limer and Wilhelm II, the former is light in terms of grandeur, and the latter is ambitious and powerful, but it cannot be compared in terms of vision or means.

So he felt very funny about Ludendorff's sentence "Limer is afraid of Germany", if this is the case, I am afraid that Pengalle will not be rescued by Hua, so he can only smile: "I don't know very well whether Limer is afraid of triggering a Eurasian dispute, but it must depend on us if he enters Britain!" Only if we attack Britain, he will follow and fight for post-war interests, but if we give up attacking Britain itself, then I think Li Mo will never be willing to fight in both the United States and Britain at the same time. ”

Max's analysis made Ludendorff slightly stunned, he didn't expect this young man who had a lot of Chinese in the German General Staff and made great contributions on the Eastern Front after the war, defeating the Russian strikers to get a buffer opportunity for the German war on two fronts.

Ludendorff didn't seem to believe this analysis, and just as he was about to speak, a war horse suddenly caught up, and behind Max rolled the window, the communications officer had already stood up and saluted.

"The report is an urgent telegram from the high command."

The staff officer saluted, handed in a telegram, and said: "Both Field Marshal Hindenburg and Field Marshal Tirpitz want the general to return to Berlin at once. ”

"Now?" Ludendorff was very surprised, seeing that now was a good opportunity to take advantage of the civil strife in France to occupy the whole of France in one fell swoop, and even to enter Spain, why did the high command call him back at this time?

After reading the telegram, Ludendorff suddenly understood that the High Command and His Majesty Wilhelm had suddenly become at odds over whether to attack the British mainland.

Max Hoffmann, who had already gotten out of the car with squinted eyes and was laughing with another officer, Ludendorff somewhat understood why he had just analyzed it that way, but in fact, his words had already hinted at Germany's current big trouble.

That is, the high command was very dissatisfied with His Majesty the Emperor's repeated intervention in the war.

For example, in this telegram, the opinion of the high command was to send troops to Spain immediately after taking all of France, so as to intervene in the civil strife before China was established, so as to prevent Limer's penetration into Western Europe. As for Britain's desire to achieve its goals by attrition and delay, because today when the United States was likely to surrender, Britain could no longer support it on its own, so the High Command did not want to take great risks to cross the dangerous strait.

However, His Majesty Wilhelm miscalculated the situation after the civil strife in France, and demanded that the army immediately cross the channel to defeat George V's army and realize his youthful dream.

Ludendorff was really a little speechless about this situation, in fact, few people knew that in fact, as early as the beginning of the war, His Majesty Wilhelm hesitated again and again, and he was always undetermined whether to start a war with Britain, which almost caused the German army to lose the first opportunity.

Later, although Moltke Jr. completed the Schlieffen plan and opened the door and quickly occupied Paris, in fact, Moltke's downfall was also related to His Majesty the Emperor's excessive interference in military affairs, which eventually led to the emergence of the Verdun meat grinder, which made Moltke Jr. have to step down.

Although the war began to improve, in fact, the news of the disagreement between the command and His Majesty the Emperor had already spread throughout the upper echelons of the nobility, but everyone was unwilling to tear their faces, but no one expected that His Majesty William would have a "whimsy" at this critical time.

God knows, how dangerous the narrow English Channel is!

Now it is only a matter of time before France surrenders, and it will take enough time to stabilize the results of victory. The important thing is that the German navy was still in the port of Kiel, that Jutland's claimed victory outside the country was not that in fact, and that the British had once again strengthened their presence in the North Sea before they had drawn a large number of warships to the United States, and the mines deployed in the North Sea could almost cover Paris.

Faced with this situation, Ludendorff could only sigh and let the driver drive towards the train station. Since Germany had not yet developed a large transport aircraft like the Chinese one, and Ludendorff did not like airplanes, by the time he returned to the Berlin High Command, it was already late at night the next day.

When he returned to the headquarters, he knew that the matter was far more serious than he imagined, because Wilhelm II actually intended to contact Li Mo and let the Chinese naval fleet enter the North Sea!

Stupidity!

With the return of Ludendorff, the atmosphere in the conference room of the German General Staff was somewhat solemn.

Although the Germans had lost more than 500,000 casualties in the previous painful Battle of Paris, the total number of casualties soared to 1.7 million, and more than 3 million wounded, it seemed that the effort was worth it.

Compared with the total casualties of the Entente led by the United States, Britain and France, which are likely to have exceeded 8 million (including the colonies and the Commonwealth troops such as Australia and Canada), the price for Germany is acceptable, after all, Germany is facing a combined army of European Entente countries, including logistics personnel, which has mobilized a total of about 50 million soldiers and personnel!

With the collapse of France, victory is already beckoning to Germany, as long as it can get out of the big quagmire of the Western Front, like China, the country has not been slaughtered by war, and the industrial capacity has not been destroyed at all, Germany will have a broader space to exert its hands and feet!

If there is anything that Ludendorff and the high command are not satisfied with, it is that some radical officials such as the French president were taken away by China at a later moment, because it means that in the future, a political force in France may be born that will fall to the Chinese!

However, just when everything was getting better, William II began to swell because of his own **, and he actually hoped to lead the Chinese Navy into the North Sea to deal with Britain together.

It's like a wolf entering the sheepfold, and it's a door that everyone is going to open with their own hands.

Tirpitz, who also returned to the mountain in danger, looked at Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who had brought the army to the highest level in Europe because of the anti-war in France, and almost wanted to scold.

If Germany was helpless and still needed to rely on China for support before France's defeat, and had to watch the other side infiltrate into Europe little by little, then after France's defeat, Germany, which was freed up, could completely get rid of its dependence on China and gradually move from war to planning for the post-war world.

But at this time, Wilhelm II actually wanted the Chinese Navy to help! God, everyone can't avoid it, and it's not asking for trouble to let people enter the North Atlantic.

Tirpitz was extremely resentful, because it also meant that His Majesty Wilhelm trusted the German Admiralty, so why did he ask to go out of the mountain in the first place?

"It is reported that our reconnaissance aircraft found a large number of British transport ships in the Bay of Saint-Malo in France." The sound of the debriefing broke the silence in the conference room, and the news made Ludendorff suddenly start, and the British began to retreat!

"Alfred, please tell me if it's possible for us to ......." Hindenburg turned his head to look at Tirpitz, who understood what he meant, and shook his head: "The Bay of Saint-Malo is located in the south of France, and my warship must pass through the narrow Calais Strait if it wants to get there, and the environment there cannot be broken through even if the Chinese come, and that will bury my fleet!" ”

Hindenburg slowly stood up, he could understand the anger and helplessness in Tirpitz's heart, glanced at everyone and said solemnly: "Your Majesty's meaning is clear to everyone, now we are faced with two choices, one is to continue south into Spain, and the other is to cross the strait!"

"Britain retreated."

Early in the morning, Du Dazhuang's loud voice sounded in the garden, and Li Mo, who was exercising on the lawn, had to stop and ask, "Early in the morning, what are you yelling about?" ”

"Your Majesty, the British Expeditionary Force has begun to retreat." Du Dazhuang trotted all the way to Li Mo's side, and said excitedly: "Since yesterday afternoon, the 21st reconnaissance said that there are about hundreds of boats gathered in Saint-Malo Bay, and even the fishing boats have been pulled out. ”

"yes, that's a good thing." Li Mo snorted, he had expected the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force, and he was not surprised at all by this scale, whether it was the previous retreat of the Dardanelles or the famous retreat from Dunkirk, it proved that in this world, when it comes to the ability of large forces to retreat, Sir Britannia said that no one dares to admit the first.

"That's right." Du Dazhuang seemed to remember something, patted his forehead and took out an envelope and said: "Your Majesty, Lord Duan came once last night after you went to sleep, and I heard him say that there was something urgent, and I left after I didn't see you." ”

"Duan Fei is here in the middle of the night? Why don't you call me? After Li Mo took the envelope, he was also a little puzzled, if it was a big event, Duan Fei would definitely wake him up, but it was not a big event, why did he come in person, so he hurriedly opened it and understood what it was.

"Wilhelm II went mad? He actually wanted to forcibly cross the Channel and attack the British mainland! ”

In the General Staff, after getting the news that the German army would prepare to forcibly cross the strait to attack the British mainland, everyone was also in a daze like Li Mo, if Tirpitz obtained the right to control the sea at this moment, he might be able to fight, but the problem is that the German naval fleet is basking in the sun in the port of Kiel, and they have failed to break through twice in a row before, why should they touch the English Channel now that even China dare not enter lightly?!

"Is there no news from Chief of Staff Wang?"

Zhang Zuolin shook his head: "Chief of Staff Wang has not received any news from Germany asking us for assistance, and the Prime Minister also summoned the German ambassador this morning, and mentioned it when discussing the follow-up aid plan, but it seems that Germany probably doesn't want us to interfere." ”

"Hehe, it seems that Wilhelm II was driven crazy by us."

"Yes, France is finally finished, and Wilhelm II finally has free up his hands to solve the problem of Germany's big access to the sea, but his adventure this time is really a bit big."

"Leave them alone." Chen Ping waved his hand, turned his head and asked, "Has the Air Force Vulture Bomber Group's combat experiment in the United States been completed?" ”

"It is underway, and the specific evaluation report will probably come back in a few days, but according to the preliminary feedback from the bomber pilots of the Second Air Division, the experiment is going smoothly and has reached the use standard."

"Then let the fleet from Hawaii leave at once." Chen Ping took a hard puff of cigarette and said: "Tell Lefei that if the German Navy appears in the North Sea and wins a large-scale naval battle with Britain, then these 7,500 bombs don't have to be saved, and all of them will be thrown on the British mainland!" ”

RO@。