Theater of the Western Front in Europe

September 5th

The vanguard of the French 6th Army and the German 1st Army met on the west bank of the Urk River, and fierce fighting broke out between the two sides, and the French army used 100 vehicles for the first time to transport a large number of troops of the 6th Army from Paris to the front, and a steady stream of reinforcements to the battlefield.

After three days of fierce fighting between the two sides, the Germans encountered increasingly tough resistance, but instead of defeating the French army, the attacking troops suffered heavy losses, and the situation became unfavorable.

General Cluke, a veteran of the army, was forced to order all his troops to withdraw to the north bank of the Marne on the 8th, sensing that the French army's strong counterattack was under serious threat to the right flank and rear.

As a result, there was a 50-kilometer-wide defensive gap between it and the German First Army, and such a large hole was discovered by the Chief of Staff of the French Army, General Xia Fei, who was overjoyed and immediately ordered his headquarters to surround the German First Army and strive to inflict heavy damage and annihilate it.

On the 6th, the French 5th Army and the British Expeditionary Force interspersed from the gap between the German defenses and approached the Marne River at 8**, forming an encirclement posture against the German 1st Army, thus opening the prelude to the Battle of the Marne.

On the Marne

Major General Li Jianyang, Earl of Kuwait, rode a horse and stopped on the shore, with a large group of retinue officers behind him, watching the soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force marching forward with tired expressions, the grass that had just rained was muddy, and he couldn't help frowning.

He is now the commander of the Royal Marine Division, which is about the same size as the Army, with more than 18,050 personnel, including more than 17,500 soldiers and more than 540 officers.

Most of the Marine Division's units were motley formations from overseas colonies, such as the Saharan Cavalry Brigade he once led, as well as the South African and New Zealand brigades, plus some native white soldiers.

Since a one-sided conversation with Admiralty Churchill, the two men have reverted to intimacy, and before the outbreak of the war, the family would gather once a week for afternoon tea to chat about interesting news from London's high society.

Li Jianyang also got his wish and got his earldom, but the fly in the ointment was ...... In the British Isles, where every inch of land is valuable, the earl fief was not obtained, but was sealed to the remote Kuwait region of West Asia, which is also a helpless thing.

Li Jianyang's family has been operating in Kuwait for decades, and some people have guns, money, and strength, and a strong foundation here, at least they don't need to spend effort to run the county from scratch.

After the outbreak of the war, in order to adapt to the scene of the European large corps, three marine divisions were urgently organized, and the second marine division led by Li Jianyang was one of them.

It has three brigades, one Saharan Cavalry Brigade, one South African Brigade and one New Zealand Brigade.

Among them

Because the Admiralty Churchill was very interested in armored forces, presided over and allocated funds for the development of British series tanks, so the Sahara Cavalry Brigade, as an experimental force, was equipped with a tank armored regiment and two cavalry regiments, which was a semi-mechanized and semi-animal force, and was also the trump card in the hands of the 2nd Marine Division.

Cavalry has almost no room to survive on the European battlefield, especially in the French plain, where the area is narrow and there are many rivers, and the intensity of artillery, machine guns and other heavy firepower on both sides of the war is terrifyingly high, and cavalry charging is tantamount to looking for death.

The distance from Paris to the fortress of Liège on the Belgian border is 04 km. The total length of the battlefield along the Marne from Paris to Versailles is less than 00 kilometers.

In such a large area, Britain, France, Germany and other belligerents invested a total of more than 000,000 troops to engage in a melee, with an average of more than 10,000 troops per kilometer, and there was no room for cavalry to exert themselves.

Therefore, as the first batch of troops to be put into the battlefield, the two cavalry regiments under the Sahara Cavalry Brigade of the Marine Division, except for one battalion to be used as a communications battalion of the British Expeditionary Force Command, most of the rest were withdrawn to transport supplies and ammunition and became logistics troops.

Fight to this day

The two infantry brigades under Li Jianyang suffered 1/1 of the casualties, plus the Sahara Cavalry Brigade was dismantled to pieces, and the total strength was less than 10,000, which was in a serious state of shortage.

This situation

Among the French Fifth Army and the British Expeditionary Force, which fought together, they were still in relatively good condition, and nearly forty percent of the troops lost more than half of their troops, which shows the cruelty of the European battlefield.

"Division commander, the second regiment of the Sahara Cavalry Brigade is back and reports to you." The report was reported to the commander of the 2nd Regiment, Colonel Enzo, who was of mixed British and Italian descent, and Brigade Commander Li Jianyang's old subordinate during the Jordanian garrison, a cheerful person.

At this moment, Colonel Enzo looked tired, and raised his hand on his horse to salute and report.

"Very well, Mr. Colonel, have your troops suffered combat losses?"

"Report to Your Excellency the division commander, the 2nd Regiment encountered a small group of German soldiers during the intersperse, and after the battle, 17 people were killed, more than 0 people were wounded, 49 people were captured, and 1 person was killed or wounded on our side, and it has been properly settled."

"It's hard work, let's go back."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Major General Li Jianyang nodded, looked up at the battlefield on the north bank of the Marne River, in the gloomy sky from time to time there were fires flickering, and the sound of artillery rumbled, one moment in the east, one moment in the west, and the dense gunfire was like rain falling on a bamboo shed, and it was as tight as a burst.

Day and night, the battle was going on all the time.

A fully equipped division pulled up for a day or two, and the casualties were already more than half, this was the case on the side of the British and French allies, and the same was true on the side of the Germans, the brutal war was fought with huge consumption of personnel and ammunition, and the casualties of the battle of the Marne River in more than ten days were often hundreds of thousands.

The French 5th Army, the 6th Army and the British Expeditionary Force on the front line were fighting fiercely with the German First Army in the encirclement, while the French First Army and the Third Army were fighting fiercely with the German 1st Army, and the fighting on the entire line of the Marne, more than 00 kilometers long, had been going on for three days.

During this period

After paying a huge price of 60,000 casualties, the British and French allies advanced about 50 kilometers, while the German army also lost about 10,000 people, the German 1st Army suffered heavy losses, General Crook was leading the army to fight and retreat, and the British and French allies finally saw the hope of victory in the battle.

The war was so fierce that the corpses on the front line were carried down the Marne River by boat, and the bodies of the dead soldiers were piled up under the cabin, and stretchers for the seriously wounded were placed on the deck.

Everywhere they passed, the soldiers silently took off their military hats and mourned in silence.

With a slight sigh in his heart, Major General Li Jianyang knocked his feet on the horse's belly, instigated the snow-white war horse to trot, and the entourage behind him also rode his horse to follow.

The cavalry galloped forward along the long line of infantry advances, past the wagons carrying supplies, past the marching artillery corps, and soon reached the front line close to the battlefield.

There are dense marching tents stationed here, and there is also an artillery position behind the high ground not far to the left, and three observation balloons have been raised on the high ground, and there is a hanging basket under each balloon, where artillery observers observe the effect of the shelling through binoculars and adjust the shelling azimuth data.

When Li Jianyang and his entourage arrived at the camp, the artillery position suddenly opened fire violently, and the sound of "booming" artillery resounded through the heavens and the earth, causing the war horses to walk back and forth in panic, anxiously shaking their hooves, and neighing from time to time.

Li Jianyang gently patted the neck of the war horse under the seat, then turned over and dismounted, handed the reins of the horse to the entourage officer, and then strode into the big tent in the center.

This is the division headquarters of the 2nd Marine Division of the Royal Navy, and there is a large map of the enemy's situation hanging next to the tent, and several staff officers are sitting on the table next to them are writing orders.

"Take a break and go about your business."

Li Jianyang commanded, casually threw the whip on the table, turned around and stood in front of the map with both hands on his waist, but the voice came; "Bring me a big cup of hot coffee, and who else will explain to me how the battlefield is going today?"

"I'll do it." Colonel Keynes, deputy chief of staff of the division, walked over and pointed to a hilly area on the map in front of him; "From 9 o'clock last night to 8 o'clock this morning, the 10th and 56th divisions of the French army in front of us launched a series of attacks, and we concentrated three artillery regiments to support the fire, and a gap of .7 kilometers wide has been opened, and the French have penetrated into the German line, and the two sides are now engaged in fierce fighting.

We have brought in reinforcements from the New Zealand brigade, and now the French 15th Division is moving closer to us, which is expected to arrive in an hour and then be engaged in battle.

The German 11th Division plus two regiments totaled approx. More than 10,000 troops, under our repeated attacks, suffered heavy losses, more than half of the casualties, and are still stubbornly resisting, but they can't hold out for long. ”

"Well, how many reserves do you have on hand?"

"We also have a tank regiment and a South African brigade in our hands, and the French have at least two infantry regiments in our hands, waiting for the right moment to prepare to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy."

"Don't wait, as the attacking side we have suffered more casualties, order the tank battalion to attack, and the South African brigade will send an infantry regiment to attack, and kill the German 11th Division in one fell swoop."

"Division commander, there are not many tanks in our expeditionary force."

"What time is it?"

"Report to the divisional commander, it's 8:7 a.m."

"Well, a batch of Maks and tanks will arrive in Marseille in the near future, and now is not the time to save it, so it should be used." Li Jianyang pointed to the hilly areas on the map with his hand, and said in a resolute tone;

"Immediately report to the French 6th Army and the British Expeditionary Force Command;

Our unit will put in tank and armored forces, launch a resolute assault with the 10th and 56th divisions of the French army, annihilate the German 11th Division and its affiliated units at 9:00 a.m., and then strike northwest along the open gap, and launch a fierce attack on the rear of the German army around the battle line.

Cooperate with friendly and neighboring forces to defeat the recalcitrant German troops, and ask the French 15th Division to follow up in time and strike in the northwest direction along the gap we have opened, so as to strengthen the attack and completely destroy the German First Army defense line. ”

Li Jianyang slammed his hand on the map, and his eyes showed an extremely fierce light.

He is a mercenary who grew up in the desert of West Asia, has experienced countless life and death crises, and there is no lack of desperate ruthlessness in his bones; "Lao Tzu can't do it, order the Sahara Cavalry Brigade Tank Regiment to prepare all the troops, fill up all the vehicles with fuel and ammunition, and wait until the third tank battalion breaks the enemy's defensive line, give me a good show, and turn the people who rush behind the German defense line on their backs, whether they can fight brilliantly, it depends on their hammer deal."

"Yes, Your Excellency." (To be continued)

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