The Abyssinian kingdom's plans were thwarted, leaving it to take some more time for the British to prepare for an attack on East Africa.

However, the plan was only slightly noticed by London, and now there is a more important matter on the part of London, which is the battle of Paris.

As early as when France abandoned Paris and retreated to the west bank of the Seine, the French military began to develop plans to recapture Paris.

However, due to the heavy losses of the French army in the previous battles, coupled with the reduced available population, the French army found that it was too difficult to retake Paris, but fortunately he had allies.

The British Empire, which started with a navy, had always had a relatively weak army (compared to the navy), and the previous Boer War made it more foreign.

However, it is precisely because of this that the British Army has worked hard to rectify it, and finally has an army that can be used. In the previous battles, the British army performed no worse than the French army, and even better than the French army in some aspects, so the French side asked the British for help.

Britain, on the other hand, of course, fully supported France's request, because London knew that if the Paris basin was not recaptured, then France might not be able to hold out for long.

As an additional note, there are three main industrial regions in mainland France, the Paris basin led by Paris, the Mediterranean coastal zone led by Marseille-Foss, and the northeastern region led by Lille. Now that the industrial zone in the north-east has fallen and the Paris basin has become a battlefield, can it only be done by the smallest coastal zone of the Mediterranean?

In addition, these regions are important grain production bases for France, although grain can be imported from the colonies and abroad, but if industry is not good, what can France rely on to maintain its large army.

Even if it is imported, French foreign exchange can support it for a maximum of one year.

Therefore, the recapture of Paris was the only reason and belief that France could continue to support the war.

So the two countries also quickly agreed that Paris needed to be recaptured.

Then, after some discussion, the French sent 31 divisions with 530,000 men, and the British sent 17 divisions with 280,000 men to form the main force for the Battle of Paris. These troops who are ready to participate in the battle are fighting well, and they are all elite divisions that have been trained for more than three months with complete weapons and equipment. In addition, Britain and France also prepared 13 divisions of about 200,000 reserves.

As for the selection of the commander of this battle, after the strong request of the French side, the French commander-in-chief Neville nominated Admiral Gallieny, who had previously served as the commander of the defense of Paris, and the deputy commander was Admiral Haig, commander of the British expeditionary force.

As for the former commander-in-chief of the French army, Xia Fei, because of the successive defeats in the previous battles and the fall of Paris, Xia Fei, as the commander-in-chief of the French army, was directly replaced and reappointed as a military adviser to the government. In addition, in view of Xia Fei's high prestige in the French army, after dismissing his army commander-in-chief, he was also promoted to marshal. However, what this marshal tastes like, only Xia Fei himself knows.

In addition, Field Marshal French, the former commander of the British Expeditionary Force, was also considered unsuitable for trench warfare because the British army had lost more than 200,000 people before, and was replaced by Haig, the former commander of the First Army of the Expeditionary Force.

Once the two commanders have been decided, the next step is the preparation phase. All supplies need to be prepared, especially the most important ammunition.

In previous battles, the ammunition consumption of the two countries wiped out two-thirds of their stocks. Although there were British and French arsenals working overtime to produce ammunition, according to the estimates of the military of the two countries, it was simply not enough for the campaign consumption.

That being the case, what to do?

The British and French armies were drawn from the war-free colonial arsenals, and the United States was mainly purchased from abroad.

As for whether the United States sells or not, this does not need to be considered. As long as the capitalists are for the sake of profit, they dare not sell anything.

Besides, as a challenger, how can the United States be willing to see that Germany, Italy and Austria have an advantage on the battlefield? (As an aside, I don't think the United States, whether it's World War I or World War II, is simply not possible or willing to see Germany win this war.) The reason is simple, Germany is a competitor, and they are all competing for a new world hegemon. It's just that the United States is far away, and the domestic market is big enough, so he waits. ）

For the battle plan, Britain and France also drew a bunch of excellent staff officers in the army to formulate it. In the end, it took a month, and the plan was finally made. In general, the core of this battle of Paris was to seize the various towns around Paris in order to liberate Paris.

Of course, these towns were not easy to capture, and the Germans had more than 400,000 men to defend them in the Paris area. And the core of their defense is the periphery such as Gevel, Bennet, Courcurona, Gautier and other places, which are the fulcrum of Paris's periphery, as long as they hold these places, Paris will not be breached at all.

And if these places cannot be defended, there is no need for Paris to defend, because the above places are lost, and the defenders do not want to be the turtle in the urn and must evacuate. (Look at World War II, neither Germany nor Britain and the United States had a fight in Paris, and that's the most important reason.) ）

According to the British and French plans, the British and French troops attacked from the left and right respectively. The British on the left was targeting the line of Gevel-Bontellus-Gersol-Thile, while the French attacked from the right, targeting Gautier-Serry-Shercy-Baron, and finally the two armies were aiming at Ponte Puan. If the British and French armies can accomplish this task, they will not only be able to liberate Paris, but also encircle more than 400,000 German troops. It can be said that if it is done, it will be a turning point in the war.

However, it was not easy to do so, as they had more than 100 kilometers to reach Pontepuan from the starting point of the campaign, which was quite difficult.

But it didn't matter, the staff officers also took into account the difficulty of the mission, and there was a backup plan, that is, if the casualties along the way to the German positions were too large, then the place of siege could choose Saint-Very, which could also cut off the railway from Paris to Antwerp.

If that doesn't work, then the encirclement target is Saint-Denis on the outskirts of the city. However, if this is the goal, then the will to drive the German army out of the Paris basin will not be defeated, and France's desire to use the Paris basin to restore blood for itself may be frustrated.

If this is not achieved, then the battle can be declared a failure, because it has not achieved any of its goals, then Britain and France need to think about whether the war is worth it.

For the worst outcome, the British and French did not think it was possible at all. Because of the deployment of German troops in the Paris area, both Britain and France were clear (patriotic Parisian people).

As for the two commanders of this campaign, they had considerable confidence in this, and they believed that only the capture of Ponte Puan would complete the purpose of the campaign. If you were to target St. Vivi, it would have been a terrible battle. As for the remaining two possibilities, there will be no one at all, and in such a clear situation, they can do the worst, they can submit a letter of resignation.

At this time, it was in the early morning of May 27 in the headquarters of the coalition forces in Nemur.

At this moment, in the operational command hall, all the British and French officers looked at General Gallieni, who was the commander of the coalition forces.

Admiral Gallieni, of course, knew what they were waiting for, and looked at the hanging bell hanging on the wall, and Gallerien picked up the red phone and spoke. "Now I order, the battle of Paris has officially begun."

As he put the phone down, he heard the rumbling of artillery outside, which was the fire of British and French artillery units. In total, more than 2,100 cannons emitted their own roar.

This time, more than 800 British and French artillery pieces were of 100 mm caliber or more, of which more than 400 were 150 mm or more guns. Many of these were guns that were dismantled directly from battleships. These naval guns, which had great power and a long range, were prepared by Britain and France with great effort. After all, they were beaten by German heavy artillery before, and Britain and France have a deep understanding of caliber and justice.

Shells exploded on the German positions, and the deafening explosion was like a firecracker, and the scattered shrapnel was also fatal.

The wooden stakes and barbed wire fences on the position were blown up by the whistling shells, and the mines placed in front of the position were also directly detonated. Even the trenches where they were hiding were blown up piece by piece.

It can be said that any officer and soldier of the defending army lived under this dense artillery fire for many years, while the British and French artillery fought for three days. During these three days, the Germans defending the Paris area also pulled out artillery and tried to counterattack. But in the face of the opponent's artillery with a one-and-a-half-times ahead of him, it is not cost-effective to counterattack.

So from the third day onwards, the German artillery showed only an occasional presence, trying to save the artillery for the moment when it was most needed.

After three days of artillery bombing, with the whistle of the leading officer, a group of British and French soldiers, led by the officer, launched a charge towards the German position, and they were full of momentum, vowing to recapture the beautiful city of Paris.

Maybe another chapter?

(End of chapter)