"Attack!"

After the shelling, a British officer shouted the slogan of the attack with a command knife in his right hand and a pistol in his left hand while being the first to step out of the trench.

Rows of British soldiers, armed with weapons, followed the officer, shouted and rushed out

"The enemy is attacking!"

At this time, the observers on the battlefield let out an angry roar and blew a shrill whistle.

The German officers and soldiers in the anti-artillery shelters also came out one after another, preparing for the enemy's attack.

Koper also took his Mauser 98 to his station. At this time, his heart had calmed down, and with God's blessing, he was not hit by a cannonball.

Koper, who worked as an elementary school teacher before the war, was drafted shortly after the war began. After a period of training, he became a qualified soldier, so he was sent to the 7th Army in February this year and became a soldier in the 31st Division, 2 Brigade, 1 Regiment, 2 Battalion, 3 Company, 2 Platoon, 1 Squad. And there were several more who were assigned to him.

At that time, I heard from the veterans that the one they fought before was so tragic that there were only more than 80 people left in a company that captured Paris, and more than half of them were killed or wounded. Later, a lot of replenishment was made one after another, and when their batch of supplementary troops arrived, their 3rd company was restored to full strength.

Subsequently, with the help of veterans, they learned a lot about the battlefield. For example, in the event of a sudden shelling, squat on the ground and do not lie on your stomach or stand. And don't smoke when you're on duty at night, or you'll be the result of the battle against the other side, etc.

Through the teaching of the veterans, Koper grew up very quickly, and in more than two months he already looked like other veterans, and what was lacking was a real battle consideration.

Soon the enemy launched an artillery bombardment, and after three consecutive days of shelling, they suffered a lot of casualties, more than 30 casualties. They suffered too many casualties, and he heard others say that some companies lost more than half of their lives. The main source of their casualties is heavy artillery, especially large-caliber guns of 150 mm and above, which do not need to hit as long as they are within a certain range, they will cause casualties.

Koper saw with his own eyes that one of his comrades was killed by a 170-mm shell six meters away from him at a distance of 10 meters. And he was also affected, but it was not a big deal.

At this time, while he was waiting for the enemy to come up, he heard the voice of the platoon commander, Second Lieutenant Hans. "Bartley took your squad to the three-platoon position, which had previously been attacked by large-caliber shells."

Although it was not said later, the soldiers present understood that there was no one in the third platoon.

"Just one of our classes?"

At this point, Bartley voiced his doubts.

"A platoon has also sent a squad, you should quickly bring someone over, or Captain Otto (company commander) will be angry."

"Yes, I'll take someone right away."

"A group assembles."

Koper quickly followed his squad leader to the third platoon on the right, and by this time the British were almost in range.

At this moment, a crisp machine gun sounded, which was the only suppressive weapon in the company, the Reviri light machine gun. I heard that it was imported from Italy, but the caliber was not the 6.5mm of the Italians, but the 7.92mm caliber of their Germany.

"Fire."

Seeing that the enemy had entered the firing range, squad leader Bartley gave the order to open fire, and Koper aimed at a British soldier and pulled the trigger, and the man fell down. At the same time, the entire trench was filled with dense gunfire, and German soldiers were leaning on the trench to shoot.

And the attacking British officers and soldiers continued to rush towards their positions with their waists bent, even if people kept falling, they didn't care.

At this time, Koper observed another wave of soldiers rushing out of the British position in the distance, what kind of madness did the British have, such a desperate attack, I am afraid that it will be difficult to endure today.

While the British, French, and German soldiers were engaged in a bloody battle around Paris, Admiral Kluke, as the supreme commander of the Paris area, had already sent a telegram asking for help to the chief of the General Staff, Admiral Moltke Jr.

Although the Western Front did not achieve the goal of directly withdrawing France from the battle, because of the capture of Paris, Moltke did not lose all trust in the Kaiser's heart, so he still served as the chief of the general staff.

In the face of Admiral Kluk's request, Moltke Jr., of course, sent reinforcements at the first opportunity. In fact, Britain and France were preparing to launch an offensive in Paris, and the German intelligence services had long been aware of it, after all, they were going to gather an army of millions of people, and such a big movement of personnel and materials, as long as the Germans were not blind, they would definitely be able to see it.

And Britain and France did not think of completely concealing their intentions, because they could not hide it at all.

It's just that Britain and France are concealing another item, and it is very successful, that is, concealing the number of people. German intelligence and air observations estimated that Britain and France had prepared 650,000 troops to attack Paris. In fact, the German intelligence service was right, and it was indeed 650,000 uniformed soldiers.

But there are still 150,000 people who are not wearing military uniforms at all, and they enter the assembly areas in labor uniforms. This was something that German intelligence did not expect, and the British and French troops actually slipped in in the form of labor. And in order to prevent exposure, these pretended laborers actually went to dig trenches, repair roads and bridges, etc. The British and French really took great pains to conceal the number of troops.

As a result, in the face of Britain and France, which did the best of concealment, the German intelligence services were much worse, at least they did not find anything wrong with it.

However, the mistake of the intelligence department hurt Moltke Jr., because he only prepared 150,000 army reserves.

Some people may say that since they know that the other side is going to launch an offensive, why not prepare more reserves.

Because the number of troops is limited, even if Germany is very well prepared, there are only a limited number of troops that can be formed. After all, soldiers also need to train for three months, not to mention that the formed troops also need enough equipment, which will take time. It's impossible to form a rifle division, isn't it a crime?

Therefore, at present, Germany has only 1.78 million troops, and it needs to deal with the problems of the eastern and western fronts. In addition, the North Sea coast must also be garrisoned, and there are still some troops left in the country, and the occupied areas also need troops to maintain law and order. All in all, it is impossible for Moltke Jr. to leave too many reserves in his hands.

And considering the military-political importance of Paris, Moltke Jr. has already given the highest importance, its strength is the largest in the German army, and weapons and equipment are also prioritized for replenishment.

Now he has not many cards to play except for the 150,000 reserves in his hand to Admiral Kluke.

However, although he could not give too much direct support to Admiral Kluke, he could give a lot indirectly, and the most effective of them was to put pressure on Britain and France from the other side.

At this time, Moltke thought of the allies, the Italians, and there was no better ally than Italy.

"Your Majesty, we have now found out that the British and French have amassed an army of nearly a million men to attack the area of Paris where we are stationed. With only about 400,000 men in this area, and nearly 600,000 in our reserves, the defenders of Paris were now under too much pressure to put pressure on France from the south with the hope that our allies, the Italians, would put pressure on France from the south. ”

At this time, Moltke told the Kaiser about the current predicament of the German Army.

Hearing Moltke's story, Wilhelm II thought for a moment and replied. "I will send my country's request to Italy, Julius, I can grant all your requests, but I want Paris in our hands, understand?"

It is clear that Paris has a lot of weight in the heart of Wilhelm II, whether it is military, diplomatic, or political, and the occupation of Paris will satisfy the subjects of the empire, and it will also make other countries seriously consider their attitude towards Germany, so Paris must not be lost.

Faced with Wilhelm II's words, Moltke replied after saluting. "Thank you for Your Majesty's support, I will definitely not let Your Majesty down."

At this time, Moltke understood that this was the emperor's last tolerance for himself, and if Paris was lost, then he, the chief of the general staff, would also be at the end.

"Very well, I'm waiting for your good news."

When Moltke finally returned to the staff headquarters from the palace, he saw his secretary running anxiously in front of him with a telegram.

"Chief of the General Staff, this is a telegram from the Eastern Front."

Moltke Jr. received a telegram indicating that Russia was on the Eastern Front and that it was expected to launch an offensive within a week.

At this time, Moltke almost went dark in front of him, and the disadvantages of these two fronts are now vividly displayed.

"Immediately call the staff officers, I want to have a meeting."

"Yes!"

I didn't write the third chapter yesterday, and today there are so many things that I can only write one chapter, so I'm sorry for keeping you readers waiting.

(End of chapter)