Before the start of the war, the commander-in-chief of the French army, Xia Fei, was still very confident in the combat ability of the French army.

According to the No. 17 offensive plan, France will use a total of nearly 1.6 million combat troops in this offensive.

Although for various reasons, the actual number of troops engaged in combat may not be even half, Xia Fei firmly believes that it will not be difficult to complete the core task of Operation Plan 17, which is to recapture Alsace and Lorraine.

In order to supervise the French army to complete the combat mission, Xia Fei often traveled by car from the headquarters of the General Headquarters Le François to inspect the combat units.

It is worth mentioning that the reason for ensuring that Xia Fei can freely shuttle between various combat units and the general headquarters and not slack off on military affairs is largely due to Xia Fei's exclusive driver, a driver who has won the French Grand Prix three times.

It has been more than ten years since the development of automobiles, and European countries like France have also given birth to competitions for the speed of automobiles.

The winner will not only receive various prizes such as cars, but will also be favored by those in power and hired as exclusive drivers.

After all, the current driving training system and traffic regulations are not so standardized, and a driver with good skills can not only avoid various dangers encountered on the way, but also be able to respond quickly when danger comes, so as not to be in a hurry.

A small part of the previous assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was also attributed to the unskillfulness of his driver.

If the vehicle can be started quickly when the killer is near, Archduke Ferdinand may not have a chance of survival.

The reason why Archduke Ferdinand's driver did not start the vehicle quickly was actually because of reversing.

If it had been a more skilled driver, the chances of survival of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife would have improved.

Thanks to the superb driving skills of the exclusive driver, it only takes more than an hour for Xia Fei to travel back and forth between the headquarters and the troop station.

Before the battle finally began, Xia Fei arrived at the First Army in a special car to learn about the situation of the army and supervise the upcoming offensive.

The commander of the First Army was Dibayi, a general who did not approve of the attack.

The reason why Xia Fei frequently went to the First Army was to win the approval of General Dibayi and let the First Army, which had a more important mission, not drop the chain.

The day before the launch of the 17th operation plan, late in the morning and night.

The commander of the French First Army, Dilbay, was discussing the battle plan with the French commander-in-chief, Xia Fei.

Di Bayi still had some doubts about the attack, and asked Xia Fei with some hesitation: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, is there really no problem with such a large-scale attack of ours?" ”

Xia Fei glanced at his subordinates seriously, patted Di Bayi's shoulder vigorously, pointed to Di Bayi's military uniform and said, "Your Excellency General, please understand what you are wearing. We are glorious French soldiers, and our mission is to protect this beautiful land and all the people under our feet. If we can't regain the homeland of Alsace and Lorraine, how will we have the face to continue to wear this uniform? ”

"Your Excellency, please remember one sentence. Only the offensive is in line with the thinking of the French soldiers. Only by advocating war can the soul of a soldier be honored. At the end of the conversation, Xia Fei glanced at Dibayi meaningfully, and then got into the car and left.

After an epiphany after talking to Xia Fei, the commander of the First Army, Dibay, organized an Alsace detachment of 45,000 men consisting of four infantry divisions, one cavalry division, five mountain battalions and one artillery division of the Seventh Army on the second day, led by General Bono, commander of the Seventh Army, as the vanguard of the offensive.

Dibay assigned the vanguard army the task of attacking Mulhouse, an important town on the German border, 40 kilometers from Belfort, from Balfort.

Speaking of Mulhouse, this is an important town on the German border and an important strategic location in the region.

Conquering this area will allow you to take the junction of the southern Alsace railway, which in the past can go to Belfort and south to Basel in Switzerland.

To the north is Colmar, and to the east you can cross the Rhine by crossing the railway bridge.

Such an extremely important strategic location destined Mulhouse to be the main purpose of the French army's attack, and the town would also usher in war.

The town was garrisoned by a reinforced German regiment.

In order to capture the town, after the operation began, the commander of the Seventh Army, General Bono, ordered the commander of the Avant-garde Division to attack Atkich at night while the Germans had not yet discovered it.

The city is located 20 km in front of Mulhouse and is also the bridgehead of Mulhouse.

After the capture of Artkich, Mulhouse was like a sleek beauty, waiting for the arrival of the French army.

The entire avant-garde division was divided into three parts, and in a roundabout way surrounded the whole of Artkich. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the soldiers of the avant-garde division managed to break through to the center of Atkich before the German sentries were aware of it.

It was only after the French soldiers opened fire that the German sentries reacted, but by this time it was already too late.

The difference in combat effectiveness between the French soldiers who attacked in the dark and the German soldiers who rushed to the battle can be imagined.

Although the combat effectiveness of a single German soldier was somewhat higher than that of the French soldiers, the French army was more prepared at this time, and the German soldiers rushed to the battle, and it was the French soldiers who had the advantage.

It is worth mentioning that it is not known which side used the weapon, in short, bayonets, butts, sabers, wooden sticks and other weapons held by soldiers can be seen everywhere on the battlefield, and these weapons can also cause great damage inadvertently.

The battle lasted six hours, and after many casualties, the remnants of the German army abandoned the city and fled east.

Before dawn, General Bono led his troops to Mulhouse again, trying to capture Mulhouse in one fell swoop before the German troops stationed there were ready.

Like Artkich before him, the capture of Mulhouse did not take much time.

The French army was not only prepared in advance, but also outnumbered the German garrison several times.

With nearly 10,000 casualties, the 7th Army triumphantly captured Mulhouse and held a two-hour parade in the city.

When the French army in blue shirts and red trousers and artillery with red, white and blue flags and tricolor flowers on their guns passed through the city, and the military band played the "Marseillaise" and "March of the Samber and Maas", the French people and the French army inside Mulhouse cheered loudly and could not help but shed tears of excitement.

Finally, decades later, they set foot on French soil again. Although it was only a city, it greatly strengthened the determination of the French to recover their homeland and the determination of the French soldiers to win the war.

On the second day of the French army's capture of Mulhouse, the commendation of the French commander-in-chief Xia Fei had successfully arrived in the troops.

Chauffy affectionately called General Bono and the Alsace detachment under his command the vanguard of the avenging cause of shame and the hero of all of France.

Even when the results of the French army's capture of Mulhouse reached France, the whole of France was plunged into cheers and excitement.

But the agitated French deliberately ignored the fact that the French army had so far paid more than 10,000 casualties for the sake of the town.

In the war, the ratio of French and German losses reached 2 to 1, which also means that the German casualties were only about 5,000.

The cheers of the French did not last long when German reinforcements immediately arrived.

Inside Germany, the Germans did not expect the attack, but reacted quickly.

The day after the French commander-in-chief, Chauffeur, ordered the First and Second Armies to concentrate their forces on the German attack with all their might, German reinforcements had already arrived at the German-French border and, after a whole day of fierce fighting, reoccupied Mulhouse.

The small town, which cost tens of thousands of French casualties, eventually returned to German rule.

And after this war, the casualties of the French for Mullos alone amounted to nearly 30,000.

Although the Germans suffered more than 10,000 casualties, such a ratio of battle losses and results were obviously unacceptable to France.

At the headquarters of the French army, Xia Fei, who had just commended the vanguard army, felt that he had been slapped in the face, but the previous results were transmitted back to France, and if it was rumored that Mulhouse had returned to the hands of the Germans at this time, I am afraid that the angry French would directly blame the French army.

In order to avoid such a situation, Xia Fei quickly issued an order for the First and Second Armies to continue their all-out attack, and the determination to recover Alsace and Lorraine remained unchanged.

In response to German reinforcements, Xia Fei mobilized four more divisions to reorganize the Alsace detachment to replace the Seventh Army, which had suffered too many casualties, and returned to the task of attacking the Alsace region.

The commander of this new Alsatian unit is the retired one-armed general Bo.

Even if the French command received new intelligence confirming that the disposition of German troops was not as Shafei had expected, Chauffy still did not believe that the main direction of the German offensive was Belgium to Paris.

Xiafei still insisted on attacking the Germans from the direction of Alsace, which would not only recover Alsace and Lorraine, boost morale, but also attract more German troops in this area, so that the German army could not mobilize this part of the forces to strengthen its right flank, that is, the Belgian region.

Beginning in the early hours of 15 August, the First and Second Armies launched a general offensive against the German army in the Alsace region, with nearly 600,000 men.

The direction and course of the French offensive had long been anticipated by the German General Staff, on which barbed wire, trenches, fortresses and other fortifications were laid out in advance.

When the French army saw that Germany had deployed well-established defensive positions, their hearts were broken.

But there is no way, the combat mission ordered from above has to be completed head-on.

When a large number of French troops rushed towards the opposite German army under the order of the commander, these French soldiers, who had been influenced by patriotic enthusiasm, finally understood the cruelty of the war and the suffering experienced by their former comrades.

Now the German army on the opposite side is different, because of the previous sneak attack, this time the Germans have long been prepared, and various weapons including heavy machine guns and artillery have emerged in an endless stream.

Although the French First and Second Armies mobilized nearly 600,000 men, they faced the German Sixth Army under the command of Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria and the German Seventh Army under the command of Heiringen.

The German Sixth Army consisted of five corps and three cavalry divisions, while the Seventh Army commanded by Heilingen had three corps and one division.

Together, the two armies had a strength of 350,000 men and 1,200 artillery pieces, and were under the control of the commander of the Sixth Army, Ruprecht.

Because of the relatively unified management, the German army broke out with extremely strong combat effectiveness, and also made the French army understand what the real world's first army is.

On the first day of the battle between the two armies, the casualties of the French army were as high as more than 20,000, which directly caused the commander of the First Army, Dibay, to quickly order the suspension of the offensive.

There is no way, according to the current attrition progress, his First Army will be half a month, and it may even disappear from the establishment.

On the German side, Ruprecht's task was to attract more French troops to the area, so that the main German offensive on the right flank, that is, in the Belgian area, could be carried out smoothly.

Seeing that the French army chose to stretch the front and fight on a small scale, Ruprecht was more than happy to do so.

After ensuring that the French army would not withdraw, Prince Ruprecht also chose to retreat gradually, luring the enemy deep and completely attracting the main force of the French army to this area.

It was also because of the gradual retreat of the German troops that on 18 August the 1st and 2nd armies, which had regained some of their morale, occupied Salbul and Saranburg, and then reoccupied Mulhouse.

At this time, the cattle that Xia Fei once blew to the French people were finally realized, and the French army's offensive became more and more successful.

In a beautiful mood, Chauffeur also praised the contribution of the Alsace troops and the 1st and 2nd armies, and allowed all the wounded soldiers to return to France to recuperate and replace them with new troops.

But at the same time, Xia Fei also realized his previous strategic misunderstanding. Judging by the current pace of the war, the Germans really wanted to attack France from the Belgian region.

Because the extremely important regions of Alsace and Lorraine were not faced with the main force of the German army.

It can be seen from the successive defeats of the German army that the number of this army is not large, which is completely inconsistent with the reality that the total number of German troops is greater than the total number of French troops.

However, although he recognized his mistake in strategic planning, Xia Fei also firmly believed that as long as the French army could successfully break through the center of the German army, from Alsace and Lorraine to the German core.

Even if the German army had successfully entered the northern border of France from Belgium, the French army would have been able to outflank, encircle, and annihilate the real main force of the German army.

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(End of chapter)