Because of the ineffective operation of the French army, Ah Fei has dismissed 2 army commanders, 10 army commanders and 38 division commanders so far.

These positions were replaced by a new group of generals, mostly relatively good. There are also some more famous names among these people, such as Foch, Petain and Despéry.

The first of these to be replaced was the commander of the French Fifth Army, Lang Rezak.

The role of the Fifth Army was crucial, but the commander of the Fifth Army, Lang Rezak, publicly contradicted Xia Fei many times, and his relationship with the French General Command was not good.

In addition, Lang Rezak did not trust the British army, and in the ensuing war, the help of the British was very important.

As a result, Chauffy decisively dismissed Lang Rezak from his post and appointed Despery as the new commander of the Fifth Army.

It is worth mentioning that when Despery had just taken over as commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army, there was also a small episode.

At that time, the commander of the 18th Army called the command of the Fifth Army, and because the soldiers were too tired, he asked to refuse the next day's mission.

But Despéry's answer was: "I have taken over as commander of the Fifth Army, and as long as you are in the Fifth Army for a day, you will have to march." Either march or fall down and die, there's nothing to discuss, it's as simple as that. ”

With that, Despery hung up the phone, showing a decisive character.

On September 3, 1914, the Ninth Army of the German First Army led by Crook had crossed the Marne.

Crook believed that it would be difficult for a single corps to be effective, and despite the German High Command's order to deploy to cover the right flank, he ordered the Third and Fourth Armies to continue their assault to the southeast.

Under Crook's orders, the German soldiers of the First Army marched 40 kilometers a day, and by the time they reached their destination, they were exhausted and collapsed to the ground.

Dominated by a fanatical attempt to destroy the French army in one fell swoop, Crook had become irrational and had exhausted his soldiers.

More importantly, because of the rapid march of the army, the First Army was actually far away from its transport convoys and heavy artillery units, and logistical supply problems also followed.

This was not the only case in the German First Army. The German Second and Third Armies had such a problem, and even the troops of the Third Army led by Hausen had not eaten cooked food for five days in a row, just to chase the defeated French.

As for the 4th and 5th armies, which were in a slightly better position, although they were also on the offensive, little progress had been made so far, and they were still blocked from the fortresses of Nancy and Verdun.

The German army's contribution to annihilating the French army in one fell swoop caused serious problems in the deployment of the German army.

At the Paris City Defense Command, Garyeni and his chief of staff also received news that Crook's German First Army was advancing east of Paris towards the Marne.

It can be seen from a relatively clear map of the enemy's situation that Crook's blind advance exposed the right flank of the First Army in the direction of Paris.

Garieni, Chief of Staff Clégeri, who had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, shouted in unison: "They sent the flanks to the door, they sent the flanks to the door!" ”

At this time, there was still some time before the general battle envisaged by the French commander-in-chief Chauffeur.

Considering the shape of the battlefield and the loss of troops, Xia Fei did not want to engage in a battle too soon.

What Xia Fei was waiting for was not only assistance from the British, but also the role that the Russian army could play on the Eastern Front.

But the opportunity on the battlefield is fleeting, and if it is not grasped, it will be a pity for a general like Garrieni.

Although Gary Eni was designated as Chauffeur's successor, that is, the French interim commander-in-chief after Chauffeur's accident.

The current commander-in-chief of France is still Chauffeur, and Garrieni cannot change any of the orders given by Chauffeur.

But in order not to miss such a good opportunity, Garieni made a bold decision, which was to cut first and then play, so that Xia Fei had to launch this conference battle.

September 4, 1914, 9 a.m.

Garieni issued an order to Monuri for the Sixth Army to immediately prepare for deployment and prepare for a counteroffensive in the afternoon.

Subsequently, Garieni called and reported to the French General Command that the Sixth Army had entered a counteroffensive position and was about to start a counteroffensive, hoping that the armies of the right flank would act together.

This is also equivalent to driving ducks to the shelves, anyway, the Sixth Army is going to act, if Xia Fei does not support this battle, then sit back and wait for the destruction of the Sixth Army.

The result can also be predicted, Xia Fei naturally could not let the entire Sixth Army be defeated, and after a telephone exchange, he finally reluctantly compromised and ordered all the group armies on the right flank to fully cooperate with the Sixth Army and launch this general battle.

Before he was done, Xia Fei decided to expand the local actions envisaged by the defenders of Paris to a full-scale counteroffensive on the left flank of the entire Entente front.

This all-out counteroffensive included all French troops and the British Expeditionary Force, so the attitude of the British was also very important.

At noon on September 5, in order to win the cooperation of the British army, Xia Fei sent a request to the French Minister of War Millerand, asking Millerand to exert influence on Britain in the name of the government to ensure that the British army could fight with the French army in the general battle, and it was best to let Xia Fei have the command of the British army.

In order to mobilize the British army to participate in the battle, in addition to asking the Minister of War, Xia Fei also decided to personally go to the General Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force, 200 kilometers away, to obtain the consent of the British Expeditionary Force Sir French.

Seeing Sir French Xia Fei was not as polite as before, and spoke very impassionedly, succinctly: "The decisive moment has come, Sir French French, my order has been given. In any case, in order to save France, even if the last company remains, the French army will enter the battle. The lives of the entire French people, the land of France, and the future of Europe, depend on this attack. ”

"I do not believe that the British army will shirk his responsibilities at such an urgent moment, and if you do not take part in the battle, history will judge harshly." Xia Fei said impassionedly: "Mr. Marshal, France needs your support, France asks for your support!" ”

Sir French also agreed with Xia Fei's point of view, and after Xia Fei finished speaking, the British field marshal was even in tears, because he could no longer express his words in French, so Sir French said to his interpreter: "Damn, I can't tell." Tell him that whatever the French can do, the British can do. Regarding this war, we are ready to do everything in our power. ”

Regardless of the British government's attitude of wanting to fish in troubled waters, it is clear that Sir French will not spare any strength in this war.

With the support of Sir French, Xia Fei breathed a sigh of relief, and solemnly expressed his gratitude to Britain and Sir French for their support.

While the French Commander-in-Chief was brightly lit up in preparation for a new offensive, in the German Staff Headquarters in Luxembourg, Wilhelm II praised with great pride: "Today is the 35th day of the war, and we have surrounded Reims, and we are only 30 miles from Paris. ”

These words caused the cheers of everyone in the Ministry of Finance, who seemed to have seen the scene of the Germans standing in Versailles again not far from victory in the war.

But Marshal Moltke at this time was not happy. However, in the early stages of the war, Moltke strictly adhered to the rules set by his uncle Mao Qi, the elder, not to interfere with the commands of front-line generals.

But according to the information available so far, the French were already preparing a premeditated build-up and maneuver to attack the right flank of the German army from the direction of Paris.

At this time, the news of the landing of 40,000 British troops on the Belgian side came, and Moltke Jr. immediately ordered the First and Second Armies to stay on the front east of Paris, the First Army between the Oise and the Marne, and the Second Army between the Marne and the Seine, and Paris at a certain distance, so as to relieve the German army of the flank threat.

The commander of the First Army, Crook, was unimpressed by Moltke's rather conservative orders.

Crook believed that the Germans were advancing so smoothly and were so close to Paris that they should not stand still, wasting the opportunity to fight in vain, and at the same time giving the enemy more respite.

Crook ordered the army to continue the pursuit to the Seine and then turn to Paris.

This order put the First Army in a dangerous position and gave the French army a new chance.

Originally, according to Moltke's orders, it was very likely that the French offensive would not find a suitable opportunity.

But now that Crook has sent the opportunity to the door, it is naturally impossible for Xia Fei, who has already been prepared, to waste such an opportunity.

At the French General Headquarters, Xia Fei solemnly read out the order for a full-scale counteroffensive and said loudly to the officers gathered at the General Headquarters: "Gentlemen, the previous rout is over. Let's fight on the Marne, for France, for every inch of our land, and fight gloriously on the Marne! ”

The Marne River flows from south to north and from east to west, passing through the Paris Basin. Parallel to the Aisne and Seine, and in the middle of the three rivers, the water is a natural barrier to protect Paris.

In this long-planned all-out counteroffensive, the French side dispatched the Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Armies, as well as the British Expeditionary Force, with a total of 36 infantry divisions and 8 cavalry divisions.

On the German side, the 1st and 2nd armies, which did not yet know that their flanks were already dangerous, had only 18 infantry divisions and 5 cavalry divisions, and their strength was only about half that of the German army.

Early in the morning of September 6, the French army officially began a full-scale counteroffensive on the Marne line.

First of all, west of the Ork River, the French Sixth Army launched a frantic attack on the German Fourth Reserve Army stationed in this area, and the French army charged forward without fear of death, and soon the outnumbered German Fourth Reserve Army could not resist, and asked the commander of the First Army, Crook, for help.

Crook urgently sent the Second Army to support, but it was still no match for the numerically superior French Sixth Army.

In desperation, Crook sent the Fourth Army, which regained the advantage of the battlefield and gradually won some victories.

In just two days, the Sixth Army and the German First Army suffered more than 30,000 casualties.

Among them, the death toll is as high as more than 10,000, which is enough to see the cruelty of this battle of the Marne.

3200 words for the second update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)