Expedition to Europe

In Fer-en-Tadnoy, the German army has begun to retreat in an orderly manner. A reorganized infantry division was left in the German camp to build a defensive position to cover the retreat of the main force.

After receiving the intelligence that the German army was going to run, Qin Zhiyuan immediately ordered the troops to pursue.

This was strongly opposed by the staff of the 32nd Division headed by Chief of Staff Armstrong.

"No, we can't leave the defensive position. We can defeat the Germans in the bunker, but that doesn't mean we can defeat the Germans in the plains. If the main force of the Germans turns back, then we will inevitably suffer heavy losses." Armstrong was determined, and the reason sounded quite sufficient.

"We can do it. The Germans have no morale. If we pursue now, the Germans will be defeated and have no ability to resist. We can not only defeat the Germans, but also capture tens of thousands of German prisoners of war, which is very important for France now." As Qin Zhiyuan's personal knight, Pierre argued.

Now France needs the news of victory more than ever. Soldiers in confusion need the news of victory to boost morale, civilians in panic need the news of victory to stabilize their emotions, politicians need the news of victory to increase the cohesion of the government, and the military leaders need the news of victory to enhance France's position in the Allied Powers.

"But at the same time, you can't deny that this plan is incomplete and there is a certain possibility of failure. We can't afford failure now. If we are defeated, Paris will be an undefended city, and we can't afford this consequence." Armstrong considered defeat before considering victory.

This is also a wise strategy. In fact, for the current 1st Division and 32nd Division, as long as they don't make mistakes, this is already a great achievement, and there is no need to take risks.

"I have deduced this plan many times with my colleagues in the General Staff Department before. The possibility of success is very high. Now the armored forces have been detoured and may have started the attack according to the predetermined plan. If we hesitate, what should the armored forces do? They will be attacked from both sides." Pierre understood the significance of the armored forces to Qin Zhiyuan, so he did not give in.

"The armored forces' attack itself is reckless, and we should not bear this mistake." Armstrong blurted out.

This was very offensive, not only successfully attracted the attention of the generals of the First Division who were present, but even Bastien felt that it was too ruthless.

"Very good! Is this your attitude? We don't mean to let you bear this result. If you don't agree to attack, then our First Division will be responsible independently. As for whether this is a mistake, let time verify it!" Pierre was furious.

Armstrong wanted to speak, but Bastien stopped him in time: "Enough, if your First Division attacks, our 32nd Division will definitely not stand by and watch. If you can win, let us share the glory. If you can't win, we can't hold the position alone."

In fact, whether Armstrong agrees to fight or not, Bastien will follow Qin Zhiyuan's lead. After all, Armstrong is only the chief of staff, and Bastien is the commander of the 32nd Division. Unlike a certain big country, France's chief of staff does not have much power. He only has the power of suggestion, and the decision-making power lies with the military commander.

The certain big country here refers to Germany.

"Okay, then, we will attack according to the predetermined plan. All troops will act immediately. We must stop all Germans before the Germans open the passage back to Reims. In addition, send a power to the pagoda to speed up and block Tadenois. If any German slips away from his tank, then let him come back and take his infantry." Qin Zhiyuan was decisive.

Let Chen Kangjian, who has fallen in love with the armored forces, continue to come back as an infantryman, which is really killing Chen Kangjian. If this order is handed over to Chen Kangjian, Chen Kangjian will probably go crazy. Everything that stands in his way will be torn into pieces by Chen Kangjian, whether it is the Germans, the muddy ground, or this damned weather.

So following Qin Zhiyuan's order, Xiang Wuwei Regiment and Xu Sheng Regiment, as the first echelon of pursuit, left their positions and began to chase the main force of the German army that had already begun to retreat. Before that, there was another troublesome matter to deal with, that is, the German unit that stayed behind to snipe.

Before 1917, the German Army was the world's undisputed first army. An ordinary German infantry division was a two-brigade four-regiment system, with heavy machine guns and mortars equipped at the battalion level. Each battalion had about 6 MG08 heavy machine guns and two to three three-inch (76.2 mm) mortars.

The German infantry division had four artillery battalions, three of which were equipped with 18 77 mm field guns, and the other was equipped with 18 105 mm howitzers, which was much stronger than its opponent France's 36 75 mm field guns, and slightly inferior to Britain's 18 114 mm howitzers and 54 83.8 mm field guns. As for the Americans who joined the war later, they received too much assistance. One division had 24 155mm howitzers and 48 75mm howitzers.

Although the United States became the world's largest creditor country by relying on the First World War, when the United States sent troops to participate in the European war, the weapons of the Americans were all supported by the French. Don't think that rich Americans are generous. In fact, the richer they are, the stingier they are. The Americans are very calculating. One of their divisions is equipped with more than 1,000 machine guns.

The above is only before 1917. After the Battle of Verdun in 1916, the Germans had a harder time and could not continue to maintain the same size of troops, so they cut a 77mm field artillery battalion and reduced the size of the infantry.

The division left behind to be responsible for sniping is a reduced version of the German division. The entire division has about 15,000 troops attacking. All artillery has been destroyed, and the size of heavy machine guns has not changed much.

Heavy machine guns are a powerful weapon against infantry, but in front of the first division led by tanks, it is completely a tragedy.

When the first division troops jumped out of the trenches and prepared to pursue, the Germans were still very excited. They finally waited for this mountain-like defense to leave the fortifications. To be honest, for a moment, the German commander wanted to order his soldiers to leave the trenches and have a hearty offensive battle with the First Division, so as to verify which one was stronger, the German Division or the First Division. However, thinking of the task that Crown Prince William had given him before he left, the German commander resisted the temptation of the devil.

It was this difference in thought that led to the tragedy of the German troops responsible for staying behind.

After the soldiers of the First Division left the trenches, they did not directly launch a charge, but lined up in front of the position, as if waiting for something.

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Soon, the scene that the German commander least wanted to see happened.

More than 40 tanks and armored vehicles lined up and lined up in front of the infantry square. It seems that the tanks are the vanguard of the First Division. After the tanks, the self-propelled artillery came out.

The German commander had never seen a self-propelled artillery before, but that didn't stop him from understanding the role of this thing. As long as he saw the big, thick and black barrel of the 194 powerful artillery and the tracks under the gun carriage, the German commander felt like someone poured a bucket of cold water on his head, chilling him from head to toe.

Because of the heavy losses in the previous artillery exchange, the Germans no longer had artillery, which means that the Germans lacked effective countermeasures against the tanks of the First Division.

They were doomed to lose!