Expedition to Europe

When the battle resumed the next day, the Germans encountered some trouble.

The artillery units had indeed moved to their positions, but because they had no coordinates, their attacks did not seem as powerful, at least not as powerful as on the first day.

The thick fog continued to appear, which blocked the line of sight. This had little effect on the soldiers of Folquiers. They could find the direction of the enemy by following the bodies left by their companions yesterday. At the same time, because of the overnight supply, Bing and Demawitz had enough troops to consume.

But it had a great impact on Goff's Fifth Army, which had just crossed the Somme. They could not see the position of the German army and could not defend effectively.

The most critical problem was that although Goff crossed the Somme River, he did not blow up the bridge on the river, and the Germans continued to attack almost without hindrance.

Goff tried every possible way to maintain the defense line, including ordering the military police to form a military law team to execute the fleeing soldiers.

However, the British were already scared by the crazy bombardment of the German army yesterday. They did not want to resist, but just wanted to run back. It seemed that they wanted to swim across the English Channel and run back to Britain.

So yesterday's scene was repeated, Hutier's soldiers continued to advance quickly, and the speed of advancement depended on how fast the German soldiers could run.

While the fierce battle in Flèquerles was in full swing and the British and German troops on both sides of the Somme River were competing to see who could run faster, there was no fighting in the Reims area.

This made Qin Zhiyuan emotional, so he called his newlywed wife Julie, and then went to have breakfast leisurely.

"Is there any new news?" Qin Zhiyuan, who was only wearing a shirt, came to the dining table and sat down, asking Pierre who was feasting.

"No." Pierre swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty and answered vaguely.

Qin Zhiyuan shook his head and sighed. Every time Misha prepared breakfast, Pierre always behaved like this.

Pierre's pursuit of Misha had no effect. It seemed that Pierre had given up, or was playing a trick of playing hard to get. Misha did not express anything, and his attitude towards Pierre was no different from before. No matter what Pierre did, it seemed that Misha was only prepared to maintain a working relationship with Pierre.

"Where did Liu Zizheng and his team get to?" Qin Zhiyuan kept the Chinese habit and liked to talk about things at the dinner table.

Pierre still couldn't adapt. He couldn't just keep eating without answering Qin Zhiyuan's questions, so he simply put down his knife and fork and prepared to answer all of Qin Zhiyuan's questions before continuing: "Liu's progress is normal. He was in Lassini an hour ago, about 50 kilometers away from Yamin, and he will definitely arrive before noon. The tank troops are slower. They didn't load all the tanks onto the train until 12 o'clock last night. They should be near Susongwa now. They have to change trains in Susongwa before they can go to Yamin. They should be able to arrive today."

The railway from Reims to Susongwa is a narrow-gauge railway that is not very standard, while the railway from Susongwa to Yamin is a standard wide-gauge railway. This is caused by the different order of construction. It will definitely be unified in the future, but now the French can't take care of replacing the narrow-gauge with a standard steel rail.

"Has the Army Department replied?" Qin Zhiyuan took the napkin and stuffed it into his collar, thanking Misha for bringing him rice porridge.

Misha is still Qin Zhiyuan's personal secretary. After Qin Zhiyuan got married, Misha could have applied for transfer, but Misha didn't do so, and Qin Zhiyuan didn't mean to transfer Misha away.

Qin Zhiyuan has gotten used to Misha around.

"I sent it, and the Army Department replied that they are communicating, and it is estimated that there will be no results in the short term, but Louis transferred three divisions from Auxerre and Sens to serve as our reserve, which seems to be the troops of the Tenth Army." Communicating with the Army Department is one of Pierre's responsibilities.

For example, the second generation of officials like Pierre also have to charge at the front line in the world war, without any exception. Perhaps in peacetime, they will be taken care of because of their deep background, but when the war starts, this care will disappear without a trace. Perhaps because of the demonstration effect, they have to make more sacrifices than ordinary people.

Just yesterday in Arras, the fighter plane driven by Ludendorff's second adopted son was shot down in France, and his adopted son also lost his young life in a strange land in a foreign country.

This is the pain that war brings to people, and no one is exempt.

"Tell the Army Department not to transfer the 10th Army. I don't need a resentful army. Send a telegram to Corsica and ask them to send the reserve troops here immediately. If there are any unfinished training subjects, then they should come to Reims to continue the training." Qin Zhiyuan was decisive.

The 10th Army had just withdrawn to the rear to enjoy the holiday. Their leisure time was not over yet. If they were brought back to the battlefield at this time, they would definitely be resentful. Qin Zhiyuan didn't want to command such a force.

Qin Zhiyuan sent a telegram to the Army Department to transfer some US troops. After such a long period of training, the US troops have completed all the training subjects. Maybe they have no experience, but they are not lacking in courage, which is the basic quality of an excellent army.

Perhaps knowing that the Germans are about to launch a large-scale attack, the United States has accelerated the speed of transporting troops to France since March. There are three ports on the French coastline for transporting US soldiers who have completed training in the United States and their equipment. These soldiers are basically able to fight. At the end of March, they arrived in France at a rate of 5,000 people per day, and this speed will continue for two months.

In order to transport troops faster, the Americans wanted to obtain the use of part of the French railway. The French did not want to give the Americans this right, but due to the increasing tension on the front line, Paris was forced to agree on the condition that the United States would support France with 300 locomotives.

"Okay, I'll go there later." Pierre nodded repeatedly, then munched.

After breakfast, Qin Zhiyuan went to the front line for inspection as usual. The place he was going to today was the area defended by two Senegalese divisions near Chalon, Champagne.

The designations of these two divisions in the Foreign Legion are the 17th Division and the 15th Division respectively. They are said to be Senegalese divisions, but in fact some of them come from Guinea and Central African Congo, and they are regarded as two mixed divisions.

It doesn't matter, anyway, in the eyes of Chinese or French people, the black guys all look the same. I guess they also look the same to Chinese or French people.

Champagne Chalons is about 50 kilometers away from Reims. Qin Zhiyuan traveled by car at a fast speed and arrived successfully before noon.

In Qin Zhiyuan's motorcade, there are many special vehicles such as command vehicles, communication vehicles, dining cars, etc. Therefore, Qin Zhiyuan dared to leave the headquarters. Otherwise, Qin Zhiyuan would have left the headquarters without permission if he left the headquarters and went to the front line.

It's different now. With the advancement of science and technology, everyone can find Qin Zhiyuan at any time, and there will be no delays due to this.

At the Champagne Salon, Alex and Jerome were waiting for Qin Zhiyuan. They did not dare to neglect this increasingly famous Far Eastern overlord. In addition, due to Foch's reasons, it could be said that he was attentive.

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"How are these little guys doing?" Qin Zhiyuan wanted to hear other people's comments about this unit trained by Chinese instructors.

"Unbelievable!" Alex's expression was exaggerated, full of surprise and praise: "I used to hear that gangsters have no discipline and they can't even learn to shoot. Now it seems obvious that this is not the case. , They are well-trained, disciplined, have endless energy, and their personal skills are also good, and their physical fitness is top-notch.”

The black men do have distinctive characteristics. Maybe they are not qualified for precision work, but they are no strangers to combat.

Africans should actually be considered a hunting people. They hardly farm or breed. They just depend on the weather for food. If they are lucky, they will eat meat for several days in a row. If they are unlucky, they will be hungry for several days in a row.

This kind of lifestyle is certainly no stranger to war. After a short period of training, he may not reach the level of an elite unit, but he is still competent to serve as cannon fodder.

Don't think the word "cannon fodder" sounds ugly. Before this, the British and French had served as cannon fodder for several years. In the face of war, no one is noble or not.

"It's really good. Sometimes they are a little undisciplined and even a little silly, but most of the time they can focus. When they focus, they are good soldiers, especially against the French army that has lost its spirit. They are a rare addition," Jerome added.

"How about obedience and execution?" After experiencing last year's mutiny, Qin Zhiyuan paid more attention to discipline.

In fact, this is a taboo topic in the current French army. Almost everyone keeps silent about last year's "mutiny". Qin Zhiyuan didn't want to escape. Qin Zhiyuan always believed that if you want to prevent something, the best way to deal with it is not to ignore it, but to be alert at all times.

Alex and Jerome obviously didn't think so. They looked at each other and Alex gave the answer.

"The obedience is pretty good. Except for being a little noisy during the day, there is no need to be strictly restrained the rest of the time. As for execution, because we have not yet entered a state of war, we cannot evaluate their performance on the battlefield. As far as digging trenches is concerned, Very good, fast and good,” Alex said positively.

"We cannot relax the management of these gangsters, we must strictly control them, otherwise, they will cause you some trouble every minute." Qin Zhiyuan does not have high hopes for the discipline of the gangsters.

"Okay, we will pay attention to this problem." Alex corrected his attitude.

This is actually not the first time Qin Zhiyuan has reminded Alex and Jerome. Qin Zhiyuan has reminded them from the first day they took office.

Qin Zhiyuan vaguely felt that something was wrong. His reminder seemed to have little effect. Although Alex and Jerome agreed, they did not really take it seriously. This may cause serious consequences one day in the future.