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Text Chapter 423 Fighting on the Western Front!  (Four)

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    Yang Qiu convinced the Lvov government that Russia chose to continue participating in the war.

    The news reached a boiling point in the Entente, and a steady stream of Chinese expeditionary forces began their long trek along the railway line.  The good luck of the Eastern Front seemed to have been brought to the Western Front. The wind and rain that had been lingering for several days finally dissipated. The bright sunshine dispelled the cold. The earth began to dry up. The nearly paralyzed logistics and supplies finally recovered initially. Groups of soldiers entered with steel guns in hand.  Sorted out in the trenches and awaited orders.  Temporary peace on the Eastern Front means that the German army will no longer be able to obtain supplies, at least in the short term. The Allied forces, which have a clear numerical advantage, have a theoretical advantage. Therefore, both Niweiler and Mangran firmly believed that the defense line in front of them was window paper, so they decisively ended the test and ordered  All-out attack.

    At the same time, the auxiliary British army also attacked Arras according to the plan. The British army under Haig's personal command also used artillery to clear the way. More than 2,800 light artillery and 1,000 heavy artillery roared and fired. There were continuous explosions and fires, and rain of bullets.  The layers are densely packed.  British and French pilots risked their lives to provide reconnaissance coordinates to the artillery. Under their guidance, the barbed wire fence on the Arras defense line was blown to pieces, buildings were blown away, and mushroom clouds tens of meters high brought up by heavy artillery shells could be seen everywhere.

    Under the cover of barrage tactics, the British 3rd Army and the Canadian Army, led by 60 tanks, launched a fierce attack on Laas. Compared with the demoralized French army, the British army, which is not a traditional army power, performed extremely well.  Tenacious, it only took three days to break through the first line of defense.  However, their good luck gradually disappeared after Ludendorff invested three elite divisions. Facing the fire net constructed by Maxim heavy machine guns and artillery, the Vimy Mountains behind the first line of defense became the grave of the British army.  After the seven-day offensive, the British army finally advanced the front line 6 kilometers at the cost of 100,000 killed, captured 330 cannons, killed 57,000 Germans, and captured 20,000 people.

    If the war had only ended here, it would have been a war that could barely be considered a draw. However, Mangran, who was personally in charge of Soissons, obviously did not learn his lesson. He scornfully believed that the outcome of the Arras battle was due to the poor combat effectiveness of the British army.  Yes, the French army with three armies would never make such a mistake, so he immediately issued an all-out attack order after talking to Niweiler on the phone.  April 19th.  The day after the new Russian government decided to continue the war, the French artillery group, which had increased to 6,000, began to throw artillery shells at the target wildly. 11 million artillery shells extended at a speed of one hundred meters every three minutes.  The 300,000 infantrymen of the French 5th and 6th armies rushed towards the enemy with the confidence established in the Battle of Verdun.

    However, Mang Ran had forgotten that the opponent in front of him was no longer the wild bull Falkenhayn, but Ludendorff, the master tactician who had successfully established his prestige on the Eastern Front.  Faced with indiscriminate bombing by the French army.  Ludendorff immediately ordered the front-line troops to retreat, leaving only the machine guns hiding in the solid bunkers and struggling to support them. When the French army saw that the opponent's firepower had weakened and thought it could easily break through, the deeply hidden heavy machine guns suddenly released a powerful  power!  The rain of bullets intertwined into a terrifying metal storm, so much so that even after the unprepared front row of French infantry was swept away, the rear row continued to charge.  The organizational chaos finally led to a huge tragedy. After the French charge was defeated, the 22 elite reserve divisions of the German army began to take turns on the battlefield, crushing the waves of French troops!

    In just five days from the start of the general offensive on the 19th to the 23rd, all 100,000 French veterans who had experienced the bloody meat grinder battle of Verdun were lost in front of the Siegfried Line!  The horrific casualty figures finally made the exhausted French army lose confidence.  After being driven to the front line by officers, many troops preferred to hide in the trenches rather than charge. This sight made Nivelle furious, and he stubbornly and manically ordered to continue the attack regardless of casualties.

    Since the main attack point could not open up the situation, Mangran placed his hope on the French Third and Fourth Group Armies on both wings.  Under strict orders and blockade, the two armies, which had no way of knowing the casualties at the main breakthrough point, also sang songs and lined up in neat skirmish lines to rush towards the enemy.  As a result, the Third Army was torn apart by a dense firepower network composed of Maxim and 128 A7V tanks after they had only rushed two kilometers. They paid the price of 30,000 deaths in two days!  The Fourth Army also suffered a crazy attack. The German First Army organized all artillery fire and 170 tanks to join in the interception. Although the Fourth Army barely occupied a position less than three kilometers south of Moronvilliers, it paid 2.5 million for it.  With a horrific casualty figure of 10,000, the breakthrough was eventually halted and all offensive plans were cancelled.

    "Damn it! How is this a war? It's just a massacre!" Inside the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Lance.  Ke Shao, who had a hot temper, slapped the battle report on the table: "Ten days, ten days, 150,000 French troops died! Oh my God, these are 150,000 elite veterans who participated in Verdun! 150,000 deaths are at least still.  300,000 people are injured France will be crippled if this continues!"

    His roar made the atmosphere in the headquarters solemn. Although the dead were all French troops, we were all allies after all. It would be uncomfortable if the French army collapsed and the expeditionary force collapsed, so everyone felt solemn after the casualty figures appeared.  "Chief of Staff! Give the order. I dare not say that my 201st Division is more powerful than the French army, but at least it will not be as cowardly as them!"

    "Yes! The German army has beenThe situation is also extremely uncomfortable. Our fresh troops will definitely open up the situation.  "

    "I will take the lead and ensure that we complete the task of breaking through the defense line!"

    Zhang Xiaozhun, who stayed at the headquarters, was also stunned by the casualty figures, so much so that the hand holding the report was trembling slightly. However, he was undecided whether to launch an attack. Under the expectant eyes of everyone, he picked up the phone and wanted to contact Soissons.  Yue Peng, but after hesitating for a moment, he slowly relaxed: "Wait a minuteall the troops will continue to be on guard and not leave the station until the commander and General Cai come back!"

    When Zhang Xiaozhun put down the phone and asked to order the troops to continue waiting, Mang Ran, who was ashen-faced, also slowly put down the phone.  Everyone in the French frontline headquarters was waiting and looking at him. Should he continue the attack?  still  The answer came out in a moment. Mang Ran reluctantly stood up straight and walked to the sand table: "Order the 10th Army to reinforce the 5th Army and continue the attack on Sherman Dai Damo Mountain!"

    "What!"

    "God!"

    "No! This will kill the soldiers."

    As soon as Mang Ran said the latest order, several military commanders couldn't help but jump out.  But the former shook his head ruthlessly: "This is the order from Commander-in-Chief Nivel! Either attack. Or shoot those cowardly soldiers!"

    "The original plan must be ended!"

    Just when everyone was dissatisfied with Mang Ran's use of Nivele and military orders to pressure them, a voice finally couldn't help but burst out from behind.  Everyone turned to look and saw that Yue Peng, who had been silent since the attack and seemed invisible, shook off Cai E who was trying to pull him away. He pushed aside the crowd with a cold face and walked to Mang Ran.  Although he was half a head shorter than Mang Ran, he still looked into his eyes without any sign of weakness and said coldly: "The attack on Siegfried should be stopped immediately! The British army has been trapped south of the Vimy Mountains and cannot advance.  The Third Army on both wings suffered a bloody defeat in front of Saint-Quentin. The Fourth Army was also blocked at Moronvilliers and could not continue to advance. Judging from the situation, we have been unable to achieve the original goal in this battle! Even after the main group broke through, it  What can we do? What about after crossing the Sherman Day Damme Mountain? Without the restraint of two wings, after crossing the defense line, we will face the pursuit and interception of superior forces, and become a lone army! A lone army!"

    Yue Peng said while moving his fingers quickly on the sand table.  After the translator finished translating all his words in a cold sweat, Mangran, whose eyes were bloodshot, continued to say to the French officers around him: "The deadlock has been formed! The only way to break it is to let the British army pretend to be invincible, and then start from there.  The Third Army sent some troops to pretend to support. At the same time, it opened the defense line of the Sixth Army and pretended to retreat towards Rui! Now the German army has 25 divisions on the front line. As long as we can find a way to make the German 7th Army mistakenly think that we are  If there is a big gap at the junction of the Sixth Army and the Third Army, we can let it attack as it pleases. The Tenth Army and the Chinese Expeditionary Force will quickly move westward to block the front of Ruwa. As long as they can be induced to attack from the trenches,  Come out and lengthen the offensive formation, we can easily intercept and eat this German army, thereby greatly weakening the garrison strength of the Siegfried Line."

    "Impossible!" Before Yue Peng finished speaking, Mang Ran had already jumped to his feet. After all, he was a senior officer and could see at a glance that Yue Peng was trying to use Paris, which was 40 miles away from Rois, as a bait. He said angrily:  "This is impossible! You are using Paris. Use our capital to take risks again! General Nivelle will never do this, and every Frenchman will not accept this kind of risk! The offensive must continue to consume the German army with superior strength.  Strength, just like Verdun, keeps them exhausted day and night, as long as we can break through the enemy's strongest defense line. The weak side will retreat without a fight and advance to Ilsund, then the front will be completely pushed to our country and Belgium  Border, the war is over!¡±

    "Verdun is a piece of shit! It was an urban battle, so of course we could persist, but now it's all wilderness, a field battle in the suburbs!" Yue Peng was so angry that he cursed in his heart, but he suddenly wanted to understand a problem.  Why do you know that it is wrong to choose a strong breakthrough in Niweiler's plan?  But there is still no voice within the French army?  Only now do I realize that their thinking was completely imprisoned!  It¡¯s not that the French army is not elite, it¡¯s not that they can¡¯t fight, it¡¯s that they are used to breakthroughs on the Western Front battlefield - detours - confrontations in trenches - and then break through this meat grinder style of play, anything beyond this category will not go  Think about it, let alone implement it!  Although the cost of breaking through by choosing the strongest is terrible, as long as you can break through, it is a victory, and even if many soldiers die, it is also a victory!

    Sadlywhen victory depends on the lives of soldiers, we can only say how incompetent the commanders of this army are!  After the two had a heated argument to no avail, Yue Peng even directly refused to carry out Mang Ran's order to transfer the expeditionary force to Reims to fill the meat grinder of the Siegfried Line!  Angry, Mangran pulled out his pistol: "You are disobeying orders, I have the right to execute you!"

    "If you are not afraid of causing a riot of 400,000 soldiers, you can give it a try! Also, I suggest that you report the number of casualties immediately, and then see who else is willing to fight such a bad war.  "Since he had completely fallen out, Yue Peng simply dropped a harsh word and walked out without looking at Mangran, whose face was turning green and red. But when he reached the door, he still sighed deeply in his heart.

    It wasn¡¯t until he got in the car and sat down that Cai E, who had quit smoking for a long time, handed him a cigarette. After the two lit it together, Yue Peng showed him a bitter smile: ¡°I¡¯m not willing to give in!¡±

    "I'm not willing to give in! But we have to waitthe opportunity hasn't appeared yet, and rushing over now is a dead end!" Cai E looked into Yue Peng's eyes, and the latter nodded but fiercely  Punch on the steel plate of the car, will this damn opportunity still come up?  !.

    (To be continued

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