Back to the Republic of China as a commander

Jiang Baili looked at Zhang Zizhong, who was tall and strong, and nodded: "The plan I gave you is to last for fifteen days, and the current military reserve can only do this. If the German army pulls back from the front line, my advice to you is to surrender, which is not shameful, on the contrary, as long as you persevere to the end and complete the mission, I hope you can survive and spread the experience to other units of our army.”

"Surrender?" Zhang Zizhong could hardly close his mouth when he heard the word. He even thought that Chief of Staff Chiang had made a mistake.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Baili expressed in a positive tone: "Yes, it is surrender. Europeans are different from us. They generally don't kill prisoners. Second, you have tried your best, and there is no way to continue fighting. Choosing to surrender is still possible." Respected and treated preferentially. It should be time to defend our own homeland. In France, what we have to show is strength and what we have to fight for is honor. After doing our best, it is not worth sacrificing our precious life in vain. What is the specific Operate, you can figure it out yourself.”

There are not only defense work here, but also a lot of assault things.The troops involved in the assault were more troublesome, but less powerful.

According to Jiang Baili's opinion, a total of five divisions were invested in the entire defensive operation, while only four divisions with 10 people were invested in the assault operation.

Specifically: use Zhang Zizhong's Sixth Division and Tang Shengzhi's Seventh Division as the bait for the entire campaign, and throw it to the Germans to eat.Then He Yingqin's Second Division, Li Hongkui's Eighth Division, and Zhou Zhengming's Ninth Division surrounded these two hard bones to interfere with the German army in the form of positional warfare and mobile warfare, so that the Germans would not be able to chew easily.In the end, Liao Lei's first division, Xia Wei's third division, Li Pinxian's fourth division and Ye Kaixin's fifth division were the main forces to carry out strategic interspersed tasks, bypassing the gap between the German defense lines during the war and entering Luoyang. Lin area, this is also the result of Bai Chongxi and Jiang Baili's repeated deliberation.Because they found that the Alsace region itself is a German-speaking region, while the Lorraine region is a French-speaking region. This is different from the situation in "The Last Lesson". No one is exempt from vulgarity.

Different from the brigade under the domestic youth military division, the expeditionary force, which originally planned to set up a brigade under the division earlier than the youth army, finally insisted on the system of one division and four regiments under Bai Chongxi's insistence. The reason was to reduce the size of the expeditionary force headquarters. In terms of scale, Bai Chongxi does not want to turn the expeditionary army headquarters into a hodgepodge including artillery, engineering, and gendarmerie headquarters.

According to Jiang Baili, the key to whether the entire combat plan can be implemented in the end depends on the execution ability of the first-level officers of the regiment. , Xue Yue, Zheng Jiemin, Wang Tianpei, Sun Zhen, Wang Mingzhang, Wang Zanxu, Luo Zezhou, Wang Lingji, Pan Wenhua, Tang Shizun, Tian Songyao, Fan Shaozeng, Guo Xunqi, Wang Jialie, Long Yun, Lu Han and other 36 team leaders are not strictly professional. There are even suspicions of exceptional promotion. According to their seniority, these people are just battalion commanders in the country.Some of the generals transferred from the Sichuan Army were still demoted and appointed, but these Sichuanese were still reasonable and reasonable, knowing that this demotion was beneficial, and it represented recognition and acceptance.

Looking at these officers who had no experience in modern warfare, Jiang Baili, a military theorist who was also the first to command such a large-scale military operation, couldn't help but shiver. He was faintly afraid, whether these soldiers could complete their plan , will you dare to be beaten up by the German guy as soon as you come out?If that's the case, it's better to spend it in the trenches, because once hundreds of thousands of troops enter the state of mobile warfare, they will collapse, and the speed alone is very amazing.

Bai Chongxi finally dispelled Jiang Baili's last worry: "Brother Baili, don't think about defending the position like Britain and France. They have been defending for three years and they have lost more than the Germans. If we follow their old path, there will be no harm. future..."

Chapter 336 The Strange Moment

The wheel of history entered May 1917, 5. On this day, the Germans, who emphasized scientific rigor, pointed the muzzles of 15 heavy artillery at the defense line of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the Verdun area without any hesitation.Waist-high artillery shells were placed next to the emplacements, and the Chinese Expeditionary Army's position was silent. . .

Fighting between Europeans and Chinese is different. Europeans always punch each other, comparing strength and endurance, while Chinese always emphasize evasion and effective attack.And in the war with the Germans, this Chinese general named Chongxibai made me understand this characteristic of the Chinese, they fought the most beautiful battle in the entire European war, although Fuxi, the damn guy, didn't agree at this point. ----Henri Philippe Pétain's "Memoirs of the European War" In fact, it is no big secret that the Germans will attack Verdun. all plans of attack.Then, under the coordination of Marshal Pétain and Marshal Foch, nearly 40 French troops from the two armies were successively transferred to the Ardennes near Verdun for rest and reorganization.Since it is unclear how large the German attack will be, Petain is not in a hurry to add more troops to the Verdun area. After all, there are already almost 50 troops in the area of ​​​​the Squadron, and there are more logistical supplies. The pressure will be heavy.

But after the war broke out on May 5th, Marshal Pétain and Marshal Foch realized that the problem was a bit serious, because this time the scale of the Germans was directly increased.Marshal Hindenburg, the chief of the German General Staff, also contributed the most to this battle. The 15 rested German army (including 60 elites from the Eastern Front), 20 aircraft, and 600 various artillery pieces (heavy artillery pieces above 4000mm) There are 105), and there are German tanks that have just left the factory.In short, the troops and equipment that Germany can concentrate at present have been invested by Marshal Hindenburg in this battle named the Second Battle of Verdun by the German General Staff.

If only this amount of troops and equipment is not enough to make these two well-informed French field marshals feel too much worry and fear in the past three years, according to the usual way, it is nothing more than the German army making a certain breakthrough and then being defeated. Layers of French resistance were blocked, and then French reinforcements came up to drive the Germans back.The final result was hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, and then they went back to their homes and found their own mothers.

However, the progress of the Battle of Verdun this time clearly exceeded everyone's expectations. The German army launched a seven-hour fire attack on the first line of defense of the squadron, and then, then, and then it was very easy He broke through the two lines of defense guarded by the squadron in a row, and appeared in front of the third line of defense guarded by the French, Indian, Australian and New Zealand allied forces.The coalition forces caught off guard were defeated by the Germans, and the four divisions were defeated unceremoniously. The soldiers fled to the fourth line of defense with tears in their eyes, and then the commander of the Verdun area, General Nivelle, was angry Cursed: "The group of Chinese are raised by the ****, they must have benefited from the Germans, the [-]-kilometer-deep defense line was broken through in less than three hours, no, damn it, there is no Any resistance, the Germans went straight to my fourth line of defense."

Marshal Hindenburg did not expect the breakthrough to be so easy. Although he had concluded that the squadron was vulnerable in advance, when the German army attacked so quickly, it reached the lowest point the German army could reach in the last Battle of Verdun. When the position was far away, Marshal Hindenburg was stunned for a moment, and then happily ate the bread and milk in front of him.According to the report of the German commander: "The fortifications of the squadron were almost completely destroyed. These guys from Asia obviously did not build their fortifications properly. At the same time, except for the positions in some areas, they are still in the hands of these Chinese. The front lines were easily broken by the Germans, and although there was resistance, it was very sporadic and powerless."

When receiving Nivelle's report, Petain was dumbfounded at the time, while Foch jumped up angrily and cursed: "Fuck, where are these yellow-skinned pigs? There are more than 20 people, even if they stand where they are The Germans didn't finish shooting so quickly, did they?"

After all, Petain was calmer than Fuxi, he quickly calmed down, stopped the staff officer who was about to leave, and said, "Ask Nivelle, how many Chinese soldiers have retreated to the fourth line of defense, and let him no matter what? How to hold the fourth line of defense, reinforcements will arrive within a day, damn it, how did it become like last year?"

Half an hour later, the report sent back by the staff surprised both Petain and Fuxi: "What, no Chinese soldiers have retreated to the fourth line of defense?"

This time, not only Marshal Pétain, but also Marshal Fuxi, who was furious before, calmed down: "It seems that things are not that simple. It is impossible for so many Chinese soldiers to escape from the front line. The damn Germans surrendered, so we can only understand that they deliberately opened the defenses to let the Germans in, what are these guys with long braids trying to do?"

Petain threw away the telegram and said, "Let the air force send a reconnaissance plane. I want to know what happened on the Chinese positions?"

In fact, everything is proceeding according to Jiang Baili's plan. . .

At 1917:5 a.m. on May 15, 24, the German army began its largest shelling since the European War. Heavy artillery shells smashed into the defense line of the Chinese Expeditionary Force without any hesitation.According to German intelligence, there are at least [-] Chinese soldiers from Asia on these targets, all of whom are equipped with British equipment.

It's a pity that this information is a bit outdated. Bai Chongxi played an empty city strategy, and the positions originally guarded by a regiment became a platoon.

Only Zhang Zizhong's Warburg stronghold of the Sixth Division left behind the defenders, which had the highest probability of being attacked by artillery because it was the closest to the German army.

But Zhang Zizhong and his soldiers are hiding in the bunker, even if you blow it up, he will not show up. Since most of the bunkers were built by the French army long ago, and the newly built bunkers are also very strong. The casualties that large-scale shelling can cause are naturally limited.

The two German infantry divisions responsible for attacking this area are much more tragic than the German troops who have successfully broken through in other areas, because what is in front of them is the real hard bones.

On the left flank of the entire battlefield, Bai Chongxi and the troops of the four divisions participating in the assault were waiting for changes in the battlefield situation, and then looked for a gap to carry out strategic counter-insertion.

"Jiansheng, the industrial production capacity of the big powers is really not comparable to ours. If such a fierce firepower is placed in Asia, no one can bear it," Jiang Baili sighed involuntarily.

Bai Chongxi nodded and said: "Now I admire the commander-in-chief more and more. It is said that he has never been to Europe, but his idea is to develop heavy industry and economy. For this reason, he would rather slow down our expansion than unify first. Half of China, now it seems that you can't accept it, the commander-in-chief is indeed farther than we see."

Just as Jiang Baili was about to nod his head, he suddenly laughed: "I reckoned that the beard of that old French man, Fuxi, is going to be raised by your anger. If we do this, not only the French, but also the Germans will probably be unprepared. As soon as they got out of touch, they naturally hid. Should we report the plan to the coalition forces?"

Bai Chongxi shook his head and said: "I don't want it anymore, these Frenchmen are old and stubborn, and if you look at the range of the German army's firepower, they are basically the key defensive areas on the defense layout map we reported to the coalition headquarters. Fortunately, I In these areas, it is an empty city plan, otherwise there are not enough soldiers to kill the Germans. Brother Baili, please command three divisions here to support the right wing. I will send you a telegram after I successfully intersperse here, and then you Let's tell the French about our plan, their secrecy is not in place at all, no wonder the Germans have been killing them like pigs for the past few years..."

Sure enough, as Jiang Baili analyzed, the German army began to worry about the young Werther after experiencing the initial joy of breaking through easily.You must know that the entire German army from top to bottom, although they estimated that the Chinese were vulnerable, they never thought that they could penetrate the defense line with just one blow.You must know that this place is very familiar to the staff of the German army. Last year, nearly 50 German boys died here.Almost every 100 meters has to be fought repeatedly to succeed, so in the follow-up plan, the follow-up speed of the follow-up troops is designed to be slow.

The vanguard of the German army rushed to the last line of defense in Verdun, which is the fourth line of defense, within three hours. The depth of fifteen kilometers was easily penetrated by the German army. The only fierce battle took place on the third line of defense. The army of about four divisions of the coalition army collapsed after supporting it here.At this time, the follow-up troops of the German army who did not know how to adapt were still entering the first line of defense in an orderly manner. The German staff immediately went crazy, and they began to urge the soldiers to move forward actively.At this time, if Admiral Nivell of the French army dared to organize the army to fight back, the nearly [-] troops of the five infantry divisions of the German vanguard would be killed if they fought continuously for more than three hours without replenishing ammunition and supplies. The French were easily defeated.It's a pity that Admiral Nivell was frightened by the speed of the German assault. He could only care about calling the Chinese assholes, and didn't dare to order a counterattack.

The commanders of the German army obviously also realized the problem of disconnection. They decisively learned the lessons of the Battle of the Marne, and all the troops decisively retreated to the third line of defense, waiting for the follow-up troops to come up.

Marshal Hindenburg saw the report of this situation and could only curse inwardly: "Didn't I say that? The Chinese are vulnerable, why are your follow-up plans still so slow, damn it, this is cheap Frenchman It's..."

Chapter 337 The Weird Moment ([-])

"Extra, extra, the Second French Republic has reached its most critical moment. The German army has continuously broken through Verdun's three lines of defense. General Nivelle is organizing the French army to stick to the last line of defense."

"The expeditionary force from China was defeated, and the German army penetrated the two lines of defense guarded by the squadron with lightning speed."

The battle of Verdun soon appeared on the streets of Paris, the capital of the Second French Republic. The newsboys shouted hard, and the news sounded extremely depressing.

"Damn it, can we really not escape the fate of 1870?" A French old man who has experienced vicissitudes of life sat on the street and cried.

A middle-aged man shouted angrily, "I knew that the Chinese who smoked opium were unreliable. What's the use of having too many people? Arming them is better than arming the natives in Africa. The government is really stupid. This is the end of France. Yes, we have worked hard for more than three years in vain, we don’t have enough to eat, we don’t have enough clothes for what, damn it!”

All kinds of discussions filled the streets and alleys, and the French, who are usually polite when they see Chinese laborers, now have a little more indifference.And even those who don't care about the current situation among the Chinese laborers can't help but start to inquire about the news: "What happened to our army?"

What's the matter?No one can tell!

Neither the French nor the Germans could tell. It was a weird moment, at least according to Marshal Hindenburg, the chief of staff of the German army.

"You idiots, do you think you can blow up all the squadrons with cannons alone? Or do you think that 20 people can be hidden in that little place in Fort Warburg? These Chinese people voluntarily gave up the line of defense, which is unnecessary Are you discussing? There are only two things you really care about, the first is to expand our victories, and the second is to find out where these Chinese who can’t fight have slipped away.”

Although he despises the Chinese, this does not mean that Marshal Hindenburg will take it for granted that the Chinese have been defeated.He began to realize a serious problem. Since the Chinese had the ability to stop the German army at Fort Warburg, they must also be able to stop the German army in other areas.But they didn't do this, so there is only one explanation, these Chinese people have other plans.

So what are the plans of these Chinese?Could it be that he dug a burrow, hid in it like a groundhog, and then emerged after his army retreated?Marshal Hindenburg fell into hard thinking.

And in the coalition headquarters, Marshal Fuxi did not know how many times he asked that damn Chinese guy what he wanted to do.

The air force's reconnaissance planes risked being killed by the Luftwaffe and flew desperately to the front line. According to the results of their reconnaissance, the squadrons were still resisting near Fort Warburg and Fort Adler, and the German offensive was also very fierce. . .

The Sixth Division of the Expeditionary Army led by Zhang Zizhong is the only unit in the entire expeditionary force that has directly experienced seven hours of heavy artillery bombardment. This is also the capital that many officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division can still brag about for many years after they retire.But at that time, every officer and soldier in the bunkers and bunkers would feel extremely uncomfortable.The four heads of the Sixth Division are Colonel Xue Yue, chief of staff and head of the 61st Regiment, Colonel Wang Mingzhang, head of the 62nd Regiment, Colonel Lu Han, head of the 63rd Regiment, and Colonel Zhang Zhizhong, head of the 64th Regiment.Right now these four are in their respective regiment headquarters, while Zhang Zizhong and the four battalions directly under the division headquarters are all in Warburg's division headquarters.Feeling the earth-shattering shelling, basically for seven hours, everyone should not expect a little peace, the huge explosion sounded right above their heads.The soldiers stationed on the front line felt more obvious, as if they had been hit. Almost everyone was praying to the gods and Buddhas in the sky to bless them, and bless the German shells to turn around when they saw the bunkers and bunkers they were in.In the words of the officers, as long as the bunkers and blockhouses are not directly hit, everyone will be safe. After all, is the entire position so wide?So before the bombardment started, Wang Mingzhang, the head of the 62nd Regiment, said in his Sichuan accent: "Are you afraid of something? Who would be so wordy?"

After all, the probability of being directly hit is said to be one in [-], but after the bombardment went on for an hour, Wang Mingzhang, who had estimated the number of shells, dared not be careless anymore, "Ge, the shells of the Germans are free. Back then in Sichuan Well, if the Beiyang Army has such ferocious firepower, what kind of Yuan do I want?"

At this moment, no matter whether you are courageous or cowardly, it doesn't matter at all. The only choice that everyone can make at this moment, whether they are warriors or cowards, is to tightly cover their ears and shrink their bodies in the hiding hole. Pray that time passes faster.

The German army was only more than 300 meters away from the hiding place of the Chinese European Expeditionary Force assault force. The ingenious camouflage prevented these Chinese Expeditionary Force soldiers from being discovered by the rigorous Germans, and the subsequent order of the German Army Staff to urge the various departments to advance made the Expeditionary Force The success of raids has risen sharply.

But at this time, Bai Chongxi summoned two middle and lower rank officers, Li Dachao and Guo Meng.

"Li Dachao, Guo Meng" was not polite to these two old subordinates, Bai Chongxi, and called them by their first names.

"To" Li Dachao, who is cynical and smiling when he sees everyone, and Guo Meng, who is serious when he sees everyone as if he owes him money, are waiting for the instruction of the highest officer of the expeditionary army, General Bai Chongxi, with their chests and stomachs drawn down.

"This time a 10-strong assault operation is an unprecedented move by our army. I want to emphasize one point here. What I want is not to fight all the way. The result is likely to be annihilation of the entire army. What I want is to moisten everything silently." , stealthily interspersed behind the German guy, to achieve suddenness in tactics, and all this is up to you two guys. From here to the Lorraine area, I need my reconnaissance team to play a world-class level, touch Deploy the Germans on every road, and I hope my army will march to Lorraine without firing a single shot."

Li Dachao glanced at the expressionless Guo Meng, stood at attention and said in a loud voice: "I understand, I belong to the First Division Secret Service Battalion and guarantee to complete the reconnaissance mission."