Chapter 610 Marne (below)

At this time, the French army was ready to stare at the German army in the Marne, ready to start.

And for the threat of the French army, the German side is not unheard of. As the chief of the general staff, General Mao Qi had already seen the danger.

Xiao Maoqi had already received a telegram that Kruger was going to take the first army to the inside line. For this telegram, Xiao Maoqi was deeply disturbed, so he issued an order to Kruger, on the one hand, to approve its turn to the southeast. , On the other hand, the first army was required to form an echelon, trailing behind the second army, and covering the flanks of the two armies.

Faced with the order of Little Mooch, Kruger, who led the First Army, was unwilling to accept it. He went down to the troops and continued to pursue the direction of the Marne, and passed the Marne the next day.

In the face of Kruger’s refusal to execute his order, Xiao Maoqi was furious, and he immediately reprimanded Kruger, either executing the order or he would send it to a military court.

In the face of Xiao Maoqi’s strict orders, some fluttered and Kruger could only accept orders. In any country, a general who refuses to accept orders will not end well, especially in the German army, which is guided by the principle of obedience.

Therefore, Kruger could only suspend the crossing of the Marne, and after gathering the First Army, it moved closer to Bilo’s Second Army.

At this time, the actions of the German First Army made the French troops who were preparing to attack uncomfortable.

Because of the actions of the First Army at this time, the flank was quickly reduced, and after its forces were concentrated, it would become difficult for the French army to fight back.

However, at this time, the French army’s offensive orders had already been conveyed to the divisions, and now all the divisions were gathering, and the officers were cheering for the soldiers, while supplies and ammunition were being replenished.

At this time, the French army was already on the string and had to send it. If you say not to launch an offensive and let them retreat across the Seine again, how is this possible, and their little morale will not be completely lost.

Therefore, the French army must attack the German army at this time. Of course, the French army still has the advantage in terms of strength. It has the fifth and seventh armies in the Marne River, in addition to five divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, and two reserve armies specially drawn from the rear by Xiafei, with a total strength of 700,000 people. And their targets, the first and second German armies, had only 500,000 troops, and the French had the upper hand in terms of strength.

In addition to the strength of the army, the French artillery also has an advantage. Although its main equipment, the 75mm rapid-fire gun, is worse than the German 105 and 150mm howitzers in actual combat, but in terms of quantity, the French army has an absolute advantage, and its equipment There are thousands of doors, while the German army only has more than 600 doors. Mainly because of the continuous high-intensity march, many artillery pieces fell behind.

So on November 29, the French launched a tidal attack on the Germans on the Marne.

In fact, when the French army was mobilized on a large scale, the German side noticed it. After all, how could the mobilization of these 700,000 troops be completely concealed.

As early as two days before the French offensive, the German General Staff issued a warning to the First and Second Army, asking them to pay attention to the large-scale French counterattack.

In fact, after the invasion of northern France, Xiao Maoqi felt that something was wrong, because the German army on the right flank was going all the way, but it did not destroy many French troops.

Moreover, according to Schlieffen’s plan, the French army should be dragged on the German-French border at this time, but due to the counterattack from the right wing, the French army was driven back to the country. At this time, it has become impossible to fully implement the Schlieffen plan, so the fighters that encircled the main force of the French army also slipped away.

Since the main force of the French army still exists, finding the position of the main force of the French army and preventing the counterattack of the French army have become the most important affairs of the General Staff.

And Xiafei posed an attacking stance in the Marne River, which naturally could not hide the Germans’ eyes.

So when the French army launched an attack on the German army in the Marne, they found that the German army had built fortifications waiting for their arrival.

So a great battle was launched on both sides of the Marne.

“attack!”

A French officer drew his command knife and shouted for the soldiers to attack. At this time, the artillery fire of the French army had just subsided, and the smoke of the battlefield had not yet dissipated, and the French army could not wait to launch an offensive.

Of course, as a heroic commander, he certainly wouldn’t let the soldiers charge and hide behind, so he rushed out first.

The officer’s heroic act only moved his subordinates deeply, so they rushed out of the trenches and rushed towards the enemy’s position.

From the sky above the Marne, it can be found that the attacking French officers and soldiers are attacking the German positions like a tide.

In the face of the attacking French army, the German officers and soldiers hiding in the hastily built trenches will of course not let the French army do as they wish.

Gunshots rang out in the position, knocking down the charging French soldiers and soldiers. However, the French army seemed to want to be ashamed, turning a blind eye to the situation of constantly falling comrades beside them, and instead rushed to the position despite the casualties.

In fact, the French can endure casualties, in addition to its heroism, there are also reasons for the decline of the German shooting accuracy. The officers and soldiers of the German 1st and 2nd Army have been marching at a high intensity since they attacked Belgium, and they have been fighting for more than a month now.

Even a battered body can’t stand it, so it’s normal to be exhausted. In this state, 60% of the original shooting level of 100% is outstanding.

The situation of the German positions was soon discovered by the French commander. In the face of this situation, he who was in charge of commanding the attack immediately ordered to increase his troops, trying to break through the German positions in one go.

Following the order of the French commander, more French officers and soldiers rushed out of the trenches, shouting and rushing towards the German positions, trying to keep up with the first wave of attacking troops.

At this time, as the French army charged regardless of casualties, its forward was only two hundred meters away from the position.

Seeing that the French army was coming, the German army in the position no longer concealed it, and quickly moved out the big killer. That is the defensive weapon, the Maxim machine gun.

“Da da da”

The firing of Mark’s heavy machine gun, like a sickle, kept sweeping down the charging French soldiers. The rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute is enough for a Maxim heavy machine gun to take over a front line two or three hundred meters wide.

The fire blockade of Maxim’s heavy machine guns made it difficult for the bravest French army to break through, seeing that their soldiers could not break through before the fierce firepower of the enemy.

As the supreme commander of this battle, Admiral Gallieni threw the binoculars on the ground angrily, and took the phone to the artillery position.

“I’m Gallieni, and the artillery fires at the German machine guns immediately. Don’t worry about the German artillery, your priority is the enemy machine guns, which are actually the **** artillery.”

Following his strict order, the French artillery also joined the shelling, regardless of the danger of injuring their own people. And their target was the heavy machine gun on the German position that was blocking the French charge.

Facing the threat of French artillery, the firepower of the German positions was rapidly reduced. Civil engineering cannot make the machine gun position stop the shelling, even if it is 75mm shells, it can still pose a lethal threat to it. Therefore, when the enemy is shelling, the machine guns on the position must be moved. Not to mention that the enemy’s artillery is completely directed at the machine gun, and it will not be transferred at this time.

The firepower of the German positions was greatly reduced, so that the French soldiers who had been suppressed immediately rushed up again.

Carrying rifles with bayonets in their hands, they launched a final charge towards the position.

“No, order the troops to reinforce the front-line positions, and the enemy must be kept out of the battlefield.”

At this time, the German commander Krueger also saw that the situation on the front line was not good, and immediately ordered the troops in the second-line positions to go to reinforcements. As for the artillery support, they were already fighting back against the French artillery who were only focusing on bombarding the ground.

Surrounding the first-line positions for a while, the German and French armies used all their strength as soon as they came up. The two sides continued to invest their forces, turning the first-line position into a Shura field. If there are no fallen officers and soldiers from both sides, there will be a tragic battle between you and me.

In the end, the Germans won the final victory with the advantages of being more familiar with positions and having reinforcements closer. However, the Germans who drove the French away were also uncomfortable, because on the first day, the first and second armies lost more than 30,000 people, of which more than 15,000 were killed in action alone.

As for the attacking French-British allied forces, the casualties were even higher, with more than 18,000 killed and missing, and 45,000 injured and carried.

For this reason, many surviving officers and soldiers on both sides called today’s battle Bloody Friday.

However, these officers and soldiers did not know that the first day of battle was nothing, and the next battle would be even more tragic.

Of course, for the officers and soldiers of the first and second armies who were defending, the French army’s fierce offensive on this day left them with lingering fears. For the next battle, the concept of winning in many people’s hearts has been shaken.

As for the two commanders Kruger and Bilo, in addition to preparing for the next battle, they also reported today’s battle to the chief of the general staff in the rear, Admiral Mooch. Of course, in addition to the battle, they asked for reinforcements. The words were also revealed in the telegram.

For these two requests for help, Xiao Maoqi and the officers of the General Staff were shocked. They are now trying to recruit troops to reinforce the First and Second Army.

At this time, the 3rd and 4th armies also sent telegrams, and they exchanged fire with the French 4th and 9th armies. However, their situation is much better than the first and second army, because the other side did not put so much pressure on them.

At this time, the little wizard discovered that the French army launched an attack on the entire right flank of the German army.

At this time, for Xiao Maoqi, reinforcements are a necessary choice, and UU reading www.uukanshu.com is not a last resort, and it is absolutely impossible to retreat.

Because Xiao Maoqi knew very well that if he retreated, it meant that France could not be defeated quickly, and Germany would be caught in a terrible two-front battle.

As a result, finding reinforcements for the First and Second Army has become a top priority.

After intense search by the officers of the General Staff, they finally found 100,000 troops for the First and Second Army Groups.

One of the reserves, consisting of four mobilization divisions, is now in Aachen, and the rest are drawn from Belgium and other units.

The core of this reinforcement is the reserve army still in Aachen.

At this time, there are more than 400 kilometers from Aachen to the Marne River. If you want this reserve army to arrive within three days, it is absolutely impossible to rely on it, and you must use transportation throughout the journey. It is good to say that from Aachen to Shauni, the railway is ready for use under the full rush repairs of the German engineering corps. If arranged properly, a reserve army can arrive in just a day and a half.

The whole journey from Shawnee to the Marne is more than 80 kilometers. There is no railway for this distance, and other means of transportation must be used.

At this time, there is only one means of transportation that can be used by the German army, and that is the Fiat 75 truck that is constantly transported by the army.

At this time, Xiao Maoqi immediately ordered. “Immediately send a message to the armies of the right wing, asking them to gather their trucks to Shawnee, and ask for at least half of the trucks.”

At this time, there were only more than 9,000 trucks in the hands of the German army, and there were more than 6,000 trucks allocated to the right wing. At this moment, Xiao Maoqi asked for half of them. This is 3,000 trucks with a load capacity of three tons. It is definitely more powerful than a taxi, and it can definitely transport 100,000 reinforcements and their equipment.

At this moment, the first large-scale motorized troops were launched by the Germans inadvertently.