There are many palace-style buildings scattered in the French countryside. During the glorious dynasty, most of these buildings belonged to French aristocrats. During the Great Revolution, the aristocrats were guillotined, and the beautiful country palaces became the residence of revolutionaries. Later,

During the turmoil of the 19th century, these palaces changed owners one after another, and then passed through a series of hands during the Napoleonic period, the Second and Third Republic, and finally fell into the hands of a French banker.

But now, there is a new owner here.

On both sides of the iron gate of the manor, there is a pile of sandbags, and behind the sandbags are fully armed French soldiers. This is the French army's frontline headquarters. In fact, it is very common in France today to requisition country houses as headquarters and military camps.

After all, these manors, which can accommodate hundreds of people to live and work, and have large courtyards, can be seen everywhere in the French countryside. There is no place more suitable to serve as a military headquarters than here.

This is true for the French, and it is the same for the British, even for the Chinese Expeditionary Force who first arrived, but the latter two were only handed over to them for use after being requisitioned by the French government.

At this time, in the restaurant of this palace-like building, the famous paintings on the wall had already been brought to the city by their previous owners. Even if they were not taken away, they would probably be thrown into the basement by the soldiers. This would make those

Dozens of military maps were pinned to the luxurious walls in the style of Louis Era. Compared to the past, the restaurant war room seemed livelier than before. Generals from Britain, France, China, etc. all stood and discussed.

for the next stage of the battle.

Although the outside world now generally believes that the Germans suffered a defeat in the Battle of Verdun, which has come to an end, it is well known that in that battle, the French suffered greater losses, and even the squadron as a reserve force also suffered several losses.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in the battle.

While the world's attention was focused on the thrilling and crazy battle at Verdun, the Allied forces began to plan a counterattack along the Somme River, and in the past few months, pre-war preparations have also been intensifying.

It was perfected. The reason why the British and French headquarters chose the Somme River is very simple - the characteristics of the military thinking on which the offensive plan is based are very simple. The policy of the French and British commanders is to choose undoubtedly the strongest and most powerful military base in the world.

The most complete defensive position serves as their offensive point.

"In the past two years of preparation,"

The Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, Sir Douglas Haig, looked at the French General Joffre in the room and said.

"The Germans spared no effort to strengthen these fortifications to be impregnable. The first and second systems each consisted of several deep trenches, built with bulletproof bunkers, and were connected by numerous communication trenches. There were wires on the front of the trenches of each system

Tangle protection, many of which were double strands of wire up to 40 yards wide, were erected on stakes and intertwined with barbed wire. The wire was often as thick as a finger."

When General Haig mentioned the German defense, Xu Shuzheng, who attended the meeting as an observer, just quietly watched the photos taken by the reconnaissance plane. He frowned from time to time. In fact, deep down in his heart, he had been thinking about this plan.

They are all extremely resistant. However, as the Chief of Staff of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, even if he expresses his opinions here, I am afraid that they will not be adopted, especially General Xiafei, who has always had various prejudices against the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

"...the woods and villages between these defense systems have become veritable fortresses. Villages are often filled with deep cellars. Numerous pits and quarries in the white strata are used as machine guns and

Mortar bunkers. The original cellars were carefully constructed with underground bunkers. The bunkers often had two floors and were connected to each other by passages up to 30 feet deep underground. The protrusions of the enemy's defense line were from where the enemy could attack the front.

For longitudinal firing positions, well-equipped fortresses have been built and are often protected by minefields. At the same time, each position has built strong multi-faceted forts and concrete machine gun bunkers. Once one's own trenches are captured, they can be strafed from there. Like this

The position can observe the impact point of the artillery shells on the enemy, and the enemy also cleverly deployed a cross-fire network."

When Haig was explaining, the reason why Joffre, the "Victor of Verdun", agreed to launch this offensive was, firstly, to end Verdun where "there was no hope of victory", and secondly,

On the one hand, he hopes to restore his reputation. After all, during the Battle of Verdun, although he launched propaganda to turn the stalemate into a "victory", the damage to his reputation forced him to use another method.

fight to save his reputation.

"These defense systems, together with the locations for fortifications and other support points between them, are all strategically located to support each other, and machine guns and artillery can fire longitudinally and sideways to maximize their potential. In short, these systems not only form a continuous

defense line, and it is a powerful deep complex."

This is using soldiers as cannon fodder for fun!

Observing the map and photos, he heard Haig explaining the German defense again, and was sarcastic in his heart. However, Xu Shuzheng was thinking about how to prevent the expeditionary force from being used as cannon fodder by the British and French allied forces.

?This kind of solid defense line, let alone a dozen divisions, even dozens of divisions may be used as cannon fodder. After all, the Allies do not have "Alfred", not to mention, even if the German army has "Alfred"

What about "Fred"? As long as you persist a little, Alfred is nothing more than a bluff.

"Behind the enemy's second trench system, in addition to woods, villages and other strongholds prepared for defense, they also have several completed lines of defense: We learned from aircraft reconnaissance that the enemy is working hard to improve and

Strengthen these lines of defense, and also dig new lines of defense between and behind these lines of defense.”

You also know that the enemy is still strengthening defenses!

Sighing softly in his heart, Xu Shuzheng was just thinking about how to prevent the expeditionary force from becoming cannon fodder. Xiafei, thinking of the French Commander-in-Chief's discrimination against the Chinese Army, he sneered secretly in his heart, maybe...

Xiafei may be easy to deal with, but the other British and French generals may be difficult to deal with.

"All the above circumstances clearly indicate a battlefield suitable for our attack; it is certain that if the enemy is defeated here, they will be more frustrated than on other battlefields where the defense is weaker."

Just because of the so-called frustration, are hundreds of thousands of soldiers going to die in vain? No matter how hard the soldiers eat, they are still the sons of their fathers! Listening to Sir Douglas’s words, Xu Shuzheng felt a little angry in his heart. As an expedition

Chief of Staff of the Army, now he finally understands why the Prime Minister repeatedly insisted on "autonomous command authority" when dispatching the expeditionary force. These foreigners don't even care about their own people, so how can they care about the Chinese Army?

Later, Sir Douglas also described the British army's own combat readiness. As the commander-in-chief of the British army, Haig's understanding of the readiness of his troops can be said to be comprehensive, correct and reliable:

"After half a year of preparation, a large amount of ammunition and various reserves must be gathered within an appropriate distance of our front line in advance. In order to facilitate the provision of logistic support to the front line, we simultaneously built many new narrow-gauge railways and laid trench tram tracks. All available roads

All were improved, and many other roads were built. Several causeways were built across the swampy depressions. . . . Dozens of miles of deep trenches for communication lines and shallow trenches for laying telephone lines had to be dug.

As well as trenches for gathering and assault, a large number of gun bunkers and observation posts were constructed.”

Perhaps deep down, they sneer at the British and French generals for not cherishing the lives of their own soldiers, but the preparations of the other side cannot but be admired. Compared to China, the British and French generals pay more attention to pre-war preparations, and they even base their attack on the size of the area.

, proportionally distribute the firing volume of artillery shells of various calibers.

"…there was therefore no chance of a surprise attack. There was no way to conceal the straightforward contest of strength between the two armies or to hinder the display of valor on the part of the attacking troops. The Germans observed every movement in front of the part to be attacked.

The undisguised full-scale war preparations lasted for several months. For a week, the erratic but unprecedentedly violent artillery bombardment before the attack fired steel and flames into the enemy's trenches. The tenacious German infantry crouched in the deep white holes.

The bombardment often left them short of food and water, but they were waiting for the signal to repair the blown parapets. Our shrapnel shells would blast open paths through the enemy's barbed wire, but the paths were closely watched. Machine guns were placed at precise locations.

Straf the attackers from above, or block the approach with flanking fire. A single machine gun in the hands of a skilled and courageous warrior can kill or wound five hundred enemies; thousands of these weapons are precisely deployed along several lines of defense along the attack line.

Waiting for prey. In the distance, German artillerymen who had not experienced artillery bombardment were preparing to launch defensive volleys of artillery at the gathering points of the British front line and its communication trenches."

As he finished speaking, Douglas pointed on the map with his command stick.

"The Allied forces' plan was to definitely break through the entire trench system of the German defense lines of many kilometers, and then smoothly advance - the British army to the north and northeast, the French army to the southeast - to outflank the exposed German defense lines from both sides.

At the same time, the cavalry divisions of the two armies also need to be ready and ready to advance through the gap opened in this way. The French army's goal is to seize the high ground south of Peronne and east of the Somme River. And the "British army"

"The corresponding objective" is to capture "the semicircular heights from the vicinity of Le Tranlois via Bapeaume to Grand Ache".

After a pause, Douglas added,

"Of course, these are not the objectives expected to be achieved in the first attack. These Somme positions are the objectives occupied by the relevant troops, not the objectives of the troops who have been performing offensive missions. The degree of penetration of the attacking troops is a sign of reaching the depth stage.

… Once the Entente had gained sufficient depth, they turned their attention to the second phase of the battle, that is, outflanking the German forces at the breakthrough point.”

When General Douglas Haig was describing the tactical allocation, Xiafei kept nodding his head with a look of deep agreement. In his opinion, this was not only related to his personal glory, if everything

If it goes well, this will even be the beginning of France winning the war!

"Now, it is conceivable that this battle must have been expected to be a long and fierce battle from the beginning; but as we will see, the time factor is completely uncertain. Some still believe that this interspersed advancement and

Whether the outward movement can be achieved within days, a week, two weeks, or more is relatively unimportant. But this argument is untenable. The overall effectiveness of a battle plan depends on the speed with which it is implemented.

For example, assuming there is an interval of two or three days between deep penetration and outward movement, the enemy's defense line will quickly counterattack and close up from both sides of the gap. A whole new set of fortification networks will block my continued advancement, opening up a huge gap for the enemy.

The whole hope of success in breaching the breach, and subsequently outflanking the flanks, depends on the rapidity of the advance, making it impossible for the enemy to construct and organize new lines of defence. If we intend to achieve any success other than the mere attrition of the enemy, the advance must be continuous

And quickly, the predetermined goal must be achieved within two or three days at the latest. If this is not guaranteed, the major offensive will fail. Although other offensive plans may be formulated later and may achieve partial success, it will open a large gap in the enemy's defense line.

The idea must have come to an end.”

After Xiafei recounted the various possibilities he might face in the war, he cast his gaze towards Douglas. To this day, even after nearly two years of fighting with the British, he still feels a little uncomfortable with the British.

I believe that it is precisely because of this that he will try his best to get Fu Xilai to command the British and French forces in this battle.

"...This battle will be under the unified command of General Foch, with General Fayol's Sixth Army and British General Rawlinson's Fourth Army. They will be responsible for breaking through the 40 kilometers of Foucault and Ebitenne.

The defensive positions of the Second Army of General von Berg in Germany..."

Finally, after Xiafei completed his tactical deployment, General Fuxi, the commander of the "Northern Army Group" who had assisted Xiafei in winning the Battle of the Marne, took a look and looked a bit unusual in this meeting. He was wearing a uniform.

Xu Shuzheng, the chief of staff of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, who was wearing a uniform similar to that of the German army, then turned his attention to Xiafei.

"So. Where is the Chinese Expeditionary Force?"

Different from Xiafei's sincere discrimination against the Chinese Expeditionary Force, after being tested by the Battle of Verdun, Fuxi had a very different view of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Out of the need to reduce French casualties and promote the progress of the war, he certainly hoped that the Chinese Expeditionary Force would

The ** team further played their part.

As expected. When Fu Xi mentioned the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Xu Shuzheng sneered several times in his heart, and finally mentioned the Expeditionary Force. Fortunately, he had been prepared for this.

"Chinese Expeditionary Force..."

Fuxi's words made Xiafei frown slightly. The reason why he suppressed the Chinese Expeditionary Army was because this army slapped him hard as soon as it entered the battlefield. Therefore, he

He placed it on a "secondary position that will have no effect", but now, Fuxi is...

"Your Excellency General, although there are currently as many as twenty-one divisions of the expeditionary force stationed in France. However, Your Excellency General, considering that we have never conducted combat training above the division level, and our military commanders also do not have the qualifications

A legion-scale operation..."

Before Xu Shuzheng had finished speaking, Xiafei took over his words and said.

"Yes, we must consider this. In Verdun, the Chinese Expeditionary Force did have a surprising performance, but what we can see is that the Chinese Expeditionary Force has a unique ability in division-scale battles.

Various shortcomings need to be overcome. At least for a long time in the future, they will still not be able to carry out legion-scale battles, so it will be difficult to play a big role in this battle..."

Regarding this kind of belittlement, Xu Shuzheng not only did not have any annoyance in his heart, but was a little happy, because this could at least prevent the Chinese Army from becoming their cannon fodder, but it was not Xu Shuzheng's style to blindly show weakness, and the expeditionary force also needed

Hone yourself on the battlefield.

"but!"
To be continued...