Expedition to Europe

From this day on, Foch traveled to all 90 divisions on the front line within a month.

Every time he arrived at a division, Foch would communicate cordially with the soldiers, listen to their voices, and solve their problems.

Unlike Russia, France had enough money, enough food, enough supplies, and generals who were willing to listen to the soldiers' voices, so when it came to June, the mutiny had gradually subsided.

Foch organized a professional logistics department, headed by Bruno Garcia, Foch's old subordinate, with nearly 600 trucks, which were responsible for transporting supplies to the front line. Among them, food, alcohol, and tobacco were the main ones, and the supply of these three items was more important than ammunition.

In the entire process of quelling the mutiny, although Foch deliberately controlled not to expand the misconduct, nearly 10,000 soldiers were arrested and nearly 5,000 were sentenced to death, but in fact only hundreds of people were executed, more people went to prison, and many people were sent to colonies. The specific number is only known by the French government.

Except for the first few days, the French government took control of the news media, and all news was not allowed to be reported. The French government also sealed all the information for a 100-year confidentiality period, and the relevant files will not be declassified until 2017.

In the reports of the first few days, Qin Zhiyuan's photos frequently appeared on the headlines of French newspapers with Foch.

Foch was described as: the man who had the ability to pull France back from the edge of the cliff.

And Qin Zhiyuan was described as: the gendarme behind the French commander.

The word "gendarme" obviously contains a special meaning, both the fear of the soldiers and the expectation of the civilians to restore order. Because of this, the negative news about the Foreign Legion was reduced to the minimum.

There is really no reason to demand more, because the First Division of the Foreign Legion is the only French unit still attacking.

Just the day after going to the 32nd Division, Qin Zhiyuan returned to Fer-en-Tad-Noire.

Hu Tingfeng's scouts organized an infiltration behind the German defense line and found signs of German mobilization. After receiving Qin Zhiyuan's report, Foch sent a reconnaissance plane to conduct reconnaissance near Reims. The reconnaissance plane confirmed the Germans' mobilization, and the direction of the mobilization was exactly Ferentardnoy, where the First Division of the Foreign Legion was located.

Qin Zhiyuan rushed back to the troops to organize resistance, and Bastien Garcia's 32nd Division was responsible for support.

This was the only combat-capable force in Foch's hands at the time, with a total of less than 40,000 people, while the Germans on the opposite side mobilized six divisions with more than 100,000 troops.

The German mobilization of troops was a bit weird.

The military generals headed by Hindenburg and Ludendorff and Prime Minister Bethmann in Germany were already at loggerheads, and Kaiser Wilhelm II gradually became a marginal person. As a prince, Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was responsible for the defense of the Chemin de Dame area, must do something to bring the royal family back to the public eye and not be forgotten.

Therefore, launching an attack on France became the best choice. Because Crown Prince William had accurate information, the entire French army was currently caught in a civil strife, and now was the best time to attack Paris.

Ferienhof was between Chemin des Dames and Paris.

Behind Chemin des Dames was Reims, which was the target of Nivelle's spring offensive. Behind Ferienhof was Paris, which was the target of all Germans.

Foch did his best to create favorable conditions for Qin Zhiyuan, and another batch of advanced weapons was added to Qin Zhiyuan's troops. This time it was artillery, a 194mm caliber self-propelled artillery that had just been shipped.

Yes, it was self-propelled artillery. The war stimulated the rapid development of science and technology. Aircraft and tanks had already appeared and were successfully used on the battlefield. Now, it was the turn of self-propelled artillery.

The idea of ​​combining artillery and cars was not Qin Zhiyuan's first idea. As early as 1914, the Russians moved an anti-aircraft gun to a car, which became the prototype of self-propelled artillery.

The French production capacity is still good, especially when all French troops are asking for food supplies, only the First Division of the Foreign Legion asks for weapons, so the Foreign Legion gets weapons, even more than expected.

This batch of self-propelled artillery totals 20, and 80 tanks also arrived at the same time. This batch of tanks is an improved version of FT-17. The most important improvement is the addition of a coaxial machine gun, equipped with 2,000 rounds of ammunition, which can be used to attack targets that are not worth using artillery.

In addition to the heavy weapons equipped before, Qin Zhiyuan suddenly discovered that the First Division now has 80 large-caliber artillery with a caliber of more than 120 mm, which can form a special heavy artillery brigade. The First Division also has 300 tanks, which can form an armored brigade. The First Division also has more than 300 vehicles and more than 100 tricycles.

It can be said that the First Division is now a standard mechanized mixed division, and it is still an overstaffed one.

Along with this batch of weapons, there were also 5,000 soldiers arriving in Fer-Anta de Nova, among whom there were more than 3,000 Chinese, and the rest were the ascetics who had joined the First Division during this period.

The benefits of Qin Zhiyuan's relationship with the Knights Templar are gradually emerging. During this period of time, more and more supporters of the Knights Templar have joined Qin Zhiyuan, with hundreds of people almost every day.

This work was compiled and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

These people are not all warriors. Many of them can be called learned people. Although more people are proficient in the Bible, there are also many scholars, professors, and even scientists.

Qin Zhiyuan's arrangement for these people is very simple. Those with research ability will all join various laboratories, and those without research ability will all join the army and be sent to the battlefield. As for whether God really blesses them, it will be up to fate.

Qin Zhiyuan is still very clear about the influence of religion.

Therefore, Qin Zhiyuan dare not let these fanatical religious people get too close to the ordinary soldiers of the First Division. However, it is not a good idea to forcibly separate them. The First Division is a whole, and everyone should be indistinguishable from each other, just like the Chinese soldiers and French nurses getting along naturally now. This will definitely take a process, and how to strike the balance in it still needs Qin Zhiyuan to explore.

For now, these foreign soldiers are organized into a separate regiment, directly under Qin Zhiyuan. How to place them in the future will have to wait for a while, at least until the battle in front of them is over.

In early May, the German Seventh Army stationed in Chemin des Dames, namely the Crown Prince Wilhelm Corps, left the position with perfect defense facilities and began to attack in the direction of Ferienhausen-Tadenoy. This was the first time that the German army launched an active attack on the Western Front since the Battle of Verdun.

This was also the first time that Qin Zhiyuan's troops were tested by the German Army, which was known as the "No. 1 in the world".