Expedition to Europe

There are also some things that are not simple.

As expected by the First Division Staff, at 5 pm on May 4, the Seventh Army finally advanced to the sniper position set up by the First Division in Fer-en-Tadnois.

Crown Prince William, who was already full of anger, did not stop to rest, and directly launched a fire attack on the positions of the First Division and the 32nd Division.

Crown Prince William is also a very arbitrary person.

There is a very interesting phenomenon. In the First World War, many senior commanders were arbitrary.

France has Nivelle, who insisted on launching an attack on the Chemin de Dames area some time ago despite everyone's opposition.

Britain has General Haig, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force. This "Black Brother" is even more arbitrary. He doesn't even take the British Prime Minister seriously. Now that the Battle of Arras has not ended, Haig proposed to launch an attack on Prenders from the direction of Ypres within this year to seize the Belgian port. This plan also attracted many people's opposition, including the new French commander-in-chief Foch and the French chief of staff Pétain, who reminded Haig that Flanders would enter the rainy season next. If an attack was launched during the rainy season, it would be a disaster.

However, it seems that Haig did not want to listen to other people's opinions.

General Pershing of the United States is also a "god". Although the general has arrived in Paris with his troops, no matter how French President Raymond and British Prime Minister George pleaded, Pershing had no intention of sending troops to participate in the war. Even if the French army now seems to be in disarray, Pershing still insists on waiting for 3 million troops before launching an attack and achieving success in one battle.

Uh, just three days ago, Pershing asked to set up the American training camp in Orleans in the central district.

Where is Orleans?

In the southwest of Paris.

If Fer-en-Tad-Noire is the front line relative to Paris, then Paris is the front line relative to Orleans!

Pershing is using Paris as a meat shield! This approach caused dissatisfaction among almost everyone. Lyaute even gave Qin Zhiyuan the share of tanks that were prepared for the Americans.

Lyaute had a good reason: the Germans would not be able to attack Orleans for a while anyway, so tanks, which were in short supply, should be equipped to troops that needed them more first!

Speaking of arbitrary power, we have to mention Italian Commander-in-Chief Luigi Cardona. Cardona launched the tenth Battle of Isonzo in May. This guy was not a human being, but a beast in uniform. If a unit did not perform well in the battle, Cardona would implement the "one out of ten" rule in this unit.

The so-called "one out of ten" means that he would shoot one out of every ten people...

It was a miracle that the Italian army did not have a mutiny like the French under the command of this beast!

From this example, we can see that the Italians, who have always been dubbed "pig teammates", are actually good. At least they are good in patience and discipline, which is much better than the French who "refuse to execute orders" at every turn.

Crown Prince William is similar to Nivelle, Haig, Pershing, and Cardona...

No, Cardona cannot be added, this guy is not a human.

Well, Crown Prince William is similar to Nivelle, Haig, and Pershing. Perhaps because they are used to giving orders in high positions, these people no longer value other people's opinions. They are extremely conceited and arrogant. They believe that there is nothing they can't do in this world. As long as they work harder, the enemy on the opposite side will collapse.

Qin Zhiyuan obviously doesn't think so. Compared with those "dictators", Qin Zhiyuan is a model of democracy and freedom.

Therefore, when setting up positions, Qin Zhiyuan not only has his own ideas, but also listens to the opinions of the French staff in the General Staff. Compared with the fledgling First Division, the French's understanding of artillery can be called master-level.

Therefore, the anti-artillery holes of the First Division and the 32nd Division were well built.

When Crown Prince William sent troops from Reims, he brought more than 400 artillery pieces, ranging in caliber from 77mm to 150mm. There were larger caliber ones, but those artillery pieces were inconvenient to move and not suitable for carrying with the army.

At present, self-propelled artillery pieces are only available in Russia and France. It can also be said that only France has them, and the Russian one is at most a "self-propelled anti-aircraft gun." It can be seen that the military strength of the French was still remarkable during the First World War, but it was a pity that this was also their last glory.

The same weapon, when used by different people, can burst out different combat effectiveness.

For example, if the 77mm artillery is used by the French, they can make "all ten shots miss the target", but if it is used by the Germans, the Germans can hit six out of ten shots, and the remaining four shots will not miss much.

So under the fierce artillery attack, almost all the fortifications and tunnels on the frontline positions of the 1st Division and the 32nd Division were destroyed, and the results of Liu Zizheng's soldiers' hard work for a week were all gone.

It can't be said that all of them were safe and sound. Those bunkers that used steel structures as support were basically safe and sound. After all, for such bunkers, large-caliber artillery can be used to directly destroy them.

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It's just "possible".

The German firepower attack lasted for nearly half an hour, and then about a regiment of Germans launched a tentative attack.

At this point in the war, infantry no longer used dense formations when launching attacks, but rather skirmish line tactics under the coordination of infantry and artillery. The Germans were the inventors of crossfire, and their understanding of crossfire surpassed all the troops of this era.

This statement is inaccurate, at least not including Qin Zhiyuan's First Division.

Long before the Germans began shelling, Liu Zizheng's troops hid in the anti-artillery caves on the reverse slope. Only a part of the observation post was left on the position. The anti-artillery caves are well-equipped, just like those steel-structured bunkers. Unless they are directly hit by large-caliber shells, the anti-artillery caves can provide sufficient protection for the soldiers.

This protection is limited to shrapnel injuries, and is powerless against shock waves and vibration damage. Fortunately, the First Division has received relevant training, and the soldiers half-squatted in the anti-artillery caves, either with their mouths open or with their ears covered and their mouths closed, which can minimize the damage caused by shock waves and vibration.

Staying in the anti-artillery caves waiting for the shelling to stop is simply torture. It was strictly forbidden to move around freely, to talk to each other, to smoke or eat, and even to go to the toilet. They just stayed in the anti-gun cave that felt like the ground was shaking, waiting for the German shelling to stop.

Fortunately, the Germans were not as well prepared as the British and French, and they did not have so many shells to waste. The shelling lasted only half an hour, and then began to extend to the rear.

At this time, a sharp whistle sounded, reminding all those who were not dead that the battle had begun!