Expedition to Europe

When the Xiang Ankang Regiment withdrew to the starting position, the statistics were heartbreaking.

In just one day, the Xiang Ankang Regiment, which had 3,400 soldiers before the war, suffered nearly half of its casualties, including more than 600 deaths.

Most of these people died under the German artillery.

Together with the losses of the French 185th and 192nd Regiments and the 15th Regiment of the Foreign Legion, the 17th Army lost nearly 3,000 soldiers in vain that day, and the efforts of the day fell short at the last moment.

It cannot be said that it was lost in vain. In the daytime battle, the four regiments of the 17th Army killed at least tens of thousands of Germans, of which the Xiang Ankang Regiment alone killed more than 6,000 Germans.

Through a day of fighting, Qin Zhiyuan had a deeper understanding of Ludendorff's "elastic defense" and was more confident in his troops, which laid a good foundation for the next battle.

In the evening, in the combat command room, Qin Zhiyuan summoned all the generals to summarize the daytime battle.

"If the 185th and 192nd Regiments had not underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, the 15th Regiment would not have left its position to rescue, and my flank would not have been exposed to the enemy. If we had two regiments that could support each other, the Germans would not have won so easily." Xiang Ankang, whose rank has been promoted to colonel, now has enough confidence. Because of a series of victories, he dares to speak out about the mistakes of the French.

The head of the 15th Regiment of the Foreign Legion, Fan Wenxiong, has been keeping his head down since entering the conference room. Fan Wenxiong dared not face everyone, nor did he dare to face Xiang Ankang. At this time, hearing Xiang Ankang speak for him, Fan Wenxiong finally raised his head and looked at Xiang Ankang gratefully, his eyes slightly red, and his chest heaving violently.

"I admit that it was my mistake that led to the collapse of the front line. But I did find an opportunity at the time, but unfortunately I didn't seize it." Colonel Hausen, the head of the 185th Regiment, made self-criticism, and it can be heard that he was unwilling to give up.

"Colonel Hausen, forgive me for being blunt, you still haven't realized your mistake. If that was indeed an opportunity, we could indeed continue the attack, but first you should communicate with us instead of acting on your own. If our four regiments advance at the same time, even if the Germans launch a counterattack, we can at least stabilize the front and not be defeated by the Germans one by one." Xiang Ankang was still angry.

Speaking of which, this was the first time that the Chinese regiment directly under Qin Zhiyuan suffered a defeat.

Xiang Ankang really didn't like to get the first place in this way.

"Okay, now is not the time to blame each other, now is the time to sum up experience and lessons, one by one, what did you gain from today's battle." Qin Zhiyuan stopped the meaningless accusations and led the meeting back to the right path.

"Don't underestimate the enemy..." Xiang Ankang said word by word with a cold face.

"We must do a good job of coordination..." Hausen was reluctant.

"We must equip the attacking troops with enough grenades. If there are enough grenades today, we may not lose." Fan Wenxiong mustered up the courage.

"The tank troops must keep up. If there are tanks as defensive support, it will not be easy for the Germans to capture the position." If Qin Zhiyuan had not glared at Liu Zizheng, Liu Zizheng would definitely not want to speak.

In today's battle, due to the terrain, the tank troops failed to keep up in time. If there were engineers to open the way, the tanks could get on the position, and it would not be easy for the Germans to capture the position defended by the Chinese.

Liu Zizheng was very angry about Maxim's behavior of using the Xiangankang Regiment as an experimental product. If Maxim was not sent by Qin Zhiyuan's father-in-law, Liu Zizheng would have torn his face long ago.

"Only large-caliber artillery is not enough. We must pay attention to the application of small-caliber artillery, especially small-caliber artillery accompanying infantry attacks, which has an irreplaceable role for mortars." Zheng Dali still focuses on his old business.

Today's battle has exposed the shortcomings of the artillery to a certain extent. If the artillery is more powerful, it is possible that the Xiangankang Regiment can hold on.

Even if they were more powerful, it would not work. The Germans were not afraid of night battles, and they were more familiar with the terrain. Once the Germans' superior forces took advantage of the darkness to sneak up on Xiang Ankang's position, it was estimated that not many people in Xiang Ankang's group would be able to come back alive.

"The speed of transporting wounded soldiers should be increased. It is necessary to increase the number of military doctors on the front line. At least they should be treated urgently first, so as to increase the chances of survival of the wounded." Mao Shiba, who was present at the meeting, made a rare speech.

Mao Shiba's words were mainly aimed at Bastien and the Annan troops. The Chinese troops did not have this problem. There were many doctors who were half-hearted in the Chinese troops. Many people who sold powerful pills on the street joined the Chinese troops. These people might not be able to perform surgical operations, but they could treat injuries and simple bandages.

This meeting was afraid of being awkward. As one speaker after another spoke, the atmosphere gradually heated up. From time to time, there would be arguments because of someone's experience and lessons. The staff attending the meeting did not have the opportunity to speak. They all took small notebooks and took notes quickly. The heads of various departments might want to see these meeting records later.

After everyone finished speaking, Qin Zhiyuan immediately moved on to the next topic: "So, how are we going to fight tomorrow?"

Victory and defeat are common in the military. Don't be arrogant when you win, and don't be discouraged when you lose. If you don't win this time, you can win again next time. As long as the spirit of the troops is still there, losing one or two battles will be more conducive to the growth of the troops.

That being said, Qin Zhiyuan still couldn't help but feel distressed when he saw the series of numbers on the battle report. The Chinese population base is indeed large, but there are only so many people coming to Europe, and only more than 30,000 people have been trained. It is really not affordable to lose more than 1,000 people in one battle.

"Tomorrow will probably be more difficult than today. At least it won't be so easy for us to capture the front-line positions." Liu Zizheng looked solemn.

The reason why the attack this morning was so smooth was that the attacking soldiers went out to the vicinity of the enemy's position before night, and relied on the suddenness of the tactics to capture the German front-line positions in one fell swoop. The Germans suffered a loss today, and they will definitely be on guard tomorrow. It will be even more difficult to repeat the same trick.

"It won't be too difficult to capture the front-line positions. Looking at the battle reports of the past four months, the Germans always retreat at the beginning of the battle. If the attacking troops continue to attack, the Germans will wait for the attacking troops to tire themselves out and launch a counterattack when the attacking troops are exhausted. They will not only defeat the attacking troops, but also recover the positions that they gave up at the beginning of the battle. The advantage of the Germans is that they can launch a counterattack at any time, while our disadvantage is that it is impossible to maintain sufficient attention for a long time." As the chief of staff, Maxim's observations are still quite detailed.

This is his job.

"Then strictly control the progress of the attack." Chen Kangjian rarely spoke.

"How to control this progress? The soldiers are fighting vigorously, and they will rush over if they are not careful. When the attack is going well, we should make a concerted effort. It is not our style to stop and start." Every time Chen Kangjian spoke, only Liu Zizheng dared to retort, and others were not qualified.

"For tomorrow's attack, I suggest this. We should send out four or six regiments. After conquering the German frontier positions, some troops will be responsible for building defensive positions, and the other troops will continue to attack. If the Germans counterattack, it's great. The attacking troops can return in time and rely on the defensive positions to stalemate with the Germans." Bastian thought for a long time and came up with this idea.

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In fact, for a modern army with a staff department, no matter how complex the tactics are, they can be designed for you. The main problem is the soldiers' execution. If the execution is not enough, then no matter how good the tactics are, they may not be implemented. If the execution is sufficient...

There are very few troops with sufficient execution.

"We will launch a positional attack tomorrow." Qin Zhiyuan created a new term.

"What is a positional attack?" Maxim wondered. His military career was also rich and colorful, but he had never heard of this term.

"Positional attack means that we advance step by step when attacking, without greed or recklessness. Every time we occupy a German line of defense, we will defend it. After consolidating the defense, we will launch the next attack. The Germans play depth with us, and we also play depth with them. Anyway, the Army Department has not stipulated our attack time limit, so we can be more patient." Qin Zhiyuan is indeed patient.

Talking about all tactics in ancient and modern times, almost all corresponding examples can be found in the history of Chinese wars. What Qin Zhiyuan said was a tactic used by a certain party in another time and space during the fifth encirclement and suppression. It was a bit stupid, but it was effective, and the effect was very good.

"If this is the case, the attack must be accompanied by engineers, and the speed of transporting materials must keep up, and the artillery must focus on countering the German artillery." Maxim checked the missing.

In today's battle, because the artillery failed to discover the German artillery position in time, the artillery counterattack had almost no effect.

Qin Zhiyuan was not worried about this. He still had dozens of bombers in his hands, and maybe he could show his skills tomorrow.

In fact, since the day the battle began, British and French planes have begun to compete with German planes for air supremacy. It has been four days now, and the ownership of air supremacy has not been determined. In these four days of fighting, 87 British and French planes were shot down, and the German planes lost 65. The Red Baron's record this month exceeded 15, becoming the biggest god of war in the sky.

Chinese pilots also performed well. In these four days of fighting, a pilot named Bao Deshui shined. He shot down seven German fighter planes alone and became the first Chinese ace pilot.

However, this "ace" is watery. The French record the results of the battle, and all participants will add a kill, so the results do not belong to a certain person. Often, shooting down a German plane will add more than a dozen results to the credit book.

The Germans are even more excessive. They try to attribute the number of kills to a certain person, so the German ace pilots often have amazing results.

Regardless of whether it is true or not, this is a good start. Qin Zhiyuan believes that one day, the Chinese will have their own ace pilot.