Expedition to Europe

The next day, it rained heavily.

The rainy season finally arrived.

The armored troops could not even leave the door of the barracks, let alone go out. They could not walk half a mile in the wilderness before the tracks turned into "mud strips".

Such armored troops had no impact at all.

Qin Zhiyuan also encountered a problem, because of a call from Leotai in the morning.

"Qin, I want to tell you a good news. A troop has arrived in Paris. I will assign them to you as the mobile force of the 18th Army." Leotai laughed heartily.

"Really? That's great. I have been waiting for reinforcements. If there are reinforcements, maybe I can break through to Reims tomorrow." Qin Zhiyuan took the responsibility.

"Hahaha... If there are reinforcements, of course I will give them to you." Leotai laughed, obviously satisfied with Qin Zhiyuan's progress.

Although Qin Zhiyuan did not recapture the lost territory of the French army, he has killed tens of thousands of Germans in the battles in the past few days, and there are nearly 10,000 prisoners. Compared with the British army, which was amazing at the beginning but has not made any progress now, it is already a great performance.

Who said that there is no competition within the Allied countries? The French may not be able to compete with the British in the navy, but they must not fall behind the British army in the army.

This is related to the sequence within the Allied countries, as well as the national self-esteem and self-confidence of the French.

So even if Qin Zhiyuan's record is infinitely exaggerated, it is not an exaggeration.

"One thing must be made sure. If you want to give me a new recruit who just came out of the recruit camp, you might as well give me some self-propelled artillery or tanks, which will be more effective." Qin Zhiyuan really doesn't want new recruits.

Compared with old soldiers, the only thing worth praising is "courage", but courage is the least valuable thing, and it may become worthless at any time because of bloodshed on the battlefield. Veterans seem to be slippery, but in fact they are often able to persist to the end.

How does that sentence go?

Only when you are alive can you produce!

"Not new soldiers, all veterans... I also have a question, Qin, if I give you some Japanese soldiers, do you have any objection?" Lyaute asked Qin Zhiyuan an unexpected question.

Japanese?

For the Chinese, the Japanese represent blood, feuds, national hatred, and the kind of country that does not need to be mobilized if a war breaks out.

"Japanese? Of course I have no objection, but, have they come to Europe?" Qin Zhiyuan is not sure.

Even if Qin Zhiyuan is not good at history, Qin Zhiyuan knows that the Japanese did not send a single soldier to Europe during the two world wars, which is a bit similar to the Republic of China.

"Yes, a Japanese division has just arrived in Marseille, the Japanese Sixth Division. The Japanese ambassador to France originally wanted to send this unit to Flanders, but in comparison, we need it more, so it depends on your opinion." Lyaute did not say much, but Qin Zhiyuan's heart was already in turmoil.

At this point, Qin Zhiyuan can be completely sure that history has indeed changed because of his arrival.

In the original history, the Republic of China did not send troops to Europe, but only sent laborers, but because of Qin Zhiyuan's arrival, the laborers formed an army to join the French Foreign Legion, which became a variable. It is also because of the rise of the Chinese Legion that the Japanese, who were originally only concerned with seizing the Chinese market, finally couldn't sit still and sent a troop to Europe to increase their voice.

A single move can affect the whole body?

Maybe!

"Of course, I don't mind. At this critical moment, we have a common enemy. Louis, I hope you remember that I am a Chinese and a Frenchman. It is my responsibility to be loyal to France." Qin Zhiyuan said righteously.

Of course, to say this, even if Qin Zhiyuan wishes that all Japanese will die in the tsunami tomorrow morning, Qin Zhiyuan will now sing a high tone.

The Chinese and the Japanese are also blood feuds. The reason is not because of the war of aggression against China that has not yet begun, but because of the entanglement for thousands of years before.

For the Chinese, the Japanese are just their eternal younger brothers. They should follow the Chinese's lead and treat the Central Plains dynasty as their subjects at any time and in any place. This is only natural. But for the Japanese, why should the Chinese be the first and the Japanese the second?

If there is a chance, the Japanese also want to be the boss!

In fact, for Europeans, the Chinese and the Japanese are not a big deal. Everyone is used to the grudges and separations between European countries. Germans can be the king of the British, but it does not affect Germany's declaration of war on Britain; Germans can surrender to the French, but it does not affect Germany's leading the formation of an anti-French alliance.

But for Qin Zhiyuan, the Japanese obviously have a special meaning to the Chinese.

This special meaning is not just a rebellion of students against teachers, but also a provocation of rebellion against tradition. It is related to ethics and has involved the core ideas of the Chinese nation. Qin Zhiyuan cannot ignore it.

"Very good, Qin. Tomorrow Lieutenant General Motojiro Akashi will lead the Japanese 6th Division to Fer-Antoine de Noire. From now on, this division will be under your command and will be affiliated with the 17th Army." Lyaute was satisfied.

"Okay, thank you very much!" Qin Zhiyuan showed a strange smile on his face.

The 6th Division, this is the main division that provoked the Nanjing Massacre. Although they have not made this mistake yet, the barbarity of this division can be seen.

The Japanese had signed a secret agreement with the British before the war, and it is normal for the Japanese to want to surrender to the Japanese.

Qin Zhiyuan recalled the conversation with Clemenceau before the war. At that time, Clemenceau promised that as long as he was given time, Clemenceau would give Qin Zhiyuan a satisfactory explanation on the Shandong issue. The Japanese felt the pressure from Clemenceau, which led to the Sixth Division's trip to Europe.

This is also good. It is much better to control the Japanese in one's own hands than to let the Japanese collude with the British.

Because of the heavy rain, Qin Zhiyuan did not arrange any military operations in the next three days.

The same is true for the Germans.

Hutier's "Storm Force" tactics were unstoppable when facing the French, but they were defeated when facing the Chinese troops. Hutier was reluctant to continue to send out his few "Storm Forces".

For the Germans, the "Storm Force" was too consuming. Hutier did not have enough resources to support his unlimited use of this tactic, whether in terms of manpower or materials.

Unlike the Reims battlefield, which was already stuck in the mud, the sun was shining brightly in Flanders, 200 kilometers away from Reims.

In the battle some time ago, the British had suffered 23,000 casualties in one day.

Haig did not care. He compared the casualties in Flanders with those during the Battle of the Somme, so he concluded that "the progress was very satisfactory, and this number of casualties was acceptable for such a large battle."

But for British Prime Minister Lloyd George, this number was very unsatisfactory.

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Haig had made a promise similar to Nivelle's in order to launch an offensive before, but now it seems that Haig's promise, like Nivelle's, is also a castle in the air.

In the three and a half weeks after the start of the Third Battle of Ypres, Haig's troops advanced an average of two miles, which was only half of the distance the British army advanced on the first day in Haig's estimate. In other words, in Haig's estimate, the British troops should have advanced four miles on the first day.

As the war became stalemate, Haig failed to capture Price, so the planned amphibious combat force was disbanded, and both sides began to replace the troops with heavy casualties. The British replaced 14 divisions, and the Germans replaced 27 divisions.

Lloyd George was furious, and he said to the cabinet members unscrupulously: "Blood and mud, mud and blood, these people can't think of anything else!"

"These people" refers to Haig.

Of course, compared with Haig calling Lloyd George "son of a bitch", Lloyd George is indeed a gentleman.

In September, Haig was recalled to London, and Lloyd George asked Haig to explain his battle plan to the War Committee. Haig's explanation won the support of General Robertson, the Chief of the British General Staff, and Haig was able to return to the French mainland without any weakening of his power.

Because of the prime minister's warning, although Haig did not say it, he was still vigilant in his heart. So Haig made a change, and the responsibility of the attack was transferred from General Gough, commander of the Fifth Army, to General Plummer, commander of the Second Army.

Plummer was a very smart man. It was he who presided over the British Army's "mine plan", which led to the glory of the early stage of the Third Battle of Ypres.

Plummer studied the battle reports of Qin Zhiyuan and Hutier in the Reims area in detail and decided to use the same tactics as Qin Zhiyuan.

Plummer concentrated a large number of artillery in the first three weeks of August, with an average density of one artillery every five yards.

This firepower density was unprecedented, exceeding Verdun, the Somme, the first two battles of Ypres, and the first ten battles of the Isonzo River.

Plummer's artillery bombardment was also segmented, with the first stage being shrapnel, the second stage being high-explosive bombs, the third stage being indirect shooting, the fourth being poison gas bombs, and the fifth being shrapnel again...

In three days, Plummer commanded the artillery to carry out 3.5 million artillery bombardments.

On September 20, the British infantry launched an attack.

The Germans defending the positions had been bombed into idiots. They raised their hands and surrendered without much resistance.

The British occupied the German positions and were not in a hurry to attack. Instead, they immediately built fortifications. When the Germans found that the British were no longer attacking, it was already late and the Germans had lost the opportunity to counterattack.

After all, the Bavarian prince was not Hutier, and he had not yet learned the "Hutier tactics".

But the Bavarian prince was not short of counterattack forces. When the British launched an attack, he organized artillery bombardment to the maximum extent, killing 20,000 British people.

Plummer was not Qin Zhiyuan, and he did not have a complete bomber.

After three days of fighting, Plummer made progress comparable to the previous three and a half weeks. The British were proud and called this victory the "Battle of the Maine Road".

After that, Plummer continued to use this combat method with a strict limit on the advance distance, and learned Qin Zhiyuan's tactics of concentrating the use of bombers, and won the "Battle of Polligan Wood".

The British were proud of this.

Plummer did not hide where his tactics came from, which, from one aspect, further proves Qin Zhiyuan's tactical attainments.

The Eastern Overlord from the Far East...

He really deserves the title!