Chapter 990 I can't do it

  Europe's Western Front

  September 5th

  The vanguard of the French 6th Army and the German 1st Army met on the west bank of the Urk River. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides. For the first time, the French army used 1,200 vehicles to transport a large number of troops of the 6th Army from Paris to the front line, continuously reinforcing the battlefield.

  The two sides fought fiercely for three days. After the German army encountered increasingly tough resistance, not only did they not defeat the French army, but the attacking troops suffered heavy losses, and the situation became bad.

General   Kluck is worthy of being a veteran of the Jiuli army. After sensing the strong counterattack of the French army, he found that his right flank and rear were seriously threatened, and he was forced to order all his troops to withdraw to the north bank of the Marne on the 8th.

As a result, there was a 50-kilometer-wide defensive gap between it and the German 2nd Army. Such a large loophole was discovered by General Xiafei, the chief of staff of the French Army. and annihilate it.

  On the 6th, the French 5th Army and the British Expeditionary Force interspersed through the gap between the German defenses and approached the Marne River on the 8th, forming a siege situation against the German 1st Army, which opened the prelude to the Battle of the Marne River.

   By the Marne

Major General Li Jianyang, Earl of Kuwait, rode a horse and stopped by the shore, with a large group of accompanying officers behind him, watching the soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force marching forward with a tired expression, the grass that had just rained was muddy, and he could not help frowning. high.

   He is now a major general of the 2nd Division of the Royal Marines of the United Kingdom. Its establishment is similar to that of the Army, with more than 18,050 people, including more than 17,500 soldiers and more than 540 officers.

Most of the    Marine Division's troops are motley armies formed by overseas colonies, such as the Saharan Cavalry Brigade he once led, as well as the South African Brigade and New Zealand Brigade, plus some native white soldiers.

Since a ripped-off conversation with Admiral Churchill, the relationship between the two has returned to a level of intimacy. Before the outbreak of the war, the family would gather once a week for afternoon tea and chat about London high society. news.

   Li Jianyang also got his own earl title as he wished, but the fly in the ointment is... In the British Isles where land is expensive, he did not get the earl title, but was sealed in the remote West Asia Kuwait area, which is also impossible.

  The Li Jianyang family has been operating in Kuwait for decades. Some people have guns, money and strength. They have a strong foundation here. At least they don’t need to start all over again to manage the earl territory.

   The Marine Corps under the British Admiralty originally had the highest organization of the brigade. After the outbreak of the war, in order to adapt to the battle scene of the European Corps, three marine divisions were urgently organized. The Second Marine Division led by Li Jianyang was one of them.

   has three brigades, a Saharan cavalry brigade, a South African brigade and a New Zealand brigade.

some of

Since the Minister of the Admiralty Churchill was very interested in the armored force, he presided over and allocated funds to develop the imperial series of tanks, so the Saharan Cavalry Brigade, as an experimental force, was equipped with a tank armored regiment and two cavalry regiments, which were semi-mechanized and semi-animal forces. The ace in the hands of the Second Marine Division.

Arms like    cavalry have almost no living space on the European battlefield, especially the French plains are narrow, with many rivers, and the intensity of heavy firepower such as artillery and machine guns on both sides of the war is so high that the cavalry charge is tantamount to courting death.

  From Paris to the Liege Fortress on the Belgian border, the distance is 304 kilometers. The total length of the battlefield along the Marne from Paris to Versailles is less than 200 kilometers.

   In such a large area, the belligerent countries such as Britain, France and Germany invested more than 2 million total troops in the melee, with an average of more than 10,000 troops per kilometer of the enemy and both sides, and there was no room for cavalry to display.

Therefore, as the second batch of troops to be put into the battlefield, the two cavalry regiments under the Saharan Cavalry Brigade of the 2nd Marine Division, except one battalion was used as the communication battalion of the British Expeditionary Force Command, most of the rest were taken out. Transport supplies and ammunition and become a logistics soldier.

  Fight so far

   The two infantry brigades under Li Jianyang suffered casualties of 1/3 of their troops. In addition, the Saharan cavalry brigade was dismantled to pieces, and the total strength was less than 10,000 people, which was seriously understaffed.

   In this case

   Among the French Fifth Army and the British Expeditionary Force fighting together, the combat divisions are still in relatively good condition. Nearly 40% of the troops lost more than half of their troops, which shows the cruelty of the European battlefield.

   "Commander, the Second Regiment of the Saharan Cavalry Brigade has returned to report to you." The report was made by Colonel Enzo, the head of the Second Regiment.

   At this moment, Colonel Enzo looked tired, raised his hand on his horse and reported in salute.

   "Very well, Colonel, have your troops suffered combat losses?"

   "Report, Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Second Regiment encountered a small group of German soldiers during the interlude. After the battle, 17 people were killed, more than 20 people were wounded, 49 people were captured, and 21 people were injured or killed on our side, and they have been properly resettled."

   "It's hard work, come back to the team."

   "Follow your orders."

Major General Li Jianyang nodded and looked up at the battlefield on the north bank of the Marne River. In the gloomy sky, there were flashes of fire from time to time, and the sound of cannons rumbled. For a while in the east, in the west for a while, the dense gunfire was like rain falling on a bamboo shed. , for a while.

   The battle is going on, day and night.

A fully-staffed division was pulled up for a day or two, and the casualties were already more than half. This was the case with the British and French allies, and the same with the Germans. The brutal war was a huge consumption of personnel and ammunition. More than ten In the battle of the Marne, hundreds of thousands were killed and wounded at every turn.

The French 5th Army, 6th Army and the British Expeditionary Force on the front are fighting fiercely with the German 1st Army in the encirclement, while the French 1st and 3rd Army are fighting fiercely with the German 2nd Army, more than 200 kilometers long along the entire Marne River The fighting has been going on for three days.

During this period

After paying a huge price of 260,000 casualties, the British and French Allied forces advanced about 50 kilometers, while the Germans also lost about 220,000 people. The German 1st Army suffered heavy losses, and General Crook was leading the army to fight. While retreating, the British and French Allies finally saw the hope of victory in the battle.

  The war was so tragic that the corpses on the front line were all transported down the Marne river one by one.

Everywhere    passed, the soldiers took off their military caps in silence.

   With a slight sigh in his heart, Major General Li Jianyang tapped his feet on the horse's belly, inciting the snow-white war horse to trot, and the entourage behind him all followed suit.

   This group of cavalry galloped forward along the long line of infantry advancing, passed the wagon convoy carrying supplies, passed the advancing artillery team, and soon reached the front line close to the battlefield.

There are dense marching tents stationed here, and there is an artillery position behind the high ground not far from the left and right. Three observation balloons are raised on the high ground, and there is a hanging basket under each balloon. Adjusted bombardment bearing data.

When Li Jianyang and his entourage arrived at the camp, the artillery positions suddenly opened fire violently, and the sound of "Boom Rumble" resounded throughout the world, causing the horses to walk back and forth in panic, stroking their hooves anxiously, and occasionally issued "Xi Yu Yu" hissing.

   Li Jianyang lightly patted the neck of the war horse under his seat, then turned over and dismounted, handed over the reins of the horse to the entourage officer, and strode into the large tent in the center.

This is the division headquarters of the Second Royal Marine Division. There is a large map of the situation of the enemy and the enemy hanging on the edge of the tent. Several staff officers are sitting at the table next to them and are writing orders. When the division commander came in, he immediately dropped the pen in his hand and stood at attention. Saluting .

   "Take a break and go about your own business."

Li Jianyang gave an order, threw the whip on the table, turned around and stood in front of the map with his hands on his waist, but the voice came over: "Bring me a big cup of hot coffee, who else will explain to me? , how is the situation on the battlefield today?"

"I'll come." Colonel Keynes, the deputy chief of staff of the division, came over, pointed to a hilly area on the map in front of him, and said; "From 9 o'clock last night to 8 o'clock this morning, the 103rd Division of the French Army in front of us The 56th Division and the 56th Division launched successive attacks. We concentrated three artillery regiments to provide fire support. At present, a gap of 2.7 kilometers has been opened. The French have entered the German front, and the two sides are now fighting fiercely.

   We sent in reinforcements from the New Zealand Brigade, and now the French 125th Division is closing in on us and is expected to arrive in an hour and then go into battle.

  The 11th Division of the German Army plus two regiments had a total of about 22,000 troops. They suffered heavy losses and suffered more than half of the casualties. They are still stubbornly resisting, but they can't last long. "

   "Well, how many reserves do you have?"

   "We also have a tank regiment and a South African brigade in our hands, and the French have at least two infantry regiments in their hands, waiting for the moment to prepare a fatal blow to the enemy."

   "Don't wait, as the attacking side, we suffered more casualties. We ordered the 3rd Tank Battalion to attack, and the South African Brigade dispatched an infantry regiment to follow along to attack, along the gap opened by the Tank Battalion, to kill the German 11th Division in one fell swoop."

   "Commander, our expeditionary force doesn't have many tanks."

"what time is it now?"

   "Report, Commander, it's 8:27 am."

   "Well, there will be a batch of Mark 2 and 3 tanks arriving in Marseille in the near future. Now is not the time to use them." Li Jianyang tapped the hilly area on the map with his hand and said firmly;

   "Report immediately to the French 6th Army and the British Expeditionary Force Command;

Our department will invest in the tank and armored units, and launch a resolute assault together with the 103rd and 56th divisions of the French army. At 9:30 in the morning, the 11th division of the German army and its affiliated units will be wiped out, and then they will attack the northwest along the opened gap and circle the front line. The rear of the German army launched a fierce attack.

   Cooperate with the neighboring troops to defeat the stubbornly resisting German troops, ask the French 125th Division to follow up in time, and also attack the northwest along the gap we opened to strengthen the attack and completely destroy the German first army defense line. "

   Li Jianyang slammed his hand on the map, his eyes showing an extremely fierce light.

He is a mercenary who grew up in the desert of West Asia. He has experienced countless life and death crises, and there is no lack of ruthlessness in his bones; "I can't do it. Fill up the fuel and ammunition, wait until the third tank battalion breaks the enemy's defense line, and give me a good performance to kill the people behind the German defense line. already."

   "As ordered, Your Excellency."

   (end of this chapter)