On the battlefield between Europe East, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire failed to achieve the expected strategic goals, but instead suffered heavy losses.

Since the end of the German-French War in Miannian, Lorraine has been the focus of hatred between France and Germany. France is determined to retake Lorraine, and as soon as the war begins, it launches a large-scale attack on the German-French border.

Although Lorraine was an important battlefield at the beginning of World War I, it was not the only combat area. Compared with the German advance to Belgium and the Austro-Hungarian team's destruction of Serbia, it naturally dwarfed it. France's mistake, which has always been the center of war, has reduced its strategic value.

In addition, since the beginning of the year of milk, European military academics have also undergone great changes. Artillery has become the main weapon of destruction and together with machine guns, dominating the battlefield. The army is very large, and when it is spread out, it can form a frontal across the northern part of France, like the kind of maneuver that has been carried out in previous wars is no longer possible.

If the front of a unit is a swamp or a strong support point for the enemy, since the space on the left and right sides has been occupied by its neighbors, he has no other way than to make a breakthrough. It is rare to detour to the enemy's exposed flanks, because its troops have usually formed a long front from the English Channel to Switzerland, becoming a situation of comprehensive defense.

Before the war began, the French army once again changed the sanctions and changed the defense to attack, and various events occurred, forcing them to retreat to the original defensive situation. After the miserable defeat in Milk Year, the French General Staff planned to "if there was another war with Germany, they would first implement defense in the border fortress and then launch a counterattack. However, a few years before the old and old years, the French theory advocated attack. So a new plan was formulated, requiring direct attack to the Saar River through the Lorraine region. If Germany attacked through Belgium and Luxembourg, France would attack across the Ardennes while advancing from the Lorraine region.

Schlieffen announced German goals in the first place, which was originally planned to gather large numbers of troops on the right wing and sweep across Belgium and northern France with lightning speed. The German left wing pretended to be weak to lure the French army to attack in the direction of the Rhine, deviating from the decisive sweep of Belgium. After Schlieffen's death, Germany's plan was modified and the forces in the left wing, namely the Lorraine region were strengthened.

At the beginning of the war, the French army had a field gun that was unmatched by the German army and was fast-fired, but the German army had an advantage in the equipment of heavy howitzers and was ahead of the development of machine guns.

On the 7th, the French Army's 2nd Army and the left wing of the army attacked the Sar River, and at the same time assisted to Alsace through the various entrances of the Belford Pass and Huri Mountain.

Because the German army pushed all the main force and bargaining chips to the right wing, although the left wing strengthened, it was still mainly defense and feint attack. The French army invaded. The German army was forced to retreat from the border to a solid position on the outer side of the east bank of the Moselle River, as well as a swamp to the east of the position, thus controlling the Metz-Strasbourg railway line.

The French army, the left wing of the army advanced between the Xianri Mountains and the swamps in the south of Dez, reaching the deep ditch of the Salshir and the Sal River, but when it tried to pass through the deep ditch, it was ambushed by the German army and therefore had to retreat. The French army's second army used a reserve division to feint on the ridge east of the Mosel River, and dispatched a military force to rush along the open ridge to the city of Dez.

On the right wing of the 2nd Army, three armies advanced in the swamp, hoping to get out of the swamp from the north and attack along the east bank of the Saar River to detour the German positions. The army in the swamp was separated by the terrain into many small groups and could not forcibly reach the north exit. The other two armies in the open valley were killed by German artillery fire.

On August 2018, Bavarian troops gathered in the forest on the top of the mountain to counterattack it. The French army was held in the valley and could not hold on. The French Army's 2nd Army retreated to the mountain east of the Moselle River. The French Army's left wing was slow to cross the river. Finally, it stopped at the line of the Modigan River that extended east to the Xiangri Mountains.

The failure of the French offensive brought their troops in Lorraine back to the original defense plan. The defense in eastern France was based on the fortifications of the Meuse-Moselle line in Lorraine and the Erbinar-Belfo line in the Huri Mountains. The Chames Valley between these lines was not fortified to lure the Germans to attack along this narrow route, making it susceptible to counterattacks from the Huri Mountains or the highlands east of the Moselle River.

After the German 6th Army defeated the French Army and the 2nd Army, the German Command changed its mission from defense to attack. They no longer used one wing to encircle from the right wing through Belgium, but sent the 6th Army through Lorraine on its left wing to carry out an offensive, attempting to encircle from both wings.

In August, the 6th German Army advanced south along the Chamsch Valley. The German army fell into the trap set in the French original defense plan. The German army's front and right wing in the Chamsch Valley were bombarded by dense artillery companies on the overlooking high ground. At the same time, the 2nd French Army fought back fiercely and the Western Wing, and the 6th German Army was forced to retreat.

The Germans realized that the high ground east of the Moselle River must be seized before advancing along the Chams Valley, and then he captured the cliffs in the north and south of Nantin. The two platforms facing east were stony slopes, which were cut or a series of natural prisms and curtain walls.

In the corner of the steep slope, the forest around the top of the steep slope covered the French artillery and troops, and concealed its observation post. The German army gathered a large number of soldiers in the large forests of the lowlands around Lüneville and Nancy, and attacked the highlands to the west. However, when the German infantry left the forest, the French artillery smashed the impact. French gunners showed that trees evenly separated along the low roads were excellent test shots.

On Butterfly Day, the German army's last attempt to seize the highlands was frustrated and retreated to the border, so Lorraine became relatively quiet for the rest of the war. The border war between Germany and France became a confrontational position war, and no one could do anything to anyone.

The German army carried out frontal assaults on the enemy's land on the sloping slopes of Lorraine, as in the case of the hunger years, with no effect. The only difference is that in the old and old years, machine guns and improved artillery paid a greater price. Moreover, in the old and old years, the frontal assault was used to drag the enemy to the side without detouring its flanks. At that time, the size, military technology and terrain of the army were extremely beneficial to the defense of the Lorraine region. However, compared with the four years, the two sides of the war had to feel more about using forests to assemble areas or cover troops.

However, during the German-French border war, France overestimated Belgium's resistance. On the right-wing battlefield on the Western Front, the German army occupied the entire Belgium on August 12. The French Ninth Army, who came to help Belgium resist the German invasion, learned that Belgium was in Brussels and was forced to retreat to the French border before they could arrive.

Due to the idea of ​​Major Tang Cheng, a member of the Chinese Observation Group, the German vanguard quickly captured the Scarlet Fortress of Europe's No. 1 fortress, ten days in advance to open up the strategic purpose of a roundabout attack on northeastern France.

Major Tang Cheng, an observer of the Chinese Battlefield Observation Corps, made outstanding contributions to helping the German army capture the scorching sun fortress. German Emperor William II personally summoned him and awarded him a German cross to foreigners.

Tang Cheng was very excited when he looked at the king's portrait with the head of the king, with William II written on the bottom, and two sharp swords engraved on the back, and marked with the words "Small Sun" as a commemorative Iron Cross.

The Iron Cross Medal was a reward that the German side could only receive by virtue of its merits during wars. It was very rare in Germany. The medal in the portrait of King William II was a first-class medal, which was generally only available to the German lieutenant general or above. Tang Cheng received this medal as a foreigner and a small major. I don’t know how many German generals would be jealous of death.

However, Tang Cheng was just a little happy, and he understood it very much. In fact, it was the result of his own reunion of the motherland for him.

William II personally awarded him this medal, one point was to reward Tang Cheng's strategy, and nine points were to please China, hoping that China would stand on Germany's side in this war.

German Chief of Staff Moltke Xiao asked cordially: "Tang, I heard you are a student from the Imperial 6th Army Officer's School?" Tang Cheng nodded and replied: "Yes! I am a still-level graduate of the Palin 6th Army University. I majored in the infantry department!" Answer

William II said happily: "Pailin is your second hometown, I'm glad you can come back to help your hometown! I wonder if you have any position in your country?"

Tang Cheng knew that since they gave him a medal, he must have asked the Chinese side about his situation a long time ago, so there was no need for him to hide it.

He said now: "Before I came to Germany, I served as the major general staff officer of the General Staff of the 17th China Royal 6th Army."

Xiao Maoqi said in surprise: "It turns out that it is from the General Staff, no wonder he has such high tactical command capabilities."

"You're too rewarded!" Tang Cheng said: "In our General Staff, there are thousands of small staff like me, who are not as good as me. I am just a mess in it, and I am the lowest level. I usually just serve tea and water and clean it up. Compared to others, my insights are the worst! What I have learned is what I occasionally hear when other officials talk and have a meeting."

After hearing what Tang Cheng said, Moltke was envious, and William II was even more jealous, and his thoughts on winning over China to join the allies became stronger.

Xiao Maoqi said enviously: "Your country has a long history of culture and its glory for five thousand years, it is indeed full of talents. I wonder what Major Tang, you have about Germany's next battle deployment?"

Tang Cheng was not polite. He had been in Germany for five years and knew the habits of the Germans. He also wanted to establish his authority for the motherland and said now: "Your country's combat plan" I think it is already very good in strategy! But in tactical terms, I think there is still a lot of lack of it!"

Xiao Moltke asked, "Please speak!"

Tang Cheng said with a smile: "Your country's strategy is to use Lorraine, the most contradictory area with France, as bait to attract the main force of the French army. However, the right wing detours Belgium and hit Paris the heart of France with a right hook to achieve strategic goals. However, in the implementation process, it is too willing but not enough."

Xiao Maoqi sighed: "Yes! General Schriefen's plan ten years ago was very in place. However, ten years later, this plan could no longer meet the current situation. The population growth of France and Russia is much higher than that of Germany, and the number of troops is higher than that of Germany, so we have no more troops to use for this right hook punch."

Tang Cheng shook his head and said, "The problem is no longer here! The right hook punch is full of power, which is given to the German army by God!" 1. The most critical problem is that the degree is not enough! A small Belgium is wasted, five days, if it is carried out according to the original plan, it will take fifteen days to attack the scorching fortress. Before fighting with the French army, twenty days have been wasted. This degree cannot wield the power of the right hook punch. After giving the French enough time to prepare, the war will be in a stalemate."

"The problem is, we want to advance quickly, but heavy weapons cannot be transported quickly!"

Tang Cheng said: "Our Royal 6th Army has a tactic called blitzkrieg, which is a surprise attack. The rapid attacks are concentrated and combined to strike the enemy like lightning! It can cause the enemy to lose morale under the sudden threat, and thus collapse immediately under the first huge blow!"

Then induce: "I look at the tactics of all countries, and they all want to implement a fast attack decisive tactic similar to our blitzkrieg! However, except for the Balkan army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the rest of the others failed in the end. Why? The Balkan army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire failed in the previous raids of Serbia because their attack power and level were not enough. However, the last time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire used the aircraft and armored combat vehicles we provided to attack the Serbian army unexpectedly and defeated Serbia in one fell swoop."

Moltke and William II looked at each other. They also knew that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had captured Serbia after using Chinese fighter jets and armored vehicles. They had to believe it.

Xiao Moltke asked, "Then what do you mean?"

Tang Cheng said: "The German army has now become a stalemate with the French army in Lorraine. The remaining three places of Roden, Charleroi and Mons have become the key. As long as any place is broken, the French army will be defeated on the whole line. Therefore, the French army will fight with all its might."

Xiao Maoqi nodded and said, "We don't know where the main force of the French army is. Once we choose one as the breakthrough point, if we encounter the main force of the French army, it will be a stalemate, which is very unfavorable to us."

Tang Cheng smiled and said: "If the German army equipped our reconnaissance aircraft and fighter aircraft, plus armored infantry fighting vehicles, this right hook punch will hit the heart of France like lightning!"

Only then did William II and Moltke realize that Tang Cheng had a lot of feelings, just to sell Chinese military equipment and earn German money.

William II stood up and said, "It's getting dark so soon. I think Major Tang, you are tired today, why not go and have a rest first?"

Tang Cheng was so angry that he thought that William II was really in a state of no mood to mention money. He said immediately: "Foreign ministers sue for withdrawal!"

After Tang Cheng left, William II frowned and said, "China will be the empire's biggest enemy in the future!"

Xiao Maoqi nodded and said, "Yes, a small major and staff officer is so powerful that you can imagine China's war strength. Also, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was indeed able to capture Serbia after obtaining Chinese military equipment. The Austro-Hungarian Empire borrowed 5 billion yuan from China. With such a huge amount, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has completely become a slave to China.

The empire needs to be careful. But China's tactics and equipment are very good, and I'm already moved!"

William II said: "Our intelligence shows that China's exported weapons are weaker than the weapons currently in service and under research in the country, which is normal. The problem is that the weapons they exported to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, their ammunition and oil are all Chinese standards, and they rely entirely on China's ammunition and oil supply. Although the second-rate army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire became a first-class army after being equipped with advanced weapons. However, if China turns against each other and stops supplying ammunition and oil, the Austro-Hungarian team will be paralyzed. If the economy is controlled, there is no way, but if it is also controlled militarily, everything will be over."

"Your Majesty is saying! Little Moltke nodded and said, "What does your Majesty mean?"

William II said: "What Tang Cheng said is mixed with water, but the blitzkrieg he proposed has a great enlightenment for us, and we can consider this aspect. As for purchasing Chinese weapons, let's take a look at the situation first!"

"Yes!" Little Moltke received the order.

After the news of the German occupying Belgium reached France, the French government was shocked. After the German occupying Belgium, it would enter Paris, France in less than two weeks.

Therefore, the Supreme Military Commission of the United Front Work Department of France immediately held an emergency meeting to discuss tactical countermeasures to deal with the German flank attack on France. Xia Fei was the chief of the general staff of France, the commander of the French armies, and a lone radical.

At this time, the French army was fighting against the German army in Lorraine, Roden, Charleroi and Mons. The British Expeditionary Force participated in the battle in the Roden area. The total strength of both sides was nearly 500. The defeat at any place would lead to a defeat on the entire line.

The defeat in Lorraine's attack did not discourage Xia Fei. On the contrary, he saw that Ruprecht's fierce counterattack had caused the German left-wing force to be deeply trapped in a war. Therefore, this was a good opportunity for him to let go of the German middle lane. Xia Fei was released in the Arden Mountains day and night after learning that De Castelno had withdrawn from Morange. The attack from here was the core and basic strategy of the No. 17 Plan.
Chapter completed!