Chapter 232

Joffre, who has a double beard and a dull and taciturn personality, looks like a heavy-set man. When facing Neville, he seems less calm. As the commander-in-chief of the French army, he has the loss of Verdun.

An unshirkable responsibility.

Verdun is the gateway to Paris, and its strategic location cannot be overemphasized. Now that Verdun is in the hands of the Germans, a condescending situation has taken shape. If God hadn't been on the side of the French, Paris would have been lost.

Now Joffre has two main tasks. The first is to launch the Battle of the Somme as soon as possible, and the second is how to defend Paris. In this situation, military strength has become a weakness. It will definitely be too late to mobilize troops, and we can only rely on ready-made

Troops. The German army will not give France too much time to prepare. As long as the weather clears and the German army's logistics operations are completed, a more violent attack will be in front of them. There is really not much time left for the French army to prepare. They will land in France at this time.

The Chinese ** team appears to be more important.

Xiafei's understanding of the Chinese ** team is different from that of Neville. It is not a very ancient understanding. It is made up of negative words such as barbaric, backward, dirty, etc. For those who once had the opportunity to interact with the Chinese **

Xiafei, the current commander-in-chief of the French army who had experienced defeat in the Sino-French war, still had little expectations for the Chinese. So he asked Neville to meet the chief officer of the Chinese army.

Instead of asking the government to come out, the military can send any liaison officer.

"What do the Chinese look like?" Xiafei asked proactively. Neville was somewhat surprised by the officer's attitude, but he still answered seriously: "If it weren't for the military uniforms and Oriental faces, I would have thought they were German soldiers.

Of course, this is probably because most of them were trained with the help of the German army. They are well-equipped, well-trained, and have strict military discipline. After a long journey, they still look very energetic. All in all, these are very professional soldiers who are worth looking forward to.

."

"You mean, if they want, they can start from Marseille now?" Xiafei was also surprised, because Neville compared the German army to the Chinese army, which was a high degree of affirmation.

"Yes, sir, that's it. But their commanders have been complaining that a lot of equipment our government promised them has not been delivered yet. They have been worried that without these necessary equipment, they will fall into trouble when facing the German army.

Huge passivity." Along the way, Neville's ears were calloused by Cai E and Zhang Xiaohuai. Although these two young commanders looked young, they had the introverted characteristics of Orientals. Their complaints were still very

Implicitly, I just kept analyzing the equipment and tactics of the German army in the train carriage, as well as possible attack routes in the future, etc.

"I have to say that these two Chinese commanders did a lot of preparations before the war. Their understanding of the German army exceeds that of most French officers." Neville added, saying this.

It's a bit of a slap in the face, but it's definitely true. The French are very arrogant, and so is the French army. But when it comes to the German army, they can't raise their arrogance at all. More than a year has passed since the war, and the French army has suffered a lot from the German army.

Especially when they were the attacking party, their equipment disadvantages became even more prominent. In almost every attack, the price paid by the French army could be described as huge.

Of course, these are General Neville's personal perceptions. Neville, who is more aggressive, appreciates the offensive tactical qualities displayed by the Chinese officers. Especially the Chinese people clearly pointed out that intensive

Formation is no longer suitable for modern warfare, and the era of skirmishing formation has arrived.

"The Chinese have just defeated the Japanese in the Far East. They have just experienced the baptism of a war. As the victors of the war, the combat effectiveness shown by the Chinese is surprising." Xiafei also expressed his affirmation and touched his beard.

, Xiafei said again: "Help them get their equipment, go and supervise it yourself. In addition, I will host a banquet for these two Chinese officers in the evening. You can tell them that I hope their rest period will be shortened to two weeks."

."

"Yes, the Chinese have sent out their most elite troops, and we should have confidence in them."

Despite the tight front line, the French government decided to hold a grand welcome reception. The venue was Bordeaux, the seat of the provisional government. After Cai E and Zhang Xiaohuai met Xiafei in Paris, they made a small request for Xiafei's request, hoping to

The rest period was extended to one month. Xiafei expressed his understanding and invited the two to have dinner.

Xia Xiang and Feng Hua met two officers coming out of a hotel. After going up to salute, Cai E smiled and said to the two of them: "Thank you for your hard work!" After being polite, Cai E said to Feng Hua: "Air Force

We need to take the first step. The area where our army will be stationed has been determined, Saint Meneourde. The air force will go there first to settle down and conduct appropriate aerial reconnaissance. If it is not necessary, do not come in and reveal that our army has been stationed in Saint Meneourde."

"Understood, I will go back and prepare now. We can set off tomorrow." Feng Hua was refreshed after hearing the order.

The cruelty of war is not only reflected in the bloodshed. Zhang Jingyao soon understood why this French woman sold her body. This woman's name was Sophie, a very common name. In fact, her name was very long, so Zhang Jingyao

I remembered these two words, so I called her that. Language is often not a barrier between men and women. After completing a feat of conquering a foreign woman (in his own opinion), Zhang Jingyao left with weak legs.

French women are very energetic, so Zhang Jingyao naturally never forgets this woman, and comes over to have a romantic relationship whenever he has time. Sophie's husband died in the first month of the war, leaving behind two children, supported by government pensions

After half a year, this family without a man could no longer survive. With two children to take care of, and Sophie being uneducated, she had no choice but to sell her daughter.

The war caused skyrocketing prices and shortages of supplies, making it difficult for ordinary people to live. The arrival of the Chinese brought some opportunities to the surrounding local people to earn money and food. In fact, asking for money was of no use to Sophie's family.

Big. Food shortage is the biggest pressure this family faces, so Zhang Jingyao brings enough food every time he comes.

A month passed quickly, and it was still very cold in early March in France. When he got off the woman's bed again, Zhang Jingyao hesitated for a moment, took out all the money in his pocket, and placed it on the bedside.

The woman on the bed looked at him puzzledly. In the past month, this Chinese man has brought more than just the hope of survival to the family. Sophie even relied a little on this person who would never let her down every time.

man.

"The troops have received orders and will set off in three days to fight the Germans on the front line. I don't know if they can come back after this. You can keep the money." In fact, Sophie didn't understand a word of it.

But she just understood what this man meant.

Sophie seemed to have seen the scene before her husband went off to war once, and the tears couldn't help falling, sliding down her white neck and falling on the softness like snowballs.

"I don't want your money, you must come back alive." Shaking his head vigorously, Zhang Jingyao still couldn't understand what Sophie said, but he also knew what she meant. After putting on his military uniform, Zhang Jingyao straightened his clothes and said with a smile.

: "I am a soldier and I came to Europe to fight on behalf of the Chinese people. I cannot lose the face of the Chinese people."

Lifting the quilt, regardless of the chill of early spring, the naked Sophie jumped out of the bed, hugged this foreign man and cried bitterly. While crying, she cursed the war. This damn war took away a man from her, and now

Another one is going to be taken away. Well, for the past month, Sophie has been doing Zhang Jingyao’s business.

Chinese lovers are generous and gentle. They are rare lovers. Sophie was very interested because she had to worry about life again. She must know that in the past month, this man meant that the family of three had no worries about food and clothing.

Zhang Jingyao broke away from the woman's arms, hesitated for a moment when he picked up the coat, put the coat on the woman and said: "You can keep these clothes to wear, your windbreaker is already mended. Wait for me to come back, three at most."

Yue, I'll come back to you." Holding out three fingers, Sophie understood what he meant and nodded vigorously.

The central government officer left. Before dark, a soldier came, brought a lot of food, put down the food and left. Sophie didn't know that the central government officer had exchanged all the half-year subsidies for food.

Left to this foreign woman, Sophie sat on the ground and cried loudly in front of the two bags filled with cans and biscuits.

On March 5, 1916, in the morning! The Chinese Expeditionary Force left Marseille and embarked on a journey to Saint-Ménéourde.

Verdun was unusually calm this morning. Before the morning fog had dispersed, a plane had already flown over Verdun. This plane was obviously different from the French man-made plane. It was waiting quietly in the departure area.

The German armored assault group is making final pre-war preparations. According to intelligence, the British and French coalition forces are about to launch a large-scale attack along the Somme River within a few days.

In order to get ahead of the British and French armies, the German General Staff decided to launch a powerful attack from the breakthrough point of Verdun and conquer Paris in one fell swoop. As the main force in this battle, the armored assault group commanded by Bob was the strongest main force.

"Sir, Chinese planes." There are dozens of tanks hidden in the woods. Commander Bob is holding a telescope and looking at the planes flying in the sky. The adjutant knows that his commander has special feelings for the Chinese, so

Asked in a low voice.
Chapter completed!