Chapter 235 Three Major Events (1)

"Achievements are fleeting! The most taboo for a general is hesitation!" This sentence was written in the booklet Fang Jianxiong gave to Bob. Thirty hours have passed since last night, and the soldiers of the entire assault group

, not even a sip of hot soup.

But Bob knew very well that the success or failure of the battle depended on this.

"Pass my order, the troops will rest for a while and launch the attack at two o'clock in the morning." After Bob gave the order, he breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a small book with badly worn edges from his pocket, which contained the words Fang Jianxiong.

Handwritten content.

"No matter what, we are all brothers." Reciting silently in his heart, Bob carefully put the booklet away.

The French army misjudged the German army's intentions and believed that the German army would not launch an attack in the dark. Because it was unclear how many German troops there were in the dark, the French army did not dare to take the initiative. After all, there was only one division. According to

Intelligence showed that this German assault group had at least 300 tanks and three cavalry divisions. In fact, at this time, on this section of the road, German troops were intermittently on their way. The tank group was advancing too fast.

, other troops simply cannot keep up.

Bob was lucky. During the break, fifty more tanks arrived, and a regiment of cavalry and a regiment of infantry also caught up. The cavalry and infantry division commanders who were lagging behind decided to form a small detachment and bring them with them.

Running low on fuel, they chased the tank group ahead.

This decision helped Bob a lot. Most of his tank troops were out of fuel and could last for half an hour at most. When the team arrived, Bob decided to postpone the attack for an hour so that the tanks could replenish fuel.

The small team did not bring much fuel, and could only sustain each tank for one hour of fighting. But this was enough, and Bob did not have time. He had just received a call from Ludendorff, at least three French infantry divisions.

We were rushing from Reims to Lavov. At this time, Bob only had 350 tanks, one cavalry regiment and one infantry regiment, and the tanks were seriously short of ammunition. The team only brought fuel and a small amount of

ammunition.

The train stopped, and I was used to the sound of banging, banging, but suddenly it stopped, and Leng Yu woke up. The military train provided by the French was a tank car, and only one passenger car was attached to the military level. According to the tradition of the National Defense Forces, the officers and soldiers were in unison.

, Leng Yu chose to take the tank car, leaving the passenger car compartment to be occupied by medical staff and the medicines and equipment they carried.

As the elite of the National Defense Forces, Leng Yu's special operations division undoubtedly acted as the vanguard, and the Fifth Army also became the vanguard general. "What the hell! As soon as the car door opened, the cold wind rushed in." Zhang Zuolin said.

The sound broke the silence in the carriage. In early spring in France, the chill was thick in the early morning.

The three division commanders of the former National Defense Force formed the Fifth Army Headquarters, and the three of them took turns on night shift. Leng Yu got up from the camp bed and glanced at the bed next door. Chief of Staff Xu Chongzhi was no longer on the bed.

"Brother Yuting, where is the chief of staff? Where are you?" Leng Yu asked habitually. When it comes to leading troops in war, Leng Yu is not bad at all. But when it comes to coordinating the overall situation, Xu Chongzhi is better than Leng Yu.

Much better. After all, he graduated from the regular Army Sergeant School, and what he learned in Japan was not just about fighting.

"We've arrived in Orleans. The train has been stopped for almost an hour and a half. The train station is in a mess and the person in charge can't be found at all." Xu Chongzhi's voice came from outside the car door, and Zhang Zuolin quickly reached out to pull Xu Chongzhi up.

"Thank you for your hard work for my brother." Leng Yu said quickly. He was sleeping, but Xu Chongzhi was not idle.

"It's not a big deal if it's hard work. The military situation is like a raging fire. The French don't know what happened. The dispatcher at the station repeatedly emphasized that we have to wait. I don't know the specific reason, but he probably doesn't know. I asked the station manager, and he didn't know at all.

He couldn't find it, he said he was called by the military and didn't know what was going on."

Just as he was talking, a southbound train roared past. When Zhang Zuolin saw this, he cursed: Malaba Zi, how many times have these been? They are all southbound trains, and the northbound trains are all blocked here. "

Xu Chongzhi said solemnly: "I noticed that we are not the only ones blocked here."

Zhang Zuolin added: "The leading group called, and they were blocked at a small station in front."

Leng Yu remained silent, staring at the dark night outside. There were people waiting everywhere on the platform.

"The train going north has to give way to the train going south. I feel something is wrong and I can't wait any longer. Give the order and let the troops get off the train and rush to Paris on foot." Leng Yu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said this. Xu Chongzhi

Both Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Zuolin were a little puzzled. Zhang Zuolin said directly: "We came to France to help. The French are not in a hurry, so why are we anxious? From here to Paris, it is more than 100 kilometers and takes at least two days of walking. Also

What should I do with so much equipment?”

Xu Chongzhi hesitated for a moment, looked at Leng Yu who looked anxious and said: "Xiaohua (Leng Yu), why don't I take another trip and see if the French can provide some cars."

Leng Yu shook his head and said: "Don't count on it, I promise not. It doesn't matter if the French lose the battle, the plan to support the commander cannot be hindered. In this way, the special operations division will have few heavy equipment. I will personally lead the special operations division to Paris, and the artillery regiment will stay.

Down."

The remaining two people looked at each other. Zhang Zuolin hesitated to speak. Xu Chongzhi directly denied it: "No, you are the supreme commander of the Fifth Army. It is not your turn to lead the special warfare division first. It's better for me to go."

When Zhang Zuolin heard this, he immediately said: "Don't argue. I am the deputy commander. According to the rules, I should be the one to go."

Leng Yu was about to speak, but Xu Chongzhi was the first to say, "That's it. Xiaohua will stay behind and take charge of the military headquarters. I will go to negotiate with the French. Yu Ting will lead the special warfare division to take the first step."

Leng Yu could only nod his head and said: "That's it. Marde, I heard Fu Shuai say before coming here that the French people's organizational skills are very bad, and some inexplicable things often happen. I didn't expect it to be this bad."

The three officers of the Fifth Army had no idea that the reason why they were giving way to the southbound train was because the French were rushing to transport cultural relics from Paris. The reason was very simple. On March 6, after a whole day of fierce fighting, the German army launched an attack overnight.

, as of 12 o'clock in the evening, the French army in Saint-Ménéourde was divided and surrounded into two large pieces, and the army group commanded by Pétain was in danger. Jiafei was in danger.

After deploying French reinforcements to the Champagne defense line, the situation of the war changed too quickly. General Pedro, the savior of France in parallel history, and his Second Army and some reinforcements, it was difficult to restore the war situation in this time and space. Although he is still persisting

However, it was difficult for Pétain to reverse the situation. Under this situation, the French government accelerated the transfer of cultural relics from Paris.

This is a phenomenon that is difficult for Easterners to understand. In a crisis during the war, cultural relics were transported first. The troops heading north had to make way for the cultural relics. Only after the war did the three of them know that a senior official in the French government believed that even if the Chinese ** troops could reach the battlefield

, they may not be able to play a big role. They may be worse than the French militia.

When the Fifth Army made march adjustments, Pétain also made a decision that was hailed as saving the French army after the war. Pétain ordered the army to be divided into two parts, leaving one corps to stay in Saint-Ménéourde and continue to hold on.

, other troops withdrew south to Saint-Dizier. There is no doubt that this decision saved the Second Army. After the retreat, the main force of the French Second Army and other units could threaten the German flanks in future battles. Stability

By controlling the situation on the French Western Front, even if Paris fell, the French army could still hold on.

Pétain's retreat direction was beyond the expectations of the German army. Ludendorff's prediction was that Pétain would retreat towards Paris. However, Pétain did not make such a decision, and instead retreated south, towards the relatively difficult road.

direction to retreat.

Although Pétain achieved surprise, wars are not won by retreat.

In the early morning of March 7, three major events occurred on the entire front. The first event was that the tank assault group commanded by Bob launched an attack on Lavov. Without any artillery preparation, the tank charge began.

The second thing is that the Special Operations Division of the Fifth Army of the First Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, led by Deputy Commander Zhang Zuolin, rushed to Paris on foot.

The third thing was that Pétain ordered to abandon Saint-Ménéourde and retreat south.

These three major events are known as the three most important events on the Western Front in 1916. Of course, this statement is from the Germans. According to the order of the French, Pétain’s decision should be ranked first. According to China

In human terms, the special operations division's disembarkation ranks first.

At 4:30 in the morning, Bob gave the order to attack. Three hundred and fifty tanks lined up in a cone and rushed towards Lavov. The French army was not prepared for a night battle, and in the darkness it was unclear how many German troops were coming. The German troops

The tanks of the French army easily ran over the square defense line built by the French army without encountering many fierce battles. A reporter accompanying the French army introduced it this way: "There were people everywhere.

It was the German tanks that were chasing the French infantry like rabbits. In front of the tanks, the panicked infantry dropped their weapons and fled in all directions. At 5:30, a German commando consisting of thirty tanks rushed in.

The headquarters of the French 51st Infantry Division. The division commander, Major General Vic, judged that the troops had been surrounded and there was no point in continuing to fight, so he ordered the troops to surrender."

The entire battle lasted less than three hours, and Lavove was captured by the Germans. An entire French infantry division and many companies did not fire a shot. The French suffered less than 300 casualties and took as many as 10,000 prisoners.

This battle was cited repeatedly by later military historians as a classic textbook on armored group assault tactics. The name Bob was also mentioned repeatedly, and the Germans hailed him as the originator of "Blitzkrieg." Although Bob himself repeatedly

Emphasize that the core idea of ​​this tactic comes from

Mr. Fang Jianxiong, the greatest military strategist of our time, but this sentence is automatically ignored in military textbooks in Western countries. The Chinese are just the opposite. They constantly use Bob’s words to prove the wisdom of Marshal Fang. (To be continued. Please
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