De Gaulle himself was also surprised that in the last heroic battle on the Marne River, he was only slightly injured... A month later, he was kicked out of the hospital and accepted a new appointment.
He is now in charge of a liaison group composed of Chinese translators, responsible for coordinating actions between the French army and the Chinese army - although the French army's high command is currently borrowing the Chinese command and communication system, the tactics between the grassroots troops
Coordination still relies on people like de Gaulle to use relatively primitive methods.
That's why de Gaulle enjoyed the cold wind with snowflakes in the wilderness just before Christmas.
A force that had just been transferred from China was suddenly deployed behind the French lines last night - which is where de Gaulle was at this time. The Chinese did not notify the French army of their actions, and even the French troops who shared the same headquarters with the Chinese
The military headquarters was completely unaware of this. All the generals in the headquarters were sleeping at home, and the staff officers on duty did not dare to disturb the Chinese Expeditionary Force President Marshal Lin Youde and his already well-known brave wife, so de Gaulle had to crawl out of his wife's gentle home.
He got up and led his few subordinates to their current location.
After a busy night, De Gaulle knew a few things: First, the Chinese were building a position. De Gaulle had studied artillery, and he could tell at a glance that the core part of the position was a firing base for some kind of heavy artillery.
Judging from the solidity of the seat, this kind of gun is not much smaller than the giant howitzer used by the German army to bombard the Verdun Fortress.
Second, the Chinese don't want the news to leak out. They seem to have some secrets.
De Gaulle had some understanding of the number of Chinese troops deployed in France, so he completely did not understand the significance of this group of Easterners' move - heavy artillery of this level should be an offensive weapon, used to launch shrapnel attacks
The charging enemy infantry is too wasteful, and the fire speed of this heavy artillery must be horribly low. It is not suitable to attack the enemy's front line in motion - that is the task of rapid fire artillery.
This kind of heavy artillery can only be used for offense, but the Chinese do not have enough troops to launch an attack.
Or do the Chinese think that just one reinforced division can tear apart the German defense line?
If that were the case, de Gaulle thought, when the Chinese naval power surpassed that of the British, they would set out to conquer the world.
No. They may already be conquering the world, with their money and culture.
De Gaulle read a lot of books about China in his hospital bed, reading everything from the criticisms of the Yellow Peril theorists to the praise of pro-China factions. From these contradictory remarks, De Gaulle gradually came to a conclusion based on his own personal experience.
expressed his own opinion.
The country of the Federation of China is promoting its own values.
When they swallowed up their neighbors, they still used a relatively crude way. But soon, they would swallow up more land with gentle and drizzle methods. Australians are already envious of the federal way of life, and the Aztecs are
The slogan of national equality in the federation was flocked to - de Gaulle witnessed with his own eyes the scene of Indians and federal soldiers fighting side by side on the battlefield and being as close as brothers, so he firmly believed that it was only a matter of time before the federation had a confederate province in the Americas.
In addition, with the heroic fighting of the federal army in France, more and more French people will regard the Federation as a friendly country.
De Gaulle smelled conspiracy. He learned from his classmates that the Chinese's next target was the Ottoman Empire's rich provinces in the deserts of the Middle East, and Lin Youde believed that the European battlefield would enter a stalemate stage in the future. So Lin Youde continued
The act of investing troops in Europe is very unreasonable.
But if this is a way to win over the French people and prepare for the future expansion of the Chinese Federation, then it all makes sense.
Of course, the French are different from the Indians. It may be very difficult to win France into the federation. But de Gaulle always felt that the Chinese have the patience: their history lasts for five thousand years, which is longer than the history of all European powers.
It all adds up to a long time, and now it seems that time is on their side.
"But we have God." Thinking of this, de Gaulle comforted himself in a low voice.
At this moment, de Gaulle heard the roar of machinery.
It was the sound of something rolling over the snow-covered ground. It should be the arrival of Chinese artillery. De Gaulle stood up from the campfire, walked out of the barely functional canvas roof, and looked in the direction of the sound.
As a result, his expression became more confused.
He saw several tanks.
**
"Morning." After the tanks were deployed, a Chinese officer who looked like an officer came to the small shed where de Gaulle was and greeted him in English. De Gaulle still couldn't distinguish the weird military rank insignia of the Chinese. He only knew the gecko-like one.
The thing was a general, and the rank of the young officer in front of him was completely unrecognizable to him.
Probably a school official.
"Morning." De Gaulle also responded to the strange officer in English.
"It's so cold. It's really unfortunate that we have to go on a mission at this time." As he said that, the officer put the strange prop in his hand on the ground and pulled it. The prop turned into a small stool.
At this time, the officer noticed de Gaulle's gaze, so he explained with a smile: "The official English name of this thing is 'Joint Advanced High Mobility Multi-Purpose Light Individual Low Profile Posture Maintenance System Hip Support Unit Assembly', but we usually call it
...Uh, I don't know how to translate it into English, the transliteration is 'mazha'..."
De Gaulle looked at the Chinese official very speechlessly. In fact, he couldn't remember the long list of English words just now. He just felt that he was in a bunker.
"Hahahaha," the Chinese looked at de Gaulle's face and laughed. He patted de Gaulle's shoulder very familiarly and said, "This is a consistent trick of the people in the Equipment Development Department - no, it should be said
This is Mr. Lin's usual trick. No matter how simple something is, it must have a very complicated-looking official English translation, just to fool you, the great powers."
The Chinese pointed behind him: "For example, this 'tank' in Chinese is just two very simple words, two syllables. It is said to be an inversion of the abbreviation of 'the smooth road leading to victory over the enemy', but the English name is
'Multifunctional Ground Armored Assault Unit', and then the simple translation published by Mr. Hergé is called 'Cavalry', which is full of medieval aesthetics and romance, but in fact none of it can accurately describe this weapon."
De Gaulle looked at the Chinese, then turned his attention to the 'tank' behind him that was raising its barrel.
"So, what exactly is that? Why are these tanks deployed in a place like this?"
The Chinese raised his hand and looked at his watch.
"Well, it's already this time, so there should be no need to keep it secret." After speaking, the Chinese looked back at his subordinates who were busy, "These tanks can indeed play the role of ordinary tanks, but that would be a waste of them.
Equipped with electromagnetic cannons. Just think of these guys as artillery. Today the Kaiser is going to inspect the German core position in Conner. They have built a new fortress there. We are going to attack the Kaiser when he is about to arrive.
Destroy that fortress."
De Gaulle couldn't help but frown. He was an excellent officer and could recite the key points of the entire display.
"That place is fifty kilometers away from here! What are you going to do...oh, are you going to use shelling?"
"That's right, these big guys behind me can launch three-ton artillery shells fifty kilometers away." The Central Military Officer said with a very proud look, and then he very proudly stretched his pale hand into the fire
on the fire, very proudly.
"Three-ton artillery shells..." De Gaulle muttered to himself while looking at the Chinese weapons again. Originally, he thought that the Chinese official in front of him was bragging. After all, Easterners are very cunning, but when he looked at it,
I happened to see the Chinese using a crane to lift shells for tanks.
A shell of that size would probably put it to shame even the naval gun shells of the French Navy.
At this time, the Chinese were still explaining enthusiastically: "Originally, the tank's own loading system can only fill up to 300 kilograms of shells, and generally fires 100 kilograms or even smaller warheads..."
"The size of the warhead can actually be adjusted?"
"Of course, because the width of the firing track is adjustable. If standard ammunition is fired, it can reach a firing speed of 20 rounds per minute. In other words, the firepower of one such tank is equivalent to that of one of your artillery batteries.
Moreover, the tank itself can be maneuvered cross-country at very high speeds as long as it is stowed away. Although I may be bragging a bit myself, but... this is really a great weapon."
Not only is it great, de Gaulle thought, this thing is simply amazing.
"It's a pity," the Chinese sighed, "the cost is just terrible."
"Cost?"
"Of course, the money to build one of these can arm a Class A division, and there's still some left over."
As he spoke, the Chinese took out a small package wrapped in tinfoil from his pocket, slapped it hard a few times, and rubbed it again, so that the tinfoil package swelled up in front of de Gaulle.
"Oh, it's so hot, so hot."
The Chinese roll the small package back and forth between their hands.
"what is that?"
"'All-weather automatic heating individual soldier comprehensive ration set high-calorie version'."
As he spoke, the Chinese tore open a small opening in the small parcel, and a strong aroma wafted out from the opening.
"Damn!" The Chinese said, checking the font on the package, and then cursed in Chinese that de Gaulle couldn't understand, "I got the wrong lunch bag! It's Sichuan food! I hate spicy food...
…”
With that said, the Chinese stood up, said a hasty goodbye to de Gaulle, and walked towards their baggage train.
De Gaulle took a sip of coffee.
At this time, a Chinese translator who had been silent next to him whispered: "I don't want to fight with such an army, not at all. Their logistics level alone makes me feel that we are not on the same level."
De Gaulle did not answer and continued to drink his coffee.