Compared with Italy's small fight in the Alps, the offensive of its ally Germany is much larger. After defeating Belgium and the British Expeditionary Force, the revolving door plan has entered a critical moment.
When millions of German troops crossed the Belgian-French border from Belgium and attacked France, the French army was extremely frightened. At this time, no one mentioned the No. 17 combat plan to attack Germany. The top priority now is to stop the German troops.
offensive.
As a result, the French army organized several battles in succession, such as the Battle of the Ardennes.
This battle was the result of the French General Staff's belief that since Germany was attacking from Belgium, there must be weak forces in the Ardennes region in the central region, and the French army's attack there would have a great chance of preventing the German army from continuing to advance into the interior of France.
As a result, the French Commander-in-Chief Joffre ordered Ruf's Third Army to march to the southern Ardennes, drive the German Fifth Army there back to the area from Metz to Thionville, and then encircle it, and at the same time recapture Brière.
Iron ore area. In addition, the French Fourth Army attacked from the northern Ardennes. Its mission was to encircle and annihilate the German Fourth Army. If these two armies were defeated, the German left and right wings would be divided.
From a strategic and tactical point of view, the French army has done a good job of cutting off the left and right wings of the German army. Then the revolving door will not be able to rotate and will be defeated by the French army one by one.
Unfortunately, the French army misestimated the strength of the German army. According to the French army's estimate, the two German armies should have the strength of 6 corps.
The French army's estimate was correct, but their news was delayed because the German army had four reserve armies joining the two armies. As a result, the troops originally prepared to attack the six German armies were forced to fight against ten armies of enemies. This
The number of people, weapons, and firepower are all much higher than the boss. It would be a miracle for him to win.
It was obvious that the French army failed to create a miracle. After being severely beaten by the German army, the French Third Army retreated to Verdun, while the French Fourth Army retreated to Sedan and Sternay.
Subsequently, the British, French and Belgian armies suffered successive defeats in the Battle of Mons and the Battle of the Sambre River. At this time, the three armies on the left wing of the French army had all been defeated, while the two armies on the right wing were still struggling to support themselves in Lorraine. At this time, the German right wing and center
The five armies were like a sickle, cutting from Belgium to France.
At this time, in order to prevent the British and French troops from gaining a foothold and to reorganize their defense lines in order to gain a breathing space, Kruger's First Army and Bülow's Second Army marched all the way to pursue the equally exhausted British and French troops.
Facing the German army that was struggling to pursue them, the British and French armies could only continue to send troops to carry out arduous and dangerous interceptions.
In fact, this is more like making the British and French troops continue to lose blood, because it is not easy to block the rear in this case. When a tired and panicked soldier hears you asking him to take charge of the rear, it is good that he does not aim his weapon at you.
Faced with the millions of German troops attacking from the right wing, Joffre, as the commander-in-chief of the French army, was of course also duty-bound. He then issued General Order No. 2, transferring troops from Lorraine to form a new 7th Army and deploy it
On the march of the German right wing.
At the same time, the three armies on the left wing that are retreating should also try their best to maintain a complete front line, with rearguard units conducting short and fierce counterattacks to block or at least hinder the enemy's advance, and be ready to restart the offensive.
We can see from Joffre's order that the French commander-in-chief still had the idea of attacking.
Of course, this idea is not obvious yet, because facing the sweeping posture of the German army, the French capital Paris has fallen into panic.
Some people in the government were calling Joffre an idiot and a fool, and some threatened to skin the Minister of War, Messimi. However, in the end, the Minister of War, Messimi, stepped down and was replaced by Millerand. At the same time, Michel, the commander of the Paris city defense,
General Er was also relieved of his duties, and his replacement was General Gallieni.
One more thing to say here is that Gallieni took office after the government promised to allocate three armies to his command. Yes, this new Paris city defense commander has such a personality.
Of course, it's not just that. The core force of the new Seventh Army, led by General Maunoury, mobilized troops from Lorraine, arrived in Paris by train, and then headed for the front.
At this time, the German right wing opened a 75-mile-wide strip and marched toward Paris in a mighty manner. At the forefront was the First Army led by General Kruger. The First Army was the end of the right wing in the Schlieffen Plan and was also the sickle.
The curved tip of the knife has the longest marching distance, and is also the one with the heaviest mission.
Of course, considering the heavy tasks and goals of the First Army, it also has the largest number of troops, equipment and transport vehicles.
Kruger's First Army had been pursuing the French Fifth Army. There were some sporadic battles during the pursuit, and this battle ended quickly with a crushing German attack. The French Fifth Army
The army group can be said to be running wildly all the way.
When Moltke, who was far behind, learned that the distance between the First Army and the Second Army was too large, he ordered Kluk to slow down his advance to ensure effective cover and coordination with the Second Army. But at this time Kluk
General Crosby was eager to fight. He ordered the German army to accelerate their advance and never give the French army a chance to breathe.
When the leading troops of the First Army were only fifteen kilometers away from Paris and could vaguely see the Eiffel Tower, he still ordered the troops to march southeast and continue to pursue the French Fifth Army.
In the face of the menacing German army, France was in panic. People in Paris went to banks to withdraw their deposits and rushed to the train station, starting a large-scale exodus. The French government and parliament also moved from Paris to Bordeaux in a panic.
There is a reason for France's panic. Since the German army invaded France, the French army has organized several large-scale resistances under the guidance of "Plan 17". However, the Battle of the Ardennes and the Battle of the Sambre River,
The Battle of Mons ended with the defeat of the French army. At this time, the German offensive seemed to be invincible. The French people no longer had much hope for the French army.
No matter what the results of past battles were, with the current enemy, defending the capital was an urgent matter. The French General Staff appointed the mature and steady veteran Gallielli to take charge of the defense of Paris during the crisis. Gallieri was ordered to build defenses around Paris at the critical moment.
While building fortifications, they were in full readiness; at the same time, they paid close attention to the latest trends of the German army and looked for fighter opportunities.
When he discovered that the German First Army showed no signs of launching an attack on Paris, but instead continued to advance southeast of Paris alone, he was ecstatic: "They are bringing their flanks to the door!"
His judgment was confirmed by the British and French pilots the next day. In other words, the German army at this time had been dazzled by the victory, and its impatience and rashness caused a big hole in its front.
Gallieri identified this rare opportunity. He hoped that the French army could seize this advantageous opportunity and deal a fatal blow to the arrogant German army.
Xiafei, who has always been famous for his calmness, calmness and perseverance, has been sizing up the situation and looking for opportunities to counterattack, but he did not show much interest in Gallielli's request at this time. Fighter opportunities are fleeting, and Galli's
The weak strength of Elie's Sixth Army could not stand alone against the well-equipped 200,000 German troops. More importantly, the attack must be approved by the General Staff.
While waiting anxiously, Gallieri called Jiafei again, reiterated his views, and asked the General Staff to issue a counterattack order. During the call, Jiafei also realized the importance of seizing the fighter planes to organize a counterattack, and he agreed with Gallière.
Leigh could launch an attack on the enemy north of the Marne River.
After Xiafei put down the phone, he said to the officers present: "Gentlemen, let us fight on the Marne River!"
At this time, a big battle was about to break out on the Marne River.
