Since the United States announced its participation in the war in April last year, it has directly sent soldiers to France and built military camps on its own soil for training.
On the Atlantic coast, the Americans have built a total of more than a dozen training camps, each of which can accommodate nearly 10,000 people.
After a year of training, U.S. soldiers have gained initial combat effectiveness.
Because there are not enough officers, the US military has an unusually large size. Each division has about 27,000 people, which is almost twice that of Britain, France, Germany and other countries.
Of course, although the number is large enough, the combat effectiveness of these troops has yet to be tested in war.
In fact, when Foch called Pershing, Pershing had already sent a telegram to U.S. President Wilson requesting to join the war.
Pershing was in France, watching the British and French fight to death every day, while he stayed in Orleans and watched from the sidelines. It was really unreasonable. If last year Pershing could still refuse to join the war on the excuse that the U.S. military did not receive enough training, it is no longer the case.
No excuse.
Pershing knew very well that although the British and French people didn't say it, they might be upset in their hearts.
After receiving Pershing's telegram, Wilson was also evaluating whether to join the war immediately.
Since Wilson publicly announced the Fourteen Points, the British and French now have a bad impression of Wilson, and their treatment of the United States is not as enthusiastic as before. Wilson needs an opportunity to ease relations with Europe.
On the other hand, Wilson was also assessing the situation of the European War. In the U.S. cabinet's resolution, the United States should join the war, but it should join when the war situation reaches a stalemate, or it should join when the Allies are at a disadvantage, so that the Americans can
Only by appearing in Europe as a savior can the benefits of participating in the war be maximized.
It seems that this time has arrived.
On April 5, Pershing called Foch back and told him that four American divisions were ready to join the war at any time.
These four divisions are not four divisions in the usual sense, but a large force with a total strength of more than 100,000 people.
In fact, just yesterday, Ludendorff finally noticed the importance of Yamin and ordered Hutier to attack in the direction of Yamin.
However, Hutier's troops were in trouble. On the night of the 4th, when night fell, many of Hutier's troops had been without water all day.
The German soldiers finally paid the price for these two days of arrogance. The reason was that the Germans did not find any supplies in the old Somme battlefield area, and the German strategy of supporting war with war was officially bankrupt.
Although they finally had a clear tactical target, the troops led by Hutier had lost the ability to continue the attack. They had to stop and wait for support materials from the rear, and at the same time, they also waited for the slow-moving artillery units.
This finally gave Gough a chance to breathe. So far, most of Gough's troops have been defeated. Only the eight divisions that have followed Gough since 2014 can still be contacted, and the remaining six divisions cannot be contacted at all.
Gough did not know the current positions of these six divisions, nor did he know how much combat strength they had left.
What is more likely is that these six divisions have been annihilated or captured by the German army. If this tragedy really happens, it will be the biggest tragedy for the British army since the Battle of the Somme.
Gough did not want to be nailed to the pillar of shame, and the British could not allow this situation to happen, so Gough was transferred back to the country. Haig transferred the Second Army Commander Plummer back from the Italian battlefield and ordered Plummer to take charge of commanding Gough's troops.
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It looks good in this way. In the current Yamin area, there are British, French, Chinese and Americans gathered. So many troops are concentrated in a small Yamin, which immediately highlights the importance of Yamin as a transportation center.
While Yamin's defensive strength continued to increase, Qin Zhiyuan also received support. Going to the Reims area was a brigade of the US 42nd Division. The brigade commander was Douglas MacArthur, who was about to turn 38.
Douglas MacArthur is a legendary figure. He still holds the record for the highest score at West Point Military Academy. This record has not been broken until the 21st century.
In the original history, Douglas MacArthur had mixed reputations.
Through World War II, MacArthur liberated the entire Southeast Asia, and fostered the independence of these countries, freeing them from the colonization of Britain and France. At the same time, he rebuilt Japan from the ruins after the war. Finally, he was responsible for commanding the United Nations and China.
A battle was fought in Korea, and that battle also became Douglas MacArthur's Waterloo, stripping away all the legendary aura of Douglas MacArthur.
The current Douglas MacArthur does not show superhuman strength. He is just an ordinary US military officer. At best, he is just a US military officer who is good at dealing with the press.
This was due to his experience as the aide-de-camp to Secretary of War Baker in the past two years, responsible for dealing with the news media. During that time, MacArthur had a great influence, and MacArthur also benefited from it throughout his life. If it were not for the praise of the news media, MacArthur would probably not be able to achieve this goal.
to its original heights in history.
In the original history, MacArthur always appeared as a prophet and savior, whether in the Philippines or Japan.
But in April 1918, when MacArthur faced Qin Zhiyuan, MacArthur was extremely respectful.
Your Excellency General, Douglas MacArthur is leading the 84th Brigade to report to you. MacArthur's salute gesture is very standard, and he is indeed the holder of the highest score record.
MacArthur is now a brigadier general and was promoted just a few days ago for his bravery in combat.
This is a bit strange. The U.S. military has not really participated in the war so far, and there has been almost no real battle. I really don’t know where MacArthur started talking about his bravery in combat.
Doug, welcome to join us. Qin Zhiyuan returned the salute. Different from the US military saluting method of extending his hands in front of his head, Qin Zhiyuan used the standard PLA military salute with his fingertips resting on his temples.
Qin Zhiyuan was still very curious about MacArthur, so when he saw MacArthur, Qin Zhiyuan looked at him carefully.
Different from the thin body in the general sense, MacArthur appeared in front of Qin Zhiyuan. He was tall and strong. MacArthur's face was sharp and angular, which was impressive. At the same time, because MacArthur wore his hat a little low, if MacArthur wanted to look at others, he had to
He raised his chin slightly, which gave people a slightly proud feeling, but not to the level of arrogance. This made Qin Zhiyuan feel good and decided to implement this way of wearing hats in the Chinese army in the future.
After confirming the relationship between superiors and subordinates, MacArthur followed Qin Zhiyuan into the headquarters.
Within the headquarters, a group of generals were gathered around a sand table to discuss the recent defense adjustment plan, and the debate was quite heated.
Qin Zhiyuan originally had strong troops and horses, but after four divisions were transferred, Qin Zhiyuan's reserve team was no longer enough. Although MacArthur's brigade was only a brigade-level establishment, it had a large number of people, more than 10,000 people.
Today's US military is not as exaggerated as later generations. An army is an army, regardless of combat personnel and logistics personnel. The more than 10,000 people are almost all combat personnel, almost a division.
If Qin Zhiyuan's vision is followed, the 84th Brigade of the US Army will join the reserve force, and the direction of the 84th Brigade's support will be determined later as the war progresses.
But MacArthur obviously did not want to stay in the rear. After listening to Qin Zhiyuan's order, MacArthur strongly requested to be deployed to the front line, even if he would directly face the German attack without any buffer.
Being so bellicose left the impression on Qin Zhiyuan that he was a very utilitarian person.
Being belligerent does not mean being good at fighting. For a belligerent, it is natural to fight out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, step on the heads of soldiers and reach the pinnacle of life. One victory will lead to the death of thousands of bones. This is the kind of person I am talking about.
Of course, Qin Zhiyuan did not resent MacArthur's initiative to ask for war. For Qin Zhiyuan, the more generals like MacArthur, the better. Anyway, the people who died were not Chinese, and Qin Zhiyuan did not need to be responsible for the lives of Americans.
So on the day they arrived in Reims, MacArthur's 84th Brigade was sent to Amifontein. The terrain there was unfavorable for defense and there was no Sypp River to rely on.
Qin Zhiyuan was skeptical about the combat effectiveness of the 84th Brigade, so after deploying the 84th Brigade to Amifontein, Qin Zhiyuan ordered the Qin Haoge Brigade to station in Corbeni to protect the rear of the 84th Brigade.
If the position defended by the 84th Brigade was broken through by the Germans, Qin Haoge's divisions would have to rush forward in time. For this reason, Qin Zhiyuan strengthened Qin Haoge's tank force by another battalion to further enhance the armor strength of Qin Haoge's divisions.
In fact, the 84th Brigade also had a tank unit, about 50 of them. MacArthur obviously accepted George Patton's reminder and did not disperse these tanks. Instead, he organized them into an armored unit and was directly under MacArthur's command.
When all this was deployed, it was already April 10th.
At this time, there were enough troops in the Ame area, and Foch sent the regrouped Tenth Army to Ame. By now, the French army had sent three armies to support the British army.
Ludendorff lost the opportunity to capture Yamin and take the initiative on the battlefield.
But on the other hand, Ludendorff also accomplished part of his strategic purpose. The attack he launched in the Arras area not only forced out the British reserves, but also attracted a part of the French army to Arras.
Now it seems that the entire Western Front is in a state of being strong in the north and weak in the south. The northern half is strong and the Germans are taking the initiative. The British and French allied forces plus the support of Chinese and American troops are still retreating, but they are far away from the front line.
, a solid line of defense has been successfully established.
Although no large-scale battles are currently taking place in the entire southern half, the clouds of war are gathering, and the entire front is in a state of restlessness and excitement.
