In early August, the encirclement and suppression of the German army finally came to an end. About 60,000 German troops were killed and 300,000 German troops surrendered. Among them, the Foreign Legion took in 20 German prisoners of war.
This result made Patton and Manking dissatisfied and helpless. In order to attack the stubborn German soldiers, the US military suffered 70,000 casualties and the French suffered 40,000 casualties. However, their results were less than one-third of the Foreign Legion.
However, the Foreign Legion suffered almost no casualties. This result is jaw-dropping.
In mid-August, Crown Prince William disappeared from the surveillance of the French Ministry of the Interior.
No one can explain clearly how Crown Prince William disappeared from the sight of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A 12-person team responsible for monitoring Crown Prince William was investigated, but no problems were found, so they had to take off their military uniforms and go home.
These men soon found enviable cushy jobs in Union Oil, supposedly in the New Baku Corridor, where they commanded colonial labor and lived a life comparable to that of the emperor.
At the end of August, Crown Prince William appeared in Berlin. After receiving cheers from hundreds of thousands of people, Crown Prince William led a political reform group that will transform Germany into a constitutional monarchy like the United Kingdom.
During this time in France, Crown Prince William changed a lot.
Perhaps the sudden change in status allowed Crown Prince William to finally have time to pay attention to the lives of ordinary people.
Crown Prince William received an elite education since childhood. Although this kind of education cannot be said to be that he was raised in a deep palace and did not know the sufferings of the world, it is still far away from the life of ordinary people. Crown Prince William's time is all occupied by study and he has no time to pay attention.
The life of ordinary people.
When he grew up, he was even more busy as a crown prince. He had endless national affairs to deal with every day, and he was not in the mood to pay attention to ordinary people.
During this time in France, Crown Prince William finally had no national affairs to worry about, and finally no longer had endless meetings and dinners. Crown Prince William finally had time to focus on ordinary people who are the cornerstone of the country.
In fact, just half a year ago, Crown Prince William had always believed that the elite was the cornerstone of the country, and the ordinary people were just accessories. They were tools for the elite to realize their will.
This is the idea that Crown Prince William has been instilled in him since he grew up, and it is also the consensus of all the self-proclaimed elites at this time. Crown Prince William once thought so too.
I don’t know when Crown Prince William’s thoughts began to change.
Perhaps after getting to know Qin Zhiyuan, at least Crown Prince William thought so.
Putting down his body and actively integrating into the lives of ordinary people brought Crown Prince William a great reputation.
In the eyes of one million German prisoners of war, Crown Prince William was humble and kind, noble but not proud. He was willing to listen to the voices of the soldiers at the bottom and help the soldiers improve their own environment. If there is one person who can bring Germany out of the quagmire, then
That person must be Crown Prince William.
Just after the attack on Ludendorff, the voice for peace in Germany became unprecedentedly high. The Germans began to express goodwill through neutral parties such as the Netherlands and the Holy See, and sought the possibility of negotiating with the Allied Powers.
Germany's change caught Britain, France and the United States by surprise, but it was natural. They knew that Germany would definitely lose, but they did not expect that this day would come so quickly, and that it would be the Germans who took the initiative to admit defeat.
Just earlier, Karl I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire once again sought peace from the Allies. He had done so last winter, but became a laughing stock due to poor operation. Now, it is time for Karl I to have to seek peace again.
On June 5th, the Austrians launched another attack. The Italians' combat effectiveness had been weakened to an intolerable level. They were quickly driven across the Piave River. If the British and French forces had not blocked the Austrians, the Austrians would have been able to go all out.
Hit Rome.
After the British and French forces joined, the Austrians suffered another defeat. They were driven back to the starting point the next day and then retreated steadily.
As of the 25th, the Austrians had suffered 142,000 casualties, and tens of thousands were captured.
This was a devastating blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, because the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no domestic sources of troops, and some of those captured were even captured for the second time.
You know, when the Allied Powers released these prisoners of war, they all promised not to join the war again.
But now they broke their promise and were punished with long periods of hard labor.
Not only did the Germans lose confidence in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself also began to fall apart. Hungary wanted to become independent as a country. At this time, there were signs of division. Karl I tried his best to save his empire. In order to maintain the situation, Karl I announced
By converting the empire into a federation, all ethnic groups can have their own national councils, even small ethnic groups like Lucenia.
Karl I's efforts failed again. His ideas not only failed to unite the already divided people's hearts, but also spawned the ambitions of more people. Many countries declared autonomy, and troops composed of non-Austrians, such as Croats, Czechs, and Magyars,
The troops disbanded one after another, and the soldiers threw away their rifles without bullets and chose to return home.
It seemed that the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was just around the corner.
Such an Austro-Hungarian Empire had no trump card, so the Allies did not give Karl I the peace he wanted, and Karl I's country was collapsing.
Everyone has to pay attention to the peace signal released by the Germans, because Germany still retains its combat effectiveness.
Only Pershing was not interested in Germany's goodwill. By August, the number of American soldiers in France had reached 1 million. These people were strong and energetic young men who were eager to make achievements. Of course, they would not do so when they had all the advantages.
Agree to end the war.
So the war continued. Pershing assembled 1 million American troops, and with the cooperation of 110,000 French troops and 3,000 artillery pieces, prepared to attack the Saint-Michel salient on the German defense line.
Until now, the French soldiers no longer want to fight. They hate war from the bottom of their hearts. Even if they go to the battlefield, French soldiers only perform auxiliary tasks such as artillery, and rarely fight on the front line.
During the World War, the French artillery made great progress.
Before the war, the French took a detour. They were obsessed with the excellent performance of Miss 75 and refused any modification.
At the beginning of the World War, France had only 300 medium- and large-caliber artillery pieces. By 1918, France had 6,000.
After Ludendorff was assassinated, command of the German army returned to Hindenburg.
Hindenburg once again came to the fore from behind the scenes to preside over the already shaky war situation.
At this time, although the German army suffered heavy casualties, it still had 100 divisions that could be used for combat. However, their defense line was very long and was too scattered, which seriously affected the German army's combat effectiveness.
Hindenburg issued his first order shortly after coming to the fore. Hindenburg ordered the troops to abandon the entire St. Michael's Salient, approximately 200 square miles of French land and 13 miles in depth.
This made Pershing very disappointed. Pershing originally planned to attack St. Michael on September 7, but had to postpone it due to the slow movement of the French artillery. If the French artillery could be in place in time, Pershing was confident that he would be able to fight a battle that was sufficient.
A battle that made the U.S. military feel proud.
Compared with the current strength of the US military and their achievements, this is really a bit unequal.
On September 12, the U.S. military captured the St. Michael Salient in one day, but this did not bring any joy to Pershing because the German army voluntarily abandoned the place and the U.S. military only obtained about 6,000 German prisoners of war.
These soldiers also surrendered voluntarily without even firing a shot, which made the US military's victory look like a charity.
So Pershing continued to attack. This time, Pershing's targets were the highlands near the Moze River and the Argonne Forest. This was not a easy nut to crack. The Germans had built a solid defense line here, which was as strong as the Hindenburg Line.
Although his opponent was in a favorable location, Pershing decided that he must be strong and asked his troops to complete offensive preparations within half a month.
Just as Sentinel was preparing to attack the Argonne Forest, Haig was also preparing to attack.
Haig now had four armies in his hands, and was assisted by the French army. Since the outbreak of the World War, Haig had never felt that the power in his hands was so powerful, so Haig decided to do something.
Haig's chosen target for attack was the Hindenburg Line.
There was no way. Since Hindenburg came to power, all the salients outside the Hindenburg Line were abandoned by the German army. The German army stayed within the Hindenburg Line, waiting for the peace that all parties were working hard to advance.
Except Americans.
The World War has started so far, even if the Germans admit defeat, they are already an undisputed world power, and no one dares to ignore them. From this point of view, the Germans have succeeded.
Both the British and the French wanted to end the war, because Germany had no more efforts to challenge the colonial systems of Britain and France. There was a consensus that the Germans must give up their nascent navy, although those brand-new ones in the world war
The Navy's surface combatants made little contribution, but their threat was obvious to all.
Perhaps deep in the hearts of the French, there is still the fantasy of dismembering Germany, but in the hearts of the British, they just want to maintain the balance of the European continent. They can neither make Germany strong enough to challenge the United Kingdom, nor allow France to be alone.
big.
This balance is really hard to strike.
Qin Zhiyuan's foreign legion can finally rest. Through secret talks with Crown Prince William, Qin Zhiyuan has got what he wants, and there is no need to continue to waste the precious lives of the soldiers on risks.
Having said that, Qin Zhiyuan is not short of money now. As long as there are no trade barriers, Qin Zhiyuan can buy anything he wants with money.
As for trade barriers, the French were the dominant ones when they first appeared. It is really unimaginable that they would be used to restrict a French person.
Starting almost from mid-July, the Foreign Legion withdrew in batches to Paris and Corsica, and some of them were returning to the Far East, heading to Lanfang to become part of the Lanfang Defense Force.
Well, Lanfang, that place that Qin Zhiyuan has not yet set foot on, will become the home of the Foreign Legion for a long time to come.
