Rise of Australia

Chapter 383 The Mulhouse Offensive and Defensive Battle
Before the war began, the commander-in-chief of the French army, Joffre, was still very confident in the combat capabilities of the French army.

According to the No. 17 offensive plan, France will use a total of nearly 160 million combat troops in this offensive.

Although due to various reasons, less than half of the troops actually engaged in combat may be less than half, but Joffre still firmly believes that it is not difficult to complete the core task of Operation Plan No. 17, which is to recapture Alsace and Lorraine.

In order to urge the French army to complete its combat missions, Joffre often traveled by car from Le François, the general headquarters, to the combat troops.

It is worth mentioning that most of the reasons why Xiafei can freely shuttle between various combat units and the headquarters without slack in military affairs are due to Xiafei's exclusive driver, a driver who has won the French Grand Prix three times. driver.

It has been more than ten years since the development of automobiles. European countries like France have also created competitions to compete with automobile speed.

The winner will not only receive various prizes such as cars, but also be favored by those in power and be hired as exclusive drivers.

After all, the current driving training system and traffic regulations are not so standardized. A skilled driver can not only avoid all kinds of dangers encountered while driving, but also be able to respond quickly when dangers come, without being in a hurry.

Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated before, and a small part of the reason was also due to the unskilled driver.

If the vehicle can be started quickly when the killer is approaching, Archduke Ferdinand may not have no chance of surviving.

The reason why Archduke Ferdinand's driver did not start the vehicle quickly was because of reversing.

If it was a more skilled driver driving, among other things, the probability of survival of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife should be improved.

Thanks to the superb driving skills of the exclusive driver, it only takes more than an hour for Joffre to go back and forth between the headquarters and the army station.

Before the battle was finally launched, Joffre arrived at the First Army in a special car to learn about the situation of the Army and supervise the upcoming attack.

The commander of the First Army was Dubay, a general who did not much approve of the attack.

The reason why Xiafei went to the First Army frequently was to win the approval of General Dubay, so that the First Army, which had a more important task, would not lose the chain.

The day before Operation Plan No. 17 was launched, in the early morning and late at night.

Dubai, commander of the French First Army, is discussing the battle plan with French commander-in-chief Joffre.

Dubay still had some doubts about the attack, and hesitantly asked Xiafei: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, is there really no problem with our large-scale attack?"

Xiafei took a serious look at his subordinates, patted Dubay's shoulder vigorously, pointed to Dubay's military uniform and said: "Your Excellency, please understand what you are wearing. We are glorious French soldiers, Our task is to protect the beautiful land under our feet and all the people. If we can't recover the homeland of Alsace and Lorraine, what face do we have to continue to wear this uniform?"

"Your Excellency, please remember one sentence. Only attacking is in line with the thinking of French soldiers. Advocating war will not insult the soul of soldiers." At the end of the conversation, Joffre took a meaningful look at Dubay, and then sat down. Get in the special car and leave.

After talking with Joffre, the commander of the First Army, Dubai, organized the Seventh Army to consist of four infantry divisions, one cavalry division, five mountain battalions and one artillery division on the second day, with a total of 4.5 troops. The Alsatian detachment, led by General Bono, commander of the VII Corps, spearheaded this offensive.

Dubay assigned the mission to the vanguard army, first to attack from Belfort, and attack Mulhouse, an important town on the German border, 40 kilometers away.

Speaking of Mulhouse, this is an important town on the German border and a relatively important strategic location in this area.

Capture this area, you can take the junction of the southern Alsace railways, you can go to Belfort in the past, and you can reach Basel in Switzerland in the south.

In the north is Colmar, and in the east you can cross the railway bridge and cross the Rhine.

With such an extremely important strategic location, Mulhouse is destined to be the main target of the French army's attack, and this town will also usher in the flames of war.

Guarding this small town, there is a reinforced regiment from Germany.

In order to capture the town, after the operation began, General Bono, the commander of the Seventh Army, ordered the commander of the vanguard division to attack Atkirch at night before the Germans found it.

The city is located 20 kilometers ahead of Mulhouse and is also the bridgehead of Mulhouse.

After the fall of Atkirch, Mulhouse was like a naked beauty waiting for the French army to come.

The entire avant-garde division was divided into three parts, which surrounded the entire Atkirch in a roundabout way.Taking advantage of the night, the soldiers of the Vanguard Division successfully broke into the city center of Atkirch before the German sentry was aware of it.

The German sentry didn't react until the French soldiers fired, but it was too late.

The difference in combat effectiveness between the French soldiers who attacked in the dark and the German soldiers who rushed to fight can be imagined.

Although the combat effectiveness of a single German soldier is higher than that of a French soldier, the French army is more prepared at this time, and the German soldiers rush to fight, but it is the French soldiers who have the advantage.

It is worth mentioning that it is not known which side used the weapon. In short, bayonets, butts, sabers, wooden sticks and other weapons that soldiers hold at hand can be seen everywhere on the battlefield. These weapons can also cause huge damage inadvertently. .

The battle lasted for a full six hours. In the end, after the German army suffered many casualties, the remnants abandoned the city and fled eastward.

Before dawn, General Bono led his troops to Mulhouse, trying to occupy Mulhouse in one go before the German troops stationed there were ready.

Like Atkirch before it, the occupation of Mulhouse did not take too long.

The French army is not only prepared in advance, but also several times the number of German garrisons.

With nearly 1 casualties, the Seventh Army successfully captured Mulhouse and held a two-hour military parade in the city.

As French troops in blue jackets and red trousers and artillery troops with red, white and blue banners and tricolor flowers on their cannons passed through the city, the military band sang "Marseillaise" and "Sambre and Meuse". March", the French people and the French army inside Mulhouse cheered loudly, and couldn't help but shed tears of excitement.

Finally, after decades, they set foot on this French homeland again.Although it is only a city, it has greatly strengthened the determination of the French to regain their homeland and the determination of the French soldiers to win this war.

On the second day after the French army captured Mulhouse, the commendation of the French commander-in-chief Joffre had successfully arrived at the army.

Joffre kindly called General Bono and the Alsace detachment under his command the pioneers who accomplished the great cause of revenge and the heroes of the whole of France.

Even when the results of the French army's capture of Mulhouse spread to France, the whole of France fell into cheers and excitement.

But the excited French deliberately ignored that for this small town, the French army has paid more than 1 casualties so far.

In the war, the French army and the German army's battle loss ratio reached 2:1, which also means that the German casualties were only about 5000.

The cheers of the French did not last long, and the German reinforcements arrived immediately.

Inside Germany, the Germans did not expect this attack, but they responded very quickly.

On the second day after the commander-in-chief of the French army, Joffre, ordered the first and second armies to concentrate their forces to attack Germany, the German reinforcements had already rushed to the German-French border, and after a whole day of fierce fighting, they re-emerged. Occupied Mulhouse.

This small town, which cost tens of thousands of casualties of the French army, finally returned to German rule.

After this war, the French suffered nearly 3 casualties just for Mulhouse.

Although the Germans also suffered more than 1 casualties, such a battle loss ratio and the results achieved are obviously unacceptable to France.

In the French Army Command, Joffre, who just commended the vanguard army, felt that he had been slapped in the face, but the previous victories had been reported back to France. If it is reported that Mulhouse has returned to the hands of the Germans at this time, I am afraid that the angry French will directly blame the French army.

In order to avoid such a situation, Xiafei quickly issued an order to let the first and second armies continue to attack with all their strength, and their determination to recover Alsace and Lorraine remained unchanged.

In response to the reinforcements from the Germans, Joffre mobilized another four divisions and reorganized the Alsace unit to replace the Seventh Army, which had suffered too many casualties, and was again responsible for the task of attacking the Alsace region.

The commander of this new Alsatian force is the retired one-armed general Bo.

Even as new intelligence received by the French command confirmed that the deployment of German troops was not as Joffre had expected, Joffre still did not believe that the main direction of the German attack was from Belgium to Paris.

Joffre still insists on attacking the German army from the direction of Alsace. This will not only recover Alsace and Lorraine, boost morale, but also attract more German troops in this area, so that the German army cannot mobilize this part of its troops to strengthen its The right wing, that is, the Belgian region.

Beginning in the early morning of August 8, nearly 15 people from the First and Second Armies launched a general attack on the German army in the Alsace region.

The German staff had long anticipated the direction and route of France's attack, and on this route, barbed wire, trenches, fortifications and other fortifications were arranged in advance.

When the French army saw Germany's well-placed defensive positions, their hearts were broken.

But there is no way, the combat tasks assigned by the superiors have to be completed even if they bite the bullet.

When a large number of French troops rushed towards the opposite German army under the order of the commander, these French soldiers who had been influenced by patriotic enthusiasm finally understood the cruelty of war and the experience of their former comrades-in-arms. suffering.

The German army on the opposite side is different now. Because of the previous sneak attack, the Germans have already prepared themselves this time. Various weapons including heavy machine guns and artillery emerge in endlessly.

Although the French First and Second Armies mobilized nearly 60 troops, they faced the German Sixth Army commanded by Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria and the German Seventh Army commanded by Herlingen.

The German Sixth Army consisted of five corps and three cavalry divisions, while the Seventh Army commanded by Herlingen had three corps and one division.

The two armies combined have a strength of up to 35 troops and 1200 artillery pieces, and they are uniformly controlled by the commander of the Sixth Army Ruprecht.

Because of the relatively unified management, the German army exploded with extremely powerful combat effectiveness, and it also made the French army understand what the real number one army in the world is.

On the first day of the battle between the armies of the two sides, the French army suffered more than 2 casualties, which directly caused the commander of the First Army Dubay to immediately order a suspension of the offensive.

There is no way, judging from the current consumption progress, his first army will only take half a month, and even the establishment may disappear.

As for the German army, Ruprecht's task is to attract more French troops here, so that the main force of the German army is on the right wing, that is, the offensive in Belgium can proceed smoothly.

Seeing that the French army chose to stretch the front and fight on a small scale, Ruprecht was more happy with it.

After ensuring that the French army would not withdraw, Prince Ruprecht also chose to retreat gradually, luring the enemy deep, and completely attracting the main force of the French army to this area.

It was precisely because of the gradual retreat of the German army that on August 8, the first and second armies, which had recovered some of their morale, occupied Sarpur and Saranburg, and then reoccupied Mulhouse.

Now, the bull that Xiafei once bragged to the French people finally came true, and the French army's offensive became more and more successful.

In a very beautiful mood, Joffre also praised the contributions of the Alsace troops and the first and second armies, and allowed all the wounded soldiers to return to France to recuperate and replace them with new troops.

But at the same time, Xiafei also realized that his previous strategic understanding was wrong.Judging from the current progress of the war, the Germans really want to attack France from Belgium.

Because the extremely important Alsace and Lorraine regions are not facing the main force of the German army.

It can be seen from the successive defeats of the German army that the number of this army is not large, which is completely inconsistent with the reality that the total number of German troops is greater than the total number of French troops.

However, although he realized his mistakes in strategic planning, Joffre also firmly believed that as long as the French army can successfully break through the center of the German army, it can insert itself into the core of Germany from the Alsace and Lorraine regions.

Even if the German army successfully enters the northern border of France from Belgium, the French army can achieve outflanking, surround and annihilate the real main force of the German army.

　The first update of 4000 words, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support!
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(End of this chapter)