Beiyang 1917

Great military strategists can always seize fleeting opportunities. In early April 1918, as Soviet Russia overthrew the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Constituent Assembly in Siberia, Ufa, through the Kolchak coup, the temporary After the autonomous government gained a firm foothold and took a breather, Ludendorff, the commander of the German army, finally swung down the hammer that had been held up for a long time.

On April 1918, 4, on the same day Kolchak announced his appointment as the Supreme Consul of Russia, the German army launched a full-scale offensive against the Allies on the Western Front.

Through the mobilization throughout February and March, German Commander-in-Chief Ludendorff deployed 2 divisions on the Western Front, although it was not much larger than the 3 divisions of the Allies on the defense line.The German force in Belgium and France consisted of 170 infantry, 170 cavalry, 120 heavy field guns, and [-] light field guns.

Competing on the opposite side of the front is the 140 million infantry of the Allies, [-] cavalry, [-] heavy artillery and [-] light artillery.

The German army was nearly 25 fewer, but the German army had an advantage in infantry weapons per division: heavy and medium machine guns, 350 for Germany and 64 for the Entente; mortars, 36 for Germany and [-] for the Entente Door.

The Allied Air Forces, in turn, were nearly three times stronger than Germany's—250 to Germany's 470 in the British sector; about [-] to [-] in the French sector.But Germany's operational philosophy of concentrating superior forces allowed them to concentrate their aircraft where they were needed, thus partially offsetting the Allied air superiority.

The Allied front of 120 over five miles was divided among the four British armies—from north to south, the Second, First, Third, and Fifth Armies—59 including the Reserve and two Portuguese divisions. division.

At least 97 French divisions were deployed along a [-]-mile front, with ten Belgian and five American divisions supplementing the Allied forces.

This is an unprecedented war. The Allied Powers have the superiority in numbers and are the defensive side. Germany has the superiority in artillery and machine guns, but lacks air power. For Germany, before 200 million US troops arrive on the European battlefield, France must be cleaned up to seek a victorious truce.

Ludendorff's first offensive in 1918 can be counted as an outstanding example of local combat techniques.The Germans broke through forty miles of territory in eight days, a record in the history of trench warfare.Unfortunately, the British army, which bore the brunt of the battle, suffered about 16 casualties, and the British Fifth Army was almost wiped out.

The French casualties were much better, but they were as high as 7. The British and French captured a total of 200 people, and more than [-] field guns were taken by the German army. The usually taciturn Brits were also shocked when they poured [-] bottles of whiskey!

Of course, from a strategic point of view, although Ludendorff's German army won, it failed to achieve its strategic goals. The German army lost 23 troops, but it still failed to get close to Paris, nor did it really split and destroy the defense lines of Britain and France. The loss is irreparable in the short term.

Many of these soldiers, highly trained in shock force infiltration tactics, were now permanently on the ground, with Germany woefully understaffed while American troops continued to reinforce the Allies. On April 4th, General Pershing handed over to Petain dispatch of four American divisions equal in manpower to eight French or British divisions.

Due to the lack of combat experience of the US military, the French commander sent them to a calm defense zone to replace the French division and go to the main front to participate in the battle. The result of this attack was that the German army gave up the offensive and turned to the defensive after 15 days. It can be called futile. But both the Entente and the Allies claimed a great victory.

Of course the German army is qualified to say that, as the attacking side, they had fewer casualties than the other side, captured and captured many more than the other side, and in fact broke through the British defense line to a depth of 20 miles, nearly 50 days of life and death of blood and fire During the fight, the casualties of both sides were as high as [-], which made the whole world gasp for it. If this battle continues like this, all the men in Europe will die!

Of course, the Anglo-French Allied Powers are also qualified to claim that they have won the battle, because the Germans retreated in front of the position in the end. 180 million U.S. troops are waiting for overseas reinforcements. Behind the Germans are completely unreliable emerging countries such as Finland, Poland, and Lithuania that are in civil strife.

Of course, at the beginning of the battle, especially after the British Fifth Army was defeated by the Germans within 24 hours, the nerves of the Allied Powers were also quite tense. Zhu Erdian and Kant, who were far away in China, dragged the American Minister Rui Enshi directly to the Wang Geng's headquarters in Nanyuan strongly urged China to reinforce Europe's western front, or to dispatch directly from the eastern front to Moscow!

The so-called dog has to jump over the wall in a hurry. The Allied Powers were really panicked at the beginning of the German Army's Michael operation. They knew that China or Japan, even if they could reinforce Europe, whether they took the train to Siberia to help Contained by the Eastern Front, they still went directly to France to aid the Western Front by sea, and they would not be able to reach the battlefield in less than a month and a half.

According to the offensive momentum of the German army at that time, let alone a month and a half, the Western Front may not be able to support it for another half month.

The answer Wang Geng gave was obviously beyond the expectations of the envoys of the United States, Britain and France. This fellow Shi Shiran said,

"Japan's industrial economy and military strength are much stronger than China's. Even the towns and population occupied in the West Siberia Plain are much larger than those in the Northern Federal Autonomous Region of China, and the Japanese army in West Siberia is at least farther away from Europe than the Chinese participating army. It takes nearly 3000 kilometers to travel, and Japan's navy is the largest in Asia and the fourth in the world, so if you want to send troops, Japan should send troops first!"

"Gun, that's not what you said. Japan's dispatched troops are in a hurry to deal with the Soviet guerrillas in the West Siberia Plain, and Japan now has less than [-] standing divisions. How can you expect Japan at this time? Yes, you still have to dispatch your participating troops!" French Minister Kant shouted anxiously.

"I don't agree with this. Why didn't Minister Lin Quanzhu Lin come with you today? He must be guilty and dare not come face to face and tell me clearly. This guy owes me too much. If I didn't let Ri By using the Siberian Railway to transport troops-transport troops and fire supplies, Japan could have gained a foothold in the West Siberia Plain? Definitely not!"

Wang Geng took out a cigar and lit it, and said lazily after puffing.

"Gun, Ludendorff is coming aggressively this time. To tell you the truth, the British army's line has almost collapsed, the Fifth Army has almost completely collapsed, and the troops have already withdrawn across the Somme. If China and Japan do not take action at this time, It will be too late by then!" The British Minister Zhu Erdian's gray hair has grown a lot, and he doesn't think his family is ugly at the moment, and he even reported the scandal of the defeat of the Fifth Army to his family.

"My dear John, it is really beyond our reach at the moment. To put it bluntly, China itself is not unified at the moment. All factions are competing for the election of the House of Representatives. We are just waiting for the fate to be decided in August. Can the participating troops It is not easy to maintain the land reform and the stability of the provinces north of the Yellow River, if you are not careful, the civil war in Russia may not subside, and the civil war in China will start again by itself!"

< fu has decided to urgently reinforce the French front. Commander Pershing of the Expeditionary Force has handed over the command of the five US divisions to the French General Foch, and nearly 1 US troops board ships across the ocean to reinforce the French battlefield every day. President Wilson asked me to bring you a message. China, a sleeping lion, has come to show its value and strength! "

The U.S. minister doesn’t talk much, but it’s the key point. As an important partner of Sino-U.S. strategic cooperation, the U.S. plays a pivotal role in China’s diplomacy. It is inseparable from the great support of the United States.