Expedition to Europe

In mid-July, the battle became more intense, and the intensity of the French and American coalition forces' attacks on the German troops in the encirclement reached the highest level.

At Rouatre, about 13 kilometers away from Soissons, the US 1st Division finally attacked the defense line of the German Marine Corps 1st Division, and the two ace troops belonging to the US and German armies began to collide head-on.

Starting at 9:30 in the morning, the US military broke through three German defense lines in succession.

Although the German Marine Corps 1st Division was retreating step by step, the US 1st Division suffered heavy casualties. At noon, the 1st Division had to retreat and the US 2nd Division continued to take over.

The battle was extremely fierce. One soldier wrote: Machine guns roared everywhere, rifle bullets flew everywhere, and the explosions of grenades were connected in a line. Everyone lost control. The basic structure of the troops no longer existed. As long as they met their companions, they just followed them and attacked forward, regardless of whether they were Company A or Company B... The soldiers could not maintain their formation, and the battle line was irregular, intermittent, and entangled in a mess... There were Maxim heavy machine guns everywhere, and they could only crawl over from the flank to shoot them. There would always be brave soldiers in tan uniforms running up, holding their bayoneted rifles and rushing into the machine gun strongholds, and then the strongholds would burst into shooting, screaming, and wailing... No matter what, it would always be quiet in the end.

Just as the German Marine Corps 1st Division was bearing the crazy attacks of the US 1st and 2nd Divisions, a large number of German troops were retreating. They went from Soissons, Sacris, Lafvé, and all directions to Amifontein to surrender to the Foreign Legion there.

There were too many prisoners to accommodate them in the temporary camp, so the Foreign Legion had to build a temporary fence.

In the process of building the fence, German soldiers actually helped.

More German soldiers stayed in the fence in an orderly manner, and they applauded and cheered for every German who laid down their weapons.

The weapons laid down by the Germans piled up like a mountain, with machine gun magazines still hanging on them, and the bolts of the rifles were not removed. The place where the guns were piled was less than 100 meters away from the fence where the prisoners were held. The Foreign Legion soldiers in charge of guarding the prisoners carried their guns on their backs. They even chatted with the French-speaking prisoners across the fence with a smile, and shared the cigarettes in their hands, without any defense.

But no prisoners snatched the guns. The prisoners were not even willing to look at the guns that they had been with day and night for the past four years. They hated the war from the bottom of their hearts and did not want to go back to those inhuman days, and they were even unwilling to think about the memories.

In just three days, the Foreign Legion took in nearly 100,000 German prisoners of war, which made Patton and Manjing, who were leading their men in a bloody battle, envious and jealous.

Manjing had an old grudge with Qin Zhiyuan, and now he couldn't help but say some strange things. It was even rumored that Manjing had told his staff that Qin Zhiyuan had a secret agreement with the German army.

Although this was true, Manjing was also reprimanded from Paris, not only from the Army Department, but also from the Prime Minister's Office and the Presidential Palace.

Fortunately, everyone knew that Manjing was a big mouth, and he had done many unreliable things, but no one added fuel to the fire.

However, everyone could see that the German army had a completely different attitude when facing the Foreign Legion and the French and American coalition forces, which made people imagine.

On the 20th, Bastien led a division of the Fifth Army to Amifontein and began to receive prisoners of war at the same time, and the storm gradually subsided.

But as of the 20th, the Foreign Legion had accepted the surrender of more than 150,000 German troops. In this "head-grabbing" battle to encircle and annihilate the German army, the Foreign Legion suffered almost no casualties and successfully seized the greatest credit.

Well, compared with the casualties of the Foreign Legion on the first day of the battle, this credit is speechless.

Qin Zhiyuan openly said that if any of your troops can fight from 16,000 to only 370 and still persist in fighting, the Foreign Legion will give up all the merits gained in this battle.

The credit is naturally not to be given, so no one challenged the record. You know, in the figures reported after the Battle of Champagne-Chalons, the 11th Division of the Foreign Legion had a total of 45 combat companies, 15 of which were completely wiped out, 27 companies had less than ten soldiers and officers left, and six companies had only wounded soldiers lying in the hospital...

Incredibly, as the war progressed, the German army also announced the results of the Battle of Champagne-Chalons. During the entire battle, the German army paid the price of nearly 100,000 casualties, including 27,000 killed in battle and 14,000 seriously injured and requiring amputation. After the war, when the German army cleaned up the battlefield, it was discovered that on the south bank of the Marne River, the 11th Division of the Foreign Legion left about 7,000 bodies, and among these bodies, not even a single living person was found.

In other words, in the defense of Champagne-Chalons, no one from the 11th Division of the Foreign Legion was captured.

This is simply a miracle.

Looking back at the wars after the outbreak of the World War, there are many cases of annihilation of the entire army, whether it is the German army, the French army, or the British army. However, most of them were not the entire army fighting to the death, but because they surrendered voluntarily when they saw the unfavorable situation. Although the entire army was annihilated in the battle report, in fact, there were still people alive in the prisoner-of-war camp.

But the 11th Division of the Foreign Legion was different. They really fought to the death, so that the southern route troops of the German pincer offensive were severely injured and have not recovered yet.

As a result, many German soldiers in Amifontein immediately lost their morale and became disorganized when they heard that they were facing the Foreign Legion. There were even entire companies and battalions of German soldiers who deserted overnight.

The prestige was really gained through fighting.

Pershing had been sending people to stay at the Renault factory, and the Americans would take away every tank produced. But when the quartermaster of the 11th Division of the Foreign Legion rushed to the Renault factory to declare that the 11th Division had been reorganized into a mechanized force and asked to receive tanks, the arrogant Americans did not waste words. The representative stationed at the Renault factory returned directly to Orleans and has not been to the Renault factory since then.

When the number of German prisoners of war in the Foreign Legion's prisoner-of-war camp in Amifontein increased to 20, McTavish was still lurking.

On the first day, McTavish did not pull the trigger, but just simulated the sniping process with his mouth.

There was only one chance, and the rifle in his hand was not calibrated. McTavish did not want to waste the opportunity.

Soon, McTavish found an opportunity to calibrate the gun.

Like Paris, Avina is now a large barracks, and it is a large barracks where soldiers of various nationalities are mixed together.

Although Germany is now a unified empire, there are actually quite a few principalities in the country. Soldiers from various principalities together form the German army.

Brothers from the same family will have friction, not to mention the German soldiers who have gradually fallen into anxiety and despair. So on the next morning, chaotic gunshots suddenly rang out in Avina. Although it only lasted for two or three minutes, it was enough for McTavish to complete the calibration.

In fact, McTavish only used three shots to complete the calibration and hit a chicken six hundred meters away steadily.

Of course, someone had placed the chicken in advance, and the distance was very standard. Although it was in different directions, it was the same distance from McTavish's lurking position as the place where Ludendorff often walked.

This gave McTavish more confidence. If Ludendorff appeared again now, McTavish would be sure to hit him with one shot.

However, this opportunity was not easy to find, because on that day, McTavish found a convoy driving out of the headquarters and heading towards Avina, and Ludendorff's special car was in the convoy.

As the actual helmsman of the German army, Ludendorff also had many affairs to attend to. It was impossible for him to stay in the headquarters all the time. There were many tasks that required Ludendorff to personally coordinate.

The original text can be read in the Six # 9 @book/bar!

McTavish was not in a hurry. Although Ludendorff was not in the headquarters, he would always come back. McTavish continued to lurk.

This lurk lasted for four days. On the evening of the fourth day, McTavish went down to the stone, put down his daily garbage of the past few days, and then took away a backpack that had been prepared long ago.

The next step was a long lurk.

In fact, it is very difficult to bear a person's time, especially when there is no one to communicate with. Time seems to be stagnant, and the second hand does not move for a long time.

In order to prevent himself from being too lonely, McTavish talked to himself and told himself stories, from "One Thousand and One Nights" to various dirty jokes. He would tell whatever he remembered. When he was happy, McTavish would laugh out loud, and when he was sad, McTavish would cry.

This is really a man with rich emotions.

During these four days, McTavish did not do nothing. He had been observing the patrol routes of the German army and designing the best escape route.

McTavish did not want to leave himself here. There was a bright future waiting for McTavish to create.

McTavish noticed that every noon, just before Ludendorff often went out for a walk, there would be about a company of troops searching near his hiding position. This search was routine and lasted for no more than half an hour.

These Germans carried military dogs, the kind of German black backs, so McTavish did not dare to throw away household garbage casually, for fear of being caught by those keen noses.

These few days of lurking made McTavish fall in love with this kind of military dog ​​that looked both energetic and powerful. McTavish decided to raise one after returning.

But that would have to wait until McTavish escaped.

On the fifth day, the opportunity finally came again, and Ludendorff came back.

Ludendorff looked even more haggard when he reappeared. McTavish even noticed that Ludendorff was a little hunchbacked, which was not a good sign. Perhaps even if McTavish did not do it, Ludendorff would not live long. He was under too much pressure.

However, killing Ludendorff was McTavish's mission, so McTavish did not hesitate. He calmed down again and put Ludendorff's head in the middle of the cross.

In order to achieve a fatal blow, McTavish deliberately aimed at Ludendorff's nose. This is the legendary "facial triangle", an absolutely fatal position. Even a light blow can kill a person.

Just as McTavish was aiming, three German patrol soldiers were still smoking and chatting 20 meters below McTavish. For some reason, all the other German soldiers left today, but these three stayed.

But it didn't matter. McTavish only had Ludendorff in his eyes now. No matter what else, McTavish could not see, hear, or feel.

Bang...

The sound shook the whole area.