My Italy

At this time, the French army was already preparing to eye the German army on the Marne River and was ready to take action.

As for the threat from the French army, not everyone in Germany felt it. As the chief of the general staff, General Maoqi had already seen the danger.

Moltke had already received a telegram from Kruger that he wanted to take the First Army to the interior. Moltke was deeply disturbed by this telegram, so he issued an order to Kruger, approving his transfer to the southeast. , on the other hand, the First Army was required to form an echelon, follow the Second Army, and cover the flanks of the two armies.

Faced with Moltke's order, Kruger, who led the First Army, was unwilling to accept it. He descended to the troops and continued to pursue towards the Marne River, and crossed the Marne River the next day.

Faced with Kruger's refusal to carry out his orders, Moltke was furious. He immediately rebuked Kruger and either carried out the order or he would be sent to a military court.

Faced with the strict orders from Little Maoqi, Kruger could only accept the order. In any country, a general who refuses to accept orders will not end well, especially in the German army where obeying orders is the norm.

Therefore, Kruger could only postpone crossing the Marne River, and after gathering the First Army, he moved closer to Bülow's Second Army.

At this time, the actions of the German First Army made the French army, which was preparing to launch an attack, uncomfortable.

Because the First Army's actions at this time quickly reduced its flanks, and after its forces were concentrated, it would become difficult for the French army to counterattack.

However, at this time, the French army's attack order had already been conveyed to all divisions. Now all units are gathering, and officers are also cheering for the soldiers, and supplies and ammunition are also being replenished.

At this time, the French army was already in a state of having an arrow on the string and had no choice but to launch it. If you say not to launch an offensive and let them withdraw across the Seine River again, how is this possible? Their little morale must not be completely lost.

Therefore, the French army must launch an attack on the German army at this time. Of course, the French army still has the advantage in terms of strength. It has two armies, the Fifth and the Seventh, on the Marne River. In addition, there are five divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, and two reserve armies specially drawn from the rear by Joffre, with a total strength of 700,000. Their targets, the first and second German armies, only had 500,000 troops. In terms of strength, the French army had the upper hand.

In addition to the advantage in military strength, the French army also has an advantage in artillery. Although its main equipment, the 75mm rapid-fire cannon, is worse than the German 105mm and 150mm howitzers in actual combat, in terms of quantity, the French army has an absolute advantage. Its equipment There were thousands of gates opened, while the German army only had more than 600 gates. (Mainly due to the continuous high-intensity march, many artillery pieces fell behind.)

So on November 29, the French army launched a tidal wave of attacks on the German troops on the Marne River.

In fact, when the French army mobilized on a large scale, the German side was aware of it. After all, how could the mobilization of 700,000 troops be completely concealed?

As early as two days before the French army launched its offensive, the German General Staff issued a warning to the First and Second Armies, asking them to pay attention to the large-scale French counterattack.

In fact, after entering northern France, Moltke felt something was wrong, because the German army on the right wing was overwhelming all the way, but it did not destroy many French troops.

Moreover, according to the Schlieffen Plan, the French army should have been dragged on the German-French border at this time, but due to the counterattack from the right wing, the French army was driven back into the country. At this time, it had become impossible to fully implement the Schlieffen Plan, and the fighter planes that surrounded and annihilated the main force of the French army had also slipped away.

Since the main force of the French army still exists, finding the location of the main force of the French army and preventing the French army from counterattack have become the most important matters of the General Staff.

And Joffre put on a posture of attacking on the Marne River, so naturally he could not hide it from the eyes of the Germans.

So when the French army launched an attack on the German troops on the Marne River, they found that the German troops had already built fortifications waiting for their arrival.

So a great battle began on both sides of the Marne River.

"attack!"

A French officer drew his command knife and shouted loudly for the soldiers to attack. At this time, the French army's artillery fire had just subsided and the smoke from the battlefield had not yet dispersed. The French army could not wait to launch an offensive.

Of course, as a heroic commander, he would not let the soldiers charge and hide behind, so he rushed out first.

The officer's heroic actions only moved his subordinates deeply, so they rushed out of the trenches and rushed towards the enemy's position.

From the sky above the Marne River, it can be seen that the attacking French officers and soldiers are like a tide, attacking the German positions.

Facing the attacking French army, the German officers and soldiers hiding in hastily constructed trenches certainly would not let the French army do what they wished.

Gunfire rang out in the position, knocking down the charging French officers and soldiers. However, the French army seemed to want to avenge their shame and turned a blind eye to the continuous falling comrades around them. Instead, they accelerated towards the position despite the casualties.

In fact, the French army could endure casualties not only because of its bravery, but also because of the decline in German shooting accuracy. The officers and soldiers of the German First and Second Army have been marching at high intensity since the beginning of the attack on Belgium. They have been marching for more than a month now.

Even a tough body can't stand it, so it's normal to feel exhausted. And under this state, if the original 100% shooting level can be used to 60%, it is considered excellent.

The situation of the German positions was quickly discovered by the French commander. Faced with this situation, he, who was responsible for commanding the attack, immediately ordered an increase in troops, trying to break through the German positions in one go.

Following the orders of the French commander, more French officers and soldiers rushed out of the trenches. They shouted and rushed towards the German positions, trying to keep up with the first wave of attacking troops.

At this time, as the French army charged regardless of casualties, its forward was only two hundred meters away from the position.

Seeing the menacing attack of the French army, the German troops in the position no longer concealed their presence and quickly brought out their big guns. That is the defensive weapon, the Maxim machine gun.

"Da da da~~"

The firing of the Maxim heavy machine gun was like a sickle, mowing down the charging French soldiers. The rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute is enough for a Maxim heavy machine gun to take over a front two to three hundred meters wide.

The fire blockade of the Maxim heavy machine gun made it difficult for the bravest French troops to break through. They saw that their own soldiers were unable to break through in the face of the enemy's fierce firepower.

As the supreme commander of this battle, General Gallieni threw the telescope on the ground angrily. He took the phone and called the artillery position.

"I am Gallieni. The artillery fires at the German machine guns immediately. Don't worry about the German artillery. Your priority target is the enemy machine gun. In fact, it is the damn artillery."

Following his strict order, French artillery also joined the bombardment, regardless of the risk of hurting their own people. And their target was the heavy machine guns on the German position that were blocking the French charge.

Faced with the artillery threat from the French soldiers, the firepower on the German positions quickly decreased. Civil fortifications cannot allow machine gun positions to block artillery fire. Even 75mm artillery shells can still pose a fatal threat. Therefore, when the enemy is shelling, the machine guns on the position must be moved. Not to mention that the enemy's artillery is completely aimed at the machine gun. If we don't move at this time, we will wait.

The firepower of the German positions was greatly reduced, causing the French soldiers who had been suppressed to immediately charge again.

Carrying rifles with bayonets inserted, they launched a final charge towards the position.

"No, the troops are ordered to reinforce the front-line positions. The enemy must be kept out of the battlefield."

At this time, the German commander Kruger also saw that the situation on the front line was not good, and immediately ordered the troops in the second line to go for reinforcements. As for the artillery support, they were already counterattacking the French artillery, which was only focused on bombarding the battlefield.

For a time, surrounding the front line position, the German and French armies used all their strength as soon as they came up. The two sides continued to invest troops, turning the front line into a Shura field. The corpses of the two armies fell everywhere, and the soil of the position was dyed bright red. The officers and soldiers of the two sides who did not fall were engaged in a brutal fight that was either your death or mine.

In the end, the German army won the final victory by virtue of its more familiar position and closer reinforcements. However, the German troops who drove the French army away did not feel comfortable, because on the first day, the First and Second Army lost more than 30,000 people, of which more than 15,000 were killed in action alone.

As for the attacking French and British forces, their casualties were even higher, with more than 18,000 people killed and missing alone, and up to 45,000 wounded and wounded.

For this reason, many surviving officers and soldiers from both sides called today's battle Bloody Friday.

However, these officers and soldiers did not know that the battle on the first day was nothing, and the next battle would be even more brutal.

Of course, for the officers and soldiers of the defending First and Second Group, the fierce French offensive on this day left them with lingering fears. For the upcoming battle, many people's inner concepts of victory have been shaken.

As for the two commanders Kruger and Bülow, in addition to preparing for the next battle, they also reported today's battle to the Chief of General Staff at the rear, General Moltke. Of course, in addition to the battle, they requested reinforcements. His words were also revealed in the telegram.

Xiao Maoqi and the officers of the General Staff were shocked by these two requests for help. They were now trying to mobilize troops to reinforce the First and Second Army.

At this time, the 3rd and 4th armies also sent telegrams, and they exchanged fire with the French 4th and 9th armies. However, their situation was much better than that of the First and Second Army because the other party did not put so much pressure on them.

At this time, Xiao Maoqi discovered that the French army launched an attack on the entire right wing of the German army.

At this time, for Little Maoqi, reinforcements are a must choice, and they cannot retreat unless it is a last resort.

Because Xiao Maoqi knew very well that if he retreated, it would mean that France could not be defeated quickly, and Germany would fall into a terrible two-front battle.

Ever since, finding reinforcements for the First and Second Army has become a top priority.

After intense search by the officers of the General Staff, 100,000 troops were finally found for the First and Second Army.

One of the reserve forces formed by four mobilization divisions is now in Aachen, and the remaining troops are drawn from Belgium and other units.

The core of this reinforcement is the reserve army still in Aachen.

At this time, it was more than 400 kilometers from Aachen to the Marne River. If we wanted this reserve army to arrive within three days, it was absolutely impossible to rely on it and we had to use transportation the whole way. It's easier to say from Aachen to Sauny. Thanks to the full-scale repairs by the German engineering troops, this section of railway is now ready for use. If arranged properly, it would only take a day and a half for a reserve army to arrive.

The total distance from Sauny to the Marne is more than 80 kilometers. There is no railway during this distance, so other means of transportation must be used.

At this time, there was only one means of transportation that could be used by the German army, and that was the Fiat F75 truck that the army was constantly transporting.

At this time, Xiao Maoqi immediately gave the order. "Immediately send a message to the right-wing armies, asking them to gather the trucks they have in Shaoni, and ask them to take out at least half of the trucks."

At this time, there were only more than 9,000 trucks in the hands of the German army, and there were still more than 6,000 trucks allocated to the right wing. At this moment, Moltke asked for half of them, which was 3,000 trucks with a load capacity of three tons. It is definitely more powerful than a taxi and can definitely transport 100,000 reinforcements and their equipment.

At this moment, the first large-scale motorized troops were launched inadvertently by the Germans.