Chapter 41 Keeping up the pace

It was just afternoon.

The warm sunlight shone into the canvas tent through the window. Kluck sat on the camp chair and silently looked at the coffee in his hand. It clearly exuded an alluring aroma, but in Kluck's eyes it was like a cup of coagulated black blood, filled with death and pain.

"According to the statistics sent by various departments, our army has suffered more than 60,000 casualties!" The staff officer took the latest intelligence and reported while marking on the map:

"The 2nd and 3rd Armies are on our left wing, the 4th Army is on our right wing, and the location of the 9th Army is unknown. They should be scattered behind our army and have not yet organized..."

Kluck, who had been motionless like a statue, suddenly raised his head, his voice was not loud but unusually cold: "Remove Major General Dimke, Major General Baldwin took over, and ordered him to organize the 9th Army before dark tonight!"

"Yes!" The staff officer responded and immediately asked the signalman to pass on Kluck's order.

One of Kluck's strengths is his super memory. The main commanders of each army and even each division under the First Army, as well as their specialties and personalities, are like engraved in his mind. He can easily deploy them without consulting documents and has never made mistakes.

After a moment of silence, Kluck asked again: "Where is the 2nd Army now?"

The staff officer glanced at the map and replied: "Five kilometers behind us, considering that our army is retreating, they have stopped advancing!"

Kluck said "um" and said calmly: "Tell them that they can continue to advance tomorrow morning!"

"But General!" The staff officer was a little anxious: "The order of the Chief of Staff is to continue retreating. There are two army groups of enemies in front of us, and the British Expeditionary Force has also rejoined the counterattack sequence..."

Kluck didn't say anything, but just glanced at the staff officer coldly, which scared him so much that he didn't dare to say anything more. In the end, the staff officer only responded lightly with "yes" and passed the order again.

Kluck knew he still had a chance.

Although the First Army suffered more than 60,000 casualties, it still had more than 200,000 troops, and their strength was still there.

As for the two French armies... they just look scary because of their large numbers.

The French army's tactics are always the same, so much so that Kluck can guess what they will do next.

The German army only needs to hide in the bunkers to kill their manpower and frustrate their spirit, and then launch a counterattack to defeat them and win.

As for the Chief of Staff, he was just scared by the enemy's strength. When the First Army defeats the French army again and wins, he will change his mind.

I will definitely win, Kluck thought, even if the enemy has "armored monsters", my artillery will blow them all up!

Kluck stood up and stood in front of the window looking at the soldiers who were resting in the open field. They were three mixed infantry brigades directly under the army, with a total of more than 20,000 people.

They are the most loyal and elite troops of the empire. They are well-trained and have not been discouraged even in this adversity.

Seeing their orderly appearance, Kluck confidently made a judgment: "Nothing can stop them from marching into Paris! Nothing!"

However, it was as if it was a response to Kluck.

Dense gunfire suddenly sounded, and the orderly military camp immediately became chaotic. Several soldiers were hit by bullets and fell to the ground screaming in Kluck's sight.

"What happened?" Kluck shouted loudly.

He heard that it was the sound of the Maxim machine gun, and the enemy was not equipped with Maxim.

Could it be that the friendly forces mistook them for enemies and attacked?

While Kluck was wondering, several bullets penetrated his tent with the sound of breaking through the air, and a motorcycle with three wheels sped past Kluck in his surprised eyes, only a dozen meters away from him.

Before Kluck could see clearly, the battalion commander of the guard battalion rushed in and pressed Kluck under him with a flying pounce. The next second, the machine gun bullets flew over his head with a "da da da" sound.

At that glance just now, Kluck had confirmed that it was the enemy.

The German army did not have this kind of motorcycle, and the riders were wearing the red pants unique to French soldiers!

But why did the enemy come here?

Why didn't a regiment that was carrying out a cover mission in the rear send any warning?

Did they get wiped out before they could react?

Impossible!

However, the fact is that the enemy was in front of them and almost beat him, the commander of the army group, into a sieve!

…

It was Major Browne's 3rd Infantry Battalion that broke into Kluck's camp.

They drove sidecars from the motorcycle factory at dawn, and found two locals who were familiar with the terrain in the town to lead the way when they bought supplies.

On the way, they successfully got rid of Major General Gad's main force and entered the mountain road.

The motorcycle convoy went around in the small roads in the mountains and took several hours to get back to the road.

Not far on the road, after turning around a high ground, a large open area and a huge military camp suddenly jumped into their eyes.

Unprepared, the motorcycles slowed down one after another, and the soldiers stared blankly at the dense enemy in front of them.

The Germans did not react. They did not think that the enemy could get here, and naturally regarded the convoy as their own.

"God, there are at least 20,000 people!" Machine gunner Yves sat in the sidecar and reported to Major Browne who had just arrived: "What should we do, Major?"

Major Brownie stretched his neck to look over the motorcycle in front of him to the open field, and gritted his teeth and responded: "What else can we do? We have no way to retreat!"

Major Brownie turned his head to look at the sidecars that followed behind him, waved his hand and ordered: "Enemy ahead, prepare for battle!"

"Enemy ahead, prepare for battle!"

...

Orders were passed down one after another.

The motorcyclist lowered his body and buried his head under the armor as much as possible, while the machine gunner pressed the ammunition belt and pulled the bolt with both hands holding the gun handle.

Major Brownie was one of the machine gunners. He sat on the sidecar and controlled a machine gun.

"Keep the speed!" Major Browne ordered: "Rush as fast as you can, don't look back!"

The soldiers responded sparsely:

"Yes, Major!"

Someone asked fearfully: "Major, what if we rush forward and there are still enemies in front?"

Major Browne replied faintly: "Then kill them!"

Without waiting for the soldiers to ask more questions, Major Browne grabbed the machine gun in one hand and waved forward with the other hand, shouting:

"Go, boys! Kill them all!"

The motorcycle left the road and rushed to the open ground with a "boom". They inserted diagonally along the left sideline of the German camp like a sharp knife...

The Maxim machine gun on the right sidecar sounded when it approached the military camp. The dense bullets were like a hurricane, sweeping towards the German camp frantically!

(Note: France changed to driving on the right after Napoleon, which is different from Britain, so the French sidecar is a right-sidecar)