Chapter 485 Defensive counterattack (seeking monthly ticket)

After Marshal Xiafei finished his speech, ordinary generals all left the meeting room. They need to rush back to the station of their troops as soon as possible to prepare for the German attack. No one knows when the German offensive will start. Therefore, it is best to prepare early, so as not to be caught off guard by the German army.

The commanders of several group armies stayed behind. They still have urgent military needs to discuss with Marshal Joffre.

After those ordinary generals left, the atmosphere in the meeting room also became solemn.

"Gentlemen, those words just now are just to inspire everyone's fighting spirit. I hope that you, the commanders of the group army, don't take it seriously. You know, our enemy is still very strong. After half a year of preparation, we will face There is a greater threat from them. This battle is crucial. If we cannot stop the German attack, then everything will be over! The French Republic will be over, and so will the British Empire!" Xia Xia Marshal Fei said with a serious face.

The generals of the British and French allied forces also had a dignified look on their faces. They all knew that Marshal Joffre was not alarmist. This is the very real situation. The Allies, or Britain and France, are already in an extremely disadvantageous situation in this battle. If you don't grasp it well, Kongpo will be defeated in the end. Once it fails, the consequences can naturally be imagined.

"According to the information we have, the Germans have already completed their preparations. Reims, not far from here, is the headquarters of the German army. This battle will be personally commanded by the German Crown Prince. However, he seems to have us We have become weak Russians, thinking that we are as vulnerable as the Russians." Marshal Joffre continued.

"Isn't the Crown Prince of Germany only in his twenties? How dare Wilhelm II entrust so many troops to his command? It's a joke." A middle-aged general shook his head. He is a general of the British Army and General Roy, commander of the 2nd Army of the British Expeditionary Force.

"Perhaps William II was blinded by the performance of the German Crown Prince on the Eastern Front! The Western Front is not the Eastern Front, and we are not poorly equipped Russians who are vulnerable to a single blow." French Second Army Admiral Decasy Turno said.

"Haha!" All the generals laughed. Indeed, they are qualified to laugh. The strength of the British and French allied forces is indeed much stronger than that of the Russian army. Therefore, they do not think that the German army has the ability to defeat them as easily as they defeated the Russian army. In their view, this is absolutely impossible.

"Okay, everyone. Let's all be serious! The German army opposite us has four armies with more than 800,000 people. Although, we have assembled six armies with 1.2 million people on the Marne River line. However, I still have no idea. I hope that in the next battle, our army can withstand the German attack. Even if we try our best, we must resist them and try our best to consume their energy Vitality." Marshal Xiafei said.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, we have built strong fortifications in the south of the Marne River. These fortifications, which are composed of trenches and barbed wire, must be able to withstand the German attack." Admiral Mao Nuli, commander of the French Sixth Army Said.

"Your Excellency, Commander, how should we deal with the German tanks? German tanks have displayed great combat effectiveness on the Eastern Front. The reason why the German 8th Army was able to defeat the Russian Army on the Eastern Front , the tanks have played a huge role." General Foch, the commander of the French Ninth Army, asked with some concern.

"We are already actively developing tanks. Unfortunately, we have no similar design before, and we can only imitate them according to German tanks. But we don't know many internal structures inside. Therefore, The progress of imitation is a bit slow. It is estimated that mass production will not start until the end of this year. The progress of the British side is almost the same. So, until now, we have not been able to provide tanks to the troops.” Marshal Xia Fei said.

With Qin Tian's help, Germany took the lead in developing tanks and equipped troops, which also played a very important role in actual combat. In contrast, Britain and France are far behind in this regard. This made the British and French coalition forces suffer a lot if they encountered German tanks in battle.

Sure enough, after hearing such words, the smiles on the faces of the generals of the British and French allied forces disappeared immediately.

"However, everyone, although we have not been able to develop tanks. However, we have developed weapons that can restrain tanks. Aren't those weapons already equipped with troops? Please believe our scientists and engineers, those weapons must be It will play a great role in the battle!" Marshal Xiafei said.

Under the circumstances that tanks could not be put into service as soon as possible, Britain and France jointly developed anti-tank guns and anti-tank guns. The former is based on the two-pound gun of the British Army as a prototype. The barrel is strengthened, the rate of fire is enhanced, and it has good armor-piercing ability. The latter is a large-bore rifle capable of firing 13mm bullets. This rifle bullet has extremely strong armor-piercing ability and can penetrate the armor of ordinary tanks.

After the large-scale production of anti-tank guns and anti-tank guns in Britain and France, the British and French allied forces were equipped with a lot. This makes them at least not like the Russians, who are helpless in the face of German tanks.

"Your Excellency Marshal, in the face of the German attack, can we only blindly defend? This is not very good." General Neville, commander of the French 4th Army, said.

"Okay, I will try my best to find a solution in terms of armaments. Your task is to hold the line of defense and cause as much damage as possible to the Germans. Prepare for the follow-up counterattack. I hope you can do this One point. In this way, we may defeat the Germans in future battles." Marshal Joffre said.

The tactic discussed by Marshal Joffre and Sir French, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, was to defend and counterattack. First, rely on solid fortifications to resist the German attack and consume the active strength of the German army. Then gather superior forces, launch a counterattack, and strive to defeat the German army in one fell swoop. Therefore, at the beginning of the battle, it is undoubtedly the most important to resist the German attack. If the German attack cannot be resisted, let alone a follow-up counterattack.