Chapter 458 The artillery fire finally dissipated

1st, this day was a big day for the Allies and the entire war. new

Under the full offensive of the Allied forces, the Second Battle of the Marne made good progress.

In just ten days, the German army was pushed back more than 50 kilometers. Not only did it completely relieve Paris's predicament, it even made a big effort to counterattack into Germany.

Although the German army's defense did not stop, it could no longer stop the Allied forces' attack.

The state of the German army at this time is that it is full of strength, then weakens, and finally exhausted. The soldiers seemed exhausted, and most of them even looked down on this doomed war.

The success of the Second Battle of the Marne also gave the Allied Powers Command an opportunity.

While maintaining the offensive on the northern front, the French army mobilized a large number of troops hoarded in Verdun to advance directly toward Alsace-Lorraine in conjunction with the southern front.

For the French, being able to regain Alsace and Lorraine as soon as possible was definitely one of the best rewards in this war.

On the 1st, after half a month of fighting, the Allied forces broke through Nancy and pushed the German army back to the pre-war Franco-German border.

But restoring the pre-war order was obviously not the pursuit of the French army. Without even any rest, the ambitious French army shouted the slogan of recovering Alsace-Lorraine and rushed directly to the Alsace and Lorraine regions.

With the country behind them, the German army's willingness to fight has been restored. But it was obvious that the German army at this time could no longer stop the Allies' attack. Even if the Germans were not afraid of death, the French were even more enthusiastic about fighting.

At the end of October, as the first French soldier officially entered the Alsace region, the French flag was again planted in this region after decades.

Along with Alsace, the Lorraine region was also recovered. These two areas were annexed by Prussia in 1871 and are also the heart knot of all French people.

You know, it was also in this year that Prussia stepped on France and established the German Empire. This was a shame in the hearts of all French people and one of the cores of the contradiction between Germany and France. new

Being able to regain this land now is even more exciting to most French people than winning the war.

General Thomas was also very sensible. Not only did he give the French army the first opportunity to enter Alsace and Lorraine, he also proposed to let France directly manage this area.

With the acquiescence of all the Allied Powers, this land has been placed under the management of the French, and no one can compete with France for the ownership of this land.

The occupation of Alsace and Lorraine excited not only all French and French media, but also all Allied newspapers and media and the public.

This was the first time since the outbreak of the war that the Allied Powers on the Western Front invaded German territory. It was also the first piece of German land that was actually occupied. It was of great significance to this war.

It was also on the day when the French army officially entered Alsace and Lorraine that the media of all the Allied Powers adopted a unified headline: "Victory is Coming!"

The fall of Alsace and Lorraine overwhelmed the Germans, but they had no troops to mobilize at this time.

Both the Belgian region and the Eastern Front faced an onslaught from the Allied forces.

The mobilization of even one division is likely to put these two fronts in danger. But if reinforcements are not sent to South Germany, Bavaria may fall next.

The German Empire had a rather special political system. It was an empire formed by the original Kingdom of Prussia and the states in the German region.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was not only the emperor of the German region, but also the real core region, the king of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In addition to the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire also had important states such as Bavaria, Hesse, Baden, and Hanover.

These states not only have autonomy in peacetime, but also have their own armies. However, during the war, they were under the unified management of the imperial government, which was also a restriction on these states.

Bavaria has its own king. If Bavaria faces a crisis, it is unknown whether it will seek independence like Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. new

But for the Allies, the more chaos in Germany, the better. The more chaotic Germany becomes, the less manpower and material resources the Allies will spend to defeat Germany.

After completely occupying Alsace and Lorraine, the Allied forces divided into two groups. One part went north to Frankfurt and along the Rhine River, occupying the more important Frankfurt and Ruhr areas in Germany. They also merged with the British army in Belgium and surrounded them. German frontline troops.

The other part continued eastward and occupied the entire southern German region.

The German states include Bavaria, Fortenberg, Hesse, and Baden, and their relationship with the North German region further north is not so close.

You must know that the German Empire was established because the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Austria, which was also a German region, was excluded from the German Empire.

Before the establishment of the German Empire, Bavaria and other states in southern Germany had better relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and were opposed to the North German Alliance led by the Kingdom of Prussia.

On the 1st, after the Allied forces captured Offenburg, they advanced towards Stuttgart.

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The army responsible for heading north headed north to Mannheim and surrounded the nearby areas of Mannheim, Mainz and Frankfurt.

Although the German army resisted desperately, the Allied forces were already overwhelming. Even if the German army suffered more than tens of thousands of casualties every day, it still could not stop the Allied Powers from advancing.

On November 27, Stuttgart was defeated, and the Allied forces headed east to Munich and Nuremberg.

Within a few days, Mannheim was also defeated, leaving only the German troops in Mainz and Frankfurt struggling to hold on.

The news that the armies of other countries were overwhelming in Germany also stimulated the British. The British stepped up their attacks in Belgium, and during this period they also recaptured the Liege Fortress and advanced towards Aachen in Germany.

The difficulties faced by Germany at this time made the German General Staff feel numb, and made Hindenburg feel helpless.

More importantly, the fall of the country has caused Germany to face a material crisis. Workers' uprisings have broken out in many areas to protest against the government's drastic cuts in material supplies to the people.

Although this small-scale workers' uprising was quickly suppressed by the government, a pessimistic atmosphere began to spread among the people.

The German people began to criticize the rule of the military government, saying angrily that it was precisely because of the radicalization of the military government that Germany faced such a predicament.

It is worth mentioning that many media and people in Germany have criticized the military government and Hindenburg. The target is so clear that one has to suspect that there is someone behind it.

In fact, Wilhelm II, who was living in the Berlin Palace, was the most likely person behind these attacks, but Hindenburg had no intention of dealing with Wilhelm II at this time.

1. Under the orders of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the German General Staff requested the High Seas Fleet to forcefully go to war in order to strive for more favorable conditions for future German peace talks.

However, such a request from the General Staff will undoubtedly put the soldiers of the High Seas Fleet to death. With the addition of the Americans, the numerical gap between the German Navy and the Allied Navy is already very large, and the High Seas Fleet cannot be an opponent of the Allied Navy.

Led by some middle-level naval officers of the High Seas Fleet, the German navy, unwilling to die in vain, launched an uprising, directly occupied the port, and publicly telegraphed the German government, demanding that Hindenburg return power to Wilhelm II.

The navy's resistance and uprising caused Hindenburg to lose face and made more German people dissatisfied with the rule of the military government.

As the Allied forces attacked cities and territories in Germany unscrupulously, the government of the Kingdom of Bavaria finally could no longer hold on. King Ludwig III of Bavaria sent envoys to meet with the Allied Powers frequently. His intention to unilaterally end the war was already very obvious.

On December 7, Munich was defeated by the Allies, and Ludwig III publicly announced Bavaria's unconditional surrender.

The surrender of Bavaria kicked off the surrender of the German states. Hesse, Baden, Württemberg and other states also all announced their surrender in early December.

This also caused the entire southern German region to fall under the rule of the Allied Powers, and also caused chaos in the states in the northern German region.

At this time, Hindenburg did not care about the fighting on the front line, and hurriedly ordered the army to withdraw to North Germany, concentrating all his efforts on defending the most important areas of Germany.

After the defeat in December, the Allied forces began to advance towards the Ruhr area.

The British army also officially broke through Aachen and joined forces with the French army, targeting the entire Westphalia region.

Before the Allied troops approached the Ruhr area, the workers and troops in the Ruhr area had already broken out in uprising.

A large number of workers chanted the slogan "Bread not war", rebelled against some German soldiers, and directly occupied most of the factories in the Ruhr area.

At the same time, rebellions broke out across Germany. The people no longer had enough to eat, and naturally they no longer cared about the government.

On December 11, Allied troops landed in Hanover, and the State of Hanover immediately announced its surrender.

At this time, Hindenburg was sitting in the General Staff Headquarters with a pale face. He knew that the situation in Germany was over, so he could only give his order bitterly to the messengers and declare a ceasefire on the front line.

That same night, William II, under the protection of his personal guards, quietly went to Germany's neighboring Netherlands to take refuge.

After Germany's defeat, Hindenburg's military government was bound to suffer liquidation from the Allied Powers. William II did not think that the Allied Powers would let him go easily.

Instead of doing this, it is better to go to the Netherlands early and wait for the situation in Germany to develop.

On the next day, the 1st, the news that Germany declared an armistice spread to all corners of the Allied Powers and the world, and brought joy and encouragement to all the people of the Allied Powers.

At this time, the Europeans were surprised to find that the Allied media's previous propaganda of ending the war before Christmas was really not a lie. There was still half a month before Christmas.

Arthur couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the news of the German armistice in Australasia.

This war that has lasted for three years is finally over, and people in Europe and even the world can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But the end of the war does not mean that it will be easy. The next issue of peace talks between the Allied Powers and Germany is the top priority and is related to the interests of all countries.

The second update of 3200 words, please vote for me and support!