Expedition to Europe

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The Germans are known for their rigorous and resolute tactical execution, in other words, dogmatism. The French are known for their rigid and rigid tactical execution, which is a perfect match for the Germans.

At the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, the French 6th Army attacked the weak section of the German defense. The Germans did not expect the French to attack here before the war, so the defense was very weak.

On July 3, the French 6th Army broke through the defensive position of the German 17th Army with a fierce assault, causing serious casualties to the Germans.

In order to avoid the complete destruction of the 17th Army, the German High Command transferred the reserve of the 2nd Army to take over the defense, and the 17th Army withdrew to the third position for rest and replenishment.

But the German 17th Army retreated so hastily that the 2nd Army had not yet made up for it when the 17th Army retreated. As a result, some positions and support points were unguarded, which created a gap and many gaps on the German defense front, giving the French army an opportunity to take advantage of it.

On July 4, the advance detachment of the French 35th Army immediately set out after discovering this situation and occupied the unguarded Baarle without fighting.

At this time, other troops were also preparing to advance to the Somme River, hoping to take the opportunity to attack and expand the results of the battle.

However, Fayol, commander of the French 6th Army, disagreed with this.

His reason was: According to the "step-by-step action" theory of General Foch, commander of the French Northern Army Group, in order to seize new positions, the occupied areas must be consolidated, the second echelon has taken over the battle, and at the same time, strong artillery preparations are prepared to ensure the attack.

As a result, the French army followed this instruction and the troops preparing to attack had to withdraw to their original positions and make preparations again, which delayed them for two full days and nights.

On the battlefield, opportunities are fleeting.

Just as the French army was preparing for the attack according to the "step-by-step action" theory, the German 2nd Army had discovered the loopholes in the front line. They asked the headquarters for 5 elite divisions to take over the defense of the 17th Army, fill all the gaps, reorganize the defense system, and plug the gaps.

Two days later, the ready French army resumed the attack, but they did not expect that the German army had already invested fresh troops here. The French attack encountered unprecedented fierce resistance and suffered heavy casualties.

The Battle of the Somme has been going on for more than three months, and the French command system is still as rigid as ever.

Colonel Demps Gail of the Artillery Brigade also had a different opinion: "After going around the German defense line, the ambush position is behind the German position. So, when the artillery fire extends, will it accidentally hit friendly forces?"

"Don't worry about this. In our plan, the artillery fire will not extend. The firepower preparation is mainly to blow up the barbed wire at the front of the German position. As long as the barbed wire is blown up, our soldiers will rush directly to the German position along the channel opened by the artillery. Don't worry about the rest." Qin Zhiyuan has his own views on the use of artillery, which will have to wait until the meeting is over to communicate with Demps Gail privately.

Demps Gail shrugged and made a helpless expression of "this has no precedent".

"Gentlemen, with the development of weapons, tactics are also constantly developing. We cannot refuse to make progress on the grounds of 'no precedent'. Please let me finish, sir." Qin Zhiyuan raised his hand to stop Hunter who wanted to speak, and continued his speech: "Half a month ago, the British just used tanks on the battlefield. Now the Germans have dug a ten-meter wide and five-meter deep anti-tank trench in front of the position. So will we no longer use tanks? No, we will continue to use them. We will use blasting tubes, small explosive packs and other things to destroy anti-tank trenches so that our tanks can successfully rush to the German position."

Fighting is like a duel between two people. Just respond to each other's moves. To put it bluntly, that's it.

"After the appearance of tanks, do we still need to use linear tactics? The answer is no! Our infantry should accompany the tanks to attack, the infantry protects the tanks, and the tanks cover the infantry. So are linear tactics useless? The answer is still no. When the terrain is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops, the infantry still has to use linear tactics to continue to charge." In order to smoothly implement the plan, Qin Zhiyuan doesn't mind taking a tactical class.

"Interesting." Hunter gestured to continue.

"In my country, more than 2,000 years ago, a great military strategist said: Water flows according to the terrain, and soldiers win according to the enemy. Soldiers have no constant situation, and water has no constant shape. Those who can win by changing the enemy are called gods. The translation of this sentence means: Use troops like mercury pouring on the ground, formulate your own tactics according to the enemy's situation, and don't stick to precedents. I would like to ask, if you refuse to change because of "no precedent", then where do those "precedents" come from? Was there a "precedent" when they were born?" Qin Zhiyuan pulled out "The Art of War" to help.

This is actually a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Not to mention Hunter, Qin Zhiyuan has no answer.

"Uh... more than 2,000 years, that's really amazing." Hunter couldn't refute it.

Pushing back 2,000 years, Europe was shrouded in the shadow of ancient Rome, and there was no concept of France at that time.

"So, forget about our 'precedent', that is also 'old practice'. No matter what method we use, as long as we defeat the Germans, then it is a good idea. In a hundred years, our method will also become 'precedent' "You definitely don't want your descendants to use your method to fight wars. God knows what the world invented at that time. Maybe you can just ask God for help." Qin Zhiyuan made a real joke.

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For people at the beginning of the 20th century, war in the 21st century is a myth. Farmers who go up the mountain to chop firewood with their hatchets every day can only imagine that the emperor's hatchets are made of gold.

"Okay then, we can give it a try like this." Hunter reluctantly agreed to Qin Zhiyuan's suggestion. As he said, Qin Zhiyuan's sixth regiment's attack was an experimental operation.

"So, what about artillery? How should we use artillery?" Demps Gale asked his own question. He was also eager to get some advice from Qin Zhiyuan.

"I have nothing to say about the use of artillery, because if I were to operate it, I would definitely not be able to shoot accurately without a soldier wearing the gunner's mark." Qin Zhiyuan was silent for a while and also made some suggestions: "About Firepower preparation, I have some opinions on our current firepower preparation. , once the artillery fire begins to extend, the infantry will launch a charge, and during this charge, the Germans have revived their firepower points. Because our firepower preparation did not play its due role, the Germans hid in the tunnels, where there were. A solid shell-proof hole, so there’s not much to gain.”

Demps Gale nodded repeatedly, knowing this issue well.

"Then why can't we change our approach? Send a battalion of soldiers to cooperate. Whenever the artillery begins to extend, the soldiers will prepare to attack, but will not charge. When the Germans enter the trenches and prepare to revive the firepower point, we will bombard them with artillery. Once again, it's like playing whack-a-mole. "Qin Zhiyuan looked down upon the French artillery. Their quality was indeed good, but their command system was as rigid as their artillery.