Chapter 197: Completely Unchangeable
Falkenhayn then issued a series of targeted orders to the front line.
He handed over the front-line command to Major General Justin stationed on the Cape Town defense line. He was the commander of the 4th Reserve Army and commanded four divisions and two cavalry regiments in Cape Town.
Falkenham believed that Major General Justin was more familiar with the nearby terrain and was more suitable to directly command the overall situation.
…
At that time, Major General Justin was standing at the entrance of the command office, watching through a telescope the Avro planes whizzing across the sky.
His command post was hidden on high ground five kilometers away from the front line, surrounded by trees and hills. Not far away was a camouflaged 105MM howitzer position.
It's not that Major General Justin shared the hardships with the soldiers, but that Major General Justin knew that if he set up his headquarters in a nearby town, his position would soon be exposed.
This is France, after all, and although French capitalists always do stupid things, her civilians are always full of brave people.
More importantly, Major General Justin knew that Charles had proposed a "special operations" tactic, which was specifically aimed at launching sneak attacks on German headquarters in depth.
For the sake of his life, he had to find a safe place near the front line and live like a savage.
When Charles' plane appeared in the sky, Major General Justin secretly congratulated himself on being right.
If you live in a house or villa in this town, you might be subjected to crazy shooting from machine guns and airplanes!
Major General Justin stared at the "Avro" flying overhead through the aperture of the telescope until it disappeared. He seemed to want to see how the machine gun was installed or where it was installed. Unfortunately, he failed to do so.
When putting away the telescope, a signalman came forward and reported: "General, the General Staff ordered to reinforce us with four infantry divisions, two basic ammunition and one artillery regiment!"
Major General Justin was confused, but he didn't show it on his face. He asked coldly, "So, they made a mistake? Is Charles still commanding this attack?"
"No, General!" the signalman replied, "It is confirmed that Joffre is in command. However, the General Staff believes that Joffre may copy Charles' tactics at La Faux!"
Major General Justin was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help laughing and said sarcastically, "Interesting, would Joffre do this?"
…
Xiafei didn't want to do that either.
A villa located in the northwest of Cape Town. The wealthy owner had fled to the south because of the war in the area, and it was used by Joffre as a headquarters.
The command center was as busy as ever. After all, it was the nerve center of France's million-strong army. Military intelligence from all directions would eventually gather here, and after being properly processed, they would be sent back for the next instructions.
Xia Fei was sitting at the table, staring blankly at the map. The desk lamp next to him was emitting an orange light, which flickered occasionally, perhaps because of poor contact.
But Xiafei didn't notice anything at all, his eyes were empty and his mind was jumping into another dimension.
Joffre was somewhat depressed during this period. He had always tried to make his troops fight in an "orderly" manner. He believed that as long as he was organized and had steps, the enemy would be the one to panic, and victory would eventually belong to him.
This is one of the reasons why he always keeps a schedule.
However, the appearance of Charles broke all the rules. He did not play by the rules at all, and his tactics had hardly been the same since the beginning of the war.
The Battle of the Marne was a frontal breakthrough with tanks, taking advantage of the enemy's fear of new equipment;
Antwerp used deception tactics and rocket planes to bomb the enemy's key "Big Bertha" and airships;
At Ypres, machine-gun aircraft appeared to gain air superiority, and they perfectly coordinated with artillery defense;
LaFox amazingly gathered tanks, infantry and aircraft into a group to carry out an infiltration and encirclement!
God, which tactic is the right one? Joffre felt a little dizzy.
If you don't understand, just copy it...
No, it cannot be copied!
If a big headline appeared in the newspaper the next day, "French Commander-in-Chief used exactly the same tactics as Charles to achieve victory," how would he save face?
Therefore, even if it is a copy, some changes must be made, so that he can answer with confidence: "No, they just look similar on the surface, but they are actually two completely different tactics!".
The citizens did not understand tactics, and when they compared and found that there were indeed differences, they would believe what Joffre said.
However……
Xia Fei was devastated to find that he couldn't change anything at all, not at all!
Save the planes and ignore air superiority?
No, once the German planes fly into the sky for reconnaissance, the infiltrated troops will be discovered in advance by the Germans when they are gathering on the flanks, and there will be no suddenness of the infiltration, and they will not be able to break through quickly.
What's more, "machine gun planes" are needed to blockade and suppress the German artillery.
The First Flying Squadron is essential!
Attack directly from the front?
No, although the Saint-Chamond and CA-1 have been improved, they still have difficulty crossing the trenches during testing.
In actual combat, sandbags are still needed to fill the trenches to allow them to pass, and "sandbag filling the trenches" was also invented by Charles.
So, can we change the "simultaneous penetration of both wings" to "single-wing penetration"?
The answer is still no!
The simultaneous penetration of both wings means that each side only needs to go half the way, which not only halves the enemy's reaction time, but also reduces the tank's range by half.
The latter is very important because with the current state of tank maintenance, it is basically impossible for a single wing to complete the entire journey while the tracks remain connected.
"God!" Joffre was in deep distress. "This tactic was thought up by a 17-year-old boy. It is so well-connected and every step is essential. How did he come up with it?"
In the end, Joffre compromised and decided to copy it exactly without changing anything.
As long as we win, the media issues can be solved and Schneider can just do some work.
But inevitably, when Joffre conveyed the battle plan, the atmosphere in the command center became strange.
The staff officers said nothing, but their expressions looked as if they had stolen something. They couldn't help but wonder: If this is how we can win, then why is it Joffre instead of Charles who is in command?
Deputy Commander Kanais understood this expression. He didn't know how to explain it, so he could only shout to break the awkwardness: "Come on, boys, our goal is to encircle the enemy's 4th Reserve Army!"
Then Kanais added: "This time, we are going to surround an entire army! It's completely different from the last time we surrounded Fox!"
The staff officers responded sparsely:
"Yes, General!"
“This time it’s much more difficult!”
"This may be the largest siege ever fought."
…
(End of this chapter)
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