On the afternoon of September 28, the command of the 4th Corps of the French 3rd Army welcomed a tall, wrinkled and serious veteran. He was Joseph Simon Gallieni, who was named "The Conqueror of Madagascar". As the French cabinet appointed by the French cabinet, Gallieni was responsible for the defense of the entire Paris region and presided over the construction of the Paris defense line. Although the defeat of the Battle of the Marne made the French government and the army an atmosphere of defeat. Everyone who had seen the fortifications of Paris with their own eyes praised this solid defense line built in just one month. In the unfavorable situation of the German advancement, nothing can comfort people's hearts and allow people to see the hope of defeating the German army.

In order to commend Gallieni's important efforts in the most chaotic situation, people called the Paris Defence Line of Greater Paris "Gallieni Line of Defense" and dug in front of the main defense line. The trench with a total length of 140 kilometers is named "Gallieni Trench".

After entering the 4th Corps command, Gallieni congratulated the generals here because they fought the French team's first victory in the Battle of Paris and severely defeated the attack of the German ace army.

The senior officers of the 4th Corps had just a hint of joy on their faces. Gallieni changed his tone and pointed out their various omissions in defensive deployment like a gun. These were obviously problems he discovered when inspecting the defense line. Some problems were indeed human negligence, and some problems were known but disapproving.

"Gentlemen, we are facing a huge army with the Prussian army as the bones. They have heavy artillery groups that can destroy any fortress. In Liege, Namur and Verdun showed the world this terrible ability. Not only that, the Germans also invented and equipped tracked chariots with armored steel plates, and our machine guns must be destroyed or injured at a very close distance. According to my estimate, within 24 hours, the German team will launch a large-scale artillery bombardment on Villepalisi. The lesson of the Battle of Mocheng tells us that no matter how deep the trench is dug, it cannot allow the soldiers to safely survive the saturated bombardment of heavy artillery. The only effective way is to let our soldiers hide two kilometers away from the front position when the enemy launches artillery, and wait until the German chariots and infantry launch an attack, and then quickly return to the front position when the German chariots and infantry launch an attack."

After saying that, Gallieni coldly swept the faces of every officer present, and his words were already so clear. These professional officers who came from regular military academies and had fought with the German team in the last war or more than a month before, understood what aspects should they strengthen their defense from?

Gallieni straightened his thin body and nodded to the officers encouragingly: "Whether you can defend Villeparisi is directly related to the victory or defeat of the Battle of Paris. Everyone, we have no way out and we must smash the attack of the German team here!"

The officers were all upright and watched Galieni leave with respect.

From the age of 21, Gallieni's military career lasted for 45 years. After graduating from St. Siles's Sergeant School, he participated in the Battle of Seden as a second lieutenant, and was injured and captured in the battle. After being released, Gallieni went to the colony to serve. Although the French staff academy believed that serving in the colony was just a relaxing tour, he achieved achievements with amazing perseverance that made his colleagues admire him: in 1880, he led an expedition to invade Upper Niger

The basin gave France exclusive trade rights there, and was awarded a gold medal for this purpose. From 1882 to 1885, it participated in the colonial war against Martinique; in 1886, it defeated the Mandingo uprising in the Ivory Coast area, causing the other party to ced the right bank of the Niger River; in 1896, it served as the governor of Madagascar, deposed the monarchy of Queen Ranavarona II, established a military government, and ruled it effectively, developed the economy and improved transportation.

The meritorious service of conquering Madagascar made Gallienni famous and thus gained the highest military rank. He was eager to learn, whether it was Russian, the history of heavy artillery development or the comparison of the governance of colonial countries, and he was proficient in German, English and Italian. In the 1911 French commander-in-chief, he was Xia Fei's number one competitor, but he was defeated due to his old age and weakness. Later, he suffered from prostatitis, and his health was deteriorating. The death of his first wife also had a great impact on him. Li Zhan

Four months after the war broke out, Gallieni chose to retire until the French army suffered a defeat in the border battle. The German army invaded France and attacked Paris. He was urgently recalled by Army Minister Messimi and served as the chief of the Paris military, responsible for military affairs throughout the Paris region. He not only dominated the construction of the Paris defense line, but also keenly captured the emergence of the German right wing that swept across the outskirts of Paris. Then he persuaded Xia Fei to seize this opportunity to launch the Battle of the Marne River, almost turning the situation on the Western Front.

From the offensive of Alsace Lorraine to the border battle, from the defense of the Mas River to the counterattack of the Mas River, the French team lost one after another. As the commander-in-chief of the French army, Joseph Xiafei, who was the commander-in-chief of the French army, had an unshirkable responsibility. Those who questioned him seized his dullness and taciturn style and made a big fuss, criticized him as an incompetent "slow general". Those who opposed Xiafei, as well as those who had been surrounded by Galieni, called for the replacement of Xiafei with Galieni. Just like the choice made by the British royal family and the government when they were in crisis, the French government also defined the Battle of the Marne as "a failure with a head held high", which made the French people feel that this failure was simply because of bad luck, not the generals and commanders.

Incompetent, the officers and soldiers were cowardly. In this case, the French cabinet decided to take a step back to replace the commander-in-chief of the army, but Xia Fei, whose military command capabilities and strategic vision were questioned, was obviously not suitable to command the Battle of Paris. Therefore, they asked Galieni to command the Allied teams gathered around Paris as the head of the Paris military, including 5 French army and British Expeditionary Forces, a total of 49 infantry divisions, 4 cavalry divisions, 43 field artillery battalions, 6 heavy artillery battalions and 4 newly formed anti-aircraft artillery battalions. The combat force reached more than 800,000, and more than 300,000 auxiliary personnel were controlled by the Paris City Defense Command. Galieni thus became the most important military commander of the Allied camp at this time.

As Galieni predicted, French pilots reconnaissed a large number of German artillery units east of Villeparisi. At dawn on September 29, a German army of 30,000 people launched an offensive in Mitrimori, north of Villeparisi. They fought fiercely for half a day and failed to break through the French defense line there. At noon, French pilots brought back news from east of Villeparisi that shocked the generals of the French 4th Corps: the German team had deployed at least two thousand artillery in the area around Klesui, six kilometers away, and the German infantry gathered to prepare to launch the attack were also more than 200,000!

After being strengthened by reinforcements sent by Galieni, the French troops stationed in Villeparisi had only more than 50,000 people. Although they had 740 artillery pieces, there were less than 150 cannons with 75mm field guns and howitzers with caliber of more than 75mm and cannons. The large number of small-caliber rapid-fire cannons can effectively block the attacks of German combat vehicles and infantry, but the reserved ammunition was seriously insufficient compared to their consumption speed.

While the French team was doing their best to defend, the terrifying moment was approaching. At three o'clock in the morning on September 30, the German team launched a stormy shelling at Villeparisi. The sound of the whistling artillery fire made the French officers and soldiers feel that the end of the world was coming, and the power of the shell explosion was so fierce that the world collapsed and the earth was broken, and everything was trembling. All kinds of huge sounds sounded, and these different sounds formed a rush of upside down. Even if they used the microphone to send orders a few steps away, people could not hear it, and no animal could move outside the trenches. In the hidden part several kilometers away from the front position, the lit candles were immediately shocked, and people had to pray in the dark.

Gallieni was not in Paris that night, but in Montreuil 12 kilometers away from Villeparisi. The 2nd Army Command provided him with a soft and comfortable bed, but the sound of German artillery woke him from his sleep. Although the sound seemed dull, it was endless, making him realize that it was a devastating force. Judging from the light and sound of the artillery fire, it should be that Villeparisi's French defense line was bombarded by the German army. He immediately got out of bed and called the 4th Corps command to see if they were bombarded. As a result, the telephone line could not be connected. He asked the operator for the 3rd Army Command, but he could not contact him.

The fall of Mocheng has caused Gallieni's city defense headquarters to sneer. If Villeparisi is lost again, the German heavy cannons cannons can reach the suburbs of Paris. Although German airships and planes have raided Paris several times, and important French government agencies and hundreds of thousands of elderly, weak, women and children have also withdrawn from the city, the Battle of Paris has just begun, and the German artillery shells will inevitably cause catastrophic panic among the anxious French people. So Gallieni grabbed his military cap, put on his coat, and drove overnight to Scheller, where the 3rd Army Command, which is only 5 kilometers away from Villeparisi. When he arrives, he can understand Villeparisi's situation more clearly.

Without street lights and no stars, Galieni's car drove straight east along the flat path, two or three kilometers away from Scheller. He was surprised to see groups of French soldiers coming towards him. The small town not far ahead was in a sea of ​​fire at this time, and the German shells continued to fall into the city, and also landed on the surrounding fields and roads.

Gallieni was anxious. He pushed open the car door, pulled out his gun, and shouted at the group of French soldiers coming towards him: "Which unit are you from? Who allows you to retreat?"
Chapter completed!