The attack is always easier than retreat, at least for the two German commanders Hindenburg and Rudendolf, who are currently organizing the German retreat.

On May 18, facing the approaching French army of 500,000 people personally commanded by the French commander-in-chief Beden, Rudendolf finally persuaded the swaying Marshal Hindenburg to organize 450,000 German troops to start evacuation on the entire line. At the same time, in addition to a German army from a division in Nancy, the other German troops stationed in about four divisions of Lorraine were asked by Rudendolf not to attack Metz, but to defend the Luxembourg area. The German General Staff would mobilize a large amount of supplies to come. Supporting them to defend Luxembourg and ensure the safety of the German hinterland, this order is actually very correct. If the German army lacking heavy equipment dares to attack Metz, it will probably be wiped out by the attack of a hundred 210mm caliber cannons seized by the Chinese Expeditionary Force. What made Ludendolf the most headache was that in Metz, the special shells for these 100 cannons were stored in total, 60,000.

It is actually a bit exaggerated to say that Wu Peifu is China's Ludendorf. In contrast, when it comes to retreating, Ludendorf's retreat is much more professional than Wu Peifu's retreat. In history, whether in Shanhaiguan or Hesheng Bridge, Wu Peifu's retreat was more like an individual escaping.

When Jiang Baili saw the situation of the Germans, he immediately knew that the original plan could not be implemented. So Bai Chongxi was tricked by Jiang Baili for a little. Jiang Baili gave up the original plan to rely on the first and second-tier positions to block, but instead continued to harass him. In short, it was to slow down the German retreat. This was the decision after Jiang Baili received a secret telegram from Bai Chongxi. According to Jiang Baili himself, "Our ultimate goal is to buy time for the arrival of the main force of the French army. Since Commander-in-Chief Bai decided to have a melee with the German army in the Lorraine area, how could we lose our French chef?"

On the night of May 18, Marshal Betton arrived in Verdun and received a secret telegram from the Chinese European Expeditionary Force. In the secret telegram, the Chinese told Marshal Betton very clearly that the Chinese army would engage in a mobile war with the German army in the Lorraine area, and the war situation would be very fierce. At this time, what they needed was the French army to follow up and become the key hammer to decide the victory and defeat. Betton took the map and was shocked. He suddenly remembered the young Chinese general who was only in his twenties and was jealous. This young man was not as brave as he was. After thinking about it, Marshal Betton suddenly thought of a question, and participated in such a bold one. Is it necessary to inform the French Chief of Staff Marshal Fuxi? The Chinese plan can be said to be even more bold than last year's Somme Battle. Once the 500,000 German troops were wiped out under this situation, the balance of the war would basically fall to France. So many elite Germans lost in a row, not to mention continuing to attack, it is not impossible to destroy the country. But is it really possible to do this? The German army is really so easy to defeat? Although it occupied Metz, is the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army proportional to the personal ability of their wise and wise commander? These made Marshal Beta involuntarily fall into deep thought.

The German army did not know that the French marshal was hesitating about whether to destroy themselves. They were meticulously implementing the retreat plan. Although the plan was not smooth, the damn Chinese actually used engineers to lay mines on the main lines. Although the German soldiers were brave, they were not stupid. The communist feat of letting soldiers use their bodies to clear mines obviously would not happen to the German army, which forced the German retreat process to slow down.

Ludendolf looked at the marching team that was more than ten kilometers long and the distant sky. He suddenly felt that there was a monster waiting for him in the distance. He thought for a while and then went to find Marshal Hindenburg: "Marrior, I suggest you fly back to Berlin immediately. The German Empire now needs you to preside over the formation of a new line of defense in the Luxembourg area. I believe in the words of His Majesty the Emperor. ** from the East really appeared in Europe. I think we all underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army."

Marshal Hindenburg looked at Rudendolf with a serious face in surprise: "No, my friend, I think you are probably too nervous now. In fact, the Chinese just took advantage of our loopholes, occupied Metz, and then happened to catch our Crown Prince. This is nothing. What we have to do now is to march towards Metz to retake His Highness the Crown Prince. Really, nothing **. Marshal Waldesi told me all his experience in China. Those Chinese soldiers usually use spears and big swords, and they dare to die after drinking a bowl of water. More importantly, they like to abuse their compatriots."

Rudendolf was shocked when he heard the words of Hindenburg. It seemed that there might be something wrong with the Marshal now. He tried to say: "Marrior, that happened more than ten years ago. In fact, it was our Emperor who helped the Qing Dynasty establish a modern German army at that time. In addition, at Vaugh Castle, we paid 8,000 of the bravest German soldiers but failed to capture this place. The tenacity of Chinese soldiers is something that Marshal you could not imagine at first. They may be really what His Majesty the Emperor described. It may be the Germans who awaken them, so I hope that I will clean up the mess here in Verdun, and you will take a plane to Berlin. The empire needs you more than here, my Marshal."

Marshal Hindenburg was indeed not very awake at this moment. He once again rejected Ludendolf's suggestion, and then kept talking to himself: "No, no, I won't go back to Berlin. I lost the crown prince. I want to save him. Otherwise, how do you let me face His Majesty the Emperor? In short, if I don't leave, I will rescue His Highness,."

Rudendolf was completely stunned. He really didn't expect Marshal Hindenburg to lose his composure. It seemed that even if he really went back to Berlin, Rudendolf couldn't help but sigh. The current situation was really bad. A Chinese interlude action changed everything, which was really bad.

Ludendolf left the Marshal Hindenburg who was still blaming himself, and issued a new order to the accompanying staff, leaving two divisions of German troops to defend on the starting position of this battle. Ludendolf's wishful thinking was to sacrifice the German troops of these two divisions in exchange for the time of retreat of the entire army, because according to the German intelligence, Metz's Chinese army had a total of about 100,000 people, and he had a total of 400,000 troops. As long as he could block the French army that followed, the Chinese would not dare to intercept the army of such a large number. At that time, he found a way to communicate with the Chinese. Use some equipment to exchange the crown prince, and then give up the entire army in the Lorraine area and retreat to Luxembourg to continue to defend. In this way, at least the balance of the entire Western Front will not be broken. As for the loss of Lorraine and Artsas, it is naturally my own responsibility. As for the three dissatisfied German advisors in Artsas, Rudendolf has ordered the 50,000 German troops to enter the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then return to Germany. This is really a disgusting and frustrating order. However, when he thinks of the heavy artillery in the hands of the Chinese, Rudendolf still shivered. The power of that thing is too great.

Ludendorff's plan should be fine, but I don't know if the two divisions had nearly 50,000 German troops, without the support of reinforcements, artillery and supplies, could really block the French army on the original defense line. The current situation is too chaotic for both sides of the war. The coalition seems to have the upper hand, but when facing the German army retreating, it is impossible to stop. This is the most vivid sentence that Marshal Fuxi said in an analysis of the battle situation for Prime Minister Crimson in Paris. Prime Minister Crimson sighed and shrewd for a long time after hearing this. Before coming to the Army Department, the iron-fisted prime minister originally thought that the war could end there, but after being analyzed by Marshal Fuxi, he realized that it was just a silence of joy. It would be better to go home and take a shower and go to bed.

At this moment, the war clouds began to spread over China. Wu Peifu, who had received the support of the southern arms, personally commanded the direct army of the Third Ace Division and Feng Yuxiang's 11th Division and other direct troops towards the Baoding area. Duan Qirui also transferred the 15th Brigade of the 7th Border Division of the 7th Border Division stationed in Suiyuan, Chahar and other areas back to Beijing, appointing his confidants Xu Shuzheng and Duan Zhigui as commanders of the Eastern Route Army and the Western Route Army, and then set off and prepared to start the battle.

However, in the south, not many people are paying attention to the war, because the good news from Europe has caused the European war in Europe to be highly concerned. Everyone meets in the morning and finishes work at night and will consciously or unconsciously inquire about Europe. Any newspaper and magazine publishes a little information related to the war and will be sold out immediately. This enthusiasm is almost comparable to the grand occasion of the Chinese team participating in the World Cup in later generations. However, in comparison, Wang Zhenyu, a hard-core fan of later generations, still feels that the Chinese European Expeditionary Force commanded by Bai Chongxi is much more men and better than the men's football team of the Chinese Football Association.

The men's football team of the Chinese Football Association is more like a group of eunuchs who were kept by the Lord of War. They came out and cheated some money when they came out, and then shamelessly continued to disgust all mankind. It was too far-fetched. In fact, Wuhan is not unaware of the upcoming war in the north at this moment. After all, the little capital that Wu Peifu and his friends intervened in challenging Duan Qirui was helped by our General Wang Zhenyu. The equipment of the Beiyang Army seized during the National Protection War was unceremonious and was thrown to General Wu. The young army began to change their clothes, and the old equipment was rotated to the security forces.
Chapter completed!