"An operation that kills all or most of the enemy, captures the enemy alive, and completely deprives the enemy of combat effectiveness. It is an asymmetric tactic with many specific combat methods."

Encirclement and annihilation war

A summer rain made the Somme battlefield instantly muddy. The heavy rain hindered the attack, but it was beneficial to the defense. For the defenders, the rain was beneficial. For the attackers, those who were ravaged by artillery shells were somewhat

The soft land has turned into a swamp due to the rain, and the war has turned into a huge swamp.

Somme River, since one day ago, when nearly three divisions of German troops were stranded on the west bank, the whole world has gone from the first shock when the battle broke out to the shock at this time. For Western military experts and politicians

For their part, they had enough reason to be surprised, because it was not the British army or the French army that completed this task, but an "inconspicuous" army - the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

This is the greatest victory since the Battle of the Marne!

Almost the entire French public opinion praised this "glorious battle". For the first time, since the Battle of the Marne, the French saw the hope of victory in the war. Different from the previous sudden victory, more than 60,000 German soldiers

Surrounded by partition, this is the first time in history.

For the first time since the Franco-Prussian War, the German army suffered a defeat!

While military experts and civilians looked at this army with curiosity and joy, for politicians, although the battle had just begun, they believed in one thing - the history of the East would follow this battle.

The battle changes!

destiny!

A fateful battle!

Regarding the importance of this battle, the Expeditionary Force Headquarters had every reason to pay full attention to it. Almost as soon as the early objectives of the battle were achieved, the blocking enemy troops crossed the Somme River and invaded the German first and second positions.

, cutting off the connection between the first position and the second position, and after the offensive force completed the division of the German first position, the expeditionary force headquarters immediately moved forward and merged with the former enemy headquarters.

This is not to pick peaches, but to win!

Subsequently, the former enemy headquarters immediately issued an emergency notice in the middle of the night, ordering all officers at the division level and above to arrive at the front command at nine o'clock this morning to attend the meeting, except for one person who was left to manage affairs and preside over the frontline siege and defense operations.

After receiving the order, the commanders and officers of each infantry regiment jumped into their cars and rushed to the enemy's headquarters on the muddy battlefield path with a nervous fighting mood.

The meeting place of the former enemy headquarters was located in a German fortress that the expeditionary force had just captured.

At this time, the inside of this fortress, which was burned by flamethrowers and blasted by heavy offensive grenades, was full of traces of war, and even filled with the pungent smell of gasoline and sulfur. Even the smell inside the fort was extremely pungent.

Nose, but the air in the fortress seems a bit solemn. Although a heavy rain has made the temperature drop a lot, there are some beads of sweat on the faces of each of the officers sitting in the fortress. The sweat is obviously nervous and excited.

of sweat.

At this time, the walls of the fortress were covered with maps. A war situation map showing the current distribution of enemy and friendly forces was eye-catching in the middle of the wall. The red and blue arrows marked on the map were densely criss-crossing.

As long as you look closely, you will feel the clouds of war. Anyone can feel the thick smoke of war from the chaotic battlefield situation. Of course, more people can feel the thick uncertainties from it.

As the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, Han Wu sat there and talked and laughed casually with the officers from time to time. Whether they were officers of the Jiangsu Army, the Central Army, or the Provincial Army, he was always cordial and enthusiastic.

They were talking, and Cai E and Xu Shuzheng also joined in the conversation, but they "knowingly" gave up their position as chief officer to Han Wu, the former enemy commander in chief...

Seeing that the time was up, Han Wu walked to the situation map hanging in the middle, pointed at the map and asked the officers:

"Have you all seen this map?"

"I've seen it, Commander-in-Chief!"

All the officers replied in unison. After entering the conference room, they immediately stood in front of the map and observed it for ten minutes as required in order to understand the battlefield situation. With Han Wu's words, the meeting began and the officers stopped

They chatted and laughed casually, looking at Han Wu and the map he pointed at.

"Is the situation optimistic?"

Looking at the dozens of officers from the Expeditionary Corps and above in front of him, Han Wu asked back.

"Not optimistic!"

A group of generals and officers answered truthfully. Any officer with a little common sense can feel the weakness of the expeditionary force's dividing line from the narrow dividing line on the map.

"Not only is it not optimistic, it can even be said that the situation is very serious! Now, the Germans are dispatching troops from Verdun towards the Somme River! For the Germans, they not only have to win this battle, but also have

Maybe you want to eat us alive!"

Han Wu warned, looking intently ahead. All sounds in the venue were silent, and the air suddenly became tense. Even the air breathed by these officers was stagnant in the room, making the atmosphere even more solemn.

"The scale of the war is getting bigger and bigger. The enemy situation we face is this: the German troops currently surrounded by us total two divisions and one brigade, one and a half regiments, about 60,000 troops, along the west bank of the Somme River, we are surrounded by

The German army invaded into four unrelated troops. At present, the German army's retreat has been completely cut off by our army. The German army currently trapped in the encirclement is trapped in a situation where the beasts are still fighting. The quality of the German army is excellent. I think you have already understood that we must give up.

All fantasies, fantasies that the German army may give up resistance, remember, to white Europeans, our expeditionary force is just-"

After his voice fell, Han Wu said in an extremely low tone.

"They are just inferior yellow people. White Europeans will not surrender to inferior races!"

The seemingly casual words made the officers' faces slightly angry. Others looked down upon them. Why did Commander Han say this... But in this kind of military meeting, no one dared to refute.

There was a fire in my heart.

"So, if we want to end the war, we must completely defeat the German troops in the encirclement and prove one thing to them with facts - we are definitely not worse than them, and we are better than them!"

Hearing what Han Wu said, everyone in the conference room immediately smiled. This is true. Maybe the German army is extremely well trained, but the expeditionary force has one advantage - they are not afraid of death!

"...On the east bank of the Somme, tens of thousands of German troops are attacking our defense line. They are preparing to tear apart our defense line to rescue the German troops on the other side and at least withdraw the besieged German troops to the second position. Moreover, for the German army,

Once its reinforcements arrive, it is very likely that it will launch a larger-scale operation against our army. It may even attempt to surround and annihilate our blocking forces on the eastern front, and it is very likely..."

As he narrated, everyone realized the seriousness of the current situation, which was even more serious than they imagined. At this time, when Han Wu's words stopped, two people attached their ears and said something.

Under Han Wu's extremely stern eyes, they immediately stopped whispering. They straightened their chests again and waited seriously for him to continue speaking.

"That's what war is like. It's not that the enemy destroys us. It's that the enemy is destroyed by us!"

Looking at the officers in front of him, Han Wu picked up his porcelain tea jar, took a sip of the steaming strong tea, and then put the lid back on the tea jar. His expression was calmer than at the beginning, and then he said...

Then he announced:

"Therefore, our only task now is to completely and comprehensively eliminate the enemies in the encirclement and at the same time crush the German offensive on the east coast!"

After finishing speaking, Han Wu stood still for several seconds before sitting down.

The officers floated and chatted among themselves.

"I'm afraid you guys will have to fight to the end this time!"

"There are hundreds of thousands of German troops on the east and west sides! The fighting is going to be really lively now!"

"The west bank still has a military advantage, but the east bank has no advantage!"

"No matter how hard the hard walnut is, you still have to take a few bites!"

"The bones of the Germans are not soft! I guess we have to beat them to the last soldier before we can make them surrender!"

"Once this battle is over, all of Europe will probably be watching our expeditionary force!"

"What will happen to the expeditionary force? When the time comes, the most important thing is to establish an upright and upright status as a great power!"

Regarding the conversation among the military officers in the audience, Cai E, as the commander of the expeditionary force, remained in his usual manner. He stood up with a smile and used his gestures to tell the officers to sit down quietly. As soon as his clear voice appeared, the chaotic discussion

Then he stopped. He spoke quietly and at a medium speed:

"In addition, there is another news to tell everyone. Ever since our siege was formed, the French have wanted to pick our peaches!"

"Those French guys want to pick on us paratroopers all day long! They don't even look at their own abilities!"

He Zhu, the commander of the First Division of the Expeditionary Force, interjected that the Expeditionary Force was the first to go to the battlefield and won a tough battle. It can be said that they have long been accustomed to the French tactics.

"If they want to pick it, we won't give them a chance!"

"That's it, brothers, if you work harder and work harder, we will probably be able to deal with the Germans."

The officers in the fortress, including Cai E, Xu Shuzheng and others, all burst into laughter.

"Xiafei told me that the Chinese Expeditionary Force alone cannot solve the Germans in the encirclement, and the German reinforcements will reach the Somme in fifteen days at the latest, so..."

After he paused for a moment, Xu Shuzheng's expression turned serious.

"Everyone, that means that we only have fifteen days, and this is also the guarantee we made to Xiafei. Therefore, now, the only request of the expeditionary force headquarters is that from now on, all offensive forces must do whatever it takes to

, carry out a comprehensive offensive against the German troops in the encirclement circle day and night!"

After Xu Shuzheng said these words, the officers fell silent for fifteen days...

"What? Don't everyone dare to respond?"

Xu Shuzheng looked at these officers with a slightly mocking look and asked.

"Chief of Staff, look at what you said, if you don't dare to answer anything, isn't it an attack? Brothers have been in the trenches for enough, and they have long been thinking about fucking activities to stretch their muscles!"

A rough answer, accompanied by the officers' laughter and a pair of determined eyes, answered Xu Shuzheng's question in the affirmative.

"good!"

Han Wu nodded. As the former enemy commander-in-chief, he now has full command authority on the front line.

"Since all the brothers think so, there is one illusion that must be completely shattered first! First of all, the soldier's company law is an iron law that all departments must abide by, and the Expeditionary Force Headquarters has authorized me to implement battlefield operations against any retreating troops.

Clear…”

Then one after another extremely cold words continued to spit out from Han Wu's mouth. In fact, as we all know, Han Wu's biggest characteristic in fighting is determination, and the way to express determination is strict battlefield discipline. He does not hesitate to give soldiers various kinds of

Honor, but the same. When enforcing battlefield discipline, he is also merciless. As he issues instructions one after another, to be precise, they are one by one that forces people to "die in battle" without any emotion.
To be continued...