Germany does not seek survival

"We should follow our own plan and not be led by Ludendorff."

Pershing said, "Commander-in-Chief Foch, our American army lacks heavy artillery. If we attack, we can only undertake surprise raids. We cannot fight positional warfare."

Foch nodded gravely. "Well, the French are ready to attack west of the bulge, while maintaining a defensive position along the Marne."

"Who will be in command?" Pershing asked.

Foch looked at Pétain and said without a doubt: "Of course it is Pétain. Both battles are commanded by General Pétain!"

Henri-Philippe Pétain, the French hero of Verdun, was the one who defended Verdun in the Battle of Verdun in 1916, for which he won unprecedented honor and became famous throughout the world.

After the French army suffered a disastrous defeat in the blind Nivelle Offensive in 1917, it was General Pétain who stepped in to clean up the mess. During the widespread mutiny in the French army, he used clever and conciliatory tactics to save the morale of the French army.

Foch patted Pétain on the shoulder. Foch was much older than Pétain and had personally experienced the humiliation of defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871.

Foch looked at Pétain, his eyes full of the hope an elder has for his protégé: "Twenty years from now, when our generation is gone, Pétain, you will be the one steering France."

Foch told Pétain to "steer" rather than "defend", and there is a big difference between the two words.

Defending France is a soldier's duty, but steering France goes beyond what a soldier in the Republic should abide by.

Pétain was slightly stunned: "Commander-in-Chief... after we win the war, it will be an era of peace."

Foch snorted coldly: "Peace, peace will not come easily! You must remember my words and be the captain of France!"

General Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force, watched the conversation between the two men. In a country like the United States where the bourgeois rule was very stable, he still felt that a soldier's duty was only on the battlefield. If he wanted to steer an entire country, it would really violate the principle that soldiers should not interfere in politics.

Foch seemed to see what Pershing was thinking. He narrowed his eyes and said, "General Pershing, one day you will understand my thoughts. In a turbulent world, only a president in uniform can protect the Republic."

Pershing still disagreed and did not take Foch's words to heart.

An hour later, Pétain was on a car heading to the front line. The German army was still tirelessly preparing for the attack. Pétain concluded that Ludendorff would not only attack along the Marne River, but also attack Reims; so he persuaded Foch to ask the British for assistance.

But the British only sent two divisions to assist Pétain.

On the same day, the German troops finally received the order for a general attack.

It was a drizzle at dawn in Paris that day, but the sun finally shone, adding splendor to the French Revolution Day. Troops from more than a dozen countries marched from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, a scene that would have seemed to anyone watching as a victory celebration.

At the forefront marched the Republican Guard, their helmets gleaming, their horses brimming with energy. Behind them came the troops of the various Allied Powers, each with a band at the head playing its national anthem. There were the French Alpine Chasseurs, in their berets and black uniforms; the British Horse Guards; the Italian mountain infantry, their caps adorned with rooster-tail feathers; the Portuguese, in their bowler-shaped steel helmets; and the Russian Expeditionary Force, clad in Astrakhan furs, hostile to the Bolsheviks.

In addition, there were Poles, Romanians, Slavs, Montenegrins, Greeks in white skirts, Bohemians and Slovaks... It seemed that half of the world's armies had gathered here to fight against Germany.

When the Americans appeared, their uniforms were scarred by battle, their neat backpacks were covered in dirt, and their helmets were dented by bullets. The audience spontaneously chanted, "Long live America!" and "Long live our allies!"

Soon after, under cover of darkness, the German assault troops were in position. The German position snaked from the outskirts of Château-Thierry, along the Marne River to Dormans, northeast to Reims, and finally around the Reims salient to extend its flank eastward.

Crown Prince Prurecht of Bavaria was also at the front. He and his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Claus, were traveling in a Protoss car. While enjoying the beautiful summer night, they heard irregular artillery fire near the front line.

After four years of trench warfare, Crown Prince Rupprecht's ears had become very sensitive, and he realized that it was the enemy's counterattack artillery fire.

Finally, Crown Prince Rupprecht arrived at his destination, an artillery observation post near the Faverge Bridge.

He climbed up a small wooden observation platform, and the artillery commander reported: "It was a light harassing artillery fire. Overall, the enemy is still suppressed."

Crown Prince Rupprecht disagreed. In his view, the French artillery fire was very fierce, continuously bombarding the German rear areas. Explosions were heard one after another, and even several ammunition dumps were on fire. The French counterattack was not weak.

"Has our army's general bombardment not begun yet?"

The artillery commander said, "Your Highness, start immediately, 50 seconds left!"

As the crowd counted down—50 seconds, 40 seconds, 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds… Then, a thunderous roar, as if the world were ending, erupted. The entire German front erupted in flames, and over 2000 artillery pieces of varying calibers simultaneously rained down a hail of bullets on the enemy. The scene was awe-inspiring, as fire and flashes of light pierced the pitch-black sky, creating a scene straight out of Dante's "Divine Comedy," a chorus of devastating destruction.

Chapter 133 Heartbroken

In the early morning, the 5th German Grenadiers, along with other units of the 36th Division, set out to drive out the barges hidden in the reeds and bushes. The large amount of poisonous gas and smoke produced by the artillery fire from both sides merged with the morning mist, making it very thick.

The German boats were full of infantry and machine gunners, and crossed the river under the cover of thick fog, but were discovered by the US 3rd Division in the middle of the river.

The 38th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd U.S. Division immediately attacked with rifles and automatic weapons. German troops in other sections of the river fought fiercely, pouring across the Marne, capturing the American outposts on the south bank, and even climbing a hill, which gave them a clear view of the main line of defense behind the Paris-Metz railway embankment.

In this section of the river, the US Army held its ground despite heavy casualties. Even as the French troops on both sides began to retreat, the US 38th Infantry Regiment continued to fight to the death.

The German army, facing the avalanche-like artillery fire of the US army, launched a fierce charge towards the abandoned front-line trenches. The morale of the German army that took the first few abandoned trenches was greatly boosted, and they rushed forward all the way; but when they reached the actual defense line, they were already exhausted and their formation was in chaos. They tried to break through from various attack points, but were all repelled by the US army.

West of Reims, the Italian 8th Division's line was breached by approximately six German divisions, forcing the troops back to a secondary defensive line. French troops on the Italian left were also attacked and forced to retreat. By mid-morning, a dangerous wedge had been driven into the Allied line from Dormans-sur-Marne to the Reims Plateau. Seeing the French position in dire straits, Pétain called General Fayol, commander of the French reserve army, and ordered him to rush the 168th Division and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment to the front. He also ordered preparations for the Mangeng Offensive to be suspended.

At this time, the German army had captured several strong bridgeheads on the other side of the Marne River and on both sides of the Dormans. However, Crown Prince Rupprecht was depressed. When he returned to the headquarters, he met Crown Prince Wilhelm of the Empire. After exchanging information, the two felt that the Allied forces were withdrawing from the front line in a rhythmic manner and the German army's actual results were very small.

Crown Prince Rupprecht's face was filled with worry. "The battle report is so depressing! I'm now worried that my initial doubts will become a reality."

Crown Prince William was also anxious: "I want to go to my father to discuss these things. Ludendorff's plan has failed. The superficial progress will not bring about a strategic breakthrough."

Crown Prince William decided to go to the rear to see his father, William II, but he immediately learned from the officers of the General Staff that after the war broke out on the front line, William II only stayed in the command center for less than an hour and then took a car back to the town of Spa in Belgium.

Crown Prince Wilhelm was heartbroken: "Isn't my father at the front? How can he be hiding in a spa town enjoying a water therapy when the fate of Germany is being decided?"

Crown Prince Rupprecht and Chief of Staff Claus also returned to their Army Group Headquarters. The combat staff all had serious and heavy expressions. One staff member pointed to the map and told Crown Prince Rupprecht:

"Your Highness, the French had already planned to evade our attacks. Our carefully prepared bombardment destroyed only the shells of the trenches."

At this time, the phone on the table rang. Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Claus picked up the phone, listened for a few words, and immediately handed the phone to Crown Prince Rupprecht:

"Your Highness, it's General Ludendorff calling."

Crown Prince Prurecht picked up the phone and immediately heard a barrage of words from Ludendorff: "If we succeed in taking Reims this time, it means we have won the war! Why are you making such slow progress? Why don't you continue the attack? We must fight to the death, and do it now!"

"Commander-in-Chief," replied Crown Prince Rupprecht, "the French have already withdrawn their artillery, and our artillery fire is gradually waning, making us look ridiculous to the enemy. We are not in a position to attack now."

Rupprecht's speech brought Ludendorff back to reality.

Ludendorff's voice came from the other end of the line again: "I fully agree to stop the attack. It is not my intention to launch an attack at the cost of blood."

The fighting that day was extremely fierce and brutal. All day long, Allied artillery bombarded the German reserve forces. On the northern slopes of the Marne River, hand-to-hand combat continued. Everything was in chaos. Entire divisions were being destroyed in hours.

The Allies were resisting the German attack, and Ludendorff's offensive had completely failed to achieve the planned results.

However, Pétain remained doubtful.

Pétain's style of employing troops was extremely cautious. He always held a large number of reserves and did not dare to throw them in easily. This was not until the French 6th Army sent news that it had repelled the enemy troops crossing the river near Château-Thierry; the severely damaged 5th Army also sent a report that the German army was exhausted.

Pétain then felt that the situation was very good. He called Foch and said: "The German offensive has failed to achieve any goals. It is our turn to win this war."

Fierce fighting continued on the Marne River front. The German army won some small battles, but when the Allies began to bombard the bridges over the Marne River with artillery and aircraft, the six German divisions guarding the bridgehead were in a precarious situation.

At the eastern end of the Champagne salient, just northwest of Villers-Cotterêt, lay a large forest where the Allied reserves were concentrated. These consisted of 24 elite divisions, four of which were American, each with 17000 men. The Germans, by contrast, had only 11 divisions, each with an average of 7000 men.

The French army also had a large number of camouflaged tanks, which opened the eyes of the Americans. Some of the tanks were as big as prehistoric beasts, and some were as small as clockwork toys. They made clucking and rumbling sounds, and would puff out poisonous smoke.

The roads were crammed with cooking wagons and mule-drawn water carts, along with thousands of cavalrymen, armed with lances, like King Arthur's knights. The most terrifying thing for the marching infantry was the long lines of artillery: howitzers towed by tractors; heavy guns with terrifying firepower pulled by six horses; and even larger 200mm guns pulled by eight horses.

That night, the rain returned. A terrifying rumble of thunder echoed through the darkness, followed by a torrential downpour. At first, the dense foliage shielded the advancing troops from getting wet. But within minutes, the clay road became a slushy mess. Wagons slid into ditches, horses stumbled, and the exhausted soldiers found it difficult to keep their footing.

In order to take control of the troops, Pétain personally rushed to the Champagne Salient Forest. In the heavy rain, even if the map was not completely soaked, it was too blurry to be used. The staff had to ride horses and sit in cars to run around to grasp the situation.

This continued until around four in the morning, when, with the first rays of dawn, the French artillery broke the silence. Immediately afterwards, the Allied forces opened fire, the sound of artillery rumbled like thunder, the earth was shaken from side to side, the sky seemed to collapse, and the ground seemed to rise.

When the Allied counterattack began, the German army was completely caught off guard, its formation was in chaos, and it retreated in a hurry. The Allied artillery fire continued, while the German artillery shells became fewer and fewer, and they began to be insufficient at the critical moment.

The Germans on the first line of defense raised their hands in terror and surrendered, while those on the second line were still shocked by the bombardment. The Allied artillery slowly moved forward to allow the tanks and infantry to continue to mop up the remaining enemy.

On either side of the field, the attacking forces stretched for kilometers, tanks large and small rumbling, followed closely by countless Americans. As they pushed through the wheat fields, the German defenses began to waver, then crumble. There were still scattered pockets of German resistance, but the Allies quickly eliminated them or simply ignored them. Some Germans fought to the death, while others threw down their rifles at the sight of the enemy.

Crown Prince Rupprecht was the first to stop the attack of the troops. He had realized that the German attack had not only completely failed, but was also counterattacked by the Allies. Now the German army had to immediately switch to a defensive position.

Rupprecht called Ludendorff again and said, "Director! The enemy tanks launched a surprise attack. The German front southwest of Soissons has been broken. All of our Army Group's reserves have been deployed. There is no way to stop the enemy's advance. We can only give up some territory and adopt a systematic defensive policy in the Soissons area."

Ludendorff, on the other end of the line, felt sympathetic. After a long pause, he said, "Your opinion is very pertinent, but for political reasons, I cannot adopt it."

Chapter 134: Germany's Defeat

"What political reasons?"

"I have to consider the impression a policy will make on the enemy, our military, and the people."

"What time has it been!"

Crown Prince Rupprecht slammed the phone in anger. Soon he received the latest intelligence that more than a dozen German divisions had been annihilated or suffered heavy casualties.

Deeply disappointed, Rupprecht told his chief of staff: "Germany has lost the war. From now on, the Bavarians will have to make plans for themselves."

In the Belgian town of Spa in the rear, William II realized the situation belatedly, and it was Marshal Hindenburg who intervened and persuaded William II to go to Ludendorff's headquarters.

"The situation has been difficult recently, as Your Majesty has witnessed." Hindenburg, sensing His Majesty's intention, spoke first. "The war situation is currently extremely serious."

Wilhelm II, hoping to speak with Hindenburg privately and understand the true situation, hurried into the red-brick villa. Inside, Ludendorff sat at a table, intently flipping through documents. Hearing someone enter, he looked up, his monocle sliding off his nose. He quickly stood up and stepped forward to greet them.

"Your Majesty, you have come here in person. Thank you for your hard work."

Hindenburg interrupted, "Would Your Majesty like to hear our opinion on the circumstances leading to the present crisis in which our army has fallen?"

The Kaiser nodded, closed his eyes, and listened to Hindenburg's brief explanation: a large number of troops surrendered and many German soldiers were taken prisoners; the French army deployed tank units, which enabled it to break through several lines of defense; but the new German line of defense had been formed.

While Hindenburg was reporting, Kaiser Wilhelm II simply nodded without saying a word. Finally, he pulled his coat and suddenly asked, "Can the new line of defense be held?"

William II was agitated and uneasy, yet he tried to appear thoughtful. However, he couldn't control his voice and blurted out a rash question: "So, we have to retreat further and give up more territory?"

After that, the German Emperor realized that he was wrong and added in an almost apologetic tone that he had to take into account the discontent that had erupted in Germany and other parts of the world: "The impact of discontent cannot be overestimated - after all, it is a question of the throne."

Hindenburg calmly replied that he could only consider purely military responsibilities first. He paused and turned to Ludendorff: "Old comrade, are you—?"

Ludendorff cleared his throat, looking a little stiff. "Your Majesty, the news of the enemy's breakthrough only arrived this morning. We were discussing the new offensive in Flanders when the tragic news arrived so suddenly that we—"

Ludendorff was interrupted by William: "So it is beyond the expectations of all of you?" The emperor was very annoyed and spoke in an aggressive tone, but Ludendorff continued speaking calmly.

Ludendorff analyzed the situation and said that the surprise was not in being attacked, but in the fact that the front line could not be held and that the enemy had achieved such great results in the initial stage.

Ludendorff walked over to the map table, adjusted his glasses, and began to explain the necessary next steps for the German army: "Only by ensuring the security of our western flank can we take action near Reims and retreat in an orderly manner from the south bank of the Marne."

"Before we can regain the initiative, we must establish a new line of defense. This is exactly the problem our army must address, and we must also formulate our next combat plan from this point of view."

Kaiser Wilhelm II, however, was deeply infuriated by the idea of ​​a further retreat. His anger boiled over, and he tapped the floor with his foot before suddenly blurting out, "No! Our army will not give up a single inch of the ground we have conquered!"

"You have lost the war and brought disgrace upon Germany. How shall I stand before my relatives in Britain and Russia, and the entire German court? Where is my dignity?"

Ludendorff said angrily: "Your Majesty, your relatives in Russia have been shot by Lenin."

William II was even more furious: "You bastards! It was you who sent Lenin back to Russia to kill the king! Do the Prussian soldiers also want to kill the king?"

What William II said and his attitude made Ludendorff's face turn redder and redder. If Hindenburg had not mediated, Ludendorff would have been so angry that he would have thrown the documents on the table at William II's face.

The meeting between the emperor and the marshal general ended in a bad mood. After that, Ludendorff could only call Crown Prince Rupprecht and order all troops on the front line to switch to defense, which meant that Ludendorff had given up the idea of ​​winning the war; all he could do now was to avoid defeat.

In the next 48 hours, the German army vigorously consolidated its defense. Ludendorff also met with Crown Prince Prurecht. The military dictator was overworked. He was too involved in everything and now had no energy left. He looked extremely haggard.

Crown Prince Rupprecht advised him, "Director, it is almost impossible for Germany to win the war. We should make plans early, at least to avoid losing too badly."

Ludendorff, however, looked bewildered and kept repeating, "I hope God will not abandon us."

Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria finally urged: "We should try to achieve peace through negotiations."

Ludendorff muttered to himself: "Negotiations, what are the conditions? Needless to say, we hope to keep Alsace-Lorraine and also want to get back the colonies. Perhaps we can also ask the Allies to cede the Briey Basin to us..."

"Alternatively, we could agree to restore Belgium's independence. If we retain the Flemish coast, we would have to maintain a fleet there at least as large as the British fleet; obviously, that is unrealistic. Therefore, a better approach would be to agree to Belgium's continued status as an independent country, neither paying nor accepting reparations, perhaps requiring Belgium to not maintain an army, and recognizing Germany's economic equality with the Allies..."

Crown Prince Rupprecht could only hold his forehead with his hand. The negotiation conditions that Ludendorff fantasized about were not something that the defeated could propose. As long as the German army still insisted on the posture of a victor, there would be no peace.

"Germany has failed."

Tears almost came out of Ludendorff's eyes. Former Imperial Chancellor Bethmann once made a scathing comment on Ludendorff, saying that Ludendorff only became more courageous in good times, but would be unable to recover when faced with adversity. Now it seems that this is indeed the case.

After the failure, Germany's weakness in national strength was constantly exposed, and the amount of food, weapons and ammunition transported from the rear became less and less.

These limited weapons and ammunition were even more stretched after the consumption in Operation Michael and the disastrous defeat of several divisions annihilated by the Allies in the past two days.

All kinds of unfavorable news have begun to break through the military discipline blockade and spread everywhere.

It not only spread on the front line, but also quickly passed through Belgium and spread to Germany. Things were extremely bad. Because Ludendorff would no longer listen to any advice, Crown Prince Rupprecht could only send a telegram to Crown Prince William.

Rupprecht advised Crown Prince William: "If we want to stop the enemy's intentions, we must adhere to one principle: when the defensive situation is unfavorable, we must never engage in battle. Instead, we must retreat in batches according to plan, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack or for a favorable defensive situation to be established on a strong defensive line. If the enemy takes the initiative to attack, our army will easily find an opportunity to exploit."

"Of course, retreat is inevitably accompanied by low morale, so we should strike as precisely as possible against any enemy who pursues recklessly. This way, the losses will be less than if we were to hold our ground. A systematic retreat will take some time, but it is always a temporary measure; ultimately, our army must occupy a strong permanent defensive line, consolidate it for a long time, and significantly shorten the front to gain breathing space and reorganize a large number of reserves. The permanent line must be far away from the current battlefield to ensure that our army has sufficient room for maneuver, so that even if the turbulent situation continues for several weeks, we can still launch a systematic retreat."

Crown Prince William also thought it made sense. He put these suggestions together and personally sent them to Marshal Hindenburg, trying his best to persuade Hindenburg to quickly find a way to form a so-called "Hindenburg Line."

However, the morale of the German army on the Western Front was getting lower and lower. A large number of soldiers lined up in columns and surrendered to the enemy without firing a shot. Many soldiers even hoped that everyone would surrender together as soon as possible, because then peace would come sooner and everyone would no longer continue to suffer from hunger.

The morale of the German army collapsed, war-weariness spread, and the millions of soldiers on the Western Front were no longer the sharp edge of the German Empire.

Chapter 135: The Three Kingdoms Federation

In September 1918, on the land of Belarus, columns of Polish legions were marching eastward in full swing.