My Italy

Chapter 614 The Fall of Paris

If anyone knew the Sauni Railway Station at this time, they would never believe that it was a station they were familiar with. Because at this time, Sauni Railway Station had changed drastically. After two days of intense work by German engineering railway troops, the number of tracks at Sauni Railway Station was changed from three to eight.

Although the extra rails are simple, some rails even have no gravel under them. They just add sleepers and lay them directly on the ground.

In order to increase the capacity of the Sauni Railway Station, the German engineering railway troops were also exhausted. Now that they had gone as far as they could, all they had to do was wait for the train to arrive.

At this time the trains from Aachen also began to arrive.

"Woooooo~"

A train blew its whistle and entered the railway station, its carriages filled with heavily armed soldiers.

"Crunch~"

The sound of the train's brakes sounds, which means the train is about to stop.

"Wow~"

The compartment of the tank car was opened, and an officer stepped onto the platform.

"Quick, get out of the car, hurry up!"

"Get off the car, everyone is getting off the car!"

"Everyone get out of the car!"

Amid the greetings of more than a dozen officers, the soldiers in the entire train stepped onto the platform one after another.

After the whole team was called and counted, under the leadership of a major battalion commander, they boarded the trucks that gathered from all over the country. Next, they will rush to the Marne River.

While they were still boarding the train, another train full of soldiers roared to the train station.

As this train arrived, the switchman immediately became busy, because behind, there were six more trains less than 500 meters apart, about to arrive in Sauni.

This is an officer from the Transportation Department of the General Staff. They specially formed a group of eight trains based on the transportation plan formulated by Shaoni Railway Station, which happened to have eight tracks at Shaoni Railway Station.

Regulation based on a grouping can maximize the use of the station and allow more trains to arrive at Sauni as soon as possible.

Of course, this method is not without its shortcomings, the biggest of which is that it is more difficult for the train to return.

However, this difficulty is only for the Transportation Department, but its advantages make it impossible for the General Staff to refuse. That is, it is fast. With this kind of formation, the train can shorten the stop time and just rush all the way to Sauni. Of course, this is not without its drawbacks, that is, there will be enough trains parked on the section of railway after Sauni.

What kind of shortcoming is this? Compared with the German troops on the front line and the entire plan, it is nothing, so the trains entered the station one after another.

In just one day, Shaoni Railway Station received more than 500 trains. These trains were basically loaded with soldiers, but a small number also carried artillery ammunition and other supplies.

Of course, no matter what they are loaded with, these trains must stop here to unload personnel, materials and equipment. Among them, the logistics officers and soldiers responsible for loading and unloading were even more exhausted.

However, no matter whether it is personnel, materials, or heavy artillery, the F75 trucks waiting in a long queue at the station can transport them to the Marne River front line as soon as possible.

Since the afternoon, Fiat's F75 trucks have been shuttling on the road from Sauny to the Marne River. They have transported a large number of reinforcements that the First and Second Army have been waiting for.

The arrival of this new group of troops gave the German officers and soldiers who were struggling to support themselves on the Marne River a chance to breathe. More importantly, it gave the hot troops hope.

People who have hope and vitality will naturally behave differently, at least they will work harder and work harder. On the battlefield, the defense line gradually changes from precarious to solid.

The changes in the German position naturally made the attacking French army feel the difference.

Subsequently, the situation of the German army was immediately learned by the French army's top brass. Of course, in addition to getting the information from the frontline officers and soldiers, the French army also used airships and aircraft to conduct aerial reconnaissance. When the reconnaissance pilots saw a steady stream of convoys from Sauny to the Marne, they naturally let the British and French senior officials know.

Faced with the situation where German reinforcements have arrived, the British and French forces, which still have the advantage on the battlefield, certainly need to find a way. After a short discussion, Britain and France decided to invest in troops and must win the Battle of the Marne River.

As for why we need to increase investment?

It's very simple. They didn't win a single battle on the Western Front. The continuous losses made the morale of the officers and soldiers of the British and French coalition a bit low. This was also the reason why Joffre wanted to retreat the army across the Seine River in the first place.

However, after the German Marne River showed its flaws, the British and French forces thought this was an opportunity, so a big war started here.

Now that the Battle of the Marne has received reinforcements from the German army, the situation has shifted from the German army facing a defeat to a stage of stalemate between the two armies. What matters now is who has more reinforcements and who can replenish supplies faster.

Well aware of this, the French army then began to recruit troops from various places in an attempt to invest in the battlefield of the Marne River. In addition, it has also become important to collect transportation vehicles, especially trucks of various types. Among these trucks, Fiat's F75 truck is the French army's favorite transportation vehicle.

Although it is only a civilian model and has not been strengthened in various supporting structures, the outstanding performance of the F75 truck has conquered the hearts of the French Army Logistics Department. However, there are not many F75 trucks in France. According to Fiat's sales statistics, its sales volume of F75 trucks in France is only more than 20,000 units.

At this time, the two armies were fighting on the Marne River, just like two red-eyed gamblers, desperately collecting the chips they could find and throwing them into the gambling table of the Marne River.

On the German side, Xiao Maoqi and other ministries and reserve forces continued to mobilize various forces to reinforce the Marne River.

The same was true on the French side. Troops were thrown into the Marne River battlefield by Xiafei without hesitation.

The battle between the two sides on the Marne River lasted from November 28 to December 14. In this battle, Shuangfa invested all its energy and various weapons and equipment. In the end, the German army won the battle with the use of secret weapon poison gas.

Xiao Maoqi, who was red-eyed for victory, threw all the German army's only 340 tons of chlorine gas into the Marne River battlefield. The French army, which did not understand all this at all, was completely unprepared for the green-yellow fog coming from them.

When this cloud floated in front of them, many French soldiers began to suffocate and gasp in pain. Many fell down and suffocated to death. Their eyes, noses and throats felt as if they were being burned by acidic substances. Burning pain.

The use of poison gas caused the French army to lose a large part of its key positions.

At this time, various rumors about poison gas were also spreading increasingly fiercely within the French army.

Some people claim that this is the mysterious gas obtained by the Germans sacrificing their souls to the devil, while others claim that this is the Germans using black magic. However, no matter which rumor is used, it is a huge blow to the morale of the French army.

In addition, the French army became increasingly disadvantaged on the Marne River. After some discussions with the British army, the French commander-in-chief Joffre reluctantly issued an order to retreat.

The French army gradually retreated towards the Seine River.

In this battle of the Marne River, the two sides invested a total of 2.3 million troops. Among them, the British and French lost 459,000 people, while the Germans lost 423,000. The total losses of both sides were nearly 900,000, which can be said to be quite heavy casualties.

Therefore, not only the defeated British and French armies, but also the victorious German army did not continue to pursue them. They desperately needed a break.

However, before taking a break, the German army still had one more victory to gain, and that was Paris, the capital of the French army.

At the height of the Battle of the Marne, the French army invested all its mobilizable forces, including the Paris garrison. At this time, you have to let them stick to Paris again, and be careful that these soldiers with heavy casualties will shoot you in the dark.

Now Paris is like a ripe fruit, just waiting for the German army to take action.

The French government also announced its move to Bordeaux the day before Joffre ordered the retreat.

Finally, in the early morning of December 16, the German army entered Paris.

Losses include casualties, missing persons, sick persons, and other combat and non-combat casualties.

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