I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 10 These damn liars

The wind is cold and the autumn leaves are falling.

The temperature in France in September dropped to eight degrees, which was quite cold.

Commander of the German First Army, von Kluck, hid in the grass and observed the small town of Darvaise shrouded in morning mist across the Marne River with a telescope.

As he expected, the French soldiers did build fortifications along the river and strengthened the defenses of the only bridge nearby: several machine guns were placed at the bridgehead, two layers of trenches were built and hundreds of people were deployed, and there were people vaguely installing explosive fuses so that the bridge could be blown up in time if it could not be defended.

A disdainful smile appeared on Kluck's lips. These fools, did they really think they could cross the river by frontal attack?
Kluck turned his head slightly and whispered to the staff officer lying beside him: "Where is the first regiment?"

"General!" The staff officer took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and replied: "If nothing goes wrong, they will arrive at the designated location within 20 minutes!"

Kluke said "hmm", then ordered: "Get ready for battle!"

"Prepare for battle!"

"Prepare for battle!"

……

Orders were passed down one after another, and the densely packed German soldiers in the bushes checked their equipment calmly and orderly. Some even installed bayonets on their rifles. These were the troops rushing to the front, and they might engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy at the first opportunity.

After giving the order, Kluck waited quietly, waiting for the first regiment to appear.

The First Regiment had a total of more than 4,000 people, and was an elite force led by Kluck. This unit often played the role of a spearhead and took the lead in battle. They had crossed the Marne River in the dark last night and went around the flank of the enemy's defense line.

Their tasks were, first, to seize the bridge at lightning speed to cover the main force's crossing of the river, and second, to capture the machine gun factory on the west side of the town of Darvaz.

Kluck was very confident in this battle plan because he knew the combat effectiveness of the French army after fighting all the way here.

The problem with the French army was not the army itself; their soldiers and officers were brave.

However, this is an army controlled by greedy bank capitalists.

The capitalists only knew how to suck blood from the military and civilians. They were unwilling to introduce advanced equipment from abroad, such as the Maxim machine gun, which they refused to use.

This is not about national pride, but about monopolizing arms so as to make more money without competitive pressure.

Despite its frequent breakdowns, poor performance, and high price, the St. Etty became the standard machine gun for the army, and the privately produced Hotchkiss was even better.

(Note: The St. Etty machine gun was actually a copy of the Hotchkiss machine gun, but in order to avoid patents, many complex and malfunction-prone devices were added)
What's funny is that these capitalists usually suck blood from the French soldiers and civilians, but they escape completely during the war and use the French soldiers and civilians as shields.

Who did the French soldiers fight for?

To protect these capitalists?

Is it to allow the capitalists to live longer so they can continue to enslave them?

Germany is different. In order to achieve unification and strength, 80% of Germany’s national income is used for military construction.

Since William I, the king has been eager to spend every penny on the army, and his coronation ceremony only cost 2547 silver coins in total. (The German king once spent 500 million silver coins on his coronation)

German soldiers knew why they were fighting, knew that their blood would not be shed in vain, and knew the significance of sacrificing their lives on the battlefield!

Such an army is invincible!

"General!" The staff officer then reminded Kluck in a low voice: "They are here!"

Kluck raised his telescope and looked upstream at the Marne River, and sure enough, he saw a black cloth floating above a building.

That was the signal sent by the first regiment, meaning "arrive at the designated location and be ready!"
Kluke nodded slightly and ordered in a low and cold voice:

"Prepare……"

The voice was long and drawn out to prepare the soldiers mentally, and then the tone immediately turned firm:

"Attack!" The staff officer suddenly stood up, waved his hand back, and shouted: "Attack!"

German soldiers shouted as they emerged from the bushes. The originally deserted jungle was suddenly filled with people, densely packed all over the mountains and plains. Each of them wore a pointed helmet, held a rifle, and stared fiercely at the French defense line opposite.

On the other side of the Marne River, the French soldiers who were chatting and building fortifications were instantly frightened by the German situation. They stood there with pale faces, and only reacted when gunshots rang out. They screamed and jumped into the trenches using their hands and feet.

"The Germans!" Colonel France shouted. "They are coming. Keep calm!"

His voice was trembling, and everyone could tell that the colonel himself couldn't keep calm.

"Bang bang!" Sporadic gunshots rang out. These were the shots fired by French soldiers. Machine guns followed suit with a roar, and rows of bullets flew towards the German troops on the other side with a whistling sound.

Colonel France looked very disappointed with his fellow soldiers; before he gave the order to shoot, these guys were already so nervous that they were out of control.

But now the gunfire has been heard everywhere, and it is impossible to order them to stop.

Colonel France could only give an order in a rage: "Fire! Fire..."

However, no one, including Colonel France, realized that they had been fooled by the Germans!

Anyone who was still clear-headed and able to think clearly should have known that it was impossible for the Germans to force their way across the river.

The bridge could be blown up at any time. The river was cold and deep. Although it was only 70 meters wide, if the troops entered the river, they would become slow-moving living targets.

It was obvious that the Germans' frontal attack was intended to draw their firepower and attention.

At this time, the French soldiers should pay more attention to their flanks rather than the front!
But no one was alert. Almost everyone was frightened by the sudden appearance of the Germans. They frantically pulled the bolts of their rifles and mechanically fired at the enemy across the river. Their heads had lost the ability to think, as if they were worried that the Germans would jump from the other side of the river to them.

Suddenly, there was a burst of fierce gunfire on the left wing.

Colonel France turned pale immediately, and only then did he realize the Germans' true intention. He poked his head out slightly and saw the Germans appear on the flank of the defense line.

The French soldiers on the flank were unprepared and collapsed at the first blow. They were either killed or abandoned the trenches and fled in a hurry. Most of them realized that they could not escape, so they squatted down in embarrassment and raised their hands to surrender.

Colonel France still remained calm. He shouted, "Blow up the bridge, blow up the bridge..."

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out.

A bullet pierced the colonel's head, his head tilted to one side at a strange angle, and then his whole body collapsed to the ground like a balloon that had been drained.

He should have known that the Germans had prepared many snipers in order to successfully capture the bridge, and their target was these officers who were pointing fingers.

The French soldiers did not know or were not sure whether to blow up the bridge.

They thought: The Germans had already crossed the river, so was there any point in blowing up the bridge? It was more important to escape!
Soon, the entire line of French soldiers retreated towards the town of Darvoise, their red caps and trousers making them look like a red tide.

The bridge fell completely into the hands of the German army, and the main force of the German army continued to rush into the south bank of the Marne River along the bridge.

Francis, who was standing on the top floor of the villa and watching all this, cursed:

"These bastards are so vulnerable!"

"Where is General Gad? Where is General Gad?"

Major General Gade is the commander of the 5th Army. Francis had a very pleasant conversation with General Gade in the past two days. Francis treated him with the best wine and beef, and with the addition of two beautiful maids, he provided attentive service to make Major General Gade feel at home.

Major General Gard assured Francis more than once: "Don't worry, Mr. Francis, with the Marne River defense line, the Germans can't attack us! I promise you!"

"Sir!" the butler replied in panic, "I just saw Major-General Gard leave in a car, and with him was Mr. Pierre..."

Francis suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar and his whole body went cold.

It's over, it's over!

Factory, family, fame and fortune, everything!
These damn liars!
(End of this chapter)