Chapter 521: Soldiers approaching the city (seeking monthly ticket)
French Army Command, Marshal Joffre continues to work here. Of course, he will not stay in Paris forever, and soon, he will leave here. The battle for Paris will be in the charge of the Paris Garrison Commander.
As the commander of the Paris garrison, it was Admiral Gallieni, commander of the French 10th Army. The 200,000 people in his 10th Army will become the main force to defend Paris. In addition, the troops deployed in Paris also included the 4th Army of the British Expeditionary Force and the remaining troops of the 1st Army of the French Army. The total strength of the British and French coalition forces deployed in Paris will reach 500,000.
As for the remaining British and French allied forces, they withdrew further south. They hope that Paris can become a meat grinder where the German army can shed blood. In this case, the troops of the British and French allied forces who evacuated to the south may launch a counterattack and defeat the German army in one fell swoop.
Of course, this is a battle plan formulated by the British and French coalition forces. As for whether this battle plan can be successfully realized, it is very difficult to say. After all, everyone made it clear that the German army was too strong. Whether it will be successful or not is unknown.
"Marshal, according to the plan, all the ministries have already entered Paris. Our total strength in Paris will reach 500,000. Now, the officers and soldiers are rushing to repair the fortifications. When the Germans attack Paris, they will find that, Paris has become a solid fortress. At that time, we will definitely let the Germans shed blood here." The commander of the French 10th Army and the commander of the Paris Garrison, Admiral Gallieni, said.
Marshal Joffre nodded. He believed that Admiral Gallieni and all the troops guarding Paris would do their best. However, it is very difficult to say whether they can achieve their expected strategic goals.
"General Gallieni, Paris will be handed over to you. I know that it is almost impossible to completely defend Paris and prevent Paris from falling into the hands of the Germans. The Germans are too powerful. Their strength , far surpassed ours. No one thought that the Germans would make such preparations and form such a powerful army for this war. If we were defeated by the Germans in this war, it would not be because of Our own reasons, but because the Germans are too strong." Marshal Joffre said.
He said this, naturally because he didn\'t want General Gallieni to have too much burden. After all, defending Paris to the death is already a very difficult task. If it is not done well, it will really die here.
"Yes, Marshal." Admiral Gallieni nodded. He knew early on that this was hard work.
Subsequently, Marshal Joffre summoned General Allenby, commander of the 4th Army of the British Expeditionary Force, and General Despere, commander of the 1st French Army. Marshal Xiafei asked them to lead the troops to persist in Paris and persist for as long as possible. In this case, not only is buying time for the French Republic, but also buying time for the British Empire. In addition, Marshal Joffre also specifically asked Admiral Despere and Admiral Allenby to obey the command of Admiral Gallieni.
Because the three of them are all generals, if something happens to them, no one will listen to the other. This will undoubtedly make Paris\' defense very bad. At that time, if you want to continue in Paris, it will be empty talk.
In front of Marshal Joffre, Admiral Despere and Admiral Allenby both expressed that they would obey the command of Admiral Gallieni. Especially Admiral Allenby. Although he is the general of the British Army, Marshal Joffre is not only the commander-in-chief of the French army, but also the commander-in-chief of the British and French coalition forces.
After explaining all this, Marshal Joffre left Paris.
At this moment, Paris has completely become a defense zone of the French army, and almost no civilians live here. On the contrary, those who were able to leave all left Paris. In order to be able to defeat the German army, the French did not hesitate to turn their capital into ruins in the midst of the war.
Paris is transforming into a fortress with the efforts of hundreds of thousands of French troops. Of course, all the French soldiers could do was dig defensive positions outside Paris. On the streets of the city, build barricades, arrange artillery positions and firepower points, etc., to prepare for the next battle. After all, Paris is a big city, and it will undoubtedly take a long, long time and consume a lot of materials to completely build this place into a fortress. The French army simply didn\'t have that much time, nor did they have that much material to waste.
The German army at this moment is approaching Paris. The German 1st Army and 8th Army are approaching Paris from the west. The German 2nd Army and 5th Army were approaching Paris from the east. As for the other four legions, there are other tasks.
Of course, the Duke of Württemberg, commander of the German 4th Army, was very dissatisfied with not participating in the attack on Paris. In his opinion, attacking Paris and taking down the capital of the old enemy France is undoubtedly a great achievement! However, Qin Tian didn\'t let him participate in it, which was clearly aimed at him deliberately!
However, in view of Qin Tian\'s influence in Germany and the German army, even if the Duke of Württemberg was dissatisfied, he did not dare to show it.
On April 16, the German army had already approached the city of Paris. The 1st Army, located southwest of Paris, had captured Versailles. The 8th Army was located at Saint-Denis in the northwest of Paris, the 2nd Army captured Creteil in the southwest, and the 5th Army captured Chelle in the northwest. The four legions have surrounded Paris from four directions.
Of course, it is undoubtedly very difficult to encircle a big city like Paris with a force of more than 800,000. What\'s more, there are more than half a million French troops in the city.
This made the encirclement of the German army not tight, but even so, it would undoubtedly be very difficult for the French army to escape Paris. Unless it\'s a small-scale operation. The large forces of the French army have been firmly trapped in Paris. Of course, the French army will not flee. Their task is to face the German army here.