The Rise of Australasia

When the French Sixth Army Group couldn't withstand and asked the French General Headquarters for help, there was a relatively serious logistical problem in France.

The Ulk River Front was very important, and the French General Staff urgently assembled an elite division, taking trains to Paris, ready to support the Sixth Army Group.

But the problem was that there were more than 60 kilometers between Paris and the front line, and it would take at least two days to reach the front by foot.

But war waits for no one, and if the Sixth Army Group really had to wait for two days before they could see the reinforcements, the war would probably have already been lost by then.

In order to urgently transport the division to the front, the French General Staff came up with a creative proposal to requisition all the taxicabs in Paris to transport the military.

Actually, the French Army did have military trucks, but most of these trucks were mainly used for logistics transportation, such as transporting weapons, equipment, and resources.

If they urgently requisitioned these trucks, it would take time to gather a large number of trucks, and it would affect the supply and logistics support of all the frontline troops.

Requisitioning taxicabs in Paris was obviously a better choice. After all, they were vehicles and could be used to transport troops without a problem.

Moreover, the use of Paris' taxicabs would at most affect the traffic in Paris. In order to achieve victory in the war in France, it was natural for Parisian citizens to make some contributions.

Thanks to the development of French industry and economy, Paris, the capital of France, had thousands of taxicabs.

After the French General Headquarters issued the order to requisition all taxicabs, within just half an hour, more than 600 various types of taxi cars went to the designated location, and Gary Aieni, who saw this magnificent feat, couldn't help but have tears in his eyes, exclaiming excitedly: "Look, what an extraordinary event this is!"

The taxi drivers in Paris were very excited about being able to contribute to the defense of their country in such a way, and they chose to immediately let go of all passengers, proudly explaining, "Sorry, sir, I'm going to war."

As for the passengers, most of them would understand and say, "It's okay, for France."

In just one night, thousands of taxicabs made two round trips, transporting nearly 6,000 soldiers from an infantry division to the front line 60 kilometers away.

This allowed the Sixth Army Group, led by Monadurai Parker, to receive reinforcements just as it was about to collapse, temporarily stabilizing its position.

Compared to Cynthia's excessive attention to the battlefield, the attitude of Chief of Staff Maurice Young, the German General Staff, was completely different.

After assigning the tasks for various army groups, Maurice Young did not interfere and remained seated at the General Staff Headquarters.

What was even more damning was that Maurice Young was completely unaware of the frontline situation, especially the progress of the First Group Army and whether they properly executed the order.

Although Maurice Young sent his intelligence director Colonel Hans as the plenipotentiary representative to the various army groups to understand the execution of the order,

But the question is, without Maurice Young's intervention, how can a mere colonel command the commanders of the army groups?

Colonel Hans was indeed very capable, not only seeing the current problems of the First Group Army but also urging the commander of the First Group Army, Crook, to carry out Maurice Young's orders, bypassing the north bank of the Marne River and coordinating actions with the Second Army Group.

However, Crook did not realize the seriousness of the situation, thinking that the possible French attack was just a supporting action aimed at covering the retreat of the troops and crossing the Seine River. 𝘙Ａ𐌽Ǒ₿ЕＳ

By the time the First Group Army found Cynthia's order from a prisoner of war, the Marne River Battle had already begun, and it was too late for Crook to regret it.

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the war, the First Group Army was controlled by Pillov.

But as the war entered an intense state, Pillov no longer controlled the First Group Army and let the First Group Army act autonomously.

However, due to Maurice Young's laissez-faire attitude, what should have been brought back under the management of the German High Command, the First Group Army became a true autonomous operation, leading to Crook's blind arrogance and the perilous situation of the First Group Army.

In order to deal with the crisis he faced, Crook ordered the Third and Ninth Armies on the southern front to rush to the Wolk River to join the battle, leaving only two cavalry divisions to resist the British troops on the southern front.

Crook's blind decision directly exposed the right flank of the Second Group Army, originally at the rear of the First Group Army, to increased danger.

Originally, these two armies were responsible for covering the right flank of the Second Group Army. After they withdrew, the right flank of the Army Group was directly exposed, and the distance between the First Group Army and the Second Group Army was completely widened.

Faced with the Germans' foolish operations, the morale of the French Army increased, and the charge became even more fierce.

The battlefield at the Ulk River, a tributary of the Marne River.

"For France, attack!"

A French officer carrying a commanding knife pulled out his saber, pointed it at the enemy's direction, and shouted for the soldiers to attack.

Just a minute ago, the French artillery had just massively bombed the enemy's position. As soon as the gunfire subsided, the commander of the army could hardly wait to start the offensive.

Unlike those faint-hearted officers, after shouting the charge, French officers bravely led their troops forward, followed by swarms of French soldiers.

It is evident that the heroic actions of the officers also influenced all of their subordinates, and this scene played out throughout the French Sixth Army Group, making the French Army's charge exceptionally ferocious.

Unfortunately, the airships in this area had already been shot down, and the airplanes had left the battlefield due to running out of fuel.

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Otherwise, one would be able to see from a bird's-eye view countless French soldiers surging towards the German positions like a tide.

Although many dark spots stopped during the charge, more pushed forward.

On the other side of the French Army was the waiting German First Group Army.

The good news is that the German First Group Army is mostly composed of elite soldiers, whose combat power far exceeds that of the French Army opposite them.

However, the bad news is that after a long period of advancement, the soldiers of the First Group Army were already exhausted.

Moreover, the distance between the First Group Army, the Second Group Army, and the German High Command kept increasing, resulting in insufficient logistics supply for some of the First Group Army.

Fatigue and lack of logistics put even a strong army like Germany in dire straits, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.

Da-da-da! Pa-pa-pa!

The seemingly orderly fire from both sides was, in fact, just a large overlap of gunshots.

Some French soldiers ended their brief military careers without even getting a chance to fire a single shot.

Yes, the casualties for France have already reached six figures since the start of the war.

Combined with the implementation of domestic conscription, this has led to a large number of conscripts, or newly-trained recruits, on the French front line.

However, there is no choice. No country, including Germany, can ensure that all of its millions of soldiers are elite veterans.

To prevent the excessive number of recruits from reducing the combat effectiveness of the army, either more rigorous training must be added for new recruits, or some elite forces must be preserved.

Of course, there is also a faster and more brutal method, which is to let these new recruits gain experience on the battlefield. After going through several life-and-death situations, they would become battle-hardened veterans.

Both Germany and France are currently doing this. Conscripts can step onto the battlefield with their weapons and equipment after just a few weeks of training, enjoying their brief but long soldier life.

The French Army's charges were repelled wave after wave, but they still could not stop the advance of the French Army.

In just over an hour, the Sixth Army Group had advanced nearly 200 meters, and the German positions were now clearly visible.

Of course, in order to achieve this, the Sixth Army Group had suffered the loss of an entire division, with casualties still rising.

Although the German Army looked visibly exhausted, it was undeniable that the Maxim heavy machine gun was an irreplaceable weapon in offensive and defensive battles.

Most of the French Army's casualties were caused by Maxim machine guns, with only a small portion resulting from enemy artillery bombardment and rifles.

On the German side, the weapon causing the most casualties to the German Army was artillery. This was not only because German soldiers were stationed in built-up positions, which were much safer in an offensive and defensive war.

It was also because many French soldiers died before they could even fire their first shot, leaving the battlefield as soon as they arrived.

The suppression fire from the Maxim heavy machine guns quickly caused the retreating French soldiers to falter.

Even if the French soldiers were more fearless, in front of such powerful weapons, they could only succumb one after another.

General Gary Aieni, furious at the sight of his troops falling wave after wave under the enemy's machine guns, immediately ordered the nearby messenger, "Have all the artillery fire immediately at the enemy's machine gun positions. Forget about the artillery for now; just take out the enemy's machine gun positions first."

At the beginning of the war, French artillery's primary target was German artillery. However, the current situation showed that the damage caused by the German artillery was less than one-third of that caused by the German machine gun positions. It was clear which positions should be prioritized for destruction.

Under the suppression of artillery fire, the German machine guns did not dare to show their heads easily. After all, France had equipped a large number of French Ladies known for their shooting speed. As long as the German machine gun positions showed themselves, they would face bombardment from at least ten artillery pieces.

Even if the accuracy of these shells was not great, some lucky positions were still hit by artillery fire due to their sheer number.

After the German machine guns retreated, the pressure on the French army was significantly reduced.

Seeing the decrease in German firepower, French commanders' eyes brightened and they shouted the orders with all their strength: "Charge!"

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