The night sky is clear, the moon is sparse, and the air is filled with the fragrance of grass. On the flat French field, countless tents with iron cross marks are scattered, and there is no end at a glance. The trees are waves, and the bonfires are dotted, and the melodious neighing of war horses and the dull cannon roaring from afar.

In the temporary battlefield command, an old man with a Mediterranean head was lying on the chair, leisurely placing the radio next to him. He was tall and grim. Although he was nearly 70 years old, he was still energetic and full of vitality. The combat map hanging on the wall and the army general uniform worn on him directly showed the identity of the old man: he was the person who was deployed at the end of the right wing in Schriefen's plan, Alexander von Krook, commander of the German First Army!

"I..." As Crook tutored, the noise in the radio became smaller and smaller. After a while, a familiar and thick middle-aged male voice came out of it.

"Dear listeners, this is UNN Radio Berlin. I am your old friend Doni Yumilian. Today, I will announce a message to you with joy with victory: In the Battle of Helgolan Bay this morning, the glorious German Empire Navy sunk two British armored cruisers and eight destroyers at the cost of the York patrol and 5 torpedo boats, and won a great victory. This glorious sea battle broke the myth of the invincible British Royal Navy and proved who is the one who truly holds the halberd of the Sea King Poseidon! Let us extend our sincerest praise and congratulations to the great His Majesty William, the respected Marshal Tirpitz, and to all the officers and soldiers of the brave high seas fleet. The vast blue ocean will eventually be controlled by my Germany instead of Britain!..."

"Hey, the navy actually won a victory?" Crook raised his brow, with a hint of surprise in his words. Although he knew nothing about naval combat, under the publicity of the "Naval Alliance", an official organization that is all over Germany, he has learned that the level of destroyers is higher than that of torpedo boats. Judging from the situation of this report, the German Navy is indeed much smaller than that of the opponent in terms of loss of ship tonnage, and his victory is well deserved!

"I didn't expect that the navy, such poor and untouchables, were quite good at fighting, and actually defeated the British fleet... Humph, it can be regarded as reaping some capital from so much money invested in the navy." Crook muttered in a low voice, his lips curled up, and the contempt for the navy was undoubtedly revealed in his words.

"The army and the navy are born to be enemies." This sentence is widely circulated in the plane where Qing Ying was in his previous life. Although it is more of a joke, it undoubtedly reflects the inherent barriers between the two branches of the army from one aspect. In addition to the Japanese army and navy, which are well known in later generations, the German army and navy also dislike each other.

Due to specific historical, religious and cultural reasons, whether it was the Kingdom of Prussia or the subsequent German Empire, its founding was the Junker landlords and noble officers' group. In the past few hundred years, the reason why Prussia survived and grew stronger in the Central European land surrounded by tigers and wolves was entirely due to its highly professional army officer group that was the world's most popular. The officers in the German army have always been all Junker nobles. This group controlled the entire German military, and countless civilians were unable to get it up.

However, since the establishment of the Imperial Navy in 1871, the situation has changed greatly. Because the Junkers were unwilling to join this army without any glorious history and tradition, the navy had to lower the threshold to recruit soldiers from ordinary people; and the civilians were already struggling to find opportunities for development in the army controlled by the noble officers. Faced with the olive branch extended by the navy, they immediately accepted it and hit it off.

After a while, the officer teams in the German navy were almost all civilians without the word "Feng". When these non-noble people were school officials or even generals, the traditional army aristocratic team naturally had an uncontrollable sense of disgust towards the navy's "chicken and dogs ascend to heaven". Especially after Tirpitz was appointed as the Navy's state secretary, with the rapid development of the navy's strength, the process of popularization suddenly intensified. At present, 95% of the number of colonels and generals in the navy are civilians without the word "Feng". Even the next commander-in-chief appointed by the High Seas Fleet were guys without the word "Feng". This undoubtedly made the nobles of the army both angry and despised.

In addition, the Navy also competes for resources with the Army. Although building a powerful fleet is the best way for Germany to move from Central Europe to the world, the annual shipbuilding expenses of hundreds of millions of marks also make the army feel that their own money has been stolen. Since the era of dreadnought, the cost of the naval battleships has soared sharply: the Caesar-class started construction in 1909 was only 37.5 million marks. The King-class started construction in 1911 reached 50 million marks, and the estimated cost of the H-40-class battlecruiser that started construction this year will exceed 60 million marks - this funding is more than enough to arm an army with a half. Combined with these factors, as the most typical representative of the army officer, it is hell that Crook would have a good impression of the Navy!

"Putting money into the navy is undoubtedly the only wrong decision made by His Majesty the Emperor. Facts have proved that only a glorious army can win a decisive victory for Germany." Crook turned off the radio that was praising the navy with a slight displeasure in his words. In his opinion, the navy is an optional luxury for Germany; how could the navy make any contribution to this land war that is about to achieve a decisive victory?

After being interrupted by the news of the naval victory, Crook suddenly lost his will to take a break. He stood up from the chair, walked slowly to the map, and began to further study tomorrow's strategy of advancement. However, not long after, a familiar sound of footsteps suddenly came in from outside the door. Crook turned around and saw that Major General Cour, the chief of staff, hurried to him with a telegram in his hand.

"What happened?" Crook frowned and said.

Cour gasped for a few breaths, then handed the telegram in his hand to Crook, saying: "Your Excellency, Your Excellency Moltke sent a telegram to stop moving from tomorrow and immediately move along the current Marne front to defense. In addition, the telegram also allows us to focus on guard against threats from the right wing and build solid field barriers in Lebe and Fort Thierry east of Paris."

"What? Stop moving forward?" Crook's eyes suddenly opened, and he even wondered if he had auditory hallucinations. He immediately took the telegram from Coul and looked carefully under the light. As time went by, Crook's face changed, astonishment, anger, doubt, and worry... All kinds of expressions flashed across his face, and the eyebrows, which were not far apart, squeezed together directly.

"Hundreds of trains are heading to Paris? The French army has formed an army in Paris and will launch a counterattack in the near future?" Crook looked the telegram seven or eight times, and suddenly pressed it on the table with a snap and said loudly: "I really doubt whether Helmut (Little Moltke) has become unconscious. When victory is about to be at your fingertips, he has to find a lot of reasons to scare himself. How could a commander in the world give such an order? In two days, I can cut off the retreat of the French Fifth Army on the Great Moran River. Now stop moving forward. Wouldn't this allow the French to escape safely? Go back to Chief of Staff Moltke, the First Army is in the most critical stage of pursuing the escaped French army and cannot execute the order. After blocking the French's escape route, Alexander ordered the stop to advance!"

Kur glanced at Crook, who was angry, and said hesitantly: "But yourselves, this is a formal military order sent from the commander, and we must follow it."

Crook snorted and said, "I understand Moltke. He has always been a model of worrying about gains and losses. If he does not annihilate the French army to the last person, he will not stop his neurotic anxiety! This guy sat in the city of Luxembourg, 280 kilometers from the Paris front line. How much can he know about the frontline situation?" He turned his eyes to Coul and said, "Call back as I said. Moltke is crazy, we have to keep a clear judgment."

"Sure enough, the General is unwilling to execute this order." A faint smile suddenly sounded at the door. Crook and Coul were both shocked, but saw a middle-aged man pushing the door and walking in. The colonel's neck seal on his shoulder reflected a faint light under the light. Seeing the face of the visitor, Crook's pupils shrank slightly and said, "Col. Henkey, Director of the Intelligence Department? Shouldn't you be by Moltke's side? Why did you suddenly come to my battlefield headquarters?"

Hench walked to Crook, gave him a standard military salute and said, "General, Chief of Staff Moltke and His Royal Highness have expected that you will not follow this order, so I sent me to come here overnight to explain the reasons to you. After the planning of Your Highness and Chief of Staff Moltke, your First Army should stop advancing immediately."

Crook said lightly: "Isn't Your Highness the Crown Prince in charge of the Fifth Army? When did he become a member of the Commander? His Highness has always had close ties with Tirpitz's navy and did not serve as the commander of the Army a month ago. It seems a bit inappropriate for him to interfere with our headquarters' operations?"

Henchi shook his head slightly and said, "General, this is not just the meaning of His Highness. This time, the commander has obtained conclusive evidence that the French are preparing to launch a counterattack."
Chapter completed!