The emperor's offensive finally started according to the original plan. Leo, who was awakened by Rudendolf's phone call, said that he smelled the scent of victory. If he attacked, he would definitely win!

At 3:20, according to the scheduled plan, more than half of the 40-kilometer-long defense line of the Crown Prince Group on the Persan line, more than half of which were heavy or super heavy artillery, began to fire fiercely on the French team opposite the defense line. High-explosive bombs and poisonous gas bombs immediately covered the French defense line with poisonous smoke. Since the German gunners were fired according to the map, their shooting caused terrible damage. The machine gun post and the limbs of the human body exploded into the sky. The soldiers who were angry and choked coughed and vomited, and they could not see anything clearly. Compared with the deafening German artillery fire, when the French army's two thousand artillery fires counterattacked, the sound was weak and inaudible.

After two hours of fierce shelling, at 5:20 in the morning, more than 2,000 mortars launched Xu Jin barrage shooting on the French front. As nearly 100 experimental A7V tanks rushed through their trenches, eighteen elite infantry divisions carrying artillery, wearing steel armored bulletproof vests and gas masks, and started the attack with spicy smoke and fog thickened by poisonous gas.

Although the German attack was discovered by the Allied Powers, such a fierce and fast attack was unpredictable. The length of the defense line that needed to be defended on the entire Western Front was close to 200 kilometers, and no one could be sure that the German army would choose the line of defense as a breakthrough; and, this time, the German attack artillery fire was very short. When the Allied Powers front officers were still drinking coffee and breakfast gracefully, the German elite assault infantry touched the minefields and barbed wire at the front of the French defense line and rushed into the first trench defense belt of the defense line. These German soldiers, dressed in steel armor and masks, seemed to be devils coming out of hell, quickly broke through the first defensive belt and hit the second defensive belt two kilometers away.

The emergence of German tanks and the rapid and sharp attack of elite infantry made the British and French army commands immediately determine the German intention of combat. The Germans wanted to occupy the important places on both sides of the Oates River and cut off the connection between the British and French troops. Once they achieved this goal, the British Expeditionary Force on the west side would be in danger of being completely driven out of the sea. At the same time, without the protection of the British Expeditionary Force on the west side, the west side of Paris would be detoured by the German army. Even if they could not occupy Paris, as long as the German artillery range could reach the banks of the Seine River, they could interrupt the shipping of the Seine River, causing unimaginable damage to the French army.

No matter which position they stand, the principle of joint combat between Britain and France cannot be given up. Faced with the tide of attacks of the Germans, Britain and France mobilized their reserves and more artillery to go to Persan for reinforcements. Just when the French army was completely focused on Persan on the west side, Leo finally ended his repeated interrupted sleep, washed his face with hot water in high spirits, and then began to shave.

Chief of Staff Major General Hoffman introduced the situation on the Crown Army and said: "The breakthrough was very smooth, the French and the British were both confused, and they had no choice but to do anything about our offensive. From the beginning of the attack to the present, they had advanced three kilometers, which was a distance that was difficult to advance in a month. What stopped them now was the damn swamp, because of their existence, the cannons, ammunition, and materials in the rear were difficult to transport. However, the more than 80 chariots that accompanied the attack could play some role..."

After shaving his beard cleanly, Leo began to enjoy a delicious breakfast after washing it again. The supplies behind him were indeed extremely poor. There were only two eggs and canned American beef seized by the French. The beef was refried by the chef, but even so, the canned food was still very strong. After eating breakfast silently, and slowly drinking a cup of black tea like a gentleman, Leo then took off his tablecloth and said to Hoffman: "Are the soldiers ready?"

"Yes, General!" Hoffman replied attentively. "But the Supreme Command prohibits you from commanding this battle in person, and they want me and other officers to stop you!"

"Will you do this?" Leo left the restaurant and walked to the next command center. His eyes swept over Major General Hoffman and other officers who had been waiting here for a long time, and he replied that he was silent.

After looking at the table below for the first time, Leo said to the officers: "Gentlemen, the attack will begin in one hour and forty minutes. Before that, I just tell you: this may be a war between the German road and the Jewish-Anglo-Saxon road, but in my opinion, it is even more a war related to the life and death of the German people.

The war lasted for four years, and countless outstanding soldiers were killed on the battlefield. They had completed their mission of defending the German nation. Now all the living and dead Germans are watching us, waiting for the final result of the battle. Because we will determine the fate of the entire nation, they hope that we can penetrate the French defense line, cross the Seine, and detour to the south of the city of Paris, encircle and annihilate the main force of the French team, and finally end the war.

To be honest, this is a sacred mission that can be accomplished by a great commander like Hannibal, Yang or Alexander the Great, which opens a ten-kilometer gap in the enemy's strong defense line, and then pierces the bayonet into the heart of the enemy, making them fear, chaos, and scare them today, but we, ordinary people who have been chosen by God, will complete him. I don't know what you think, what kind of excitement and anxiety will be, but for me, if you don't win, you'd rather die!"

The plain, brief, and without any tricks. After the inciting speech, all the officers stood there on the spot. Only when Leo ordered them to disband, they solemnly saluted and left the command center. Returning to their respective troops, all the words of Leo just now were ignored by these people. They only told their subordinates one sentence, that was: If you don’t win, you might as well die!

At 7:50, Leach removed the camouflage to all airports covered with camouflage cloth, and took off one plane after another. Instead of reinforced Persan on the west side, they pointed the target at all French positions on the way forward of the armored forces. Fighters pulled down strafing, bombers threw bombs, and all available effective ground attack methods were used.

At Leach's attack position, more than 400 steel chariots had been started. Leo, who had decided to "not win, rather die." He sat on one of the command vehicles, even if there was a simple radio, he did not want to command the battle. He just wanted all the soldiers involved in the attack to know that he was with them. When the clock was facing eight o'clock, the wreck trucks in the front trembled a few times, and then crossed their trenches into the undispersed mist in the morning. He began to lead this attack that concerns Germany's life and death.

A German military reporter described it as follows: "...The fog rose straight into the sky like a stage curtain, and suddenly opened the thick curtain between our eyes and what we had longed for for four years. A miracle had appeared opposite the defense line, and this miracle was developing rapidly. Under the cover of dark cloud-like aircraft, countless chariots, cannons, trucks, carriages, and cavalry were crossing the Massie Plain. The sun put them on a layer of brilliance through the fog and advanced steadily southward. There were only sporadic artillery shots from the enemy along the way. The land they stepped on was a place that the French had occupied until dawn. Everything they dreamed of seemed to have become a reality in an instant."

In the operation that crossed the entire French defense line, what brought the greatest trouble to the German army was not the enemy's resistance. It was the swamp area between the unmanned areas of the two armies' defense line. The tracked armor, cavalry and infantry could pass by calmly, but the trucks, carriages and cannon chariots collected were often stuck in the mud and could not move. Fortunately, before the attack, the Supreme Command recruited tens of thousands of engineers, who would use countless wood to pave several roads that could pass for subsequent troops to advance.

The French Supreme Command was obviously stunned by the German prince cluster in Persan's direction. When all the reserves were moving westward, they had already advanced to Schalny, and the German armored troops approaching Claysui were only 36 kilometers away from Paris. When the news was repeatedly confirmed, from Betton to Foch, and finally to President Poungare, and Prime Minister Crimson, everyone was shocked. Four years ago, when the German army was in the suburbs of Paris and had already attacked Paris sporadically, everyone was ready to give up Paris. However, in the battle of meat grinders, the French army finally won the victory. Moreover, with the participation of the United States and China, victory had waved to France not far away. At this time, giving up Paris would destroy the resistance of the entire French army.

Since we must never give up, we should defend ourselves. However, no French army has anti-chariot combat experience. They do not have anti-chariot rifles, anti-chariot guns, anti-chariot mines, and even anti-chariot trenches. Because no one has ever fought with German tanks. In a hurry, French soldiers carrying ** and many 75 Miss guns were ordered to defend the periphery of Paris; in the city of Paris. It was the weekend, and Paris citizens who enjoyed years of peace had an indescribable panic due to the emergency retreat of the army and government agencies.

The government did not want the approaching German army to cause chaos among the citizens, and the citizens became more and more panicked because they were not sure what was going on on the front line. When the police tried to stop some citizens who were trying to leave, the conflict occurred. More and more taxis and carriages blocked all the roads out of the city, and countless citizens filled the streets. In the government's propaganda, the Germans had long become extremely cruel, women, demons who killed children, and thought that they were about to fall into the hands of those demons. The citizens were desperate to escape from this city that was destined to fall. The front line was at a critical moment. When the officials received urgent reports from the city, they looked back and looked inside the city, everything was no longer controlled.

The chaos in the downtown area and even the suburbs of Paris affected the French reserves' mobilization. The reserves that were previously transferred from the east to the west were ordered to be transferred back to the east. Because of traffic congestion in the city, the reserves were exhausted. When they wanted to bypass the city's southern suburbs, the armored troops led by Leo did not directly attack Paris as the French commander imagined, but bypassed Paris and ran to the banks of the Seine from its deserted eastern suburbs and the 12th district. Although the French defenders began to blow up all passable bridges on the Seine River in the eastern suburbs, the unexpected speed of the German armored troops and the poor quality of the French wartime military products still allowed the armored troops to master the most solid one.

When they learned that the German tanks appeared on the south bank of the Seine River, all organized resistance in Paris collapsed immediately. The officers and soldiers did not want to be surrounded by the German army. They gave up the steel positions that had been sacrificed in the north with millions of sacrifices three years ago, threw away all heavy weapons, and mixed into the retreating crowds in order to escape from Paris before the German army surrounded. However, the congested city traffic was completely impossible to compare with the German armor and cavalry troops who were running in the barren suburbs. Admiral Leo, who crossed the Seine River, did not wait for the follow-up troops, but forced his subordinates to detour south at the highest speed and waited for an opportunity to pursue the French army to the southwest.

There were less than one battalion of A7V chariots, an incomplete cavalry brigade, and the infantry who were learning the Revival Army and rigged on the chariots. Their largest artillery was the 57mm Nordenfe rapid-fire cannon on the chariot. If there was a regular French military advisor in front, if the commander bravely ordered the artillery to concentrate on the front of the defense line and shoot straight at the enemy's chariots, then this small team would be blocked outside the southern suburbs of Paris. The stability of a blocking position would inevitably cause more blocking positions to begin to be established. At this time, the German army, which did not have enough troops to make a left hook, would likely watch the French army in the encirclement slip away, and even if Paris occupied it, it would be an empty city.

Then assumptions are always just assumptions. The crowds of fleeing in Paris made all the troops lose their will to fight. On the contrary, the German soldiers stimulated by the unimaginable brilliant victory went south without caring about casualties. They were not afraid of the French soldiers who were still holding rifles and occupying the road. The beautiful French was rude from the German officers. They shouted: "Soldiers, the war is over! The war is over! I order you to make way out, put down your weapons, and wait for takeover! Soldiers, the war is over! The war is over! I order you to make way out, put down your weapons, and wait for takeover..."

Surrender is a shame for soldiers, but the slogan "The War is over" hits the hearts of French soldiers who have suffered for four years. They are defeated like mountains and fallen. The French, who have been surrounded, have put down their weapons in an unanimous manner in order to end the war. However, when the German armored troops in front of them left far away, they did not see the Germans anymore. Only the inertia of "end the war" allowed them to maintain discipline. They waited for the takeover until dark.

The consequences of the German army's breakthrough into the Allies were terrible. The instant chaos in Paris was just one of them. What's more serious was that the French General Command wanted to recover the disadvantages in a defeated mountain to defend Paris. However, the more this idea was, the more serious the harm it brought. While the French west side of the French army resisted the rapid attack of the German Crown Prince William's army, they found that the troops in the rear were constantly being drawn away. In the morning, everyone was puzzled. In the afternoon, the news that Paris was occupied by the Germans swept through the French army like a strong wind. The officer's telescope was no longer staring at the front line, but Paris with countless black smoke rising from the rear.

Everyone knew that the capital Paris had been occupied by the German army. Just as the troops were about to collapse under the powerful German offensive, Commander-in-Chief Betton issued a retreat order against the opposition. The Persan line was handed over to the full command of his loyal subordinate Lieutenant General Assay Bailei, who was fully responsible for the French retreat. When the French retreated on a large scale, he learned that Prince William, who had a friendly army occupied Paris, urgently ordered the troops to pursue the French army. Then Lieutenant General Assay Bailei's blockade and the complex terrain of the Oates Valley saved these French troops. Except for more than 50,000 people who were eliminated and 90,000 surrendered, most of the French troops on the western defense line retreated safely.

At noon that day, Rudendolf, who received the frontline news, immediately reported the news of Paris being surrounded to Hindenburg and the German Emperor. The German Emperor, who had been waiting for the victory, hit the ground with his cane. After being excited, he proudly declared: "If the British delegation comes to seek peace, he must kneel down according to German rules, because this is the victory of the monarchy over the democracy."

The German Emperor's excitement did not fall into Rudendolph's eyes. He only cared about the next direction of the entire offensive. When leaving Empress Germany, facing the same excited Hindenburg, Rudendolph asked cautiously: "Marson, are we going to attack quickly?"

"Yes, this is what we have to do," Hindenburg replied. "No matter how difficult it is, the situation of the French is worse than that of us. Only by pursuing all our might, can the French suffer more serious losses."

"You can have many tanks in the armored assault troops malfunctioned, and maybe they can only have more than 100 tanks left by night." Ludendolf knew exactly what the victory came from, so he now cherished every tank very much.

"No, even if there are only ten chariots left, they will continue to attack." Hindenburg was obviously not Hitler. He knew what would be the consequences of letting the French recover. "We must not pursue everything, and the French will be in chaos and fear. Although we cannot destroy them, a sufficiently chaotic army will to the greatest extent."

"Yes, Marshal. I understand!" Since the Marshal had made the decision, Ludendolf, a genius staff officer, had a planned goal, which was to destroy the French's combat will to the greatest extent possible.

The battle that took place near Paris was constantly transmitted to the rear through wired and wireless telegrams since the morning, and the German army broke through the trenches of the French front line, raided the eastern suburbs of Paris, crossed the Seine River, and detoured the city of Paris. All of this was transmitted to all parts of the world in time. With the global attention, the German army actually captured Paris, which was defending heavily, which was simply April Fool's Day joke. Affected by this, except for the panicked politicians of the Allies. The stock markets in London, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo fell sharply as long as the war was in sight. The victory of the war was in sight, and the stock market was of course bullish, but now the war is facing failure. When the compensation for the Allies could not be obtained, the stocks, including military-industry stocks, fell immediately, even if the government and the large consortium intervened, were useless.

The stock market crash is not the worst. What the Allies are most worried about is whether the French can withstand this blow and whether they will negotiate with the Germans. King George V of Britain, the cabinet, and US President Wilson are most concerned about where the French president and prime minister are at this time. When we learned that the French president and prime minister are not in Paris, everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. As we all know, the French president and prime minister are both famous hardliners against Germany. As long as they are not captured by the Germans, the war can still be fought and must be fought.

It was precisely because Britain did not want Germany to dominate Europe and threatened its maritime hegemony, so it betrayed its usual principle of neutrality and joined the European war. At this time, Russia had been completely weakened. If France also bowed to Germany, then Germany, which integrated the entire Europe, would be Britain's nightmare.

For the United States, at the beginning of the war, she was passively involved in the European war under the instigation of bankers. Once the Allies were defeated, billions of dollars in loans and tens of billions of dollars in military expenditure would be wasted. Military expenditure was still spent on its own country, but the borrowing of Britain, France and Russia would be lost; the most serious thing is that those Americans who were greedy for high interest rates and purchased British and French war bonds would occupy Wall Street in anger, and would either send all bankers, including Morgan, to court or take revenge alone. The entire American ruling machine would be invalid and inconsistent. This is a fact that the Anglo-Saxons who indirectly grasped the ultimate power of the country through finance could not accept.

Neither the United Kingdom nor the United States could accept the defeat. China and Japan, the other two major countries in the Allied countries, could not bear such a blow. Although both countries made huge profits in shipping and military supplies, these profits were reflected in paper money rather than gold. When China proposed to join the Allied country, it was necessary to exchange some gold for some gold with the currency of Britain, France and the United States as the price of participating in the war, the Americans ignored it. The British used the excuse that ocean transportation could not guarantee the safety of gold, and at the same time said that they had insufficient gold reserves and could provide a loan of 100 million pounds if needed. Only by seeking help, more than 1,400 tons of France in the central bank were willing to exchange 500 million francs of gold. They also asked China to pick up and transport it themselves. 500 million francs were only 150 tons of gold. In the end, the two sides reached an agreement when it came to exchange 200 tons of gold.

Two hundred tons of gold are not enough, but the reality is that the total amount of gold, including private hands, is only more than 15,700 tons [Note 107], and the currency issuance, because the UK controls global trade and manages the world financial system through the Bank of England, they have huge surplus and financial hegemony. The pound banknotes that can be converted into gold are less than 4% of the issuance of gold, while the proportion of the US dollar convertible to gold is 15%, and the proportion of the gold franc is 25%. In this case, once the Allies lose the war, France and other countries pay compensation to Germany, then the currency in China will immediately depreciate by half, and the remaining half depends on how the United States and Germany negotiate. If the US dollar does not depreciate significantly, it will eventually be able to save a lot of money.

China is holding the banknotes of Britain, France and the United States in its hands. Japan, which was not prepared for trade during the war, had to rely on foreign loans to stimulate trade, which would be even more miserable. This is also a helpless move that cannot compete with Chinese goods. The unsecured loan of hundreds of billions of yen will be lent, and once the UK, France and France have a debt, the Japanese will lose all their money.

The four major participating countries were unable to accept the defeat of the Allies, so a strange situation occurred: at the same time, the leaders of the four countries all told other countries that their countries would persist until they achieved the final victory of the war. With such a wish, the various entanglements and contradictions of various countries suddenly became less important at this time. In the intimate atmosphere, the opportunity to take advantage of the troubled waters has come. (To be continued.)

ps: Note 107 (footnote number on the ord document, this is the 107th footnote in this book): recorded from "Economist", February 15, 1930, with the figures from the Federal Reserve Bank Gazette and other sources.
Chapter completed!