Chapter 485: Battle of the Marne (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Because of Spain's interference, the importance European countries placed on airplanes in this world was not as high as that on airships.

However, this also led to European countries equipping airship units on a scale, and these airships indeed exerted quite a good effect in this war.

First was the reconnaissance effect. Airships floated in mid-air, and one could easily see the enemy's movements from the airship, which was an ability that could not be possessed in past wars at all.

Secondly, the airship's transportation capability was also quite important for the front-line battlefield. A small airship could transport several tons of goods, and a large airship could even transport more than ten tons of materials.

More importantly, the materials transported by airships only needed to be air-dropped, completely without caring about terrain restrictions, and could be transported to mountains, jungles, and any other areas.

If trains were used, they could only be transported to train stations. Although automobiles were a bit freer, in mountains without roads, the speed and failure rate of automobiles would increase significantly, which was also the main problem currently faced by automobiles.

Airships did not have such worries. Anyway, airships floated in mid-air and had no obstacles.

These airships transporting materials only needed to be careful of attacks from enemy airships, and they could transport materials to the front line without any danger or obstacles.

Precisely because of the effect airships exerted in the war, the airship units of France and Germany also broke out in multiple battles in the early stages of the war.

Different from the combat methods of ground troops, the combat methods of airships in the sky mainly relied on machine guns installed on the airships, using bullets to shoot down enemy airships.

As long as one could hit the enemy's airship, even if it did not explode, the airship would basically fall.

Ordinary bullets could cause huge damage to airships, which was also the reason why current airships were not installed with small-caliber artillery, because there was no necessity at all.

With the help of the airship units of the two countries, both the German and French armies ultimately discovered the other side's intentions.

For France, it was unfortunate, because their Plan XVII fell right into the trap of Germany's Schlieffen Plan; Germany had already guessed the French army's movements before the war broke out.

For France, it was fortunate, because the core of Germany's Schlieffen Plan had already undergone modifications; the French northern border was indeed defenseless, but a considerable portion of the German troops had also been withdrawn, which also significantly reduced Germany's hope of conquering Paris.

Although the dominant German army invaded French territory, the French army also completely reacted; at least they still had hope of defending Paris.

The French government's discussion also changed from using Albania to woo Italy to how to defend Paris.

The French army urgently needed a figure who could stand firm to serve as the Paris Garrison Commander, stabilize the morale of the army, and protect France's capital as much as possible.

French President Armand Fallières searched through the list of high-ranking French generals, and ultimately decided to appoint General Gallieni, the commander of the 14th Army who had lost to Joffre in the competition for French Chief of the General Staff a year ago, to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Paris Garrison.

Speaking of this general who had competed with Joffre for French Chief of the General Staff, he still possessed quite a brilliant resume.

As an old general who had participated in the Franco-Prussian War, Gallieni had participated in colonial wars many times during this period, and could be considered one of the few generals in the French military who had experienced war many times.

One of the reasons he lost to Joffre in the competition for Chief of the General Staff was precisely because of his age.

General Gallieni was born in 1849 and was already 63 years old this year, which could be considered advanced age. Plus, he had been injured many times in his military career, and his current physical condition was worrying.

If there were no such war, General Gallieni might have retired within a few years, enjoying his few leisure times.

But now, he had to take on a heavy responsibility, taking over the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Paris Garrison, so that France would not have its capital fall within less than two months of the war breaking out.

Although he agreed to take over the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Paris Garrison, General Gallieni also put forward his own requirements.

Because of French Chief of the General Staff Joffre's Plan XVII, nearly 2 million French troops had 1.6 million deployed on the Alsace-Lorraine front line.

The French troops north of Paris were less than 400,000, and after long-term combat, the troops currently available were even less than 300,000.

These 300,000 troops were distributed in various places north of Paris, and the garrison around Paris only had a few local divisions and one elite division transferred back from the African colonies, adding up to only the strength of one army.

Relying on one army to guard Paris was completely impossible. The first order General Gallieni put forward was to require the French military to gather a group army for him, and it had to be a group army composed of three regular active-duty armies, not cannon fodder troops pieced together from new recruits or colonial troops.

At this time, because the German army was about to attack, Paris was full of panic. The French government was even discussing temporarily moving the capital, moving the government seat from Paris to Orléans further south.

Facing the only general who could take on the heavy responsibility, General Gallieni, the French government and military did not have the slightest hesitation and immediately agreed to his request.

As France's largest city and capital, Paris's defensive strength was not weak. Paris possessed 14 forts inside and 25 forts outside, all cast from reinforced concrete.

Each fort possessed 20 cannons; the defensive forts of Paris alone possessed as many as 780 cannons, which was also the reason General Gallieni had confidence in defending Paris.

Of course, defending Paris could not rely on Paris's forts; these forts were only used when making a final stand.

To defend Paris, one must expand the front line to tens or even hundreds of kilometers outside Paris; only by doing so could the safety and stability within Paris be ensured.

In the conversation between General Gallieni and his Chief of Staff, General Ilshoer, one could also see General Gallieni's thoughts.

General Ilshoer assured General Gallieni that the forts around Paris would defend Paris; even if Germany had more troops, it would be absolutely impossible to conquer Paris.

And the old general Gallieni's answer was: "No matter how solid Paris is, how can it compare to the Liège Fort in Belgium?

If we only rely on the forts of Paris, even if we can drag it out for a longer time, the final result will be the same as the Liège Fort in Belgium.

To defend Paris, relying on 39 forts is completely insufficient; we also need to build a large number of defensive strongholds on the outskirts of Paris, using these defensive strongholds to slow down the speed of the German army's offensive."

Subsequently, with the support of the French government, General Gallieni mobilized 100,000 Parisian citizens, letting them take tools to the outskirts of Paris to dig trenches, building defensive works with a total length of 100 kilometers, and requiring these tasks to be completed within 20 days.

France at this time was not the France in World War II; the Parisian citizens' determination to defend their home and country was still very strong, and they were also willing to listen to the orders of the old general Gallieni, each taking out tools to contribute to the country.

With the help of these Parisian citizens, the French army soon built a solid defensive position on the outskirts of Paris. Because there was only a 20-day construction period, France did not have time to build reinforced concrete defensive works and could only use the simplest raw wood and piled earth as protective layers, and dug protective trenches before the defensive works, placing sharp stakes inside, and setting up obstacles such as barbed wire on both sides.

While the Parisian citizens were digging trenches, General Gallieni also ordered the engineers to bury explosives on the bridges by the rivers near Paris, blowing up all the hundreds of bridges nearby.

Paris was built on the Seine River, and surrounded by rivers such as the Marne River and the Oise River. After destroying these bridges, if the German army wanted to attack Paris again, they could only build pontoon bridges on these rivers.

For the French army, this could also be considered an opportunity, at least it could delay the speed of the German army's offensive.

It is worth mentioning that by this time, French Chief of the General Staff Joffre still did not think that defending Paris was any important matter.

He always felt that Plan XVII was the most important. Even if he paid the price of Paris for this, as long as he could occupy Alsace-Lorraine and extend the troops to the German interior, the war would always end.

Even if he could not threaten Germany's Ruhr region, he could completely go north along the Rhine River and bypass to the east of Belgium.

By then, the French army would counter-encircle these German troops invading French territory; wouldn't the results obtained be greater than defending Paris? ===== CHAPTER 486 =====