The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 481: Chapter 381: Germany's Westward Expansion and France's Eastward Expansion

General Sherwood keenly realized that, whether from an economic perspective or the uncontrolled funds consumption required to maintain a large military, it is crucial to quickly resolve the future war with France and Russia.

Sherwood pointed out that France must be regarded as a giant fortress, especially the Verdun Fort on the German-French border, which is nearly impregnable.

The weak link in French defense is located at the northwest border of France and Belgium, which is the key point to strike at the heart of France.

General Sherwood proposed the plan to use Belgium as a gateway.

According to the famous Schlieffen Plan, General Sherwood focused on the Westline in Germany's war against France and Russia, and estimated a full-scale attack on France with 78 divisions.

For the Westline battlefield, the principle of a light left and heavy right was employed, deploying eight divisions on the left to launch the first attack and pin down the French Army's main force.

The right wing is the focus of the attack, requiring at least 70 divisions to be amassed, passing through neutral countries such as Luxembourg and Belgium, and directly piercing France's heart.

From west of Paris, they would swing to southwest Paris, carry out a large-scale encirclement movement, force the French Army eastward, and then encircle them with the German forces on both eastern and western fronts, annihilating the French Army.

The entire Westline war is expected to end within 6 to 8 weeks, and as long as victory against France is achieved, the remaining Russia will naturally have no power to resist.

On the Eastern Front battlefield, General Sherwood proposed deploying only nine divisions to contain the Russian Army.

With the Russian forces being weaker and the German army having the cooperation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's troops, they could hold out until the Westline gained a complete victory and then turn their attention to the east.

Although the Schlieffen Plan chose the main direction of the attack correctly, made full use of strategic initiative and surprise, and sought decisive and swift action, it underestimated the combat effectiveness of the French Army. General Sherwood overestimated the combat effectiveness of the German Army and underestimated that of the French Army, making the plan extremely risky.

As the successor to Sherwood, the current German Chief of Staff Moltke (Little Moltke) is the nephew of Marshal Old Mosley.

Little Moltke was personally chosen by Emperor William II, and if the reason must be asked, the Moltke surname is the primary reason for William II's choice of Little Moltke.

After becoming the German Chief of Staff, Little Moltke inherited Sherwood's strategic thinking and made some minor modifications based on the specific situation.

But overall, it was essentially the same plan with different details. The Germans were very confident in their military strength, which was also due to the nationalism of the Germanic tribes.

From August 7th after the war broke out, all railway transportation in Germany was managed by the military.

Germany's highly developed railway network can support up to 660 military columns in 24 hours, transporting 20 divisions.

If the Germans wanted to, it would take only about ten days to transport all Westline troops to their designated positions.

Because of Germany's offensive plan, Germany simultaneously declared war on France and Belgium, and as the declaration of war was made, the troops arrived at the borders of these two countries.

In order to capture the Liege Fortress in Belgium, after several days of assembly by the German army, four Big Bertha howitzers were successfully transported to a few kilometers away from the Liege Fortress and launched an artillery attack on the solid fortress.

The Big Bertha howitzer was designed at the request of the German General Staff, specifically for fortifications like Verdun and Liege.

The 420mm caliber and about ten kilometers range made this giant cannon an unannounced secret weapon in Germany and the key to Germany's confidence in overcoming the Liege Fortress.

The total weight of the Big Bertha howitzer is as high as 120 tons, requiring nearly 300 people to operate this cannon.

Of course, the shells of such a big guy wouldn't be small either, a Big Bertha howitzer shell weighed 820 kilograms and each launch required at least 200 kilograms of gunpowder.

And that's not all, during each launch, no one should be within 300 meters, or it could easily cause accidental injuries.

After all, the explosion of 200 kilograms of gunpowder isn't small, and the shockwave that pushed the bomb to fire could injure or even kill people nearby.

Unlike other cannons, almost all German cannons have a firing speed calculated in minutes.

Some can fire several dozen shots per minute while others can fire several to more than ten shots per minute.

However, the Big Bertha howitzer is different, the firing speed of such a giant is calculated in hours.

If everything goes smoothly during the launch, its firing speed is about eight shells per hour, averaging one shell every 7.5 minutes.

As for the power of such a huge guy, Emperor William II praised all the experts who developed this cannon after inspecting their test fire.

However, Emperor William II also ordered the further improvement of this cannon; among other issues, the transportation of the 120-ton weight made it an extremely difficult task.

The assembly of the Big Bertha howitzers took some time, but when all four cannons were fully assembled, it became a massive torment for the Belgian troops inside the Liege Fortress.

The damage from the Big Bertha howitzers on the fortress was enormous. With four cannons firing for more than two hours, they shot at least 50 shells, destroying not only most of the Liege Fortress' artillery positions, but also a crucial supply warehouse inside.

Among them was an ammunition depot, which should have stored a considerable number of shells and bullets.

After the shells exploded, there were several smaller explosions one after another, and it is unknown if any Belgians were accidentally hurt.

In addition to using heavy artillery for bombing, the Germans also employed psychological tactics to convince the Liege Fortress defenders to surrender.

The German army claimed that the war between Germany and Belgium was pointless. Germany's primary and sole objective was to target France. If the Belgian forces were willing to surrender, they could guarantee that Belgium would not be harmed by the war.

However, the commander of the Liege Fortress defenders was ruthless and flatly refused the German surrender, replying, "Rather die together with the fortress."

Nevertheless, even though the Belgians held the Liege Fortress for more than ten days, they were finally defeated by the German army on August 19th.

There was no choice; weapons like the Big Bertha howitzers were too powerful, causing immense damage to the extremely durable Liege Fortress.

After several days of constant bombardment from the four cannons, even the steel-like Liege Fortress had no choice but to bow to the German guns.

But for France, this was good news. The Belgians had bought more than ten days for the French with their casualties.

The Germans had originally planned to defeat France within 6 to 8 weeks, but they wasted more than ten days in Belgium, squandering a quarter of their planned time.

It was during this more than ten days that the French army swiftly gathered and deployed all forces to the eastern border.

Moreover, the French did not idle in these ten days, as they planned a counterattack against the Germans.

The German army being held at Liege Fortress gave birth to a new idea within the French military, which was to directly invade German territory from Alsace and Lorraine.

It is necessary to mention the importance of Alsace and Lorraine. This region once belonged to France but was ceded after the Franco-Prussian War.

The German Empire was also established after the Franco-Prussian War, with the ceremony taking place at the extremely important Versailles Palace, marking the coronation of the Emperor of the German Empire.

For the French, this was an unforgettable deep-rooted hatred.

Therefore, after the German army was held in Belgium, the French General Staff immediately formulated a plan for the rapid recovery of Alsace and Lorraine.

After several discussions and deliberations, a plan called the Recovery of Lost Territory was officially launched.

According to the French General Staff's plan, while the German army was held in Belgium, part of the French forces would directly attack Alsace and Lorraine, then bypass Cologne and encircle the German army from behind.

In this way, the French and Belgian forces would encircle the German army.

The German army would be like a turtle trapped in a jar, waiting to be captured.

The French plan to recover lost territory was the 17th plan put forward by the French General Staff in recent times and was thus called Plan 17.

At the same time as the German attack on the Liege Fortress, French Chief of Staff and wartime French Commander-in-Chief, General Flynn, also launched the execution of Plan 17.

The primary objective of Plan 17 was to recover Alsace and Lorraine, which had been taken by Germany, to boost the morale of the French army and increase public support for the war.

In addition to this central plan, Plan 17 also had an auxiliary attack direction - the left wing, where General Levi's Third Army Group and General Langrezac's Fifth Army Group, with a total of 887,000 men, would attack the German forces in Mays and the Ardennes Forest from Verdun in the north to Namur.

General Carly's Fourth Army Group, consisting of 190,000 men, was to serve as a reserve force for Plan 17, being ready to support all attacking forces.

However, although Plan 17 mobilized 1.7 million French soldiers, only a few hundred thousand could actually launch an attack at the border.

A large number of troops were still in the rear of the border, either due to terrain issues or various other reasons, and would not participate in the war all at once.

Under the various propaganda of the French army, French soldiers set foot on the soil of Alsace, filled with patriotism, saluting with their guns and pulling out the boundary markers set by the Germans and throwing them aside.

Under the influence of this patriotic sentiment, the French army launched a fierce attack on the German troops in Alsace and Lorraine, showing their undaunted courage.

From the battlefield, one could see the brave French soldiers advancing under the call of their commanders, never stopping even when their comrades-in-arms fell around them.