Historically, the German Army signed an armistice with Allied Powers on November 11, ending the four-year-long world war.
However, due to the butterfly effect brought about by Lin Feng, the time traveler, a ceasefire agreement between the warring parties has not yet been signed.
On November 12, it was learned that the president would be coming to Europe to attend the post-war peace summit.
General Pershing, believing he had won the previous battle, regrouped his forces and launched a fierce attack on the German Army’s positions from two directions.
However, this time, the US military’s offensive was far less successful than before.
After three days of fierce attacks, the US military made no progress except for leaving a large number of corpses on the German Army’s positions.
Moreover, the German Army, which was originally preparing to retreat…
Inspired by Crown Prince Wilhelm’s determination to hold their ground, Army Group A, led by Crown Prince Rupprecht, not only returned to their positions but also launched a proactive attack on the American forces from the flank.
The U.S.
First Army, which was resting, was caught off guard and at one point the German Army broke into its own lines.
After General Pershing mobilized reinforcements from other directions and requested support from the nearby French Army, the position was held and the German Army’s attack was repelled.
However, this completely ruined the US military’s offensive plan.
Worse still, as the fighting escalated, more and more German Army soldiers began refusing to withdraw from their positions and joining the fight against the Allied Powers.
This forced the U.S.
military’s allies, the British Army and the French Army, into the fighting, and the entire battlefield was in danger of spiraling out of control.
Western Front, Allied Powers Headquarters.
The command center, which was filled with the joy of victory just a few days ago, appears unusually solemn today.
“What happened?
How was this battle fought?” “I don’t know, but from Belgium to Strasbourg, the entire battlefield is in complete chaos!” ” Wasn’t the German Army already prepared to surrender?
Why has it rearmed again?” “If we were to wipe out all 2.5 million German Army troops in the Western Front, how many troops would we need, and how long would it take?” “It would require at least four million troops and three months or even longer to accomplish this!” “Four million people?
Three months?
How many casualties will we have to pay?” “The war is about to end, and the soldiers are all waiting to be discharged and go home.
Under these circumstances, it is difficult to boost morale and get them to fight this battle!” “That’s right, fighting like this is too uneconomical.
Even if we don’t eliminate these German Army soldiers, the Germans will surrender anyway.
There’s absolutely no need to make unnecessary sacrifices!” The French were truly terrified by this war.
Millions of young people fell on this battlefield over four years, almost wiping out an entire generation of French people.
Already severely weakened, they were unable to bear any further losses.
Moreover, there’s no need to fight this battle at all!
Such deep-seated war-weariness caused Field Marshal Foch to sigh and say to the French representative in charge of the negotiations: “Go back to the Germans and I agree to their condition that they retain their arms, but they must withdraw their troops from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Alsace – Lorraine and the left bank of the Rhine River within 15 days.” Originally, the Allied Powers military leadership wanted the German Army to hand over all its heavy weapons, including artillery, heavy machine guns, aircraft, and tanks, and withdraw to the homeland with only light weapons.
But now, with the US military’s offensive failing, this goal is probably hard to achieve.
What you can’t get on the battlefield, you can’t get at the negotiating table either!
Unless they launch a full-scale offensive at any cost and force the German Army into submission, it will be difficult to persuade the German Army to abandon its armed forces.
It’s a pity, as this was originally a good opportunity to completely eliminate the potential threat on the French border.
But now, it’s probably difficult to achieve that goal.
The French concessions delighted Hindenburg, Ludendorff, and others.
On November 18, a representative was officially dispatched to Marshal Foch, the Allied Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers, and signed a ceasefire agreement with the Allied Powers.
Because the agreement was signed in the Compiègne Forest north of Paris, it is also known as the “Compiègne Forest Armistice Agreement”.
With the signing of the armistice, World War I, which lasted four years and resulted in tens of millions of casualties, officially came to an end.
News of the end of the war quickly spread throughout the world via telegrams, newspapers, and other means.
When the people of all nations, mired in the quagmire of war, received news of its end, they were overjoyed and wept tears of joy.
This protracted war, which brought them immense suffering, has finally come to an end!
…
“Let’s go!” On the German Army’s position, Crown Prince Wilhelm rode a white horse to a high point and took one last look at the position they were holding.
He resolutely turned around and took his first step toward his motherland.
Several hours after the German Army left, the US troops cautiously entered the abandoned German Army position and took over the trench.
The German Army destroyed all the fortifications on the position and looted almost everything, including what they could and couldn’t take.
The American searched for a while but found nothing of value, and began to curse loudly: “That damn German, he’s a miser reincarnated Scrooge, he even picked up the bullet casings!!” Shell casing?
That was precious brass.
After the war, Germany was facing a severe shortage of various supplies, and brass was considered a strategic resource!
The thrifty and hardworking Crown Prince Wilhelm would never waste any resources!
…
Following the signing of the armistice, Allied Powers immediately began preparations for the first postwar peace summit in Paris.
The so-called peace summit was actually just a gathering of Allied Powers to discuss how to divide the spoils of victory.
Central Powers members, including Germany, are naturally the ones they want to divide up.
This summit was initiated by the Americans, and President Wilson attaches great importance to it because it marks the first step for the United States to step onto the international stage.
If this step is taken well, the United States’ international standing and influence will rise significantly in the future.
The Americans paid a huge price for this!
Just six months ago, the U.S.
troops that crossed the ocean to reach France numbered only nine divisions, less than 300,000 men.
However, as the American war machine was activated, the number of American troops arriving in the European theater continued to increase.
Eighteen divisions landed at the end of May…
25 divisions by the end of June…
29 at the end of July…
35 by the end of August…
39 at the end of September…
42 at the end of October…
The American fleet crossing the Atlantic Ocean not only continuously transported large quantities of supplies and weapons to the belligerent nations, but also was responsible for sending 250,000 to 300,000 fresh troops to the European theater every month!
After defeating Russia, the German Army, which had withdrawn a large number of troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, had a chance to defeat the Anglo-French Allied Forces of the Western Front.
However, with the entry of the Americans into the war, the balance of power on the Western Front began to completely shift, with the Allied Powers growing larger and larger, while the German Army dwindled in number.
Although the U.S.
military’s combat effectiveness was generally poor, it achieved few victories after entering the war.
But their ability to continuously send troops to the battlefield was terrifying; the German Army couldn’t even keep up with the enemy’s rate of reinforcements as they destroyed the enemy.
Moreover, this is not the limit for Americans; it is said that the Americans have mobilized four million troops domestically.
If this war continues, the Americans could very well send all four million of them to the battlefield.
Although the actual results of the war were far less than those of the British Army and the French Army, it was the entry of the US military into the war that truly broke the camel’s back.
Therefore, Americans feel that they deserve great credit and that it was the key to Allied Powers ‘ victory over Central Powers.
In that case, as the main players, they should at least get a big slice of the spoils after the war, right?
Unfortunately, the Americans thought too highly of the British and French!