Chapter 5 Chapter Four: The "Virtual" and "Real" of the countries participating in the war

Since the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia's military system has gradually been imitated by European countries.This is a complete set of military systems such as the staff headquarters system, the Army University, and the conscription system for short-term active service created and perfected by Lao Maoqi.The military ideology and military organization of each country are basically the same.All countries have a "staff headquarters", which is called the "brain of the army".The head of this military agency is called the "Chief of Staff".The General Staff Headquarters is actually the country's highest military guidance agency.According to the German theory, the most important feature of the General Staff Headquarters system is that all its members have received a strict education, whether in terms of strategy or tactics, the analysis and judgment of the situation can follow a unified ideological norm .The chief of staff wants to realize his will to fight, mainly through the consistency of this thought process, which can make the various parts of the army automatically coordinate like an organic whole.Therefore, the organization of the "Staff Headquarters Officer Corps" was born. All officers who can enter this organization must be the best talents, the essence of the German Army's elite, and must be high-achieving students of the Army University to be eligible for selection.Of course, only Germany can really meet this standard in Europe, and other countries are only approaching this standard to varying degrees.Compared with Germany, they have a large gap.

The task of the General Staff Headquarters in wartime is to guide the war, and to prepare for the war in peacetime, that is, to draw up a war plan, and to constantly revise and supplement it according to new situations. In the second half of the 19th century, most European military organizations had been typicalized. For example, the concept of a "division" was regarded as a common unit of calculation in the staff operations of various countries, and its combat value became almost constant.Therefore, when countries conduct strategic power comparisons, there is naturally a tendency to emphasize quantity.How to obtain a larger numerical advantage has become the main problem.In other words, it is a question of how to convert a country's population advantage into an army numerical advantage.This creates the problem of the reserve service, which is to use long-serving and high-level officers and non-commissioned officers to train service personnel. After completing the training, the personnel must be retired to the reserve service to free up manpower and equipment to train the next echelon of personnel.In this way, a small-scale army can be maintained in peacetime in order to reduce the burden on the country, and a large number of reserve personnel can be quickly recruited for expansion and supplementation in wartime.The combination of the compulsory military service system and the reserve mobilization system has fully mobilized the human resources of various countries.Therefore, the mobilization plan became the basis of the strategic plan. In peacetime, the staff headquarters of various countries secretly drew up a complete set of mobilization plans, and made extremely detailed arrangements for millions of people, hundreds of thousands of horses, and millions of tons of supplies. All it takes is a mobilization order, and the mobilization system runs unstoppably like a machine.So at the time, people agreed that mobilization meant war.

Although the mobilization plan is the basis of the strategic plan, the strategic plan is also the basis of the mobilization plan. The two cause and effect each other, but both of them are based on the railway.British historian Taylor once said that the First World War was a railway war.It was the Germans who first discovered the military value of railways. Before Prussia laid railways, Friedrich List, a talented German economist, pointed out: Prussia’s weakness is that it is in a strong potential. Among the enemy countries, in the central position surrounded by the empire, the application of railways can make it rise from a second-class military country to a powerful and difficult country. "Germany can be a defensive bastion in the heart of Europe. The speed of mobilization, the speed at which armies can be moved from the center of the country to the borders, the transport by rail, and other significant benefits of being on the 'inside line' give Germany a comparative advantage over other European countries. Great comparative advantage." He reminded: "It is not to our advantage if the neighboring country's railroad is completed a mile earlier than ours, or if it is a mile longer than ours... Now, it is up to us to decide, see Whether to use the new defensive weapons that industrial progress has provided us is like our predecessors deciding whether to use guns instead of bows and arrows." Later, both Prussia and France tried to transport troops by rail, and achieved excellent results .Since then, railways have become a dominant factor in strategy, and the railway system can often determine a country's strategic intentions and war deployments.

On the European continent, Germany has the most developed railway network, followed by France and Russia.Calculated per 100 square kilometers of territory, the German railways have 11.8 kilometers, France 9.6 kilometers, and the European part of Russia 1.1 kilometers.At that time, the transportation requirements of an army were: 170 carriages for officers, 965 carriages for infantry, 2,960 carriages for cavalry, 1,915 carriages for artillery and supplies, and a total of 6,010 carriages were needed to form 140 trains. Again, as many trains are needed.When the mobilization order was issued, the railway network started to move like a war machine. Personnel, equipment, and supplies rolled out of the railway line automatically. Then from company to camp, from camp to group, it continued to roll on the railway like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.When they arrived at the predetermined position near the national border, they completed the pre-war deployment from division to army, from army to legion.

The party with the fastest mobilization speed can launch an attack first, paralyzing the railway traffic of the other party, thereby slowing down its mobilization speed, or even losing its mobilization ability.Even if the strengths of the two sides are evenly matched, the speed of mobilization will lead to disparate endings.Therefore, after the Sarajevo crisis broke out, the militaries of the major countries that intervened in unanimously urged their own governments to issue mobilization orders. In the military establishment of European countries at that time, the largest combat unit was the group army, which consisted of 3 to 6 armies, and also included some directly subordinate cavalry, engineering, and artillery units. An army consists of 2 to 3 infantry divisions, as well as some auxiliary units of the army, such as cavalry, artillery, engineering, communications, aviation logistics and transportation units, etc. An infantry division consists of 2 infantry brigades, an artillery brigade (regiment), 2 to 3 cavalry companies, and some special forces. An infantry regiment consists of 3 to 4 battalions, each with 4 companies.The number of battalions in various countries is almost more than 1,000.There are 16,000 to 21,000 army divisions in various countries.A German division has 16,600 men, France 15,900, Russia 21,000, and England 16,000.

When the war broke out, the main belligerent countries had the following military strengths: France had 62 infantry divisions and 10 cavalry divisions; Britain had 6 infantry divisions and 2 cavalry divisions; Russia had 114 infantry divisions and 36 cavalry divisions; Belgium had 6 Infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division; Serbia 11 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division; Germany 87 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry divisions; Austria-Hungary 49 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry divisions. The main light weapons of the infantry at that time were rifles and heavy machine guns.The main models of rifles are Mosin's 1891-style magazine rifle, Le Belle's 1896-style rifle, Lee Enfield's 1903-style rifle, Mauser's 1898-style rifle, and Manley Hale's 1895-style rifle, with a range of 2500 ~3000 meters.The main machine gun models are the Maxim heavy machine gun, the Hatchix heavy machine gun, and the Schwarzgerzer heavy machine gun, with a range of 3,000 meters.The calibers of rifles and machine guns are between 7.62 mm and 8 mm.Heavy weapons include light and heavy field guns; light and heavy field howitzers; rapid-fire guns; Baja-style short-barreled guns.The caliber is between 75 mm and 155 mm, the firing range is between 5.7 and 12.7 kilometers, and the shell weight is between 6.5 and 43 kilograms.There are also a handful of larger caliber siege and fortress guns.

In 1914, the equipment and organization of the first-level military units of various countries were similar.A Russian army had 64 machine guns, 108 artillery pieces, 13,500 horses, and 3,770 carriages; a French army had 56 machine guns, 120 artillery pieces, 12,600 horses, and 2,240 carriages; a German army had 48 machine guns , 160 artillery pieces, 16,800 horses, and 2,880 carriages.The German army has a clear advantage in artillery, and the Austrian artillery is the weakest among all countries. The automobile, invented shortly before the war, was also used in the military.When the armies of various countries were mobilized, France had about 5,500 trucks and 4,000 light vehicles; Britain had about 1,141 trucks and tractors, 213 light cars and semi-trucks, and 131 motorcycles; Germany had 3,500 trucks, 500 other types of vehicles; Russia has 475 trucks and 3562 light vehicles.

The airplane invented by the Wright Brothers in 1903 has also been rapidly applied to the military field.When the war came, the general situation of the aviation forces of various countries was: Russia had 263 planes, France had 156 planes, Germany had 232 planes, Austria-Hungary had 65 planes, and Britain had 258 planes.Generally, the engine power of an aircraft is 60-80 horsepower, and some can reach 120 horsepower. The speed generally does not exceed 100 kilometers per hour. The load is 120-170 kg, including 20-30 kg of bombs, and there are two crew members, namely the pilot and the observer.

Not long after the Franco-Prussian War, the German General Staff was considering the future of the European War.Old Moltke has foreseen that Germany may have to fight on two fronts in the future. He believes that due to the development of the railway, Germany can deal with the attacking enemy on the one hand and the enemy who is slow to mobilize on the other. "Can we mobilize most of our troops?" To deal with one enemy before another depends only on the timeliness of the resolution."But at the same time he believed that in a very short period of time one could not expect to get rid of one enemy by a quick and successful attack and then attack another, because the European countries were armed as never before, and it was impossible for any country Weakened to the point of throwing in the towel in one or two advances.Old Moltke has realized the long-term nature of the future war.His plan is to take a defensive position against France first in future two-front battles, quickly defeat Russia, and then counterattack France.Old Moltke's plan was just a defensive-offensive strategy. He only wanted to quickly defeat his opponent and obtain a favorable peace. He had limited goals and no ambition to pursue an overall victory. At the same time, it was also based on the consideration that France had just suffered a disastrous defeat and it would be difficult to recover for a while.After Vadsee took over as chief of staff, he still followed the old Moltke's views. In 1887, Vadsee advocated temporarily taking the defensive in the west and launching a preventive war against Russia, but was stopped by Bismarck.

In 1891, after Schlieffen took over as Chief of Staff of the German Army, he put forward the No. 1 memorandum. Due to the rapid recovery of France, he began to question whether the German army could quickly break through the increasingly strengthened French army's fortified areas on the French-German border in future wars. Doubts, and thus put forward the idea of ​​bypassing the Franco-German border by bypassing Belgium.Since France became stronger again, Schlieffen judged that the French army would quickly attack Germany at the beginning of the war, while Russia's mobilization speed was relatively slow, so Germany must first defeat France quickly and then go to war with Russia if it wants to gain the initiative in the war. To win, we must be the stronger side at the point of contact. So the only hope is to be able to choose freely about our actions and not be passive towards the enemy." In 1894, he proposed Memorandum No. 3, completely abandoning the old Moltke's plan, and decided to fight against France first.

After determining the goal of the first battle, the next question is how to defeat France in a very short time.At first, Schlieffen wanted to launch a direct attack on the French-German border, but soon found that the hope of success was very slim. Later, he considered that when the French army attacked, try to lead them into an ambush circle and wipe them out. Think this kind of opportunity is too unreliable.It was not until 1897 that Schlieffen made up his mind to strategically avoid the French fortress defense line on the French-German border and adopt a combat style of making a large detour from the side.This is the core of the famous "Slieffen Plan" in modern military history.For more than eight years from 1897 to 1905, Schlieffen continued to revise the details of his plan. During the military exercises and field trips for officers of the German Staff Headquarters under his leadership, 500,000 to 600,000 prisoners were encircled and captured. The method of the "enemy army" has been systematically rehearsed, and a variety of possible situations have been fully considered. The "Schlieffen Plan" stipulates that the ratio of all German combat forces to the Russian front and the French front is 1:8.That is to say, at the beginning of the war, a small number of troops, 10 divisions and some local troops, used to echo the Austro-Hungarian army on the eastern front to deal with the huge Russian army. The purpose was to contain the Russian army in the East Prussian border area before France collapsed.At the same time, most of the troops were assembled on the western front to attack France.All the forces used on the Western Front were divided into left and right wings, and the distribution ratio was 1:7.Among the 72 divisions on the Western Front, 53 divisions are assigned to the right wing of the rotation, 10 divisions are arranged as the pivot of the rotation in the central area facing Verdun, and only 9 divisions are deployed on the 240 km On the long Franco-German border, it constituted the left wing of the German army.Obviously, Schlieffen wanted to weaken the left wing to a minimum so that the right wing could reach the maximum attack intensity. Even if the French army invaded Lorraine and pressed the German left wing to the Rhine River, it could not hinder the German right wing's roundabout attack through Belgium. The deeper the main force of the army advances eastward, the greater the danger in the future, so it leaves an aftertaste of luring the enemy to go deeper.When the German right wing successfully detoured and swept across the entire rear of the French army, the French army that penetrated into Germany was more likely to collapse because it was far away from the rear.This is like a revolving door, the harder you push the front door panel, the stronger the force of the other door panel rotating behind will be on your back.The task of the left wing is to contain the front of the main force of the French army on the French-German border. If it cannot withstand it, it will retreat to lure the French army to go deep into the Rhine River, enter the "pocket" between Metz and the Vosges Mountains, and tie it up .If the right wing succeeds and the French army retreats, they will not let go, and cooperate to gather and annihilate the main force of the French army from the front. The task of the right wing is to bypass the front of the main force of the French army on the French-German border, implement a strategic detour to its side, and encircle the main force of the French army from behind.This is a typical "right elbow strike". The entire right wing takes the Metz-Thionville area as the axis, rotates in the southwest direction, sweeps across the central plain of Belgium, and enters France from the French-Belgian border. As the area entered the French territory, Schlieffen tried to expand westward to the maximum extent, "let the tip of the right wing sweep the strait", then go south along the Oise River Basin, reach the west of Paris, turn southeast again, and then advance eastward with a wide front to attack The back of the entire French army forced the French army to disperse towards the German and Swiss borders, and finally the main force of the entire French army fell into a huge encirclement net for destruction.When this gigantic rotation movement unfolds, in order to ensure the absolute superiority of the right-wing forces, it is planned to draw two more corps from the left wing to strengthen the right wing, so as to maintain the initial strong attack force (the increasingly expanding occupied area needs to continuously draw from the attacking troops If soldiers are stationed, the attack power will gradually weaken).The timetable for the implementation of the plan is as accurate and rigid as a train timetable. The plan requires the main force of the right wing to open the Liege channel before the 12th day after the automatic mobilization is issued, take Brussels on the 19th day, enter France on the 22nd day, and enter France on the 31st day Reaching Thonville-Saint-Quentin line, conquered Paris on the 39th day and achieved a decisive victory.Schlieffen expected the entire Western Front to end within 6 to 8 days, which was also his estimate of the time required for Russian mobilization. Although the "Slieffen Plan" is a masterpiece of military planning, it is full of adventure.Politically, the implementation of the plan grossly violated Belgian neutrality and trampled on international law.Schlieffen once wanted to limit the right-wing detour to France. During the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War, the German detour did not go beyond the French territory.However, in Schlieffen's era, the armies of various countries had expanded rapidly, and millions of troops were used to surround millions of troops. The 240-kilometer-long French-German border was too narrow, and there was no room for maneuver.So Schlieffen came up with Belgium's idea, because in his opinion, Belgium's neutrality is nothing compared to the use of the "time difference" that is related to the survival of the German Empire.When Schlieffen first drew up this plan, he only requested to cut across a small corner of Belgium east of the Meuse River. Later, with the continuous revision of the plan, the "small corner" gradually expanded into a large area, which will bear political and diplomatic responsibilities. Big risk.In fact, the issue of Belgian neutrality became an important reason for Britain's entry into the war.In terms of time, it ignored old Moltke's warning about the long-term nature of the war, and bet all on a quick win.To be precise, they attempted to take advantage of the slowness of Russia's mobilization to create a "time difference" and defeat France and Russia one by one.This must take the risk of the French army breaking through the weak left flank, driving straight to the Rhine, and the Russian army breaking into East Prussia.Schlieffen devoted his whole life to the study of the "Battle of Cannae", and he once came to such a conclusion: "If there is a Battle of Cannae, there must be a Hannibal on one side and a Faro on the other." Imagine the war as a giant "Battle of Cannae", which requires a premise that the supreme commander of the opponent must be a Farrow-style idiot.Facts have proved that Joffre in France is far from Faro, and Moltke in Germany is far from Hannibal.From the perspective of combat style, the "Schlieffen Plan" does not belong to Hannibal's "Cannae type" that he himself is keen on, but an enlarged "oblique formation" that belongs to Frederick the Great's "Luten type" .Judging from the scale of mobilization made by Germany to implement the plan, it is a desperate nature. He defies the tradition that the reserve forces are only engaged in occupation and rear services, and boldly uses the reserve forces for the front line, leaving no strategic reserves. At that time, the German command decree suggested that "even the last battalion should be put into the field". The unprecedented adventurous spirit inspired unheard of "inspiration", Schlieffen wrote in his masterpiece "The Battle of Canny": "Instead of accumulating inactive reserves behind the front line... it is better to care about how to better replenish ammunition The bullets brought in by car are the best and surest reserve. All the troops which were previously left behind for a decisive victory should now be sent forward immediately for a flank attack. The more troops thrown into battle, the better the attack will be. The more resolute and powerful." He always emphasized that the German army no longer has a numerical advantage in future wars, but as long as it can throw all or most of its troops to the enemy's side and rear, forcing the enemy to turn around By accepting engagement in a direction that is not favorable to it, then the numerically weaker side can also defeat the superior enemy.The superiority of forces necessary for a powerful flank attack can only be obtained by weakening as much as possible the forces available for attacking the enemy's front, and in any case subjecting the enemy's front to attack. The Schlieffen Project is a direct product of these ideas. In 1906, Schlieffen retired and Moltke Jr. took over as Chief of Staff. In 1913, the 80-year-old Schlieffen still repeatedly told him when he was dying: "When there must be a war, don't weaken my right wing." However, he knew that he would be disappointed. In his old age, he didn't have the self-confidence, determination, adventurous spirit and extraordinary courage that Sliffin needed to make a huge gamble.Schlieffen knew people well. When Moltke Jr. took over, Schlieffen wrote disappointedly in his diary: "A new chief of staff has begun to lead the German Army. The king who made this appointment believes that the person he appoints is a strategist. He will Seriously disappointed, because a strategist cannot be assigned casually, but is born and predestined." The Kaiser chose little Moltke because he had a common name with his uncle Moltke, who was Megatron in Europe, and believed that The name "Moltke" is enough to make other countries frightened.Xiao Maoqi was not an officer in the General Staff Headquarters, and he was considered by most people to be an out-and-out mediocre talent, which is somewhat excessive.It's just that there is a considerable gap compared with Shi Lifen's courage.Shlieffen's style is bold, no matter how bold, Xiao Moqi believes in not being too bold. His character is not suitable for implementing the "Shlieffen Plan", nor is he suitable for being the chief of staff. He is self-aware of this.When the Kaiser offered him the post of chief of staff, he said: "I don't know what to do if there is a war. I'm very dissatisfied with myself." He asked the Kaiser whether he expected "to win twice in a lottery Jackpot".However, little Mao Qi is not a coward in terms of personality or politics, and his judgment on many aspects of the military situation is relatively accurate. His misfortune is that he, who has always been cautious, reluctantly carried out the adventurous plan made by a bold man. .If Little Moltke is in charge of the defense of East Prussia or the defense of the left wing on the Western Front, he will do a very good job based on his quality. After Little Mao Qi presided over the General Staff Headquarters, he began to worry about the safety of East Prussia and the safety of the left wing on the Western Front. Those two aspects are exactly the boldness of Schlieffen. If the war is won as planned, those two aspects will become Schlieffen's greatness. place, as well as a symbol of boldness and generosity.But now Little Maoqi's personality traits made him more and more worried that in these two directions, whether the thin line of defense would be poked into big holes by the opponent, or even torn to pieces in a short period of time.He didn't have the courage to completely abandon the "great" plan of his predecessor and start a new one. He could only do some tinkering.By the time the Great War broke out, the "great" "Slieffen Project" had been torn to pieces by Little Maoqi, and it was neither a donkey nor a horse.Therefore, strictly speaking, the German combat plan in 1914 should be called the "Slieffen-Little Moltke Plan", and its specific deployment is as follows: In the direction of East Prussia facing Russia, the German 8th Army was deployed, with a total of 4 armies, 1 reserve division, 1 cavalry division and some local guards, about 200,000 people.It was basically in accordance with Schlieffen's original idea, but some troops were still added.In terms of the distribution of troops on the left and right wings of the Western Front, Xiao Maoqi made a major adjustment in spite of his predecessor's deathbed instructions, changing the ratio of 1:7 to 1:3 in Schlieffen.If the 78th Division on the Western Front is based on Schlieffen's ratio, the left wing strength should be 9.75 divisions, and the right wing strength should be 68.25 divisions. Now Xiao Maoqi has strengthened the left wing to 23 divisions and reduced the right wing to 55 divisions.The original plan to draw reinforcements from the left flank with a total of 6 divisions of the 2nd Army when the right flank began to march was also cancelled.In this way, Little Maoqi reduced nearly 20 divisions from the 74.25 divisions that Schlieffen intended in the decisive direction of attack. In Schlieffen's original plan, not only would he enter Belgium, but the right-wing forces would also deploy along the Dutch border, cross a piece of Dutch territory called the "Maastricht Cecum", and detour behind the Belgian fortress of Liege. In order to directly attack the Liege Fortress.He even planned to count the 200,000 Italian troops on the Western Front, and Schlieffen never had illusions about the Italians. The German army invested 7 group armies in the frontal deployment of the entire western front, which are as follows from north to south: 1. Kruger's 1st Army, a total of 7 armies, 3 cavalry divisions, and 3 reserve brigades, with a total of 320,000 people.It constitutes the rightmost end of the rotating force. While attacking and advancing towards the rear of the French army, it covers the entire roundabout operation on the outermost side.It should reach the line of Aix-La Cappelle, then capture Brussels and continue south, encircle Paris from the southwest and attack the French rear. 2. Biluo's 2nd Army has a total of 6 armies, 2 cavalry divisions, and 2 reserve brigades, with a total of 260,000 people.Its task is to capture the fortress of Liege within the specified time, open the advance channel for the entire roundabout operation, and then enter the line of Huafeili and Namur, and rotate inward with the 1st Army on the right to press the French army into the encirclement . ⒊Hossen's 3rd Army, a total of 4 armies, 1 reserve brigade, a total of 180,000 people.It marched hand in hand with the 2nd Army on the right, reaching the line of Namur and Giffert to oppress the French army. 4. Albrecht's 4th Army, a total of 5 armies, 1 reserve brigade, a total of 180,000 people.It acted as a pivot on the right flank, advancing slowly through the northern Ardennes to the line of Aitirt north of Flame and Erlen when the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Armies rolled out their massive encirclement. 5. The 5th Army of the German Crown Prince Prince, a total of 5 armies and 1 division, 2 cavalry divisions, and 5 reserve brigades, with a total of 200,000 people.The nature of its task is the same as that of the 4th Army. The right wing attacks the two French fortresses of Verton, Longwy, and Montmedy through the mountains in the southern Ardennes.The left wing remained on Thionville's axis of rotation. 6. The 6th Army of Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria, with a total of 5 armies, 3 cavalry divisions, and 4 supplementary divisions, with a total of 220,000 people.Advance to the Mosley River to pin down the frontal French army. ⒎ The 7th Army in Hellingen has 3 armies, 1 division, 2 supplementary divisions, and 4 reserve brigades.The total number is 125,000.Should go onto the Morse River. From Moltke's deployment, it can be seen that this is a two-wing attack plan. According to Schlieffen's intention, the 6th and 7th armies on the left should fight and retreat at the beginning of the battle, luring the French army to advance eastward and making it easier for the right wing to attack. Spinning and slamming the back of the French army, but now the left wing is pushing west instead. Fuller commented sharply: "It's neither like a 'Canney type' nor a 'Rutten type', whatever you call it. All kinds of things are enough to make Hannibal or Frederick the Great beat their chests and feet under the nine fountains!" As early as when Gray first took over as Foreign Secretary, Britain had already worked out joint combat plans with the French without commitment.Responsible for the military policy of the British Empire were Lord Iser, Sir Fowhill and Sir Clark, the so-called "Iser Big Three".At first, the British considered fighting independently in Belgium and did not intend to place the troops sent by the British to the mainland under the command of the French army.Iser advocated that the British Expeditionary Force should defend coastal areas such as Antwerp, which had direct interests with the United Kingdom.Forsier believed that the French army was no match for the German army at all. Once the battle was fought, it would undoubtedly lose, and it was meaningless to transport the British army to the mainland to share the defeat.He decided that the Army's war plans in France were suicidal follies.He advocated assigning the army to the navy to attack the back of Germany. He chose to land on a 10-mile-long beach on the Baltic coast of East Prussia, 90 miles from Berlin, which is the shortest distance from the sea to the German capital. The "back of the head" made the German army have no time to care about him.As the crisis of 1905 passed, joint Anglo-French military planning came to a virtual standstill. However, Wilson, who was later responsible for formulating a secret joint plan with the French military, always advocated sending an expeditionary force to the mainland. In March 1911, after several years of hard work, Wilson, who had already served as the chief of the operations department of the British General Staff Headquarters, finally made all the arrangements for the expeditionary force to go to the mainland to fight.And signed a memorandum of joint military operations with the French military, which is the famous "Dubai-Wilson Agreement".The agreement stipulates that the 6 British infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division will land in France from the 4th day to the 12th day after mobilization and concentrate at the designated place Mauberge, and they can go into battle on the 13th day. On July 23, 1914, British Prime Minister Asquith secretly convened a special meeting of the Imperial Defense Committee, and held a whole day of discussions on the specific methods of participating in the war.Wilson explained the Army's point of view. He correctly judged that the German army would take a right-wing detour, but under the influence of the French, his estimation of the German army's strength west of the Meuse River was far from enough. His final conclusion was that if war broke out, Send the 6 British divisions to the mainland immediately, and the position is at the far left of the French army, which is beneficial to blocking the German army.But the navy is still playing the old tune of landing in East Prussia.Prime Minister Asquith felt that the army's plan was more reasonable, so he decided to adopt it. The choice of land warfare had a decisive effect on the British strategy.At the meeting, the Ministry of the Navy was reorganized, and Churchill was transferred to the Minister of the Navy. August 5, 1914 was the first day Britain entered the war. The National Defense Committee held a war conference. The new Minister of War, General Kitzinger, issued an important suggestion: he believed that in the duel of nearly 150 divisions between France and Germany, the British The six divisions in the United States were simply useless, and Britain had to be prepared to send millions of troops into battle and sustain them for years.He pointed out that the existing British professional officers and non-commissioned officers are very valuable. It would be a criminal folly to sacrifice them all on the battlefield in the current unfavorable environment.On the assembly point of the British troops going to France, he believed that it should not be placed as far away as Maubeuge, because the German army would rush there with all its strength, so the British army should be assembled in Amiens, 70 miles behind Maubeuge.His first suggestion obviously had a strong impact on the country that has always attached great importance to the navy. After several debates, the meeting decided that all the six existing divisions would be transported to France, and the French and British staff headquarters secretly negotiated on the assembly point.However, within 24 hours, news of the meeting was leaked and caused an uproar in public opinion. The public believed that sending the regular army to France would put the British mainland in danger. The British government had to keep 2 divisions in consideration of public opinion. On August 7, the British Expeditionary Force, commanded by French, began to board the ship. All the ships in the port blew their whistles, and the soldiers on the deck cheered like thunder. The scene of the expedition was very spectacular. On August 12, the far-sighted Kitciner once again had a fierce debate on strategic issues with three colleagues and three French officers.He asserted that the German army would march southwest from the south of the Moose River with a strong force. If the British army concentrated in Mauberge, it would be the first to bear the brunt. This would be forced to retreat before the battle preparation was completed, which would be a great blow to the morale of the expeditionary force. He insisted that the British army be assembled in Amiens.His proposal was rejected by French, Wilson, and the French. In mid-August, British troops disembarked at the three ports of Le Havre, Rouen, and Boulogne.On behalf of the government, the Secretary of War, Kitzinger, issued an order to French, Commander of the Expeditionary Force: "You must fully understand that your army is a completely independent army, and under no circumstances shall you accept orders from any general of the Allied Powers. "In this way, the British canceled the principle of unified command, with the purpose of preserving the essence of the existing troops as the core of future military expansion. On August 20, about 87,000 British troops arrived at the scheduled Mauberge and Le Cato areas for pre-war deployment.The operation of the British Expeditionary Force was three or four days behind schedule. After the Franco-Prussian War, France gradually formed an "aggressive" military ideology, and they abandoned all views on defense.The representative of this military school is Foch, the president of the French War College.He believes that the will to defeat the enemy is the first condition for victory. Only when a person thinks that he has lost the battle is he truly defeated, because materially speaking, the battle cannot be lost.On the contrary, the battle is won only when one does not admit that he is defeated.The "will" emphasized by Foch is as mysterious as witchcraft. In the two books "Principles of War" and "Operational Instructions", Foch often makes a sharp turn from the volley of metaphysics to the tactical On the ground, he talked about some specific military issues, but his influence on the younger generation of French officers lies in his mysterious elaboration of "will".Colonel Deran Maison, the military leader of the Young Faction and chief of the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters, was crazy about Foch's overly extreme theories. His two speeches at the War College in 1911 made it clear that will determines everything and the prevalence of offensiveism in France. It played a role in fueling the flames. There is only one person who is singing the opposite tune, and he is the vice-chairman of the French War Council, General Mitchell, who is scheduled to be the commander-in-chief of the French army in time of war. At the Supreme Military Council in 1911, he made a last effort to demand that France adopt a defensive line strategy.He judged that the Germans could not hope to win a decisive battle in Lorraine, and the attack from Luxembourg and the corner of Belgium east of the Meuse River would not provide space for the Germans who were keen on a strategic encirclement.Therefore, Mitchell believes that only by using the entire Belgian territory can Germany launch a decisive offensive against France.He advocated that France should deploy 1 million troops along the line of Verdun-Namur-Antwerp. Like Schlieffen, the tip of the French army's left wing should pass through the strait.Mitchell also suggested a mix of one reserve regiment with one active-duty regiment to double the front-line strength. In hindsight, Mitchell's analysis and judgment of the Germans' intentions was very profound and accurate. He asked for the key fortification line, which was the main breakthrough area of ​​the Germans.However, his plan is defensive in nature, and except for the young French reservists who are incorporated into the active forces, the rest are all incorporated into the reserve forces, serving as rear services and guarding fortresses. This is the traditional practice of the French army, "reserves are not useful." This is the traditional view of the French officer corps. After Mitchell's plan was put forward, his immediate boss, Secretary of the Army Messimi, thought that he had a neurological problem. As early as the second Moroccan crisis, he thought that Mitchell was a hesitant person. It is the misfortune of the country to be commander-in-chief at that time.This time, Messimi, together with the four veteran generals Gallieni, Joffre, Bo and Dubay, unanimously rejected Mitchell's correct defense plan at the Supreme War Conference and dismissed him from his post.考虑后，在加利埃尼的推荐下，霞飞接替了米切尔的职位。 霞飞将军是一位工兵专家，身躯魁梧，大腹便便，面目慈祥像个圣诞老人，他具有无比坚定的自信心。他的副官亚历山大少校曾经问他战争是否指日可待。“我认为这不成问题，”霞飞回答说，“我一向是这么看的，战争是要来的。我要指挥作战，我要取得胜利。不论干什么我都会成功的，就像我在苏丹那样，这一次也如此。”副官肃然起敬道：“要是那样，你就会有一支元帅杖了。”霞飞语气坚定地说：“对！” 霞飞接任后便全力以赴修订《野战条令》，1913年修改过的新《野战条令》是“攻击主义”的集大成之作，它一开始就刀光剑影，豪气非凡，“法国陆军，现已恢复，自今而后，除进攻外，不知其他律令。”在这种狂热的进攻精神指导下，霞飞抛弃了原来对德作战的第16号计划，在1913年4月制订出一个新的第17号计划，1913年5月，未经任何讨论即由最高战争会议通过。以后8个月中，法军就按照第17号计划进行部署，到了1914年2月，法国对战争大致准备就绪。 法军计划和部署要点是从阿尔萨斯的贝尔福到伊尔松略呈弧形的一线上展开五个军团，这条战线包括整个法德边境和法比边界线的三分之一，而法比边界另三分之二的距离，也就是伊尔松到海岸之间几乎处于完全无防御状态。这一地区正是米切尔计划的重点防御线，也是史里芬计划中战略迂回的重点进攻地段。法国参谋本部的意图是：取道梅茵兹直取柏林，即准备在南锡东北130英里的梅茵兹渡过莱茵河，其中2个集团军从麦茨以南攻入洛林；另2个集团军从麦茨以北迎击通过卢森堡前进的德军，第5集团军为总预备队。法军的作战计划严格地说不是一个作战计划，而是一个集中计划，它给予每个军团几条可能的进攻路线，但无任何全局性或阶段性目标，也没有详细的行动进程表。霞飞的作战指导思想是：“从来不曾有一个书面拟定的作战计划，我除了决定集中所有一切兵力以发动攻势以外，就更无其他的预定观念。所以我决定把我们的研究，限制在集中方面，使其可以适应于任何作战计划。”事实上，法军是用进攻来对德军的攻势作出反应，所以事先也无法确定具体目标和制订行动时间表。它的特点是无论在战略方面还是在战术方面都采取进攻的作战样式。所以霞飞说：“意图是不变的，攻击！但其一切安排可以有充分的弹性。” 霞飞的第17号计划以两个假定为前提，一是德国不会把预备役用于第一线；二是坚信法军的进攻是无法阻挡的。根据第一假设，估计德国只能动员100万人的兵力，这就不可能做到既可以从比利时发动大规模迂回进攻，同时又有足够的兵力在法德边界挡住法军的攻势。所以，法国人并非不考虑德国从比利时迂回过来的可能，而是认为如果德国这样做的话，他们在法德边界上的兵力一定非常薄弱，这对法军在这一方向上的进攻却十分有利。法军副参谋总长德卡斯特尔诺认为：要发动一场强有力的攻势，标准的兵员密度是每米5～6人，如果德国人把战线向西拉到里尔，力量就会分散到每米2～3人，只会对法军有利，“我们要把他们拦腰截断”。所以法国这方面的对策是：只要德国人远道迂回包抄法军侧翼，法军就发动钳形攻势，在德军设防的梅斯地区的两侧突破德军中路和左翼，并乘胜切断德军右翼同后方基地的联系使其无法出击。如果说德国小毛奇的作战计划过于小心，那么法国人的想法实在过于大胆。 法国参谋本部一旦认定上述的判断和设想后，便固执地排斥所有不同的建议和一切相反内容的情报。格鲁阿尔上校对防御战略作过具有远见的分析，他在1913年出版的《可能的战争》中警告说：“我们首先要集中注意的是德国发动借道比利时的攻势。我方的战役发动之后，必然的后果将会如何？就我们的预见所见而言，可以毫不迟疑地说，如果我们在开始时即取攻势则我们必败无疑。”但是如果法国做好准备，对德军右翼迅予回击，“我方当可稳操胜券”。法国参谋本部第二处（军事情报处）也搜集到许多情报，足以表明德军将用强大兵力实行右翼包围。但霞飞等军事决策者一概未予置信，他们相信的是如此用兵的论据，并不相信如此用兵的证据！ 早在1904年，一个德国参谋本部的军官曾将史里芬计划的初期样本出卖给法国情报部门，文件上标明的德军进军路线正是1914年的作战路线，文件完全真实可靠。当时的法军参谋总长庞德扎克认为：这份计划同当前德国主张大规模包围战的战略趋势十分吻合。但大多数人却认为这是德国人玩的疑兵之计，是为了把法军从他们真正要进攻的地区引开。 法军参谋本部第二处还搜集到大量的情报，充分证实了德国将使用后备役兵员充当作战部队。小毛奇为1913年的德军大演习写的一篇述评落到法国人手中，它也表明德国将在第一线部队里使用后备役人员。同时，比利时驻柏林武官梅洛特少校注意到德国已经异乎寻常地征召大量的后备役兵员，他为此写了报告。但17号计划制订者对此一概置之不理，他们一厢情愿地认为：德国动用后备役是为了守卫交通线和战场中处于守势的几个地方。 于是，在战争爆发时，法国根据第17号计划作了如下兵力配置： ⒈迪巴伊的第1集团军集中在卡尔米斯－阿尔齐斯－达尔里地区，共5个军又4个师，2个骑兵师，总数为25.6万人。 ⒉德卡斯特尔诺的第2集团军，集中在潘特圣芬森特－米里考特地区，共5个军又3个师，2个骑兵师，总数为20万人。 ⒊鲁夫的第3集团军，集中在圣米赫尔－丹费勒尔斯地区，共3个军又3个师，1个骑兵师，总数为16.8万人。 ⒋德朗格尔·德卡里的第4集团军，集中在华芬考特－巴尔里杜克－伐德地区，共3个军，1个骑兵师，总数为19.3万人。 ⒌朗雷扎克的第5集团军，集中在格南德普里－苏皮斯－考蒙特－波尔森地区，共5个军又5个师，1个骑兵师，总数为25.4万人。 ⒍索尔德的骑兵师，集中于米齐里斯，共3个师，约1.6万人。 ⒎右翼侧卫：集中在维祖尔，共3个预备队师。 ⒏左翼侧卫：集中在伊尔松，共3个预备队师。 此外，在贝尔福的3个步兵师、法、意边界上的4个预备队师也直属总司令，直属陆军部长的有巴黎的2个预备队师，以及马伊的1个预备队师，还有4个预备队师组成要塞总预备队。又根据英、法两国参谋本部的联合军事计划，英国远征军将部署在朗雷扎克将军的第5集团军的左翼莫伯日地区。 俄国在欧洲人眼里向来被视作庞然大物，平时常备军有142万人，一经动员可达到311万人，此外还有一支200万人的地方部队和可以征召的后备力量。整个国家可使用的兵员总数达650万人。然而，沙皇的专制政体在制度上不利于最优秀的军人被推上最高层。“这是一个愚不可及的政体”，“它是集怯懦、盲目、狡诈、愚蠢于一体的大杂烩。”它的一位首相维特伯爵曾如此评论过。俄国军队便是这一霉烂母体的产儿。除了数量的优势足以吓坏胆小者外，就其素质而言，几乎没什么可以称道的地方，真可谓金玉其表，败絮其内。军官团里超龄老将多如过江之鲫，这支军队一败于克里米亚，再败于日本之手，声名狼藉。因不称职而被清除的军官达340多人，到1913年，军官缺额达3000名之多。陆军大臣苏克霍姆利诺夫将军是个游手好闲、寻欢作乐、贪污枉法、勾引女性之辈，他压制军队中的改革派，对“射击的组织与实施”之类的代表军事发展新趋势的观念深恶痛绝，他一口咬定俄国过去的失败，只是由于司令官的错误，而不是由于训练、准备和供应方面的不足。他顽固地坚信刺刀胜过子弹，所以根本不肯花力气去兴建工厂，增产步枪、子弹和炮弹。以至于俄国在开战时，他连政府专供生产军火的拨款也没用完，每门大炮只摊到850发炮弹（而西方国家则每门大炮有2000～3000发炮弹），成千上万的补充兵员赤手空拳地待在前线战壕里，等着同胞战死后留下的武器。1914年之前，俄国的备战工作就是在这么一个昏庸无耻的角色主持下进行的。在军事观念上，法国人狂热鼓吹的“攻击主义”正中俄国佬的下怀，因为后者一向具有哥萨克冲锋和刺刀见红的传统。 俄军的集中和展开是按照第19号计划“A”方案进行的，面对德、奥两个方向，俄国编成西北、西南2个方面军，它在德国战线上投入吉林斯基的西北方面军，其战斗序列为： ⒈莱宁坎普的第1集团军，共3个军，1个步兵旅，1个骑兵旅，5个骑兵师，402门火炮。沿涅曼河在科夫诺、奥利塔、麦利奇一线展开，右翼由1个骑兵军给予掩护，左翼由1个骑兵师和1个步兵旅掩护。 ⒉萨姆索夫的第2集团军，共6个军，3个骑兵师，702门火炮，在格罗德诺、奥索维茨、沃斯特罗温卡一线展开。 俄国西北方面军这2个集团军总兵力为25万人，计划是分北、南两路向东普鲁士发动钳形攻势。在奥匈战线上，俄国投入了实力雄厚的伊凡诺夫的西南方面军。在400公里长的弧形战线上，由北向南的战斗序列为： ⒈扎利茨（后为埃维特将军）的第4集团军共3个军，3个半骑兵师，402门火炮。 ⒉普列韦的第5集团军，共4个军，3个骑兵师，516门火炮。 ⒊鲁兹斯基的第3集团军，共4个军，3个骑兵师，685门火炮。 ⒋勃鲁西洛夫的第8集团军，共3个军，3个骑兵师，472门火炮。 在东线战役展开前，俄国西南方面军兵力为60多万人，有些师、团尚在开往集结地途中，故而这个方面军的总数未超过计划的75％。俄国这两个方面军之间约有200公里的空隙，后来组建了第9集团军以作充实。西南方面军的总目标是在德涅斯特河东岸围歼奥匈部队主力，阻止奥军撤向德涅斯特河西岸。 在巴尔干方面，奥匈帝国参谋总长康拉德将军手里可供使用的兵力共8个集团军，他准备用第5集团军和第6集团军进攻塞尔维亚，占领其首都贝尔格莱德。把第1、第2、第3、第4共4个集团军部署在加里西亚方面以对抗俄国的西南方面军，并准备在东普鲁士德军的协助下，攻占华沙。 塞尔维亚共展开4个集团军，其野战部队约24余万人，再加上14万人的地方部队，共动员兵力达38万人，有火炮610门。摄政王亚历山大亲王担任武装力量总指挥，战场实际指挥为参谋总长普特尼克将军。塞军以一部兵力部署在西部和北部与奥匈接壤的边界，将主力集中部署在瓦列沃以东多山地区之预设阵地，以防御姿态迎击来犯的奥匈军队。门第内格罗集团军6个师约5万人，除在几个边境要地留下部分兵力外，其余主力部署在国内难以通行的卡尔斯山地高原，以策应塞尔维亚的作战。