Winston's visit to France was purely routine, if Austria-Hungary had sued for peace a month ago, then Winston and Pon-Engale would have greeted each other, and now they can only hehe, seeing that the Central Powers are gone, it is impossible for Austria-Hungary to withdraw from the war, unless Austria-Hungary is willing to give up all rights and let the Entente dominate.

At the same time that the Anglo-French forces were encircling the German mobile forces on the Marne, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force under the command of Ian Hamilton was also attacking the German-Austrian forces on the Piave River.

Previously, Ludendorff had transferred Otto von Billot back to the Western Front for the sake of the Michael plan, and the German-Austrian army had lost its most intelligent commander, and now the commander of the 400,000 Austro-Hungarian troops on the Piave River is still the authoritarian Conrad, who has proven not to be a good commander before, and now he has almost made the mistakes he once made.

The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force launched an offensive against the German-Austrian forces on April 9, the day when the Anglo-French counteroffensive began.

At the Piave River, the counteroffensive was carried out with the northern Rhodesian division and the newly transferred 1st Cavalry Division as the core, these two units are the ace troops of southern Africa, the troops were established the earliest, the soldiers were well trained, equipped with the most advanced weapons, and the logistics were abundant, and in the face of the German-Austrian coalition army, the advantages of the two ace divisions were unshakable.

On the morning of 9 April, four divisions of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force crossed the Piave River and attacked the Austro-Hungarian positions on the other side of the river.

The front was 70 kilometers long, and the troops of the Kingdom of Italy fighting with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force also performed well, and when fighting alone against the German-Austrian forces, the troops of the Kingdom of Italy under the command of Cannadoghi were like a disaster, and when they cooperated with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the troops of the Kingdom of Italy immediately showed their due level.

This is also thanks to the fall of Cannadoggie, after the 12th Battle of the Isonzo River, the King of Italy finally could not stand the poor performance of Cannadoghi, the Italian government fell, Cannadoggi was dismissed, and the performance of the troops of the Kingdom of Italy was immediately renewed.

Compared to the imposing Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the forces of Austria-Hungary were in unprecedented difficulty.

The main problem was the logistical supply, Austria-Hungary still had troops, but the logistical supply was extremely difficult, the front-line troops did not have enough food, not enough ammunition, and even insufficient clothing to protect them from the cold.

Karl I knew the difficulties facing Austria-Hungary, but could not do anything about it, he wanted to defeat the Entente, but the Central Powers were clearly unable to do so; He also wanted to withdraw from the war, but could not find a suitable way.

In this contact between Austria-Hungary and the Entente, the Entente explicitly demanded the abdication of Karl I and Kaiser Wilhelm II as a precondition for negotiations.

This request was unacceptable to Karl I, and even if Karl I wanted to, Wilhelm II would not accept it.

As with the Anglo-French counterattack, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force moved quickly, advancing 25 kilometers on the first day of the offensive, and the participating troops generally felt that the battle was easier than the march, and on this day Austria-Hungary lost 195,000 men, of whom only 17,000 were killed, and nearly 100,000 surrendered without the slightest resistance.

Three days later, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force advanced the front to the Isonzo River, and the German-Austrian army was defeated faster than they had advanced in the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo River, and too many prisoners slowed down the speed of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and the attacking force had to focus a lot of energy on the reception of prisoners of war and deserters, until the third day Ian Hamilton noticed this problem, and then the reception of prisoners of war was taken over by the second-line troops, and the advance of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force accelerated again.

By April 15, the Northern Rhodesian Division had successfully advanced the front to the Alpine Pass.

When Karl I sent people to sue for peace, I am afraid that in just one week, not only the Western Front would have undergone earth-shaking changes, but also the Italian front would have completely collapsed, otherwise Karl I's conditions would have been more humble.

Winston came to Aaron with a secret mission, now that the fall of Germany is imminent, the British government has begun to think about the post-war European order, the Russian Empire has fallen, Austria-Hungary will definitely take over after the war, divided into a number of small countries, there will be no new threats, if Germany also falls, then France will be the only one on the European continent, which is not in the interests of Britain.

What's more, there is an unspeakable reason, Wilhelm II and George V are relatives after all, so George V does not want Wilhelm II to end up with the same fate as Nicholas II.

Abdication is probably the bottom line of George V, George V will never allow the extermination of Wilhelm II's family, which means that the world war is not over yet, otherwise I am afraid that Britain has begun to retaliate against the new Russian government.

Of course, if Britain wants to retaliate against the new Russian government, it will certainly not be in the name of revenge for the Nicholas II family, nor will it be because the new Russian government does not recognize the debts left by the Russian Empire, then it needs to find a more suitable reason that can be accepted by everyone.

After learning about Winston's intentions, Roque was in a broken mood.

The Germans have not yet conceded defeat, there are still hundreds of thousands of German troops in the encirclement who are stubbornly resisting, there are still more than 3 million troops under Ludendorff, and the Germans' will to fight has not completely disappeared, but the French government has begun to plan to dismember Germany, and the British government has begun to consider the balance of the European continent.

"It's not early, it's not early at all, it's too late to talk about it when the dust settles, you don't have a say in this matter, especially now I can see through it, we people are all working for you, the world war has drained Europe and left a lot of debt, but you Southern Africa has expanded its territory and made a lot of money from business, you guy is the biggest moth in the empire-" Winston's nose is not a nose and eyebrows are not eyebrows, and now he finally realized that something was wrong.

"Less, Southern Africa lost a million people in the world war, and you know what would have happened without the Southern African Expeditionary Force." Roque is now qualified to be qualified, the Southern African Expeditionary Force has participated in almost all the battles that have taken place on the Western Front and the Mediterranean since the outbreak of the World War, and one million sacrifices is a real number, and no one can extinguish the contribution of Southern Africa to the Entente.

Winston snorted and didn't speak, he also knew that Southern Africa contributed a lot, but Southern Africa gained even more, not to mention how much money was made by trading Southern Africa, the territories that Winston promised to Southern Africa include: 820,000 square kilometers of Southwest Africa, 1 million square kilometers of Tanganyika, and nearly 900,000 square kilometers of the two river basins-

Not to mention the Sultanate of Najd, the Kingdom of the Congo, the Congo Free State, and the East Indies Federation, which had become de facto vassals of southern Africa.

Before the World War, these regions were not recognized by the international community, and even Southern Africa did not recognize the existence of these countries, because Southern Africa had no diplomatic autonomy, and it could only be recognized by the British government.

After the world war, these regions will also participate in the distribution of spoils, and it is foreseeable that these regions will certainly not make too many demands at that time, and at least the right of independence and autonomy will be given.

Going back to the figure of 1 million in southern Africa, Winston doesn't know how many whites and Chinese there are in this 1 million, but one thing is for sure, the vast majority are definitely Africans.

This raises a very frustrating question, Southern Africa does not recognize the status of Africans in its territory, but after the outbreak of the world war, the federal government of Southern Africa has recruited a large number of Africans to join the army and fight in Europe, how should this account be calculated?

Winston himself didn't know.

"Do your job, your job is to destroy the Germans in the encirclement, and if you can, force the Germans in the encirclement to surrender as much as you can—" Winston did not want Germany to suffer too serious losses, otherwise it would be a matter of counterbalancing the French.

"I'm sorry Winston, I can't do that, if you want to convince the Germans in the encirclement to surrender then you go, I won't go." Roque was taken aback, to be able to make such a request, Winston's brain hole was bigger than Roque's.

"Didn't let you go, I mean as much as possible—" Winston finally wasn't mad.

While Roque and Winston were having a bad idea, the Anglo-French forces had begun to attack the Germans in the encirclement.

After the encirclement was formed, Otto von Billow and Hurtier had realized that the situation was not good, and the German forces in the encirclement began to move closer to Reims, trying to jump out before the encirclement was formed.

Otto von Billow and Huttier did not expect the speed of the Anglo-French army to be so fast, and the German army on the Marne River had not yet gotten rid of the entanglement of the Anglo-French army, and the encirclement had already been formed.

Otto von Billow and Huttier, who were already in a desperate situation, were unwilling to accept defeat, and it was impossible to continue the attack on Paris, the German army did not carry much supplies when attacking, and after the interruption of logistics supply, even if the British and French forces did not attack, the German troops in the encirclement could not hold out for too long.

Up to a week.

In this situation, Otto von Billow and Hurtier commanded the German army to launch wave after wave of frenzied attacks on Reims.

Break through Reims, and the 350,000 German troops in the encirclement will be able to escape.

Otherwise, you will be able to wait for death.

At this time, Reims was in the middle of a two-sided attack by the Germans, and the defenders of Reims had only four divisions, adding up to less than 70,000 men.

Roque and Pétain also realized the importance of Reims, and while increasing the number of troops to Reims, they helped the Reims defenders as much as possible.

The air force played a key role at this time, the British Expeditionary Force had the largest airfield in France in Asia, and Roque mobilized all 1,200 aircraft of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and at all costs to ensure that Reims was controlled by the British and French forces.

(End of chapter)