"Officer, is there something I can help you with?" A soldier responsible for guarding the entrance of the troop department stopped Mu Yang and asked.

  "I am Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Williams, commander of the 2nd Battalion's 1st Company. I need to see Colonel August Wood." Mu Yang said, handing over his ID to the soldier.

  "Wait a moment, I'll go and report." The soldier went in to report.

  Mu Yang walked into this temporary command center converted from a civilian house, Colonel Wood was sitting behind a narrow office desk writing something.

  "Sir, reporting for duty, Joseph Williams."

  Austin Wood raised his head, a smile on his face, and said to Mu Yang: "Williams, congratulations on your recovery. You're really a lucky guy. How about it? Can you go back to the battlefield now?"

  "Yes, Captain, we can continue to fight it out with the Germans." Mu Yang sat in the chair in front of the desk.

  He pulled out a can of red tea and a box of cigars from his cowhide backpack and placed them on Colonel Wood's desk: "Someone brought back cigars and red tea from Paris, hope you like it."

  Colonel Wood picked up the tea canister with great interest and examined it: "This is Chinese tea, isn't it? It's exquisite, I think it must be very good to drink. Why don't we have a cup now?" Colonel Wood said, and directly called out to the soldiers outside to make tea for the two of them.

  Colonel Wood took out another cigar from the box sent by Mu Yang, lit it for himself and said, "The flavor is really good, much better than those issued in the army."

  "Squad leader, I heard our squad has been transferred to second-line defense?" Mu Yang asked.

  "Yes, our regiment suffered heavy losses in the last battle. Six officers from your second battalion were killed and more than 300 soldiers were killed or wounded. The second battalion was reduced by nearly half, and the situation of the first battalion is not much better. So we retreated and are now responsible for defending the second line of defense on the Aisne River."

  "My consecutive injuries were so severe that I fainted at that time."

  "82 casualties, some new recruits have been added, but still not enough. The losses are too great, every unit is short-handed, and for now that's all we can do. Joseph, when you get back, make sure to train those new recruits well, don't let them die too quickly, they're still very young." Colonel Wood said helplessly.

  A company of 152 people, with 82 dead, even if some new recruits were added to make up for the losses, their combat effectiveness would still be greatly reduced. As for his own system task, Mu Yang really didn't have confidence in completing it. The next Second Battle of the Marne was going to involve tens of millions of troops on both sides, with casualties exceeding 100,000 on each side. His company's soldiers were just a drop in the ocean compared to such massive numbers.

  "Joseph, a big battle is coming soon. Both Germany and our allied forces are gathering strength in the outskirts of Paris. There will definitely be a major campaign. Take care of your soldiers, I know you're the best company commander, don't let me down." Colonel Wood said.

  "I will, I won't let West Yorkshire down," said Mu Yang.

  "Aye, we are the brave Yorkshire Regiment, we are His Majesty's most loyal and courageous soldiers, the glory of Empire is with us." Colonel Wood said loudly with a proud face.

  "Squad leader, I heard the Americans have arrived, who are they defending?" Mu Yang asked curiously.

  "Yes, the Americans have arrived, those country bumpkins, speaking with a coarse and vulgar accent. They are in charge of defending the Marne river defensive positions facing Reims. We British defend the Aisne river defensive positions, while the French defend Soissons and the Paris suburbs."

  Colonel Wood took out a rough map and pointed to it for Mu Yang. Of course, with Mu Yang's current identity, understanding these big patterns didn't have much use, he was just a regimental commander, could only listen to the orders from above, defend his own position well, as for studying strategic command of troops, that wasn't his place yet, even if he knew history well, here, he had no right to speak.

  Even if he took the historical two armies' confrontation and ran to the face of Ferdinand Foch, the French marshal and commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, it would be useless. Because war is ever-changing, the commanders on both sides will make changes according to the situation, history has its continuity, but it's not immutable, one has no role in such a big battle, can only do his own part well, try to complete his task.

  Inside the German General Staff

  Erich von Ludendorff is studying the strategic map of this attack on Paris with several German generals, and in addition to Ludendorff, there are Fritz von Below and Dietrich von Boehm, as well as several senior staff officers.

  Inside the house, everyone was quietly discussing strategy and troop deployment. Rudenkov looked at the map on the wall with a frown, then turned around after a while and said to General Pom, "Pom, the Americans have finally arrived, they have increased their troops by 750,000, our previous plan seems to have failed, what do you plan to do for the new attack?"

  According to the German idea, the war in other places was not ideal for Germany. Ludendorff envisioned that before the Americans landed and reinforced, they would take Paris by storm and make the French completely lose their ability to resist. However, things did not go as planned, and the June offensive plan was blocked by the Franco-British Allied Forces on the north bank of the Marne River.

  Rudolf knew that this time, it was likely to be Germany's last blow. If successful, Germany would still have the possibility of continuing to fight on; if defeated, Germany might collapse instantly, because at present the situation in Germany is not good, and its finances, people's livelihoods, and politics are all in a very dangerous state. Now Germany needs a victory, and it can only be a victory.

  Bomme slowly took the pipe out of his mouth and said, "We've long known that the Americans would come, it's just a matter of time. Now, the General Staff has formulated a new attack plan. The Marne River and Aisne River are the first line of defense for the British and French troops. This fan-shaped defensive area is 80 kilometers long. They can't hold all positions. As long as we open up one gap, we can directly enter Reims."

  "Of course they have a second line of defense, that's what we're focusing on, where we'll probably encounter the most stubborn resistance, after all, behind the second line is Paris."

  "Our 1st, 3rd and 7th armies, a total of 48 divisions, 6,353 guns and about 400 aircraft, broke through the Allied lines in the Thierry Fort and Aisne River sectors, then launched an offensive towards Paris to win the war."

  "Our 2nd, 10th and 5th Armies and the Guards on the Marne front will launch an attack, which can tie down most of the Anglo-French forces' strength, and wait for opportunities to move. As long as we break through in two directions, we can form a pincer movement, and Paris can be taken within two days." said Pomme.

  Ludendorff glanced at General von Below beside him, and Below also nodded in agreement. After all, this was a plan they had jointly researched and developed, pooling the strength of the entire German General Staff. He too hoped that Ludendorff would agree with this attack plan.

  "Then let's proceed according to this plan." Rudolf made his final decision.

  Rudolf's decision concerns the fate of Germany, but at this moment, it is already on the verge of being launched and cannot be stopped. War always has a winner and a loser, and which side will ultimately emerge victorious depends on the specific battles.

  Rudolf has made up his mind, Germany's future is at stake in this one battle.