Confronting the Enemy -A French AAR-

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Confronting the Enemy
A French After Action Report

Reference Page​

Might be a boring read, but may be necesary to undestand stuff later on. It will be updated with what Chapters have been completed and will be updated with new information usually with each update. So keep checking!

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Chapters
7/16 : Chapter I First World War : Part I 1914-1916

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Reference Updates
7/15 : Military districts/fronts/1936 Land OOB

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Ahh, France. At this point in time it can boast large navy, an empire spanning the globe, and much technological sucess. However, the army is lacking modern equitment, military doctrines, and military commanders. The French government realized this quite early and began organizing the army into easier to manage corps, military districts, and military fronts. The corps system was proposed by Maurice Gamelin in '35 and thereforth became known as the Gamelin system. The Gamelin system stated that:

• Corps would consist of 3-4 divisions led by a Lieutenant General or General

• What corp a division is placed in is dictated by it's type (i.e: Infantry, Armor, etc)

• Corps would be named for their military front

Each corp exists in a front. There are 3 fronts in all of France and it's Empire. The France front, the Afrique front, and the Indochine front. Military districts were soon after devised to cut down to aide the organizational process even more. On the France fron there are 3 military districts; Amiens, Chaumont, and Lyon districts. On the Afrique front there are 3 districts as well; Tunis, Casablanca, Dakar. There is only 1 in Indochine; Saigon. The front/district system can be seen below.

France front

Black = Amiens district
Red = Chaumont district
Blue = Lyon district​

OOB

1ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divisions (General Colson : Reims)
2ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divisions (General Georges : Reims)
7ème Corps d' Grenadier : 4 Divisions (Field Marshal Hutzinger : Troyes)
6ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divisions (General Gamelin : Metz)
4ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divsions (Lt. General Dubuisson : Valenciennes)
3ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divisions (Lt. General Touchon : Valenciennes)
5ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divisions (Lt. General Corap : Mulhouse)
8ème Corps d' Grenadier : 3 Divisions (Lt. General de la Porte du Thiel : Nice)
Corps d' Manginot : 4 Divisions (Field Marshal Weygand : Strasbourg)
Corps d' Montagne : 3 Mountain Divisions (Lt. General le Gentilhomme : Grenoble)
Corps d' Cuirassee : 2 Armored Divisions (Lt. General Delestraint : Compiegne)
Corps d' Cavalerie : 3 Cavalry Divisions (Lt. General Ayme : Amiens)

Afrique Front

Black = Tunis district
Red = Casablanca district
Blue = Dakar district​

OOB

1ème Corps d' Afrique : 2 Divisions (Lt. General Giraud : Algiers)
3ème Corps d' Afrique : 4 Divisions (General Condè : Tunis)
2ème Corps d' Afrique : 1 Divisions (Lt. General Pagezy : Marakech)

Indochine front

Black = Saigon district​

OOB

1ème Corps d' Indochine : 2 Divisions (Lt. General Ardant du Picq : Saigon)

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[Amona]

Nice start, Sir.
I hope you last longer than twelve days against the barbars to the East.
Good luck with your AAR.

 

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Chapter I
The First World War​

Part I : 1914-1916​

In 1905 Alfred von Schlieffen, the Army Chief of Staff at that time, was given the task of devising a possible invasion plan for France. His strategy involved using 90% of Germany's armed forces in attacking France, the most formidable of her enemies at the time. Schlieffen, fearing French forts on the their border with Germany, suggested a sweeping attack through Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Helmuth von Motke replaced Schlieffen as Chief of Staff in 1906. He modified Schlieffen's plan by proposing that Holland not be invaded. The main route would now be through the plains of Flanders. Motke was sure that the small Belgian army would not be able to stop the Germans advance and then Schliffen's plan could continue as written.

June 28, 1914. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated by the extremist Gavrilo Princip. A month later an ultimatum was sent to the Serbian empire. Austria-Hungary repeatedly invades Serbia, but is repulsed ever time. August 1, the same year. Germany declares war on Russia and soon after, declares war on France. The Schlieffen plan was then put into action with the invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg. However, Germany was suprised at how formidable the Belgian army was and how quick the Russian advance into East Prussia was.

Schlieffen's Plan : Illustration from Neil Demarco's The Great War​

The Battle of Frontiers, the first real battle on the western front, started in the Alsace-Lorraine, held by the Germans since 1870. Not long later the French started an offensive in the Ardennes forest. The French suffered particularly from the German superiority both in doctrines and heavy weaponry. The Battle of Frontiers was lost and the French military realized they could not hold the Germans on the unfavorable terrain being fought on. On September 3, Joseph Joffre, the Commander-in-Chief of French forces, order his men to retreat to a line behind the Seine river south-east of Paris and approx 60km south of the Marne. This gave French forces time to reorganize. With the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force, led by Sir John French (how ironic), a counter-offensive commenced in the area of the Marne river. Alexander von Kluck, commander of the German 1st Army, turned his entire force to meet the French portion attack, neglecting the BEF which soon advanced into the whole created between the 1st and 2nd German Armies. German forces were unable to break the Allied lines. At one point the French 6th Army was close to defeat, but was saved by 6,000 French reserves that were rushed to the front with the help of Paris taxis. Helmuth von Moltke, the German Commander-in-Chief, ordered the retreat of the 1st and 2nd German Armies. The British were then able to cross the Marne. The Battle of the Marne, the first Allied victory, halted German advance and may well of saved France.

The Schlieffen plan had not succeded. German hopes for a swift history had vanished before them. The Germans had not been defeated yet and the Race to the Sea, the construction of trenches from the Swiss border to the North Sea by both sides, ensured that the war would be a long and hard one.

Aftermath of The Battle of the Marne : Illustration by Neil Demarco's The Great War​

The Race to the Sea set of trenches ended at the city of Ypres. This was the location of a massive German offensive in October of 1914. The Belgian/BEF/French forces were able to hold the Ypres saliant against multiple attacks before harsh weather forced an end to hostilities in the area. The 160,000 or so British soldiers would name Ypres "The Saliant" and would remain it's guardian's for 1914's rough winter and the rest of the war. This would also be the setting for the unofficial Christmas Truce among soldiers of that year which spread all across the front where hostilities on both sides ended and the troops met in No-Mans-Land to exchange rations and gifts.

With the German decision to shift focus to the Eastern Front, no real change in the front lines were made and, besides the second battle of Champagne, the year (1915) would be a hiatus from the confusion of 1914.

 

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Nice start, Sir.
I hope you last longer than twelve days against the barbars to the East.
Good luck with your AAR.

Twelve days eh, I guess that will be my goal

 

[Lt Hilsdorf]

Hey looks like a good start, but I suggest you edit out the German flag on the map and any future maps, since it's against forum rules to show THAT cerain flag.

Other than that, I wish you luck against the German war machine, because I think your gonna need it..........

 

[Atruejedi]

Very nice AAR so far. I like the technical details.

 

[unmerged(46334)]

Hey looks like a good start, but I suggest you edit out the German flag on the map and any future maps, since it's against forum rules to show THAT cerain flag.

Other than that, I wish you luck against the German war machine, because I think your gonna need it..........

Whoops, thanks for noticing. Taken care of.

Very nice AAR so far. I like the technical details.

Thanks

 

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Good Luck!