The Spring Offensive Begins (in January)
I have struggled with the most effective means of communicating all the action on the western front, without getting to bogged down in details, but I have not come up with a solution I am totally happy with. The fact is that on January 23, 1917 the Germans launched on offensive with 105 divisions along the entire western front.
The simple fact is there is no way to adequately report on each battle as I would like to do, so I will give a brief summary (in the form of pictures).
In the Northern Sector of the Western Front…
In the Central Sector
And in the Southern Sector
As would be expected, French resistance was especially fierce around Paris. In the town of Melun, not far from Paris, the battle was not originally expected to be very difficult, but the French soon sent in reinforcements to even the odds.
If there was one lesson learned from the bloody battle of Châlons, it’s that even odds really means advantage defender.
Additional reinforcements would definitely be needed to win the day.
This battle should also prove interesting due to the two commanding generals, both quite capable in their own right.
Of course as good as those generals are, I think the best general I’ve come across so far is Petain…
Petain is fighting in the Southern Sector, and he is of course on the defensive (+7)
