CHAPTER I.

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1914

THIS BOOK

IS DEDICATED TO

THE RT. HON. DAVID LLOYD GEORGE, M.P.,

TO WHOSE PREVISION, ENERGY

AND TENACITY THE ARMY

AND THE EMPIRE

OWE SO MUCH.

1914

by

FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT FRENCH OF YPRES,

K.P., O.M., ETC.

With Maps

London

Constable and Company Ltd.

1919

CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE ................................................ xi

Chap.

I--PRELIMINARY ...................................... 1

II--THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE ................. 16

III--THE SAILING OF THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE .......... 31

IV--THE RETREAT FROM MONS ........................... 56

V--FURTHER COURSE OF THE RETREAT ................... 81

VI--THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE ........................ 113

VII--THE BATTLE OF THE AISNE AND ITS PROGRESS

UP TO SEPTEMBER 30TH ........................... 142

VIII--THE SIEGE AND FALL OF ANTWERP .................. 175

IX--THE LAST DAYS OF THE BRITISH OPERATIONS

ON THE AISNE--THE NORTHERN MOVE ................ 193

X--THE BATTLE OF YPRES--FIRST PHASE, OCTOBER

15TH TO OCTOBER 26TH ........................... 214

XI--THE BATTLE OF YPRES--SECOND PHASE,

OCTOBER 27TH TO OCTOBER 31ST ................... 237

XII--THE BATTLE OF YPRES--THIRD PHASE, NOVEMBER

1ST TO NOVEMBER 10TH ........................... 257

XIII--THE BATTLE OF YPRES--FOURTH AND FINAL

PHASE, NOVEMBER 11TH TO THE END OF

THE BATTLE ..................................... 277

XIV--THE ENTRY OF THE TERRITORIAL ARMY .............. 287

XV--A REVIEW OF THE ALLIED PLANS IN THE WEST

AT THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES ...... 301

XVI--THE OPERATIONS OF DECEMBER 14TH-19TH, 1914 ..... 320

XVII--THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1914 ..................... 332

XVIII--AMMUNITION ..................................... 347

INDEX ................................................. 363

LIST OF MAPS.

1. GENERAL MAP OF NORTHERN FRANCE AND BELGIUM.

2. MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE RETREAT FROM MONS AND

BATTLES OF THE MARNE AND THE AISNE.

3. MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE CAMPAIGN IN BELGIUM, 1914.

PREFACE

Le Marechal FRENCH commandait en Chef l'Armee Britannique au debut de

la Guerre.

Comme on le sait, les allemands ont cherche en 1914 a profiter de leur

superiorite numerique et de l'ecrasante puissance de leur armement,

pour mettre hors de cause les Armees Alliees d'Occident, par une

manoeuvre enveloppante, aussi rapide que possible.

Apres avoir cherche en vain la decision a la MARNE, puis a l'AISNE et

a la SOMME, ils la poursuivent successivement a ARRAS, sur l'YSER et a

YPRES.

A mesure que dans cette course a la mer, le terrain disponible se

restreint devant eux, les coups se precipitent et se repetent plus

violents, les reserves s'engagent, de nouveaux Corps d'Armee entrent

en ligne nombreux et intacts. La reddition d'ANVERS assure d'ailleurs

a l'ennemi d'importantes disponibilites.

Mais deja l'Armee Belge, appuyee de troupes francaises, arrete les

allemands sur l'YSER, de NIEUPORT a DIXMUDE. Apres avoir pris part aux

actions de l'AISNE, l'Armee Britannique a ete transportee dans le

Nord. C'est ainsi qu'elle s'engage progressivement de la

BASSEE a YPRES, s'opposant partout a l'invasion.

Bref, les allemands, apres avoir vainement developpe leurs efforts de

la Mer a la LYS, des le 15 octobre, sont dans l'obligation, a la fin

du mois, de vaincre a YPRES, ou bien leur manoeuvre echoue

definitivement, leur offensive expire en Occident et la Coalition

reste debout.

Ainsi sont-ils amenes, sur ce point d'YPRES, dans une lutte acharnee,

a concentrer leurs moyens, une forte artillerie lourde largement

approvisionee, renforcee de minenwerfers, de corps d'armee nombreux et

renouveles.

Quant aux Allies, ils sont reduits a recevoir le choc avec des

effectifs restreints, des munitions comptees et rares, une faible

artillerie lourde. Toute releve leur est interdite par la penurie de

troupes, quelle que soit la duree de la bataille. Pour ne citer qu'un

exemple, le premier corps britannique reste engage du 20 octobre au 15

novembre--au milieu des plus violentes attaques et malgre de

formidables pertes.

Mais a cette derniere date la bataille etait gagnee. Les Allies

avaient inflige un retentissant echec a l'ennemi: ils avaient sauve

les communications de la Manche et par la fixe le sort et l'avenir de

la Coalition.

Si l'union etroite du Commandement Allie et la valeur des troupes ont

permis ces glorieux resultats, c'est que le Marechal FRENCH a deploye

la plus_ _entiere droiture, la plus complete confiance, la

plus grande energie: resolu a se faire passer sur le corps plutot qu'a

reculer.

La Grande-Bretagne avait trouve en lui un grand soldat. Il avait

maintenu ses troupes a la hauteur de celles de WELLINGTON.

Avec l'emotion d'un souvenir profond et toujours vivant, je salue le

vaillant compagnon d'armes des rudes journees et les glorieux drapeaux

Britanniques de la Bataille d'YPRES.

[Illustration: Signature Foch]

_Marechal de France_.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY.

For years past I had regarded a general war in Europe as an eventual

certainty. The experience which I gained during the seven or eight

years spent as a member of the Committee of Imperial Defence, and my

three years tenure of the Office of Chief of the General Staff,

greatly strengthened this conviction.

For reasons which it is unnecessary to enter upon, I resigned my

position as Chief of the Staff in April, 1914, and from that time I

temporarily lost touch with the European situation as it was

officially represented and appreciated.

I remember spending a week in June of that year in Paris, and when

passing through Dover on my return, my old friend, Jimmie Watson

(Colonel Watson, late of the 60th Rifles, A.D.C. to the Khedive of

Egypt), looked into my carriage window and told me of the murder of

the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his Consort. I cannot say that I

actually regarded this tragedy as being the prelude which should lead

ultimately to a great European convulsion, but in my own mind, and in

view of my past experience, it created a feeling of unrest within me

and an instinctive foreboding of evil. Then came a few weeks

of the calm which heralded the storm--a calm under cover of which

Germany was vigorously preparing for "the day."

One afternoon, late in July, I was the guest at lunch of the German

Ambassador, Prince Lichnowski. It was a small party, comprising, to

the best of my recollection, only Princess Henry of Pless, Lady

Cunard, Lord Kitchener, His Excellency and myself. The first idea I

got of the storm which was brewing came from a short conversation

which I had with the Ambassador in a corner of the room after lunch.

He was very unhappy and perturbed, and he plainly told me that he

feared all Europe would be in a blaze before we were a fortnight

older. His feeling was prophetic. His surprising candour foreshadowed

the moral courage with which Prince Lichnowski subsequently issued his

famous apologia.

On July 28th Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The military

preparations of the Dual Monarchy inevitably led to a partial

mobilisation by Russia against Austria, whereupon the German Emperor

proclaimed the "Kriegsgefahrszustand" on July 31st, following this up

by declaring war against Russia on August 1st. On August 2nd German

troops entered Luxemburg and, without declaration of war, violated

French territory. Great Britain declared war against Germany on August

4th and against Austria on August 12th, France having broken off

relations with Austria two days earlier.

On Thursday, July 30th, I was sent for by the Chief of the Imperial

General Staff, and was given private intimation that, if an

expeditionary force were sent to France, I was to command it. On

leaving the room I found some well-known newspaper correspondents

in the passage. I talked a little with them and found that great doubt

existed in their minds as to whether this country would support France

by force of arms. This doubt was certainly shared by many.

I remember well that on the morning of Saturday, August 1st, the day

upon which Germany declared war on Russia, and it was known that the

breaking out of hostilities between Germany and France was only a

question of hours, I received a visit from the Vicomte de la Panouse,

the French Military Attache in London. He told me that the Ambassador

was much disheartened in mind by these doubts and fears. We talked

matters over, and he came to dinner with me that night. Personally, I

felt perfectly sure that so long as Mr. Asquith remained Prime

Minister, and Lord Haldane, Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Winston Churchill

continued to be members of the Cabinet, their voices would guide the

destinies of the British Empire, and that we should remain true to our

friendly understanding with the _Entente_ Powers. As the result of the

long conversation I had with the Vicomte de la Panouse, I think I was

successful in causing this conviction to prevail at the French

Embassy.

England declared war on Germany on Tuesday, August 4th, and on the 5th

the mobilisation of Regulars, Special Reserve and Territorials was

ordered. On Wednesday, August 5th, a Council of War was held at 10,

Downing Street, under the Presidency of the Prime Minister. Nearly all

the members of the Cabinet were present, whilst Lord Roberts, Lord

Kitchener, Sir Charles Douglas, Sir Douglas Haig, the late Sir James

Grierson, General (now Sir Henry) Wilson and myself were directed to

attend. To the best of my recollection the two main subjects

discussed were:--

1. The composition of the Expeditionary Force.

2. The point of concentration for the British Forces on

their arrival in France.

As regards 1.

It was generally felt that we were under some obligation to France to

send as strong an army as we could, and there was an idea that one

Cavalry Division and six Divisions of all arms had been promised. As

to the exact number, it did not appear that we were under any definite

obligation, but it was unanimously agreed that we should do all we

could. The question to be decided was how many troops it was necessary

to keep in this country adequately to guard our shores against

attempted invasion and, if need be, to maintain internal order.

Mr. Churchill briefly described the actual situation of the Navy. He

pointed out that the threat of war had come upon us at a most

opportune moment as regards his own Department, because, only two or

three weeks before, the Fleet had been partially mobilised, and large

reserves called up for the great Naval Review by His Majesty at

Spithead and the extensive naval manoeuvres which followed it. So

far as the Navy was concerned, he considered Home Defence reasonably

secure; but this consideration did not suffice to absolve us from the

necessity of keeping a certain number of troops at home. After this

discussion it was decided that two Divisions must for the moment

remain behind, and that one Cavalry Division and four Divisions of all

arms should be sent out as speedily as possible. This meant a force of

approximately 100,000 men.

As regards 2.

The British and French General Staffs had for some years been in close

secret consultation with one another on this subject. The German

menace necessitated some preliminary understanding in the event of a

sudden attack. The area of concentration for the British Forces had

been fixed on the left flank of the French, and the actual detraining

stations of the various units were all laid down in terrain lying

between Maubeuge and Le Cateau. The Headquarters of the Army were

fixed at the latter place.

This understanding being purely provisional and conditional upon an

unprovoked attack by Germany, the discussion then took the turn of

overhauling and reviewing these decisions, and of making arrangements

in view of the actual conditions under which war had broken out. Many

and various opinions were expressed; but on this day no final

decisions were arrived at. It was thought absolutely necessary to ask

the French authorities to send over a superior officer who should be

in full possession of the views and intentions of the French General

Staff. It was agreed that no satisfactory decision could be arrived at

until after full discussion with a duly accredited French Officer. I

think this is the gist of the really important points dealt with at

the Council.

During the week the Headquarters of the Expeditionary Force were

established in London at the Hotel Metropole, and the Staff was

constituted as follows:--

Chief of Staff Gen. Sir Archibald Murray.

Sub-Chief Brig.-Gen. H. H. Wilson.

Adjutant-General Major-Gen. Neville Macready.

Quartermaster-General Major-Gen. Sir William Robertson.

Director of Intelligence Brig.-Gen. Macdonogh.

C.R.A. Major-Gen. Lindsay.

C.R.E. Brig.-Gen. Fowke.

Military Secretary Col. the Hon. W. Lambton.

Principal Medical Officer Surg.-Gen. T. P. Woodhouse.

Principal Veterinary Officer Brig.-Gen. J. Moore.

It was about Thursday the 7th, or Friday the 8th, August, that Lord

Kitchener was appointed Secretary of State for War, and on Monday, the

10th, the Mission sent by the French Government arrived. It was headed

by Colonel Huguet, a well-known French Artillery Officer who had

recently been for several years French Military Attache in London.

As before mentioned, one of the most important matters remaining for

discussion and decision was finally to determine whether the original

plan as regards the area of concentration for the British Forces in

France was to be adhered to, or whether the actual situation demanded

some change or modification. There was an exhaustive exchange of views

between soldiers and Ministers, and many conflicting opinions were

expressed. The soldiers themselves were not agreed. Lord Kitchener

thought that our position on the left of the French line at Maubeuge

would be too exposed, and rather favoured a concentration farther back

in the neighbourhood of Amiens. Sir Douglas Haig suggested postponing

any landing till the campaign had actively opened and we should be

able to judge in which direction our co-operation would be most

effective.

Personally, I was opposed to these ideas, and most anxious to adhere

to our original plans. Any alteration in carrying out our

concentration, particularly if this meant delay, would have upset the

French plan of campaign and created much distrust in the

minds of our Allies. Delay or hanging back would not only have looked

like hesitation, but might easily have entailed disastrous

consequences by permanently separating our already inferior forces.

Having regard to what we subsequently knew of the German plans and

preparations, there can be no doubt that any such delayed landing

might well have been actively opposed. As will be seen hereafter, we

were at first hopeful of carrying out a successful offensive, and, had

those hopes been justified, any change or delay in our original plans

would have either prevented or entirely paralysed it. The vital

element of the problem was speed in mobilisation and concentration,

change of plans meant inevitable and possibly fatal delay.

Murray, Wilson, Grierson and Huguet concurred in my views, and it was

so settled.

The date of the embarkment of the Headquarters Staff was fixed for

Friday, August 14th.

During the fateful days which intervened, daily and almost hourly

reports reached us as to the progress of mobilisation both of our

Allies and our Enemies. From the first it became quite evident that

the German system of mobilisation was quicker than the French. There

was reason to believe that Germany had partly mobilised some classes

of her reserves before formal mobilisation. The splendid stand made by

the Belgians in defence of their frontier fortresses is well known,

and the course of the preliminary operations on the Belgian and

Luxemburg frontiers, as well as those in the neighbourhood of Nancy,

gave us hope that the wonderful army of which we had heard so much,

was not altogether the absolutely invincible war machine we had been

led to expect and believe. During this most critical time,

my mind was occupied day and night with anxious thought. I will try to

recall those days of the first half of August, 1914, and crystallise

the result of my meditations. This will serve to show the doubts,

fears, hopes and aspirations, in short the mental atmosphere in which

I awaited the opening of the campaign.

In the ten years previous to the War, I had constantly envisaged the

probable course of events leading up to the outbreak of this

world-war, as well as the manner of the outbreak itself. In

imagination I had seen the spark suddenly emitted in some obscure

corner of Europe, followed by the blowing-up of one huge magazine,

such as the declaration of war between Russia and Austria would prove

to be, then the conflagration spreading with lightning speed, and I

had seemed to have a foretaste amid it all of the anxious hesitation

which would precede our entry into the war.

I have been a member of the Committee of Imperial Defence since 1906,

and have assisted at the innumerable deliberations of that Aulic

Council. It was somewhere about 1908 that the certainty of a war was

forced upon my mind. Lord Haldane was then Secretary of State for War

and I was Inspector-General of the Forces. Lord Haldane was himself

alive to the possibility of war; but, while he hoped to ward it off by

diplomacy and negotiation, he fully acquiesced in the desirability of

making every preparation which could be carried out in complete

secrecy. He told me that were he in power, if and when the event

occurred, he would designate me to command the Expeditionary Force,

and requested me to study the problem carefully and do all I could to

be ready. It thus fell out that in August, 1914, the many

possibilities and alternatives of action were quite familiar

to my mind.

It is now within the knowledge of all that the General Staffs of Great

Britain and France had, for a long time, held conferences, and that a

complete mutual understanding as to combined action in certain

eventualities existed.

Belgium, however, remained a "dark horse" up to the last, and it is

most unfortunate that she could never be persuaded to decide upon her

attitude in the event of a general war. All we ever had in our mind

was _defence_ against attack by Germany. We had guaranteed the

neutrality of Belgium, and all reports pointed to an intention by

Germany to violate that neutrality. What we desired above all things

was that Belgium should realise the danger which subsequently laid her

waste. We were anxious that she should assist and co-operate in her

own defence. The idea of _attacking_ Germany through Belgium or in any

other direction never entered our heads.

Pre-war arrangements like these were bound in such circumstances to be

very imperfect, though infinitely better than none at all.

It will be of interest at this point to narrate a conversation I had

with the Emperor William in August, 1911. When His Majesty visited

this country in the spring of that year to unveil the statue of Queen

Victoria, he invited me to be his guest at the grand cavalry

manoeuvres to be held that summer in the neighbourhood of Berlin.

It was an experience I shall never forget, and it impressed me

enormously with the efficiency and power of the German cavalry. It was

on about the third day of the manoeuvres that the Emperor

arrived by train at five in the morning to find the troops drawn up on

the plain close by to receive him. I have never seen a more

magnificent military spectacle than they presented on that brilliant

August morning, numbering some 15,000 horsemen with a large force of

horse artillery, jaeger and machine guns.

When His Majesty had finished the inspection of the line, and the

troops had moved to take up their points for manoeuvre, the Emperor

sent for me. He was very pleasant and courteous, asked me if I was

made comfortable, and if I had got a good horse. He then went on to

say that he knew all our sympathies in Great Britain were with France

and against Germany. He said he wished me to see everything that could

be seen, but told me he trusted to my honour to reveal nothing if I

visited France.

After the manoeuvres of the day were completed, at about 11 or 12

o'clock, I was placed next to His Majesty at luncheon and we had

another conversation. He asked me what I thought of what I had seen in

the morning and told me that the German cavalry was the most perfect

in the world; but he added: "It is not only the Cavalry; the

Artillery, the Infantry, all the arms of the Service are equally

efficient. The sword of Germany is sharp; and if you oppose Germany

you will find how sharp it is."

Before I left, His Majesty was kind enough to present me with his

photograph beautifully framed. Pointing to it, he remarked,

semi-jocularly: "There is your archenemy! There is your disturber of

the peace of Europe!"

Reverting to my story. Personally, I had always thought that Germany

would violate Belgian neutrality, and in no such half measure as by a

march through the Ardennes, which was what our joint plans mainly

contemplated. I felt convinced that if ever she took this drastic

step, she would make the utmost use of it to pour over the whole

country and outflank the Allies.

The principal source of the terrible anxiety I felt took its root in

the thought that we were too much mentally committed to meet an attack

from the east, instead of one which was to come as it actually did. It

reassured me, however, to know that our actual dispositions did not

preclude the possibility of stemming the first outburst of the storm

so effectively as to ward off any imminent danger which might threaten

Northern France and the Channel Ports.

To turn from the province of strategy to the sphere of tactics, a

life-long experience of military study and thought had taught me that

the principle of the tactical employment of troops must be

instinctive. I knew that in putting the science of war into practice,

it was necessary that its main tenets should form, so to speak, part

of one's flesh and blood. In war there is little time to think, and

the right thing to do must come like a flash--it must present itself

to the mind as perfectly _obvious_.

No previous experience, no conclusion I had been able to draw from

campaigns in which I had taken part, or from a close study of the new

conditions in which the war of to-day is waged, had led me to

anticipate a war of positions. All my thoughts, all my prospective

plans, all my possible alternatives of action, were concentrated upon

a war of movement and manoeuvre. I knew perfectly well that modern

up-to-date inventions would materially influence and modify our

previous conceptions as to the employment of the three arms

respectively; but I had not realised that this process would work in

so drastic a manner as to render all our preconceived ideas of the

method of tactical field operations comparatively ineffective and

useless. Judged by the course of events in the first three weeks of

the War, neither French nor German generals were prepared for the

complete transformation of all military ideas which the development of

the operations inevitably demonstrated to be imperative for waging war

in present conditions.

It is easy to be "wise after the event"; but I cannot help wondering

why none of us realised what the most modern rifle, the machine gun,

motor traction, the aeroplane and wireless telegraphy would bring

about. It seems so simple when judged by actual results. The modern

rifle and machine gun add tenfold to the relative power of the defence

as against the attack. This precludes the use of the old methods of

attack, and has driven the attack to seek covered entrenchments after

every forward rush of at most a few hundred yards.

It has thus become a practical operation to place the heaviest

artillery in position close behind the infantry fighting line, not

only owing to the mobility afforded by motor traction but also because

the old dread of losing the guns before they could be got away no

longer exists. The crucial necessity for the effective employment of

heavy artillery is observation, and this is provided by the balloon

and the aeroplane, which, by means of wireless telegraphy, can keep

the batteries instantly informed of the accuracy of their fire.

I feel sure in my own mind that had we realised the true effect of

modern appliances of war in August, 1914, there would have been no

retreat from Mons, and that if, in September, the Germans

had learnt their lesson, the Allies would never have driven them back

to the Aisne. It was in the fighting on that river that the eyes of

all of us began to be opened.

New characteristics of offensive and defensive war began vaguely to be

appreciated; but it required the successive attempts of Maunoury, de

Castelnau, Foch and myself to turn the German flanks in the north in

the old approved style, and the practical failure of these attempts,

to bring home to our minds the true nature of war as it is to-day.

About the middle of November, 1914--after three and a half months of

war--we were fairly settled down to the war of positions.

It was, therefore, in a somewhat troubled frame of mind that I began

to play my humble part in this tremendous episode in the history of

the world. The new lessons had to be learned in a hard school and

through a bitter experience. However, for good or for evil, I have

always been possessed of a sanguine temperament. No one, I felt, had

really been able to gauge the respective fighting values of the French

and German Armies. I hoped for the best and rather believed in it; and

in this confident spirit, although anxious and watchful, I landed at

Boulogne at 5 p.m. on August 14th, 1914.

It will be a fitting close to this chapter if I add the instructions

which I received from His Majesty's Government before leaving.

"Owing to the infringement of the neutrality of Belgium by Germany,

and in furtherance of the Entente which exists between this country

and France, His Majesty's Government has decided, at the request of

the French Government, to send an Expeditionary Force to

France and to entrust the command of the troops to yourself.

"The special motive of the Force under your control is to support and

co-operate with the French Army against our common enemies. The

peculiar task laid upon you is to assist the French Government in

preventing or repelling the invasion by Germany of French and Belgian

territory and eventually to restore the neutrality of Belgium, on

behalf of which, as guaranteed by treaty, Belgium has appealed to the

French and to ourselves.

"These are the reasons which have induced His Majesty's Government to

declare war, and these reasons constitute the primary objective you

have before you.

"The place of your assembly, according to present arrangements, is

Amiens, and during the assembly of your troops you will have every

opportunity for discussing with the Commander-in-Chief of the French

Army, the military position in general and the special part which your

Force is able and adapted to play. It must be recognised from the

outset that the numerical strength of the British Force and its

contingent reinforcement is strictly limited, and with this

consideration kept steadily in view it will be obvious that the

greatest care must be exercised towards a minimum of losses and

wastage.

"Therefore, while every effort must be made to coincide most

sympathetically with the plans and wishes of our Ally, the gravest

consideration will devolve upon you as to participation in forward

movements where large bodies of French troops are not engaged and

where your Force may be unduly exposed to attack. Should a contingency

of this sort be contemplated, I look to you to inform me fully and

give me time to communicate to you any decision to which His

Majesty's Government may come in the matter. In this connection I wish

you distinctly to understand that your command is an entirely

independent one, and that you will in no case come in any sense under

the orders of any Allied General.

"In minor operations you should be careful that your subordinates

understand that risk of serious losses should only be taken where such

risk is authoritatively considered to be commensurate with the object

in view.

"The high courage and discipline of your troops should, and certainly

will, have fair and full opportunity of display during the campaign,

but officers may well be reminded that in this, their first experience

of European warfare, a greater measure of caution must be employed

than under former conditions of hostilities against an untrained

adversary.

"You will kindly keep up constant communication with the War Office,

and you will be good enough to inform me as to all movements of the

enemy reported to you as well as to those of the French Army.

"I am sure you fully realise that you can rely with the utmost

confidence on the wholehearted and unswerving support of the

Government, of myself, and of your compatriots, in carrying out the

high duty which the King has entrusted to you and in maintaining the

great tradition of His Majesty's Army.

"(Signed) KITCHENER,

"Secretary of State"

1914 · 第 1 / 19 章