Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 1024 Can't bear it

The current United States is not the United States in another time and space that throws away the blame if it wants to, and cheats anyone it wants.

In another time and space, the United States successfully turned around through the First World War, replaced the United Kingdom as the world's only superpower through the Second World War, and then reached its peak through the Cold War. .

In the concept of Europeans, the United States is still the rogue country composed of thieves, robbers, and shabby settlers. It is still synonymous with "upstarts." The brand of American dining, so the United States does not have much say in the issue of "naming rights". Even if the Americans strongly protested, the "Times" still ignored the Americans.

While the Americans were protesting strongly, the German offensive was continuing.

Ludendorff put all his eggs in one basket, and the entire western front was within the attack range of the German army. The salient part of the defense line near Arras was the focus of the German attack. Ludendorff invested fifteen divisions for the attack on Vimy Ridge.

Before this attack was launched, the Canadian Corps was in charge of defending Vimy Ridge.

A week after the offensive was launched, the Canadian Army voluntarily withdrew from its position, and the troops defending Vimy Ridge were replaced by the more powerful Anzacs.

In just one week, the Canadian Legion paid a heavy price of nearly 6.5 casualties. The Reorganized Third Division and the Reorganized Fifth Division were basically disabled and lost their combat capabilities; the 22 companies of the Reorganized First Division participated in the battle, 4 The entire army of 11 companies was wiped out, and more than half of the [-] companies suffered casualties. Almost all the surviving officers and soldiers were injured. During the battle, nearly a hundred officers and soldiers collapsed emotionally. People were often shot dead by German precision shooters shortly after they stepped out of the trenches.

Rock adjusted the defense line in time. The troops would not fight on the front line for more than a week, and then retreated to the second line and had to rest for at least a week before returning to the front line.

The pressure on field hospitals is increasing. In the UK, two cruise ships were urgently converted into medical ships and docked at the port of Flanders. However, it is still impossible to treat all wounded soldiers. The lightly wounded can only receive simple treatment, and they still have to stick to the front line In combat, the seriously wounded are also directly abandoned. Field hospitals should save medical resources as much as possible and give preference to those wounded who may return to the battlefield.

The new freshmen of Johannesburg Medical School and Nyasaland University Medical School came directly to France to participate in the war. They had to grow rapidly in actual combat. They might have just been exposed to wound sutures in the morning, and they would go to the field hospital to help in the afternoon. Teachers and brothers and sisters work together.

Since the start of the German offensive, the atmosphere at the Expeditionary Force Headquarters has been very depressing. At the beginning, Rock still paid attention to the number of casualties of the Expeditionary Force, but later he became numb to the daily battle reports. Compared with the British Expeditionary Force, French troops and American troops Casualties were even more severe, and Petain and Pershing were also gritted their teeth and persisted.

Cambrai, not far from Arras, is the line of defense in charge of the second cavalry division.

Since the outbreak of the battle, the Second Cavalry Division has insisted on fighting on the front line. The Second Cavalry Division is also one of the few units that has not been rotated after the outbreak of the battle. This fully proves the combat effectiveness of the Second Cavalry Division.

The German army also had a choice in its attack. Ludendorff was not stupid, and he would not throw all his chips out to Stud. Facing a powerful force like the Second Cavalry Division, the German army launched one or two tentative attacks and found that there were almost no After the victory is possible, the target will be changed immediately, and the focus of the attack will be on areas where breakthroughs are more likely.

This was the case with the [-]nd Cavalry Division. After the battle broke out, there were only about two divisions, and two tentative attacks were launched against the [-]nd Cavalry Division's line of defense. Then the Germans changed their focus to Vimy Ridge, which was more likely to break through. .

This led to a very miraculous situation. The brave and capable Second Cavalry Division has been idle since the start of the war, and the tormented Vimy Ridge is ravaged by the flames of war every day, which makes Don Juan, the commander of the Second Cavalry Division, very unhappy. .

"Isn't it a good thing that the Germans don't attack our positions? What's wrong with you?" Brad, the chief of staff, prayed that the Germans would never attack the positions in charge of the [-]nd Cavalry Division, so that the good boys of the [-]nd Cavalry Division would not have to Fight to the death with the Germans.

Honors and medals are not so fun, each one is bought with blood and life.

"You're right, but I just don't feel well. I'm here to defeat the Germans, not for vacation." Don Juan has ideals, and this is the awareness that a qualified soldier should have.

The awareness of dying on the battlefield!

"Come on, you go ask the soldiers in the trenches, they definitely don't think so." Brad doesn't want to see his subordinates sacrificed. Many generals in southern Africa are as eager for war as Don Juan. Brad thinks this This kind of thinking is very dangerous, but I don't know how to correct it.

Maybe there is no need to correct it. A country cannot be kidnapped by war, nor should it be afraid of war.

Weather is an eternal enemy. It has been raining in Cambrai since a week ago. The rain is so heavy that water has begun to accumulate in the trenches. In some trenches, there are two feet of water in the five-foot-high trenches. Soldiers We soak in the water every day, many soldiers are plagued by diseases, and non-combat attrition is increasing.

In the entire British Expeditionary Force, the medical resources of the Second Cavalry Division are relatively good. Almost every company is equipped with professional field doctors. The division headquarters also has a professional field hospital. The level of doctors is no less than that of Paris and Field hospital in Dunkirk.

Even so, the field hospital of the Second Cavalry Division was already full of wounded, most of the wounded were from the Canadian Legion and the Anzac Army. The doctors of the Second Cavalry Division could not help but die. They took the initiative to find Don Juan and Brad, hoping that the field hospital of the Second Cavalry Division could receive wounded soldiers from the Canadian Legion and the Anzac Army.

"I think maybe we can launch a counterattack and share some of the pressure of the Anzacs." Don Juan didn't want the soldiers to soak in the trenches. Although both Rock and Petain believed that defense was the best offense, there were still many Generals believe in "strike first".

Especially after the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army had more and more tank units.

When the World War broke out, many people in the French army believed in "attack first", and Joffre, Nivelle, and Manjing were all victims of this idea. It was precisely because of "attack first" that the French army The loss was so large in the early days after the outbreak of the world war.

Now "Attack First" has new content, especially for troops like the Second Cavalry Division. It is to prepare for the counterattack in the future.

With more and more tanks sent from southern Africa, the Second Cavalry Division now has an armored regiment equipped with 168 tanks, and now these tanks are scattered to the defense line to assist in the defense. This is the tank that Rock has always emphasized The way troops are used is completely contradictory.

Rock has always emphasized the concentrated use of tank units for large-scale group attacks in order to maximize the role of tanks, instead of using them as fixed artillery positions or machine gun positions to assist defense.

"Don't be impulsive. The headquarters didn't issue a combat order. Do what we should do." Brad firmly opposed it, and it was not appropriate to launch a counterattack now. The continuous rain created a huge obstacle for the tank troops. Brad believed in the headquarters. The staff of the staff must have noticed this.

"Commander, Chief of Staff, we lost Vimy Ridge—" a staff officer hurriedly reported that the Germans had finally captured Vimy Ridge, which was bad news.

In Arras, 30 kilometers away, John Monash was also reported.

"Order George to take the position back—" John Monash's voice was calm, like a harbinger of a storm.

"George's troops suffered heavy casualties, and we need more reinforcements—" Brad Nancy is now the chief of staff of the Anzac Army. As the first commander to come to Europe, Brad Nancy knows ANZAC well Generals of the legion, if George still has reserves in his hands, then George will not lose his position.

"I don't care what George does. He will take back the position. I don't have any more reinforcements for him. Reinforcements are needed everywhere—" John Monash is colder than Rock, and his commander-in-chief is also a clever woman. Cooking without rice.

"We can send a telegram to the headquarters. The First Armored Division is on standby in Yamin. If Marshal Locke sends the First Armored Division over, we can regain our position and hold Vimy Ridge." Brad Nancy in Gary The Bodi Peninsula has experienced the worst situation. At that time, Brad Nancy still resented Rock for not giving him more help. Now Brad Nancy can finally understand Rock.

It's not that I won't give it, I really can't give it.

John Monash didn't speak, and acquiesced to send a telegram to the headquarters to ask for assistance. This is not the time to get emotional. Stabilizing the line of defense is what a qualified general should do.

The First Armored Division is the last hole card in Rock's hand, and Rock will not send out the First Armored Division unless it is a last resort.

However, the request of the Anzac Army cannot be ignored. Rock sent the 12th and 15th Divisions of the Southern African Expeditionary Force. The combat effectiveness of these two units is slightly weaker than that of the First Armored Division, but their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. It is the 15th Division, which came to France from southern Africa shortly after the war started, and it is also a meritorious unit that has repeatedly made military exploits.

Adrian, the commander of the 15th Division, is an English native from Cape. Although he has some German blood, he is trustworthy. After the war broke out, Adrian, like King George V, gave up his German surname. Such a situation There are many in the UK.

(End of this chapter)