Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 1029 Tiger

I have to say that Indians are really naive. They don’t understand the meaning of self-reliance and hard work. When they encounter problems, they will only ask for help from outside forces. God or the god of Hinduism, anyway, just doesn't solve the problem from itself.

This kind of thinking is actually very normal, just like those people who have hands and feet but never work and would rather go begging. The problem is that ordinary people think this way. Very worrying.

After all, like southern Africa, India is now part of the British Empire.

Rock had no time to care about the Indians. Gandhi's request was immediately forgotten by Rock. It was Winston's job to help the Indians. Rock's task was to defeat the Germans.

The battle at Vimy Ridge was in a strange way. Since the outbreak of the World War, the altitude of Vimy Ridge has been reduced by about two meters. You can imagine how fierce the battle was.

After a short summer, there was continuous rain in autumn. The hillside was full of corpses that were too late to clean up. The bottom of the hillside was full of silt. Trucks and tanks were already unusable. The tools for transporting materials to Vimy Ridge became mules. drowned.

The battle started again, because the mud was too soft to trigger the detonation device. Many shells disappeared into the mud without exploding. The defending troops on the top of the hill were in better condition. If you don't take a few steps, you will be swept away by machine gun bullets.

Although it was difficult to clean up the unexploded shells in the silt, the weather finally became the help of the British Expeditionary Force this time.

Ludendorff's troops have not stopped attacking yet, but in fact the entire offensive has completely failed. Germany has gained nothing in 1916, and all Ludendorff's ideas at the beginning of the year have not been achieved. After entering 1916, so far, The German army lost nearly 80 people, and the troops released after the armistice on the Eastern Front were basically lost. Ludendorff was not responsible for the failure, and the prime minister Olge Michaelis, who had just come to power, became a scapegoat.

Olge Michaelis was replaced as Chancellor by Count Georg von Hertling, who, unlike the warlike Ludendorff and Hindenburg, wanted to be Chancellor of Germany. A "Peaceful Prime Minister".

Like Germany, tossed and shaken by the wind and rain is France.

The French Prime Minister Briand, who was vacillating between the main war faction and the main peace faction, resigned again without accident. The new prime minister was 75-year-old Georges Clemenceau.

Georges Clemenceau was a staunch advocate of war, and he was nicknamed "The Tiger of France". It is: I will fight! My foreign policy is: I will fight!—anytime, anywhere, I will fight—and I will fight until the last moment of my life.”

When the time came to October, snowflakes fell in the sky, and the German offensive on the western front was forced to stop.

In 1916, Germany was facing an unprecedented predicament. At the beginning of the year, the arsenal in Germany could produce 11.3 rifles per month, but by October it could only produce 9000 per month.

At the beginning of the year, the output of heavy artillery shells was 40 rounds per month. By October, the output had dropped to one-third of that at the beginning of the year, which could not meet the needs of the frontline.

Because there was not enough cotton, in the winter of 1916, the bandages issued by the German army were made of paper, and the underwear was also made of paper. The cotton clothes were old cotton clothes produced in 1914. The German army has not replaced them since 1914. new clothing.

At the same time as there was a shortage of supplies, food rations were further reduced, dropping to a very dangerous level. The front-line troops had not eaten meat for a long time, and potatoes became the main ration of the front-line troops. Since the potatoes were harvested, what about next spring?

No one knows what will happen at that time. If Germany cannot find a way to lift the British blockade of the German coastline, then no matter how determined the Germans are, Germany will completely collapse next spring.

Like Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the verge of collapse. Karl I's efforts for peace were in vain. Germany could not accept the peace conditions offered by the Allied Powers, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire would continue to insist.

In the summer of 1916, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began to recruit young people born after 1900.

It is not accurate to describe this group as young people. Strictly speaking, these people born after 1900 are still children. Before they grow up, they will be forced to join the army and go to the front line. Many people do not even have bayonets and rifles. high.

For the Allies, these circumstances were heartening.

Rock's staff judged that Germany would collapse in the spring of 1917, which was about half a year earlier than in another time and space. Gained equal status with the French Army.

In another time and space, no matter how British newspapers and magazines beautify it, they cannot change the fact that the Western Front is dominated by French troops.

On October 10, the newly-appointed French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau held a banquet at the Prime Minister's Residence. Roque was invited to attend in his triple capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Minister of Defense and Minister of War in Southern Africa.

This should be the first time for Roque. Roque also participated in the banquet held by the French leaders before, but they all participated as the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force. Many people almost forgot that Roque was also from southern Africa. Secretary of Defense and Secretary of War.

This is actually a common practice. Under normal circumstances, the commander-in-chief, the minister of defense, and the minister of war cannot be held by the same person. When the world war broke out, the prestige in the United Kingdom was as high as Kitchener, and the prestige in France was as high as Joffre. They could only choose one position. Therefore, it is impossible to hold an important government position while serving as commander-in-chief.

Southern Africa is different. Before the outbreak of the World War, for some British and French officials, if they were given a world map, many officials might not know the location of Southern Africa at all without marking it.

This is still for the elites such as officials, and for ordinary people, many people have not even heard of the name Southern Africa.

Don't accuse them of not caring about current affairs. For ordinary people, trying to survive is already very difficult.

Roque still wore his marshal dress to the banquet, which made Pétain, Foch, and Pershing very envious. These few are not marshals yet, and their medals on their chests are not as much as Roque. The key is Roque’s There are not only many medals, but also high quality medals, two Victoria Crosses, one Garter Medal, one Legion of Honor Medal issued by the French government, two highest honor medals issued by the Federal Government of Southern Africa, and one by King Albert I of Belgium Awarded the highest honor of Belgium.

Rock didn't even know when he received the Belgian Medal, but it was not important, it was just a matter of making up the number. Relatively speaking, the two Medals of Honor issued by the Federal Government of Southern Africa were more precious.

So far, the highest level of the Medal of Honor, the Federal Government of Southern Africa has only awarded two, both to Roque, one after the surrender of the Ottoman Empire, and one after Roque served as the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force.

This has laid a foundation for the Medal of Honor. In the future, soldiers in southern Africa should be very sad. If they want to win the highest level of the Medal of Honor, they must either conquer a country at the level of the Ottoman Empire or serve as the commander-in-chief of the British Commonwealth.

The difficulty seems to be quite high.

When "Tiger" Clemenceau saw Roque, he gave Roque a big hug and thanked Roque for his contribution to France.

"Your Excellency, it is the responsibility of all of us to uphold justice, and it requires the joint efforts of all of us." Roque said lightly, sincerely tired of the intrigue of these politicians.

Thank you Rock for your contribution to France!

Sound formal?

In fact, the starting point was wrong. Rock, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, why should he contribute to France? The British Empire is not a vassal of France, and all contributions are not free. After the war, there must be rewards. If you kidnap the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force morally with a few fluffy words, then you are thinking too much.

"Of course, our goal is to completely defeat the Germans, let the Germans surrender unconditionally, and fully bear the losses caused by launching a world war to all participating countries. Someone must pay for the wrong actions." Clemenceau immediately changed the topic. , but some things cannot be over-interpreted, otherwise there are really traps everywhere.

Germany's unconditional surrender means unconditionally accepting all of France's demands. What demands will the French make at that time?

There is no need to ask this question, France will definitely dismember Germany completely and completely eliminate Germany's threat to France.

But this is unacceptable to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom wants to suppress Germany, but not to eliminate Germany. The United Kingdom also needs Germany to contain France. Speaking of it, it is not in the interests of the United Kingdom to dominate Europe.

Of course, this is not a problem that Rock is worried about. Clemenceau has Winston to deal with, and Rock's task is to win more voice for Britain.

Now Roque has enough right to speak, so when Roque speaks, Clemenceau, Foch, Pétain, and Pershing must keep their mouths shut, regardless of whether these people agree with Roque's words or not. Regardless of whether Roque is a commonplace or not, they must first give Roque enough respect.

Roque must still insist on defense for 100 years: "Germany is on the verge of collapse, we don't need to take the initiative to attack, we can push Germany into the abyss—"

"Don't be blindly optimistic, often when we are about to usher in victory, it is the time when we are most dangerous--" Some people are ignorant.

ps: Chapter 870 doesn’t have a name, it’s not laziness or other meanings, but I forgot to fill it——

(End of this chapter)