Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 1047 Technical Problems

While the British expeditionary force was advancing triumphantly, the performance of the French army was a complete disaster.

Like the British Expeditionary Force, the French troops attacking Reims from Champagne-Chalons were also equipped with tanks and supported by air forces. Lost 35% in one day's battle. Among the 40 tanks participating in the battle, more than 110 tanks had problems before reaching the battlefield due to various reasons. They did not have time to participate in the attack. Among the tanks participating in the battle, there were [-] vehicles were destroyed by the German army, and nearly [-] vehicles withdrew from the battle due to improper operation of the French army or various other strange reasons.

The most classic example, the 79 tanks that cooperated with the 236th Regiment of the [-]th Division of France, three of them broke down shortly after they set off. When they passed a small river, two more tanks got stuck in the mud and had to give up voluntarily. —When entering a hill with a slight slope, the two tanks collided with each other due to improper operation of the tankers, and finally slid into the ravine next to it. Four tankers were killed and three were injured——

In the end, only 31 tanks participated in the battle. After two tanks arrived at the front line, the tankers discovered that there was no fuel in the fuel tank, and there was no fuel in the auxiliary fuel tank.

Eight of the 31 tanks that participated in the battle were destroyed by the Germans, and two of them were hit by the French troops' own artillery.

Rock was speechless when he saw the battle report, and Petain had the face to ask why the tanks equipped by the French army had such a high battle damage rate on the phone!

What Pétain meant was obvious, and he was blaming Southern Africa for the different treatment of British Expeditionary Forces and French troops when supplying tanks.

This problem does exist, and the tanks supplied to the British Expeditionary Force in southern Africa are fortunately more advanced, and the tanks supplied to the French army are older models.

But this is definitely not the root cause of the serious reduction in the number of French tank troops. The reason why the use of "severe reduction in personnel" instead of "heavy casualties" is enough to explain the problem.

If the breakdown of tanks is a quality problem, then those tanks that fell into the river, hit a piece, ran out of oil, or even were blown up by their own people are all "technical problems"?

From another perspective, it may be true, but this "technical problem" is not caused by the tank itself, but by the people who use the tank.

Just like mules and horses, tanks need to be carefully maintained when they are used. In the British Expeditionary Force, an average of four logistics personnel is required to equip a tank. The French army has almost no logistics personnel due to lack of manpower. Usually only tankers maintain the tank. And the tankers were not adequately trained.

Rock directly raised this question to Petain. If it is the responsibility of the Nyasaland Military Industry Group, then the Nyasaland Military Industry Group is duty bound, but it is not the responsibility of the Nyasaland Military Industry Group. Do not recite.

Pétain was speechless, and Foch also had a serious expression. On the first day of the Ningde army's counterattack, the British and French troops advanced 35 kilometers to Reims and broke through the three German defense lines in a row. The French army did not break through until noon. The first line of defense of the German army advanced 5 kilometers straight in one day.

Considering that the main force of the German army is being entangled by the Anzac and Canadian Corps and cannot escape, the speed of the French army is too slow. Once the German army turns its attention back to Reims, the French army may not be able to complete the task.

"We can't give the German army time to breathe. I have ordered the troops to attack overnight. We must occupy Reims in the shortest possible time and complete the encirclement of the German army in the encirclement." Rock continued to increase the balance of victory. Annihilate the enemy in the encirclement, then the war can be ended in the first half of 1917.

If not, then the war may drag on until the second half of the year.

To be honest, if the war is delayed until the second half of the year, it will be more beneficial to southern Africa, because every day the war is delayed, the profits of southern Africa will increase by tens of millions of rand, which is a major benefit for the thriving industrial capacity of southern Africa .

But Rock is also tired of the world war. Southern Africa has already got what he wants. Compared with the excess industrial capacity now, after taking Southwest Africa and Tanganyika, Rock has nothing he wants. Compared with Southwest Africa and Tanganyika, Mesopotamia and Cyprus are both tops.

Although this addition is actually very fragrant.

Compared with before the outbreak of the World War, in the four years after the outbreak of the World War, the industrial output value of Southern Africa increased by 350%. While the World War shattered Europe into ruins, it also created a thriving Southern Africa with a bright future.

The current industrial output value is actually inflated. After the end of the world war, once the European orders are lost, the industry in southern Africa will definitely decline to a certain extent. The Ministry of Finance of Southern Africa predicts that it will drop by about one-third.

This is not a problem for Rock. After the end of the World War, the reconstruction of Europe will follow. Although the military industry will shrink temporarily, the civilian industry will greatly increase. Overall, the loss is actually not that big.

"The army is not good at fighting at night—" Foch realized right after he opened his mouth that the British expeditionary force, especially the southern African expeditionary force, cannot be compared with the situation of the French army. Since Roque said so, then the southern African expeditionary force must have carried out related training.

"It doesn't matter, the Germans are not good at—" Rock is not worried about this problem. Even if most of the troops have not received night combat training, the German troops have not received it anyway. The British and French allied forces also have the help of tanks, and they have an advantage in night combat. more obvious.

Surprisingly, when Rock notified Betain of the decision to attack overnight, Betain disagreed.

Petain held a meeting overnight to reflect on the performance of the French troops and asked the troops to speed up the next day's operations. Even if they could not keep up with the speed of the British Expeditionary Force, at least they could not be despised by the Germans.

Regarding this point, Petain is also very helpless. Although Petain does not want to admit it, there is also a chain of contempt on the Western Front. The British Expeditionary Force despises the German army, the German army despises the French army, and then the British despise the Germans and the French together American--

Of course, the last point cannot be said. Although the Americans have not been able to capture the Liege Fortress, the American troops have shown a fearless fighting spirit——

Apart from this, the U.S. military really can't find any obvious advantages.

"Our troops have not received training in night combat, and night combat may suffer more serious losses, which is very detrimental to the maintenance of troop morale." Petain replied to Rock in this way.

"If you give the Germans enough time, the Germans will mobilize their troops overnight, build fortifications, and improve their defenses. Then when you fight tomorrow, you will suffer more serious losses." Rock bluntly said that Petain could have countless reasons , there is only one reason for the German army.

In order to escape, Rock believed that the German army in the encirclement would not mind operating overnight.

Rock also believed that no matter how severe Ludendorff's depression was, Ludendorff would not rest tonight.

Just like Rock, who has been staying in the combat command room since the beginning of the battle.

Pétain was silent on the phone for a long time. Rock knew that Pétain was difficult to make a decision. Regardless of whether Pétain ordered the troops to attack overnight, the British Expeditionary Force had already acted.

During the daytime attack, both the [-]st Armored Division and the [-]nd Cavalry Division were exhausted and needed adequate rest, so the British Infantry Division was responsible for the nighttime attack.

The commander in command of these British infantry divisions was Paul Cocker, who had been the chief of staff of the Southern African Expeditionary Force since the outbreak of the World War, and now finally got the opportunity to command an army group independently. Also located in Yamin.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the four British infantry divisions under orders, supported by tank troops, continued to advance towards Reims.

The advantage of the machine at this time is undoubtedly revealed. If it is a mule, then after a day of high-intensity combat, it also needs sufficient rest before resuming combat.

Tanks don't, as long as they are well maintained, tanks can keep fighting.

Fighting at night is definitely not as efficient as fighting during the day, but under the cover of tanks, the troops are still resolutely advancing towards Lance.

The German army did not expect the British Expeditionary Force to attack overnight. In front of the British Expeditionary Force, at least four German infantry divisions were urgently building positions overnight.

However, the German army has a serious shortage of construction machinery and manpower for building fortifications, so the defense line is quite simple, far inferior to the defense capability of the Hindenburg line of defense. The defense line not only lacks heavy machine guns and direct-firing guns, but also has no permanent fortifications. The depth is not enough, and this level of defense alone cannot stop the impact of tanks.

When the headlights of the tanks appeared in front of the German positions, the German troops who were building fortifications were unable to organize effective resistance at all. They were all transferred to Reims in a hurry from the rear reserve by Ludendorff. Finally, after the German army arrived in Reims, they began to build fortifications. Many officers and soldiers even came down for a whole day without water or rice. They were exhausted and hungry at the same time.

So when the tanks of the British Expeditionary Force appeared, many German troops raised their hands and surrendered without resistance.

Don't think how strong the German army's fighting will is. The world war has been fought for four and a half years. The Germans with a strong fighting will have died in battle. The rest of the elite troops are encircled. Among the German reserve troops, many Soldiers are all underage children or elderly people around 50 years old. Don't expect them to have a strong will to fight.

This night, the British Expeditionary Force advanced another ten kilometers overnight. After dawn, the forward troops of the British Expeditionary Force had already reached the city of Reims.

The [-]st Armored Division and the [-]nd Cavalry Division, who had rested overnight, were full of energy. They did not attack Reims directly, but bypassed Reims and continued towards Champagne-Chalons.

Rock's order was very clear, to merge with the French troops as quickly as possible to complete the encirclement of the German army, and the German army in Lance would be handed over to the follow-up troops of the British Expeditionary Force.

This is a continuation of the "leapfrog tactic" that Rock implemented during the Battle of the Dardanelles.

ps: On Sunday, send a chapter to the brothers early, I hope the brothers are in a good mood, and the hard-working Yutou can't rest on Sunday——

(End of this chapter)