Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 873

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife was an inevitable accident, and the leak of information is completely absurd. This is not the first time such a thing has happened. During the American Civil War, someone picked up a cigarette case on the streets of Maryland. , It actually said the time when the Southern Army launched an attack on the Northern Army, and the Southern Army was defeated.

These accidents with extremely small probability had extremely serious impacts. The combat plan on the Russian officer's body caused the German army to stabilize the front of East Prussia. Little Maoqi no longer needed to transfer troops from the western front to supplement the eastern front. The British and French allied forces The pressure increased further.

Previously, Russia’s troops in East Prussia had only the First Army, and their commander was Paul von **Kamp. From this name, it can be seen that **Kamp is German, at least partly of German descent, Russia’s second The commander of the army group was Alexander Samsonov. His troops had 14.5 divisions, 4 cavalry divisions, and 1160 artillery pieces.

The German Eighth Army on the Eastern Front had only 11 understaffed infantry divisions and one cavalry division, with a total strength of only 13.5.

At this time, the front line of the German army on the western front was directed at Paris. In order to strengthen the defense of Paris, Joffre formed the Sixth Army to be responsible for the defense of Paris. This led to the resignation of the French Minister of War Adolphe Messimy. The new minister hoped that the British Expeditionary Force would soon Returning to the front to launch an offensive against the Germans, Frenzi refused the new minister's request.

"The president is under a lot of pressure now. We are not ready to fight the Germans. Paris lacks enough troops, barbed wire in trenches, and even food. The Sixth Army now has only six armies, and all divisions are not full. We The fortifications are being built, and the former Ministry of War has not done anything—” The dinner in the evening centered on General Joseph Gallieni, the commander-in-chief of the Sixth Army who had just taken office. He also serves as the Commander of the Paris Garrison. These two units have just been established. I really don't know what the French have been doing in the past few years of the arms race.

Estimated to be busy campaigning.

To build fortifications around Paris, it is necessary to dig trenches, lay barbed wire and bury mines, and at the same time demolish buildings that affect the firing range. Therefore, the residents of Paris complained, and their dissatisfaction with the Ministry of War reached its peak. Messimi resigned because of this, and he went to the front to serve A major, from the Minister of War to a major, even if he resigned, Messimi is still contributing to France.

"There is no problem with our work, but there is a deviation in the direction. Everyone thinks about offense. No one has ever paid attention to defense. We think we are ready, but while we are improving, the Germans are also improving." The commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army, Lang Lezac, is the most sober person in France, but he is powerless to change the overall situation.

Before the outbreak of the World War, the French army’s admiration for offense had reached a morbid level. It is estimated that they were not so crazy in their belief in God. There will be no resistance.

Therefore, before the outbreak of the World War, all the war-related plans of the French Ministry of War were related to offense, and no one paid attention to defense. France built a solid defensive position on the French-German border, as if it could defend the enemy from outside the country. It was never expected. Germany can still attack in a roundabout way through Belgium, and their defenses are not well done. At the beginning of the war, the French troops did break into Alsace and Lorraine, but after the German counterattack, they have already broken into France and the French-German border The line of defense did not play its due role.

"The most important thing now is to contain the German attack. As long as we win in any direction, the German army will have to deploy troops to defend, so as to achieve a balance on the battlefield." Frenzi has great opinions on the French generals , When he speaks, he always gives people a vague sense of sarcasm.

In Mons, Lanczak withdrew early without notifying Doring and Haig, putting the British Expeditionary Force in great danger. If Doring and Haig hadn't withdrawn overnight, the British Expeditionary Force might have been killed. The encirclement of the superior force of the German army suffered a catastrophe.

Even so, the British Expeditionary Force still suffered heavy losses and became the rear of the French army. The First Army and the 105th Division went into battle successively. Two brigades were disabled. If the supplementary troops could not arrive in time, then the two brigades would merge into one brigade to continue fighting.

"The expeditionary force performed very well in battle. I hope you can join the defense of Paris and fight side by side with the Sixth Army to defend Paris." Gallieni affirmed the performance of the expeditionary force, but it was mostly flattery, even William II scorned it. Say the British Army is a "poor little army" and guess what the French would say?

"Our losses last month were too heavy. We need more time to rest and replenish. We also need more supplies. Another important issue is that our troops use Lee Enfield and need 0.303-inch bullets. You give We sent 0.315 bullets for Lebel rifles, this is ridiculous, our troops need bullets, but we can't use the bullets you sent!" Frenzi complained to his face, the French——

Absurd indeed.

"The Lebel rifle uses [-]mm bullets—" Langlezac corrected him kindly. Just as Frenzi disliked the French general, Langlezac also did not like the British Expeditionary Force.

In terms of national strength, Britain's national strength far exceeds that of France.

However, the British Expeditionary Force needed France to provide logistical materials in France, which made the French very dissatisfied.

The British are also dissatisfied. The war broke out in France, and the British mainland has not been affected. The expeditionary force is completely fighting for France. The precious lives of the soldiers are being wasted. The individual food packs provided were goulash potatoes for the British Expeditionary Force. Although the southern African army preferred potato stew to the individual food packs, the soldiers of the expeditionary force did not think so.

To the embarrassment of the French side, the supplies ordered by the French Ministry of War from southern Africa do not seem to be effectively used. Now there are individual food packs produced in southern Africa on the market. Unscrupulous businessmen with great powers openly sell them on the shelves.

"We should unify our weapons, and your troops can be replaced with Lee Enfield rifles with higher performance." Frenzi "sincerely suggested" to Gallieni. As for Langlezac, Frenzi completely ignored it.

"Why didn't you switch to Lebel rifles? You can't provide enough Lee Enfield to your country's army, and you still need to order them from southern Africa. We have enough Lebel rifles in stock." I think that Britain's traditional advantage is in the sea, the army is not valued, and the arsenal is naturally not valued, so when the army expands, there are not even enough weapons.

France is a traditional military power. Although the performance of the army is not very good, the strength in the field of military manufacturing is still good, especially rifles. During the World War, French arsenals produced a total of nearly 300 million Lebel rifles.

The only regret is that the Lebel rifle is a single-shot rifle. The French have not yet noticed the advantages of the magazine-style rifle. They are really stubborn French, even more stubborn than the Germans. The Germans have begun to gradually change their ammunition. A warehouse-style Mauser rifle.

"Lebel is a weapon that is doomed to be eliminated, and southern Africa is also part of the United Kingdom and an overseas dominion of the British Empire, so we have the ability to equip our own troops with enough rifles." Frenzi insisted, which is what Rock said. It turned out that it gave Ferenzi a chance to be stubborn. In another time and space, the British weapons were ordered from the United States.

"Gentlemen, if the troops need more weapons, our American companies can provide enough help. We have strong military industrial capabilities. We can produce tens of millions of various weapons with just one order. Of course. , We also need various authorizations.” Colonel Edward House, who spoke with such confidence, was the diplomatic adviser to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and had great influence on Woodrow Wilson.

Before the outbreak of the World War, Edward House had been in Europe, working hard for peace, and at the same time desperately trying to win more orders for American companies.

It's a pity that the traitor of the United States has already betrayed the family. Another time and space Kitchener has no choice but to give orders to the United States. Now that there is southern Africa, the orders from the United Kingdom to the United States are all agricultural products.

"Gentlemen, our southern African weapons have always been known for their excellent workmanship and durability. Whether it is Lee Enfield or Lebel, our military industrial enterprises in southern Africa can produce them. We have a large number of skilled workers and a complete and abundant raw material supply chain. , This is our greatest advantage." Fort Lew seized the opportunity to advertise for the Nyasaland Military Industry Group. Rifles are consumables. The Ministry of War's order of 200 million to southern Africa certainly cannot meet the needs of the British Expeditionary Force. The military industrial enterprises in China cannot produce Lee Enfield, so there are still many orders in the future.

"General Lu, when will Lord Nyasaland come to France, I hope to have a chat with Lord Nyasaland then." Edward House is very interested in Rock, although the United States has the "Chinese Exclusion Act" , but Rock is now British.

"We in southern Africa are fighting against Southwest Africa and Tanganyika. After the war between Southwest Africa and Tanganyika is over, I think the Lord will come to Europe soon." Ford Lu smiled reservedly, but his face She couldn't hide her pride, her eyebrows were flying.

"You can indeed end it. The First Cavalry Division has already invaded Sudan. Is there any German army in Sudan?" Frenzi doesn't like soldiers in southern Africa either. From Frenzi's point of view, the generals in southern Africa All too greedy.

The key is to be greedy and have enough ability at the same time, which is too scary.

(End of this chapter)