Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 883 Contrast only hurts

Will Frenzi give Martin enough artillery support?

No, the British Expeditionary Force does not have enough artillery. Infantry can conduct assault training, but artillery cannot. Scientists need a long period of accumulation to form combat effectiveness.

So will Martin attack the German First Army before receiving enough artillery support?

Also no, Martin only has three divisions under his command, and the 105th Division is not full of members, so it must be used sparingly. Although southern Africa needs to improve its record, it cannot let soldiers die in vain.

In the end, Martin was supported by an artillery brigade, but it was not from Frenzi, but from Joffre. The war was far away from the British mainland, so the British could wait, but the French could not afford to wait, and it would be over after Paris.

The commander of the artillery brigade was Robert Nivelle, who had shined in previous battles and had just been promoted to brigadier general.

"Marshal, Brigadier General Robert Nivelle of the 43rd Artillery Brigade is reporting to you—" Robert Nivelle looked at the marshal's collar badge on Martin's collar, his eyes full of envy.

A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a general who does not want to be a marshal is not a good general either.

In fact, they are all similar. The brigadier general's collar badge is also made of gold, and the gold content is the same. At this time, the quantity is overwhelming.

"General Nivelle, you can just call me Martin—" Martin was a little surprised. Robert Nivelle, like Petain, is 57 years old this year. Neither of them was a general before the outbreak of the World War. Thanks to the World War, Both Nivelle and Petain performed well, and they were promoted to brigadier generals. It can be said that the French military system is rigid enough, and they can retire at the age of 57 in southern Africa.

Strictly speaking, a brigadier general is not a general, but roughly equivalent to a colonel.

Although Martin's attitude towards Nivelle is not bad, but if Rock is here, he may have more respect for Nivelle.

Now Nivelle may not have imagined that he will replace Joffre as the commander-in-chief of the French army two years later.

To Martin's surprise, the artillery brigade led by Nivelle was only equipped with 36 75mm infantry guns, which was far from that of the British and Germans. British artillery brigades were usually equipped with 54 83.8-pound (caliber 18 mm) artillery Plus eighteen 4.5-inch (114.3 mm caliber) guns.

The German artillery brigade is similar to the British, with 54 77mm field guns and 18 105mm howitzers.

"The artillery equipped in Germany has a slow firing speed, and its efficiency is far from that of the 75mm infantry guns we equip. One of our artillery brigades can easily suppress a German artillery brigade. We used the 75mm infantry guns to repel the first The attack of the group army." Nivelle was deeply poisoned, and like most French generals, he did not think that there was a problem with the French artillery thinking.

Compared with similar field guns in Britain and Germany, Miss Seventy-Five has a huge advantage. The 15-pound field gun equipped in the UK has a rate of fire of ten rounds per minute, which is fast enough. Miss Seventy-Five has a rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute. The limit state can reach [-] rounds per minute.

The biggest problem of the French Artillery Brigade is the lack of large-caliber artillery. Although Miss Seventy-Five has good performance, its range and power are limited after all, and it cannot suppress the 105mm howitzers of the German army. Attacking the artillery units of the French army outside the range, so in the previous battles, Nivelle had to deploy Miss Seventy-Five in the front line, so as to threaten the 105mm howitzers of the German First Army.

"Get ready today, we will attack tomorrow morning." Martin had no intention of arguing about this issue. The African Division in southern Africa did not have a professional artillery brigade, and the troops were equipped with only a small number of mortars. The Rhodesian Northern Division and the First Cavalry Division Each has an artillery brigade, equipped with 54 75mm field guns and 18 120mm howitzers. The firepower output is stronger than that of the British and German main forces. The Nyasaland Military Industry Group is still working on 120mm self-propelled howitzers. Available for service.

The howitzer has the performance of both the cannon and the howitzer. When shooting with a large charge and a small firing angle, the performance of the howitzer is similar to that of the cannon, and can produce the effect of the cannon; when shooting with a small charge and a large firing angle , plus a howitzer is similar to a howitzer and can be used as a howitzer.

The howitzer is not unique to southern Africa. Germany is also conducting similar research. In another time and space, Germany successfully developed the world's first howitzer in the second year after the outbreak of World War II. The artillery researched by various countries will be It is a howitzer, but they are all named after the howitzer.

Self-propelled artillery is not an original creation of southern Africa. Both Russia and France are conducting similar research, but their progress is far behind that of southern Africa. Russia installed the 76mm artillery on the chassis of a truck and developed the world's first self-propelled artillery. A self-propelled artillery, France has just started research in this area. The Nyasaland Military Industry Group hopes to install the self-produced 125 howitzer on the chassis of the tank. This is the real self-propelled artillery.

Although Martin wanted to give the troops more rest time, the Germans obviously didn't think so. On the evening of the 201th, Grom's troops launched an attack on the 201st Division. The battle was fierce, and Grom invested two regiments. , under the cover of artillery, launched an attack on a regiment of the 201st Division. The [-]st Division was outnumbered and withdrew from the position within an hour of the start of the battle.

"Can't last even an hour, why?" Martin was furious, and directly questioned Brian Mullen, the commander of the 201st Division.

"The enemy's numbers are too many, and there are artillery assistance. When the troops withdraw, there are less than 300 people left. There is a problem with our troop deployment." Brian Mullen is also very helpless. The German infantry division has two brigades. The four-regiment system, each regiment has nearly 3300 people. The 201st Division is a temporary unit. It uses the three-brigade and nine-regiment system. Each regiment has a little more than 1000 people. The division's will to fight is already very tenacious.

"Don't make excuses for me. I don't care what you do. Before sunrise tomorrow, the position must be regained!" Martin didn't listen to Brian Mullen's explanation. Everyone has difficulties, and everyone is holding on. Let's see who can hold it.

"I need artillery support." Brian Mullen is not afraid of war, he is also a southern African, and he will not care about the casualties of the Fort Honor troops.

Martin also knew that it would be difficult to regain the position without artillery support, so Nivelle's artillery had to cooperate with the 201st Division to fight overnight.

At this time, we can see the strength of the French army as an army power. After Martin issued the combat order, Nivelle's troops completed their combat preparations within two hours, and then began to attack the German army with firepower.

In Martin's concept, firepower preparation usually takes half an hour to cover the infantry unit's arrival at the starting position, and then extend the artillery to form a battlefield partition, and the infantry begins to charge. This is infantry coordination.

The guiding ideology of the French artillery is obviously not like this. Nivelle's artillery has been bombarding for an hour, and has no intention of stopping, so Martin has to take the initiative to stop.

In one hour, 36 75mm infantry guns fired more than [-] rounds of shells. Modern warfare is really unaffordable for ordinary countries.

In order to regain the position, Brian Mullen dispatched a brigade and two regiments. This brigade was originally the reserve team of the 201st Division, but it was sent to the battlefield on the first day of the battle. The cruelty of the war is evident.

The Germans did not expect that the 201st Division would attack overnight. The army of this era generally seldom fights at night. The 201st Division regained its position, but nearly 201 officers and soldiers were killed or injured. After one night, more than half of the [-]st Division was disabled.

Martin's hands trembled when he saw the battle report. The cruelty of the world war was far beyond Martin's imagination. Southern Africa captured Southwest Africa, and both sides suffered only a few hundred casualties. Before Martin came to France, he had done his best to deal with the casualties The preparations were heavy, but the severity was beyond Martin's expectations. Let alone launching an attack on the flank of the First Army, I am afraid that the three divisions in southern Africa would last for three days in the face of the First Army. Can't live.

Three days is overrated.

On September 201th, not only the 1.7st Division was fighting, but the British Expeditionary Force and the German Army in the gap between the German First Army and the Second Army engaged in full-scale combat. Frenzi invested eight divisions, all of which were British troops. The main force, the British Expeditionary Force suffered [-] casualties on the first day of the battle.

What Martin didn't expect was that when the 201st Division sent the wounded soldiers to the field hospital set up in southern Africa, he learned that the field hospital no longer admitted ordinary soldiers, and only officers were eligible to be sent to the field hospital for treatment.

It is understandable when you think about it. After all, the field hospital has better equipment, more medicines, and doctors are more experienced in dealing with the wounded. On the entire front, the casualties of the British and French coalition forces exceed 3 people every day, even if only one-tenth of the wounded are There are more than [-] officers, and the doctors in the field hospital are too busy even if they have three heads and six arms.

Although he knew the situation was serious, Martin still couldn't accept it. The field hospital was prepared by the Ministry of National Defense of Southern Africa for the Southern African Expeditionary Force. It began to treat the wounded of the British and French coalition forces out of humanitarian reasons. As a result, the wounded in Southern Africa are now unavailable. All officers and soldiers in southern Africa were filled with righteous indignation.

"France is such a powerful country, why doesn't it even have a field hospital?" Martin really couldn't figure it out. With so many universities in France, is it difficult to add a medical school?

"Our medical system is not prepared for everyone. The rich and powerful can only get good care when they get sick, and the poor can only wait to die at home when they get sick." Nivelle is not polite, not only in France, but also in Britain, Germany and Russia. Similarly, the entire national system serves the rich and powerful, and ordinary people are just tool people.

After listening to Neville's words, Martin and Brian Mullen looked at each other. Strictly speaking, the national system in southern Africa also serves the powerful, but it does not ignore the interests of ordinary people. There are private doctors in Pretoria and Johannesburg. There are high-end clinics, but there are also general hospitals for the common people.

It really hurts only when there is a contrast.

(End of this chapter)