Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 885 One Third

The world war has only just started for a month, and France has already lost trousers. In the military uniform version that has just been finalized this year, the red trousers have finally been canceled and changed to the same blue-gray color as the top.

At 03:30, the British Expeditionary Force concentrated three divisions and launched a fierce attack on the German Sixth Division.

The British army still did not learn the lesson. The soldiers lined up neatly and marched towards the German positions singing military songs to the rhythm of the drums and bugles.

The 201st Division is the most elite unit in Fort Honor. It receives training from southern African instructors all year round. Except that it is not equipped with artillery, the training mode is exactly the same as that of Rhodesia Northern Division and First Cavalry Division.

Of course, the same training mode does not mean the same combat effectiveness. The combat effectiveness of the 201st Division is still significantly different from that of the Northern Rhodesia Division and the First Cavalry Division.

Martin invested two regiments in the first wave of attack. Although the troops also started in batches, the troops did not form a thin red line, but formed a skirmish line to charge the German positions.

Unlike the British troops with straight backs, the soldiers of the 201st Division charged forward with their waists bent, and made full use of the cover of the terrain. They bent when they should bend, and climbed when they should climb. The 201th Division has already invested two regiments, and has not yet reached within [-] meters of the German position, but the skirmish line of the [-]st Division has already been in close contact with the German army.

Due to the rush of time, the German army had no time to deploy barbed wire and minefields in front of the position. The offensive troops of the 201st Division arrived 50 meters in front of the German position and began to collectively throw grenades.

After throwing out all the grenades they carried with them, the soldiers of the 201st Division jumped into the German trenches with their rifles and engineering shovels in hand.

The battle was extremely fierce. The second battalion and the first company of the Mwaze Infantry Regiment were wiped out in hand-to-hand combat. After the second and third companies combined, only 12 soldiers remained. After the war, only 450 people remained uninjured. A tribe of Mwaze had 280 people who joined the army and all died in the battle. A sergeant of the Kamosamba assault regiment killed 45 German soldiers by himself in hand-to-hand combat. After the war he was awarded the Order of the Star in 14.

Although the casualties were heavy, the 201st Division broke through the defensive positions of the German Sixth Division. The German Sixth Division also suffered heavy casualties. After the war, it was transferred to Luxembourg to rest and return to the battlefield a year later.

The British Expeditionary Force finally broke through the German defenses and posed a huge threat to the flanks of the German First Army. Crook had to retreat across the Marne River. This was just a sentence in the battle reports and newspapers, but in reality it was nearly 60 The troops of the Allied Powers fought bloody battles for a week and paid hundreds of thousands of casualties to obtain the results.

The Battle of the Marne broke out on September 12th, and lasted until NO.26 when the German army took the initiative to retreat. In just one week, the British and French allied forces lost a total of 22 people, and the German army lost 81400 people. The number of casualties has reached [-], and the number of casualties has exceeded that of last month. This result is unacceptable to many people. You must know that the second month of the World War is only halfway through, and the end is still far away. What should we do next?

Specifically, the three divisions in southern Africa had a total strength of 4.2, 7500 were killed and 14000 were injured. After the battle, they were directly withdrawn to Deleux for rest. Referring to the situation of the British and French allied forces, they could not return to the battlefield within this year.

Martin didn't think so. After the troops withdrew to Dreux, Martin integrated the remaining officers and soldiers of the three divisions into an integrated division and an independent brigade to continue fighting on the battlefield. At this time, the third batch of reinforcements and five divisions finally arrived in Paris. The African Expeditionary Force finally won the respect of Joffre and Frenzi with their achievements.

"Marshal Martin, please accept my respect. You have the best officers and soldiers in the world, and you deserve the highest honor." Frenzi congratulated Martin, and George V personally issued a commendation order for the Southern African Expeditionary Force. Martin was also awarded the Order of the Star in 1913.

"Thank you, we are duty-bound to win." Martin was not very happy, at least not as happy as Ferenzi and Joffre.

Frenzi finally repaid the trust of George V and Kitchener with victory, and Joffre passed the crisis of trust safely with the victory of the Battle of the Marne, but the two of them seemed to be dazzled by the victory of the Battle of the Marne, thinking that The German army can be defeated in a short period of time. At the celebration banquet held last night, Frenzi even frivolously said that the war would end within six weeks.

I really don't know where his confidence comes from.

"There are now six divisions in southern Africa. You can take on more important tasks. We will launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army and invade the German mainland through Belgium, so that the Germans can taste the bitterness of launching a war." Xiafei is in the limelight. Jin, before the Battle of the Marne was the most difficult period for Joffre. At that time, the French ruling and opposition parties were discussing whether to replace Joffre.

"Our troops have passed the most difficult stage. Now we should take a proper rest and wait for more reinforcements. When our strength is superior, we can attack the German army." General Gallieni, who was dismissed by Joffre, is still Commander of the Paris Garrison, although he was dismissed, he also made great contributions. During the Battle of the Marne, Gallieni organized 24 taxis in Paris and sent [-] troops to the front line within [-] hours. The safety of Paris was guaranteed.

These taxis are not horse-drawn carriages, they are cars.

In the early days of the Battle of the Marne, the strength of the British and French allied forces on the battlefield was due to their weakness.

However, as time went by, the British and French allied forces continued to receive reinforcements. By September [-]th, the strength of the British and French allied forces had actually surpassed that of the German troops, so they won the final victory.

"This is too conservative. We are in full swing, and we should take advantage of the victory to attack." William Robertson, the acting chief of staff of the British Expeditionary Force, was also a supporter of the theory of quick victory. The loss of the Battle of the Marne had a great impact on the German army. The most direct impact was This led to the resignation of the chief of the German general staff, Mao Qi, and his successor was Falkenhayn, who had served as the German commander-in-chief in Tanganyika.

Although Falkenhayn was not successful in Tanganyika, within the German army, after the resignation of Mao Qi, the German army could no longer find a suitable candidate to take over as chief of staff. Ludendorff is still too young and has insufficient qualifications. Han is the most suitable object.

"Marshal Martin, what's your opinion?" Frenzi took the initiative to ask for Martin's opinion. This does not prove that Frenzi attaches great importance to Martin, but that if the British Expeditionary Force wants to counterattack, it must rely on the six divisions of the Southern African Expeditionary Force.

and the only independent brigade.

"I don't think we can win quickly. The Germans did suffer heavy losses at the Battle of the Marne, but Germany's war potential is far from fully mobilized. We'd better prepare for a long war. The war won't happen in a year or two. Quick end, the most effective way for us now is to gradually consume the war potential of the German army. The German army has no overseas support, and we can mobilize the resources of the colonies around the world to consume the German army. At most two years, or three years, we can consume the Germans alive Instead of exchanging the precious lives of the soldiers for a temporary victory like this." Martin bluntly said that up to now, Martin has done a good job. Although the troops suffered heavy casualties, they successfully won the battle of Frenzi and Gallieni. respect.

Forget about Xiafei, this guy doesn't respect anyone, he only loves himself.

"This is not like what a marshal who just won a victory on the battlefield said—" Haig said with sarcasm. Sure enough, when the Battle of the Marne was in full swing, the unity within the expeditionary force was temporary. Now the German army is retreating. The coalition forces had the upper hand, and the contradictions within the expeditionary force resurfaced.

Haig's character is indeed questionable. Before the war broke out, he tried to compete with Frenzi for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force. In terms of qualifications, ability, or age, Haig is inferior to Frenzi, so Haig fell short.

Haig is only 44 years old. It is still possible to serve as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force in the colonies at this age. Martin is not yet 40 years old, but he is too young in the UK. The military is irresponsible.

"Then what do you think? We will launch an attack immediately, capture Berlin within six weeks, and then hold a military parade in front of the Imperial Palace in Berlin?" Martin was rude, and even Ferenzi satirized that the total strength of the German army now exceeds 300 million, even if If the Germans didn't fight back, they would shoot each of them for six weeks without finishing.

These words are a bit heavy, Haig and Frenzi's faces are not good-looking, Gallieni shook his head and was speechless, the internal contradictions of the coalition forces made Gallieni very disappointed.

"Even if it is to contain the German offensive, we must push the front into Belgium—" Xiafei's words are problematic. If King Albert I of Belgium hears this, Albert I will probably be very depressed .

It’s okay to be depressed, this is the sorrow of a small country with few people. Belgium has not stopped resisting. After the fall of Liege Fortress, Albert I concentrated all his troops to defend Antwerp. Joffre severely warned Albert I that if Belgium loses all of its territory, Then after the war, Albert I would not be able to keep his throne, so Albert I had no choice.

It is said that in Antwerp, Albert I drew a line on the front line, requiring all generals not to retreat, and whoever retreated would be shot.

That's why Belgium can persist until now.

Antwerp's defense line is stronger than the Liege Fortress, surrounded by a defensive circle of 19 modern fortresses, with 10 defenders.

"We counted the materials seized. The German army has a big problem with its supplies. Many soldiers have no food in their bags, and their bullets are about to run out. We found a lot of German corpses in a German field hospital, basically all of them died of There was a lot of blood loss, but this doesn't explain anything. The Germans were too far away from the supply base. They were [-] kilometers away from the supply base before the Battle of the Marne. Now that the Germans are retreating, they will be getting closer and closer to the supply base. If we attack, then We will encounter more and more resistance." Smith Doring was quite calm, and he had the same opinion as Martin.

"It doesn't matter. In the previous phase of the attack, the German army has lost all the well-trained elite troops. Now the German reinforcements are all untrained recruits. It is easy to defeat them." Xia Fei insisted that although the German army had many recruits, But the loss of all the elite troops is definitely an exaggeration. The German army had 79 people before the war, and now it has lost one-third.

one third!

(End of this chapter)