Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 896

Roque was having breakfast when the German army started preparing for firepower. Now in Ypres, Roque has the highest military rank. Frenzi has returned to Paris. Like Joffre, he often visits the troops, but rarely visits the frontline troops.

Although Roque's rank is high, Roque does not have the right to command the British and French coalition forces. Smith Doring and Haig will not obey Roque's command, and Foch will not obey Roque's orders. There is no real union.

It has been nearly a month, and the battle in Ypres is happening every day. Whether it is the British and French coalition forces or the German army, they will carry out long-term firepower preparations before launching an attack. Every morning in Ypres starts with the sound of rumbling guns, Rock It's not surprising.

At 08:30, Rock received a telegram from Wei Zheng, the commander of the 11th Division, that the German army dispatched at least two divisions to attack the positions of the 11th Division across the board.

The 11th Division is good at tunnel operations, and the trenches are well built. Xia Fei equipped the 11th Division with an artillery brigade to cooperate with the operation. Although they are all 75mm field guns, they are no problem for defense, so Rock is not worried about the 11th Division. Whether the teacher can withstand it.

Rock is more worried about the Canadian and Indian legions that have just been sent to the battlefield.

The Canadian Legion is better. The commander is Roque's old friend Marcos Lloyd. Marcos Lloyd's current rank is general. This has climbed very fast in Canada, but not as fast as Roque .

The Canadian Legion that just arrived in France has only two divisions, and the Indian Legion has eight divisions, but the troops are only equipped with Lee Enfield, and the proportion of automatic weapons is very small. There is no artillery at all like the Southern African Expeditionary Force. It is difficult to hold the German army s attack.

Unlike southern Africa, which is strictly required, the Indian army is an "almost" army. It is hard for Rock to imagine that the eight divisions of the Indian army are not exactly the same. The smallest number is only 1. The largest number was 8000.

Although the military establishment in southern Africa is different, it is because the military sources in southern Africa are complex, some are from southern Africa, some are from Tanganyika, and some are from the Kingdom of Mozambique, so it is understandable that the military establishment is different. They were all established by the Indian colonial government, so it is difficult to understand the different establishments.

The difference in formation is not the main problem. Apart from the formation, the equipment of the Indian army is also similar. Although it seems to be a single shot, there is a problem with the training of the soldiers, which is just about passable. The quality of the officers is also problematic. The logistics supply of the army is also at the same level. When all the "almost" are accumulated together, the combat effectiveness of the army is very serious.

Cooperating with the 11th Division is the Second Indian Division. If the principle of forming troops in southern Africa is followed, the higher the number, the stronger the combat effectiveness of the troops. Therefore, Wei Zheng is still looking forward to the Second Indian Division.

"Sorry, the Second Division has just arrived in Europe, and they have just arrived in Europe. They need more time to adapt." The commander of the Indian Second Division is Major General Elvis Jeffrey. The more Southern Africa is different, the officers of the Indian Army are all white British, from top to bottom.

"No. 11 of the second division has already arrived in Calais, rested in Calais for a week, and then it took three days to come to Ypres, need more time to adapt?" Wei Zheng really couldn't accept it, it sounded like Calais The distance to Ypres seems to be hundreds of kilometers, so it takes three days to arrive. In fact, the distance between Calais and Ypres is only 70 kilometers.

70 kilometers, if it is an army in southern Africa, it will take a day to make a quick march.

"Three days is already fast, Wei, don't expect too much from the Indian army. To be honest, they can dig trenches and move things. I don't recommend sending them to the battlefield. They can't fight the German army at all." Elvis knew his troops very well. Don't think that the southern African army performed well on the battlefield, and all the colonial servants should perform well. The Indian army is the level that the colonial servants should be.

"Then why are you still sending troops from India? They will only consume our supplies and increase our logistical pressure." Wei Zheng was surprised, the jewel in the crown is at this level——

Simply indescribable!

"At least it can increase our advantage on paper." Elvis British humor, no matter how useful the eight divisions can be, at least on paper, the number of British expeditionary forces has increased by 10 people.

Wei Zheng really couldn't understand this kind of thinking. Since the Indian army is unreliable, he still has to rely on himself.

The point is that in this way, the Indian army can also share in the glory of victory after the battle. This is disgusting, and it will encourage the dangerous thinking of getting something for nothing. Now Wei Zheng finally understands why Rock hates Indians. It is indeed strange.

When Wei Zheng and Elvis were complaining about the Indian army, Robin and Clara, who were hiding in the trenches, were also complaining about the Indian army.

The tunnel work of the 11th Division is very good. The depth of the two-meter-wide trench is also two meters. The trench is covered with a layer of logs. There are foxholes where soldiers fight, a machine gun position at 50 meters, and a bunker with more protection at 100 meters. The facilities in the bunker are complete. There is an operating room in the clinic for simple operations, and there are even flush toilets in the bathroom.

When the enemy launched a fire attack, except for the necessary observers, the entire company had to hide in the trenches and wait for the German troops to charge before entering the combat position.

Now the trench is a bit crowded, and the ventilation system seems to have a problem. There is an indescribable smell in the air, and Robin feels like he is in a cesspit.

"What the hell is this smell? Did someone go to the toilet and didn't flush it—" Robin realized something was wrong after going to the toilet, and there would be such a strong smell after going to the toilet and not flushing it.

"Those Indians—" Clara gestured to the Indian next to her, and silently took out her gas mask.

The German army has not yet used poison gas on the battlefield, but the troops in southern Africa have been equipped with gas masks, and the troops of the British and French coalition forces have not.

When Haig was purchasing in southern Africa, Roque had recommended gas masks to Haig, but Haig did not purchase them, thinking that the troops did not need them at all.

It looks like next year the BEF will pay for Haig's mistakes.

"Damn it—" Robin moved to the Indian soldiers on the other side of the trench, and the smell was really stronger.

"Captain Black, can you drive your people out, the smell is too bad--" Robin protested to Captain Black of the Indian Second Division. Black didn't have a gas mask and covered his nose with a handkerchief.

"Where can I let them go?" Black was also very helpless. In the current situation, driving them out of the trenches is tantamount to letting them die.

Let the Indian soldiers work. Although the Indian soldiers are working hard, they will finally do it. If you let them die——

I am afraid that Indian soldiers are going to rebel.

"Let them lie down behind the trenches, or we don't have to wait for the Germans to attack, we're all suffocated to death, can't you let them take a bath--" Robin couldn't bear it, the Germans hadn't used poison gas yet , Indians smell like poisonous gas.

Caucasians actually have a strong smell, and Africans have a stronger smell. This has nothing to do with whether they like to take a bath or not. Their natural sweat gland system is more developed. If you don’t pay attention to hygiene——

In the southern African army, whether they are white or Chinese Africans, they must take a bath every day, and some even have to wash several times a day.

This is in southern Africa. The conditions in Ypres are insufficient, and there is no condition for taking a bath every day, but the good hygiene habits developed for a long time still play a role. Even if they do not take a bath for a day or two, the white soldiers in the 11th Division still smell bad. It is acceptable.

The second division is hard to describe. They smell like they have never had a bath since they were born, and they have to never wipe their buttocks to get to this level when they go to the toilet.

"Since I became this fucking company commander, I have forced them to take a bath every day, but it's useless. You may not be able to imagine that these people used cow dung to bathe when they were in their hometown-" Blake complained crazily, but it was more than Bathing with cow dung, these people also drink cow urine.

Of course, according to the standards of Indians, it is normal to bathe and drink cow urine with cow dung. This is their way of preventing and treating diseases. After all, cows are sacred cows in India. Since they are "gods", they are even the excrement of gods. It is also sacred.

"Damn it, how can you bear it—" Robin collapsed. He would rather face a thousand German soldiers than a hundred Indians.

"I can't stand it either, but what the hell can I do?" Black is not stupid, but he is helpless against Indians.

"No, I'll see if the Germans have launched an attack—" Clara put on a mask to no avail. She felt that the cow dung had seeped into her body along the pores, so she would rather brave the German artillery fire to observe the German army's movements than hide. Smell in the trenches—

What a delight!

Many soldiers have already risked their lives to enter the combat position. In fact, as long as they don’t raise their heads, there is not much danger in the combat position. Of course, this is because the German army did not use large-caliber artillery such as the "Big Berta" and "Slender Emma". Under the premise, if a shell from a large-caliber artillery falls near a foxhole, it will be useless even if you lie on your stomach, and you will be shocked to death.

So far, most of the casualties of the 11nd Cavalry Division and the [-]th Division have been caused by the large-caliber artillery of the German army.

At the Marne River, the German army did not have large-caliber artillery to assist in the battle because of the difficulty in transferring large-caliber artillery. Ypres was in Belgium.

(End of this chapter)