Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 903 Dead Silence

The brutal battle has new things happening every day. In a village in Flanders, two wounded soldiers who hadn’t been transferred to the rear depended on each other. When smoking, I had to ask another wounded soldier with a wounded leg to help, so the wounded soldier with a wounded leg smoked a pipe, and the wounded soldier with a wounded jaw and arms smelled it, and became the poorest person in all Flanders.

The Southern African Expeditionary Force retreated to Calais to rest after the Battle of Ypres. The end of the war was nowhere in sight, and the frontline soldiers had limited capacity. Every three weeks, the frontline troops had to retreat to the rear position for a week of rest before returning to the frontline.

The stubborn Joffre and Frenzi both hoped that the Southern Africa Expeditionary Force would take on more important tasks and break through the German defenses.

However, the backup troops of the British and French allied forces were seriously insufficient. Rock worried that even if the Southern African Expeditionary Force captured the German positions, they would not be able to hold on due to insufficient reinforcements.

Different from the "offensive first" recognized by the British and French allied forces, Southern Africa has always emphasized that the defense should be stabilized first, and then gradually consume the enemy with sufficient mobilization capabilities, and finally win the victory, striving for the greatest gains at the least cost.

Compared with Germany's dominant army, the biggest advantage of the British and French coalition forces is the vast colonies that can provide continuous support. Therefore, Roque firmly opposes taking the initiative to attack the German army on the premise that the German army has the upper hand.

Entering November, Joffre began to use his "small bites and slow eating" tactic, but the effect was not good. By mid-November, the French army lost another 2 people and failed to make any progress.

"The Second Cavalry Division has the largest number of machine guns in the entire Anglo-French Allied Forces. Now with the help of large-caliber artillery, it has the ability to attack the German army. We need to take back South Persia, otherwise we will not be able to stabilize the line of defense." Xia Xia Fei always thinks about attacking, and does not hesitate to do so.

Rock was unmoved. The most elite German First Guard Regiment was guarding South Persia. The commander was Prince Eitel Friedrich, who had performed well in the Battle of the Marne. It was because Eitel Friedrich led the First Guard Regiment to hold the position that the German First Army and Second Army could retreat completely.

There is also a problem with the Southern African Expeditionary Force. Although the artillery unit has arrived in France, because of the heavy rain in Flanders some time ago and Albert I opened the floodgates, Flanders has become a vast ocean, and cars cannot drive at all. It takes 16 draft horses to send a 120mm howitzer to Ypres. Rock hopes to wait until winter arrives and the ground freezes before attacking. Now the British and French allied forces do not have enough cotton coats. This is the problem that the British and French allied forces urgently need to solve.

"Our troops need more cotton coats, soldiers are fighting in trenches full of rats and silt, our worst enemy is not the Germans, it's the damn weather, if there aren't enough cotton coats before it snows, you all know What consequences will that lead to?" Rock repeatedly emphasized the problem of cotton clothes, and the logistics of the British and French coalition forces was too bad.

In fact, Germany is not much better. Although the weather in November has not yet snowed, the weather is already very cold. Many soldiers on the Eastern Front further north have suffered from frostbite. The weather has become Russia's biggest boost. The coalition offensive is slowing down, and the Russian Empire is gradually stabilizing its defenses.

Compared with the British and French allied forces, the weather poses a greater threat to the southern African expeditionary force. In southern Africa, only the southernmost Cape Town occasionally snows, and places like Rhodesia and Nyasaland almost never snow, and neither do the troops. Prepare cotton clothes. When they came to France, the soldiers of the Southern African Expeditionary Force had only one blanket. Many front-line soldiers had to wear all the clothes, but they were still unable to resist the increasingly cold weather.

"There will be cotton-padded clothes. The most important task now is to drive the Germans out of Belgium and win the battle. We need a great victory to unite the hearts of the people." This is the consensus of Joffre and Frenzi. Soldiers on the front line launched a group charge to the German positions.

It's like letting soldiers die.

"Lord Nyasaran, earlier you asked for command of the troops, you got it, then you asked for more artillery, now you have it, now you ask for enough cotton coats, when will your troops be able to send to the Germans How about launching an attack from the position?" Frenzi's dissatisfaction with Rock is also increasing, the British Expeditionary Force has many internal contradictions, and the troops from the colonies do not obey Frenzi's orders very much.

Originally, the Canadian Legion and the Indian Legion were quite obedient. Although the combat effectiveness of the Canadian Legion and the Indian Legion was not very good, the Canadian Legion and the Indian Legion did not lose their courage. After arriving in France, they fought bravely and were not afraid of sacrifice. Has been withdrawn to Calais for rest.

Unlike the rotation and rest of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, the Canadian Legion and the Indian Legion were directly disabled, so they had to retreat, just like the Southern African Expeditionary Force some time ago.

"Your Excellency Marshal, my troops will only go into battle when they are fully prepared." Rock insisted that after the Battle of the Marne, the Southern African Expeditionary Force never lost its position again. Before that, the Second Cavalry Division defended. After the Second Cavalry Division took a break, the French Ninth Army took over the position.

As a result, the Ninth Army not only failed to defend South Persia, but also abandoned a large amount of supplies when the position was lost, many of which were urgently needed by the German army.

Before the World War, all the participating countries seriously underestimated the consumption of the World War. Since the Battle of the Marne, the British and French allied forces began to encounter difficulties in supplying materials, and so did Germany.

The better point is that although the United Kingdom blocked the German coastline and prevented Germany from obtaining materials from the outside world, Germany has strong industrial capabilities and outstanding scientists. They solved the shortage of industrial raw materials in a short period of time.

For example, camphor, one of the raw materials that must be used to make gunpowder, was imported from Japan before the World War. After the war broke out, Japan soon declared war on Germany and launched an attack on Germany’s colonies in Asia. All trade related to Germany was suspended, Germany could not get enough camphor, and could not produce enough gunpowder.

German scientists solved the problem in a short time and began to extract camphor from turpentine.

The same is true for nitrogen. Before the outbreak of World War II, Germany had to import Chilean sea guano to extract nitrogen, but soon scientists discovered that enough nitrogen could also be extracted from the air.

Later, German scientists also used wood instead of American cotton to extract acetone and used it to make nitroglycerin. In short, through their own efforts, German scientists found a lot of materials that needed to be imported before the outbreak of World War II in Germany, which strongly supported the frontline battle.

To be honest, if there is anything in Germany that Rock is envious of now, it is the German scientists. After the end of another time and space world war, the United States has become the biggest winner.

"Then there will never be a time to be fully prepared." Haig taunted mercilessly. The better the performance of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, the more incompetent the generals of the British Expeditionary Force.

Rock did not respond to the second-hand remarks, and expressed his helplessness. Three days later, London sent [-] cotton-padded clothes to Dover. This is only the first batch, and more cotton-padded clothes will be sent over in the future.

These cotton coats were ordered by the British War Office from the United States.

In mid-November, the British government underwent a reshuffle. Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, Minister of War Kitchener, Secretary of the Navy Winston, and Minister of Finance Lloyd George formed the War Council. It is the supreme body of the British Expeditionary Force.

Later, in a survey conducted by the Morley Research Company, Lloyd George ranked third among the prime ministers of the United Kingdom in his evaluation as prime minister, and Winston ranked first.

When Lloyd George was the Minister of Finance, he was Winston's deadly enemy, or the entire British aristocracy.

On August 1911, 8, the British Parliament passed the "Parliament Act", which for the first time made clear regulations on the legal relationship between the two houses of the British Parliament.

The "Parliament Act" determines that the finance bill is "a public relations bill". After each finance bill is certified by the Speaker of the House of Commons, the House of Lords may not amend or veto it. Once approved by the King of England, it immediately becomes law.

On the surface, this law simplified the approval process of the fiscal law, increased government revenue, and made it easier for Britain to deal with the arms race at that time.

In fact, the "Parliament Act" fundamentally deprived the House of Lords of the power to discuss financial bills. The British House of Lords is composed of aristocrats, and the House of Commons is composed of emerging bourgeoisie. The "Parliament Act" began the taxation of robbing the rich and giving to the poor, and the aristocratic assets became the hardest hit area again.

Regardless of the relationship between Lloyd George and Winston, in the face of a powerful Germany, Lloyd George and Winston can only temporarily put aside the controversy. These two are smart people, and they know what to do when thing.

Rock is also a smart person. Now that the War Council once again met Rock's request, Rock must also repay the trust of the War Council. Therefore, on November 11th, the 25st and 101nd Divisions, which were supplemented with troops and restored to the organizational system, launched an attack on South Persia. .

At this time, Chen's defenders in South Persia were no longer the 92st Guards Regiment, but the newly formed [-]nd Infantry Division, and the German army was also taking turns to rest.

At 07:30 in the morning, the First Artillery Division, which had finally arrived at the scheduled combat position, began shelling South Persia Chen. This was the first time that the British and French allied forces used large-scale artillery on a large scale.

The effect of the large-caliber artillery was astonishing. After half an hour, the whole of South Persia disappeared from the ground. When the 101st Division rushed to the German positions, the German positions were completely silent.

(End of this chapter)