Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 932

After the new cabinet was formed, Lloyd George became the newly formed Minister of Munitions.

After taking office, Lloyd George began drastic reforms. He first used his influence in Congress to push Congress to push the Munitions Act, and then announced that the workers in the arsenal would not be allowed to strike, and drastically increased heavy artillery and shells. output, and limit the profiteering behavior of arms suppliers.

Well, Lloyd George hasn't dealt with Rock yet, so he doesn't know what kind of person Rock is.

Soon Lloyd George knew.

Southern Africa is now the munitions supplier of the United Kingdom and even the entire Allied Powers. After Lloyd George became the Minister of Munitions, he required all suppliers of the War Department to reduce the prices of all military-related materials in accordance with the Munitions Act. The Ministry of Munitions arranged for production, and at the same time asked Fawalt Steel, the largest steel supplier in the UK, to reduce the price of special steel to the level before the outbreak of the World War in 1913.

Before the Nyasaran Military Industry Group could speak, Fawalt Steel Company directly announced that the price of all steel, including special steel, had risen by 50.00% due to the increase in costs.

Love to buy or not.

40.00% of the steel required for the production of domestic factories in the UK comes from Fawalt Steel Company, and more than 70.00% of the special steel related to military industry comes from Fawalt Steel Company.

So after the Fawalt Steel Company announced the price increase, Lloyd George was immediately dumbfounded. Only then did he realize that using political means to deal with the colonial industrial bosses did not seem to have much effect. Colonial officials like Rock and Henry were not gentle Local officials like Ston and Kitchener were obedient.

After the establishment of the new cabinet, Kitchener's rights were also greatly restricted. Asquith required the Ministry of War to submit regular reports on completed work and work plans for a period of time in the future, which actually greatly restricted Kitchener's Na's freedom, the power to choose the battlefield was also handed over to the Chief of Staff of the Royal Army, and Kitchina lost most of his rights and lost control of the war.

Like Fawalt Steel, Nyasaland also announced later in the day that prices for all military-related products had risen due to rising costs.

The South African company's response was a little slow, and it was announced the next day that the agricultural products exported by the South African company to Europe had a huge reduction in production due to insufficient rainfall in the rainy season this year, and the price rose by 50.00%.

Compared with Henry and Stoudemire, Rock is still restrained, and the price has only increased by 30.00%.

Lloyd George refused to admit defeat, and he still had a response plan. In response to the price increases of Fawalt Steel Company and Nyasaland Military Industry Group, Lloyd George claimed in Congress that he would look for new product suppliers around the world.

The only country that can replace Southern Africa industrially, or in other words, have a stronger industrial capacity than Southern Africa, is the United States, which has not yet joined the war.

This move must have been wrong. The Americans, who had been trying to get more orders, were ecstatic about Lloyd George's decision. Almost all the British except Lloyd George opposed this decision.

Even if Fawalt Steel Company and Nyasaland Military Industry Group increase their prices, these two companies are also British companies.

Obviously, companies in their own country are capable of supplying products, but they want to seek American products to enter the British market. The British media, mainly The Times, attacked Lloyd George at length. Lloyd George was described as a traitor and an American People's spies, not only newspapers and magazines are full of firepower against Lloyd George, British companies are also scolding Lloyd George, American products flood into the UK, and it is not only Fawalt Steel Company and Nyasaland Military Industry Group.

Compared with the turbulent public opinion, the opposition to Lloyd George in the Liberal Party is also increasing. The Liberal Party represented by the interests of the emerging bourgeoisie also opposes Lloyd George's decision. The financial industry represented by the Rand Bank and the Imperial Bank In the final stab at Lloyd George, the banking industry jointly announced a 5.00% increase in the base interest rate on loans.

5.00% may not seem like much, but under the premise that the world war is going on and the loan interest rate has already overwhelmed the enterprise, it is tantamount to the last straw that crushes the camel's camel.

Most of the shareholders of the Imperial Bank are traditional British aristocrats. They don't like Lloyd George. Aristocratic politicians like Winston are their natural spokespersons for their interests.

Although Winston has always been rebellious, his position can be changed, but his background cannot be changed.

While the London undercurrent was turbulent, the Battle of the Dardanelles was in progress. The 402nd Division that sniped the Second Army of the Ottoman Empire was disabled. Rock continued to recruit the 403rd Division, but the 403rd Division was disabled again in less than three days.

Rock had to send the 13th Division, which barely withstood the crazy attack of the Second Army of the Ottoman Empire.

The 13th Division is a unit mainly composed of officers and soldiers from the Transvaal. More than 70.00% of the officers and soldiers are Chinese, and the equipment is second to none in the entire Mediterranean expeditionary force.

On the rugged Garibaldi Peninsula, heavy artillery is difficult to move in the mountains, so it is useless at all. The mortars and grenade launchers equipped by the 13th Division are very powerful. Compared with heavy artillery, mortars and howitzers The launcher is more convenient to move. After dismantling, three people can pick it up and go. When using it, the requirements for the environment are not high, but the power is not small at all, especially the grenade launcher. It is a big weapon against the poorly equipped Ottoman troops. Killer, more than 60.00% of the casualties of the Second Ottoman Army were caused by grenade launchers.

At the same time as the sniper battle started, 501, 502, the British 29th Division and the Anzac Army who landed on the island in the early stage joined forces to attack the Fifth Army of the Ottoman Empire in the south of the Garibaldi Peninsula.

The British 29th Division and the Anzacs made little progress. They faced the heavily defended positions of the Fifth Army, and every step was difficult among the steep cliffs and rugged mountains.

The support of the Fifth Army has been cut off, and the forts on the north side of the Dardanelles are useless due to lack of shells. Rock sent troops to land from the coast of the Dardanelles under the cover of the Mediterranean Fleet and blow up all the forts on both sides. , All the Ottoman ships in the Sea of ​​Marmara were also sunk. The Mediterranean Fleet attacked in an orderly manner.

Compared with the struggling 29th Division of the British Army and the Anzac Army still trapped on the beach, the 501st and 502nd Divisions made rapid progress.

These two units are composed of East Indians who are accustomed to fighting in the mountains. The officers are basically Chinese. The complex terrain of the Garibaldi Peninsula is an insurmountable natural moat for the 29th Division of the British Army and the Anzac Army. For the 501 For the officers and soldiers of the two units, the Division and the 502 Division, it is commonplace.

Compared with the Ottoman troops, who were in an increasingly difficult situation and could not even guarantee bullets, the 501st and 502nd divisions were well equipped, with perfect logistics, and the cooperation of near-ground support aircraft and the Mediterranean Fleet, and the attack went smoothly.

On May 23, on the [-]rd day after the landing at Bolayères, the last unit of the Fifth Army surrendered in Yalova. There may still be sporadic remnants of the Fifth Army in the mountains, but the Dardanelles have already been formed. Not a threat, the Battle of the Dardanelles achieved a phased victory.

On May 1500, just before the Fifth Army was wiped out, the German-Austrian Allied Forces launched an attack on the Third Army of the Russian Empire in Görceli. The army's position fired 70 shells. The types of shells were very complicated, including high-explosive shells and shrapnel shells, as well as poison gas shells.

After the bombardment, the German-Austrian Allied Forces invested 18 divisions to attack the Third Army of the Russian Empire, which had only five and a half divisions left. Cannon.

The captain of the transportation team really lived up to his reputation.

On May 46, the Second Battle of Artois broke out. After Smith Doring resigned, Haig became the commander-in-chief of the First Army of the British Expeditionary Force. Haig mobilized six divisions to attack the German positions defended by only two regiments. Launching an attack, it seems that there is a huge gap in strength between the offensive and defensive sides. In fact, the performance of the two parties on the battlefield is almost one-sided. Because of the lack of shells, the artillery of the First Army only shelled the German positions for 11600 minutes before the attack. After a winter, the German army whose positions had been gradually perfected was almost scratching the surface. The First Army lost 450 officers and soldiers, including [-] officers, on the first day of the offensive.

Haig launched two consecutive attacks on May 5 and May 16. The casualties of the British Expeditionary Force increased by 5, and the German position was still unbreakable. subject to any punishment.

The attack of the First Army was part of the Second Battle of Artois. While the British Expeditionary Force was attacking, the French troops also launched an attack on the German positions. The battle of Tuva had been prepared for four months, which he called the spring offensive.

Before launching the offensive, Joffre mobilized 1200 artillery pieces and bombarded the positions of the German Sixth Army led by Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria for six days. Eighteen shells were dropped on every yard of the German positions. After the offensive began, For a time the French had the upper hand, and the troops advanced three miles.

Ruprecht resisted tenaciously and withstood the attack of the French army. On May 6th, the heavy rain poured down. The attacking French army struggled in the mud, unable to launch a larger-scale offensive, and the occupation fell into a stalemate. By June 18th At the end of the battle, the French lost 12 men and the Germans less than [-].

Joffre and Haig were not frightened by the huge number of casualties. Just after the second Battle of Artois, Joffre began to plan the third Battle of Artois. The new plan would not be implemented until autumn. Called the "Autumn Offensive".

When Rock saw the battle report, he could only sigh that they were really a group of butchers.

(End of this chapter)