Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 967 The Unlucky Anzacs

When the Southern African Expeditionary Force was still in the combat sequence of the British Expeditionary Force, no matter what time it was, the Southern African Expeditionary Force was unlucky.

Now most of the Southern African Expeditionary Force has been transferred to the Mediterranean, and only the three artillery divisions of the Southern African Expeditionary Force remain in France, and unfortunately they were replaced by the Anzac Army.

If you look at it this way, the Anzacs are unluckier than the Southern African Expeditionary Force, at least in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the Southern African Expeditionary Force can get enough rest.

In this attack organized by Haig, the Anzacs were still the vanguard.

This is also helpless. After the Southern African Expeditionary Force was transferred, the total strength of the Anzac Army in France reached 20, making it the largest servant force in the British Expeditionary Force.

Before the start of the battle, according to the tradition of the Anglo-French Allied Forces, the artillery units of the British Expeditionary Force shelled the German positions for 12 hours. Three artillery divisions in southern Africa also participated in the battle. At this time, the British Expeditionary Force had 900 pieces of artillery .

Behind the artillery position of the 21st Division, the shells piled up as high as a hill, and the trucks were still sending up the shells continuously. An Indian division was responsible for sending the shells to the position.

In the winter that just passed, the snow in Mons was not too heavy, but the snow kept falling, and after melting, it froze into ice again. one piece.

The boys of the Artillery Division were in full swing, and many of them went into battle shirtless regardless of the severe winter. At this time, they didn't care about uniformity, as long as they threw more shells on the German positions in the shortest possible time.

On the starting position in front of the artillery position, the [-]rd Anzac Reorganized Division has been assembled and is waiting to attack. Their division commander is John Monash. During the Battle of the Dardanelles, John Monash was also with the troops in Australia and New Zealand He was the only surviving brigade commander in the army when he landed in the small bay. The other brigade commanders either died in battle or were wounded and returned to Australia to recuperate.

The organization of the Anzac is not the same as that of the British Expeditionary Force. A regiment has only about 1000 people, which is similar to that of a battalion.

The reorganized Anzac Army, like the British Expeditionary Force, had about 8000 people in each division. Haig invested in three divisions in the first batch of offensives, namely the newly organized second, third, and fourth divisions. All from the Anzacs.

"General Kirker, if I can, I hope we can then practice infantry coordination, just like you did in Operation Victory Horn." John Monash is an excellent soldier. With ground insight and decisive and resolute execution, after Operation Horn of Victory, the Ministry of War spread the methods used by the Southern African Expeditionary Force in Operation Horn of Victory to the entire army. Until now, John Monash has shown his true interest.

"Of course, we also hope to have better cooperation with our brother troops. In Verdun, the Germans adopted a new tactic. Their artillery no longer uses the previous method and is more closely integrated with the infantry. Unfortunately, some People turn a blind eye.” Paul Cocker, chief of staff of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, did not hide his secrets. The German army performed well in the Battle of Verdun. Their infantry coordination has reached a very high level. Artillery can be called directly for fire strikes, and the infantry coordination of the Southern African Expeditionary Force has not reached this level.

The infantry and artillery coordination of the German army has high requirements for communication.

Rock had always thought that this level of infantry coordination would not be possible until the communication level had not improved qualitatively. He did not expect the German army to do this using only the most primitive telephone communication, which made Rock respectful.

It's no wonder that the Germans were able to fight against the Allied Powers on their own. The world's number one army is indeed well-deserved.

"In the Mediterranean, I served under the command of the Earl of Nyasaland. Although our ANZAC suffered heavy casualties, it was not the responsibility of the Earl of Nyasaland. I really hope to go back to that time. Although we were suppressed on the beach, we We are not worried, because we know that the final victory must belong to us." John Monash did not directly say that someone is not good, but the implication is that he is not optimistic about the attack organized by Haig.

Like Rock, most of the generals of the expeditionary army did not take this attack organized by Haig seriously.

In the past 1914, the British Expeditionary Force suffered heavy casualties. The veterans before the outbreak of the World War have now been exhausted. All the frontline service members are recruits who have just joined the army. It will take time for them to adapt to the cruel Western Front. It would be irresponsible to them to rush them into battle.

Regrettably, the opposition from the generals was not enough to make Haig change his decision. This time back in London, Haig had clearly felt that the attitudes of George V and Asquith towards Haig were obviously different from before. The fifth did not even see Haig, which was unimaginable before, and Asquith only gave Haig 5 minutes. You must know that Haig is the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force. Rock went to see Asquith. During this time, I chatted with Asquith for half an hour.

Haig didn't know what Rock and Asquith were talking about, but Haig knew that he needed a record, and urgently needed a record, so that he could stabilize his position.

"A few days ago, when the German army attacked Verdun, it carried out staged shelling. After the shelling stopped and the French army entered the position, the German army carried out repeated shelling of Verdun. Can we also try?" John Monash informally , no matter what tactics, as long as it is beneficial to the situation of the war, John Monash is willing to try.

Paul Cocker didn't speak, his eyes fell on the figure in the dark brown officer's uniform in the artillery position.

These officers were all from the British Expeditionary Force Command. Haig was worried that the artillery of the Southern African Expeditionary Force would not be able to work hard. Before the battle started, he sent observers to the artillery positions.

These observers are equivalent to supervisors. They kept shuttling between the artillery positions, and frequently urged the artillerymen with white smoke in their hair to speed up. An artillery officer saw that the observers jumping up and down were not pleasing to the eye, and complained casually. So the two immediately quarreled, and the artillerymen at several nearby artillery positions stopped their work and glared at the furious observer.

Paul Cocker ignored these trivialities, and at the end of twelve hours, the artillery stopped attacking and the ground troops began to charge against the German positions.

"Good luck John—" Paul Cocker wished John Monash.

"Good luck to you too, God bless us—" John Monash took off his hat and waved his hand, then left without looking back.

With the experience of cooperating with the Southern African Expeditionary Force, the Anzac Army also abandoned the traditional thin red line of the British Army, and the troops formed skirmish lines to attack the German positions.

The 12-hour bombardment played a huge role. All the barbed wire fences in front of the German positions were destroyed, and clusters of them were piled up in front of the German positions like severed earthworms.

The landmines planted under the barbed wire also lost their effect. This was originally a big killer against infantry. The infantry only needed to follow the craters to avoid most of the traps.

A section of German trenches was completely destroyed by artillery, and the machine gun positions built with sandbags were completely leveled out. The black soil was turned up from the ground and covered the white snow, which was as ugly as the scars on the earth.

Several German soldiers who were hiding in the trench stood up staggeringly. They were destroyed by the shock wave of the shells and forgot that they were in the battlefield.

Seeing the charging Anzac soldiers, the staggering German army woke up like a dream, but before raising their rifles, they were knocked down by the dense rain of bullets.

After a winter, the German army also established a strong defensive position in Mons.

After all, there were very few trenches destroyed by artillery shells. Most of the German troops were lucky enough to escape the shelling of the expeditionary forces, and entered the positions one after another shortly after the Anzacs began to charge.

Facing the heavy machine guns, the skirmishers were actually queuing up and shooting them, which was of no use at all.

As the German heavy machine guns began to fire, the artillery units behind the German army also began to shell the attacking troops. The attacking troops suffered heavy losses immediately. The soldiers fell down row after row like felled wheat and were hit by shells. The soldiers were thrown into the air like rag dolls, and then fell in pieces like a rain of blood.

No matter how strong the will to fight is, it is impossible to persist for too long in an attack with no possibility of victory. After the German army began to counterattack, the attacking Anzac army retreated to the starting position like a tide, and some people lost their own during the retreat. Weapons, some people lost their souls, some lost their relatives or friends in the attack just now, and wept loudly as soon as they returned to the starting position.

In less than half an hour, the three reorganization divisions lost their offensive capabilities.

"Continue to attack until the German positions are captured." Haig's heart is as firm as iron, and he doesn't care about casualties at all. If he can't win, all sacrifices are meaningless.

The generals in the headquarters looked at each other. The generals of the Anzac Army gritted their teeth. They looked at Haig like an enemy. When the Anzac Army was trapped in the Anzac Cove, Roque also ordered the troops to stand firm, but Roque Ke sent the air force and navy to cooperate in the battle and gave the Anzacs enough support. In the end, the Anzacs did win the victory.

Now that the Anzacs were in trouble again, Haig lacked countermeasures and blindly ordered the troops to continue the attack, regardless of the heavy casualties of the frontline troops.

This is really not a qualified commander-in-chief of an expeditionary force.

"General, it's getting late. Even if the troops capture the German positions, they may not be able to withstand the German counterattack. Let's continue the attack until tomorrow." Paul Cocker couldn't help but suggest that neither the British and French allied forces nor the German army had the habit of fighting at night. .

"I said, continue to attack until the German positions are captured!" Haig has lost his mind, and the gaze he looks at Paul Cocker is almost cannibalizing.

(End of this chapter)