Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 972

The Battle of Verdun was different from all previous battles. It lasted a long time and cost a lot. Both France and Germany regarded Verdun as a field of Shura that consumed each other's strength. 20, and France also believes that both sides believe that the other side will exhaust their war potential within a few months and have to withdraw from the war.

The main disagreement among the German command regarding the Battle of Verdun lay in the choice of the main battlefield. Falkenhayn insisted on expending the strength of the French army at Verdun, while the Crown Prince believed that the offensive line should be expanded to include the Dead Mountain on the west bank of the Meuse River. It is the artillery position of the French army. At the same time, the German army must be more cautious in using the reserves. If the casualties of the German army are the same as the French army, then the German army should stop attacking.

Falkenhayn's goal remained the same. He never thought of defeating France, but to destroy France and make France lose the courage to confront Germany.

William II didn't say a word, he was very disappointed with the crown prince and Falkenhayn, the war did not end in a few months as William II imagined, it turned into a protracted trench warfare, the longer the war lasted The more unfavorable it is to Germany, the war potential of the Allied Powers is far inferior to that of the Allied Powers, William II knew this very well.

The final result of the meeting was to strengthen the minds of the German generals. The Battle of Verdun must be fought, otherwise the previous sacrifices would be meaningless.

While Germany was unifying, Joffre and Haig were planning a new attack.

Through the failure of the Battle of Mons, Haig deeply realized that without the cooperation of the French army, the British Expeditionary Force could not defeat the German army, so when Joffre proposed a new campaign plan, Haig readily agreed.

Joffre was preparing to attack the German army on the Somme for the same reason as Haig before. Most of the German troops were involved in Verdun and the Somme was empty. This was a rare opportunity for the British and French allied forces.

Preparations for the battle had begun after the autumn offensive last autumn, when Joffre removed the cannon from Verdun's fortified fortifications in support of the Somme campaign.

In order to save as much force as possible to launch the Battle of the Somme, Joffre rejected Petain's request for reinforcements, appointed Petain as the commander of the Verdun theater, and asked the Russian Empire for support.

Last winter, at the combat planning meeting of the senior commanders of the Allied Powers, the Russians complained that the Allied Powers could not trust each other and could not provide timely support when needed. Nicholas II sent Chief of General Staff Mikhail Alekseev The general attended the meeting, and Mikhail proposed that the Allies should establish a coordinated combat mechanism: whenever a battlefield is threatened, other countries must take the initiative to attack the Allies to relieve the pressure on the attacked side.

The reason why Mikhail made this suggestion was that when the Russian Empire was driven out of Poland by the German army last year, the British and French allied forces did not help.

At that time, the British and French allied forces were all paying attention to the Dardanelles, and no one paid attention to the situation of the Russian Empire.

General Mikhail's proposal was agreed by most of the generals present at the meeting. Both Joffre and Haig believed that the current Allied Powers were a mess. They wanted to change the status quo, but they didn't know how to do it.

Now France is being attacked by Germany in Verdun. According to the agreement reached at the end of last year, Joffre asked for support from the Russian Empire. After discussing with his chief of staff, Nicholas II decided to assist France. In sharp contrast.

However, it is not easy for the Russian Empire to launch an attack on Germany. Spring is coming, the snow will melt, and flash floods will trigger the annual "circuit breaker period". The Russian Empire is facing many difficulties.

Nicholas II still decided to attack Germany, and before the snow melted, the remaining question now was where to launch the attack. Nicholas II had three choices, one was Hindenburg and Luden On the Eastern Front led by Dolf, there were 18 people in Germany in this direction, and 30 people in the Russian Empire.

The second direction is the central part, where 70 Russian imperial troops fought against 36 German troops. However, most of these Russian troops were recruits. They lacked sufficient training and could not even guarantee basic weapons. On average, two soldiers only had one rifle.

The third direction is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this direction, the Russian army and the Austrian army each have 50 people. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has a geographical advantage, and the Russian army has no advantage in attacking.

After comprehensive weighing, Nicholas II still chose Hindenburg and Ludendorff on the Eastern Front.

At the beginning of March, Nicholas II mobilized his troops and ordered the removal of some people from their posts, and transferred the more capable generals Alexei Eft and Alexei Kulopatkin to the eastern part of the country. Line command battle.

Compared with the active Russians, British support remains on the surface.

Haig may be the only one who agrees with Joffre's plan in the whole of Britain. The cabinet does not agree to launch the Battle of the Somme. Haig's attack failed before, and the troops almost mutinied. The cabinet now seriously doubts Haig's ability.

The generals within the expeditionary force also disagreed with launching an attack on the Somme. In the third year of the World War, all countries participating in the war have realized the importance of defensive fortresses. The more buried, at this time let the troops attack is tantamount to death.

In France, after Petain was appointed by Joffre as the commander of the Verdun theater, Robert Georges Nivelle became the commander of the Second Army. After Nivelle took office, he stopped the rotation tactics formulated by Petain and sent officers to charge Machine guns were set up at the back of the troops, and if the charging troops dared to escape, the machine guns would shoot the enemy and deserters to death together. To a certain extent, Nivelle created a precedent, the real mill of blood came, and Verdun became a hell on earth.

Compared with Verdun, the generals of the expeditionary force are willing to maintain a "peaceful" state with the German army. As long as the expeditionary force does not attack, the German army will also not attack. This is in the best interest of Britain, because the strength of Germany and France is being consumed , the British fisherman reaps the benefits.

Haig made a mistake at this time. He kept in touch with Joffre many times without telling the War Council to discuss the details of organizing the Battle of the Somme. The British Expeditionary Force could invest 25 divisions. Haig was very excited to be able to use 20 divisions to attack the German army. The British Expeditionary Force invested more troops than the French army. Haig thought he could take the lead in the battle. You can get no less than Rock's record in the Mediterranean.

When Verdun was suffering from the flames of war, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force spent a leisurely life in the Asia Minor peninsula.

After the surrender of the Ottoman Empire, the Asia Minor peninsula was not peaceful. The rebels came and went one after another, and the garrison troops were attacked many times.

Rock will never tolerate the rebels. As long as any garrison is attacked, all Ottomans within a radius of ten miles from the attack point will be thrown into concentration camps.

For a while, the concentration camps on the Asia Minor peninsula were overcrowded. In early March, nearly 57 Ottomans were detained in 80 concentration camps on the Asia Minor peninsula.

Rock is good at using every manpower. Men are gathered together as laborers, and women also participate in labor to obtain food. The total number of workers on the island of Cyprus exceeds 30, and the railway connecting the two ports runs at a rate of [-] kilometers per day. The speed is extended, and the railway with a total length of less than [-] kilometers was repaired in less than a week. Rock conveniently built another railway around the island next to the road around the island. He couldn't afford to support these workers in vain.

The reconstruction of Beirut and Damascus was also very smooth. Martin ordered to push down the city wall of Damascus. Huge city bricks were sent to the city to lay squares. Martin's headquarters moved to Beirut, where the port has been expanded and is only 170 kilometers away from Cyprus.

"Marshal, our soldiers have captured several spies. This is what was found on them." Martin's adjutant came to Martin's office with a lot of things in his arms.

Martin picked up a satchel casually, and dumped everything in the bag on the table. On the top was an identification document issued by the Ministry of War. The arrested person was a reporter.

"They carried a few cameras, and they have been wandering around our construction site for the past few days. Now the photos are being developed, and I don't know what they have taken—" The adjutant has a playful expression, the war correspondent is still a spy——

Well, that's a question.

Martin noticed that in the satchel there was a notepad wrapped with a leather cord, and when it was opened, it was a diary.

On January 1914, 1, Harry and I finally got our ID cards issued by the War Department. This is our talisman in the war zone. Harry joked that the ID card should be framed. I don’t think it’s a joke.

On February 2th, we came to Cyprus, where the headquarters of Lord Nyasaland was located, but we could not enter the headquarters of Lord Nyasaland, and the staff refused us rudely, even though we showed our identity and proved that We were reporters from The Daily Telegraph, and the young captain was still looking at us coldly with mocking eyes. It made me angry and humiliated that several reporters from The Times were allowed in. Lord Nyasaland's headquarters, which seems to confirm the rumors about Lord Nyasaland and The Times.

On April 4th, Harry and I got nothing in Cyprus, and then we took a cargo ship from southern Africa to Cairo. The greedy captain asked Harry and me to pay five pounds for the boat ticket. Harry thought it was too expensive. Just like the stingy Grandet, I am afraid that no one would think that he is an out-and-out rich man who receives a salary of 10 pounds a month. Well, from this point of view, I am also—

On April 4th, we were finally allowed to enter Damascus. Two months ago, troops from southern Africa and the Sultanate of Najd captured this famous city from the previous year. What Jean and Harry did not expect was that this thousand-year-old city has now been destroyed. , We saw corpses all over the ground behind a sand dune not far from Damascus. Harry was too scared to hold the camera steady. Several cavalrymen from the Najd Sultanate found us. We identified ourselves as cavalrymen from the Najd Sultanate Asked us to leave immediately, I think, I will never forget the scene at that time.

On July 7th, Halliday and I ran out of negatives. Harry took a lot of photos that shouldn’t be taken. We don’t know what to do. If these photos appear in the newspapers, I think many big people will be angry. Then me and Harry is in trouble.

Martin looked at the diary without saying a word, his expression getting more and more serious.

(End of this chapter)