Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 976 The Big Hand of Fate

Five days and five nights of continuous shelling gave the British officers and soldiers blind optimism. They walked towards the German positions like an outing, lined up in neat formations, and sang songs on the beat of drums. It didn't look like a battle at all.

The German machine gunners were ecstatic, they just had to pull the trigger.

The British army really launched the attack like a "wave", and then it became fragmented like the spray hitting the cliff. A German soldier recalled after the battle: We watched them advance in surprise, and we have never seen such a phenomenon. ——We just need to shoot, reload, shoot again, reload, they fall by the hundreds, we don't need to aim, just shoot at them.

The British army invested so many troops. In some areas, the troops could not be deployed at all. The soldiers were crowded together and could not advance or retreat at the gap in the barbed wire in front of the German positions. Three British cavalry divisions did not have time to enter the battlefield. It ends in a mess.

In the first day of the offensive, the German shooters were unwilling to shoot at the end, and the distraught British soldiers dragged the wounded out of the battlefield, and the seriously wounded could not be withdrawn, so they continued to shoot at the German army.

The German army was forced to fight back, and more than [-] corpses were left in the "no man's land" in the middle of the battlefield.

The offensive at the Battle of the Somme was divided into three parts. The center and left flanks were in charge of the British army, and the right flank was in charge of the French troops led by Foch.

Neither the center nor the left wing made much progress on the first day of the offensive, but the right wing made a breakthrough. Foch and Henry Rawlinson's dogmatism was different. The French army had absorbed enough experience in the previous battles with the German army. The destructive power of the French army broke through the two German defense lines one after another, but due to insufficient troops, no strategic breakthrough was formed.

That night, the German reserves came up to fill the gap and the front stabilized again.

On the third day of the Battle of the Somme, Rock received a telegram from Kitchener requesting that Rock return to London immediately.

Although Rock didn't know Kitchener's purpose, Rock vaguely felt that Kitchener's summoning must be related to the casualties of the British Expeditionary Force on the first day.

Although Britain is supported by colonies all over the world, and its war potential is far greater than that of Germany, Britain cannot afford to consume it at the speed of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

It was already June NO.17 when Roque came to London. In just ten days, the war had made new progress. It was not on the Western Front. Verdun and the Somme River on the Western Front were still meat grinders. Britain and France Both the Allied and German forces were struggling in the Flesh Mill, and it was the English Channel and Galicia that made breakthroughs. At the same time as the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Jutland broke out, and Russia also launched an attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Galicia. Both battlefields have achieved satisfactory results.

The Battle of Jutland was the only large-scale naval battle during the First World War. After the outbreak of the World War, the German High Seas Fleet hid in the naval port and did not dare to go out. Germany was very disappointed.

Under the pressure of William II, the German navy took the initiative to leave the port to find an opportunity to fight the British navy.

John Jellicoe, commander of the British Home Fleet, had been looking forward to this day for a long time, but the German Navy showed extraordinary combat effectiveness. The British Royal Navy lost three battlecruisers, three cruisers, and eight destroyers in the Battle of Jutland. , the Royal Navy lost 6200 lives.

In contrast, the German High Seas Fleet lost one battleship, one battlecruiser, four light cruisers, and five destroyers, with just 2500 casualties.

Although the losses of the German Navy were relatively small, since then, the German Navy has lost the courage and confidence to fight against the British Navy. Since then, no large-scale naval battle broke out until the end of the World War.

Compared with the Battle of Jutland, the victory of the Russian Empire in Galicia was even more brilliant.

Alexei Brusinov is indeed a genius commander, the failure of the two battles of Lake Narach did not let Nicholas II stop, Nicholas II asked Alexei Brusinov Nove continues to attack, and must achieve a victory similar to Constantinople.

Nicholas II seems to have forgotten that the victory of Constantinople was not won by the Russian Imperial Army. The 11th Army of the Russian Empire also suffered heavy losses in Constantinople. The reason why Constantinople was able to win All because of the blackmail of the British Empire by the Russian Empire.

Alexey Brusinov was not stupid enough to launch a third campaign on Lake Narach, but placed the breakthrough in Galicia. The campaign he organized was not only imaginative, but also aggressive, and the Russian Empire The troops launched an attack on a wide front. Alexei Brusinov arranged the reserve team very far ahead. Once a weak link in the Austro-Hungarian army was discovered, Alexei Brusinov would Will not hesitate to join the reserve team.

Under the command of Alexey Brusinov, the Russian Empire, which was retreating after the outbreak of the World War, performed like a god. The Fourth Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed across the board, and more than half of the soldiers were killed. More than 7.1 people. Three days later, Alexey Brusinov captured more than 30 Austro-Hungarian prisoners. After another three days, the number of Austro-Hungarian casualties reached nearly half of the total force.

Compared with the performance of the Battle of Jutland and the performance of the Russian Imperial Forces, the performance of the Anglo-French Allied Forces was clumsy and stupid. Since the outbreak of the Battle of Verdun, the French Army has suffered more than 30 casualties. Sixty thousand, if Rock is Kitchener, Rock will be anxious to get angry.

After arriving in London, Kitchener summoned Roque for the first time and directly asked Roque for his views on the Battle of the Somme.

"Clumsy command, dogmatic offense, Britain has soldiers like lions, but led by a group of monkeys—" Roque was not polite. This description did not come from Roque. When a reporter from The Times asked Prime Minister Asquith blurted out his thoughts on the Battle of the Somme.

The heavy losses at the Battle of the Somme put enormous pressure on Asquith.

In all fairness, the performance of the British army in the Battle of the Somme had no direct relationship with Asquith, but Haig was the commander-in-chief appointed by Asquith, so Haig did not perform well, and Asquith wanted to help Haig Responsible.

Now someone in Congress has proposed that Asquith must be responsible for the Battle of the Somme. Britain had the opportunity to avoid all this, but because of the stubbornness of some people, the expeditionary force had to suffer heavy casualties.

The "opportunity" here refers to Rock.

"I'm not asking you to say this, I'm asking you, if you were asked to command the Battle of the Somme, what would you do?" Kitchener didn't hide it at all, Rock could feel Kitchener's mood, Haig and Henry Rawlinson failed no one.

"I will concentrate my forces on the key areas to break through the German positions. Even if I can't break through the German positions, I will attract the nearby German troops to the key attack areas, so that opportunities will arise in other areas-and I will not let soldiers line up neatly The formation sang to death, it was a battle, not a banquet—I heard that the War Department sent new weapons to the Somme, but they didn't take part in the battle, why? Just because the new weapons were not allowed by the commander Like? It's ridiculous!" Rock kept on talking, wanting to complain about Haig, and Rock could talk all day and night.

Kitchener frowned, and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table. His eyes were full of worry, and the war broke his heart.

"Locke, don't leave London during this time, go back and rest first—" Kitchener didn't say much, which is understandable, after all, every decision Kitchener makes is related to the fate of the British Empire.

What's more, on the issue of whether to replace the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, or the candidate for a new Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Kitchener may not have a say now.

"Okay, take care—" When Rock left, he felt a little flustered looking at Kitchener, but he didn't know why.

Leaving the War Department, Rock turned and went to the Munitions Department. Winston had just escaped a catastrophe. Winston was not responsible for the artillery shell problem in the Battle of the Somme. The current artillery shells were all fired during Lloyd George's tenure. Order.

Of course, Winston's topic cannot be separated from military supplies, especially the quality of shells.

"I know, I know, when has there been a problem with the shells produced by Nyasaland? You tell me this, why don't you go to the arms dealer in the UK." Rock also escaped. The size of the Saran Armory has also quadrupled, and the newly recruited workers are also inexperienced newcomers.

"Don't be indifferent, I can suppress this matter this time, and it won't be so easy next time." Winston still did his job, otherwise he and Rock wouldn't be able to get away easily.

"The main problem now is not the cannonballs, but how to contain some uncontrolled guys." Rock's attention is not on the cannonballs at all, and Haig is the core of all contradictions.

"Haiger's question will be discussed later. Do you know that someone in Congress has proposed to give the order to the Americans? That is, the German submarines are too arrogant. Otherwise, Nyasaland could get so many orders?" Winston waved dissatisfiedly. Looking at his chubby hand, Rock suddenly remembered why he was flustered when he said goodbye to Kitchener.

In another time and space, Kitchener died accidentally when the ship sank while traveling to Russia on a warship.

"Does Marshal Kitchener have any plans to go to Russia recently?" Rock asked casually.

"Of course, Minister Kitchener is going to Russia to attend the Joint Ministerial Meeting next week. What does that have to do with you—" Winston still didn't know what was about to happen.

Rock didn't talk nonsense, stood up, picked up his hat and left.

"Locke, I'm not finished!" cried Winston, jumping on his feet.

"We'll talk about it when I get back!" Rock didn't turn his head. Compared with such trivial matters as the quality of shells, Kitchener's life was more important.

(End of this chapter)