Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 988

People are indeed different, just like the British Expeditionary Force and French troops on the Western Front.

While Roque was attacking Belgium, Foch's French troops were also attacking the Germans as part of the Battle of the Somme.

Compared with the British Expeditionary Force, the offensive method of the French army is relatively rigid, the command system is more rigid, and the performance of the front-line troops is not good enough. Foch's troops rely on relatively strong artillery and a huge force to maintain the resistance against the enemy. Advantages of the German Army.

At the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, the left wing and the center of the British Expeditionary Force fell into the sand, but the right wing led by Foch made a breakthrough, which greatly increased Foch's reputation.

However, with the rise of Nivelle and Mangin's reputation, the record of the French army led by Foch pales in comparison. In addition, after Haig returned home, the British Expeditionary Force hinted that it stopped attacking, and Foch lost the cooperation of the British army. , Therefore, although the small-scale battles between the French army led by Foch and the German troops have not stopped during this period, the French troops have made no progress, and there is no chance to break through the German positions.

The attack organized by Roque was mainly in Belgium. The Somme area, where fierce fighting broke out before, fell into silence. Foch was very smart. Without the containment of the British Expeditionary Force, Foch's troops would not take the initiative to attack. However, Foch was unwilling to be lonely. When the British Expeditionary Force was attacking the city in Belgium, Foch came to Roque's headquarters in Yamin, hoping that Roque could launch a new offensive in the Somme area.

"Sorry Ferdinand, our main attack direction is Belgium. Attacking on the Somme is obviously not in our overall interests. We want to defeat the Germans, not die with the Germans." Roque disagreed. The region launched a new offensive. Haig and Joffre decided to launch the Battle of the Somme to relieve the pressure on the direction of Verdun. Apart from this, there was no real clear goal, which in Roque's view was simply nonsense.

It is unbelievable to say that Haig and Xiafei have no ability to overview the overall situation at all. Many attacks planned by Xiafei have no clear campaign goals at all, mainly to consume Germany's strength, hoping to gradually consume Germany's War potential, forcing Germany to withdraw from the war, at this level, if they were in southern Africa, Haig and Joffre could only serve as commanders of an army group at most, and they were not qualified to be commander-in-chief of the army at all.

Compared with Xiafei Haig, Roque's purpose is very clear. While eliminating the vital forces of Germany, it is necessary to gradually reduce the living space of the German army and gradually reduce the supplies obtained by the German army from the occupied areas.

It is already September, and although Romania is still insisting, it has suffered a crushing defeat.

At the end of August, Falkenhayn and Mackensen finally joined forces in Bucharest, the capital of the Kingdom of Romania. The German army held a grand victory parade in Bucharest. The defeat of Romania did not have an impact on the German army or political propaganda, but The German army made real gains. In the next year and a half, the German army transported 200 million tons of grain, 100 million tons of oil, 20 tons of timber, and 10 heads of livestock from Romania.

The materials transported by the German army from the Kingdom of Romania strongly supported the German army's operations.

The same is true in Belgium. After the German army occupied Belgium, it is still impossible to count how much material Belgium lost. What is certain is that the profits that Leopold II gained from colonizing the Congo Free State over the years have now become the spoils of the German army. This is to fatten the pig before killing it.

"If we cannot continue to consume the vital strength of the German army, then we will not be able to win this war." Foch partly agreed with Roque, but was more influenced by Joffre.

"So what do you want to do, break through the German defenses in the Somme area, create a huge salient in the Somme area, then as long as we can't defeat the German army in a short time, the Somme river will become a war between us and Germany." The mill of human flesh consumes the vital strength of the German army, which is gratifying, but what about our loss? Can France bear the loss?" Although Rock would be cruel when he should, he really didn't want to be a butcher.

"As long as the Germans can bear it, we can also bear it, and we must bear it!" Foch was firm and decisive, but in fact he felt bitter in his heart.

On the surface, the French army mobilized more troops than the British, and the western front was dominated by French troops.

In fact, the war potential of France is far inferior to that of Britain. Britain has colonial support all over the world. More than half of the soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force fighting in France are colonial servants.

After the fall of the First Empire, France lost almost all of its overseas colonies. Now the only overseas colonies left are the French East Indies in East Asia and the sparsely populated French North Africa. The support these two colonies can give France is not as good as the South Africa has provided a lot of support to the United Kingdom, so France seems to be powerful now, but in fact it is also strong outside.

The sad thing is that France also has "butcher" commanders like Joffre, Nivelle and Manjing. When Rock reads the battle report, sometimes he can't help but suspect that Joffre, Nivelle, Is Manjing a German spy who broke into France? Their style of directing battles on the battlefield is the same as having hatred against the French people. They wish the French would die.

"Well, if you insist, I will send troops to cooperate with you." Rock retreated appropriately. After all, he is the future commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, so he still has to give him the face he deserves.

"Send armored units to cooperate in the battle?" Foch's eyes suddenly lit up. During this period, the armored units have been in the limelight. Almost all newspapers and magazines are discussing the outstanding armored units. France has also started research on tanks.

Rock really wanted to sell the tank to the French, but the French were unwilling to buy it, or the French could not afford it, so the French contacted the Nyasaland Military Industry Group, hoping to get it from the Nyasaland Military Industry Group According to the corresponding technology and production license, tanks were produced in France to fight against the German army.

Of course, Roque has nothing to do. The price of purchasing technology and production licenses is not cheap. The French don’t think that southern Africa will be free. Everyone’s brothers and sisters will settle accounts clearly, allies belong to allies, and business is business.

"Impossible. The armored forces are progressing smoothly, but the losses are also great. I will send the Fifth Army to cooperate with you." Rock will definitely not send tanks to help the French fight. The Fifth Army is mainly composed of Indian troops. , Rock doesn't feel bad when sent to the battlefield.

"Okay——" Foch didn't feel that there was anything wrong. Although Roque didn't like the Indian army, Foch had no right to dislike it. At this stage, any combat power is very precious to France. Although the combat effectiveness of the Indian army is weak, the French colonial servants are not much stronger.

While Foch was plotting a new offensive, the British Expeditionary Force's offensive in Belgium was still underway.

On September [-]th, a huge fleet consisting of hundreds of ships appeared off the coast of Zeebrugge, Belgium.

At five o'clock in the morning, the fleet bombarded the port of Zeebrugge. Half an hour later, the expeditionary soldiers on the transport ship landed in Zeebrugge using landing craft.

"Take your weapons and leave the beach as quickly as possible. Remember our assembly location. If you can't arrive smoothly, find the nearest troops to cooperate with the attack. Our goal is the cannon in the fort—" Huang Hai was on the landing craft, The captain and company commander are making their final orders.

When the fleet bombarded the port of Zeebrugge, the fort beside the port also began to fight back. The shells whizzed past the landing craft with sharp screams. The water column from the shell explosion was stirred up from time to time on the sea beside the landing craft. One of the landing craft was killed. The shells hit directly and were instantly engulfed by the fireball. The soldiers on the landing craft jumped into the sea screaming with raging fire. Compared with these unlucky guys, those soldiers who died instantly were more "lucky".

jump jump jump--

A string of bullets hit the body of the steel plate boat of the landing craft, and after a clatter of tinkling noises, they did not penetrate the steel plate hull.

Horace, who was a recruit some time ago, is now a veteran. He followed the company commander's request, lowered his head and supported the helmet as much as possible, and kept his body as low as possible, muttering words.

"Good God forgive me—"

The beard on Huang Hai's face is already very large, and he can't see his nose and mouth clearly. He has to lift his beard when eating. Now Huang Hai's face is also ugly. The tarpaulin was wrapped carefully to prevent sand from pouring into the muzzle of the gun when jumping off the ship later.

"Ready, ready to land—" the captain gave an order, and the landing craft lowered the front baffle.

Whoosh whoosh—

A row of machine gun bullets swept over immediately, and a group of soldiers next to Huang Hai and Horace suffered heavy casualties in an instant.

Really, God bless, if the string of bullets just a little bit crooked——

"Jump, jump down—" the company commander yelled and jumped out of the landing craft first. The farther away from the landing craft at this time, the greater the chance of surviving.

Huang Hai doesn't talk nonsense, now Horace doesn't need Huang Hai's reminder, just as Huang Hai jumped out of the landing craft, Horace also jumped out of the landing craft with a bulging special backpack and a spare barrel on his back.

Horace is Huang Hai's assistant. He usually not only helps Huang Hai get a spare barrel, but also helps Huang Hai carry bullets.

While carrying a light machine gun, Huang Hai also has four ammunition boxes with a capacity of 75 rounds besides a spare barrel.

Horace was even more ruthless, carrying eight of the 75-round ammunition boxes, in addition to carrying rifles and grenades, and living two human-shaped ammunition depots.

Fortunately, the water next to the landing craft was not deep, and it had just reached the Yellow Sea and Horace's chest.

Huang Hai stood still when he jumped down, but Horace staggered and fell into the sea water.

Huang Hai dragged Horace up, and the two rushed onto the beach.

The beach is even more dangerous, and there are no obstacles available.

(End of this chapter)