Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 998

When the time came to 1916, all the participating countries were on the verge of collapse.

A revolution is brewing in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire. This winter, a serious fuel crisis broke out in St. Petersburg. Many factories were forced to shut down due to lack of fuel. There was still flour in the bakery, but the lack of fuel could not make the flour into bread. I worked all day. Women queued for hours without food, and the city was in an uproar.

The situation in Germany is equally dangerous. The bombers of the British Expeditionary Force are bombing military targets in Belgium, but the German army lacks countermeasures for various reasons. In order to increase the number of workers in the factory, the Germans forcibly recruited Belgians to fill the factory, but it still didn’t help .

There was a serious problem with Germany's logistics supply. Germany needed aircraft to compete with the British Expeditionary Force's air force, direct-fire guns to deal with the increasing number of tanks of the British Expeditionary Force, and conventional weapons to meet the consumption of front-line troops.

According to the importance of materials, machine guns and rifles were prioritized as the most important materials. At the beginning of 1916, arsenals in Germany could produce 3000 machine guns and 12.5 rifles per month, but they still could not meet the needs of the front line.

Just as Falkenhayn feared, after Hindenburg and Ludendorff came to power, their ambitions for power spread irresistibly to other fields. After New Year's Day, in order to weaken Britain's war capabilities, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided to Start Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and decide to form the Kingdom of Poland in order to gain the loyalty of the Poles.

Both decisions were bad ideas. Unrestricted submarine warfare began to attack not only military targets but also civilian targets. British merchant shipping losses skyrocketed, reaching an unprecedented 65 tons in January.

However, this failed to make the United Kingdom surrender. On the contrary, it made the United Kingdom united and the cabinet became more united. If it was possible to talk about peace in the past, now the war can only end unless one party is completely eliminated.

The establishment of the Kingdom of Poland was also a failure. Both Hindenburg and Ludendorff were soldiers. They should focus more on how to defeat the Allied Powers instead of easily getting involved in areas they are not good at.

When deciding to establish the Kingdom of Poland, Ludendorff hoped to recruit 100 million Polish soldiers, which would greatly alleviate the shortage of German troops.

In the end, only a few thousand Poles joined the army, which is almost negligible.

Throughout January, Robert Nivelle was trying to unite the British Expeditionary Force to launch a new attack on the German army.

Rock rejected Robert Nivelle's plan, and the British Expeditionary Force continued to consume the German troops in Belgium at its own pace.

Compared with the French army, the efficiency of the British Expeditionary Force is obvious to all, which gave Rock enough confidence to reject Robert Nivelle.

After the New Year, the Expeditionary Force bombers began to bomb strategic targets in Belgium. The German army lacked fighter jets to protect their airspace. With almost no interference, the bombers were very efficient. Now the number of bombers participating in the bombing has reached 400, a total of Divided into ten wings to attack, almost all valuable military targets in Belgium have been destroyed. Since February, expeditionary bombers have begun to penetrate deep into Germany.

At the same time, the precision shooters of the Expeditionary Force also resumed "checking in at work". At most, more than 600 precision shooters participated in "hunting operations" on the front line, and thousands of German casualties were scattered every day. Although not much, accumulated over a month, the price paid by the German army is equivalent to the losses caused by a medium-scale battle.

In mid-January, the high-level Allied Powers held a meeting in Rome. France finally realized the power of the new weapons equipped by the British army. Aircraft and tanks are new forces that can change the shape of the battlefield. "Cavalry" tank production authorization, but it will take time to form a scale, so the French army cannot do without the assistance of the British army.

In Belgium, the French army is even in an auxiliary position, and the British Expeditionary Force is the main force in the direction of Belgium.

French Prime Minister Briand proposed at the Rome Conference whether it is possible to establish a joint command to command the Allied forces to fight against the Allies more effectively.

Of course it is possible to establish a joint command, but command authority is a big problem. Briand hopes that the current French commander-in-chief, Robert Nivelle, will be the commander-in-chief.

Winston also had something to say on this issue. From the historical record point of view, Rock's record is far better than that of Robert Nivelle, who performed well in the later period of the Battle of Verdun. With the continuous increase of the British Expeditionary Force, the British The strength of the front line is no less than that of France, so Roque should be the commander-in-chief in order to better fight against the German-Austrian coalition forces.

Briand conceded and agreed to Roque as deputy commander in chief.

The commander-in-chief of the Kingdom of Italy, Kanadogi, and the new chief of staff of the Russian Empire, General Alexeyev, also said that they did not want to compete for the commander-in-chief, but there must always be a deputy commander-in-chief.

Forget about the Russian Empire, but Kanadoji caused verbal violence from the leaders of the Allied Powers.

As far as the performance of the Kingdom of Italy at the Battle of the Isonzo River, Deputy Commander-in-Chief?

Be funny!

Before this issue could be discussed, on January 28, St. Petersburg was completely detonated, and the Russian Empire was in danger of withdrawing from the war.

All offensive plans have been temporarily put on hold. Once the Russian Empire withdraws from the war, the German army's millions of troops on the Eastern Front will be completely released, and the pressure on the Western Front will suddenly double. Well let's talk.

Rock was not surprised when he heard the news. The Russian Empire in another time and space decided to withdraw from the war at the end of the year. The direction of the war in this time and space is completely different from that in another time and space. It is correct to stabilize the defense first.

Of course, on the side of the British Expeditionary Force, even the defense is full of aggressiveness. The tank troops were dispersed to the second line of defense by Rock to strengthen the defense. The bomber troops attacked more frequently, and the railway traffic line was the most important thing in the bombing. , the expeditionary air force blows up the railway during the day, and the German army organizes engineers, Belgians, and Russian imperial prisoners to repair it overnight. This seems to be an endless loop, just like the economist Keynes said: the country will not be out of fear To stop the war due to failure, the war will not stop until the country's human resources are exhausted, the war resources are exhausted, and the will to fight is lost.

From February to March, both the British and French allied forces and the German army were digging trenches on the western front. The British and French allied forces fought on their own. The new German defense line was further back than the current line of defense, called the "Hindenburg Line of Defense".

On February 2, the Second Cavalry Division stationed in Antwerp clashed with local residents.

The cause of the conflict was ridiculous. A dog trainer of the [-]nd Cavalry Division did not close the cage of the military dog. A military dog ​​sneaked out of the camp to wander, but was caught and eaten by a group of Antwerp people.

If it is an ordinary dog, it will be eaten if it is eaten. No one will go online, but the military dog ​​that is eaten has military registration, and the consequences will be very serious. 42 Antwerp citizens were arrested and decided to court martial them Songhang.

"It's just a dog. If it is eaten, it will be eaten. As for using a military court?" Albert I came to intercede with Roque. Forty-two Belgians were arrested for a mere dog, which made Albert I In any case it is unacceptable.

"Rayleigh is not an ordinary dog. He has his own name and military badge. He is a soldier of the expeditionary force. He shouldn't be treated like this." Rock was very angry, even if Raleigh was an ordinary dog. The dogs, which are also the property of the British Expeditionary Force, are not just for anyone to eat.

"My lord, I am willing to make compensation in my own name. Please spare those Belgians who are forced to help." Albert I was obviously changing the concept secretly.

"Don't say it's so innocent, there's nothing to be forced to do. If these Belgians have no food, they can go to the expeditionary army to find a job. The expeditionary army is building fortifications and needs a lot of workers. Although the salary offered by the expeditionary army It’s not high, but it’s okay to support a family, so why don’t these Belgians go?” Rock didn’t want to make it too harsh, but to put it bluntly, he just likes to do nothing, and such a person is really not as good as a dog.

"Not everyone is willing to work for the expeditionary force—" Albert I sighed. The relationship between Belgium and southern Africa was not good before the World War. Even now, some Belgians still hate southern Africans.

"Do you know what Raleigh's job is?" Rock didn't talk about human nature.

"I don't know, what can a dog do? Hunting? Or pull a cart?" Albert I really didn't know that Belgian dogs probably could only pull carts except for hunting.

"Rayleigh is a working dog. Its task is to find landmines laid by the German army. After coming to Europe, Rayleigh has completed more than 40 missions and found 162 mines. Now you still think that is an ordinary dog. Is it just a dog?" Rock's tone gradually became harsh, and if Albert I still didn't understand, then Rock could only see off the guests.

Albert I was silent, he understood the reason, but he couldn't accept it.

"It takes at least three years for the expeditionary army to train a working dog. They enjoy the same treatment as ordinary soldiers in the expeditionary army, and even the same benefits. I have already told you that Raleigh is also a soldier of the expeditionary army and is my subordinate. , is my comrade-in-arms." Rock didn't want to say too harshly, in Rock's heart, a guy who is idle is really worth less than a dog.

"My lord, what charges will they be tried for?" Albert I still had the last glimmer of hope.

"Murder!" Rock completely crushed his hopes.

(Thinking of the news that a police dog was poisoned to death, I sincerely hope that this kind of thing will not happen again——)

(End of this chapter)