Rise of Australia

Chapter 384 Australasian Expeditionary Force
So far, the strategic goals of Germany and France have been very clear.

Both the German army and the French army pursued offensive doctrine. Under the influence of this military thinking, both countries adopted a large-scale offensive method in their operations.

It's just that the directions of the two countries are just opposite. Germany goes west, via Belgium, and detours to Paris.France goes east, via Lorraine, and goes straight to the Rhine.

In order to achieve their respective strategic goals, the old enemies of France and Germany launched four battles in Alsace and Lorraine for four days starting from August 8, namely the Battle of Lorraine and the Battle of Ardennes. , Battle of Charleroi, Battle of Mons.

These four battles are collectively referred to as the Border Battles. France and Germany each invested hundreds of thousands of combat troops. In just four days, a total of 10 casualties were also caused.

Although the number of deaths among them was only more than 1, the combined number of those who were seriously injured and lost combat effectiveness exceeded 4 from both Germany and France.

Because in these border battles, both Germany and France used a large number of artillery and heavy machine guns.

The casualties caused by such heavy weapons to the opponent are huge, especially heavy machine guns, as long as they are fired, at least they will be seriously injured.

This also allowed the main railway lines of Germany and France to undertake a large number of tasks of transporting the wounded to the country while transporting troops to the border.

Fortunately, the railway construction in Western Europe and Germany is still very developed. After the expedited transportation, the transportation environment of Germany and France can also keep up.

When millions of troops gathered on the German-French border and started fighting frantically, the disadvantages of French military uniforms became apparent.

The French military uniform with a blue jacket and red trousers usually looks very individual, but on the battlefield on the German-French border, such a colorful French military uniform is undoubtedly a reminder to send French soldiers on the road.

The blue and red French uniforms are almost impossible to camouflage in the border areas, which makes the French army look very conspicuous to the German soldiers.

It is conservatively estimated that such special-colored French military uniforms have increased the French army's death rate by at least [-]% and the injury rate by [-]%.

Logically speaking, the combat effectiveness of the well-equipped French army and the German army is not that exaggerated, at least the battle loss ratio will not reach 2:1.

But the reality is that under the conspicuous uniforms of the French army, the battle damage ratio between French soldiers and German soldiers is basically about 2 to 1, and even reached 3 to 1 in severe cases.

Of course, in addition to the conspicuous military uniforms of the French, the main reason for the current war is that France is attacking and Germany is mainly defending.

On the German-French border, there is such a small episode.

In a dense forest on the German-French border, a group of French soldiers are patrolling the forest.

This area has not been visited by the German army for the time being, so the patrols of the French soldiers are also very casual, and even more often it is just a formality.

Because in the not far west of this area, the French army has already advanced more than 20 kilometers.

These are the French troops in the rear, thinking that they will never see the German troops.

The patrol ahead was quite normal, but this patrolling French army walked deeper into the dense forest, but suddenly heard the sound of German minors in the distance.

Logically speaking, after hearing ditties in different languages, especially in war zones, French soldiers should at least be vigilant and be ready to fire at the enemy at any time.

However, this group of French soldiers took the lead in asking each other for their passwords, which also made the German soldiers who had not noticed the French army instantly vigilant.

The German soldiers were not so outrageous. After hearing the other party speak proficient French, they directly fired with machine guns without saying a word.

Only then did the group of French soldiers realize that they were facing their enemies, and quickly launched a counterattack.

However, the German and French armies, which became more cautious, faced different situations.The German army is wearing gray uniforms, hidden in the jungle, not so easy to spot.

But the French army is different. The uniforms of the French army are too conspicuous. Even if they are covered by dense forests, they can't hide the personality of the French military uniforms.

This also caused the hidden French army to be easily discovered by the German army, and the French army had lost its opportunity.

Because of the sudden encounter, the armies of both sides used heavy machine guns and rifles to shoot indiscriminately, and also threw grenades and other weapons frantically.

Those who were relatively close and had no way to hide rushed forward to fight hand-to-hand with rifle butts and bayonets.

However, the combat quality of the French army, from marksmanship to hand-to-hand combat skills, is basically inferior to that of the German army.

Coupled with the fact that the French army lacks training on mountains, this patrol team was quickly wiped out by the Germans in this kind of mountain forest area.

Although the follow-up French reinforcements came quickly, the French reinforcements also suffered heavy losses under the bombing of German artillery and had to withdraw from the mountainous area.

Although the intention of the German army's sneak attack was seen through, taking advantage of this opportunity, the German army also entered the French border.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the French army, the German army took the opportunity to storm Nafchateau, Verton, Montmedy, Longwy and other border cities, trying to open a huge opening on the French border.

The French army who reacted also resisted tenaciously. They charged very neatly. Of course, they also fell neatly at the gunpoint.

A large number of French soldiers charged towards the German army, and then turned into corpses one after another, accumulating.

Soon, piles of corpses piled up on the edge of these towns.These piles of corpses provided good cover for latecomers, and at the same time, a large number of corpses continued to accumulate on them.

The strong French quickly understood that the spirit of heroism and tenacity alone could not withstand the German cannons at all. Although the French army was superior in numbers as a whole, they faced the advantage of soldiers in individual combat capabilities and military uniforms. However, the French army still failed quickly.

After losing a large number of corpses and weapons and ammunition, the French army withdrew in a hurry, leaving a mess in the border area.

At this point in the war, General Langrezak has realized that it is not the right choice to deploy the main force in the central region.

General Langrezac tried to advise Commander-in-Chief Joffre to mobilize the main force of the French army in the center to the north and the border of Belgium to prevent the German army from going south from Belgium at any time and threatening the Paris area.

But Xiafei at this time naturally couldn't agree with Lang Rezak's opinion. General Lang Rezak had no choice but to make his own decision, move the elite back, and was ready to transfer the army north to meet the enemy at any time.

Fortunately, Xiafei's order was changed in a timely manner.

On the second day after General Langrezac withdrew his army, Joffre sent an order to let Langrezac's Fifth Army go northward with all its strength and stationed on the northern border with Belgium.

The Fifth Army had more than 40 soldiers. Under the leadership of Lang Rezak, it marched 120 kilometers in three days and finally reached the border between France and Belgium.

At this time, the Second Army led by General Pilov of Germany was also strengthening the Sambre River near Charleroi, approaching the French border with three armies, and finally fought fiercely with Langrezac's Fifth Army.

It is worth mentioning that the artillery equipped by the French Fifth Army is the M1897-75mm artillery, also known as Miss France.

The artillery equipped by the German army is the GA1902-75mm artillery jointly developed by Germany and Australasia.

This artillery is improved according to Miss France. Compared with Miss France, the rate of fire has been improved, and it can reach 20 shells per minute.

This also led to exaggerated artillery bombardment on both sides, and the army's offensive went from day to night, and from night to day.

And the artillery bombardment didn't stop for a moment, it was like if you can't use up my logistics supplies, I will use up yours.

Thanks to the fearless spirit of the French army, at the beginning of the encounter, General Langrezac repelled the German army more than ten kilometers.

The artillery between the two sides even destroyed Charleroi and the border area. The bombed buildings collapsed, the pipelines burst, and the fortifications were damaged.

Because the artillery firing speeds of both sides are very fast, the speed at which the armies of both sides consume shells is also very exaggerated.

Under the high-intensity bombing of the two armies, the German and French armies consumed an average of at least 20 rounds of shells per day, which put enormous pressure on the logistics of both sides.

As Germany's offensive became increasingly sharp and German reinforcements arrived one after another, most of Belgium had been occupied by the Germans, and the border areas of France were also somewhat overwhelmed.

As early as the war began, the French had asked for aid from Australasia and Great Britain.

Soon, the British Expeditionary Force arrived near Mons and joined the French Fifth Army to defend against the German Army in the north.

As for Australasia, Arthur also stated that he would firmly fulfill his commitment and send at least 15 combat troops to Europe within three months.

In order to support his ally France, which suffered heavy casualties, Arthur decided to send an expeditionary force to France as soon as possible.

In fact, after the capture of Germany's Pacific colonies, the Australasian army was left with nothing to do.

Because it is in remote Oceania, there are not many wars in Australasia, and most of the enemies are only weak countries like Portugal and the Netherlands.

And this battle is the best training opportunity for Australasia.

It can not only exercise the combat strength of soldiers, but also the command ability of middle and high-level commanders, so that soldiers and officers can go hand in hand and make progress together.

Even though the superficial combat capability of the Australasian army is not weak, an army that has not experienced many wars still cannot be called an elite army.

Only by allowing soldiers and commanders to experience multiple wars and make progress together can they be fearless in the face of danger and better enhance the combat capabilities of the army.

In addition to the 30-strong colonial army, Arthur chose the more elite Fourth Division in Australasia as the main force dispatched to Europe this time.

The Fourth Division is the latest army to be formed among the regular troops, and it has been training for several years now, and it is time for this army to really see blood in order to grow better.

As for the more elite 123rd Division and Guards Division, their combat missions to Europe were left behind.

After all, Australasia also needs to guard the country. Coupled with the colonial problem, it is still necessary to keep a sufficient number of combat troops in the country.

After all, after all the 30 colonial troops were dispatched to Europe, there were only a little over [-] Australasian troops left.

These troops have to defend the entire Australasia, including the colonies, and the task is actually very heavy.

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(End of this chapter)