Rise of Australia

Chapter 437

Under the premise that drinking water is blocked, one can imagine the fate of the officers and soldiers standing in the Fergus fort.

Before his sacrifice, Major Rohner, the fortress, left these words to the soldiers: "Companions, our blood is about to run dry. Life is given to each of us by God. It is a hateful war that takes away what belongs to us. There is only one life, and to end this war, we live up to our lives, long live peace!"

The final fate of Fergus Fort was occupied by the Germans, but the firm will of the fort chief, Major Jonall, and all the French soldiers guarding the fort, not only moved the British media who came to report the latest news, but also moved the people who received the news. French soldiers and civilians.

After the Fergus Fort was captured, the German army encountered unprecedented resistance in the next offensive. Not only could it not push the front line one step further, even the captured areas were at risk of being lost at any time.

The French army frantically attacked the conquered forts including the Fergus Fort as if they were desperate.

In just three days, France suffered as many as 4 casualties, but in exchange for a large number of forts and forts, including the Fergus Fort, it pushed the front line forward several kilometers.

When the time came to April 1916, 4, the German army not only failed to complete the order issued by William II, but even lost a lot of previously occupied positions under the premise of paying a large number of casualties.

Obviously, the German military has had objections to launching the Battle of Verdun.Even in many German armies, whether it is the upper-middle-level officers or the lower-middle-level soldiers, they are already dissatisfied with the orders of the German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn.

It was Falkenhayn who insisted on going his own way and launched the Battle of Verdun, which caused the Germans to experience hundreds of thousands of casualties, but almost lost all their money in the Verdun area.

Seeing that the British and French allied forces were about to launch a new battle in the Somme area, a large number of German troops were held back in the Verdun area and could not be mobilized, which put the German Western Front in jeopardy.

Finally, around April 4, there was a big shock at the top of Germany.

Falkenhayn, the German chief of staff who launched the Battle of Verdun against all opinions, was impeached by high-level German military officials including Hindenburg and Ludendorff, and was finally dismissed as chief of staff on April 4.

The person who succeeded Falkenhayn as the new chief of staff was a Junker nobleman, the former commander-in-chief of the German Eastern Front, Hindenburg.

This is not over. On the second day after Falkenhayn was dismissed, the German Prime Minister Holweg, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Logistics, the Minister of the Interior and other high-level government officials resigned to William II one after another. important officials.

This is not good news for Germany. A large-scale political struggle broke out between the government and the military, but ended with the military's overall victory.

Although Wilhelm II remained neutral in this dispute, the military did not mean to respect Wilhelm II.

As early as half a year ago, Hindenburg blatantly violated the plans of William II and Chief of Staff Falkenhayn, which led to Germany's incomplete victory on the Eastern Front.

And the current Junker nobles are headed by Hindenburg. Facing this extremely large military group, even William II cannot suppress it at all.

Obviously, William II has missed the opportunity to suppress the Junker nobles. He has been lifted up by the military government dominated by Hindenburg and has become a veritable rubber stamp emperor.

Speaking of the Junker nobles in Germany, we have to admit that a large part of the credit for the strength of the German Army is due to the Junker nobles.

The Junker nobles in Germany originally referred to the children of nobles without the title of knights, but now they generally refer to the big landowners and nobles in Germany.

These people have mastered the military politics of Germany (Prussia) hundreds of years ago, and it is they who have single-handedly contributed to the powerful German Army.

But everything has two sides. The Junker nobles who are too powerful are a huge threat to the German government and imperial power.

William II originally thought that promoting Hindenburg, who was born in the Junker noble family, as the chief of staff would satisfy the Junker nobles, but he did not expect that after Hindenburg became the chief of staff, he immediately united the entire Junker noble class and brought down Germany. The government emptied Wilhelm II.

The rise of the military has brought about a huge change in German policy. The German army has become more radical and more belligerent.

It is worth mentioning that the German High Seas Fleet, which had been huddled for a long time, was now ready to go out to look for the British to fight to the death.

However, Germany dispatched the navy is inevitable.After the offensives on the east and west fronts suffered setbacks, Germany fell into a great material crisis.

Because the air routes and logistics supply lines are blocked, Germany has no other way except to use the navy to break the blockade.

We can't let these hard-built fleets hide in the port throughout the war. In that case, building a navy would be meaningless.

If the previous German government and William II were somewhat indecisive, then the new German military government appeared very firm in terms of war.

The Junkers need new lands, and the military needs more credit.The combination of the two forces has led to the German government's firm attitude towards the war. At least under the current circumstances, Germany does not agree to end the war.

Because of the dual pressure from the military government and the Junker nobles, the German High Command had to change its original intention and shift the current strategic center to the sea.

As a result, the decisive battle at sea can have the opportunity to break through the British naval blockade against Germany, allowing the German fleet to have the opportunity to go to sea.

Second, if it can gain an advantage or even win in the naval battle, Germany will open up trade routes with the outside world, and even blockade France and Britain in turn.

In this way, the current passive situation can also be reversed, and even passivity can be turned into initiative, which will kill Britain and France.

In view of these two relatively important factors, after careful research, the German high-level officials finally decided to look for opportunities at sea and fight a decisive battle with the British fleet.

The Germans acted very quickly. On May 1916, 5, the British Royal Navy Home Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet encountered each other in the Atlantic Ocean, and then a great sea battle broke out, which can be called the largest sea battle in history.

It was several hours before news of the Great Battle of the Atlantic reached Australasia.

But there is no way, the time is running out, and Arthur can't get the result at all.But I have to admit that Arthur was shocked by the courage of the Germans.

The decisive battle of the navy is not like the army, and it can retreat in an orderly manner even if it cannot be defeated.The decisive battle of the navy is basically a life-and-death battle, and there are definitely not many warships that can escape.

Moreover, once the naval battle is lost, the German High Seas Fleet will never have a chance to stand out.It is not even an exaggeration to say that the German High Seas Fleet after the defeat in the naval battle no longer had any influence or help on the war.

This also means that Germany has really decided to put all its eggs in one basket.Either severely damage the Royal Navy and change the current decline from the ocean.Either be hit hard by the Royal Navy, and the whole country is tragically defeated.

However, no matter what, the possibility of the German High Seas Fleet winning is very small.Unlike the army, the navy is less likely to win more with less.

Unless there is an overwhelming advantage in warship performance, the warship combat effectiveness of the German Navy and the British Navy does not have such a huge gap.

So far, the Royal Navy of the British Empire has 37 battleships, including 29 dreadnoughts and 8 super dreadnoughts.

The German High Seas Fleet has a total of 24 battleships, including 17 dreadnoughts and 7 super dreadnoughts.

In terms of main battleships, there is a huge gap between the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy's Home Fleet.This quantitative gap is simply impossible for small and medium-sized warships to make up for, and it is also a fatal shortcoming of the High Seas Fleet compared to the Royal Navy's home fleet.

You must know that the naval positioning of Britain and Germany in this time and space is already more intense. Under the stimulation of Australasia, the British built more dreadnoughts.

In addition, Australasia has assumed a considerable part of the defense of the Indian Ocean, allowing the British to mobilize part of the fleet in the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, join the local fleet, and increase their advantage over the high seas fleet.

What's more terrible is that, just looking at the number of main warships, although the gap is large, it is not that big.

However, if the sum of the warships of the two fleets is calculated, the German High Seas Fleet only has more than 400 large and small warships, but the British Royal Navy’s Home Fleet has more than 700 large and small warships, and the total tonnage of warships is much larger than that of the German High Seas Fleet.

As a result, the possibility of the High Seas Fleet wanting to defeat the Royal Navy's home fleet is not high. There is an obvious gap in the number of large, medium and small warships, which is simply impossible to make up for tactics.

Currently, Admiral Reinhard, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, has only two choices, either to desperately replace the main warship of the Royal Fleet, or to hide in the port and do nothing.

Either of these two options is tragic.If you choose the first one, the best case is to replace the same number of British main warships, but the High Seas Fleet will definitely suffer heavy losses.

Although this situation can avoid the casualties of the High Seas Fleet, it violates the orders of the military government and the Supreme Command, and Reinhard also faces three aspects of accountability.

In fact, Admiral Reinhard's mood has never been better after receiving the order from the country to conduct a decisive naval battle.

As the commander-in-chief of Germany's only fleet, Admiral Reinhard is very aware of the gap between the German Navy and the British Navy.

You must know that the British fleet facing the German High Seas Fleet is the home fleet of the Royal Navy.

The British Empire has fleets in all oceans and seas. If the numbers are added together, this is a huge fleet that cannot be compared with the two German Empires.

Now the enemy of the German High Seas Fleet is the Royal Navy. Even a small local fleet is enough to give Admiral Reinhard a headache.

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(End of this chapter)