Albert I had just become King of Belgium before the outbreak of the World War. The young king did not yet understand the true meaning of jungle society, so even though Albert I strongly opposed it, French and Foch still agreed that it was necessary to unite all the people who yearned for the world.
Just people unite against the evil alliance group.
Leaving the headquarters in Ypres, Roque began to inspect the front-line troops.
Like the British and French coalition forces, the expeditionary force in southern Africa also suffered heavy losses in the previous stage of the battle.
So far, Southern Africa has sent eight reorganized divisions to France. Including the three brought by Roque this time, the total is eleven.
Among these eleven divisions, except for the 201, 202 sent by Glory Castle, and the 301 sent by the Kingdom of Mozambique, which has 15,000 people, the troops drawn from southern Africa are all integrated divisions with about 18,000 people.
When Roque came to France, there were still 56,000 troops handed over by Martin to Roque. Less than a week had passed, and there were only a little over 50,000 left out of the 56,000 men. The cruelty of the world war was evident.
"The 103rd Division suffered the worst. There is only one battalion left in the army. It merged with the 101st and 104th Divisions to form the current 101st Division. The 201st and 301st Divisions plus the 102nd Division merged to form the 102nd, 105th and 106th Divisions.
The situation of the division is better, but it also suffered heavy losses. 14 of our regiments were beaten and declassified. Since the outbreak of the world war, we have lost a total of 114,000 soldiers and 86,000 killed in action." Paul Coker looked sad, and the south
Africa has paid a huge price, but has not received the honor it deserves.
In the propaganda of the British War Department, the casualties in southern Africa were uniformly recorded as casualties of the British Expeditionary Force, which is why the British Expeditionary Force suffered 260,000 casualties in the Battle of the Marne. In fact, if the troops in southern Africa are not counted, the British are now in
The total French troops were less than 260,000. At the most, France's troops only had 12 divisions, which added up to less than 220,000.
"List the 201st and 301st separately. If the number is insufficient, they will be withdrawn to the rear to rest and wait for reinforcements. The six African divisions will also need to be restored. If they suffer heavy losses, they will wait for reinforcements to be supplemented. We cannot merge the troops at every turn." Roque was really helpless. Martin is a competent man.
Commander, Roque's goal of increasing his record was perfectly executed, but he was a bit harsh. If the losses continue like this, Southern Africa will not be able to sustain it.
After all, training troops takes time. Rock will not send troops who have not received complete training to the front line to fight like Falkenhayn. Even if an African division is formed in southern Africa, it will only be sent to Europe to fight after rigorous training.
"Then the only troops we can fight now are the 2nd Cavalry Division, the 11th Division, and the 202nd Division." Paul Coker had a headache. If Rock's request was followed, all three merged divisions would have to withdraw from the front line.
, then there will be a huge gap in the defense line of the British and French coalition forces.
The combined three divisions totaled more than 50,000 people, making them an indispensable force for the British and French coalition forces.
"Withdraw and use the existing three divisions to fill the defense line." Roque made up his mind. As long as he did not advance rashly, Roque still had confidence in the southern African army. The reason why the southern African army suffered heavy losses before was because they left their positions.
Taking the initiative to launch an offensive, if it is just defensive, it will be very difficult for the German troops to break through the positions of the southern African army.
Just like the battle that just took place with the Second Cavalry Division, even though the Germans paid ten times the cost of the Second Cavalry Division, they ultimately failed to break through the Second Cavalry Division's defense line.
"Over there at the War Department—" Paul Coker worried about pressure from London.
"Don't worry, we are unable to launch an attack now -" Roque refused all unreasonable demands. Although Roque did not argue with Joffre and French, Joffre and French couldn't even think of ordering Roque.
"Actually, it's not impossible to attack -" Don Juan, commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division, is a first-year graduate of the Nyasaland Army Academy. He participated in the Battle of Fort Glory against Tanganyika. He is a senior director of the Umbrella Company and a 2nd Cavalry Division commander.
After the division was established, Don Juan resumed his military status and his current military rank is lieutenant general.
"The strength of the German army is very weak, not even as good as the Tanganyika German army. We captured some German prisoners of war in previous battles. They all just joined the army after the outbreak of the World War and only stayed in the training camp for a month.
They were sent to the battlefield without even being proficient in basic formation training. It will be easy for us to defeat them." Don Juan did not know enough about the German army, and the 2nd Cavalry Division had not yet encountered a real challenge.
"Don't be careless. The German army is still very strong. Winter is coming soon. After a winter, these new recruits will mature quickly. By then, the German army's combat effectiveness will increase exponentially." Roque does not underestimate the German army and can fight on his own.
It is impossible for countries to fight against the world with such little strength as they have now.
To put it bluntly, this is a zero-sum game. An army equipped with a large number of automatic weapons and occupying a favorable position will always be the dominant side on the battlefield.
The true strength of the German army has not yet been demonstrated. The advantage of the German army is its powerful artillery force. The British are subject to conditions. Although the artillery is not inferior to the German army, it does not have enough gunners and the number of artillery.
Although the French artillery is not much worse than the German army, there is a problem with the French army's idea of building artillery. It lacks large-caliber artillery to fight the German army. No matter how fast Miss Qiwu's fire rate is, her arms are not long enough to hit the German artillery positions.
It's no use either.
To Roque's regret, the British and French forces have not noticed this problem until now. In another time and space, until the end of the World War, the French army's divisional artillery units were mainly equipped with 75mm field guns and were not equipped with large-caliber artillery.
.
Compared with the stubborn French War Department, the British War Department has noticed this problem, but training artillery takes time, and producing more artillery also takes time. Military factories in the UK and Nyasaland are working overtime.
, but the gap caused by the long-standing neglect of the army cannot be made up in a short time.
It is not difficult to find from the previous stage of the battle that even with relatively complete trench protection and even with the largest proportion of automatic weapons and equipment in Europe, the 2nd Cavalry Division still suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Germans.
The loss of more than 500 people is nothing compared to the losses of the British and French allied forces, but when it comes to one unit, more than 500 people are equivalent to an entire battalion.
"Our troops are also stepping up training. More reinforcements will arrive in France before the end of the year. If our troops can be restored to form, then our troop strength will exceed 200,000. In addition, we can send more artillery to France.
When France comes, if it is only responsible for fire support, the artillery force is trustworthy." Paul Coker also knew the shortcomings of the Southern African army. Compared with the German army, the Southern African army suffered from artillery. Without artillery, Southern Africa
It is difficult for the army to pose a real threat to the German army.
"The Ministry of National Defense has ordered the formation of six artillery divisions, mainly equipped with 120mm howitzers and 155mm howitzers. The biggest problem now is the insufficient production of artillery." Roque had already prepared. Before the outbreak of the world war, Roque gave the southern
The African army's participation in the war was clearly defined. The front-line troops participating in the war were mainly composed of Africans. White and Chinese soldiers formed support units to participate in the war. Artillery was a support unit.
"That's great. Before enough artillery arrives in France, what we have to do is to stabilize the defense line." Paul Cocker had been in Egypt before the outbreak of the world war and had no idea about the Ministry of Defense's combat plan after the outbreak of the world war.
unfamiliar.
Arriving at the 2nd Cavalry Division, Rock had another task, which was to award medals to the officers and soldiers who had performed outstandingly in the previous phase of the battle.
In order to better stimulate morale, the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa established a medal system after the outbreak of the world war. This medal system is divided into six levels. From the highest Southern African Medal downwards, there are the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Victory.
, the Hero Medal, the Valor Medal, as well as the Loyalty Medal for all combatants and the Contribution Medal for the wounded.
This time, six officers and soldiers of the 2nd Cavalry Division were awarded the Medal of Heroes, 25 officers and soldiers were awarded the Medal of Valor, 17 officers and soldiers were awarded the Medal of Heroes posthumously, 310 were awarded the Medal of Valor posthumously, and 246 were awarded the Medal of Valor.
Contribution Medal.
"Second Lieutenant Steve performed outstandingly in combat. In three days of fighting, he killed at least 125 Germans by himself, including more than 40 officers. As for why it was 125, it was because we only counted 125. In fact,
There should be more than 200 people on board. He is our best precision shooter. One team is responsible for cooperating with Second Lieutenant Steve in combat, one person is responsible for finding the target, one person is responsible for counting the results, and one person is responsible for loading bullets for Second Lieutenant Steve." Tang.
Juan was pleased and proud that the precision shooters of the 2nd Cavalry Division played a huge role in the battle. The Lee Enfield rifles they used were accurately calibrated and equipped with a quadruple scope.
The role of snipers cannot be ignored. The reason why the British and French coalition forces suffered heavy casualties has a lot to do with the fact that officers were targeted by German precision shooters.
During this period, the British and French allied forces were not aware of this problem. When the troops attacked, officers had to lead the charge. Many officers did not know enough about war. They dressed up as if they were attending a banquet. As a result, they became the German precision marksmen on the battlefield.
Key goals.
The consequences of losing command of the attacking troops are very serious. Even if the British and French coalition forces are aware of this problem, there is no solution in a short time. The soldiers of the British and French coalition forces have become accustomed to fighting under the current mode. It is more difficult to change tactics. Perhaps it is necessary to
This will only be possible after all the current officers and soldiers are dead.
It sounds a bit cruel, but it is actually like this. By the second year of the outbreak of the world war, only ten of the veterans at the outbreak of the world war were left. The new recruits grew up rapidly during the war, but they still could not keep up with the consumption on the front line.
"Second Lieutenant Steve, congratulations. You have become the first soldier in southern Africa to be awarded the Medal of Heroes. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force in Southern Africa, I am proud of you!" Rock buckled the Medal of Heroes made of pure gold.
According to Steve, Southern Africa lacks everything except gold.
