In August, the scariest month in history, the German army lost 18,000 people. In contrast, the British and French forces consumed 35,000 tons of ammunition, including nearly 200 million bullets. If all of them were 0.303r rifle bullets weighing almost 25 grams, then
It took almost 10,000 rounds of bullets to kill a German soldier.
In the previous stage of the battle of the Second Cavalry Division, although the Second Cavalry Division achieved brilliant results, the Second Cavalry Division also relied heavily on logistics. Behind its brilliant fighter planes was sufficient ammunition supply. The second cavalry division participated in the battle.
Eighty-five hundred boxes of ammunition were consumed in one day. In Haig's words, if the 2nd Cavalry Division maintained the rate of consuming bullets on the first day, the entire British Expeditionary Force would be overwhelmed by the 2nd Cavalry Division.
As a result, the stalemate was reached, and the efficiency of the Second Cavalry Division finally showed. 21 bullets were fired and 17 Germans were killed. This result was almost like a blessing from God. So much so that when Roque reported the results, both the Expeditionary Force Headquarters and the Ministry of War suspected Roque.
Ke is lying about his military exploits, it's simply unreasonable.
"Is it weird? Second Lieutenant Steve, who sniped 125 Germans, is the representative of the precision shooters of the 2nd Cavalry Division, but he is not the best precision shooter of the 2nd Cavalry Division, and he is not even considered outstanding, just because
The Germans chose the position of Second Lieutenant Steve's unit as the main direction of attack, so Second Lieutenant Steve stood out. Killing 17 Germans with 21 bullets may seem like a myth to you, but in the Second Cavalry Division, such results are not
It's not uncommon." Rock would definitely be bragging to others, but there is no need to brag to Winston.
As Minister of the Navy, Winston frequently traveled between London and Ypres during this period. Before the Belgian army gave up Antwerp, Winston sent a telegram to London, hoping that London would appoint Winston to command the British army in Antwerp.
official, but faced strong opposition from Kitchener.
There are many stories behind Winston being able to become Minister of the Navy. Forget about the commander stationed in Antwerp, others don’t know Winston. Kitchener knows it very well. Winston was captured by the Boer coalition forces in southern Africa.
At that time, Kitchener was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force.
"The Second Cavalry Division is not the most powerful force in southern Africa, right? If the Northern Rhodesian Division and the First Cavalry Division are transferred to France, what kind of results can they achieve?" Winston thought wildly, he always
Ambitious, he was not satisfied with serving as Navy Minister and always wanted to play a greater role.
After the outbreak of the World War, the German Navy huddled in the military port and became an existential fleet. The powerful British Royal Navy had nothing to do. Winston even sent the Marine Corps to Flanders to participate in the war.
What is ironic is that the British Marine Corps is actually more powerful than the British Army. Of course, it was the "poor little army" before. Now that the British Army's strength has soared, the Marine Corps is the "poor little army."
"Mad Dog filed a complaint against you, saying that you disobeyed orders and ignored the interests of the British Empire. He suggested that the command of the Southern African Expeditionary Force should be merged with the Second Army." Winston reported the situation. "Mad Dog" was not talking about Francois.
, but Haig, which is the nickname Winston gave Haig.
This nickname is a bit far-fetched. Haig's name does have the sound of dog, but it has nothing to do with dog. "Douglas" means black river, which is derived from a Scottish surname.
However, their personalities are quite similar. Haig's style of making small reports anytime and anywhere is indeed similar to that of a mad dog.
"Dream!" Rock didn't comment on this idiotic behavior. Haig was crazy for wanting more power. The Second Army only had four divisions, plus the eleven divisions of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, so he might as well start a new one.
.
"London also hopes to launch an attack before winter, and it is best to achieve a victory similar to the Battle of the Marne." This is the purpose of Winston coming to Roque. French cannot command Roque, and Kitchener cannot.
Convenient to talk to, Winston is indeed the most suitable candidate.
"Was the Battle of the Marne a victory?" Roque asked matter-of-factly.
"For the British Empire!" Winston acted in the interest of the empire.
In the Battle of the Marne, the British and French forces lost 260,000 people, and the German army lost 220,000 people. From a strategic point of view, it was indeed a victory for the British and French forces. The Battle of the Marne ended with the retreat of the German army, marking the failure of the Schlieffen Plan.
But for Rock, such a victory is not worth celebrating. The British and French coalition exposed many problems in the Battle of the Marne, that is, the German army had more problems of its own, so the British and French coalition won the victory. If the German army could have a wise and understanding front line
The commander of the situation, if Crook was not so stubborn in destroying the French Fifth Army but resolutely detoured to Paris, and if the gap between the German First Army and the Second Army was not so large, it would be difficult for the British and French forces to win.
It's a pity that there are not so many ifs.
"Both our elite troops and those of the German army were almost completely lost in the Battle of the Marne. Now the German army sends 16-year-old children to the front line. Unless the coalition forces also have this determination, we will not be able to replicate the victory of the Battle of the Marne."
Rock doesn't want to hear any words related to "offensive". From this point of view, Rock is also stubborn.
"The Canadian and Indian troops have arrived in Calais and can join the battle at any time. You have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Port Elizabeth. What do you want to do?" Winston finally mentioned Port Elizabeth, Rock and Paul Coker
This issue has been discussed before.
"In order to protect the oil fields in Port Elizabeth, I have received information that the Ottoman Empire may join the world war at any time. We'd better be prepared." The "we" Roque said refers specifically to Egypt. Port Elizabeth is already prepared for the Ottoman Empire to join the war.
Ready, but Egypt is not there yet.
After the outbreak of the World War, the importance of oil became more and more obvious. Oil tankers heading to the British mainland were jointly escorted by the Southern African Fleet and the British Middle East Fleet. Fortunately, there were no German submarine bases in the Mediterranean, and the current submarine combat range was not so large.
, the route from Port Elizabeth to the British mainland is relatively safe.
"You're going to station hundreds of thousands of people in Port Elizabeth. The Ottomans have to join the war even if they don't want to." Winston was furious. Britain is now stretched thin and has transferred all the troops stationed in its overseas colonies back to support France. It has no ability at all.
Take care of Egypt.
Just as the Ottoman Empire could not hide its troops from Damascus and Basra from the British, Roque's troops from Port Elizabeth could not be hidden from the Ottomans.
Roque did not want to hide it from the Ottomans. He continued to send more troops to Port Elizabeth in order to force the Ottoman Empire to join the war. During the Italian-Turkish War and the two Balkan Wars, the weakness of the Ottoman Empire had been clearly revealed. Martin had already arrived in Port Elizabeth. As long as the Ottoman Empire participated in the war
, the army in Port Elizabeth will launch an attack on Damascus and Basra at the same time.
The Elizabeth Oilfield is too close to the Ottoman Empire. If the Ottoman Army launches an attack and the troops in Port Elizabeth counterattack, the Elizabeth Oilfield may be affected.
This was unacceptable to the British and French forces, which were increasingly dependent on oil.
Just when Winston came to find Rock, the battle was still going on intermittently.
Different from the short and intense Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Ypres was a fierce battle that lasted for nearly a month. In the fields of Flanders, the British, French and Belgian forces and the German troops fought brutally. Every house and every forest became a
In the struggle for the focus, the positions of both sides changed hands many times, one front followed the other, and the warring parties built countless fortresses in Flanders.
The terrain around Ypres is very complicated. There are many rivers here, and cavalry is useless. The British, French and Belgian forces use machine guns to control the roads, forcing the German army to launch attacks through forests and bushes. The British, French and Belgian forces built fortresses beside the forest, and there was no obstacle for the German troops who broke out of the forest.
Things can be used, but the losses are heavy.
Compared with the German army during the Battle of the Marne, the current German army is inexperienced and makes ridiculous mistakes. One night, a German army paid a huge price to capture a village defended by the British army, and then their superiors ordered them to withdraw.
The position was rested, but this inexperienced force made a huge mistake. They withdrew from the position before reinforcements arrived. Then the British army easily recaptured the village and strengthened the defense of the position. The German army then launched
After many attacks, the Germans failed to recapture the village until the end of the Battle of Ypres.
On October 20, the German army broke through the defense line of the British 7th Division, and Ypres was within easy reach. At this time, there was no defense between the German forward and Ypres. The German army only needed one charge to capture Ypres.
A British army brigadier general organized the remaining troops of the 2nd Worcester Regiment to launch a counterattack. The troops had only 7 officers and 357 soldiers. During the charge, another 100 soldiers were killed. At this time, a miracle happened. The German army did not know about the attack.
The British army only had such a small number of people in total, and they thought it was the vanguard of a large attack. As a result, the German troops fled in all directions, and God blessed the expeditionary force again.
Since October 15th, the positions of the 2nd Cavalry Division had not been attacked. The Germans seemed to have given up the attack on the 2nd Cavalry Division and instead tried to open a gap through the British 7th Division.
On the 21st, the British 7th Division, which suffered heavy casualties, withdrew to France to rest and recuperate. The 2nd Cavalry Division and the 11th Cavalry Division took over the positions of the British 7th Division. On the next day, the German army launched the largest attack since the Battle of Ypres.
In the attack, Falkenhayn invested a total of two armies. These two armies were drawn from the troops that captured Antwerp, and their combat effectiveness was quite strong.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, German artillery began to attack the positions of the 11th Division. The British and French allied forces had begun to try to use artillery intensively. The German army was also making progress. The position of the 11th Division was suddenly covered by German artillery fire.
