The British Foreign Office and the British War Office were not united in their thinking. The Foreign Office wanted to build a stronger alliance so that the Russian Empire could persist.
The Ministry of War is all based on profit. The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force finally won the Black Sea outlet after a series of bloody battles. There is no reason to hand it over to the Russians.
Especially during the Battle of the Dardanelles, the Russian Empire actually stopped its attack on Constantinople for its own benefit, which made the military very dissatisfied with the Russian Empire.
What is even more dissatisfying is yet to come. According to the agreement between the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire, the Dardanelles Strait, Sea of Marmara, and Bosphorus Strait will be handed over to the Russian Empire after the war. In exchange, the Russian Empire
Agree with Britain and France to annex German territories in Africa.
Rock only learned after the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force captured Constantinople that although the war had not yet been won, the Allies had reached an agreement on the division of spoils after the war. Looking at it this way, it is no wonder that during the Paris Peace Conference in another time and space, Chinese interests
He was ruthlessly ignored because the Paris Conference had already begun. At this time, although the Republic of China had sent workers to Europe, it had not officially joined the war.
Another time and space was on August 14, 1917, when the Republic of China government officially joined the war. In 1917, the world war had entered its third year, and even the United States had already attacked Germany on April 7 earlier that year.
After declaring war, the Republic of China government realized only belatedly.
Compared with Italy, which is good at taking sides, the Republic of China is really speechless.
Since the entire Black Sea outlet will be handed over to the Russian Empire in the future, Rock has nothing to worry about. Although before the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force occupied Constantinople, all the dignitaries in Constantinople had already fled to
Asia Minor, but Constantinople still had countless riches.
After all, it was a prosperous place accumulated by the Ottomans for 1,700 years. The officers and soldiers of the Mediterranean expedition made a fortune. For a week in a row, cargo ships filled with containers were sent to southern Africa every day. The Chinese officers and soldiers, who were very calculating, did not even leave buildings.
Pass.
After the Kingdom of Italy entered the war and the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force captured Constantinople, the necessity for Greece to participate in the war was decreasing. Edward Gray initially tempted Greece to participate in the war on the condition of Constantinople and surrounding lands, but later due to the opposition of the Russian Empire
, change the chip to Cyprus Island. Now that Cyprus Island has become the headquarters of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, it must not be given to the Greeks. Building materials are also needed to build Cyprus.
While the occupying forces were looting Constantinople, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was marching toward the Asia Minor Peninsula.
The fall of Constantinople was a huge blow to the Ottomans. Although the Ottoman Empire still had vast territories in Asia Minor, the Ottomans had lost the confidence to win the war. When Constantinople surrendered, Otto
·Liman von Zanders shot himself. After losing two outstanding German generals one after another, the Ottoman Empire had its backbone broken. Enver Pasha tried hard to organize defense, but he could not withstand the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and
The crazy offensive of the peninsula coalition forces.
While the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force attacked the Asia Minor Peninsula, the Peninsular Allied Forces led by Martin also launched an attack from Damascus to the Asia Minor Peninsula.
Compared with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the Peninsular Allied Forces led by Martin are equally complex.
The current peninsular coalition forces not only include the Southern African Army and the Army of the Sultanate of Najd, but also the servant armies sent by East India, the Kingdom of Tanzania, the Republic of Congo, and the Kingdom of Congo. The British's bad-ass attributes were once again exposed, and they actually transferred two troops from India.
A division went to Port Elizabeth to cooperate with the Peninsular Allied Forces' offensive. After calculation, the total strength of the Peninsular Allied Forces actually exceeded 200,000.
Just as the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Peninsular Allied Forces were attacking the Asia Minor Peninsula from both sides, Xiafei's autumn offensive, which he had planned for nearly half a year, finally began.
The autumn offensive started from three directions at the same time. The Champagne direction was taken by the troops led by Pétain. This was the second Battle of Champagne. Pétain performed well in the first Battle of Champagne and now his military rank has been improved.
As a lieutenant general, he led a separate army group.
The second focus is Artois. This is already the third Battle of Artois. The French troops suffered huge losses in the first two battles, but Artois is still under the control of the Germans. The third Battle of Artois
The French commander at the Battle of Watts was Foch.
The part of the British army responsible for the autumn offensive was Rus. Haig had six divisions under his command, and the German defenders in Rus had only one division.
The tactical goal of the entire autumn offensive was to capture the Noyon area occupied by the German army, which was a transportation hub for German logistics supplies. By capturing Noyon, the German army's railway supply lines could be cut off, thus forcing the German army to retreat.
The better thing is that now no one thinks that Germany can be defeated within three months. Forcing the Germans to retreat is the biggest goal of the British and French coalition forces.
For the autumn offensive, Joffre also spared no expense. There were 27 divisions in Champagne, while Pétain's enemies only had 7 divisions. Pétain also had 900 heavy artillery and 1,700 light field artillery to assist in the battle, including those left by the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
Two artillery divisions on the French battlefield.
Although Miss Qiwu did not perform well in the previous battle, the mysterious Frenchman still has mysterious trust in Miss Qiwu.
In Artois, Foch had 17 divisions under his command, and his enemy had only two divisions. In any of these three directions, it seemed that the British and French forces had a huge advantage.
The battle first started in Rus. Throughout the summer, the British Expeditionary Force dug tunnels, 12 of them, dug the tunnels under the German positions, and then buried a huge amount of explosives.
Enter 15 tons of explosives and prepare to give the Germans a huge surprise.
Explosives and tunnels indeed played a huge role. At the beginning of the war, the British Expeditionary Force was progressing smoothly. Haig was proud and believed that victory was in sight. British newspapers also began to eagerly publicize it, and the publicity intensity was stronger than in the previous days.
The Mediterranean expeditionary force captured Constantinople even more.
Although The Times is Rock's property, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force is based on the southern African army after all, and the British Expeditionary Force in France is the British soldier.
Unlike the smooth progress of the British troops, the progress of the French troops in both directions of Champagne and Artois was not smooth.
Among the three directions of the autumn offensive, Joffre believed that the direction of Champagne was the core of the entire campaign. Only by winning in Champagne could the British and French forces successfully force the German army to retreat.
The plans are all good, but the execution is hard to explain.
Before the attack at Champagne, the artillery of the British and French forces bombarded the German positions for four full days and nights.
The shelling destroyed the first line of defense of the German army and reminded the German army that the British and French forces were about to start a large-scale battle. Falkenhayn came to the front line on the second day of the shelling. He finally gave up the safety and comfort of his headquarters and went to the front line in person.
Command troops in combat.
What is unacceptable is that when the French ground troops began to attack, the shelling did not stop. The attacking French troops crossed the first line of defense that was completely destroyed by the shelling and attacked the German second line of defense. But at this time
The artillery unit was shelling the second line of defense, and the artillery shells fell directly on the heads of the attacking troops. The attacking troops suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat proactively.
By the time the shelling stopped and the offensive troops returned to the battlefield, German reinforcements had filled the second line of defense, and the French troops had lost their fleeting opportunity.
At Artois, the French army's performance was equally disastrous.
Foch's ability was not inferior to that of Pétain, but facing the solid defense of the German army, Foch did not have much choice but to order his troops to charge using human sea tactics.
At this time, Joffre made another incomprehensible operation. On the one hand, he urged Haig to attack, but on the other hand, he ordered Foch to stop the attack, and only pretended to continue the attack to confuse the Germans.
It also confused the British.
Haig was obviously confused. He was confused not only by the performance of the French troops on the battlefield, but also by the weather.
Before launching the attack, Haig obtained authorization to use poison gas, so the poison gas became Haig's biggest secret weapon.
After twelve huge "bombs" exploded, Haig actually had the opportunity to drive straight in and defeat all the German troops in front.
But at this time Haig made a mistake. In order to wait for the wind direction suitable for using poison gas, he actually ordered the troops to stop the attack.
The wind direction in northern France in autumn was erratic. Haig waited for two full days before finally getting the right wind direction.
But after the poison gas bombs were fired, the wind direction suddenly changed again, and the poison gas drifted toward the British positions, and the British troops who were preparing to attack dispersed in a rush.
When the poisonous gas dissipated and the troops reorganized their attack, German reinforcements once again filled the trenches, and the British army also lost their chance.
During the Autumn Offensive, a very interesting thing happened.
In order to boost morale, King George V of the United Kingdom decided to visit the front line to review the troops.
So George V came to France and reviewed the troops on horseback.
After the review, the officers and soldiers of the Sherwood Foresters who were reviewed took off their hats, raised them to the same height as the point of their bayonets, waved and cheered.
At this time, an accident occurred. The horse George V was riding was frightened. George V fell off the horse and seemed to slip on the ground for a few steps.
With the help of the generals, George V got up from the ground, hurriedly mounted another horse and left in embarrassment.
This incident severely damaged the morale of the British army. In the hearts of the British soldiers, the king was the omnipotent god of war who could lead them to victory. However, the king could not conquer even a horse. How could he conquer the evil and powerful Germans?
In the next few days, various versions of rumors were released, the most outrageous of which was that George V was seriously injured and died soon.
