Although people are unwilling to admit it, since the outbreak of the World War, the performance of the main commanders of the British and French coalition forces on the battlefield has been extremely disproportionate to the strength of Britain and France.
Joffre had a famous habit. No matter how tense the battle on the front line was, he would sleep until dawn after a sumptuous dinner. No one could disturb him. This habit continued during the Battle of Verdun.
On January 16, the German army launched an attack on Duvermont, which was the last barrier between the German army and Paris. If Duvermont was captured, the German army would be completely flat. This time the German army would not make the same mistakes as during the Battle of the Marne.
, as long as there is an opportunity, the German army will definitely launch a direct attack on Paris.
The offensive was still in charge of the Fifth Army led by Crown Prince William. Falkenhayn mobilized 1,500 artillery pieces to participate in the battle. Some of the new artillery pieces came from the capture of the German army at Verdun. When the French army retreated, they did not even have time to destroy the artillery pieces that could not be taken away.
Artillery, now these artillery have become the accomplices of the German army, and are used by the German army to bombard Duvalmont.
By this time, Duvermont's defenders had been replaced by the French Second Army led by Pétain. The frontline commander, General Fernand de Cary, sent a telegram to Pétain requesting reinforcements, but Pétain was not at the headquarters.
Then Fernand sent a telegram to Joffre. Joffre was having dinner at the time. Chief of Staff Noel Edward de Castelao, who had served as commander-in-chief of the army group, suggested that the troops withdraw to the Wavre Plain and give up completely.
All positions east of the Meuse River.
Joffre agreed to Castelao's suggestion, ate his dinner unhurriedly, and responded with unusual calmness, which perfectly explained the origin of the nickname "Slow General".
At 11 o'clock in the evening, the German army did not rest, but attacked all night. The front line was in emergency again. Castelao came to Jiafei again. Jiafei's adjutant reminded Castelao that he should not disturb the commander-in-chief who was resting.
Traut ignored Joffre's adjutant and insisted on waking Joffre from his sleep.
After listening to Castelao's report, Joffre looked indifferent, thinking that the front line had not yet reached the point where reinforcements were necessary. He gave Castelao an order to act freely, and then went back to sleep.
Castelao went to find Pétain, who had not yet returned to the headquarters. No one knew where Pétain was. After resting in Castelao, Pétain's adjutant, Bernard de Serene, drove overnight.
To go to Paris, go directly to the Gare du Nord Hotel.
The manager on duty at the North Railway Station Hotel did not admit that Pétain was here. Serenie knew his superiors and searched from room to room on the top floor of the hotel. Outside the door of a guest room, Serenie found Pétain's military boots, and there were also other items beside them.
There is a pair of beautiful ladies slippers.
Serui knocked on the door, and the person who opened the door was Pétain in pajamas. Serui gave Xiafei's order to Pétain. When Pétain took the order, a woman's cry came from the room behind him.
In the face of the crazy attack of the German army, Pétain and Joffre were equally calm. He asked Serenie to get a room in the hotel, and met Pétain in the lobby at seven o'clock in the morning. Four hours later, Petain and Serenie returned together.
Headquarters.
When Pétain returned to his headquarters, more than one-third of his Second Army's officers and soldiers had been killed or wounded.
Compared with the calm (ma), cold (bu) and quiet (ren) Joffre Pétain, Haig is irritable, cold-blooded, withdrawn, stubborn, and loves to gossip. He is not much better either.
After suppressing all dissenting voices, the British Expeditionary Force's offensive continued.
On the night of January 16th, a huge cold wave hit Mons. Hundreds of wounded soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force who had not had time to be transported were frozen to death on stretchers. Their blood was frozen with the ice and snow on the ground.
The stretchers could not be moved, several soldiers responsible for collecting the corpses collapsed emotionally, and one soldier shot himself in the corner of the cemetery.
At two o'clock in the morning on the 17th, Coker received an order that the troops should bombard the German positions at five o'clock in the morning. This time the bombardment lasted only two hours.
On the first day of the offensive, the bombardment lasted for 12 hours. Although the effect of the bombardment was not bad, destroying the barbed wire and mine arrays in front of the German positions, and also destroying a section of trenches, Haig believed that the bombardment lasted too long.
There was seriously insufficient time left for the infantry troops to attack. This would give the Germans a breathing space and allow them to calmly mobilize their troops under the cover of night. Therefore, Haig shortened the artillery attack time and left more time for the infantry to attack.
Five o'clock artillery attack means that at most three o'clock, the officers and soldiers of the artillery unit will get up.
Yesterday's attack did not end until one o'clock in the morning. The officers and soldiers of the artillery division did not even have the energy to eat before going to bed. Coker hoped to give the officers and soldiers of the artillery division more rest time and start shelling the German positions at six o'clock in the morning.
The herald sent by Haig rejected Coker's request. In an arrogant and contemptuous tone, he believed that the artillery unit's work was not dangerous and the troops did not need a long rest.
"Major, go back and tell your general that the officers and soldiers of the artillery division are human beings, not damn machines, and they also have the right to adequate rest." Cocker was very angry. It was nonsense that the work of the artillery unit was not dangerous.
Since the outbreak of the World War, more than half of the casualties have been caused by artillery. Every battle begins with artillery shelling.
In addition to shelling, an important part of the artillery unit's work is to counterattack the enemy's artillery positions.
After the artillery position fires, enemy observers can deduce the location of the artillery position from the trajectory of the artillery shells, and then guide their own artillery to suppress the enemy's artillery.
In yesterday's battle, the three artillery divisions of the Southern African Expeditionary Force also suffered heavy casualties, with losses of more than 500 people. Although the artillery unit's losses were negligible compared to the ANZAC, training a qualified artilleryman requires a lot of effort.
The effort goes far beyond training a qualified infantryman. Southern Africa began to consciously train artillery three years ago, and now it only has these three divisions.
"General, if the frontline attack is affected because the artillery needs a rest, you must bear full responsibility." The major from the headquarters had a sense of superiority in front of the general of the servant army from southern Africa. Coker even wondered if this was still the case.
The British army is famous for its hierarchical structure.
"Shut your mouth and get out of my command post. I don't need you to teach me how to command the troops in combat." Coker is not polite. Others may not dare to challenge local officers. Coker is not afraid.
They are also soldiers from the mainland, but now they are serving in southern Africa.
An hour later, Haig personally called Coker.
Coker's adjutant replied to Haig that General Coker was resting and asked Haig to call back in an hour.
It sounds a bit excessive, but if you look at what Joffre and Pétain did, you can understand why Coker's "rest" is so important.
Haig did not come directly to Coker. At six o'clock in the morning, the artillery unit was ready to start bombarding the Germans.
At half past eight, just after the bombardment ended, Coker received an order to be relieved of his duties.
"Dismissal? Do you want to expel my chief of staff from the military? General Cocker's rank of general was not conferred by the Expeditionary Forces Command, and his position of chief of staff was not appointed by the Department of War. He cannot be relieved unless I order it.
Otherwise, anyone's order will be invalid." It was already ten o'clock in the morning when Rock knew about this. Haig was making too much fuss, delaying the attack by one hour and advancing it by one.
An hour-long attack will not have a fatal impact on the frontline battle.
"My Lord, General Coker violated military orders and was of a different nature." Ian Hamilton was also helpless. Haig had not yet figured out his main job content.
Like Roque as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Haig serves as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force. His main job is to coordinate the internal relations of the expeditionary force and strengthen cooperation with the French army. Simply relying on the British Expeditionary Force, even if the British Expeditionary Force is
Even if Croft was the commander-in-chief, it would be impossible to defeat the Germans like they defeated the Ottomans.
No matter how arrogant Haig is, in the French battlefield, the French army is the main force, and the British Expeditionary Force is in a auxiliary position. To use a futuristic term, don't force yourself to make trouble.
Haig is now forcing himself to add drama. Originally, the main target of the German army was not the British Expeditionary Force. Falkenhayn launched the Battle of Verdun in order to attract all the main forces of the French army to Verdun and provide more opportunities for the French army.
The continuous killings allowed the French troops to continue to bleed, and then forced France to withdraw from the war.
Regardless of whether Haig's forced attack can achieve its tactical objectives, it will definitely further deplete the strength of the British Expeditionary Force and aggravate the internal divisions within the expeditionary force, which will have a fatal impact on future expeditionary forces.
"Ian, just wait and see. If Douglas continues to act arbitrarily like this, there will be more and more violations of military orders. In his eyes, soldiers are just consumables used to improve their achievements. They are not living lives at all. They
The butchers will definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame in history. No matter how the newspapers glorify them, the families of those officers and soldiers who died will remember everything they did." Rock also knew that Coker violated military orders. If this matter was let go
In southern Africa, Coker would also be punished, but now, Roque can only defend Coker unconditionally, even if it also violates Roque's principles.
At twelve o'clock at noon, Roark sent telegrams to King George V, Prime Minister Asquith, Minister of War Kitchener, and Chief of Staff of the British Army William Robertson respectively, accusing Haig of disregarding human life on the Western Front, ignoring the facts, and acting on his own will.
.
Roque also instructed his media to increase coverage of the Western Front to let more people know what was happening on the Western Front.
Not only could Haig tell a snitch, but Roark could too, if necessary, and he was even better at it than Haig.
(The explanation about Haig is below, scroll down a little bit——)
