Whether Foch is a butcher or not remains to be verified, but there is no doubt about the relationship between Foch and Joffre. It was precisely because of his close relationship with Joffre that after Joffre's downfall, Foch was also implicated and was relieved of his duties and returned to
The rear area is responsible for coordinating with the British Expeditionary Force.
It was precisely because of this work that Foch gained the trust of the British Expeditionary Force, making him qualified to serve as the future commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces.
Therefore, the saying that good fortune lies in the presence of misfortune and misfortune lies in the presence of good fortune is also applicable in France.
Although Roque did not like Joffre, Roque and Foch had a good relationship. In Ypres, Roque and Foch worked happily together.
Relatively speaking, the funeral of Joseph Gallieni was very unpleasant. As the Minister of War, it was really hard to accept that not many people came to attend the funeral of Joseph Gallieni.
The French still don’t know how much contribution Joseph Gallieni has made to France. They only see that Joseph Gallieni recommended Joffre and protected Joffre many times, and they thought that Joseph Gallieni
Wearing the same pants as Xiafei.
In fact, when the World War broke out, no one in France except Joffre was suitable to be the commander-in-chief. Joseph Gallieni was originally one of the candidates, but Joseph Gallieni was old and his health was not good. He was worried that he would not be able to serve as commander-in-chief.
He led France to victory, so Joseph Gallieni recommended the younger and more energetic Joffre.
Roque does not want to comment on French personnel affairs. This is France's internal affairs. Roque has no right to interfere. Roque is concerned about the British Expeditionary Force. The Battle of the Somme is imminent. Looking at it now, if the situation is the same as in another time and space, the British
The expeditionary force will be severely weakened after the Battle of the Somme. Even if Haig steps down by then, it will not be able to make up for the mistakes he has made.
If possible, Rock wanted to organize the outbreak of the Battle of the Somme, but it was useless. No matter what Rock did, it was useless. The Western Front was still dominated by French troops. Britain could not bear the losses caused by losing France. Haig
Not willing to be alone, it urgently needs victory to prove itself. The British cabinet has not yet despaired of Haig, although more and more people do not trust Haig.
In March, the situation took a turn for the worse. After the failure of the Battle of Lake Narach, Nicholas II unreasonably dismissed the Minister of War Alexei Polivanov from his post. This was the case for Empress Alexei.
It was Sandra's idea. Alexandra had always disliked Alexei Polivanov. Although Polivanov performed well as Minister of War, his drastic reforms restored Russia to a certain extent.
The losses the empire suffered after the war.
Another reason for Polivanov's dismissal was Rasputin. This reason was also related to southern Africa. The origin was ridiculous.
Last year, the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom reached a loan agreement, and the United Kingdom decided to provide the Russian Empire with 20 million pounds per month to help the Russian Empire continue to fight.
This money is a life-saving straw for the current Russian Empire, and if used properly, it can play a huge role.
It is a pity that Nicholas II appointed himself commander-in-chief of the army, and St. Petersburg was controlled by Rasputin. Rasputin privately purchased many luxury goods for Queen Alexandra to squander, including luxury goods from southern Africa.
High-end cars.
Last month, ten Lords were delivered to St. Petersburg, four of which belonged to Rasputin, who was rumored to have hoped to evade police pursuits in the safe and fast Lords.
After Polivanov learned about this incident, he tried to intervene in the matter, but unexpectedly was dismissed by Nicholas II.
Because four cars removed the Minister of War from his duties, something that could only happen in the Russian Empire.
The new Minister of War of the Russian Empire is Alexei Brusinov. He is one of the most outstanding soldiers in Russia, but he has a group of subordinates who are like pig teammates. After Brusinov took over as Minister of War, Nikolai
II ordered Brusinov to continue the attack on the Germans at Lake Narach.
Brusinov carried out campaign mobilization, but his generals Eft and Kuropatkin disagreed. They did not want to launch an attack on the German army. Chief of General Staff General Alexeyev firmly supported Brusinov.
He is Brusinov's old superior and has rich practical experience.
Driven by General Alexeyev, the preparations for the battle were very difficult. Before the Russian Imperial troops completed their preparations for the battle, the German army launched a counterattack under the command of Hindenburg and Ludendorff. It only took one day.
, the German army regained the position that the Russian Imperial troops spent a week to capture in the previous Battle of Lake Narach, and the Russian Empire’s counterattack was forced to stop. In the two battles of Lake Narach, the Russian Empire lost 100,000 people.
This does not include the 12,000 who froze to death. In contrast, the German losses were only 20,000.
Roque returned to Cyprus after attending the funeral of Joseph Gallieni. Throughout March and April, the British Expeditionary Force was preparing for the Battle of the Somme. A large number of troops were transferred to the Western Front, artillery and other military
Supplies are piling up like mountains. As the World War continues, the importance of artillery has become more and more obvious. All participating countries regard artillery as the most important means of attacking the enemy.
Compared with artillery, Haig obviously does not pay enough attention to machine guns. To this day, Haig still insists that cavalry can play a decisive role in the battle, while machine guns are dispensable and "have extremely limited help in combat."
To make matters worse, on May 10, there was a problem with a batch of artillery shells sent to the Somme front line. The quality of the artillery shells was not up to standard. Haig believed that these artillery shells were produced by Nyasaland's arsenal, but Kitchina believed that they were not.
, because the weapons and ammunition produced in Nyasaland have never had large-scale quality problems, Winston has an ambiguous attitude on this issue. If these artillery shells are not produced by Nyasaland’s arsenal, then they are produced by British arsenals.
, and Winston’s current position is Minister of Munitions. If there are quality problems with locally produced artillery shells, Winston cannot escape the blame.
"Eighty percent of these artillery shells are produced by British arsenals. When Lloyd George was the Minister of Munitions, he asked the local arsenals to increase production and increase efficiency. However, the local arsenals did not have enough qualified workers, and the newly recruited workers had no experience.
So the probability of something going wrong is very high." Sidney Milner is the new generation of British king. The quality of the artillery shells is not Winston's responsibility, it is all the fault of the former Minister of Munitions, Lloyd George.
"Yes, it's all because of Lloyd George!" Rock followed suit. As long as the Nyasaland Arsenal was not responsible, of course Winston couldn't be blamed. Lloyd George was the best scapegoat.
"The Prime Minister asked Haig to inspect all the artillery shells to ensure that the quality of the artillery shells is qualified. This work will take a long time and will probably affect the preparations for the Battle of the Somme." Sidney Milner gloated, he didn't care about France.
Life or death.
Rock couldn't help but care that the German army's attack in Verdun never stopped. Dead Man's Mountain was finally captured by the German army. The French army threw 10,000 corpses on the position. Dead Man's Mountain finally lived up to its name.
There was a rotten smell, and everyone got a double serving of tobacco.
After Fort Duvalmont, Fort Walker fell one after another. Charles Mangin commanded the troops to counterattack. The French and German troops engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat between the fort groups. The wounded refused to leave the battlefield. There was not enough anesthesia on the front line. Those arms and
The soldiers whose thighs were sawed off seemed to have lost their sense of pain. They didn't care about their injuries at all. When their arms or thighs were sawed off, they didn't scream in pain or cry. Instead, they asked the doctor for cigarettes and then asked about the situation on the front line.
The French army, which was demoralized after stopping rotation tactics, was completely defeated. After nearly three days of hand-to-hand fighting, the French army was driven out of Fort Walker. 5,500 French soldiers were killed, including 130 officers, 12,000 French soldiers were wounded, and 1,000 people were killed.
Prisoner of war, Charles Mangin was dismissed from his post, but did not leave the front line and went to Joffre's headquarters as a staff officer.
In mid-May, in order to delay the preparations of the British Expeditionary Force, the German army launched an attack on Vimy Ridge.
Haig, who was bent on attacking, was unprepared, and Vimy Ridge was occupied by the Germans.
Vimy Ridge has extremely high strategic value. Controlling Vimy Ridge can control the plain area west of Artois. In the second Battle of Artois, the French army paid a huge price to conquer Vimy Ridge. In March, Joffre
In order to reinforce Verdun, the Vimy Ridge position was transferred to the British Expeditionary Force. Unexpectedly, the British Expeditionary Force lost Vimy Ridge in May.
On May 26, the situation in Verdun became increasingly tense, and Joffre had to discuss with Haig, hoping to advance the launch of the Battle of the Somme.
Previously, Joffre and Haig were preparing to launch the Battle of the Somme in August.
Haig did not agree to launch the Battle of the Somme in advance. The British Expeditionary Force was not ready yet, and Haig did not know how many of the existing artillery shells had problems. If this hidden danger was not eliminated, it would definitely affect the British Expeditionary Force's attack.
On May 28, French Prime Minister Aristide Briand personally approached Haig, hoping that Haig would launch the Battle of the Somme in advance.
Haig still disagreed, insisting that preparations for the campaign would not be completed until two months later.
Aristide Briand asked Haig in an almost pleading tone. Given the current situation in France, if the pressure at Verdun cannot be relieved, France may not exist in two months.
Haig was helpless and ordered an artillery bombardment of the German positions that afternoon.
The nightmare of Verdun is not over yet, a new nightmare has come again.
Just when Haig finally launched the Battle of the Somme, the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo broke out in the Italian direction.
In the first four battles of the Isonzo River, the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had mutual victories and defeats, but the battle lines were still miraculously maintained at the place where the first Battle of the Isonzo River broke out. Roque really served the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The hundreds of thousands of casualties suffered in the first four battles were lamented.
