Winston's visit to France was purely a matter of routine. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire had sued for peace a month ago, Winston and Pongarai would have rushed to welcome him. Now they can only hehe. Seeing that the Allies are gone, the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to withdraw.
War was impossible unless Austria-Hungary was willing to give up all rights and let the Allies rule.
While the British and French forces surrounded the German mobile forces on the Marne River, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force under the command of Ian Hamilton was also launching an attack on the German and Austrian forces on the Piave River.
Previously, Ludendorff had transferred Otto von Bülow back to the Western Front for the Michael Plan. The German-Austrian Allied Forces had lost their wisest commander. Now on the Piave River, 400,000 Austro-Hungarian troops
The commander is still the same arbitrary Conrad. He has been proven not to be a good commander before, and now he has made almost the same mistakes he made again.
The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force launched an attack on the German-Austrian Allied Forces on April 9. This day was also the time when the British and French Allied Forces began their counterattack.
At the Piave River, the counterattack was carried out with the Northern Rhodesian Division and the newly transferred 1st Cavalry Division as the core. These two troops are the ace troops in southern Africa. The troops were established the earliest and the soldiers are well trained.
, equipped with the most advanced weapons and abundant logistical supplies, facing the German-Austrian coalition, the advantages of the two ace divisions were unshakable.
On the morning of April 9, four divisions of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force crossed the Piave River and launched an attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire's positions on the other side of the river.
The battle line is 70 kilometers long. The Italian troops who cooperated with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force also performed well. When they fought against the German-Austrian coalition alone, the Italian troops were like a disaster under the command of Canadogi. In cooperation with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force,
At that time, the troops of the Kingdom of Italy immediately showed their due level.
This is also thanks to the fall of Canadogi. After the 12th Battle of the Isonzo River, the King of Italy finally couldn't stand Canadogi's poor performance. The Italian government fell, Canadogi was dismissed, and the performance of the Kingdom of Italy's troops
It will look brand new immediately.
Compared with the powerful Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's troops were in unprecedented difficulties.
The most important problem was logistical supply. The Austro-Hungarian Empire still had troops, but logistical supply was extremely difficult. The frontline troops did not have enough food, not enough ammunition, and even insufficient clothing to keep out the cold.
Karl I knew the difficulties faced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but was powerless. He wanted to defeat the Allies, but the Allies were clearly unable to do so. He also wanted to withdraw from the war, but could not find a suitable way.
In this contact between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Allied Powers, the Allied Powers clearly demanded that Karl I and Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate, treating this as a prerequisite for negotiations.
This request was unacceptable to Karl I. Even if Karl I wanted to accept it, William II would not accept it.
Like the counterattack of the British and French coalition forces, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force moved quickly and advanced 25 kilometers on the first day of the attack. The participating troops generally felt that fighting was easier than marching. On this day, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost 195,000 people, of whom only
17,000 people were killed, and nearly 100,000 people surrendered without any resistance.
Three days later, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force advanced to the Isonzo River. The German-Austrian Allied Forces were defeated faster than they advanced in the 12th Battle of the Isonzo River. Too many prisoners dragged down the Mediterranean Expedition.
Due to the speed of the army, the offensive forces had to put a lot of energy into collecting prisoners of war and deserters. It was not until the third day that Ian Hamilton noticed this problem, and then the work of collecting prisoners of war was taken over by the second-line troops. The advancing speed of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force
Speed up again.
By April 15, the Northern Rhodesian Division successfully advanced the front to the Alpine Pass.
When Karl I sent people to sue for peace, he probably did not expect that in just one week, not only would the western front undergo earth-shaking changes, but the Italian front would also completely collapse. Otherwise, Karl I's conditions would be even more humble.
Winston came to Ame with a secret mission. Now that the fall of Germany is imminent, the British government has begun to consider the post-war European order. The Russian Empire has been destroyed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire will definitely take over after the war and be divided into multiple small countries.
, there will be no new threats. If Germany is also destroyed, France will become the dominant player on the European continent, which is not in the interests of the United Kingdom.
What's more, there is an unexplainable reason. William II and George V are relatives after all, so George V does not want William II to end up with the same fate as Nicholas II.
Abdicating is probably the bottom line for George V. George V will never allow the killing of William II's family. This means that the world war is not over yet, otherwise Britain may have already begun to retaliate against the new Russian government.
Of course, if Britain wants to retaliate against the new Russian government, it will certainly not be under the guise of revenge for Nicholas II's family, nor will it be because the new Russian government does not recognize the debts left by the Russian Empire, so it needs to find someone
A more appropriate reason that everyone can accept.
After knowing Winston's purpose, Rock was in a state of collapse.
The Germans have not yet surrendered. There are still hundreds of thousands of German troops fighting stubbornly in the encirclement. Ludendorff still has more than 3 million troops under his command. The Germans' will to fight has not completely disappeared, but the French government has begun to plan to dismember Germany.
, the British government has begun to consider the European equilibrium. Is it too early to consider these now?
"Not early, not early at all. It will be too late to talk about this after everything has settled. You have no say in this issue. Now I have seen through it. We are all working for you. The world war has made
Europe has depleted its wealth and owes a lot of debt, but you in southern Africa are opening up territories and making a lot of money from business. You are the biggest worm in the empire-" Winston's nose is not a nose and eyebrows are not
With my eyebrows, I finally realized something was wrong.
"Come on, Southern Africa sacrificed a million people in the World War. If there was no Southern African Expeditionary Force, you know what would have happened." Roque now has the qualifications. The Southern African Expeditionary Force almost participated in the outbreak of the World War.
In all the battles that have taken place on the Western Front and in the Mediterranean since then, one million sacrifices is a real figure. No one can diminish the contribution of southern Africa to the Allies.
Winston was so angry that he didn't speak. He also knew that Southern Africa had contributed a lot, but Southern Africa had gained even more. Let's not talk about how much money was made through trade with Southern Africa. The territory Winston promised to Southern Africa included:
Southwest Africa of 820,000 square kilometers, Tanganyika of 1 million square kilometers, and Mesopotamia of nearly 900,000 square kilometers——
Not to mention the Sultanate of Najd, the Kingdom of Congo, the Congo Free State and the East India Federation, which have become de facto vassal states in southern Africa.
Before the World War, these regions were not recognized by the international community. Even Southern Africa did not recognize the existence of these countries because Southern Africa had no diplomatic autonomy and could only be recognized by the British government.
After the world war, these regions will also participate in sharing the spoils. It can be predicted that the demands made by these regions will not be too many, and the minimum independence and autonomy will be granted.
Returning to the number of 1 million in southern Africa, Winston did not know how many whites and Chinese there were in these 1 million people, but one thing is certain, the vast majority must be Africans.
This raises a very frustrating question. Southern Africa does not recognize the status of Africans in its territory. However, after the outbreak of the world war, the federal government of Southern Africa recruited a large number of Africans to join the army and fight in Europe. How should this account be calculated?
?
Winston himself didn't know.
"Do your job well. Your job is to eliminate the Germans in the encirclement. If possible, try to force the Germans in the encirclement to surrender -" Winston did not want Germany to suffer too serious losses, otherwise he would have to check and balance them.
The French are like a mirror.
"I'm sorry Winston, I really can't do this. If you want to persuade the Germans in the encirclement to surrender, then you go and I won't go." Rock was shocked that he could make such a request. Winston's
He has a bigger brain than Rock.
"I didn't let you go, I mean as much as possible-" Winston was not crazy yet.
Just when Rock and Winston were harboring evil intentions, the British and French forces had already begun to attack the German troops in the encirclement.
After the encirclement was formed, Otto von Bülow and Hutier realized that the situation was not good, and the German troops in the encirclement began to move closer to Reims, trying to jump out before the encirclement was formed.
Otto von Bülow and Hutier did not expect that the British and French forces would move so fast. Before the German troops on the Marne River could get rid of the entanglement of the British and French forces, an encirclement circle had already been formed.
Otto von Bülow and Hutier, who were already in dire straits, were unwilling to fail and continued to attack Paris. It was no longer possible. The German army did not carry much supplies when attacking. After the logistics supply was interrupted, even if the British and French forces did not attack,
The German troops in the encirclement could not hold out for long.
One week at most.
Under this circumstance, Otto von Bülow and Hutier commanded the German army to launch wave after wave of crazy attacks on Reims.
By breaking through Reims, the 350,000 German troops in the encirclement could escape.
Otherwise, you can just sit back and wait for death.
At this time, Reims was being attacked from two sides by the German army, and the defenders of Reims only had four divisions, totaling less than 70,000 people.
Roque and Pétain also realized the importance of Reims. While sending more troops to Reims, they also gave the defenders of Reims as much help as possible.
The air force played a key role at this time. The British Expeditionary Force had France's largest airport in Asia. Roque mobilized all 1,200 aircraft of the British Expeditionary Force in France to ensure that Reims was controlled by the British and French forces at all costs.