The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife was an inevitable accident, and the leakage of intelligence was completely ridiculous. This was not the first time that something like this happened. During the American Civil War, someone picked up a cigarette box on the street in Maryland.
, it actually said the time when the Confederate Army launched an attack on the Northern Army, and the Confederate Army was defeated.
These unexpected events with extremely small probabilities had extremely serious impacts. The combat plan carried out by the Russian officers caused the German army to stabilize the East Prussian front. Moltke no longer needed to transfer troops from the western front to replenish the eastern front. The British and French allied forces
The pressure increases further.
Previously, the Russian troops in East Prussia only had the First Army. Their commander was Paul von Kamp. From this name, it can be seen that Kamp is a German and at least has some German ancestry. The Russian Second Army
The commander of the army group was Alexander Samsonov. His troops had 14.5 divisions, 4 cavalry divisions, and 1,160 artillery pieces.
The German Eighth Army on the Eastern Front had only 11 understrength infantry divisions and one cavalry division, with a total strength of only 135,000 people.
At this time, the German frontline on the Western Front was directed towards Paris. In order to strengthen the defense of Paris, Joffre formed the Sixth Army to take charge of the defense of Paris. This led to the resignation of French Minister of War Adolphe Mesimi. The new minister hoped that the British Expeditionary Force would be deployed as soon as possible.
Returning to the front line to launch an attack on the German army, French rejected the new minister's request.
"The president is under great pressure now. We are not ready to fight the Germans. Paris lacks enough troops, trench wire, and even food. The Sixth Army now only has six armies, and all divisions are understaffed. We
Fortifications are being built, and the previous War Ministry has done nothing—" The dinner in the evening was centered on General Joseph Gallieni, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Sixth Army, who had been semi-retired before and was also
He also serves as the commander of the Paris garrison. These two units were just established. I really don’t know what the French have been doing in the past few years of the arms race.
Probably busy campaigning.
To build fortifications around Paris, it was necessary to dig trenches, lay barbed wire and lay landmines, and at the same time demolish buildings that affected the firing range. Paris residents complained, and their dissatisfaction with the War Department reached its peak. Messimi resigned and went to the front line.
He became a major, from war minister to major. Even after resigning, Messimi was still making contributions to France.
"There is no problem with our work, but there is a deviation in the direction. Everyone is thinking about offense, and no one has ever paid attention to defense. We think we are well prepared, but while we are improving, the Germans are also improving."
The commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army, Lanrezac, was the most sober man in France, but he was unable to change the overall situation.
Before the outbreak of the World War, the French army's admiration for offense had reached a pathological level. It is estimated that their belief in God was not so crazy. Everyone firmly believed that as long as the war broke out, France and Russia would attack from both sides, coupled with the British naval blockade, Germany would
There will be no ability to resist.
Therefore, before the outbreak of the World War, all the war-related plans of the French Ministry of War were related to offense, and no one paid attention to defense. France built strong defensive positions on the French-German border, as if this would be able to defend the enemy from outside the country. Unexpectedly,
Germany could still attack in a roundabout way through Belgium, and their defenses were not well prepared. At the beginning of the war, the French troops did invade Alsace and Lorraine, but after the German counterattack, they had already invaded France and the Franco-German border.
The defense line did not play its due role.
"The most critical thing now is to contain the German attack. As long as we win in any direction, the German army will have to deploy troops to defend, so that a balance on the battlefield can be achieved." French generals have great opinions on the French generals.
, he always gave people a vague sense of ridicule when he spoke.
In Mons, Lanczac retreated early without notifying Dorling and Haig, putting the British Expeditionary Force in great danger. If Dorling and Haig had not withdrawn overnight, the British Expeditionary Force might have been destroyed.
The superior strength of the German army surrounded and destroyed the enemy.
Even so, the British Expeditionary Force suffered heavy losses and became the rear force of the French army. The First Army and the 105th Division went into battle successively. The First Army lost 1,600 people in Mons and 8,000 people in Le Cateau. The 105th Division's
Two brigades have been crippled. If additional troops cannot arrive in time, the two brigades will be merged into one brigade to continue fighting.
"The expeditionary force performed very well in the battle. I hope you can join the battle to defend Paris and fight side by side with the Sixth Army to defend Paris." Gallieni affirmed the performance of the expeditionary force, but this was mostly flattery, and even William II despised it.
Saying that the British Army is a "poor little army", guess what the French would say?
"Our losses last month were too heavy. We need more time to rest and replenish. We also need more supplies. There is another very important question. Our troops use Lee Enfield and need 0.303-inch bullets. Please give us
What we sent was .315 bullets for Lebel rifles. This is ridiculous. Our troops need bullets, but we can't use the bullets you sent!" French complained to his face, and the French——
Absurd indeed.
"The Lebel rifle uses eight millimeter bullets -" LaCrosse corrected him kindly. Just like Francois didn't like French generals, LaCrosse didn't like the British Expeditionary Force either.
In terms of national strength, Britain's national strength far exceeds that of France.
However, the British Expeditionary Force was in France and needed logistical supplies from France, which made the French very dissatisfied.
The British are not satisfied either. The war broke out in France and the British mainland has not yet been affected. The expeditionary force is fighting entirely for France. The precious lives of the soldiers are being wasted. France's logistics supply is in a mess. Their troops have already eaten in southern Africa.
The individual food package provided to the British Expeditionary Force was beef stew with potatoes. Although the southern African army preferred beef stew with potatoes compared to the individual food package, the soldiers of the expeditionary force did not think so.
What is quite embarrassing for France is that the supplies ordered by the French Ministry of War from southern Africa do not seem to have been effectively used. Now individual soldier food packages produced in southern Africa have appeared on the market. These food that should have been supplied to the army have been
Unscrupulous businessmen with great powers openly sell them on the shelves.
"We should unify weapons, and your troops can be equipped with higher-performance Lee Enfield rifles." French "sincerely suggested" to Gallieni. As for Lanrezac, French completely ignored it.
"Why don't you just switch to Lebel rifles? You can't provide enough Lee Enfields to your country's army. You still need to order them from southern Africa. We have enough Lebel rifles in stock." Lanlezak didn't think so.
I thought that Britain's traditional advantage was in the sea. The army was not taken seriously, and the arsenal was also not taken seriously. Therefore, when the army expanded, it did not even have enough weapons.
France is a traditional army power. Although the performance of the army is not very good, the strength in the field of military manufacturing is still good, especially rifles. During the World War, French arsenals produced a total of nearly three million Lebel rifles.
The only regret is that the Lebel rifle is a single-shot rifle. The French have not yet noticed the advantages of magazine-type rifles. They are really stubborn French people, even more stubborn than the Germans. The Germans have begun to gradually change their ammunition.
A warehouse-style Mauser rifle.
"Lebel is a weapon that is destined to be eliminated, and southern Africa is also part of the United Kingdom and an overseas autonomous territory of the British Empire, so we have the ability to equip our own troops with enough rifles." French said hard, this is Roque's
The sudden appearance gave French an opportunity to speak harshly. In another time and space, this batch of British weapons was ordered from the United States.
"Gentlemen, if the army needs more weapons, our American companies can provide sufficient help. We have strong military industry capabilities and can produce tens of millions of various weapons with just one order. Of course
, we still need various authorizations." The person who spoke with such confidence was Colonel Edward House, who was the foreign affairs adviser to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and had great influence on Woodrow Wilson.
Before the outbreak of the World War, Edward House had been in Europe. While working hard for peace, he was also desperately trying to win more orders for American companies.
It's a pity that the rebellious son of the United States has rebelled. In another time and space, Kitchener had no choice but to give orders to the United States. Now that there is southern Africa, the British orders to the United States are all agricultural products.
"Gentlemen, our southern African weapons have always been known for their excellent workmanship, durability, and whether they are Lee Enfield or Lebel, our southern African military industrial enterprises can produce them. We have a large number of skilled workers and a complete and abundant supply of raw materials.
Chain, this is our greatest advantage." Ford Lew seized the opportunity to advertise for the Nyasaland Military Industrial Group. Rifles are consumables. The two million order from the War Department to Southern Africa will certainly not meet the needs of the British Expeditionary Force.
, French military industrial companies cannot produce Lee Enfield, so there are still many orders in the future.
"General Lu, when will Lord Nyasaland come to France? I hope to have a chat with Lord Nyasaland then." Edward House was very interested in Roque. Although the United States has the "Chinese Exclusion Act"
, but Rock is now British.
"We in southern Africa are fighting against Tanganyika in Southwest Africa. After the war between Southwest Africa and Tanganyika is over, I think your Lordship will come to Europe soon." Ford Lu smiled reservedly, but there was a trace of emotion on his face.
I couldn't hide my pride, my eyebrows were flying.
"You can indeed end it. The First Cavalry Division has already invaded Sudan. Are there German troops in Sudan?" Frenchi also doesn't like soldiers in southern Africa. Probably in Frenchi's view, the generals in southern Africa
All too greedy.
The key is to be greedy but also have enough ability, which is terrifying.