Will French provide Martin with adequate artillery support?
No, the British Expeditionary Force does not have enough artillery. Infantry can do assault training, but artillery cannot. The scientist arm needs a long period of accumulation to form combat effectiveness.
So will Martin launch an attack on the German First Army before he gets enough artillery support?
The same is not true. Martin only has three divisions under his command, and the 105th Division is not yet full. It needs to be used sparingly. Although southern Africa needs to improve its record, soldiers cannot die in vain.
In the end, Martin was supported by an artillery brigade, but it was not given by Ferenzi, but by Joffre. The war was far away from the British mainland, so the British could wait, but the French could not afford to wait. They would be finished waiting for Paris.
The commander of the artillery brigade was Robert Nievelle, who had just been promoted to major general after he had distinguished himself in previous battles.
"Marshal, Brigadier General Robert Nivelle, Commander of the 43rd Artillery Brigade, is reporting to you -" Robert Nivelle looked at the marshal's collar badge on Martin's collar, his eyes full of envy.
A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a general who does not want to be a marshal is not a good general.
In fact, they are almost the same. The brigadier general's collar badge is also made of gold and has the same gold content. At this time, quantity is overwhelming.
"General Nivelle, just call me Martin -" Martin was a little surprised. Robert Nivelle and Pétain were both 57 years old this year. Neither of them were generals before the outbreak of the World War. Thanks to the World War,
Both Nivelle and Pétain performed well and were promoted to brigadier general. France's military system is rigid enough. In southern Africa, you can retire at the age of 57.
Strictly speaking, a brigadier general is not a general, but is roughly equivalent to a colonel.
Although Martin's attitude towards Nivelle is pretty good, if Rock were here, he might have more respect for Nivelle.
Nivelle now probably cannot imagine that he will replace Joffre as commander-in-chief of the French army in two years' time.
What surprised Martin a little was that the artillery brigade led by Nivele was only equipped with 36 75mm infantry cannons. This was a huge gap from Britain and Germany. The British artillery brigade was usually equipped with 54 18-pounder (caliber 83.8mm) artillery.
Plus 18 4.5-inch (caliber 114.3 mm) guns.
Germany's artillery brigade is similar to that of Britain, with 54 77mm field guns and 18 105mm howitzers.
"The artillery equipped by Germany has a slow shooting speed, and the efficiency is hugely different from the 75mm infantry cannon we equip. One of our artillery brigade can easily suppress a German artillery brigade. Previously, we relied on the 75mm infantry cannon to repel the first
The attack of the group army." Nivelle was deeply poisoned. Like most French generals, he did not think that there was a problem with France's artillery thinking.
Compared with similar field artillery in Britain and Germany, the Seventy-Five Miss does have huge advantages. The British 18-pound field gun has a firing rate of ten rounds per minute, which is fast enough. The Seventy-Five Miss has a firing rate of 15 rounds per minute.
The ultimate state can reach 30 rounds per minute.
The biggest problem of the French artillery brigade is the lack of large-caliber artillery. Although the performance of Miss 75 is good, the range and power are limited, and it cannot suppress the 105mm howitzer of the German army. With its longer range, the 105mm howitzer can easily defeat Miss 75.
Attack the artillery units of the French army beyond the range. Therefore, in the previous battle, Niweiler had to deploy Miss 75 in the front-line position, so as to threaten the 105mm howitzer of the German First Army.
"Get ready today, we will launch an attack tomorrow morning." Martin has no intention of arguing about this issue. The African Division in southern Africa does not have a professional artillery brigade, and the troops are only equipped with a small number of mortars. The Northern Rhodesian Division and the 1st Cavalry Division
Each has an artillery brigade, equipped with 54 75mm field guns and 18 125mm howitzers. Its firepower output is more powerful than that of the main British and German forces. Nyasaland Military Industrial Group is also studying 125mm self-propelled howitzers. Before the end of the year,
Can serve.
The cannon has the performance of both a cannon and a howitzer. When shooting with a large charge and a small angle of attack, the performance of the howitzer is similar to that of a cannon and can produce the effect of a cannon; when shooting with a small charge and a large angle of attack
, the howitzer is similar to the howitzer and can be used as a howitzer.
The howitzer is not unique to southern Africa. Germany is also conducting similar research. In another time and space, Germany successfully developed the world's first howitzer in the second year after the outbreak of the World War. Subsequently, the artillery researched by various countries
It adds howitzers, but they are all named after howitzers.
Self-propelled artillery is not unique to southern Africa. Russia and France are both conducting similar research, but their progress is far behind that of southern Africa. Russia installed a 76mm artillery gun on a truck chassis and developed the world's first
France has just begun research on a self-propelled artillery. The Nyasaland Military Industrial Group hopes to install its own 125mm howitzer on the chassis of a tank. This is a real self-propelled artillery.
Although Martin wanted to give the troops more rest time, the Germans obviously did not think so. On the evening of the 8th, Grom's troops launched an attack on the 201st Division. The battle was fierce, and Grom invested two regiments.
, launched an attack on a regiment of the 201st Division under the cover of artillery. The 201st Division was outnumbered and withdrew from the position less than an hour after the battle began.
"You can't even last an hour, why?" Martin was furious and directly asked Brian Mullen, the commander of the 201st Division.
"The enemy had too many people, and they also had artillery assistance. When the troops withdrew, there were less than 300 people left. There was a problem with our troop deployment." Brian Mullen was also helpless. The German infantry division consisted of two brigades.
There are four regiments, each regiment has close to 3,300 men. The 201st Division is a temporarily formed force, using the three-brigades-nine-regiment system. Each regiment is a little more than a thousand, and it is indeed impossible to defeat it. It can only retreat after 70% of the battle losses.
The 201st Division's fighting will is already very tenacious.
"Don't give me any excuses. I don't care what you do. We must regain the position before sunrise tomorrow!" Martin refused to listen to Brian Mullen's explanation. Everyone has difficulties. Everyone is holding on.
Let's see who can hold on.
"I need artillery support." Brian Mullen is not afraid of battle. He is also a southern African and will not care about the casualties of the Fort Glory troops.
Martin also knew that it would be difficult to regain the position without artillery support, so Nivelle's artillery had to cooperate with the 201st Division in fighting overnight.
At this time, the strength of the French army as an army power can be seen. After Martin issued the combat order, Nivelle's troops completed combat preparations within two hours, and then began to carry out firepower attacks on the German army.
In Martin's concept, fire preparation usually lasts half an hour, covering the infantry troops arriving at the starting position, and then the artillery fire is extended to form a battlefield partition, and the infantry begins to charge. This is infantry-artillery coordination.
The guiding ideology of the French artillery was obviously not like this. Nivelle's artillery had been firing wildly for an hour without any intention of stopping, so Martin had to take the initiative to stop.
In one hour, 36 75mm infantry guns fired more than 20,000 rounds of artillery shells. Modern warfare is something that most countries cannot afford.
In order to regain the position, Brian Mullen dispatched a brigade and two regiments. This brigade was originally the reserve team of the 201st Division, but it was sent to the battlefield on the first day of the battle. The cruelty of the war is evident.
The Germans did not expect that the 201st Division would attack overnight. In this era, armies generally rarely fought at night. The 201st Division regained its position, but nearly two thousand officers and soldiers suffered casualties. After one night, more than half of the 201st Division was destroyed.
Martin's hands were shaking when he saw the battle report. The cruelty of the world war was far beyond Martin's imagination. Southern Africa captured Southwest Africa. Both sides suffered only a few hundred casualties. Before coming to France, Martin had done his best to prepare for the casualties of the troops.
The preparations were heavy, but the severity was beyond Martin's expectation. Let alone launching an attack on the flanks of the First Army at this rate, the three divisions in Southern Africa might not be able to hold out for three days even when facing the First Army.
Can't live.
Three days is considered overestimated.
On September 8th, it was not just the 201st Division that was fighting. The British Expeditionary Force, which was in the gap between the German First Army and the Second Army, was fully engaged with the German army. Forenzi invested eight divisions, all of which were British.
The main force, the British Expeditionary Force suffered 17,000 casualties on the first day of the battle.
What Martin didn't expect was that when the 201st Division sent wounded soldiers to a field hospital set up in southern Africa, he learned that the field hospital no longer admitted ordinary soldiers, and only officers were eligible to be sent to the field hospital for treatment.
It’s understandable when you think about it. After all, field hospitals have better equipment, more medicine, and doctors are more experienced in treating the wounded. On the entire front, the British and French forces suffered more than 30,000 casualties every day, even if only one-tenth of the wounded were
There are more than 3,000 officers, and even the doctors in the field hospital are busy.
Although he knew that the situation was serious, Martin still could not accept it. The field hospital was a field hospital prepared by the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa for the Southern African Expeditionary Force. It began to treat the wounded from the British and French coalition forces out of humanitarianism. As a result, the wounded from Southern Africa are now unavailable.
All officers and soldiers in southern Africa were filled with indignation.
"Why doesn't France, a country as powerful as France, even have a field hospital?" Martin really couldn't figure it out. With so many universities in France, would it be difficult to add a medical school?
"Our medical system is not designed for everyone. Only rich and high-status people can get good care when they get sick, while poor people can only stay at home and wait to die."
Likewise, the entire national system serves the powerful, and ordinary people are just tools.
After hearing Nivele's words, Martin and Brian Mullen looked at each other. Strictly speaking, the national system in Southern Africa also serves the powerful, but it does not ignore the interests of ordinary people. There are private doctors in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
There are high-end clinics, but there are also general hospitals that cater to the general public.