The world war has only started a month ago, and France has already lost its pants. In this year's version of the military uniform, which was just finalized, the red pants were finally canceled and changed to the same blue-gray color as the jacket.
At half past three, the British Expeditionary Force concentrated three divisions and launched a fierce attack on the German Sixth Division.
The British army still did not learn their lesson. The soldiers lined up in neat formations and marched towards the German positions singing military songs to the rhythm of drums and bugles.
The 201st Division is the most elite unit in Fort Glory. It receives training from southern African instructors all year round. Except that it is not equipped with artillery, the training mode is exactly the same as that of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Northern Rhodesian Division.
Of course, the same training mode does not mean the same combat effectiveness. There is still a clear gap between the combat effectiveness of the 201st Division and the 1st Cavalry Division of the Northern Rhodesian Division.
Martin invested two regiments in the first wave of attacks. Although the troops also set off in batches, the troops did not form a thin red line, but formed a skirmish line to charge towards the German positions.
Unlike the British troops who had straight backs, the soldiers of the 201st Division all charged with their backs bent, and made full use of terrain cover. They bent down when they should bend down and crawled when they should crawl. Although they looked a little embarrassed, they
The 5th Division had already committed two regiments, but before it could get within a hundred meters of the German positions, the skirmishers of the 201st Division were already in close contact with the Germans.
Due to the rush of time, the German army had no time to deploy barbed wire fences and minefields in front of the position. The offensive troops of the 201st Division arrived fifty meters in front of the German position and began to throw grenades collectively.
After throwing out all the grenades they carried, the soldiers of the 201st Division jumped into the German trenches with rifles and engineer shovels.
The battle was extremely fierce. The first company of the second battalion of the Mwase Infantry Regiment was completely wiped out in hand-to-hand combat. After the second and third companies, there were only 12 soldiers left in total. The total number of Kamsamba Assault Regiment was 1,450.
There were only 280 soldiers left uninjured after the war. 45 people from a tribe in Mwaze joined the army and all died in the battle. A sergeant major of the Kamosamba Assault Regiment killed 14 people by himself in hand-to-hand combat.
He was a German soldier and was awarded the 1913 Star after the war.
Although it suffered heavy casualties, the 201st Division still broke through the defensive positions of the German Sixth Division. The German Sixth Division also suffered heavy casualties. After the war, it was transferred to Luxembourg for rest and recuperation, and it returned to the battlefield a year later.
The British Expeditionary Force finally broke through the German defenses and posed a huge threat to the flanks of the German First Army. Crook had to retreat across the Marne River. This was just a sentence in the battle reports and newspapers, but in reality it was nearly sixty
Thousands of Allied troops fought bloody battles for a week, and the victory was achieved at the cost of hundreds of thousands of casualties.
The Battle of the Marne broke out on September 5th and lasted until the 12th when the German army retreated. In just one week, the British and French forces lost a total of 260,000 people, and the German army lost 220,000 people. The French army alone lost 260,000 soldiers.
The number of casualties has exceeded that of last month. This result is unacceptable to many people. You must know that the second month of the world war is only halfway through, and the end is still far away. What should we do next?
Specifically, the three divisions in southern Africa had a total strength of 42,000, and 7,500 were killed and injured. After the battle, they were directly withdrawn to Dreux for rest and recuperation. Taking into account the situation of the British and French coalition forces, they would not be able to return to the battlefield within the year.
Martin didn't think so. After the troops withdrew to Dreux, Martin integrated the remaining officers and soldiers of the three divisions into an integrated division and an independent brigade to continue fighting on the battlefield. At this time, the third batch of reinforcements, five divisions, finally arrived in Paris, south of Paris.
The African Expeditionary Force finally won the respect of Joffre and French with their achievements.
"Marshal Martin, please accept my respect. You have the best officers and soldiers in the world, and you deserve the highest honor." French congratulated Martin, and George V personally issued a commendation order for the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
Martin also received the 1913 Star.
"Thank you, we have no choice but to win." Martin was not very happy, at least not as happy as Franzi and Joffre.
French finally repaid the trust of George V and Kitchener with victory. Joffre also safely passed the crisis of trust with his victory in the Battle of the Marne. However, they seemed to be dazzled by the victory in the Battle of the Marne and thought that
The German army can be defeated in a short time. At the celebration banquet held last night, French even said frivolously that the war would be over within six weeks.
I really don't know where his confidence comes from.
"There are now six divisions in southern Africa. You can take on more important tasks. We will launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army and invade the German mainland through Belgium. This will allow the Germans to taste the bitter consequences of launching a war." Joffre is in the limelight.
Jin, the battle of the Marne was the most difficult period for Joffre. At that time, both the French government and the public were discussing whether Joffre should be replaced.
"Our troops have passed the most difficult stage. Now we should rest properly and wait for more reinforcements. Only when our troops are at an advantage can we launch an attack on the German army." General Gallieni, who was dismissed by Joffre, is still
Commander of the Paris Garrison, although he was dismissed, he also made great contributions. During the Battle of the Marne, Gallieni organized a thousand taxis in Paris and transported 6,000 troops to the front within 24 hours. This was a powerful force.
The safety of Paris was guaranteed.
These taxis are not horse-drawn carriages, but cars.
In the early days of the Battle of the Marne, the British and French forces on the battlefield were weak.
However, as time went by, reinforcements from the British and French coalition forces continued to flow. By September 8, the strength of the British and French coalition forces actually exceeded that of the German troops, so the final victory was achieved.
"This is too conservative. We are in great momentum and should take advantage of the victory to attack." William Robertson, acting chief of staff of the British Expeditionary Force, is also a supporter of the theory of quick victory. Losing the Battle of the Marne had a great impact on the German army. The most direct impact was
This resulted in the resignation of Moltke, the German Chief of General Staff, and Moltke's successor was Falkenhayn, who had served as the German Commander-in-Chief in Tanganyika.
Although Falkenhayn was not successful in Tanganyika, within the German army, after Moltke resigned, the German army could no longer find a suitable candidate to take over as Chief of General Staff. Ludendorff was still too young and not qualified enough.
Han is the most suitable target.
"Marshal Martin, what is your opinion?" French took the initiative to seek Martin's opinion. This does not prove that French values Martin more, but that if the British Expeditionary Force wants to counterattack, it must rely on the six divisions of the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
and the only independent brigade.
"I don't think we can win quickly. The German army did suffer heavy losses in the Battle of the Marne, but Germany's war potential is far from being fully mobilized. We'd better be prepared for a long-term war. The war will not happen within one or two years."
To end it quickly, our most effective way now is to gradually consume the war potential of the German army. The German army has no overseas support, and we can mobilize the resources of global colonies to consume the German army. In two or three years at most, we can consume the Germans alive.
Die, instead of exchanging the precious lives of soldiers for temporary victory like now." Martin said bluntly, so far, Martin has done a good job. Although the troops suffered heavy casualties, they successfully won the battle between French and Gallieni.
respect.
Forget it about Xiafei, this guy doesn't respect anyone but only cares about himself.
"This is not like the words of a marshal who has just won a victory on the battlefield -" Haig's words were full of sarcasm. Sure enough, when the Battle of the Marne reached its peak, the unity within the expeditionary force was temporary. Now the German army is retreating, Britain and France
The coalition gained the upper hand, and conflicts within the expeditionary force reared their head again.
Haig's character is indeed questionable. Before the war broke out, he tried to compete with Francois for the position of commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force. For this reason, he gave Francisi eye drops from George V, but no matter
Whether it is in terms of qualifications, ability, or age, Haig is not as good as Frenzi, so Haig falls short.
Haig is only 44 years old now. At this age, it is possible for him to serve as commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force in the colonies. Martin is less than 40 years old now, but he is too young to be in the UK. Appointing a young commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force is right.
The expeditionary force’s irresponsibility.
"Then what do you think? We launch an attack immediately, capture Berlin within six weeks, and then hold a military parade in front of the Royal Palace in Berlin?" Martin was not polite and even ridiculed Frenzi. The total strength of the German army now exceeds 3 million. Even if
If the Germans did not fight back, they would not be able to finish them off by shooting them one by one for six weeks.
These words were a bit harsh. Both Haig and Ferenczi looked ugly. Gallieni shook his head and was speechless. The internal conflicts in the coalition made Gallieni very disappointed.
"Even in order to contain the German offensive, we have to push the front into Belgium -" There is something wrong with Xiafei's words. If King Albert I of Belgium heard this, he would probably be very depressed.
.
It’s not okay to be depressed. This is the tragedy of a small country with few people. Belgium has not stopped resisting yet. After the fall of the Liege Fortress, Albert I concentrated all his troops to defend Antwerp. Joffre sternly warned Albert I that if Belgium loses all its territory,
Then after the war, Albert I would not be able to keep his throne, so Albert I had no choice.
It is said that in Antwerp, Albert I drew a line on the battle line, requiring all generals not to retreat, and whoever retreated would be shot.
That's why Belgium has been able to persist until now.
Antwerp's defense line is stronger than the Fortress of the Burning Sun. It is surrounded by a defensive circle composed of 19 modern solid fortresses and has a garrison strength of 100,000.
"We counted the seized materials and found that the German army has a big problem with supplies. Many soldiers have no food in their bags and are about to run out of bullets. We found many corpses of German soldiers in a German field hospital. Basically, they were all dead.
Too much blood loss, but this doesn't mean anything. The German army is too far away from the supply base. Before the Battle of the Marne, they were 200 kilometers away from the supply base. Now that the German army retreats, it will be closer and closer to the supply base. If we attack, then
The resistance we encounter will become greater and greater." Smith Dolin was relatively calm and had similar opinions to Martin.
"It doesn't matter. In the previous stage of the attack, the German army has lost all its well-trained elite troops. Now the German army's reinforcements are untrained recruits. It is easy to defeat them." Xiafei insisted that although the German army had many recruits,
But the loss of all elite troops is definitely an exaggeration. The German army numbered 790,000 before the war, but now it has lost only one-third.