The German defense line in this era is different from the deep defense line that was composed of three or four lines two years later. It has not yet been perfected to that extent.
Two years after the World War, the first line of defense was the cordon composed of vanguard troops. The defense was relatively weak and mainly served as a warning. The second line was the real line of defense where the main force was located. After that, there was the third line composed of reserve forces.
Three lines of defense and a fourth line of defense consisting of supporting troops.
In this era, except for the defense line of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, there was only one line of defense between the British, French and German forces. Because all defenses were in preparation for the attack, the British, French and German forces were not used to carrying out civil work.
Facing the attacks of the 101st and 102nd Divisions, a line of defense was of no use at all.
Like the British, French and German artillery units, the large-caliber artillery in southern Africa has a range of more than ten kilometers, so the artillery position of the First Artillery Division is six thousand meters away from the front line, and it has already retreated behind Ypres.
In this way, we can carry out an effective attack on the German positions without having to worry about German counterfire.
The reconnaissance method is also different. Traditional artillery needs to use balloons or aircraft to correct the impact point of the bomb to ensure the attack efficiency of the artillery unit.
Both methods have problems. The observation range of using balloons is relatively small, and they are easily attacked by enemies, so they are not efficient.
However, there is a telephone on the calibration balloon to communicate with the ground, which is more convenient and fast.
If you use an airplane to correct the impact point of the bomb, although you can fly at high speed and observe more clearly, there is no phone on the airplane. The pilot can only write the information on a piece of paper and put it in a brightly colored tube and throw it down to contact the ground troops. The effect is
Actually it's not good either.
The First Artillery Division does not use traditional methods to correct the point of impact. Large-caliber artillery is used as strategic artillery to carry out long-range strikes on German positions. Precision shooting is carried out by mortars attached to the frontline troops. In order to improve combat efficiency, the French sent
A division was formed to cooperate with the 101st and 102nd Divisions.
As a result, the reserve team did not play a role, and even the 102nd Division did not leave the starting position. The 101st Division gave Frenzi and Joffre a perfect performance of infantry and artillery coordination in a skirmish line.
This is too advanced. In the field troops of this era, there is no such thing as infantry and artillery coordination. During the war, the artillery units started banging at a distance, and the infantry units lined up in neat formations and dressed up.
Led by the colorful officers, they launched an attack on the enemy's position as if they were attending a banquet.
To put it in a very futuristic way, troop attacks in this era are very ritualistic.
When we arrived at the Southern African Expeditionary Force, all sense of ritual was forgotten.
In order to shorten the dangerous time for the charging troops to be exposed to the enemy's intensive firepower as much as possible, the 101st Division began tunnel work the night before the attack was launched, and dug the tunnel to less than 500 meters in front of the German position.
This was to prevent accidental damage to the artillery units, so the tunnels were dug 500 meters in front of the German positions. Otherwise, the 101st Division would have really followed the example of the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War and dug the tunnels directly within 50 meters of the German positions.
In fact, 500 meters is already very close.
Therefore, when the long-range artillery launched an attack on the German positions, the offensive troops dispatched by the 101st Division were already safely lurking in the starting position only 500 meters away from the German positions. They were equipped with various 6080 mm caliber mortars at the company level.
They also began to attack the German defensive positions.
Machine gun positions are key targets.
Long-range large-caliber artillery, combined with mortars that are easy to move and fast-firing, took the trouble to sort out the German positions with intensive firepower over and over again. Rock's request was to destroy all man-made buildings within sight, whether they were residential buildings,
The positions built by the Germans were all destroyed. There was no need to worry about the artillery shells. Nyasaland Military Industrial Group established eleven artillery shell factories in Walvis Bay, specializing in the production of various artillery shells to supply to the French battlefield.
Interestingly, the workers in the artillery shell factory were all Germans from Southwest Africa. They also knew that the artillery shells produced in the factory were used to fight the German army, but they were helpless and could not even cause damage.
Artillery shells during this period were still relatively complex. For example, the most commonly used shrapnel on the battlefield had a completely different structure from high-explosive shells. The shell exploded dozens of meters above the target and relied on the steel balls in the warhead to create lethality. One shell carried
Thousands of steel balls can cover an area within 200 meters in diameter. All artillery shells are shipped without fuzes when they leave the factory and are transported. Fuzes are not installed until they are distributed to frontline troops for use.
The management of the Nyasaland Military Industrial Group is very strict. The factories where the Germans work only produce parts for each part, and the final assembly is completed by the factories where the southern Africans work. If the workers are doing foreign work, the whips and wooden sticks in the hands of the African supervisors are not necessary.
I'll be polite.
When Germany ruled Southwest Africa, it ruled the Africans in the territory very cruelly, with various massacres at every turn. Now the Germans in Southwest Africa are very unlucky. When Germany ruled Southwest Africa in the past, how miserable were the Africans in Southwest Africa? Now in the Southwest
How miserable are the Germans in Africa?
The Germans in South Persia Chen were also miserable. The one who replaced the First Guard Regiment to guard South Persia Chen was the newly formed German 92nd Division. This was a newly formed unit. Most of its members had just graduated from middle school or had not yet graduated from high school.
Adult school students dreamed of gaining honors on the battlefield, so they came to Belgium from their hometown. However, they did not expect that as soon as they arrived in Belgium, they encountered the 101st Division, which was almost completely wiped out and had just been restored to form.
The officers and soldiers of the 101st Division were filled with anger from top to bottom, and all this anger was vented on the recruits of the 92nd Division.
The ferocious fire attack lasted for half an hour, and then the infantry troops left their starting positions and launched an attack on South Persia.
The attacking force is not a neat "thin red line", but a somewhat chaotic looking skirmish line with far distances between each soldier.
The soldiers did not advance with their backs straight and to the beat of the military drum. They crouched almost the whole way and used the terrain to alternately cover their advance.
At this time, there are actually no obstacles on the ground, and there are only bomb craters one after another for the attacking troops to use. Fortunately, the battle in South Persia was very fierce some time ago, and bomb craters are everywhere. However, because Flanders is a
The ocean is vast and almost all craters contain water.
At this time, they definitely didn’t care whether the bottom of the crater was water or mud. Even if it was a cesspit, as long as it could avoid the heavy machine guns of the defending troops, they would jump in. Soon after leaving the starting position, the iron-gray uniforms of the officers and soldiers of the 101st Division turned into mud.
The color became the protective color of the attacking troops. Roque, who was observing with binoculars at the observation post, only then noticed the problem with the clothing.
Although the iron-gray uniforms look good, they do not provide enough protection for the troops. In the future, the troops in southern Africa can still retain the iron-grey color as the uniform color of the officers and soldiers. They still need to wear camouflage uniforms during combat, so as to provide more protection to the front-line troops.
Good protection.
Joffre and Frenzi, who were also observing, did not notice this problem. Their eyes did not even leave the eyepieces and they remained silent during the whole process.
Only now did Joffre and Frenzi understand why Roque had always emphasized being well prepared. What Roque meant by being fully prepared was really not the same thing as what Joffre and Frenzi understood. If the attacking force was not the 101st Division,
If instead it was replaced by an infantry division of the British and French forces, then this battle would still be reduced to a flesh-and-blood grinding mill in which both warring parties suffered heavy losses.
Although Xiafei and Frenzi didn't care about troop casualties, it was obvious that while winning the victory, the lower the casualties, the better.
The 101st Division suffered almost no casualties.
It is true that a few soldiers were carried off shortly after the attack started, but they were obviously injured at the level of sprained ankles, and they didn't even need stretchers.
The officers and soldiers of the 9th Division of the British Expeditionary Force were responsible for evacuating the wounded.
Also observing were Roque's old friend Marcos Lloyd and the commander-in-chief of the French Ninth Army, Ferdinand Foch.
Marcos Lloyd didn't ask such stupid questions as why the 101st Division didn't use the thin red line to attack. Marcos Lloyd had never thought about the problems with the "thin red line" tactics before, until he witnessed the 101st Division's attack.
Only then did Lloyd begin to think about why the commander who originally decided on the "thin red line" tactic was so stupid.
In fact, the general who invented the thin red line tactic was not stupid. In the era of muskets, the thin red line tactic was the most suitable tactic for attacking troops.
In the era of breech-loading magazine rifles, thin red line tactics should indeed be improved.
The soldiers of the 101st Division are advancing very fast. It can be clearly seen from the telescope that although the attack of the soldiers of the 101st Division seems a bit chaotic, it is obvious that there are various coordination and responses between the soldiers. Marcos Lloyd noticed this
Question, casually asked about the establishment of the 101st Division.
"Different troops have different organizational structures. Each squad of the 101st Division has 12 people. The squad leader and deputy squad leader are paired with a staff sergeant or sergeant to lead the combat group. Each combat group has three people, plus precision shooters and
Firepower, when attacking, the combat team is the basic unit -" Rock explained in detail that there is no need to hide this aspect. It is not difficult for the Commonwealth countries to obtain the "Infantry Drill Code" of Nyasaland Army Academy. After the world war, it is estimated that
There will be many Commonwealth countries sending people to study at the Army Academy. Forget about countries outside the Commonwealth. Even if they pay for it, Nyasaland Army Academy will not.
If the Commonwealth countries want to send people to study at the Nyasaland Army Academy, they will definitely have to pay for it, and the tuition fees will be very expensive.
The tuition fee for a foreign student can at least support an infantry battalion. Love it or not.
"Bayonets, grenades, spades and pistols, your army in southern Africa is really rich -" Marcos Lloyd was filled with envy and jealousy.
"The pistols were purchased by the soldiers themselves, and it has nothing to do with me -" Roark clarified that neither the British nor the French were so wealthy.