Half a million people sounds like a lot, but in fact, excluding the 200,000 in southern Africa, the British Army is still a "poor little army". After all, the army powers such as France and Germany now have more than 2 million troops recruited, and they have a large population.
Needless to say, the Russian Empire lost millions of troops in 1913, and now the Russian Empire has more than 3 million troops.
The situation faced by the Russian Empire is still relatively bad. After all, the British and French coalition forces on the Western Front have a steady stream of colonial reinforcements.
The Eastern Front was supported by the Russian Empire alone and had to face millions of German and Austrian troops.
To be fair, no matter how black the Russian Empire was, the performance of the Russian Empire in the World War was still good. Although the Russian Empire was retreating steadily in East Prussia, the performance of the Russian Empire's army in the Carpathian Mountains was still good.
Since the outbreak of the World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has also lost 800,000 troops, only part of which was lost in the battle with the Russian Empire, and the other part was caused by the three failed invasions of the Kingdom of Serbia.
The real tragedy was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Before the outbreak of the World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had nearly half a million troops, while the Kingdom of Serbia only had about 20,000 troops.
At the beginning of the World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire brazenly invaded the Kingdom of Serbia.
The Kingdom of Serbia, led by the bearded King Peter, resisted tenaciously and crushed the Austro-Hungarian Empire's attacks three times in a row. All the elite troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been exhausted, and they had to ask for help from the German army in order to continue to put pressure on the Russian Empire.
It was precisely because Hindenburg and Ludendorff had serious differences with Falkenhayn on the issue of whether to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire that conflicts within the German army gradually broke out.
Heavy snow suspended the offensives of both sides, and the advancement of the Southern African Expeditionary Force gradually stalled. The German army tried to launch a counterattack at the end of January. Also because the snow on the ground was too deep, it was difficult to make progress. The 11th Division failed to capture Ghent, and the 2nd Cavalry Division recovered
Arriving at Oudenaarde, the expeditionary force and the German army finally established a solid defense along both sides of the Scheldt River, and the battle line once again fell into a stalemate.
By the end of January, the coalition forces from Southern Africa and the Sultanate of Najd had launched three consecutive attacks on Damascus.
Since December 20 last year, coalition forces from Southern Africa and the Sultanate of Najd have surrounded Damascus.
The coalition troops surrounding Damascus had a total of 11 divisions and 190,000 troops. The Ottoman Empire's garrison in Damascus consisted of six divisions with a total of 85,000 troops. The coalition forces had an absolute advantage in strength.
Kolma von der Goltz is indeed a ruthless person. In order to boost the confidence of the Damascus defenders, Kolma von der Goltz set up his headquarters in Damascus and organized locals in Damascus to form a
Militia, assisting Ottoman troops in the defense of Damascus.
On December 25, the coalition launched its first probing attack on Damascus. Martin deployed two cavalry divisions from the Sultanate of Najd. The results were unsatisfactory. The coalition lost nearly 5,000 people and even the city wall of Damascus was lost.
See.
On January 10, just before Roark launched "Operation Victory Horn," the coalition launched another attack on Damascus. This time, Martin invested four Najd divisions and two 501,502 divisions recruited from East India.
This time the casualties were even more severe. The coalition lost 15,000 people and once invaded Damascus, but ultimately failed to withstand the joint counterattack of Damascus soldiers and civilians and was forced to withdraw from Damascus.
On January 28, just as the 11th Division reached the city of Ghent, the coalition launched another attack on Damascus. This time Martin not only invested all the Najd Servants and East India Servants, but also invested in the southern
The 15th and 17th Divisions were composed of African soldiers.
This time the coalition forces finally gained a foothold in Damascus. The battle was extremely fierce. Under the organization of Kolmar von der Goltz, the soldiers and civilians of Damascus launched brutal street battles with the coalition forces. Fierce fighting broke out in every house.
, most of the coalition forces were not killed or injured in the battle with the Ottoman Empire troops, but died at the hands of the militia composed of Damascus civilians, which made Martin very angry.
"Nearly half of our casualties were caused by civilians. Goltz armed civilians throughout the city. Women and children also had lethal weapons. They acted without hesitation when fighting. Our soldiers often hesitated.
When we were hesitant, we were fatally attacked. Yesterday, my troops suffered 600 casualties, 280 of which were caused by women and children." Brent, commander of the 15th Division, was heartbroken. The 15th Division was formerly an engineering unit, and the soldiers still
If you are not accustomed to the atmosphere of the battlefield and then plunge into brutal street fighting, it is normal for you to suffer heavy casualties.
After entering the era of thermal weapons, the development of modern weapons has made the form of warfare more complex. Medieval knights need long and rigorous training to become killing machines. Nowadays, as long as women and children have weapons, they can kill them without strict training.
Soldiers pose a deadly threat.
Many casualties of the 15th Division were caused in this way. The people of Damascus were very good at taking advantage of human weaknesses and often used women and children to set traps. The soldiers of the 15th Division were unable to guard against them, and many soldiers died tragically under the scissors of women.
Relatively speaking, the casualties of the servant army were very small.
This is because the servant army is more cruel when fighting. In the face of traps, the soldiers of the 15th Division are still too kind, and the servant army is unscrupulous. They will take the initiative to shoot all creatures in sight, even rats.
"Withdraw your troops, Sabah, and send your troops up -" Martin decided to withdraw the 15th Division from Damascus. For some things that were inconvenient to report, it was better to let the colonial servants take responsibility, so that he could be blamed in the future.
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Well, Martin has also fallen now. In order to occupy Damascus, Martin's bottom line has been lowered.
"No problem, Marshal, my troops will definitely capture Damascus." Sabah's grinning expression was intimidating. The human weakness of southern African soldiers, in Sabah's view, was unreasonable indecision. Women and children picked up swords and guns.
They are also enemies, and you cannot be kind to your enemies at all.
In fact, compared with the servant army of the Najd Sultanate, the servant army from East India fought more ferociously.
It is not the same as the African Division in southern Africa. Although the soldiers of the East Indian Servant Army are all natives of East India, the officers are all Chinese. The Servant Army of the Najd Sultanate is Persian like the Damascus people.
When they were still a little reluctant to let go, the East India Servant Army did not have the slightest scruples. It could be described as "not a blade of grass grows" wherever it went. The 15th Division also had to worry about whether it would accidentally injure civilians when fighting. The East India Servant Army
When attacking a building, it usually doesn't matter who or how many people are in the building. As long as there is resistance, grenades will be thrown first, and then the flamethrower will be summoned. In short, whatever saves trouble.
As for whether there were civilians in the building, no one knew if it was completely burned down, and the officers and soldiers of the East India Servant Army were not in the mood to verify.
I’m really not in the mood. Damascus is actually a thousand-year-old city. It is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Historically, it was the capital of the Umayyad dynasty of the Arab Empire. It is now the capital of the Damascus Province of the Ottoman Empire. It is known as the "Garden of Earth"
"Heaven on Earth".
Now the thousand-year-old city is facing destruction, and bandits are as good as soldiers. Most Persians like gold, and civilian families also have many gold products. There are not too many jewelry ornaments. Even the furniture in the homes of powerful people is made of gold.
Now these golds have become the trophies of the coalition. Just like the way the European Expeditionary Force handles trophies, all the trophies of the coalition must be handed over and distributed uniformly after the war. The distribution method of the European Expeditionary Force is basically half and half for troops and individuals. For the coalition,
Soldiers can only get a pitiful one-tenth, and the other tenth has to be allocated to officers, and nearly 80% of it is taken away by the top leaders of the coalition forces.
After capturing Basra and Baghdad, the coalition forces not only spent no money on post-war statistics, but actually made a fortune, capturing fifteen tons of gold.
Sure enough, one shot of the cannon is worth ten thousand taels of gold.
As the capital of Damascus Province, Damascus has a stronger foundation than Basra and Baghdad, so more will be seized.
After the Najd servants entered the battle, the subsequent battle was indeed overwhelming. On January 31, the coalition forces had occupied 80% of the city, dividing and surrounding the Damascus defenders in several different areas. Korma.
The Governor's Palace where von der Golz was located was also surrounded by allied troops.
"Marshal Goltz, if you take the initiative to lay down your arms, you can enjoy treatment that matches your status, and your officers and soldiers can also return to their hometown after the war. Don't be obsessed with it anymore. You have already fulfilled your duty.
, have done what you can, even if you put down your arms, no one can blame you——"
Outside the Governor's Palace, the coalition forces are shouting for Colmar von der Goltz to surrender. The Governor's Palace is a castle with a moat and a drawbridge. There are nearly four thousand soldiers defending the castle. If they attack frontally, they will definitely suffer heavy casualties.
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As for the treatment that matches his status, this is not a lie. Today's Europe is not the Europe during World War II. Surrendering officers and soldiers will not be mistreated. If Goltz surrenders, he will also enjoy the treatment of a marshal.
Living standards and living environment will not decline.
Of course, the preferential treatment here is only for officers. Goltz's name has "Von" in it and he is a standard Junker noble, so it is normal to enjoy noble treatment.
Don't even think about ordinary soldiers. The German soldiers captured by the British and French forces in Europe have been thrown into concentration camps. The environment and conditions are similar to the concentration camps established by the British Expeditionary Force in southern Africa during the Second Boer War.
This can be considered a familiar road. Basically all the generals in the British Expeditionary Force have participated in the Second Boer War.
