Chapter 933 One drink and one peck has its own destiny
The attack by the British and French forces has nothing to do with Rock, nor does it have anything to do with the Southern African Expeditionary Force, which is in a state of rest.
Since September last year, the Southern African Expeditionary Force has been fighting in France for nine consecutive months. The soldiers have been exhausted to the extreme. In April, larger Canadian reinforcements and Anzac troops arrived in France. The British Expeditionary Force got fresh blood.
After discussing with Haig, Renzi decided to temporarily withdraw the Southern African Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk for rest and did not participate in the Second Battle of Artois.
Rock can understand why French and Haig did this. The British Expeditionary Force rarely achieved victory after participating in the war, but the Southern African Expeditionary Force achieved a nearly complete victory like "Operation Horn of Victory". Speaking of French and Haig,
It is impossible not to be jealous. Before the outbreak of the Second Battle of Artois, the strength of the British and French coalition forces on the Western Front exceeded the German army by about 500,000. They were in an absolutely superior position in terms of numbers. No matter how you look at it, the British and French coalition forces had no
Reason for failure.
So when Joffre launched the Second Battle of Artois, he vowed to end the war within three months. This was exactly the same as Sackville Carton, commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet before the start of the Dardanelles Campaign.
The result was not much different. In the first three days of the Battle of the Dardanelles, the Mediterranean Fleet lost four battleships. Sackville Carden became ill, forcing the War Department to replace his general.
The British and French forces suffered heavy losses in the Second Battle of Artois as in previous battles, but Joffre and French were not blamed.
After arriving in Cyprus, Winston started working in a holiday style.
In the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Winston's position was major staff officer responsible for logistics supply. His rank of major was significantly different from that of Rock and Marshal, so Winston never wore military uniforms and often wore a traditional dark three-button suit.
Wearing a gray striped suit, he rode the Arabian horse named "King Charles" given to him by Rock for a walk around the headquarters.
Winston really liked horses, and he once warned wealthy parents that if possible, they should buy their children a few horses instead of giving them more money.
"King Charles" is a four-year-old Arabian stallion. It was a gift sent to Roque by Martin after he conquered Damascus. There are 12 horses in total, each of which is an Arabian horse worth tens of thousands of pounds. Roque
He used these horses to build relationships and gave one to John Fisher, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, and then gave another to his chief of staff, Ian Hamilton.
Of course, Sidney Milner is also indispensable. Sidney Milner is the logistics director of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and Winston's immediate boss.
Every morning, Winston would ride "King Charles" around the unfinished city, going as far as a port ten kilometers away. After lunch, Winston would take a nap, and then start his own journey in the afternoon.
For work, most of the time he and Rock would have dinner together. After dinner, Winston would chat with Rock about politics-related matters.
Rock was not as leisurely as Winston. The annihilation of the Fifth Army was only part of the Battle of the Dardanelles. Next, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force would have to attack the Bosporus Strait where Constantinople is located. This was also a battle.
In a tough battle, the Ottoman Empire's Second Army had a strong force of 220,000 troops, which was different from the hastily formed Fifth Army with only 87,000 troops, so Roque needed longer to prepare.
and more adequate material reserves.
It was at this time that after the establishment of the Ministry of Munitions, the British encountered difficulties in logistical supply. Neither the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force nor the Mediterranean Fleet could obtain enough artillery shells, and the offensive came to a standstill.
"Aren't you also a supplier to the War Department? Why don't you go to London to attend the meeting?" Winston gloated that this situation had never happened during his tenure.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to help but beat up some traitor." Locke laughed. Lloyd George was criticized by London newspapers and magazines in a series of articles. The Times gave Lloyd George the nickname "
traitor".
The nickname quickly spread and is now synonymous with Lloyd George.
"I know there are some things I shouldn't say, but we cannot affect the ongoing war because of different political opinions." Winston really wanted to see Lloyd George suffer misfortune, but he did not want to affect the operations of the frontline troops.
"Winston, you know what happened recently. Our great Minister of Munitions wants to hand over the order to the Americans to complete. I don't know how you understand it. In my opinion, this behavior is also close to subsidizing the enemy.
"You're welcome from Rock, and Winston's expression immediately became serious.
"It's not that serious -" Winston didn't think it was that serious.
"Don't doubt that the Americans are as hateful as the Germans. The Germans used war to challenge the global hegemony of the British Empire, while the United States used relatively peaceful methods with the same purpose of ousting the king from the throne. We lost the war.
Everything will be lost, but if the order is given to the Americans, it will stimulate the industrial production of the United States even more. This is also a disaster for us. You know that the industrial strength of the United States was already the first in the world before the outbreak of the world war.
"For us, the difference between the two is just a few years of early death or a few years of late death." Rock has a clear understanding of the United States. In another time and space, the United States is the most successful speculator. So far, in this time and space, the United States has
Haven't found a way to become a world boss yet.
Winston stopped talking and looked at the "The Times" in his hand with a solemn expression. Cyprus was far away from London, and the "The Times" published that day would take a week to be delivered to Cyprus.
Some of Rock's words could not be published in newspapers, and the editor of The Times did not have Rock's strategic vision. After Lord Northern Rock returned to London, The Times finally got back on the right track.
Rock didn't say anything. Although Rock didn't like Britain, Rock didn't like the United States even more. Britain was like a traditional aristocracy. Although they were arrogant at heart, they still wanted to show their face. They would not shrink back when encountering a war. They would do their best.
The United States will not shirk its responsibility. The United States is a nouveau riche with poor people suddenly getting rich. It is completely selfish. It should not be too ugly to look at, but its face is too ugly.
The U.S. government is considering joining the world war. In another time and space, the United States used unrestricted submarine warfare as an excuse to join the war. In this time and space, Germany has not yet started unrestricted submarine warfare.
The reason why the United States is so active is that it is afraid that it will not be eligible to participate in the division of spoils after the war.
At this time, Angel sent several telegrams, from the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of War, and Southern Africa.
The content of the telegram hoped that Roark would immediately launch an attack on the Bosporus.
Rock read it hastily and put the telegram on the coffee table at hand without saying a word.
Winston flipped through it.
"Why not attack?" Winston came to Cyprus partly because he hoped to use the Battle of the Dardanelles to return to the center of British power.
"I don't have artillery shells, no reinforcements, and the Mediterranean fleet doesn't even have enough fuel. How can we attack?" Roque said, don't be in a hurry, just use it up slowly and see who can outspend the other.
The impact of the collapse of the cabinet has already begun to appear. When the Second Battle of Artois broke out on May 9, the British Expeditionary Force only had enough artillery shells for 46 minutes. When Winston was Lord of the Admiralty, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force got whatever it wanted.
Now the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force still has money, but it can no longer buy military supplies, let alone get more reinforcements.
After entering 1914, Southern Africa has sent three additional reinforcements to Europe. The first two reinforcements were sent to France, and the third batch of reinforcements was sent to Port Elizabeth.
Winston looked at Roark with complicated eyes, more grateful than helpless. Roark was using actions to show that if Winston serves as Lord of the Admiralty, the British Empire will have a southern Africa with full power and unlimited potential. Before now,
That southern Africa no longer exists with Winston's dismissal.
In this way, perhaps in some people's minds, the evaluation of Rock will be lowered.
But a more obvious fact is that a Roque with obvious shortcomings is a Roque that is more in line with British interests. If Roque can get along with Lloyd George after Winston is dismissed, then Roque and Wen
There will be a rift in the friendship between Stone.
So don't talk about being sensible or irrational, Rock is also using his actions to show that no matter how politicians in London fight for power, it should not affect my interests.
As for gaining Winston's gratitude, that was an unexpected gain.
"You have to be careful Locke -" Winston reminded Locke that doing so may have serious consequences.
"What are you careful about, dismissal? Let them do whatever they want. If they think others can do better than me, I can even go back to southern Africa directly, as long as the person who made this suggestion can bear the consequences of that." Roque did not say.
It's too clear. It's still the same sentence. Not to mention that the Battle of the Dardanelles has successfully completed the first phase of the combat objectives, completely annihilating the Ottoman Empire's Fifth Army and controlling the Dardanelles. Even if the Battle of the Dardanelles and
Another time and space was a complete failure. At most, Rock would only lose the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. He still had the command of the Southern African Expeditionary Force. No one dared to touch this part of Rock's rights.
As long as the generals of this era do not commit suicide, their status will not be affected. Even though the British and French forces fought so hard, no one publicly criticized Joffre and Frenzi.
But maybe next time, when Winston was dismissed, he hoped to command a brigade in France, but was rejected by French.
So after Winston returned to the center of power, Roque would not be surprised at all if French was fired.