Before the outbreak of the World War, France built a strong fortress on the French-German border. Germany chose to bypass Belgium to attack France. The defense line built by France did not play any role.
The same goes for the Russian Empire. After the Romanian Kingdom entered the war, the Russian Empire had to divide its forces to defend the Romanian border to prevent the Allies from invading the Russian Empire through Romania after defeating the Romanian troops.
Like Britain, France, and Russia, which were in constant turmoil, Germany fell into a new round of turmoil. After General Alexeyev became the Chief of General Staff of the Russian Empire, he launched a new offensive in Galicia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was completely defeated, and its military losses exceeded
Half of them saw their demise imminent.
Falkenhayn had to send German troops into the Austro-Hungarian Empire to assist the Austro-Hungarian Empire in fighting and stabilize the Austro-Hungarian Empire's defense lines.
However, Falkenhayn had serious disagreements with Hindenburg Ludendorff, the German commander on the eastern front. Hindenburg used the excuse that he had no troops to mobilize on the eastern front, so Falkenhayn could only transfer the four divisions originally used to reinforce Verdun to Austria.
Hungarian Empire.
This caused dissatisfaction among the commanders on the Western Front. Crown Prince Wilhelm believed that Falkenhayn did not provide enough support to the Western Front. After Romania entered the war, German Prime Minister Bertmann Hollweg, who had always disliked Falkenhayn, suddenly discovered
Opportunity to remove Falkenhayn.
Hindenburg took the opportunity to force the palace and asked Kaiser Wilhelm II to remove Falkenhayn as chief of the general staff, otherwise Hindenburg would resign and leave the army.
Hindenburg is now a hero of Germany. After the outbreak of the World War, Hindenburg and Ludendorff joined forces and occupied territory equivalent to two Germans on the Eastern Front.
Wilhelm II did not dare to risk losing Hindenburg, so Falkenhayn became a victim and was dismissed by Wilhelm II.
Wilhelm II immediately appointed Hindenburg as commander-in-chief of the German army and Ludendorff as chief of general staff.
This was the third chief of general staff of the German army after the outbreak of the world war.
After Ludendorff became the Chief of General Staff, the first order he issued was to Falkenhayn, appointing Falkenhayn as the commander-in-chief of the newly formed Ninth Army, responsible for the attack on Romania.
This was an insulting appointment for Falkenhayn. Ludendorff pieced together some troops for Falkenhayn from the training camp and the Eastern Front, and temporarily established the Ninth Army.
The World War entered its third year. Civil strife continued in Germany, the Russian Empire was struggling, and France had not yet found a way to win. The sixth Battle of Isonzo lasted only five days and ended, unlike the previous five Isonzos.
As in the battle, the Kingdom of Italy was unable to break through the Isonzo River, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was unable to counterattack. Apart from tens of thousands more wounded, both sides made no progress.
Romania originally had great hopes placed on it, but the Romanian generals were arrogant and arrogant. Falkenhayn ordered the German general Mackensen to command the Bulgarian army to cross the Danube and attack Tetu Kai on the Danube River. Te Tu Kai's Romanian garrison general
He said excitedly: "This is our Verdun."
As a result, after the battle began, 80% of the defenders surrendered and the remaining 20% fled. The heroic words of the defenders general before the battle became a joke. Such people did not even deserve a name.
Mackensen's troops then entered the Dobroga province on the Black Sea coast. Instead of helping the Romanian army resist the Bulgarians, the locals helped Mackensen's troops drive out the Romanians.
Dobroga Province is a province occupied by Romania during the Second Balkan War, and most of its residents are Bulgarians.
The Romanian generals who were in high spirits before entering the war finally understood the cruelty of the world war. The frontline troops were panicked and routed all the way. Some troops even surrendered to the Russian Imperial troops stationed in Dobroga Province.
After joining the Entente, the Russian Empire was an ally of Romania, so why should it surrender to its allies?
Alexeyev ordered the garrison generals in Dobroga Province to organize the Romanians to fight. The Russian commander replied: trying to make the Romanians disciplined is like asking monkeys to dance the Minuet.
difficulty.
While Romania was getting worse, the Kingdom of Greece was also involved in the World War. During the Battle of the Dardanelles, Greece had the opportunity to obtain better conditions for participating in the war, but now everything has been missed. Greece missed Constantinople.
, missed Cyprus, and while Bulgaria was attacking Romania, it was also attacking Greece.
The performance of the Greek army was as bad as that of the Italian and Romanian armies. One Greek army surrendered to the Bulgarian army without firing a shot. They happily boarded a train to a prisoner of war camp in Silesia, where they would safely survive the world war.
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While the Balkans were in chaos, Nivelle and Mangin were planning a new attack, Roque was waiting for the arrival of tank troops, and Verdun and the Somme were in a stalemate.
On July 25, the tank troops finally arrived in France.
Compared with the "water tank" secretly developed by the British army, the tanks produced in southern Africa are cheap and have excellent performance. Although they do not seem to have powerful firepower compared to the "water tank", the "light cavalry" only requires two tank crews.
, the tank's top speed can reach 30 kilometers per hour, and its reliability is also better. At least it will not explode when the car is hot. With so many benefits, the Ministry of War's first order was still only 250 vehicles.
Winston tried to add more orders, but Congress did not agree. Congress would wait until the tanks showed sufficient combat effectiveness on the front line before agreeing to add additional orders.
The first batch of tanks purchased by the British government in southern Africa came with tank crews as "gifts". The tank crews who came to France were drawn from the Northern Rhodesian Division and the 1st Cavalry Division. There were only 600 tank crews, and the logistics
There are more than 6,000 maintenance personnel, and together with the infantry troops accompanying the attack, the total strength of the army exceeds 20,000.
The designation of the tank unit is the 1st Armored Division.
Tanks in another time and space appeared on the battlefield for the first time. Because of their small number, they did not play a key role. In the following twenty years, due to improper use of armored forces, armored forces did not become a key player on the battlefield.
It was not until the outbreak of World War II that several talented Soviet and German generals concentrated their use of armored forces that tanks truly showed their due strength.
Roque would not make the mistakes that had been proven. After the tank troops were secretly transported to the Belgian front line by railway, Roque distributed 250 tanks in two directions, preparing to use them to break through the German defense lines.
The commander of the 1st Armored Division was Feng Fu, the former commander of the Northern Rhodesia Division. Before that, only Feng Fu and Zhu Fu, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, had experience in commanding armored forces. After the establishment of the 1st Armored Division, Feng Fu
Both Fu and Zhu Fu wanted to be the commander of this force. In the end, Feng Fu, who had a better record, won, and Zhu Fu became the commander of the southern African native force.
At this time, all the Southern African Expeditionary Force troops in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force had arrived in France. Roque spent nearly a month adjusting the front line. The British Expeditionary Force now has six armies. The Fourth Army was in the first battle of the Battle of the Somme.
There were heavy casualties during this stage, and he was unable to return to the front line within half a year. There were only five armies left that Roque could mobilize.
Fortunately, 100,000 British recruits arrived at the front line every month. These recruits became a powerful supplement to the expeditionary force. Rock was not planning to establish a new group army in the short term and was preparing more troops for the counterattack against Germany.
"Based on the strength comparison between our army and the German army in the direction of the Somme River, our army will stop all attacks on the Somme River line. A new offensive will be launched from the coast of Belgium. The campaign goal is to conquer all cities along the Belgian coast. The participating troops will be armored first.
The division is mainly supported by the Sixth Army and the Second Army. The Third Army serves as a strategic reserve. The First Army and the Fifth Army must also put enough pressure on the German army and cannot allow the German army to dispatch troops to reinforce Belgium. The air force will start from the Eighth Army.
We will start bombing the German logistics transportation lines in Belgium on the 1st of the month. The Royal Navy will also cooperate with us to completely block the Belgian coast. I want to remind you that the Kingdom of the Netherlands has not yet participated in the war, so don't get excited when attacking.
Overreaching into the Kingdom of the Netherlands - "The real Chief of Staff of the British Expeditionary Force was responsible for liaison between the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army in Paris. The actual Chief of Staff was Roque who was transferred back to the Expeditionary Force after he became the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force.
Paul Coker of Command.
"Do you have any questions?" Paul Coker's military rank has been promoted again. He is now a general. At this rate, a marshal will be just around the corner.
The generals who participated in the pre-war preparation meeting had no problem. The biggest difference between Roque and French Heig was that Roque would give full play to the role of the staff. Each battle had clear campaign objectives and task assignments for each group army.
It is very clear that the generals all know what they should and should not do.
It is also strange to say that when French and Haig served as commanders-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, many times when the battle started, the campaign objectives were not clear. The orders given by French and Haig to the commanders of various group armies were vague.
There were even only a few words at that time, and the group army commanders had no idea what they should do.
Rock's campaign plan was more detailed and the tasks were clearly assigned, but he would not exceed his authority and issue specific combat orders to the subordinate units of the group army, giving the group army commanders full autonomy. This made the generals of the expeditionary force very grateful.
"Gentlemen, let me remind you once again that the Germans are not invincible. We must have enough confidence to defeat the Germans, but at the same time we must pay enough attention to the Germans. This is an opponent worthy of our attention - all of you here
You all know very well that the traditional advantage of the British Empire lies in the sea, and the army has always been a pitiful little army. Not only the Germans think so, but the French also think so, so this time we not only have to defeat the Germans, but also
Let the French see who is the real wretch!" Roque fully mobilized the enthusiasm of the generals. If a flock of sheep is led by a lion, the sheep will be as brave as the lion. If a group of lions is led by a sheep, the lion will also become peaceful.
As cowardly as a sheep.
(Good morning, brothers, I wish you all a happy day——)