Throughout 1915, an average of nearly 200,000 people immigrated to southern Africa every month, and nearly three-quarters of them were Chinese.
In southern Africa today, except for the Cape, which is dominated by British, and the Orange, which is dominated by Boers, Chinese have basically become the majority of the population in other states, especially in Transvaal, Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
In the three states, the Chinese occupy an undisputed dominant position. These three states are also the three states with the best economic conditions in southern Africa.
Most of the new immigrants who came to southern Africa were resettled in Southwest Africa and Tanganyika. These two states are vast and sparsely populated, with a total area of 1.7 million square kilometers. There is enough land to resettle those who have just arrived in the south.
New immigrants from Africa.
There are many factors leading to the rapid increase in immigration. The war is causing more and more serious damage to the whole society. Almost all participating countries are on the verge of collapse. People are eager to escape the terrible vortex of war.
Relatively speaking, the situation in Britain and France is relatively good. Both Britain and France have colonies that can suck blood. Even if the situation is relatively difficult, they can still continue.
The situation in the Russian Empire is getting more and more dangerous. There is food in the countryside of Russia, but because of the expropriation of the railways and poor management, the food in the countryside cannot be sent to the cities. Women are also forced to work, working more than ten hours a day, and they have to pay for it every week.
It takes at least 40 hours to buy food for the children.
Serious shortages of supplies have caused prices to skyrocket. At the beginning of the year, a large-scale workers' strike took place in St. Petersburg. At least 670,000 workers participated in the strike to express their dissatisfaction.
By the end of the year, St. Petersburg's grain reserves could only meet the needs of the entire city for a few days, and the entire city turned into a huge powder keg, ready to explode at any time.
Compared with the Allied Powers, which were in better condition, both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were on the verge of collapse. Neither William II nor the old emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire thought that the war would last so long. The war broke out just a few months ago, and Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were on the verge of collapse.
There was a food shortage. In the winter of the year when the war broke out, 10,000 horses were killed in Vienna. In the spring of the next year, the German government implemented a material rationing system. About 9 million livestock were killed. The price of pork fluctuated violently in a short period of time.
First, prices fell sharply, then prices rose sharply, and then prices remained high.
After the implementation of nationwide mobilization, the size of the German army expanded rapidly, and there was a serious shortage of labor for agriculture. By the winter of 1915, the German army on the front line needed 17 million pounds of various meats, 60 million pounds of bread, and 130 million pounds of potatoes every week. When the war broke out,
The next year, riots occurred in Berlin due to lack of food.
The winter of 1915 was the coldest winter in history. Continuous autumn rains caused a reduction in agricultural production. Many crops were frozen to death in the winter. Farmers lacked fertilizers and labor, and autumn grain production was seriously reduced.
In winter, the food shortage situation further worsened. Every day in Berlin, tens of thousands of people queued up to receive relief food. The so-called relief food was just vegetable soup made with a small amount of grain and vegetables.
German scientists can synthesize nitrogen and cotton wool, but cannot synthesize fat and protein. A kind of "black bread" with almost no grains has become popular. No one knows what the ingredients are in it. In addition, there is also a kind of bread with almost no meat.
With only three pounds of potatoes and one egg per person per week, the standard of living was even worse than that of prisoners in British concentration camps.
In the winter of 1915, a Berlin hospital reported that 80,000 children died due to lack of food throughout the year.
This is just a hospital.
Like Germany, the situation in Austria-Hungary was equally bad. In Austria, a family was only allowed to heat one room a day to save fuel.
People in Vienna used dogs to pull carts after killing the horses. Later, even the dogs were eaten. People began to raise rabbits to grow cabbage, which is cabbage. This winter is also called the "cabbage winter."
After the surrender of the Kingdom of Romania, Germany's shortage of supplies was partially alleviated. Although this problem was not completely solved, Germany could finally continue. Just after Christmas, Robert Nivelle couldn't wait to come to Roark to discuss it with Roark.
The offensive against the Germans after the New Year.
Like his predecessor Joffre, Robert Nievelle's plan could be summed up in one word: attack, attack, attack! Never-ending attack!
"The reconnaissance plane conducted a reconnaissance on the German defense line and found that the German army was building a stronger defense line behind the current position. Our attack plan must be adjusted, otherwise the tragedies of the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme will happen again," Rock said.
I hope Robert Niveller can be more cautious, and Ludendorff and Hindenburg are waiting for the British and French forces to arrive.
"Our military strength is now far superior to that of the German army. As long as we are determined, we will definitely defeat the German army." Robert Nivelle's attitude was firm. The German army's initiative to retreat in the later stages of the Battle of Verdun gave Robert Nivelle a kind of
Illusionally, it seems that Germany can no longer hold on.
"Superior troop strength has little effect now. Facing more and more advanced weapons, the role of troop numerical superiority is constantly decreasing. Now that the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, the role of tank troops cannot be fully exerted. We need more time to prepare."
Roque does not fight unprepared battles, but if he wants to fight, he must hit the German army's seven inches accurately and hard.
Regarding the numerical advantage of the army, one thing should be explained. Compared with the army of 1 million, there is indeed an advantage compared with the army of 10,000. However, compared with the army of 1 million, the advantage is no longer so obvious. Compared with the previous army, the advantage is no longer so obvious.
Compared with war, weapons play an increasingly important role. If a commander is not careful, frontline troops will suffer heavy losses.
"How long does it take for the British Expeditionary Force to prepare?" Robert Nivele said with an ugly expression.
"For at least four months, I am preparing to send bombers to bomb factories, command centers, transportation hubs, and Berlin in Germany. While destroying the German army's logistics supply, I will make the Germans truly feel the harm caused by the war. This way we can fight head-on.
The pressure on the battlefield will be less." Rock also has a plan. If the problem can be solved with bombers and artillery, Rock will never send ground troops.
"No, four months is too long. We don't have that much time." Robert Niweiler disagreed and waited four months to launch the attack.
"Why not? Looking at our intelligence, riots frequently broke out in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire due to food shortages. As long as we continue to blockade Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even if we do not attack, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will
Collapse within a few months. To change the current situation, the German army must take the initiative to attack us, just like the Battle of Verdun at the beginning of the year. If our defense line is stronger and the number of machine guns and artillery is larger, then we
You can completely wait for the German army to come over and die." Rock is really not in a hurry. After the outbreak of the World War, the British Royal Navy blocked the German coastline to prevent the German army from obtaining supplies through the sea. Now the situation in Germany is so serious that it only needs to be blocked again.
Germany for a while, Rock believed that Germany would collapse.
In fact, in another time and space, the German army surrendered due to the crisis that broke out in Germany. The German army at that time was not without its own efforts.
"Locke, I know the German army will attack, but our situation is worse than Germany's. Our government and people also need news of victory on the front line. If we delay the attack for a long time, the consequences will be disastrous." Robert Niweiler also said.
Starting from ourselves, we hope to attack the German army as early as possible.
"Robert, listen to me. If the news coming from the front is not victory, but heavy losses and no progress, what will happen to us?" Roque knew that everyone in France was impatient, but that had nothing to do with Roque.
, Rock, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, was appointed by the British War Department and had nothing to do with the French government.
"With or without the cooperation of the British War Department, we will launch an attack on the German army on time." Robert Nivele said harsh words before leaving, full of threats.
Rock ignored it. As long as Robert Niweiler dared to attack, the countdown would begin for Robert Niweiler to be dismissed from get out of class.
"Lord, we'd better take the matter seriously, otherwise I'm afraid we won't be able to explain it to the country." Paul Coker reminded Rock that Robert Nivelle would definitely file a complaint when he turned around.
"It's not that we don't attack, it's just that the method is different. The results we achieved are not as good as the French army." Roque is not worried. Although there were no large-scale attacks during Christmas and New Year's Day, small-scale firefights never stopped. After Christmas,
The precision shooters in the frontline troops began to clock in for work again, and the German army suffered hundreds of casualties every day.
Don't underestimate the number of people a few hundred people a day can add up to tens of thousands a month. Germany cannot bear this kind of loss.
What's more, Roark is also preparing to bomb targets in Germany. This is also a waste of the strength of the German army. There is such a pleasant way to use, but he just invests ground troops to attack the solid German positions. Roark knows that Robert
Nivele was under pressure, but Rock would not comment on Robert Nivelle's stupid behavior.
After New Year's Day, the weather finally cleared up, but the snow on the ground was still deep. Bombers from the British Expeditionary Force took off from Belgium and began bombing targets in Germany.
The first batch of participating bombers totaled 120. These bombers were organized into four wings and carried out key bombings on German targets in Belgium. Brussels was the focus. Once the British Expeditionary Force captured Brussels, they could launch an attack on the Fortress of the Burning Sun.
attack.
Brussels is located at the forefront of the German defense line and has now become a military city. The German army has stationed a large number of troops in Brussels and built four strong lines of defense. The prediction given by Rock's staff is that if southern Africa uses conventional methods to attack Brussels,
Then it is best to prepare for 300,000 casualties first.