After removing some of the defensive weapons, the four-shot bomber's bomb load reached an astonishing 1.9 tons. Taking a 50-kilogram standard aerial bomb as an example, the bomber dispatched once, and the weight of the bomb dropped was equivalent to a salvo of a heavy artillery brigade.
Taking the artillery division in southern Africa as an example, a heavy artillery brigade is equipped with 36 150 mm caliber howitzers, and the shell weight is 45 kg.
The 1st Bomber Wing was responsible for the bombing mission of Brussels. 40 bombers carried out continuous bombing on multiple targets in Brussels starting from the 1st.
German fighter jets took off in an attempt to intercept the bombers, but were dealt a devastating blow by the Strong Wind fighter jets. After three consecutive days of air combat, the German air force in Belgium was almost exhausted, and Belgium completely opened its airspace to the bombers of the British Expeditionary Force.
.
At the same time as the bombing of Brussels began, more tanks were sent to Belgium, and the British Expeditionary Force began to train more tank crews to prepare for the next attack on the German army.
As Rock expected, Robert Nivele did not get support from Rock, so he turned to the British government for support, hoping to force the British Expeditionary Force to cooperate with the French army's attack through the British War Department.
What Robert Nivelle did not expect was that, unlike the French government, which was plagued by internal strife, Kitchener's position was once again consolidated after Winston became prime minister. In order to win over the Conservative Party, Winston invited Lloyd George to serve as finance minister.
Secretary, this position is very important in peacetime, but during the war, the power of the Secretary of the Treasury is greatly restricted, and the War Department does not need the approval of the Treasury to purchase supplies.
In the British government and the British War Department, Robert Nivelle did not get the support he wanted. Rock's position in the British Expeditionary Force was as stable as a rock. No matter how standard Robert Nivelle's English was, he could not win the support of Winston.
and Kitchener's favor.
Robert Nivelle's mother was English.
On January 10, the high-level Allied Powers held a meeting in Rome. When Winston went to Rome, he stopped by Rock's headquarters in Dunkirk.
After the British Expeditionary Force invaded Belgium, Rock moved his headquarters to Dunkirk, which was closer to the front line and closer to the English Channel.
Dunkirk also has the material transfer center and field hospital of the British Expeditionary Force, and the largest field airport is also built here. Here, Rock finally used his armored command vehicle, which Winston was very envious of.
"You are more free here. God knows what I went through in London. Endless meetings, endless documents. Sometimes I wake up suddenly at night. Fortunately, you keep getting news of victory. I
Only now do I understand why Asquith always looked sleep deprived before, and my sleep is now seriously deprived and of very poor quality." Winston looked not in good condition. He was very thin and had dark spots under his eyes.
The bags under his eyes were obvious, his expression was full of exhaustion, he didn't even light his favorite cigar, he just held it in his hand.
"That's your choice to keep yourself busy. If you want to be lazy, just learn from President Ngalay -" Roque is not mocking anyone. National conditions are different and cannot be generalized.
Poengale is the current president of France, which is very interesting. French prime ministers have been replaced like a revolving door. Since the outbreak of the world war, there have been four changes in the two and a half years, but the president has always been Poengale.
The French political system is like this. If the president does not do anything, nothing will go wrong. The prime minister will do all the specific work. As a result, the prime minister becomes the scapegoat and the president is safe and sound.
Rock's meaning is very obvious. There are 23 members of the British cabinet. Winston, the prime minister, is only responsible for the general direction. Specific work is handled by the cabinet ministers in charge of each department. If there is a problem with the work of whoever is responsible, he can just go to him. Really?
There is no need to do everything by yourself.
"If only it were that simple. I worked hard to become prime minister, not just to mess around." Winston has pursuits. He has never been a person who just lives his life. This has been true since he carried a gun when he was a reporter.
It can be seen that although his gun caused him a lot of trouble.
If it weren't for Winston carrying a gun during the Second Boer War, then Louis Botha would have no reason to detain Winston. Journalists were not military personnel, and the Boer Republic also needed reporters to help promote it.
After returning to the headquarters, Rock learned the real purpose of Winston's visit to Rock.
The British government is out of money.
"Our military expenditure last year accounted for 70% of the gross national product. Taxes can only cover a quarter of the expenditure. Moreover, we also have to provide military aid to the Russian Empire, France and Italy. God bless, now I finally don't have to
Worry about the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Romania, otherwise we will need to spend more money." Winston was gloomy. As far as Rock knew, the UK purchased about 15 million pounds of supplies in southern Africa every week.
Up to now, not counting the loan owed by the British government to Rand Bank, the British government owes a total of R78 million to the federal government of Southern Africa.
It should be noted that the money borrowed by the British government from the Rand Bank was pledged by the gold in the Rand mining area. In other words, if the British government did not repay the money after the war, the Rand Bank could take over the management of the Rand mining area.
The right is taken away.
"It doesn't matter France and Italy. We must be careful of the Russian Empire. Otherwise, we may lose everything." Roque reminded again that judging from the current situation, in the First World War, all participating countries had lost money.
Even the victorious country cannot recoup its costs after the war is over.
In all wars before the World War, the victorious country was basically able to recoup its costs after the war ended. The World War was an exception. It lasted too long and the costs invested by the participating countries were too high. It had reached the point where the defeated country could not recover its costs even if it devoured the defeated country alive.
situation.
In the First World War in another time and space, Britain spent a total of 9.1 billion pounds, France spent 150 billion francs, equivalent to 5.9 billion pounds, and Germany spent the most, spending a total of 9.8 billion pounds.
"I know it's possible, but we have no choice but to try to let the Russian Empire persist. Otherwise, if one million German troops on the Eastern Front are released, you know what the result will be." Winston has no choice, no one can
We know that the situation in the Russian Empire is not good, but no one can do anything about it.
Rock nodded repeatedly with lingering fear. Of course he knew what would happen if all the German troops on the Eastern Front were released.
At the beginning of 1916, the Allied Powers had a total of 4 million troops on the Western Front, approximately 175 integrated infantry divisions, and the rest were all auxiliary troops.
The German army on the Western Front totaled 2.5 million men, about 134 infantry divisions. If there were another million, the British Expeditionary Force might be able to withstand it in Belgium, but the French army at Verdun would definitely collapse.
This can explain why Rock must place his headquarters in the coastal area. If the situation goes bad, Rock can get on the ship at any time and run back to England.
"We are now left with securities worth 400 million and gold worth 87 million. You know what this means. If we cannot get more loans, the British government will go bankrupt in the next few weeks." Winston said.
I'm still looking for Luo Ke because of money.
"Go to Rand Bank—" Rock didn't want to talk about money with Winston because it would hurt his feelings.
"Look, everything that can be mortgaged has been mortgaged. In order to get a loan from your Rand Bank, Prime Minister Asquith even used the tax revenue of the British Empire as collateral. What else can you see? You're welcome.
!" Winston was very dissatisfied and looked at Rock with contempt.
What a terrible turn of events, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China——
It can't be said, it can't be said. Let's just talk about Britain.
"Winston, I'm a soldier——" Rock's expression was sincere.
"Pretend! You continue to pretend to me, do you dare to say that you have nothing to do with Rand Bank? Do you dare to say that you have nothing to do with that Ada? You seem to have forgotten which bar you placed me in -" Wen
Stone's memory is so good that Rock himself forgot about it.
Even though Winston reminded him, Rock still thought about it for a long time before he remembered that it was the first time Rock met Winston. Winston was drunk in Adelaide's manor, and Rock and Henry took Winston away.
Stone is housed in Ada's Table Mountain Bar.
"Okay, okay, how much do you want?" Rock was helpless. Even the gentle and gentle Winston could swear, which shows how angry Winston was.
"Sixty million, every month!" Winston Lion said loudly. The British government purchases supplies worth 15 million pounds in southern Africa every week. In other words, the British government will have to pay on credit in the future.
Damn it, is it too late for Rock to order a sign saying "This is a small profit, no debt will be owed" and hang it on the door of Ade's mansion?
It's probably too late.
"Sixty million, and every month -" Every time Rock said something, Winston nodded, looking at Rock with eyes full of hope.
Rock didn't tease Winston for too long: "How much money do you think Rand Bank has? Why do you want to empty out Rand Bank!"
Evacuating Rand Bank would only cost a few hundred million.
"Whatever you think, we are all in the same boat now. If the boat sinks, you won't make a penny!" Winston was ready to cheat like a gangster.
"Winston, this doesn't look like you—" Rock said.
"Stop talking nonsense, Southern Africa is still not an overseas territory of the British Empire. Will you, the Earl of Nyasaland, still be loyal to the king? Do you still want Southwest Africa and Tanganyika?" Winston's soul continued for three times.
of course!
of course!
Of course I do!
"In addition to the two river basins -" Rock offered the price. If he didn't make a big deal at this time, Rock wouldn't be Rock anymore.
"Okay, whatever you want, as long as you're not afraid of dying!" Winston won't bargain, Rock will give him whatever he wants. The British government is already on the verge of collapse, and Winston doesn't care about the final ownership of the Mesopotamia.
The left and right are nothing more than land, which is really not uncommon for the British Empire.