Just as the bloody battle was unfolding on the Eastern Front, in order to relieve the pressure on the allies, the British and French coalition forces on the Western Front also launched an attack.
At this time, the total number of British troops arriving in France has exceeded one million, organized into six armies. The commander-in-chief is Marshal Norman. However, due to heavy casualties in the early stage, the French army only has ten armies now, and the total strength is not enough.
to two million.
Their enemy is the German First to Seventh Armies. Starting from Ypres in Belgium and ending at Compre in France, it is the German First Army. The Commander-in-Chief is Prince Leopold. However, his army is huge in size, with a total of six subordinates.
Army. From Comprei, it turned south to Creil, north of Paris, and then turned east along the Marne River to Verdun. This was a huge protrusion that occupied almost half of northern France. There were four armies in total.
It became the center group, and the commander was Marshal Genk. The remaining 6th and 7th armies belonged to the left group, and the commander was Marshal Haizele. Their total strength was 1.5 million.
Moltke had been transferred back to the General Staff at this time. Although he failed to capture Paris, he could still be said to have made outstanding military achievements. He now serves as Count Schlieffen's deputy. He is now just an army general, with a military rank even lower than that of Prince Leopold.
A general cannot command an army group.
Although the British and French allied forces had a strength advantage, the large number of colonial troops among them seriously reduced their combat effectiveness. Especially among the French troops, there were even many black soldiers. It was obvious that these were used as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
, this is also a helpless move by the French. Before the war, the total population of France was only a little over 30 million. In the early stage, the soldiers alone lost nearly one million, and they only had a few million young adults in total. Now almost more than half of them have been invested.
In this war, although the colonial army's combat effectiveness was poor, it could still make a difference.
The goal of this battle of the British and French coalition forces is very simple. Cut off this huge protrusion and drive the German army to Belgium. The British army will attack from west to east, and the French army will move north from the Marne River front. In addition, each will have a part to block the German army.
Two clusters on the left and right.
Regarding this major counterattack, it can be said that the French Chief of General Staff Joffre and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Marshal Norman, are confident because they now have their own new weapons.
Saint-Quentin, France.
Countless artillery shells pierced the sky, huge explosions tore the earth, and shrapnel scattered in the fire reaped lives. Amidst the smoke and poisonous fog, the German soldiers huddled in the trenches, holding their heads and enduring the torture of hell.
A sharp whistle sounded suddenly.
"Enter the post, the British are coming!" The officers' roars rang out everywhere. The soldiers who had escaped the bombardment came out of their hiding places one after another, shaking off the dirt on their bodies, or shaking off the limbs of their companions, and sorting out their clothes.
weapons and begin to prepare to face the attacking enemy.
But at this time, the ground suddenly trembled continuously. Soon, through the smoke filling the front, dozens of steel monsters appeared in the sight of the Germans.
"Oh my god, what the hell is this?" Major General Sanders, the German commander who was directing the battle, looked at the steel monster in front of him with dumbfounded eyes.
This is a huge tank that is nearly four meters high. It is also more than three meters wide and at least eight meters long. The overall shape is like a rectangular box. The front is shrunk forward at an angle, the bottom is raised upward, and the top is actually at the front.
There is a short-barreled turret with three machine gun ports on each side. If Emperor Yang saw this thing, his jaw would drop to the ground and he would exclaim: "A7V!"
Indeed, the secret weapon of the British is the large tank they call themselves a land battleship. Due to some coincidence, their first tank is almost a replica of the A7V, the first German tank in history, and even better than the A7V.
The A7V is slightly larger. This huge tank uses a 150-horsepower diesel engine removed from a large bulldozer of Great Wall Heavy Industry. It weighs 40 tons. Its slow speed made Major General Sanders dumbfounded.
Even the British soldiers accompanying the charge looked helplessly at the tanks around them.
But even at a slow pace, the German soldiers without any anti-tank weapons could not stop them. A total of fifty land battleships were slowly and unstoppably advancing towards the German positions.
"Prepare cluster grenades and explosive packs, and order the artillery to aim at the enemy tanks and fire." Major General Sanders quickly came to his senses. Although there were no anti-tank weapons, how did the Germans' own tanks be destroyed?
It was still very clear that the entire German position immediately became busy. Fortunately, these German soldiers were much better quality than the gray animals, and they were quickly ready to fight.
At the same time, in a nearby German artillery position, the muzzles of thirty-six 105mm light cannons were also aimed at the British tanks. Shells quickly exploded around these land battleships, but
Explosions and shrapnel could not stop their progress at all. It was not until a shell directly hit a British tank that the explosion of the shell caused the steel behemoth to stop. It was obvious that this tank was not indestructible.
A burst of cheers immediately broke out among the German troops.
But the remaining British tanks were still advancing slowly but firmly, and the British infantry following the attack carefully hid behind them to avoid German bullets and mortar shells.
Just when the British tanks were about to rush into the German positions, brave German soldiers finally began to throw grenades at them. However, it was obvious that this could not stop these steel monsters. A relatively strong German soldier simply threw the entire
A bundle of grenades was thrown out and landed just in front of a tank, and was immediately pressed underneath. Then a loud bang was heard and the tank stopped.
"Order to rush out, use zha charges and cluster grenades to attack the tanks, and the infantrymen to mount bayonets!" Major General Sanders said immediately when he saw that this method was effective.
The German troops on the position immediately climbed out of the trenches, and under the cover of machine gun fire, they rushed towards the British tanks with bundles of grenades and powder packets. The machine guns on the British tanks then began to fire.
At the same time, the accompanying British infantry also started shooting, but soon the German soldiers discovered that these tanks seemed to be blind to certain positions in front, or could not be seen at all. Some smart ones quickly learned to find blind spots for shooting, and even crawled forward to
** Throw the bag at the chariot, and if you continue, you will learn to ambush directly on its path.
Soon, under the desperate attack of the German soldiers, these ridiculously slow British tanks were blown up one after another. Of course, many of them drove into the German positions, but their speechless shape and heavy
Their bodies and weak power caused them to make a lot of mistakes when climbing over the trenches, and some even fell over directly. Although the infantry following them also rushed to the German position, they had to fight under the German bayonets and submachine guns.
Exit again.
The first appearance of the British tank ended in the annihilation of the entire army. Of course, this was just a small episode in this war. On the long front of hundreds of kilometers, millions of British and French soldiers were still fighting in vain.
Time and time again, he used his own flesh and blood to attack the German defense line, and fell to the German bullets and artillery shells one after another.
Of course, the short-term attack failure did not shake the will of the generals at all. What these veteran soldiers who came from the era of queuing to shoot believe most is that victory depends on a more tenacious spirit and more intense artillery fire. If an attack fails,
, then withdraw, replace with cannons and bombard again. After bombarding the infantry, charge again. If it doesn't work, bombard again, charge again. Driven by their tenacious will, countless lives turned into rotten bones, and the blood of the three countries was
In this way, it drained away little by little under their tenacious will.
Ten thousand, twenty thousand, fifty thousand...the casualty figures in the newspapers are becoming more shocking every day.
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With a 180-horsepower diesel engine, the fastest highway speed can reach 40 kilometers, and if it is off-road, it can exceed 20 kilometers. It has perfect terrain adaptability. No matter plains, mountains, or even deserts, swamps cannot stop its progress.
The sturdy body is made of high-quality armored steel plates, which well protects the occupants inside. It is designed to prevent workers from working in some more dangerous environments. For example, when encountering dangers such as rolling rocks on the mountain, it can completely protect workers from any harm.
There is also this rotatable semi-open observation position, which is designed to prevent workers from heat stroke while working in the car in the hot summer. They can stand here and work while blowing the cool wind. As for this is a
A more user-friendly design, it allows workers to put telescopes and other things on it to enjoy the beautiful scenery around them." Just as Britain, France and Germany were engaged in a bloody battle, in the headquarters of Great Wall Heavy Industries in Baoding, China, a man wearing a Western-style skirt
A female tour guide was introducing the latest bulldozer just developed by Great Wall Heavy Industries to British customers who came to order bulldozers.
"Ms. Lin, I need to know the price of this bulldozer and the fastest delivery time." Mr. Richard said calmly.
"If you want the standard model, each vehicle will cost 150,000 yuan. Of course, if you need some additional designs, the price will need to be renegotiated. For example, if you feel that the level of protection for workers is not enough,
Then we can thicken the shell for you. If you don't like this semi-open observation position, then we also have a fully enclosed design. In short, we will try our best to meet your requirements. As for the delivery time, since this car is only
The test model and the production model will be at least two to three months away." Ms. Lin said with a smile. (To be continued)