Chapter 457 Death Squadron
Although the Germans have obviously been unable to withstand the high cost of war, the headquarters of the agreement countries have also discovered a huge problem.
Although the 10 million troops on the Western Front battlefield were very large, it caused a twice the numerical gap and advantage to the German army.
But the consumption of 10 million troops is a serious problem. Even with the continuous transportation of railways in Belgium and France, many troops still face the problem of shortage of supplies.
In addition to insufficient transportation capacity, the logistical supply of these 10 million troops almost entirely relies on Britain, France and the United States. Italy's material supplies are very small, and all the excess materials in Australasia are given to Russia.
Because of the distance problem between the United States, the only countries that are truly responsible for the logistical supply of 10 million troops are Britain and France.
Although Britain and France have the two largest colonies in the world, it is definitely not comfortable for Britain and France to bear the logistical supplies of tens of millions of troops.
Especially on the premise that the British still maintain a huge navy, such consumption has made the British Empire slightly overwhelmed.
If the Americans had not joined in, assumed part of the material supply, and continued to provide blood for the Allied Powers, I am afraid that the Allied Powers would have been the first to be unable to hold on on the Western Front battlefield.
So far, the 10 million troops organized by the Allied Powers on the Western Front have created history. They are also the largest number of soldiers on a single front in a single war in human history.
If it were not for the gathering of the six major powers, especially the more economically developed countries of Britain, France and the United States, to provide materials for this army, it would be impossible to support such a large army.
The current war is about competing for the patience of various countries to see who can't hold on in this war first.
After the raid on the southern front was frustrated, the Germans were not discouraged. Instead, under the planning of Chief of General Staff Hindenburg, they decided to launch a new offensive in September 1917.
Because they had just raided the southern front, the German staff expected that the enemy would be on guard. The Verdun Fortress on the central front was a drop from the sky, and it was impossible for the German army to capture this fortress in a short time.
Therefore, after thinking about it, the German General Staff decided to place the raid on the northern front, that is, in the Belgian area dominated by the British.
The offensive from Ludong to Fujiang was named Operation Qiaoqi, and its target was the British position between Ypres and Labasi.
Beginning on September 9, 1917, the German army launched an overwhelming offensive in this area.
Millions of German troops showed a fighting spirit that looked at death and soon gained a certain advantage, beating the British back steadily.
Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, saw that this was okay and quickly ordered the British tanks and aircraft that had been prepared for a long time to be dispatched one after another in order to repel the German attack.
At this time, the most cruel scene in the war occurred.
Because German artillery and machine guns could not do anything to these British tanks, the German army made unexpected moves.
I saw German soldiers carrying explosive bags rushing out of their positions and bravely rushing towards the Allied tanks.
Although many German soldiers were intercepted, a few Germans still managed to rush towards the tanks and were buried in the fireworks together with the tanks.
This crazy behavior of the German soldiers directly shocked the Allied Powers Headquarters, and even amazed the commanders-in-chief of the armies of various countries, and even forgot to issue orders to the troops.
It was not like they had never seen an army with a strong will to fight, but these generals were shocked by the fact that they regarded death as if they were going home, and even directly exchanged their lives for tanks.
In this way, more than half of the dozens of tanks dispatched by the British were destroyed by the Germans, and they were completely useless for a while.
The British did not dare to bet. If German soldiers still adopted this desperate strategy in exchange for British tanks, it would definitely be a loss for the British.
After all, the British had carefully prepared for a long time to build these dozens of tanks. Even if it took hundreds of German soldiers for one person to successfully blow up a tank, it would be a loss for the British.
After all, there are millions of German soldiers, but there are only a few dozen British tanks, and each one is a big treasure of the British military.
In fact, there is another important reason why British tanks were so easily blown up by the Germans. That is that British tanks advance very slowly, and their speed on the battlefield cannot even be compared to the speed of an adult running at full strength.
Under such circumstances, without any precautions, the German soldiers could easily rush to the tank and deliver a fatal blow to the British tank with the explosive bags in their hands.
At this time, the iron skin of the tank was still very thin, and the power of a single explosive charge was enough to destroy a tank, or at least make the tank completely lose its combat effectiveness.
Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, did not look good at this time. He made a prompt decision and asked the messenger to send a message to all armies: ordering all armies not to take a step back and to defend their frontline positions even if they fight to the last man.
In order to prevent accidents, Hagrid immediately ordered all the supervisory troops to go to the front line. If they were found to be retreating, whether they were British or natives, they would all be killed.
At the same time, more than 300,000 reserve troops in the rear were also mobilized by Hagrid, ready to support the front line at any time. It is no exaggeration to say that the German army is currently the most powerful army in the world. As for the army that is more powerful than the German army, it can only be the German army that regards death as home.
After Haig gave up using tanks to defend his position, the German troops poured into the British position like a tide. They were like invincible weaklings. One person fell, and more people came up.
Even though the British machine gun barrels were red, it could not stop the Germans from advancing.
Under such an exaggerated offensive by the Germans, the British position was soon pushed back for more than ten kilometers, and a surprise attack like the one on the southern front seemed about to happen again.
In order to prevent Britain from losing face in front of the whole world like Italy, Haig frequently patrolled the front lines of various army groups and directly made harsh words. As long as he took a step back, he would be dismissed from his post and investigated!
In addition, Hagrid mobilized all reserve troops and directly joined areas with weak frontline defenses.
With the help of Air Force aircraft, they finally managed to hold their position with difficulty.
At the end of September 1917, the German attack finally ended, and the British Expeditionary Force could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Although the German offensive only lasted 20 days, the pressure on the British Expeditionary Force was huge, and it almost caused the entire British Expeditionary Force to collapse.
During these 20 days, the British Expeditionary Force suffered as many as 600,000 casualties, and the death toll even exceeded 200,000.
The Germans were also miserable, and they also suffered at least 400,000 casualties and 100,000 deaths.
Although the Germans suffered fewer casualties, the British held their positions and did not allow the Germans to succeed in their sneak attacks.
After the offensive, the Germans fell back to their positions as if the previous assault had never happened.
But the Allies are not easy to bully, and such a raid cannot be launched by Germany if it wants to, or ended if it wants to.
In order to teach Germany a lesson, the Allied General Headquarters discussed and decided to launch the Second Battle of the Marne along the Marne River to completely expel the German army from southern France and completely eliminate the danger in Paris.
The participants in the Second Battle of the Marne were the Australasian Expeditionary Force, the Italian Army, the Balkan Allied Forces, the American Expeditionary Force and part of the French Army.
The combined number of these troops was as high as 1.5 million, while the number of German troops was approximately 1 million.
In order to ensure numerical superiority, after the battle is launched, Italy still needs to support 200,000 combat troops to the front line. There is also a French army waiting for orders at any time, which means it has almost 500,000 reserve troops.
The scale of this attack could be described as luxurious, because Australasia was the main attacker and had command authority for the battle.
Therefore, under the order of General Thomas, the Second Battle of the Marne used a combined offensive of tanks, aircraft, artillery and infantry. The Germans thoroughly understood the most advanced offensive at present.
A total of more than 200 tanks were dispatched in this battle, of which more than 100 were from Australasia, as well as tanks from France and Italy.
This has to lament the advancement of technology in war. In fact, as early as two years ago, European countries were studying weapons similar to tanks.
However, only Britain and France have truly succeeded in research. Italy imitated the British tank urgently after its debut. Not only did its performance and data fall far behind the British tank, but it also had a higher chance of being trapped.
British tanks have a den failure rate of up to 60%, and Italian tanks are even more powerful, with a den failure rate as high as nearly 90%.
This time, Italy dispatched a total of eight tanks. Seven of them were lying on the road, and only one successfully reached the front line.
However, not long after the battle, the Italian tank faced mechanical failure and the turret was stuck, which was equivalent to losing its combat effectiveness.
The high denning rate of World War I tanks was unavoidable, even for Australasian tanks.
The Allied Powers dispatched a total of 200 tanks, but in the end less than 80 were put into combat, with a failure rate of 60%.
However, today's tanks are still the most powerful weapons on the battlefield. As long as a certain number of tanks can be used, they can cause huge damage to the enemy.
Nearly 80 tanks gave the German army no way to attack them. Such mobile target artillery was also difficult to hit, and machine guns were basically unable to cause damage.
At this time, the Germans remembered to use the death squad tactics they had used before, but the Allies had already been prepared. They used machine guns and artillery to form a powerful firepower network, coupled with hundreds of aircraft circling in the sky, to resolutely prevent any German soldiers from approaching. Tank step.
More importantly, it was Australian tanks that led the way. Australasian tanks have better movement speed and armor protection, and the Germans' one-for-one exchange of explosive charges also failed on Australasian tanks.
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(End of chapter)