340 The Commander of the British Army Can't Be So Stupid!
In February 1909, the British army began to prepare artillery fire on the German positions.
On the Western Front battlefield in the last time and space, all attacks were not sudden at all - it is really difficult to keep dozens of divisions of attack troops on such a short attack front completely secret. Especially on both sides.
After the introduction of aerial reconnaissance, the so-called suddenness of the attack became a purely paper concept. Only the German army successfully concealed the attack on Verdun about two weeks before the start of the attack - after that, the German army
The French army was aware of the movement and began to strengthen the defense of Verdun. However, the French army lacked effective means of transportation and failed to return the artillery to the fortress before the German army began to attack.
The situation in this time and space is similar. Although aerial reconnaissance is almost impossible due to the existence of Shenji, Shenji, with her specialized eyesight, is able to well undertake the tasks that should be performed by airplanes.
Therefore, the Germans knew that the British troops facing them were preparing to attack, and they began to plan and purposefully reinforce the trenches a few weeks before the bombardment began. More importantly, they evacuated the main troops from the line that was vulnerable to bombardment and stayed on the sentry line.
There are fewer troops than in other positions. Correspondingly, the troops left on standby on the second line are stronger. At the same time, the German high command also deployed a considerable amount of reserve troops to the deep areas behind the front.
The British faced an iron wall in front of them. However, the senior commanders of the British army believed that they could break through the German defense line cleanly. After breaking through the defense line, the British generals, who were cavalrymen, prepared to use huge cavalry units to maneuver in depth.
Strike at the heart of the German army and completely destroy the German army's logistics supply and command system.
This time Lin Youde did not offer any words to persuade, and it was useless anyway. He just sent his own military observers and liaison officers to wait and see the effectiveness of the British attack.
**
Feng Yuxiang drove the jeep directly to Highland 60, parked it next to the British artillery observation post, and jumped out of the car with a telescope.
"It's a bit bad to park here..." The lieutenant, who was still in the co-pilot position, looked a little hesitant, "If the Germans fire back, it's hard to guarantee that they won't treat this place as a key target..."
"I will take special care of it because you can see the battlefield clearly from here," Feng Yuxiang pointed to the bottom of the hill. "Where else can have such conditions? And there is mud everywhere down there. It will stain the shoes. I just applied shoe polish today."
The lieutenant curled his lips and said nothing.
Feng Yuxiang raised his telescope and began to observe the barrage of British troops ahead.
At this time, a British officer came out of the artillery observation post and spoke a lot of English.
The lieutenant translated: "The captain invited us to take shelter from the rain in the artillery observation post."
"Tell him," Feng Yuxiang put down his binoculars and turned his attention to the British officer. "Their shrapnel bombs failed to completely clear the barbed wire in front of the German position. He should immediately report to the British command to stop today's attack."
After the lieutenant finished translating, the British frowned.
"He said," the lieutenant raised his eyebrows while translating the British words, "They have reported this situation. But the expeditionary force headquarters still ordered the offensive to be carried out as planned. The headquarters believed that Xu Jin's barrage would make the infantry
The German troops in front were cleared, and the infantry had enough time to calmly pass through the gap in the barbed wire opened by shrapnel."
"Nonsense." Feng Yuxiang cursed, but the lieutenant did not translate this sentence.
At this time, two signal flares rose into the sky, which was the signal for the infantry attack to begin.
The sound of artillery that had just been silenced sounded again. At the same time, a large number of British infantry poured out from the Allied trenches in front of Hill 60.
Feng Yuxiang looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Are they attacking or moving?"
Each British soldier was carrying a large bag of "luggage". Feng Yuxiang observed for a long time and couldn't guess what the British were carrying, so he had to ask the lieutenant to ask the British artillery officer.
After a while, the lieutenant said to Feng Yuxiang with a confused look: "He said that the soldiers carried all kinds of necessary things, including wooden boards and barbed wire used to reinforce the German positions after occupying them, stretchers for rescuing the wounded, and settings..."
"Oh my God," Feng Yuxiang interrupted the lieutenant, "With these things, plus weapons and ammunition, no soldier can run from this mud to the German position. They are all crazy..."
Soon Feng Yuxiang discovered that he was wrong, because the British soldiers did not run at all. They lined up in closely spaced skirmish lines and marched forward in unison singing military songs. Nearly a hundred years ago, Wellington's Lobster
It was at this pace that the soldiers defeated Napoleon's Old Guard.
"Ask the British man why their soldiers walked in unison on the battlefield." Feng Yuxiang's voice sounded quite tired, as if he was tired of all this.
After a brief conversation, the lieutenant said to Feng Yuxiang: "He said that this is to match the advancing speed of Xu Jin's barrage, and there are strict regulations on the distance the infantry can advance per minute."
Feng Yuxiang was completely silent.
After a long time, he held back a sentence: "We were defeated by this kind of stuff in the Opium War?"
The lieutenant also seemed to feel the same way.
**
The commander of the German 59th Division defending Ypres suddenly discovered that he had heard the firing of the division's artillery.
"Why did the artillery fire stop?" The division commander was a typical Junker noble. When he spoke, his voice was very low and full of majesty.
"Report," the staff officer standing by the phone saluted to the division commander, "the artillery commander said that the gunners thought it was too cruel to continue firing at the British soldiers, so they refused to fire."
The German division commander frowned, and this expression made the staff officer subconsciously tighten his face, preparing to bear the anger of his superiors.
However, this teacher chose to remain silent.
He picked up the telescope and looked out from the observation port of the bunker. The expression on his face was very different from that of his orthodox Prussian soldier.
After a while, he said: "Order the machine guns to stop firing until the British army crosses the 100-meter marking line in front of the position."
No one objected to the division commander's decision. On the one hand, obeying orders has always been the nature of Prussian soldiers. On the other hand, all the German officers saw the miserable situation of the British army in front of them, so no one thought that the British still had the courage to attack.
The German trenches advance a step further.
"British soldiers fight like lions." The German division commander sincerely praised his opponent, but then shook his head, "It is a pity that they are led by a group of monkeys."
**
Lin Youde's headquarters.
After receiving the news that the British attack had failed, Lin Youde just shrugged.
"I knew it would be like this." Lin Youde said as he walked to the map and tapped Ypres with his finger, where the British army launched the attack. "The ground was muddy, there were not enough artillery shells to destroy the German defenses, and the individual firepower was poor.
As well as retro infantry attack tactics, such an attack is meaningless except to increase the number of casualties."
"If they learned today's lesson, they should..."
"Lesson?" Lin Youde raised his eyebrows and looked at Josephine with a smile, "No, no, they won't get that kind of thing. How can such an arrogant, self-righteous, and introspective guy learn a lesson from just a few casualty figures?
?They will attribute today's failure to the fact that they invested too few troops, and tomorrow they will rush more soldiers to the battlefield."
Lin Youde did not hesitate to plagiarize the famous saying of Lloyd George from the previous time and space: "Blood and mud, mud and blood, they know nothing but these."