Chapter 439 Battle of the Somme

On the afternoon of May 20, 1916, Sydney, Australia.

Batty, director of the Royal Security Intelligence Service, handed Arthur a top-secret document and said very respectfully: "Your Majesty, this is the latest result of the Anglo-German naval battle, please take a look."

Director Batty did not explain the result of the Anglo-German naval battle, because no one could understand the full picture of such a top-secret document before Arthur opened it.

Arthur took the document, looked into it, and began to read it.

This document of Director Batty is the actual results of the war obtained by the Royal Security Intelligence Service after careful investigation, which is obviously different from the results announced by Britain and Germany.

If there is no problem with the investigation of the Royal Security Intelligence Service, then it is obvious that both Britain and Germany have exaggerated the results of the war.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The government generally reports good news to the people but not bad news, in order to stabilize the domestic situation and order.

Whether it is the defeated or the victorious party, they will exaggerate their results as much as possible to keep the country stable and prevent the people from panicking.

Before this, the British Empire proudly declared that in the naval battle three days ago, the Royal Navy sank a total of six German main battleships, including four dreadnoughts and two super dreadnoughts.

In addition, four German pre-dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers, eleven light cruisers, ten destroyers, and two submarines were sunk (the total tonnage of sunk battleships exceeded 400,000 tons).

More than eight German dreadnoughts, two battlecruisers and several small and medium-sized warships were also damaged.

If such a result is true, the German High Seas Fleet will definitely be seriously injured, and it will not even have any resistance for a long time.

The German side also claimed to have sunk seven British main battleships, including five dreadnoughts and two super dreadnoughts. There are also four pre-dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers, eleven light cruisers, seven destroyers, more than ten torpedo boats, etc. The total tonnage of the basic British warships reached nearly 500,000 tons.

In addition, 12 British dreadnoughts and several battlecruisers were seriously damaged.

According to the public war reports of the Germans, they also seriously damaged the Royal Navy. If this war report is true, Germany even has a considerable advantage in the naval battle.

But is this really the case? According to the investigation results of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, although the Germans did have an advantage in the naval battle, the naval advantage after the naval battle was still on the British side.

On the Royal Navy side, Germany sank three pre-dreadnoughts, one dreadnought, two battlecruisers, six destroyers, four light cruisers, two torpedo boats and two submarines.

And the High Seas Fleet was sunk by one battlecruiser, two pre-dreadnoughts, one dreadnought, four light cruisers, three destroyers and five torpedo boats and two submarines.

If the pre-dreadnoughts are counted, the British were sunk by six main battleships and the Germans were sunk by four main battleships.

However, because a considerable number of them were pre-dreadnoughts, such a result of the naval battle was acceptable to both sides, at least neither side was seriously injured.

Although some dreadnoughts were lost, the super dreadnoughts of both sides have not been lost at present, which is a blessing in disguise.

However, although the loss of warships was not large, the casualties of naval soldiers on both sides were actually not small.

The total number of soldiers in the Royal Navy participating in the war was as high as 66,000, and the casualties in the naval battle were as high as more than 8,700, accounting for one-seventh of the casualties.

The Germans were not much better, with a total number of naval soldiers of 51,000 and casualties of 7,600, accounting for more than one-seventh of the casualties.

Compared with the army soldiers who are easier to train, the casualties of the navy and the air force are the most distressing.

In particular, an excellent naval soldier needs to be trained on the warship for 1 to 2 years on the premise of being proficient in operating various instruments on the warship before he can form sufficient combat effectiveness.

The two sides fought too hastily in the naval battle, and coupled with the threat of the other side's warships and submarines, a considerable number of soldiers who fell into the water were not rescued, which is why the casualties were so heavy.

You know, after the warship was sunk, as the warship sank, a vortex with strong suction would be formed on the sea surface.

If the naval soldiers who fell into the water could not swim out of the vortex quickly, they would be sucked into the vortex and buried forever on the seabed.

If it were not for the tacit understanding of both sides to send out rescue ships after the naval battle, I am afraid that the casualties of their soldiers would increase by at least one thousand.

Although various taboo weapons were used in World War I, sometimes there are still some bottom lines between countries.

Whether on the Franco-German front or on the German-Russian front, many soldiers can be seen celebrating Christmas with the enemy.

There is also a great tacit understanding between the two sides, at least they will not attack medical personnel, so as to facilitate themselves and the other side to collect the bodies of their comrades.

Arthur is completely acceptable to such a naval battle result. The Germans won the battle, which stabilized the German people's hearts in a short period of time and allowed them to continue to fight in the war.

The British actually won a strategic victory. Although the naval battle failed, the British Empire's naval advantage over Germany became more obvious because the loss ratio of both sides was similar.

It was a perfect victory that allowed the Germans to continue the war and the British to continue to maintain their advantage over Germany at sea and cut off the Germans' logistical supply lines.

As the monarch of Australasia, Arthur was concerned about when the war would end and what Australasia could gain.

As for the British casualties in the naval battle, it was not important to Arthur, and he believed that the British Empire could fully bear it.

Anyway, the casualties of the major participating countries did not start from hundreds of thousands, and even the current casualties in Australasia had already reached hundreds of thousands.

Regardless of whether this naval battle could change Germany's current disadvantage, after the German government's propaganda, the domestic and military morale had obviously recovered a part, and the anti-war wave was not so intense.

The German government and the army also had enough time to organize defense in the Somme River area to deal with the large-scale battle that Britain and France were about to launch.

After the end of this naval battle, the Verdun area, the entire Western Front, the Eastern Front, and even the whole of Europe fell into a brief peace.

But this calm before the storm is the most terrible. The Allies and the Allies know what it means after the calm, and there will be a bigger storm coming.

At the end of May, 500,000 new recruits in Germany went to the Somme, Verdun and the Eastern Front in batches, which also meant that Germany had spared no effort to win the war.

On the French side, the government transported a large amount of supplies to the Verdun area and commended the defenders in the Verdun area.

On June 11, 1916, after only half a month of silence, the British and French coalition forces launched a large-scale assault on the German army on the south bank of the Somme, and the Battle of the Somme officially began.

In order to organize the Battle of the Somme, the British and French coalition forces spent half a year transporting weapons and equipment and mobilizing soldiers and personnel.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Battle of the Somme was the most important strategic plan of the Allies in 1916, and its importance far exceeded the Balkan Front opened in 1915.

On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British and French coalition forces demonstrated the strength of British logistics.

From the 1st to the 6th day, the British and French coalition forces fired more than 1.5 million artillery shells at the German army, with an average of more than 200,000 shells per day.

Under the cover of such a huge artillery shell, the British and French forces in the Somme area launched an unprecedented counterattack.

Why is it unprecedented? Because this is the most important offensive on the Western Front at present, and it is also a full-scale counterattack by Britain and France since the war started.

The participants in the Battle of the Somme include a British Army Group and a British Separate Army, as well as a reserve of twelve divisions and six French armies.

In recent days, there have been continuous heavy rains in the Somme area, turning this trench built by Germany into a swamp.

The soldiers' boots are covered with a layer of heavy mud, which makes walking not only cumbersome but also very easy to slip.

Of course, it is not only the German army that is like this, the British and French forces are also prone to slipping on such a battlefield.

This also makes the British and French forces, who are rushing to attack, more like fresh targets in the eyes of German soldiers, and they can walk one by one.

Because the British and French forces attach great importance to the Battle of the Somme, more than 100,000 British and French troops were deployed on the battlefield on the first day, launching repeated charges against the German positions.

But the Germans, who were well prepared, repelled the attacks of the British and French forces again and again.

This may be the most unlucky day for the British army. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, they suffered more than 60,000 casualties, which was far more than any previous battle, and even the famous Normandy Landing in World War II could not be compared.

The three consecutive days of attack did not make good progress, because the artillery and machine gun positions that the Germans strictly guarded not only brought a large number of casualties to the British and French forces, but also prevented the British and French forces from advancing.

In order to fight against the German machine gun positions, the British decided to use their long-prepared secret weapons, including a large iron box named water tank.

This weapon, called water tank, was planned as early as 1915, and under the urging of the Minister of the Navy Churchill, it was successfully trial-produced at the end of 1915.

This British tank is very different from the tanks that people in later generations have in their minds. It is generally diamond-shaped and looks like a huge tadpole with a round body and a long tail behind it.

This long tail is the steering wheel of the tank, which can keep the body balanced when turning.

The British tanks are divided into female and male. The female tanks are only equipped with five machine guns, while the male tanks are equipped with two 57mm caliber guns and four machine guns.

After half a year of modulation and testing by the British, the weight of this tank is maintained at about 27 to 28 tons, the speed can be maintained at about six kilometers per hour, the maximum range is 15 kilometers, and the crew is eight people.

In the past six months, the British have produced more than 40 tanks in total, and they were brought to the Somme battlefield by the British who were eager for quick success.

A full 43 tanks set off from the assembly area, which looked very spectacular and majestic. But just a few minutes later, more than a dozen tanks broke down midway.

In addition to those stuck in the mud, those whose fuselage parts were suddenly damaged, etc., only 15 tanks finally approached the German front line.

Although the performance of British tanks is very touching at present, tanks are a big killer in this era, which can effectively resist German rifles and machine guns.

Although artillery can indeed cause damage to tanks, it is impossible for the German artillery to accurately hit these tanks, not to mention that the tanks are close to the German front line, where there are still a large number of German soldiers.

On the route of these tanks, the trenches and barbed wire that can block countless British and French forces were easily crushed, and the German army had no resistance at all.

Under the cover of these more than ten tanks, more than five divisions of British soldiers launched an attack on Germany.

In just five hours, these tanks pushed the front line forward by more than five kilometers, which was something that the British and French forces had not done in the previous few days.

But the British excitement soon stopped, because they found out that only less than five of the 15 tanks could move on the second day, and the others were either damaged or could not be started for some reason.

Five tanks no longer play a vital role in the battle situation, and the five tanks can only cover a limited number of British soldiers, and it is difficult to guarantee that these tanks will not have problems again.

Because of this, the British advance was stopped, and the advantage that tanks brought to the British disappeared instantly.

In the rear of Britain, when Churchill heard that more than 40 tanks only brought the front line forward five kilometers, he said disappointedly: "Haig (British commander of the Battle of the Somme) exposed this huge secret to the enemy on such a small scale. This is simply shocking!"

The tanks, which the British government regarded as secret weapons, brought the front line forward five kilometers. What's more deadly is that not only the Allies understood the existence of tanks, but Germany also learned about the existence of tanks as a weapon.

I believe that with German technology, it is not difficult to copy such a tank. Although the performance of tanks cannot be well guaranteed at present, a sufficient number of tanks can indeed bring a fatal threat to the enemy during key offensive and defensive battles.

No matter how Churchill and the British government criticized Haig, it could not change the result that the British had missed the opportunity.

After the secret weapon of tanks was made public, the British could only mobilize a sufficient number of lives in the Battle of the Somme.

After this, the Battle of the Somme became another Battle of Verdun, a battleground between British and German soldiers.

The problem is that during the entire Battle of Verdun, the French army was in a defensive posture for most of the time, so that the casualty ratio could be slightly lower than that of the German army.

But the Battle of the Somme was an offensive war launched by the British and French forces, and a counterattack by the British and French forces against Germany.

This resulted in the British and French forces playing the role of attackers, and the real defenders were the Germans.

With sufficient machine guns and artillery, the Germans were able to gain a considerable advantage in the Battle of the Somme, causing huge casualties to the British and French forces.

The Battle of the Somme lasted for more than a month, and in addition to causing more than 200,000 casualties to the British and French forces, they only gained a narrow strip of land several kilometers wide and more than 20 kilometers long.

The Somme counterattack, which the French government vigorously advocated, not only failed to achieve results, but also made the French government fall into a quagmire that it could not get out of, in addition to the Battle of Verdun.

Joffre's stubbornness in the early stages of the Battle of Verdun, as well as his character of intervening in political affairs but unwilling to be ordered by the government, were seized by French politicians, who awarded him the rank of Marshal, but at the cost of retiring.

After Germany and Russia replaced their commander-in-chief (general staff), France also replaced the supreme commander of the army. The new commander-in-chief of the French army was replaced by General Nivelle, who had performed well in the Battle of Verdun.

It is worth mentioning that General Haig, who was criticized by the British for exposing the tanks too early, not only did not lose his position as commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, but was also awarded the title of Field Marshal and continued to control the British Expeditionary Force.

On the German side, the German military attached great importance to the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, and even called it Germany's only chance to win.

Knowing that Germany was at a disadvantage in both manpower and material resources, Ludendorff rushed to the Somme front immediately after the outbreak of the war, and based on the current situation he knew, the soldiers on the front invented a new war theory, namely "The Way of Fighting in Defensive War".

The German army no longer dragged large-scale infantry to the front line, but deployed some machine gunners in the front positions.

As long as the enemy's attack went deeper and deeper, the fortresses and trenches that greeted them would become closer and closer.

At the same time, the German army placed a large number of infantry in places where the enemy's artillery could not reach, waiting for the opportunity to launch a local or front counterattack.

Although Germany was in a defensive posture during the Battle of the Somme, this military theory was not very useful.

But in history, this new military theory was of great help to Germany's subsequent offensive and effectively slowed down Germany's defeat.

Although Ludendorff's short-sightedness in strategy led to Germany's ultimate failure, his genius tactics also significantly delayed Germany's failure progress.

In a two-to-one comparison, Ludendorff's contribution to Germany was greater than his faults, and he still made an indelible contribution in World War I.

The successive outbreaks of the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme were not good news for Britain, France, and Germany on the Western Front.

These two battles in history caused heavy casualties to Britain, France, and Germany, and this time and space will only be more serious.

Of course, this may not be bad news for Australasia and Arthur.

First of all, the war of attrition consumes manpower and materials, and Australasia relies heavily on the export of materials to Europe.

In other words, because of these two wars of attrition, Australasia has to earn more profits, which also indirectly enhances Australasia's status in the Allies.

As for the consumption of Britain and France in these two wars of attrition, Arthur could only smile and say that there was no problem for the two allies to bear it themselves.

In fact, the Allies seem to be an iron barrel, but there are also considerable disputes within.

It has been nearly two years since the outbreak of the war, and the various struggles within the Allies have never stopped.

First, Britain, France and Australia pitted Russia, Britain and Russia pitted France, Britain and Australia pitted France and Russia, and now Russia and Australia pit Britain and France. It can only be said that it is a revenge, and no one can escape.

In fact, this is also normal. Britain, France and Russia are all old powers. The domestic forces and interest groups are deeply rooted. It is impossible for them to sacrifice their own interests to save their allies.

Take the territorial demands of Britain, France and Russia as an example. The French want to annex a large amount of German land, but the British do not allow it. Russia wants the Iranian region, but the British do not allow it.

Previously, France opposed Britain's acquisition of Syria, Palestine, Iraq and other regions, but they were eventually divided by Britain and Australasia.

In addition, the relationship between the powers in the Constantinople region is also very complicated. If you want to control Constantinople to obtain a stable outlet to the Black Sea, neither Britain nor France will allow it.

But on the other hand, in order to prevent Russia from withdrawing from the war halfway, the British made a vague promise to Russia, promising to resolve the fate of the two straits of Constantinople with Russia's consent after the war.

In fact, if you look closely at the contradictions within the Allies, a considerable part of them are contradictions between Britain and other countries.

The contradictions between France and Russia, Australasia and all countries are actually not big. It is precisely because of this that the British are eager to win over Australasia and form a stable alliance after the war to ensure that France and Russia will not unite against Britain.

The British are also afraid of the alliance between France and Russia. If the war is won, France and Russia will be the two most powerful countries on the European continent.

The British are troublemakers and will not allow France and Russia to become bigger, so they can only win over Australasia, which is far away, to maintain their continental balance policy.

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