Chapter 527 "Whippet"

Charles did not interfere too much in the public opinion of the Battle of the Somme.

Charles believed that there was no need to interfere. Some things could not be hidden, and the Battle of the Somme was one of them.

Too many people know about this battle, too many people died on the battlefield, and too many people survived with injuries.

If you want to cover up this matter, what you need to do is not kill everyone who knows about it, but resurrect those who fell on the battlefield.

…

Germany’s Berliner Zeitung reported extensively on the fighting over the past few days:

"The enemy is simply crazy. They charge desperately at our guns and positions, regardless of life or death."

"In just one day, we killed and injured at least 100,000 of them, 100,000 of them!"

"If this continues, all their soldiers will die under our guns. Doesn't this mean that victory is handed to us?"

The Germans always grasped the essence of the general direction of the war, and they did not understand the radical approach of the Allies.

What makes it even more difficult for them to understand is that they are clearly seeking death, but they continue to launch meaningless attacks for one day, two days, three days...

…

Germany's newspapers and public opinion are not important because she is a hostile country and all her statements can be promoted as "false information published to disturb the morale of the military and the people."

However, a few days later, death notices flew like snowflakes to thousands of households, both in Britain and France.

French families seemed so used to it that they were not even sure whether their relatives had been killed at Verdun or the Somme.

But the British are very sure that this is the Battle of the Somme, because the British army is currently fighting only in this place.

Naturally, people will have such doubts:

"Didn't we say we were winning at the Somme? Why were so many killed?"

"And within a few days, many people around me received it, which means they were all killed in the past few days!"

"What happened? Why did this happen?"

…

If it is just the civilian class, it may end up being nothing, because no one will count the approximate number of casualties.

But there were also many noble children among them. The casualty rate among Eton College students who went to the battlefield was actually as high as over 40%.

(The picture above shows Eton College, which was founded in 1440. It was a school for aristocrats during World War I, and the vast majority of its students were aristocrats.)

European aristocrats are often close friends. Even if they have no relatives, they are often friends with each other, even if they are enemy nobles.

Therefore, while Haig was still on the front line trying to cover up everything on the grounds of "military secrets", he did not know that the House of Lords at home was already furious:

"They concealed the true situation. The fact is that our offensive has made no progress. Our soldiers are falling on the charging position, countless of them!"

"And our children, I have reason to believe this is a purge against us."

"Yes, many nobles have lost their heirs because of this. They may intentionally order the nobles' children to be on the front line!"

…

The direction of the wind has been deflected, and it may even trigger a split between the domestic nobility and the military.

In the end, Kitchener rushed back to England urgently to explain to them before the situation gradually subsided.

But the news slowly trickled to France.

Major French media have raised questions one after another:

"If they were winning, why didn't they send out a victory report after so many days?"

"For example, which town or high ground was captured."

"Usually, when they have a little bit of victory, they make a big deal out of it, but now there's nothing, it's not normal!"

…

North of the Somme River, at the British Army Command Headquarters, Haig was staring anxiously at the map in front of him and the casualty reports flying in front of him one after another.

In the past few days, he had sent more than twenty divisions in his hand to fight in turn. The three cavalry divisions also suffered heavy casualties, but they could not break through the enemy's positions at all.

The German defense line formed with machine guns was like steel, unimaginably hard.

The position was covered with the corpses of soldiers and horses. They had begun to rot and smell, but it was impossible to clean them up.

Haig originally hoped to wave the white flag and tell the Germans on the opposite side to temporarily cease fighting so that both sides could clean up the bodies.

But the Germans responded loudly with loudspeakers:

"Sorry, it's not that we don't want to, we can't stand the smell."

"But we must correct one thing: there are only your bodies, not ours."

"Besides, we have laid mines on the position, and even we are not sure where they are. If you are not worried about this, we have no problem with it!"

Haig was speechless for a moment.

Mines?

The mines invented by the Charles and used in the defense of Verdun?

Used by the Germans in the Battle of the Somme?

I just said, Charles shouldn't have invented those things at all. Didn't he think that these inventions would also be used by the enemy against us?

The war should have been kept on infantry and cavalry charges, he screwed everything up!

At this time, the staff officer sent a telegram to Haig, which was from Kitchener.

"They already know." There was weakness in the words.

Haig knew what this meant. He sighed and called back:

"A few days, just a few days, we can win. Then everything will be explained!"

Nothing can be erased by victory. Haig will be able to tell them confidently: everyone's sacrifice is worth it, and we have the lifeline of the war. They are a group of respectable people, and we will always remember their efforts and contributions!

Just a few words can make people forget these terrible casualties.

However, Kitchener did not think Haig could do it.

"Are you sure?" Kitchener's call back was simple.

"Yes." Haig answered with certainty: "The Germans are collapsing. It depends on who can hold on to the end. We can't give up!"

In fact, Haig was not sure, and he was more looking forward to a miracle.

"Forget it, Douglas." Kitchener said: "We have tanks, I think you should use them."

The British army did have tanks. They got inspiration from Charles' tanks and produced their own "Whippet" tanks.

(The above picture shows the "Whippet" tank, developed by the United Kingdom in 1917. It has no rotating turret, but there are machine guns on all four sides without blind spots for shooting)

Haig hesitated for a while.

If you use tanks, you will admit that your theory is wrong. Even if you win, you can't defeat Charles.

At this time, Kitchener sent another telegram: "I know what you are thinking. Everything is unimportant. Only victory is important, Douglas. Otherwise, we will all be responsible for it!"

Although the words were light, the tone was heavy. "Responsible" meant being kicked out of office.

Haig realized the seriousness of the matter. Comparison with Charles and face issues were not important.

Besides, it was the British tanks themselves, not Charles's!

However, can tanks really save this war?

There are so-called "chivalry" and "nobles saving the country" on the Internet about the participation of British nobles in the First World War. This is not accurate. The tradition of European countries is that nobles monopolize the right to education and war. Dozens or hundreds of knights form a country to exploit hundreds of thousands of peasants who have no education, no weapons, and do not know how to fight.

In the eyes of British nobles, another meaning of war is power and wealth. Only by actively participating in the war can they occupy the top of the country and decide the fate of the lower civilians.

The emergence of muskets made it possible for an uneducated civilian to easily kill a well-educated and well-equipped noble knight, which ultimately ended the model of aristocratic rule.

World War I was the last struggle of the aristocracy to make a comeback.