Chapter 512 Escape

"General, let's go quickly. If we don't leave, it will be too late." Admiral Benson's guard captain said to him. Now, they have fled to the Seine. As long as you swim across the Seine, you can escape.

A large number of soldiers of the British and French allied forces are jumping into the Seine at this moment and swimming to the south bank of the Seine. When the German army was oppressing from three directions, east, west, and north, fleeing south had become the only option. As for the breakout, after countless failed attempts, leaving only a pile of corpses, no one had the extravagant hope of breaking through the encirclement of the German army and escaped.

However, the Seine is not a small river, it is the second largest river in France after the Loire. This section of the river is even hundreds of meters wide. Now it is the flood season of the river, and the river is rushing. It is almost impossible for people with poor water skills to swim across the Seine to escape. Not to mention, there are still many people who don't know water at all. It is absolutely impossible for them to swim across the Seine.

Even though many people carried templates, branches, etc., and wanted to use the buoyancy of these things to cross the river, there were still very few successful ones. On the contrary, it is not known how many people drowned in the Seine. Their bodies flowed all the way down the river, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

General Benson, commander of the 3rd Army of the British Expeditionary Force, looked at the wide Seine River and couldn't help but feel a panic.

"I, I can't swim!" Admiral Benson said.

All the guard members were stunned. Admiral Benson can't swim. In this case, it will undoubtedly be very difficult to send him safely to the south bank of the Seine River.

The captain of the guard gritted his teeth, and then said: "General, don't worry, we will safely send you to the south bank of the Seine."

After all, Admiral Benson is the commander of the group army, and they are Admiral Benson's guards. If they abandoned Admiral Benson and escaped by themselves, the consequences would undoubtedly be very serious. If they fail, they will be sent directly to a military court for trial. The British Army will never allow this to happen.

The guards found a door panel and let Admiral Benson lie on it. A few members of the guard with good water skills, holding on to the door panel, swam to the south bank of the Seine.

I have to admit that Admiral Benson's luck is relatively good. Under the escort of several guards, he escaped alive to the south bank of the Seine despite numerous adventures along the way.

But most of the British and French allied forces did not have such good luck. The coalition soldiers who successfully swam across the Seine and fled to the other side of the river were only a handful. Most of the coalition soldiers were directly drowned in the Seine. Those who arrived later saw the corpses of coalition soldiers floating on the Seine River, and their faces turned pale with fright.

After the German army chased them, they surrendered directly to the German army.

The encirclement and suppression of the 3rd Army of the British Expeditionary Force and part of the 1st Army of the French Army by the German 1st Army and the 8th Army achieved complete success. The British and French allied forces had a total of more than 300,000 people. Except for a very few who escaped, the rest were either killed or drowned, and the rest surrendered to the German army. The number of prisoners of war captured alone exceeded 200,000.

In this battle, the 1st Army and the 8th Army directly eliminated half of the entire force deployed by the British and French coalition forces in the northwest of France. In addition, the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force, which is lingering in Rouen, if they are also eaten, then the Anglo-French coalition forces will not have many troops left. The Germans will win this battle.

Rouen, the headquarters of the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force, Admiral Haig is still waiting for the reinforcements led by Admiral Benson. Although the German army only sent six infantry divisions into the city of Rouen to fight street battles with the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force, but relying on powerful firepower and advanced street fighting tactics, the British army retreated steadily and suffered heavy losses. . Even though the British army is still struggling to support it, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the German army wins the final victory.

"How long will it take for the reinforcements led by General Benson to arrive? Continue to contact them." Admiral Haig ordered.

"Yes, General." The adjutant immediately went down to convey the order.

However, a few minutes later, the adjutant returned with a pale face.

"General, General Benson called. They were besieged by the main force of the German army. The German army dispatched hundreds of tanks to attack them, and their line of defense has been breached. Now, the whole army is retreating." The adjutant reported.

"What? How did this happen? Isn't the main force of the Germans attacking Rouen? How could they attack General Benson?" Admiral Haig obviously couldn't believe this.

However, Admiral Haig then thought that General Benson would never deceive him on this matter. Well, this also means that the attack on Rouen was not the main force of the German army at all. Thinking of this, Admiral Haig almost despaired. They reorganized a group army, and they couldn't even defeat several divisions of the German army. While suppressing them, the German army was able to send the main force to besiege the 300,000 reinforcements led by Admiral Benson, and defeated them. This undoubtedly shows that the combat effectiveness of the German army is stronger than they expected!

"General, what should we do now? General Benson and the others have fallen into the siege of the Germans, and they are probably in danger." A major general asked.

"General, if we stick to Rouen, it will be very dangerous. Once General Benson and the others are defeated, the main force of the Germans will attack Rouen. At that time, we will not be able to resist at all." Another lieutenant general suggested.

Obviously, everyone is very pessimistic about this battle. If the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force continues to persevere, then the final result is very likely to be completely wiped out by the German army here. Therefore, under such circumstances, everyone undoubtedly has other thoughts.

Admiral Haig also hesitated.

At this moment, a new telegram came. Admiral Benson sent a telegram to Admiral Haig, informing him that the Third Army of the Expeditionary Force had completely collapsed, and asked Admiral Haig to make his own plans.

This telegram made Admiral Haig make up his mind.

"Order all the ministries to persist at night. After dark, we will evacuate Rouen immediately! Along the Seine, we will evacuate westward." Admiral Haig ordered.

He knew that the Anglo-French coalition forces would surely be defeated in this battle. If they retreated to Paris, there would be no way out. Only by fleeing from the main battlefield would they be able to survive.

After nightfall, the remnants of the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force, led by Admiral Haig, withdrew from Rouen.