Chapter 579 Traps

On the evening of May 7, the German artillery stopped the shelling of Le Havre. After a whole day of heavy shelling, the whole of Le Havre has been bombed into a mess. Under the bombardment of more than 2,000 cannons by the German army, there is hardly a single intact building in the entire city. This important city at the mouth of the Seine River has been reduced to ruins.

The British Expeditionary Force stationed at Le Havre paid a high price for this. More than 10,000 people died directly in the shelling of the German army. Not to mention there are many injured people. In the port of Le Havre, there are wounded soldiers waiting to return home due to injuries. It can be seen that the heavy shelling by the German army caused many casualties to the British Expeditionary Force.

Fortunately, however, the German shelling finally ended. This made the officers and soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force who survived the fierce shelling couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As for what will happen tomorrow, they don't know. All they wanted was a good night's sleep and a rest without the fear of being killed by German shelling.

The artillerymen of the German army were also exhausted. During today's shelling, they fired at least 300,000 shells. Although the high-intensity shooting was not maintained all the time, at the end of the shelling, many artillerymen were too tired to lift their hands.

"General, Le Havre has been almost destroyed by us. Although it is not certain how many casualties have been caused to the British, what is certain is that the casualties must not be small. More importantly, to their The morale of the troops has been dealt a devastating blow. When we launch an offensive tomorrow, the difficulty will be relatively less." Lieutenant General Ludendorff is undoubtedly very satisfied with the performance of the artillery today.

"Well! If nothing else, the British's will to resist has almost been eliminated under our fierce shelling." Admiral Crook nodded.

The morale of the British Expeditionary Force under siege was already low. After encountering such heavy shelling again, it is naturally conceivable how low morale will be.

However, Admiral Crook and Admiral Ludendorff will soon know that they are a little too optimistic. Of course, the heavy shelling by the German army caused a lot of casualties to the British Expeditionary Force. However, the British Expeditionary Force did not collapse because of this. Because, on the evening of May 7, the reinforcements of the British Navy officially arrived in Le Havre.

Sir French, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Admiral Haig, Commander of the 1st Army of the Expeditionary Force, and Admiral Gough, Commander of the 5th Army of the Expeditionary Force, greeted the British Navy Portsmouth on the pier of Le Havre Naval Base Commander Lieutenant General Caveson.

Although, it was completely dark. Can't see those huge warships clearly. But vaguely able to see those battleships are like giant beasts lurking under the night sky. This feeling is very shocking.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the Royal Navy really did a great job this time! They actually sent so many warships here. If the Germans want to bombard Le Havre again, it will definitely be a dead end." Admiral Haig was very excited .

A total of twenty-one pre-dreadnought ships, thirteen armored cruisers, and other small and medium-sized warships undoubtedly provided the British Expeditionary Force with a fairly powerful artillery. Each pre-dreadnought is equipped with two twin 305mm main guns and other secondary guns of different calibers. Those armored cruisers are also equipped with main guns over 9 inches. There is no doubt how amazing the power of these main guns will be when they launch shells on ground targets.

Sir French nodded: "This time, we must let the Germans know how powerful we are. Although the British Empire is at a disadvantage in this war, it is far from being bullied by them!"

Although, these battleships have not yet begun to show off their power. But this does not prevent them from imagining how powerful these warships will explode in tomorrow's battle.

"Your Excellency, General Haig, General Goff, hello!" Lieutenant General Cavison arrived at the pier in a transportation boat.

"General Cavison, welcome to Le Havre. Unfortunately, this place has become a ruin. Otherwise, this place is really a beautiful place." Sir French said with a smile.

"All of this was done by the damned Germans. Tomorrow, my sailors will use shells to make those Germans pay for what they did!" Lieutenant General Cavison said firmly.

"Yes, all the damned Germans. The world would be at peace without them," Admiral Haig said.

Afterwards, they began to discuss how to divide the work in tomorrow's battle.

Admiral Haig proposed that in order to ensure the suddenness of the fleet's naval gun attack, the fleet was temporarily withdrawn. After the German army launched an offensive, they appeared in the sea off Le Havre, and then launched a violent shelling, taking this opportunity to cause heavy losses to the German army.

Lieutenant General Cavison is very satisfied with this plan. They also didn't want to be exposed in the first place. In that case, the German army will definitely retreat. Their powerful naval gun firepower is useless. After all, no matter how powerful the battleship is, it is impossible to drive it to the shore, right?

After reaching a consensus, Lieutenant General Cavison led the fleet and temporarily evacuated Le Havre, hiding in an area dozens of kilometers away from the coastline. Once the Germans officially attacked Le Havre, they would be there in two hours. Both Admiral Haig and Lieutenant General Caveson believed that no matter how powerful the German army was, it would be impossible to defeat the British Expeditionary Force stationed in Le Havre within two hours. At that time, the Royal Navy, which suddenly burst out, can use powerful naval guns to severely ravage the German troops participating in the attack.

It is conceivable that the salvos of the main guns and secondary guns of the 21 former dreadnoughts and 13 armored cruisers of the British Navy will be so powerful. The attacking German army will inevitably suffer heavy losses under the powerful firepower of the British navy.

"Hopefully, the Germans can be severely damaged tomorrow. It is best to let them all die under the naval guns. In that case, we will win!" Admiral Haig watched the fleet leave and murmured.

"God bless the British Empire. Just as God has been on our side for centuries!" said Sir French.

The confidence lost by the other generals and officers of the British Expeditionary Force was regained again because of the arrival of the Royal Navy fleet.