Chapter 582: Headaches (900 votes plus updates)

"General, the Germans are defeated. They have evacuated Le Havre. Those Germans suffered heavy losses under the bombardment of the navy and had to evacuate in embarrassment!" A staff officer approached Haig excitedly. will report.

   "Okay, that's great!" Admiral Haig was also overjoyed. Originally, they had been suppressed by the German army on the battlefield and were constantly defeated. When did they ever defeat the German army? This victory is really too precious for them.

   "Did we cause a lot of damage to the Germans?" Admiral Haig then asked.

   "General, it is not clear yet. However, the Germans fled in embarrassment, and the losses will certainly not be small!" the staff officer reported.

   Admiral Haig nodded: "Continue to pay attention! In addition, keep in touch with the navy to ensure that the shells fired by the naval warships can continue to fall on the heads of the Germans."

   "Yes, General!" The staff officer replied.

   There is no doubt that this is a rare opportunity for the British Expeditionary Force to severely damage the German army. Of course they will firmly seize this opportunity and will not let it go easily.

   It was not until the German army completely withdrew from Le Havre and withdrew out of the range of the main guns of the British Navy warships that the British Navy warships stopped firing. Admiral Haig also went to report the results of the battle to Sir French at this time.

   "Your Excellency, the Germans have been driven out of Le Havre by us. Moreover, the naval bombardment has caused considerable casualties to the Germans." Admiral Haig looked excited.

   "Well, very good. This time, we have finally defeated the Germans. General Haig, can we continue to stick to Le Havre?" Sir French asked.

   Although defeating the German army once made Sir French very happy. However, what he really cares about is whether the British Expeditionary Force can hold Le Havre, which is the most important thing.

"Your Excellency, with the fire support of the navy, the Germans don't want to attack Le Havre again. The naval guns will tear them all to pieces. Unless the German navy makes a big move and defeats the fleet of the Royal Navy ’” Admiral Haig said.

  The powerful firepower possessed by the 21 pre-dreadnought ships and 13 armored cruisers is undoubtedly extremely powerful. If the German army wants to continue to attack Le Havre, it will inevitably suffer heavy losses under the bombardment of the British navy. Even the German Navy could not bear such a loss. Therefore, it is very likely that the British Expeditionary Force, with the support of the Royal Navy, will hold Le Havre.

  Of course, if the German Navy makes a big move, the British Royal Navy's fleet composed of former dreadnoughts and armored cruisers can only praise the edge. Without the support of the Royal Navy, the British Expeditionary Force wants to hold Le Havre under the attack of the German army, which is completely idiotic.

Sir French nodded: "Indeed, if the German navy is dispatched, then we have nothing to do. However, I don't think the German navy will be able to come to Le Havre for a while. The English Channel and Dover The Strait is densely covered with mines. The Royal Navy is also actively preparing for the final decisive battle with the German Navy. If the Royal Navy can win this time, then our crisis will be completely resolved. If the Royal Navy still ends in failure, Then there is no point in continuing to stick to Le Havre."

   "Yes, Sir." Admiral Haig nodded.

   They persisted in Le Havre just to persist until the final decisive battle between the Royal Navy and the German Navy. If the Royal Navy still fails, their best outcome is undoubtedly to withdraw to the country and prepare to stick to the homeland.

  In any case, after the British Expeditionary Force defeated the first round of the German attack, the entire army fell into a carnival. The officers and soldiers rejoiced and celebrated the victory, as if Germany had been completely defeated.

  Although, the battle has only just begun. However, this victory raised the morale of the British Expeditionary Force a lot. Morale, which had been sluggish, began to gradually recover. Everyone seems to have become more confident about the next battle.

   On the German side, General Crook and Lieutenant General Ludendorff looked very ugly. There is an unspeakable depression in the entire headquarters.

   "General Ludendorff, have our losses been counted?" Admiral Crook asked.

"General, according to preliminary statistics, we lost nearly 10,000 people in this round of attack. Among them, more than half were killed. In addition, we also lost more than 500 pieces of artillery of various calibers. It can be said that this is definitely the highest number since the outbreak of the war. , the biggest loss we have ever suffered!" Lieutenant General Ludendorff said.

  Whether it is the 1st Army or the 8th Army, in the past half a year of fighting, countless enemies have been wiped out, but their own casualties are very limited. This time, in just two hours, they paid tens of thousands of casualties, and at the same time, the morale of the troops was fatally hit. This is unprecedented for these two legions.

   "Damn it! When did the British navy come here? Didn't the air force detect the threat before?" Admiral Crook asked.

"General, this is obviously a conspiracy by the British. They deliberately avoided the detection of our reconnaissance plane and arrived in Le Havre after we launched an attack. The purpose is to launch a surprise attack on us and severely damage us. .Obviously, their plan succeeded!" said Lieutenant General Ludendorff.

   "Report. General, the air force has identified the British Navy. They dispatched 21 pre-dreadnought ships and 13 armored cruisers. There are also a large number of small and medium warships." The staff officer reported.

   "Pre-dreadnought and armored cruiser?" Admiral Crook and Lieutenant General Ludendorff were taken aback for a moment, and then they fully understood.

   "Damn British guy. It turns out they used pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers to deal with us." Admiral Crook smiled wryly.

"Yes! General. Those former dreadnoughts and armored cruisers are vulnerable to the main fleet of the Imperial Navy. However, they are a nightmare for the Army. We want to defeat the British Expeditionary Force and take Leah For Le Havre, you have to kill the British fleet first. No matter how bad it is, you have to drive them away from Le Havre. Otherwise, there is no way to fight this battle." Lieutenant General Ludendorff said.

   Admiral Crook nodded. However, how to deal with the British fleet is undoubtedly a headache.