Chapter 439 Battle of the Somme

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

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

Director Batty did not provide any explanation for the results 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 smoothly, looked into it, and began to read through it.

Director Batty's document is the actual results obtained by the Royal Security Intelligence Service after careful investigation. It is obviously different from the results announced by Britain and Germany.

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

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

Whether it is the defeated or victorious party, they will exaggerate their results as much as possible to maintain domestic stability and prevent the people from panic.

Prior to this, the British Empire proudly claimed 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, it also sank four German pre-dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers, 11 light cruisers, ten destroyers, and two submarines (the total tonnage of battleships sunk exceeded 400,000 tons).

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

If such results are true, then the German High Seas Fleet will definitely be severely weakened and will not even have the strength to resist for a long time.

Germany also claimed to have sunk seven British main battleships, including five dreadnoughts and two super-dreadnoughts. There are also four pre-dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers, 11 light cruisers, seven destroyers, more than ten torpedo boats, etc. The total tonnage of British warships at the grassroots level has reached nearly 500,000 tons.

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

According to the German public battle reports, they also seriously injured the Royal Navy. If this battle report is true, Germany even has a considerable advantage in naval battles.

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

As for the Royal Navy, three pre-dreadnoughts, one dreadnought, two battlecruisers, six destroyers, four light cruisers, two torpedo boats and two submarines were sunk by Germany.

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

If you count the pre-dreadnoughts, the British lost six battleships and the Germans four.

However, because a considerable part of it was due to the pre-dreadnoughts, the outcome of such a naval battle was acceptable to both sides, at least not to the point of breaking bones for either side.

Although some dreadnoughts have been lost, neither side's super-dreadnoughts have been lost so far, which can be considered a blessing in misfortune.

However, although the losses in warships were not large, the casualties of naval soldiers on both sides were actually not many.

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

The Germans did not give in too much. The total number of navy soldiers was as high as 51,000, and the number of casualties was as high as 7,600. The casualties accounted for more than one-seventh.

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

In particular, an excellent naval soldier needs to be proficient in operating various instruments on the warship and practice on the warship for 1 to 2 years before he can develop sufficient combat effectiveness.

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

You know, after a warship is sunk, a vortex with strong suction will be formed on the sea as the warship sinks.

If a naval soldier who falls into the water cannot swim out of the whirlpool quickly, he will be sucked into the whirlpool and buried at the bottom of the sea forever.

If it hadn't been for both sides sending rescue ships with a tacit understanding after the naval battle, the casualties of their respective soldiers would have increased by at least a thousand.

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

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

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

Arthur is completely acceptable to the outcome of such a naval battle. The Germans achieved victory in terms of results and were able to stabilize the German people's hearts in a short period of time and continue to contribute in this war.

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

It would not only allow the Germans to continue to persist in the war, but also allow Britain to continue to maintain its advantage over Germany at sea and cut off the Germans' logistical supply lines, it would be a perfect victory.

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

As for the British casualties in naval battles, it is not important to Arthur. I believe the British Empire can fully bear it.

Anyway, the casualties of the major participating countries did not start in the hundreds of thousands. Even Australasia's current casualties have already reached hundreds of thousands.

Regardless of whether this naval battle can change Germany's current disadvantage, the German government's publicity has obviously restored some morale in the country and the military, and the anti-war wave has become less intense.

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

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

But the calm before the storm is the most terrifying. Both the Allies and the Allies know what it means after the calm, and there will be an even greater storm coming.

At the end of May, 500,000 new recruits from Germany went to the Somme region, Verdun region and the Eastern Front in batches. This also means that Germany will not hesitate to win the war at any cost.

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

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

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

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

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

From days 1 to 6, the British and French forces fired more than 1.5 million artillery shells at the German army, averaging more than 200,000 rounds per day.

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

Why is it said to be unprecedented? Because this is currently the most important offensive on the Western Front, and it is also the all-out counterattack by Britain and France since the war began.

The participants in the Battle of the Somme were a British group army and a British separate corps, as well as twelve divisional reserves and six French corps.

Continuous heavy rains in the Somme area in recent days have turned the German-built trenches into a swamp.

The soldiers' military boots were covered with a heavy layer of mud, which made them not only cumbersome but also very easy to slip when walking.

Of course, this is not the case only for the German army. The British and French allied forces are also prone to slipping on such a battlefield.

This also caused the British and French forces that rushed to attack more like living targets in the eyes of the German soldiers, each with walking merits.

Because the British and French forces attached great importance to the Battle of the Somme, on the first day, more than 100,000 British and French troops entered the battlefield and launched charges against the German positions again and again.

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

This was perhaps 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. This level of losses far exceeded any previous battles, even in World War II. The famous Normandy landings are incomparable.

The offensive for three consecutive days did not make very good progress, because the Germans tightly guarded the artillery and machine gun positions, which not only caused a large number of casualties to the British and French forces, but also prevented the British and French forces from advancing further.

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 a water tank.

This weapon, called a tank, had been planned as early as 1915, and at the urging of Lord Admiralty Churchill, a prototype was successfully produced at the end of 1915.

This British tank is very different from the tanks that people remember in later generations. It is generally diamond-shaped and looks like a giant tadpole, with a round body and a long tail trailing behind.

This long tail is the steering wheel of the tank, which can maintain the balance of the vehicle body when turning.

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

After half a year of modulation and testing by the British, this tank weighs approximately 27 to 28 tons, can maintain a speed of about six kilometers per hour, has a maximum range of 15 kilometers, and has a crew of eight.

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

A total of 43 tanks set off from the assembly area, looking very majestic and majestic. But just a few minutes later, more than a dozen tanks broke down midway.

In addition to those that were stuck in the quagmire, those whose fuselage parts were suddenly damaged, etc., only 15 tanks finally came close to the German front line.

Although the current performance of British tanks is very impressive, tanks are great weapons in this era and can effectively resist German rifles and machine guns.

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

On the advance route of these tanks, the trenches and barbed wire fences that could block countless British and French allied 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 more than five kilometers, something that the British and French forces in the previous few days had not accomplished.

But the excitement of the British soon stopped, because they found with tears in their eyes that only less than five of the 15 tanks were able to move on the second day, and the others either had damaged parts or could not start for unknown reasons.

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

Because of this, the British advance was stopped, and the advantage brought by tanks to the British disappeared in an instant.

In the British rear, when Churchill heard that more than 40 tanks had only allowed the front line to advance five kilometers, he said with disappointment: "Haig (the British commander in the Battle of the Somme) exposed this huge secret to such a small scale. Enemy, this just shocks me!”

The tanks, regarded as secret weapons by the British government, gained a five-kilometer advance on the front line. What's even more terrible is that not only the Allies understood the existence of tanks, but Germany also learned of the existence of tanks as a weapon.

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

No matter how much 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 use a sufficient number of human lives in the Battle of the Somme.

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

The terrible thing is that throughout the Battle of Verdun, the French army was in a defensive posture most of the time, so that the battle loss 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 against Germany by the British and French forces.

This resulted in the British and French forces being the attackers, and the real defenders being the Germans.

With a sufficient number of 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. 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 strongly advocated by the French government not only failed to achieve results, but also caused the French government to fall into another quagmire that it was obviously unable to escape from 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, led French politicians to seize the opportunity and grant Joffre the rank of Marshal, but at the cost of discharging his armor and returning home.

After Germany and Russia changed their commander-in-chief (general staff), France also changed its supreme commander-in-chief 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 prematurely exposing tanks, not only did not lose his position as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, but was instead awarded 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 them the only chance for Germany to win.

Knowing that Germany was at a disadvantage in both manpower and material resources, Ludendorff rushed to the Somme front line immediately after the war broke out. Based on what he knew about the current situation, the soldiers on the front line invented a new war theory, namely "Way of Fighting in Defensive Warfare".

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

As the enemy's attacks deepened, the fortresses and trenches that greeted them became increasingly dense.

At the same time, the German army placed a large number of infantry out of reach of the enemy's artillery, waiting for the opportunity to launch a local or front counterattack.

Although Germany was in a defensive posture during the Battle of the Somme, there was little need for this military theory.

But in history, this new military theory was of great help to Germany's subsequent offensive, and it was very effective in slowing down Germany's defeat.

Although Ludendorff's short-sightedness in strategy led to Germany's ultimate defeat, his genius tactics brilliantly delayed Germany's defeat.

In a two-to-two comparison, Ludendorff's contribution to Germany outweighed his faults, and he still played an indispensable role 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 become more serious.

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

First of all, a war of attrition consumes manpower and materials, and Australasia relies heavily on material exports to Europe.

In other words, these two wars of attrition will allow Australasia to earn more profits, which will also enhance Australasia's status in the Allied Powers.

As for the cost of these two wars of attrition to Britain and France, Arthur could only smile and say that the two allies had no problem shouldering it themselves.

In fact, the Allied Powers seemed to be a piece of metal, and there were quite a few disputes within them.

Nearly two years have passed since the war broke out, and various struggles within the Allied Powers have never stopped.

First, Britain, France, and Australia cheated on Russia, Britain and Russia cheated on France, Britain and Australia cheated on France and Russia, and so on. Now, Russia, Australia, and Britain are cheating on France. It can only be said that injustice is repaid, and no one can escape.

In fact, this is normal. Britain, France, and Russia are all established powers. Their domestic forces and interest groups are deeply rooted, and it is impossible to lose their own interests to save their allies.

Take the territorial claims of Britain, France and Russia. The French want to annex a large amount of German land, but the British do not allow it. Russia wanted areas of Iran and the British would not allow it.

Previously, France also opposed Britain's acquisition of areas such as Syria, Palestine, and Iraq, but they were eventually divided up by Britain and Australasia.

In addition, the relationship between the great powers in the Constantinople area was also very complicated. If you want to control Constantinople to gain stable access 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 midway, the British made vague promises to Russia, promising to resolve the fate of the two straits of Constantinople with Russia's consent after the war.

In fact, if we take a closer look at the conflicts within the Allied Powers, a considerable part of them are between Britain and other countries.

The conflicts between France and Russia, Australasia and all countries are actually not that big. It is precisely because of this that the British are eager to win over Australasia and form a solid 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 successful, France and Russia will be the two most powerful countries on the European continent.

The British's troublesome character does not allow France and Russia to become bigger, so they can only win over Australasia, which is far away, to maintain their continental balancing policy.

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