Early December

Exeter in the south-west of the British mainland

There were many huge ocean-going freighters moored in the harbor, and on the wharf, 13 large cruise ships approached one after another, and countless Imperial soldiers with steel helmets on their heads, backpacks, and rifles came down from the gangway, looking at the strange British port city in front of them with a somewhat blank expression.

Exeter is a remote city in the southwest of England dominated by fishing and agriculture and animal husbandry, with an urban population of about 110,000, and the buildings are mainly 2~3 storey high-roof British buildings.

The newest buildings here are also over 100 years old, and the St. John's Church in the middle of the city dates back 342 years.

In the past, Exeter was a quiet and peaceful city with a slow pace of life, but now Exeter is bustling and prosperous, and the streets and alleys are full of people, most of whom are soldiers of the Ocean Empire, as if it were a military city.

On the outskirts of the city

There are more than a dozen military camps scattered far and near, large and small hills and plains are full of soldiers' training figures, and the roads are full of military trucks full of supplies and British locals four-wheeled carriages loaded with milk and wine.

Four divisions under the command of the Second Expeditionary Army were stationed here, namely the 202nd Sumatran Division (Machen Division), the 204th Division (Balikpapan Division), the 111th Division (Teochew Division) and the 107th Division (Wisconsin Division), in addition to the armored wolf cavalry division (305th Division) assigned to the Second Army, with a total of more than 116,000 officers and soldiers.

After the outbreak of the world war

In order to adapt to the rapid expansion of the Royal Army, the Army General Staff Headquarters implemented a military reform, and all army divisions were numbered in three digits.

The Native Army Division starts with 1, the 111th Division (Chaozhou Division) is the 11th Infantry Division from the mainland, and the 107th Division (Wisconsin Division) is the 7th Infantry Division from the mainland.

Inside

The numbering of the three numbers of the army division in the overseas states is also exquisite, all of them start with 2, and the second digit represents where it comes from, which is clear at a glance for insiders.

For example, the 204th Division (Balikpapan Division), 0 represents Borneo, and the latter 4 represents the 4th Division of Borneo.

For example; 2 represents Shangri-La, and the 221st Division is the 1st Division from Shangri-La. The 223rd Division is the 3rd Division from Shangri-La

3 represents the Luzon Islands, the 233rd Division is the 3rd Division from the Luzon Islands, and so on.

For example, the 301st Division is the Army's Honorary Red First Division, the 302nd Division is the Armored Dragoon Division, and the 317th is the 7th Artillery Division, which comes from the Imperial Australia.

The Royal Janissaries are not included in this list and are sorted separately

In the center of the city, near St. John's Church, there is a three-story stone building, the whole of which is in the early Norman style, cold, heavy and strong, with windows and doors in the shape of stone arches, and heavily armed soldiers with heavy machine guns on duty at the door, which is the headquarters of the Second Expeditionary Army.

In the largest office on the second floor, more than 20 staff officers were busy, some were on the phone, some were revising the operational map, some were drafting the draft, and they were all busy with the things at hand.

I only heard the sound of stairs in the corridor, and a lieutenant general officer with two gold stars on his shoulders strode forward, his age was about 40 years old, his expression was stern and his face was frosty, and a group of generals walked in behind him.

This person is the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Wu Shixun (Peifu), a new generation of generals in the limelight of the empire, known for his decisiveness in killing, courage and good fighting, and he seems to be in a very bad mood at the moment.

When he came to the military staff, all the staff officers had already stood up in unison, raised their hands and saluted; "Hello sir."

"Say one thing, take a break." Lieutenant General Wu Shixun looked around at everyone with a stern expression, his gaze was as aggressive as a knife, and people couldn't help but feel chills in their backs.

"Mayor Mason came to me again just now, what did he say?

It is still an old problem, that is, the problem of harassment of local women.

A certain baroness was caught cheating with our officer, which caused an uproar among the British, which was a very shameless thing and insulting to the image of the army.

Please, please don't look for women everywhere like male dogs in heat, let alone harass those serious women.

This problem has been repeated and repeatedly prohibited, and it has reached the level where it must be dealt with strictly.

The imperial army does not prohibit officers and soldiers from visiting Fengyue places, nor does it prohibit falling in love with Caucasian women, but there is also a degree, we are not here for vacation, but for war.

The army is resuming training in Exeter, and will soon be on the battlefield, and it is possible that they will never come to this hellish place again, and France or Germany is the place where we should stay.

Again

Don't go to the families of the women of the British officers and soldiers, and don't seduce the local white women, because you can't give them a future, but will bring them big trouble.

When soldiers go to the battlefield, they tie their heads to the belts of their trousers, and you can't give these women happiness or what they want, so the military headquarters and all divisions must be strictly restrained.

When the war is won, I don't care how you want to play, but not now.

The General Staff immediately drew up a disciplinary announcement and sent it to all divisions to implement it together, but whenever there is a ......"

Lieutenant General Wu Shixun gave the order with a serious expression, and Major General Han Haiping, chief of staff of the army standing on the side, looked strange and helpless.

The Imperial Army is a strong army with a long history, well-trained, well-equipped, and strong in combat, but discipline in peacetime is just like that, less than the top, more than the bottom.

In all wars

Burning, killing and looting are not uncommon, and it is not uncommon to capture local women, in the bones, this is a well-trained feudal colonial army, a powerful fist for the empire to expand outward.

In Borneo, Luzon, Africa, and North America, there were small and discordant flaws that accompanied the triumphant victories of the imperial armies.

For example, the people of the United States have always accused the Ocean Empire of capturing hundreds of thousands of young white women after the Wool War, and the two sides have fought a lot of lawsuits, but there has been no follow-up.

The Imperial Military guarded the calves, interpreting it as a marriage and love behavior of young people, and denied the existence of coercion, categorically denying the accusations of the United States.

The biggest root cause of this is still above, after Emperor Li Fushou heard the relevant report, he just frowned and said; "The war has caused a lot of psychological trauma to the boys, and it is not surprising that some of them are out of line, so there is no need to be demanding, let's not take an example!"

His Majesty's patronage is almost well known.

After Lieutenant General Wu Shixun announced the order angrily, he turned around and brushed his sleeves away.

The chief of staff, Major General Han Haiping, saw that everyone was a little overwhelmed by the training, so he waved his hand and said; "What are you still doing in a daze, immediately follow the instructions of the military seat, and issue the order to the divisions for execution, and you are idle, right? I'm going back to train and grab it, I'm going to land in France next week, it's a mule or a horse to come out for a walk, hurry up. ”

As soon as the chief of staff said this, everyone dispersed and went their separate ways.

After inspecting various departments for about 10 minutes, Major General Han Haiping came to the office at the top of the corridor, which was the office of the army commander, and he pushed the door and entered.

"Hehehe...... Junzao, are you angry with these little bunnies again? Major General Han Haiping closed the door with his hand, and after taking a few steps forward, he took out a pack of big golden dragons from his pocket and shook out the cigarette.

Lieutenant General Wu Shixun glanced at him, smoked a cigarette and put it in his mouth, then lit it with a match that came out, and spat out a long puff of smoke and said; "The battlefield situation is grim, and the pressure on my shoulders is also very high.

"There are more than 10,000 officers at all levels, thousands of sergeants, and many soldiers who know foreign languages in the Second Army. As long as the kids play well on the battlefield, it's all a minor problem. Major General Han Haiping comforted.

Lieutenant General Wu Shixun sighed, took a sullen puff of his cigarette, and said; "A few days ago, the Grand Marshal held a military meeting in London, and this battle plan was to use all 335,000 men of our First, Second and Fourth Armies in the direction of the Somme.

With the Imperial Expeditionary Force as the main force, trying to make a big gap in the Somme River and comprehensively break through the German defense line, this is an out-and-out tough battle.

In July, the Germans threw in a new wave of reserves, and for ease of command, divided the 2nd Army into the 1st Army under the command of General Fritz von Billow and the 2nd Army under the command of General Galwitz.

In addition, the defense was lengthened and deepened, and a supplementary defense area was constructed, and the defense force was strengthened to 40 elite German divisions, with a total of more than 790,000 people.

From the end of July to mid-September, the British and French forces basically lingered in place, and although the number of troops increased to 51 divisions and the number of aircraft increased to 1,100, they were still unable to effectively open up the situation.

The sluggishness and stalemate of the war has turned into a war of attrition.

From September 22, the 10th Army of General Michelet of France and the 5th Army of General Gaff of Britain were put into battle, and the frontal range of the battlefield was expanded to a front of 50 kilometers wide, and due to the stubborn resistance of the German army, the advance was only between 100~150 meters per day and night.

As of now

The casualties revealed by the British and French forces have exceeded 800,000, which in my opinion is far more than that, and the casualties of the Germans are also 500,000 or 600,000.

To open up the situation in such a harsh battlefield, the difficulty is not ordinary. ”

Major General Han Haiping nodded very approvingly, sat on the stool next to him, and said in a solemn tone;

"The Battle of the Somme has been going on for five and a half months now, and both sides are exhausted and suffer extremely heavy casualties.

As a new force, the Imperial Expeditionary Force should play a game-breaking role in entering the battlefield at this critical time.

The Entente Group has high hopes for this, and the pressure is indeed great!

The war on the Western Front was extremely cruel, and the slightest carelessness would lead to a big mistake, and the troops we have now assembled in Britain are only about 300,000 people, which should be stabbed into it like a sharp knife, and once entangled, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Throne, what is the marshal's idea for this battle? ”

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