The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 484: Chapter 383: Australasia Expeditionary Army

Up to now, the strategic goals of both Germany and France have become very obvious.

The German and French armies both advocate aggression, and under the influence of this military thinking, both countries adopt large-scale offensive tactics.

It's just that the two countries have opposite directions: Germany moves west through Belgium, bypassing Paris, while France moves east through Lorraine, heading straight for the Rhine River.

In order to achieve their respective strategic objectives, France and Germany, the old enemies, have launched four battles in Alsace and Lorraine Region from August 20th, over a period of four days. These battles are known as the Loning Battle, the Aden Battle, the Charleroi Battle, and the Mons Battle.

These four battles are collectively referred to as the border battles. Both parties have invested hundreds of thousands of combat troops, and in just four days, there have been a total of 100,000 casualties.

Although the number of deaths among them is only more than 10,000, the total number of seriously wounded and disabled is more than 40,000 for both France and Germany.

This is because both sides used a large number of cannons and heavy machine guns in these border battles.

The casualties caused by such heavy weapons were immense, especially the heavy machine guns, which caused at least severe injuries when they were fired upon.

This also means that the railway lines of both France and Germany have to undertake the task of transporting a large number of wounded back to their respective countries while transporting troops to the borders.

The good news is that the railway construction in Western Europe and Germany is quite advanced, so the transportation environment of both France and Germany can keep up with urgent transportation requirements.

As millions of troops gather on the German-French border and begin their frenzied fighting, the disadvantage of French military uniforms becomes apparent.

The blue coat and red trousers of the French military uniforms may look very distinctive in peacetime, but on the battlefield of the German-French border, these brightly colored French uniforms are undoubtedly a death knell for French soldiers.

The blue and red French uniforms are almost impossible to camouflage in the border areas, making the French troops very conspicuous in the eyes of German soldiers.

Conservatively speaking, the uniquely colored French uniforms have increased the death rate of French troops by at least 30%, and the injury rate by 40%.

In theory, the well-equipped French and German troops should not have such a dramatic difference in combat power, and at least the casualty ratio should not reach 2 to 1.

However, the reality is that under the eye-catching French uniform, the casualty ratio between French and German soldiers is basically around 2 to 1, and in severe cases even reaching 3 to 1.

Of course, aside from the eye-catching French uniforms, the main reason is that the current war is dominated by French offensives and German defenses.

There is also a small episode in the German-French border area.

In a dense forest on the German-French border, a group of French soldiers is patrolling the woods.

This area has not been invaded by German troops just yet, so the French soldiers' patrol is quite casual, and in most cases, it's just going through the motions.

It's because, in the western part of this area, the French troops have already advanced more than 20 kilometers.

These French troops, who consider themselves to be in the rear, don't think they will encounter German troops.

Their patrol in the front was normal, but as this French patrol advanced deeper into the dense forest, they suddenly heard the sound of German tunes coming from afar.

Logically, upon hearing a different language tune, especially in a war zone, French soldiers should at least be on alert and ready to fire on the enemy at any time.

However, this group of French soldiers actually asked the other party's password first, which alerted the German soldiers, who had not discovered the French troops yet.

The German soldiers were not so reckless. After hearing the other party speak fluent French, they didn't hesitate to use their machine guns to spray bullets.

Only then did this group of French soldiers realize that they were dealing with their enemies and quickly launched a counterattack.

However, the German and French troops confronting each other faced different situations. The German troops were wearing gray uniforms, and it was not easy to discover them hidden in the dense forest.

But the French troops were different, their uniforms were too conspicuous, and even the cover of the dense forest couldn't conceal the personality of the French military uniforms.

This also led to the fact that the hidden French troops were easily discovered by the German army and lost their initiative.

As they were caught off guard, both sides used heavy machine guns and rifles to fire indiscriminately, and even threw hand grenades and other weapons like mad.

Those who were too close, and had no way of hiding, rushed forward and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with gunstocks and bayonets.

However, the French troops, whether in shooting or hand-to-hand combat skills, were generally inferior to the German troops.

Moreover, French troops lacked training in mountainous areas, so this patrol squad was quickly wiped out by the Germans in the forested hills.

Although the subsequent French reinforcements arrived quickly, they also suffered heavy losses under the bombardment of German artillery, and had to withdraw from this mountainous area.

Although the German intention to ambush was exposed, seizing this opportunity, the German troops also entered the French border.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the French army, the German army launched fierce attacks on border cities such as Nafshato, Welton, Montmedy, and Longview, trying to open a huge gap in the French border.

The French troops, who had realized the situation, put up a tenacious resistance. Their charges were very neat, but of course, they also fell neatly under the gunshots.

A large number of French soldiers charged at the German army, turning into one corpse after another accumulating on the battlefield.

Soon, heaps of corpses piled up near these towns, providing good cover for the attackers, while more bodies continued to accumulate.

The tenacious French soon realized that their bravery alone could not withstand the power of the Germans' artillery. Though the French Army was generally superior in numbers, they quickly failed when faced with the individual combat capabilities and superior equipment of the soldiers.

Having lost many corpses and weapon ammunition, the French army hastily withdrew, leaving chaos in the border regions.

At this stage in the war, General Langrezac had already realized that deploying the main force in the central region was not the right choice.

Langrezac tried to advise Commander Cynthia to gather the French main force from the central region to the border between the northern and Belgian regions, in order to guard against the imminent threat of a German invasion from the south, threatening the Paris area.

However, Cynthia could not agree with Langrezac's opinion at this time. Unable to sway Cynthia's decision, Langrezac made his own choice, and withdrew his elite forces, preparing to head north to meet the enemy at a moment's notice.

Fortunately, Cynthia's order changed in a timely manner.

On the second day following General Langrezac's withdrawal, Cynthia issued an order for Langrezac's Fifth Army Group to move swiftly to the northern border between France and Belgium.

The Fifth Army Group had more than 400,000 soldiers, who under Langrezac's guidance, marched 120 kilometers within three days to reach the border between France and Belgium.

At this time, the German Second Army Group, led by General Pillov was near Charleroi and the River Sambre, closing in on the French border with a force of three armies, which eventually engaged in a fierce battle with Langrezac's Fifth Army Group.

It is worth noting that the French Fifth Army Group was equipped with the M1897 75mm cannon, also known as the "French lady."

On the other hand, the German Army was equipped with the GA1902 75mm field gun, which was jointly developed by Germany and Australasia as an improvement on the "French lady." It had increased firing speed and could reach 20 rounds per minute.

This led to highly exaggerated artillery barrages between the two sides, with the fighting continuing day and night without any pause.

Thanks to the fearless spirit of the French Army, General Langrezac managed to push back the German forces over ten kilometers at the beginning of the battle.

The artillery exchanges between the two sides collapsed buildings, burst pipelines, and destroyed fortifications around Charleroi and the border region.

Due to the fast firing speeds of both artillery entities, the rate of shell consumption for each side was also highly exaggerated.

Under the heavy bombardment of both armies, the German and French forces each consumed at least 200,000 shells per day, putting tremendous pressure on both sides' logistics.

As the German assault intensified, and with the arrival of their reinforcements, Belgium was mostly occupied, and the French border regions were struggling to hold on.

As early as at the beginning of the war, the French had requested assistance from both Britain and Australasia.

Soon, the Expeditionary Force of Britain arrived near Monts, and alongside the French Fifth Army Group, jointly defended against the German forces in the north.

On the side of Australasia, Arthur firmly pledged to fulfill his promise and send at least 150,000 combat troops to Europe within three months.

In order to support their severely wounded ally France, Arthur decided to dispatch an expeditionary force to France as soon as possible.

As a matter of fact, soon after occupying Germany's Pacific colony, the Australasian army found themselves with little to do.

Due to its remote location in Oceania, Australasia had very little involvement in the conflict. Most of their enemies were weak countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands.

This World War I was the perfect opportunity for Australasia to test its military strength.

Not only would this exercise the combat abilities of the soldiers, but it would also train higher-level commanders, facilitating simultaneous progress for officers and soldiers alike.

A military force that has not experienced multiple wars cannot truly be called elite.

Only by having both soldiers and commanders go through multiple wars and making progress together can the fearlessness and combat capability of the military be enhanced.

Besides the 300,000-strong colonial force, the main force dispatched to Europe first was the relatively elite Division Four, as chosen by Arthur.

Division Four was the latest addition to the conventional forces, which had now been trained for several years. It was time for this army to see some real action and prove its capabilities.

As for the more elite divisions 123 and the Guard Division, their wartime missions in Europe were scheduled for later on.

After all, Australasia needed to maintain domestic defense, and with the colonial issue at hand, keeping an adequate number of fighting forces within the country was necessary.

Especially since, after sending all 300,000 colonial troops to Europe, the Australasian army would only have about ten thousand soldiers remaining.

These forces had a heavy task ahead, one that required them to guard the entire Australasian realm, including the colonies.