It is fair to say that before Roque served as the British Expeditionary Force, only the German General Staff of the participating countries could really play a staff role, the British and French staff were all put on a show, Austria-Hungary was not even bothered to put on a show, and Condra was full of words, and the General Staff had no power to participate in decision-making at all.

In order to cover up the fact that the Battle of the Somme had actually failed, the British War Department regarded the attack launched by Roque as commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force as part of the Battle of the Somme, so that at least on the surface, although the British suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Somme, they had opened up the situation in Belgium, invaded Belgian territory, and eliminated more than 100,000 German troops, which was still an unprecedented victory.

After Operation Victory Horn, although the German army lost more than 200,000 men in the propaganda of the Allies, in fact it was less than 100,000.

So far, the losses of the German army have been more than 300,000 people, which is basically the same as the losses of the British and French forces.

Of course, according to the consistent policy of the Anglo-French forces, the losses of the German army were doubled in propaganda, and the losses of the Anglo-French forces were halved in the propaganda.

Regardless of what the Entente media advertised, the capture of Ypres did not accomplish Roque's goal of the campaign, and the expeditionary force had to continue the offensive in order to capture all the ports along the Belgian coast.

"It is difficult for us to continue the offensive, Bruges has four divisions defended by the Germans, Ghent has six divisions, the recent weather has been capricious, the roads are muddy and the rivers are surging, which is very bad for our armored forces, the Germans have begun to look for ways to deal with the armored forces, our armored forces have suffered great losses, and now there are less than 200 tanks left for the continuation of the offensive." Paul Coker's brow furrowed, Henry Wilson was sent to Paris by Roque, and Paul Coker was actually tasked with the task of chief of staff.

The losses of armored forces are not all battle losses, although the tanks produced in southern Africa are more reliable than the "water tanks" developed by the British Admiralty, but they are not much different in essence, they are still weapons of the same era, the engine bursts when it should burst, it will still break down when it should break down, and the track will break when it should break.

The tanks produced in southern Africa performed well on the battlefield, mainly because Roque prepared more perfect logistics for the armored forces, and the tanks could be repaired in time after being damaged, and the non-combat losses had been reduced as much as possible, so there were still nearly 200 tanks that could fight, otherwise, I am afraid that half of them would still be able to operate now.

In terms of performance, the "light cavalry" is still a light tank after all, although the speed is fast, but the armor thickness and weapon system are not strong enough, rifles and heavy machine guns cannot penetrate the armor of the "light cavalry", grenades and mines can still create a certain threat to the tank, so far, the tanks damaged in the battle are basically caused by grenades and mines, and the German army lacks active weapons against tanks.

However, considering the strong industrial capacity of the German army, this advantage is estimated to not last long, it is not difficult to change the German light artillery into direct-fire guns, and the current "light cavalry", if it is directly hit by the 76 mm field guns equipped by the German army, the result will definitely be a shot into the soul, and Roque will get more results before the German army finds a real way to deal with the "light cavalry".

"To stop our armored forces, it is not enough to dig holes by hand, and to order the troops to continue the offensive as originally planned, we must capture all the ports in Belgium." Roque is not merciful, digging a hole to stop the armored troops, that is too underestimating the role of the exercise.

With regard to the confrontation between infantry and armored forces, there have been many exercises in southern Africa, and the infantry racked their brains in order to deal with the armored forces, and the commanders of the armored forces of course tried every means to break through the infantry's defensive lines.

This method of digging pits has been used many times in exercises in southern Africa, so the accompanying infantry in the battle with the armored units has some people carrying various explosive packs, and if necessary, the accompanying infantry can blow up the obstacles in front of the tank units at any time.

"With the cooperation of the Royal Navy, can we organize a landing behind the German lines and attack Bruges and Ghent from behind." Paul Cocker was experienced and had a fleet to work with, and it was not too easy to land behind the German lines when the German navy was too confined to a military port and did not dare to move.

"Then contact the Royal Navy, we also have the air force to cooperate, and if necessary, we can send airborne troops in the rear of the German army." Roque was informal, as long as he could defeat the German army.

On the premise of having bombers, it is logical to form a paratrooper unit, and the technical content of parachutes is much simpler than that of bombers, and Roque has long been prepared for this, and the 31st Division, which has just arrived in France, is an airborne unit, and all the officers and men of the division have received parachute training.

While Roque and Paul Cocker were trying to figure out a way, the fighting on the front line never stopped, the large-scale battles were also made up of countless skirmishes, there was no real truce on the Western Front at all, and battles happened almost every day.

Huang Hai's new partner is called Horace, a private of the second class who had just joined the army after the outbreak of the world war, and arrived in France only half a month ago.

Huang Hai, who had been promoted to the rank of sergeant, had been wounded in the hand in the previous battle, and although the injury appeared to be serious, it was not much of a problem, and after receiving a simple bandage, Huang Hai returned to the unit to continue fighting.

The 2nd Cavalry Division was in great need of such experienced veterans as Huang Hai.

"Sir, you want coffee and bananas—" Horace had great respect for the Yellow Sea, and on the night of the German night attack, Yellow Sea and his partner Fawkes performed very well, Fawkes was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor, and Huang Hai himself was awarded the Medal of Hero, the highest honor an expeditionary soldier can receive.

"Thanks, sit down and rest for a while, and when the battle begins, you won't find a chance to rest again." Huang Hai was good to Horace, but he was not very enthusiastic, after the Second Cavalry Division entered the battle, Horace was Huang Hai's fourth partner, and Huang Hai felt that he had no extra enthusiasm for Horace.

This sounds a bit cruel, but this is the truth, every time you change partners, it is a life-and-death parting, Huang Hai was very sad when the first partner died in battle, and Huang Hai only had some sadness when the second partner was discharged from the army due to injury, and by the time Fox died in battle, Huang Hai was already numb.

Witnessing their comrades leave one by one is also a cruel thing for the Yellow Sea, so many soldiers will not be mentally normal until the end of the war.

"Sir, I'm not tired, it's my pleasure to serve you." Horace smiled brightly, he was actually not yet 20 years old, he didn't even have a beard on his face, and his appearance was much stronger than the bearded Yellow Sea, which had not been built for at least half a month.

Huang Hai didn't speak, pulled the corners of his mouth even if he smiled, and quietly drank coffee and ate bananas, which made Horace very confused, the current Yellow Sea is really different from the legendary "killing god" who killed all sides.

"Huang, get ready, and we'll leave in half an hour." When the second lieutenant platoon commander passed by Huang Hai, he specially greeted Huang Hai, ordinary soldiers do not enjoy this treatment, although Huang Hai is not yet a sergeant major, but he is definitely a qualified candidate for sergeant major.

Huang Hai didn't answer, raised his hand and saluted a somewhat perfunctory military salute, still holding half a banana in his hand.

The Yellow Sea, who has experienced life and death, eats very carefully, chewing many times before swallowing each bite, even the soft and glutinous bananas.

"Sir, shall we fight the Germans later?" Horace's face was a little red with excitement, and he pulled it out of the scabbard and inserted it, and then pulled it out again—

"Possibly, but you don't have to expect him, you'll get tired of it soon—" Huang Hai was not excited, his eyes and voice full of indifference.

"Why?" Horace was puzzled that the recruits would always have endless questions, and after one or two battles, they would have fewer and fewer questions, and then they would become as silent as the Yellow Sea.

"Killing, or being killed, and stabbing a bayonet in the enemy's chest, or watching the enemy stab a bayonet in your chest, is actually a very boring thing." Huang Hai's whole person exuded the smell of no one entering, he drank the last sip of coffee, shook the cup and put it in his satchel, as easy as if he wanted to go home after work.

"I haven't killed anyone yet, but I've killed sheep at home, and once again two thieves came to the farm, and my father and my two brothers came out with guns, and the two thieves were scared like chaff, but we didn't embarrass them, they were two hungry children, and they had no choice but to steal something to eat, and my father gave them a few eggs." Horace is not talkative, it is a physiological euphoria caused by excessive adrenaline production in the body.

"There are still people in southern Africa who are hungry and become thieves?" The Yellow Sea left southern Africa for Port Elizabeth several years ago and does not know much about what is now southern Africa.

"The father of those two children lost his farm and shot himself, and we sent those two children to a welfare home, which will take care of them." Horace has a normal expression, irresponsible people are everywhere, and southern Africa is no exception.

"And the gun, why kill yourself-" Huang Hai shook his head speechlessly, there are also many people in the umbrella company who are forced to become mercenaries, Huang Hai doesn't understand the mentality of those who commit suicide.

It can only be said that people are not the same from person to person.

(I'm sorry yesterday, but I'll be back after the update today, and I'll be back after the injection at noon-)