Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 520 The Tragic Xiafei

As time passed, the tanks used by Spain in the Battle of the Somme quickly attracted the attention of the Allied powers and countries around the world.

Unlike other European countries that merely watched the spectacle, Britain and Germany were highly attentive and quite eager to address this issue.

Judging from the current performance of tanks on the battlefield, the tanks used by Spain can definitely be called major weapons of war.

Advancing more than ten kilometers a day can't really be called fast, but compared to the advance speed on the front lines of the Somme campaign, this advance can only be described as rapid.

If the defensive lines continue to advance at this pace, the lines of defense deployed by Britain and Germany on the Somme front could be completely dismantled in less than a week.

This was unacceptable to Britain and Germany, and for this reason, the Allies had to do everything they could to deal with the Spanish tanks, or to acquire weapons of equal quality to counter them.

In response to Spain's sudden deployment of tanks, Britain and Germany held emergency discussions and ultimately decided to adopt two solutions.

The first step was to deploy a large number of artillery pieces within Britain and Germany, using denser artillery fire to destroy as many tanks and coordinating soldiers as possible.

Small-caliber artillery doesn't do much damage to tanks, but large-caliber artillery can still inflict some damage on them.

More importantly, the Allies didn't need to completely eliminate the Spanish tanks. They only needed to kill as many soldiers as possible behind the tanks to significantly reduce the threat posed by them.

After all, no matter how powerful tanks are, they can't take over a position on their own. The role of tanks is merely to open a breach; the real attack and capture of the position is carried out by the infantry units following behind the tanks.

As long as it can be ensured that Spanish infantry do not rush into the position, even if tanks tear open a gap, the British and German armies can completely fill the gap in time to ensure that the position is not lost.

What gave Britain and Germany such confidence, besides their strong military industrial capabilities, was the performance of Spanish tanks during the war.

Undeniably, tanks played a crucial role. However, Spain also lost over thirty tanks that day. Britain and Germany didn't believe Spain had many tanks left; at this rate, Spain's tanks would likely only last a few more days.

In addition to planning to use a large amount of artillery to eliminate the threat posed by Spanish tanks, Britain and Germany also decided to develop their own tanks based on the existing data on Spanish tanks.

Developing a tank of the same level as Spain's in a short period of time would be extremely difficult. However, developing a simplified product based on the same principles would significantly reduce the difficulty.

The principle of a tank is very simple: it's just a matter of mounting a cannon on a chassis and then covering the entire surface with a layer of armor.

Just like warships, speed, firepower, and armor protection are also the three essential elements of a tank.

For Britain and Germany, building a simple tank was very easy, and the research and development steps could even be omitted entirely.

By simply mounting a cannon on a car or tractor and then covering it with armor, a simple tank is essentially created.

The former can be used as a reconnaissance tank, while the latter can be used as a main battle tank; their roles on the battlefield are actually quite similar.

Of course, such a simple tank was still significantly less effective in combat than a standard tank manufactured in Spain.

When facing infantry, both regular tanks and simple tanks are extremely lethal.

However, in a tank-on-tank battle, a standard tank can generally destroy a modified tank in an instant. After all, apart from being able to maintain a similar level in terms of firepower, a modified tank is no match for a standard tank in terms of armor thickness or speed.

Why don't France and Italy build their own simple tanks? One reason is the increased manufacturing costs due to rising prices. Another reason is the significant limitations of simple tanks; reaching the level currently achieved by Spain would require a long period of exploration and research.

For France and Italy right now, what they lack most is time.

Although Britain and Germany were also short of time, they were Spain's enemies, and Spain clearly wouldn't sell them tanks.

The only way for Britain and Germany to possess tanks was to develop them themselves.

For several days after deploying their tanks, the Spanish tanks achieved excellent results. Although a dozen or twenty tanks were destroyed every day, Spain clearly did not care about these losses compared to the results they had achieved.

After several days of fighting, the British and German troops finally realized something was wrong.

Spain seems to have an inexhaustible supply of tanks. They destroy a dozen or twenty tanks today, and tomorrow they will deploy the same number of tanks, or even more.

Despite the fact that the Allies destroyed hundreds of tanks in the past week, there were still hundreds of tanks on the front lines used for offensive operations, a situation that made Britain and Germany somewhat nervous.

If Spain had a sufficient number of tanks, even if they were simply piled up, they could still overwhelm Britain and Germany.

During this week, Spanish tank units swept across the Somme front, helping French, Italian, and Spanish troops advance a total of 50 kilometers of the front line.

Of course, the actual situation cannot be calculated this way. Due to the Allied forces' three-front advance, the actual advance of the entire battlefield was less than 20 kilometers.

However, such data is still quite exaggerated. The Allies were initially able to hold the Somme line, but by the end they were forced to abandon it, and were essentially fighting and retreating.

Under the attack of Spanish tanks, British and German troops suffered heavy artillery fire from the Allied powers during their retreat, ultimately incurring huge casualties.

The Allied forces advanced 50 kilometers to the front line, suffering only about 20 casualties, while the Central Powers, fighting a defensive battle, already suffered close to 20 casualties.

Just when Britain and Germany thought the Somme defenses were about to collapse, good news finally came from the front.

Spain's seemingly inexhaustible tanks finally ran out. A week after Spain began deploying tanks in combat, the number of tanks deployed to the battlefield each day gradually decreased, and eventually only a few dozen tanks were launching attacks.

Although the number of tanks deployed to the battlefield was only reduced by half, the impact on the battlefield was still significant. Hundreds of thousands of British and German troops could clearly handle a few dozen tanks with ease.

Especially after the Allies mobilized a large number of artillery pieces, any tanks deployed by Spain would be subjected to a frenzied artillery bombardment by the Allies.

The Allied forces didn't care whether they could hit the soldiers behind the tanks; they just bombarded them relentlessly, as if in a fit of pique, pouring their shells onto the Entente.

Although this increased military spending in Britain and Germany, the results were quite significant. Spain's tank forces were clearly unable to hold their own and could no longer achieve the same level of advance as before.

Carlo was closely monitoring the battle reports from the front lines. When he learned that the role of tanks was becoming increasingly less important, Carlo decided to stop sending tanks to the Somme front.

Although Spain still has hundreds of tanks, such a waste of tanks is not good news.

In the first week, tanks were very effective because Britain and Germany had no countermeasures.

However, with Britain and Germany now prepared for the arrival of Spanish tanks, even deploying hundreds more would not be as effective as the tanks had been previously.

It would be better to keep the tanks in hand and deploy them on more important battlefields in the future.

As for the Battle of the Somme, the most important battle on the Western Front, the advance could only be made little by little through the bloodshed and sacrifice of the Allied forces.

The good news is that in the ten days or so that Spain deployed its tank forces, the Allied Powers had already occupied large swathes of land along the Somme River, and their troops no longer had to risk Allied fire to cross the river and launch an attack.

This also means that subsequent Allied offensives will not result in as many casualties, and the entire Somme front will once again become a tug-of-war between the Allies and the Central Powers, mainly a war of attrition between the two sides.

The current level of attrition is entirely acceptable to Carlo. Previously, the situation on the battlefield was that Britain and Germany held the terrain advantage of the Somme River, forcing the Allied forces to cross the river and launch an attack.

During the crossing, the Allied forces offered almost no resistance, which was one of the reasons for the heavy casualties.

While the Allied Powers, currently on the offensive, are suffering heavy casualties, the Central Powers are certainly not faring much better.

With the French and Italian armies already engaged, Carlo certainly wouldn't be afraid of such attrition. More importantly, the Battle of the Somme would not only wear down the French army, but also the British and German armies.

Only when the British army suffered heavy casualties could Carlo's gift to Britain be presented.

As for now, Spain still has a large colonial army, which can be deployed to the western front to increase Spain's casualty figures and indirectly increase Spain's contribution to the war.

For French Chief of the General Staff Joffre, the Somme front had returned to its previous state after the Spanish tanks were almost completely depleted.

Although the Spanish tanks played a significant role, the results ultimately only made the outcome of the Battle of the Somme look a little better.

Considering the heavy casualties suffered by France in the Battle of the Somme, the success or failure of Joffre's planned campaign was already quite obvious.

The fighting that followed for more than a month almost proved Joffre's point. The Central Powers and the Allied Powers engaged in fierce fighting on the Western Front, with total casualties on both sides approaching 50 in a single month.

The Allied casualties reached as high as 30, of which more than half were French, bringing the total casualties to nearly 16.

What did France gain after suffering 16 casualties? The front line advanced less than 10 kilometers, averaging 300 meters per day, a complete disaster compared to before.

Finally, the French government could no longer tolerate Joffre's performance in the Battle of the Somme.

This counter-offensive, touted as a chance to reclaim all of France's territory, ultimately resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties for the country. Today, forget about reclaiming all of its territory; many French troops have yet to even cross the Somme River.

Large swathes of French territory remained occupied by Germany, rendering Joffre's slogans before the Battle of the Somme a joke and ultimately providing the French government with a pretext to attack him.

On October 29, 1914, the French officially conferred the rank of Field Marshal Joffre upon his Chief of the General Staff.

Don't mistake this for a commendation or promotion for Joffre. Because Joffre, who originally held military power as Chief of the General Staff, actually lost his position after the promotion and was reassigned as the French government's chief military advisor.

Putting aside the fact that this position was created temporarily for Joffre, even if it wasn't hastily established, the Chief Military Advisor would absolutely have no power or say whatsoever.

In terms of military operations, there is the General Staff; in terms of military command, there is the Army Commander-in-Chief and the commanders of each army group. How much of a role can the Chief Advisor play?
Considering that Joffre had previously served as Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, the new French Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, if they did not want to be sidelined by Joffre, would have to replace all the army group commanders and high-ranking military officials appointed by Joffre with people loyal to them.

This also means that after Joffre lost his positions as Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, he effectively lost all his supporters in the military.

It is worth mentioning that the attack on Joffre was actually premeditated.

Joffre seized control of the French military, but the French government disliked this high-ranking military official. This was because, in addition to formulating the French army's offensive plans, Joffre also liked to interfere in the French government's political affairs.

This is what the French government cannot tolerate, and it is far more unacceptable than Joffre's defeat at the Battle of the Somme.

General Neville, who had distinguished himself in the Battle of Verdun, succeeded Joffre.

While his performance was described as outstanding, it was essentially a case of choosing the best among the worst. The reason the French government chose General Neville as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Chief of the General Staff was actually because his relatively short tenure made him seem easy to manage.

Because of the cautionary tale of Joffre, the French government has always hoped to select a general who would not interfere in politics when choosing a new Chief of the General Staff.

In peacetime, the French government would certainly not have so many concerns.

A general who excessively interferes in politics during peacetime will either launch a coup to seize power or be manipulated by the government through various means.

However, during wartime, the French government has no means to control a military leader who holds power.

According to regulations, during wartime, all French troops are subject to the command of the General Staff and the Chief of the General Staff.

During his tenure as Chief of the General Staff, Joffre stipulated that all units must strictly adhere to the offensive plans he formulated; otherwise, he could easily replace the Commander-in-Chief.

Under such circumstances, Joffre was able to maintain a high degree of control over the military, which is why the French government was powerless to stop him from excessively interfering in politics.

Only by finding an excuse for poor performance in combat, coupled with a good opportunity, can the candidate for replacing the Chief of the General Staff be replaced as desired.

Spain was hesitant to comment further on France's sudden change of its Chief of the General Staff.

In Carlo's view, the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff of France, Nivel, was not as capable as Joffre.

While Joffre had his flaws, his overall abilities were still commendable. As for Neville, his characteristics were similar to those of the current German Chief of the General Staff, Falkenhahn; both were rapidly promoted during the World War, which led them to the upper echelons of the army.

Before the outbreak of World War II, the current French Chief of the General Staff, Nivel, was just a colonel in the French artillery.

Although a colonel cannot be considered a low-ranking officer, he is definitely not at the level of a high-ranking officer; he can only be considered a mid-ranking officer.

It is not good news for France, which desperately needs a victory, that such a person has become the absolute ruler of the French army in less than three years.

This only illustrates that the world is essentially a giant makeshift organization. Just as there are power struggles within Germany, there are certainly power struggles within France as well.

Not to mention the even more intense internal contradictions in Russia, with the hatred between the government and the revolutionaries enough to make the revolutionaries completely indifferent to the ongoing world war.

Such contradictions also existed within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire faced a crisis, Austria and Hungary might not necessarily stand together.

In fact, even within Britain, there were multiple factions, including those advocating war and peace, as well as those supporting the Central Powers and the Allied Powers.

Compared to these countries, Spain is currently relatively peaceful. This is partly because Spain's current political system was almost entirely established after the revolution, and the revolution and subsequent reforms thoroughly purged conservatives, which has led to a more stable political situation in Spain.

Compared to the calm within the Allied Powers regarding France's replacement of its Chief of the General Staff, the reaction from the Central Powers upon learning of this news was quite intense.

Germany and France have been at war for several years, and Germany has conducted a relatively thorough investigation into several high-ranking French military officials.

The German government certainly investigated the current French Chief of the General Staff, Nivel. There was also a lack of confidence in the new French Chief of the General Staff within Germany; Hindenburg and Ludendorff believed this could be a good opportunity for Germany to launch a counter-offensive.

With the Spanish tanks gone, and France replacing its chief of the general staff with an even less capable one, this was a godsend.

After consulting with German Chief of the General Staff Falkenhahn and Kaiser Wilhelm II, Ludendorff, an important German officer on the Eastern Front and Hindenburg's right-hand man, personally went to the Somme front to serve as Chief of the General Staff of the right-wing German army on the Western Front.

Ludendorff certainly had his own talent in military affairs. After arriving at the Western Front, he quickly discovered the shortcomings of the German army in combat.

After communicating with many soldiers at the front and based on the situation on the Western Front, Ludendorff quickly completed his masterpiece, a brand-new war theory, "The Way of War in Defensive Warfare".

Following Ludendorff's approach in his article "The Way of War in Defensive Warfare," the German troops on the Somme front no longer pursued large-scale infantry deployments to the front, but instead relied heavily on machine gun positions.

The German army deployed numerous dispersed machine gun positions on the front lines, arranged in a loose outer perimeter and a dense inner perimeter. If the Allied forces opened a breach on the outermost front line, the breach would be left open for the Allies to send troops further in.

Because the further in you go, the more machine gun positions there are, these Allied troops who blindly rushed into the positions faced a large number of machine gun positions and even stronger defensive fortifications.

At that time, it will be as easy as catching a turtle in a jar, and we can easily deal with the enemy troops who have broken through the defense line.

To coordinate with the deployment at the front, most of the German troops were not deployed too far out at the front, but were kept in the rear ready at any time.

This not only prevented the Allied forces from suffering too many casualties from the initial artillery bombardment, but also allowed the army to fill the gaps in time when the Allied forces breached the defensive line, ensuring that the defensive line would not be truly breached.

In fact, according to Ludendorff's plan, if the German army had actually done so, it could have played a significant role in the Battle of the Somme.

Unfortunately, the German army was mostly on the defensive during the Battle of the Somme, so they could only use the first theoretical principle, and it was unlikely that they could use it in the subsequent counter-offensive.

In the original historical accounts, Ludendorff's theories were indeed of great help in the war effort. Germany failed to utilize these theories in the Battle of the Somme, but they were certainly applied in subsequent battles.

Moreover, it is no exaggeration to say that Ludendorff's military theories effectively slowed the pace of Germany's defeat and even contributed significantly to Germany's victories in the later stages of the war.

However, the world is destined to develop in a way that is not as it has in history. The Allied Powers have achieved far more in the Battle of the Somme than they have in history.

Ludendorff's arrival did not significantly help Germany. Although his ideas reduced German casualties to some extent, what difference could such a small reduction make in the Battle of the Somme, where casualties were already approaching one million?

Even though the Allied Powers might not care about casualties, France wanted to recover lost territory and boost morale and public support through continuous victories.

From this perspective, the Allied Powers have essentially achieved their objectives. The French government actually thinks so too, and as for the somewhat aggrieved Chief of the General Staff, Joffre, it seems no one cares about his opinion anymore.

Carlo was actually pleased with the huge casualties suffered by the Allied and Central Powers on the Somme front.

Despite the fact that the Battle of the Somme resulted in over a million casualties, the majority of those casualties came from Germany and France.

As for Spain, the current casualties are less than 15, some of whom were colonial troops, which is certainly acceptable for Spain.

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(End of this chapter)