On the evening of May 7, German artillerymen stopped shelling Le Havre. After a whole day of heavy bombardment, the entire Le Havre has been bombed into a mess. Under the bombardment of more than two thousand cannons from German military, almost no intact building could be found in the entire city. This important city at the mouth of the Seine River has been turned into ruins.
British Expeditionary Force, stationed at Le Havre, paid a heavy price for this. More than 10,000 people were killed directly in the shelling of German military. Not to mention there were many injured people. In the port of Le Havre, there are wounded soldiers everywhere waiting to return home due to injuries. It can be seen that German military's fierce shelling caused many casualties to British Expeditionary Force.
Fortunately, German military's bombardment is finally over. This made the officers and soldiers of British Expeditionary Force who survived the fierce bombardment couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As for what will happen tomorrow, they don't know. They just want to have a good sleep and rest without worrying about being killed by the bombardment of Germany people.
German artillerymens are also very tired. They fired at least 300,000 shells during today's bombardment. Although high-intensity firing was not always maintained, at the end of the bombardment, many artillerymen were so tired that they could not even lift their hands.
"General, Le Havre has been almost destroyed by us. Although it is not yet certain how many casualties it has caused to the Britain people, it is certain that the casualties must not be small. More importantly, it has caused a devastating blow to the morale of their troops. When we launch an attack tomorrow, the difficulty will be relatively much easier." Lieutenant General Ludendorff is undoubtedly very satisfied with the performance of the artillery today.
"Well! If nothing else happens, the Britain people's will to resist has been almost eliminated under our fierce bombardment." General Kluck nodded.
British Expeditionary Force, who was surrounded, had already low morale. After encountering such a heavy bombardment again, it is natural to imagine how low morale will be.
However, Generals General Kluck and Ludendorff will soon know that they are a little too optimistic. Of course, German military's fierce shelling caused a lot of casualties to British Expeditionary Force. However, British Expeditionary Force did not collapse because of this. Because, on the evening of May 7, British Navy's reinforcements officially arrived at Le Havre.
British Expeditionary Force Commander Sir French and Expeditionary Force No. 1 Army Group Commander General Haig, and Expeditionary Force No. 5 Army Group Commander General Gough, on the dock of Le Havre, greet British Navy Portsmouth Naval Base Commander Vice Admiral Cavisson.
Although, it was completely dark. It was impossible to see those huge battleships clearly. But those warships can be vaguely seen like giant beasts lurking under the night sky. This feeling is very shocking.
"Your Excellency Commander, Royal Navy is really generous this time! He actually sent so many warships. If Germany people want to bombard Le Havre again, it will definitely be a dead end." General Haig was very excited.
There are twenty-one Pre-dreadnought, thirteen Armored Cruiser, and other small and medium-sized warships, which undoubtedly provide British Expeditionary Force with a quite powerful artillery force. Each Pre-dreadnought is equipped with two twin-mounted 305mm Main Guns, as well as other secondary guns of varying calibers. Those Armored Cruiser are equipped with main guns of over 9 inches. There is no doubt how powerful these main guns will be when they launch artillery attacks on ground targets.
Sir French nodded. "This time, we must let the Germany people know how powerful we are. Although British Empire is at a disadvantage in this war, we are far from being able to let them bully us!"
Although, these warships have not yet begun to show off their power. But this does not prevent them from imagining how powerful these battleships will be in tomorrow's battle.
"Your Excellency, General General Haig, General General Gough, hello!" Vice Admiral Cavisson took a transport boat and arrived at the dock.
"General Cavisson, welcome to Le Havre. However, it is a pity that this place has become a ruin. Otherwise, this is really a beautiful place." Sir French said with a smile.
"All this was done by the damn Germany people. Tomorrow, my sailors will use cannonballs to make those Germany people pay the price for what they did!" Vice Admiral Cavisson said decisively.
"Yes, they are all damn Germany people. Without them, the world would be peaceful." General Haig said.
Then, they began to discuss how to divide the work in tomorrow's battle.
General Haig proposed that in order to ensure the suddenness of Naval Gun's attack on the fleet, the fleet was temporarily evacuated. After German military launched the attack, they appeared in the offshore waters of Le Havre, and then launched a fierce bombardment, taking this opportunity to cause heavy losses to German military.
Vice Admiral Cavisson, very satisfied with this plan. They also don't want to be exposed from the start. In that case, German military will definitely retreat. Their powerful Naval Gun firepower is useless. After all, no matter how powerful the battleship is, it can't possibly reach the shore, right?
After reaching a consensus, Vice Admiral Cavisson led the fleet and temporarily evacuated Le Havre, hiding in an area dozens of kilometers away from the coastline. Once German military officially attacks Le Havre, they will be able to arrive in two hours. General Haig and Vice Admiral Cavisson both believed that no matter how powerful German military was, it would be impossible to defeat British Expeditionary Force stationed at Le Havre within two hours. At that time, the Royal Navy that suddenly appears can use the powerful Naval Gun to severely ravage the German military who participated in the attack.
It is conceivable how powerful the main and secondary guns of British Navy, twenty-one Pre-dreadnought and 13 Armored Cruiser will be. The attacking German military will inevitably suffer heavy losses under the powerful firepower of British Navy.
"I hope that we can severely injure the Germany people tomorrow. It is best to let them all die under the Naval Gun of the navy. In that case, we will win!" General Haig murmured as he watched the fleet leave.
"God will bless British Empire. Just like God has been on our side for hundreds of years!" Sir French said.
The confidence that other British Expeditionary Force generals and officers had lost was regained once again by the arrival of Royal Navy's fleet.