Le Havre In the city, a fierce battle begins. Hundreds of thousands of German military invaded the city and began a fierce battle with British Expeditionary Force.
However, the morale of the two warring parties was vastly different. On one side, German military's morale was like a rainbow, while on the other side, the British army's will to fight collapsed and was about to collapse.
This makes German military extremely powerful in the attack. The resistance of the British army was very fragile, and it could not even stop German offensive.
"Da da da!"
On a position of the British army, a Heavy Machine Gun was firing. This type of rapid-fire weapon was originally supposed to be an enemy-killing weapon in urban defense operations. However, the British soldiers, whose fighting will has almost dropped to freezing point, cannot display their combat effectiveness even with these weapons!
"Mortar, aim at the machine gun position of the Britain people and kill them!" a second lieutenant platoon leader of German military ordered.
"Boom!"
A 60mm Mortar shell accurately hit the machine gun position. The bunker was blown up and the machine gunner inside was killed. However, the machine gun failed to destroy it.
Originally, German military thought it was necessary to continue the bombardment. But what is surprising is that the British soldiers stationed there fled directly after the machine gun firepower point was destroyed. This allowed German military to capture this British position with almost no effort.
Scenes like this can be seen almost everywhere on the battlefield. Facing German offensive, most of the British soldiers did not have the courage to continue fighting. In a situation of collapse, British Expeditionary Force's position continued to be lost. Their activity space in Le Havre City has also been suppressed a lot. According to this situation, they won't be able to hold on much longer.
By the evening of May 11, when German military stopped attacking, almost half of the entire Le Havre city had fallen into German military's hands. General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff were very satisfied with today's attack. The two are even optimistic that perhaps by tomorrow night, the entire Le Havre will be completely in the hands of German military. British Expeditionary Force stationed here will all be eliminated.
The battle situation became even more unfavorable to British Expeditionary Force. It was almost certain that they would lose the war. But what do they do next? This has become a headache for the leadership of British Expeditionary Force.
"Your Excellency Sir, we have lost half of Le Havre in this afternoon's battle. The loss of the troops is not very big. The most critical problem is that those soldiers no longer have the courage to fight Germany The soldiers continued to fight. Often after Germany people fired a few shells, the soldiers lost their position and fled in panic. This made it impossible for us to continue to hold on in the city. "General Haig looked frustrated. There is no doubt that he no longer has any confidence in the current situation.
"How long can we last at Le Havre?" Sir French asked.
"Sir, it's hard to say. Maybe we can hold on until tomorrow night!" General Gough said.
Sir French couldn't help but smile bitterly, "We have at least 200,000 people in Le Havre. Can we only last for one day? Is Expeditionary Force's combat effectiveness so weak?"
"Your Excellency Sir, although there are still many troops, we no longer have the courage to continue fighting. Under such circumstances, no matter how many troops there are, what is the use?" General Haig said.
Sir French nodded helplessly, and he also knew that there was no way he could save himself now.
"Everyone, now that the matter is over, what do you think we should do next?" Sir French asked.
"Sir, Sir, we have no other choice in this battle. If we continue to fight, it will only increase casualties. Therefore, I suggest that the soldiers surrender to the Germany people. They have already fulfilled their obligations in this war. There is no need to force them to continue fighting. In that case, it is no different from letting them die." General Haig suggested.
"Surrender? If you surrender, you can save the lives of those boys. In this case, you can save them. But what should we do? I don't want to walk into the prisoner of war camp of Germany people." Sir French said.
As Commander of British Expeditionary Force, Sir French is undoubtedly a top giant who belongs to the British Army. If he is captured by German military, it will cause a major blow to his personal reputation. Even, it will have serious adverse effects on the British Empire. Sir French doesn't want his glory to be tarnished. When necessary, he would rather commit suicide than be captured by the Germany people.
"German fleet is swimming offshore from Le Havre. Even if we want to evacuate Le Havre, we probably won't be able to," General Gough said. He understands what Sir French means. If you can retreat to British mainland, even if you are a defeated general, it is obviously better than being captured.
General Haig frowned, thought for a while and then said, "Sir, if you want to leave Le Havre, it is not impossible. We may be able to turn to the navy for help. Their submarines can arrive at Le Havre secretly. We can take the submarine back to the mainland. However, in this way, there will not be many people evacuated."
Sir French thought for a while, and then said, "That would be better than everyone being captured by the Germany people."
"Okay, Sir, I understand." General Haig already understood what Sir French meant.
British Expeditionary Force Headquarters and British Navy secretly contacted each other, and it happened that a submarine was operating not far from Le Havre. Their mission was originally to monitor German fleet. It just comes in handy now.
The British Army department also learned about Expeditionary Force's predicament, and expressed its understanding of the decision of Sir French and others. So, that night, the Britain submarine secretly arrived at Le Havre and picked up a few people including Sir French, General Haig and General Gough.
The next day, after dawn, the British Expeditionary Force officers and soldiers discovered that several important Commander had escaped. This feeling of being abandoned was even more unbearable for the officers and soldiers of Expeditionary Force.
Therefore, when German military launched the attack, a large number of Expeditionary Force officers and soldiers surrendered directly to German military. Many troops and even organizations surrendered.