The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1170 - 879: Miracles and Attacks
After the Germans discovered them, the British and French forces' retreat was significantly impacted.
The German government, having realized the situation, immediately ordered the armored troops to continue their advance, while also directing Göring's German Air Force to constantly harass the Port of Dunkirk, attacking ships belonging to the British and French docked at Dunkirk.
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On July 11th, after a brief reorganization, the German armored forces launched a massive assault on Lille.
The British and French forces engaged in fierce combat with the Germans near Lille, with casualties exceeding 50,000 on that day, and more than 200 airplanes shot down.
Due to the renewed German offensive, the number of soldiers retreating from Dunkirk plummeted again, with less than 13,000 managing to evacuate that day.
During the evacuation, more than 15 large transport ships and dozens of smaller civilian vessels were destroyed.
After two days of intense fighting, only about 100,000 troops remained from the British and French forces along the Dunkirk to Lille line.
Of the initial force of over 400,000, the number of successfully evacuated soldiers had reached an impressive 287,000.
The safety of these 100,000 was now in grave danger, and after deliberation, the UK Cabinet Government decided to make a final effort for these people.
On July 13th, 1936, the Royal British Navy launched its last evacuation operation.
This evacuation mobilized all available ships within British and French territory, with even some civilian vessels from the Netherlands joining the effort.
The goal of this evacuation was audacious, leaving 30,000 men to cover the retreat, while aiming to evacuate the remaining 70,000-plus individuals.
Evacuating more than 70,000 people at once posed a very difficult challenge for the British Empire.
But there was no other option; if they didn't give it their all now, once the Germans captured Lille, not a single one of the 100,000 troops could be saved.
That night, on the 13th day, which Westerners consider unlucky, under the protection of the British Navy and the all-out efforts of the combined British and French Air Forces, more than 50,000 soldiers were successfully pulled back.
It was also on this night that the German Army officially broke through Lille and completed its encirclement of Dunkirk.
Adding the 50,000 soldiers evacuated on the 13th, the total number of British and French forces saved during the great Dunkirk evacuation surpassed 330,000, which was of significant strategic value to Britain and France.
In just 14 days, under the watchful eyes of the Germans, the evacuation of over 330,000 soldiers was nothing short of a miracle in the history of human warfare.
But miraculous as it was, the consecutive fall of Lille and Dunkirk signified that the French were facing a severe crisis.
From the map, it could be seen that besides Sedan still holding strong, the French's so-called First Defense Line, the border with Belgium, had been completely breached by the Germans.
Following this, from Amiens to Lans, up to Paris's Third Defense Line, there would be no armed forces capable of resisting the German advance.
On July 14th, 1936, the day after the completion of the great Dunkirk evacuation, British Ambassador William and French Ambassador Cassel urgently requested an audience with Arthur and asked for immediate military support from Australasia for France.
This was a commitment that had already been promised, and naturally, Arthur did not backtrack.
So, on the following day, July 15th, the 200,000 strong Australasia Expeditionary Force, composed of the 3rd, 6th, and 8th Armies, marched mightily toward various ports.
At the same time, the Philippines and Kalimantan each dispatched 200,000 soldiers who were continuously assembling at the ports.
After dispatching the Expeditionary Army, Arthur convened a meeting of the Ministry of Defence to discuss the subsequent war plans for the Island Nation.
The first report came from Minister of Defence Thomas regarding the total military mobilization in Australasia.
"Your Majesty, as of now, we have mobilized over 420,000 soldiers. These 420,000 have been initially organized into the newly formed First Army Group, comprising the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th Armies.
In the configuration of our new forces, after consultation with the Ministry of Defence and its subordinate departments, we have decided to adopt the latest mixed-arms structure.
The composition of the four armies in the new First Army Group is identical: each is made up of four infantry divisions, two artillery divisions, and two mechanized divisions, abandoning the cavalry formations.
The infantry and artillery divisions are organized just like the Regular Army, with each infantry division consisting of 16,000 men, resulting in 64,000 infantry for each army within the new First Army Group.
In the two mechanized divisions, we have chosen a composition of one main battle Tank Division and one mechanized division. The main battle Tank Division will be fully equipped with our main battle tanks and a small number of tracked firearms.
The mechanized division will be heavily equipped with trucks, motorcycles, and other mechanized equipment, and will have tracked war chariots, a small number of light tanks, and tracked firearms," reported Minister of Defence Thomas in detail.
Arthur nodded in agreement, having no objections to the organization of the new First Army Group.
In actuality, the so-called new organization of the First Army Group was the result of reform, following discussions within the Ministry of Defence based on Arthur's recommendations.
From the excellent achievements made by Germany in Europe, all the countries of the world understood two facts: the decline of cavalry and the rise of tanks.
While it wasn't denied that cavalry could still serve a purpose in certain specific terrains, in head-on battles, cavalry often faced nothing but slaughter when up against tanks.
