Chapter 335: Marching towards London

The highest commander of the Dover War Zone was Marshal Wellington. He had 6 divisions and 3 brigades in his hands. Even the most elite 1st infantry division in Britain was placed under his command. It can be seen that the British government values ​​him and the Dover area. Dover is the closest region in Britain and France. If France lands on a large scale here, it can reduce a lot of consumption. At the same time, it is also very close to London. As long as the British defense can be defeated, it can easily threaten London. So although the French army has landed in Plymouth and Portsmouth, Wellington still did not take it lightly. He always believed that the French would definitely land in Dover. After all, the tens of thousands of French troops stationed in Calais have not yet made any other moves.

On the morning of June 22, the French 1st Marine Division officially landed in Dover with the support of some warships in the Straits Fleet. The British 2nd Infantry Division stationed in Dover actively resisted, but after its shore defense firepower was destroyed by the French Navy, it was also successfully landed by the French 1st Marine Division. At noon that day, more than 15,000 people of the French 1st Marine Division landed and established a landing ground that was almost two kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide. Behind them was the landing of the 4th Infantry Division of the 89th Corps. At the same time, they were also facing the attacks of the British 2nd Infantry Division and the British 3rd Infantry Division that arrived later, and more British teams were on the way. They desperately wanted to drive the French army into the sea.

After receiving the French landing in Dover, Wellington urgently ordered the 3rd Infantry Division stationed in Foxtone to rush to support. At the same time, the 1st Infantry Division and the 3rd** Artillery Brigade stationed in Maidstone were also ordered to rush to Dover. Other divisions were ready to support at any time. Wellington knew that the current situation was already very unfavorable to Britain. With more than 100,000 French troops landing in Plymouth and Portsmouth, the British army suffered heavy losses and retreated across the board. If even the Dover War Zone he defended was landed by the French army, it would be hard for him to imagine how long the British army could last under the French siege.

"Anyway, we must repel the French attack and drive them to the sea to feed the fish." Wellington said to himself. However, the reality is very cruel. Although the British 2nd Infantry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division made their best efforts, they could not break through the defense line of the French 1st Marine Division, which caused heavy losses. Slowly, the 4th Infantry Division of the French 89th Corps also landed successfully. One battalion and one battalion of French troops entered the battle, and the pressure faced by the British army gradually increased. When the 4th Infantry Division landed at 4 pm, the French army had also begun to turn from defense to attack.

At 6 pm, under the fierce attack of the French army, the British army had to retreat to the city of Dover and the suburbs all fell into the hands of the French army. Then, the British 1st Infantry Division arrived at the battlefield, and after the joining of the most elite British troops, the British army recovered the decline. However, it was quite difficult to launch a counterattack. The British 3rd Artillery Lu had to arrive on the morning of the second day because the cannons they carried were too heavy. The remaining two infantry divisions of the French army also landed continuously, and were expected to land on the morning of the second day. At that time, the large-scale attack of the French army would be launched immediately.

At the same time, after a day of fierce fighting, the battle in Portsmouth was basically decided. After a day of fierce attack, Bill's army lost tens of thousands of people and finally broke through the defense line of the 7th French Marine Division. However, just two hours later, the 3rd French Marine Division and the 4th Marine Division launched a full-line counterattack. Bill's army only resisted for one hour and collapsed on the whole line. As a last resort, Bill had to lead the remaining troops to retreat to Havente. But he didn't even know how long he could hold on Havente. Because now he only has 50,000 defeated soldiers, which is more than half less than when he launched the attack in the morning, and his morale was extremely low. The three French Marine Divisions of the French army also resisted Havente's outskirts and set off an offensive posture.

In Southampton, the 5th French Marine Division Yeyu launched an attack on Easterly that afternoon. The British 5th Infantry Division stationed here, without assistance, resisted the French army for three hours, and finally had to withdraw from Easterly due to excessive casualties and retreat to the north. The current British 5th Infantry Division has only more than 4,000 men left, and it can almost be cancelled.

On this day, the war on the Western Front also changed. First, in Newell, the remnants of the British 21st and 22nd Infantry Divisions and the 27th, 28th and 29th divisions were defeated by the French 89th Corps, the 2nd Infantry Division and the 2nd Marine Division who arrived later. After losing more than 20,000 people, they had to retreat to Salisbury. Subsequently, the French army gave up the pursuit of the British army and marched south, because in the Poole area, the battle between the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions and the British army had entered a white-hot stage. Despite the naval artillery support, they still could not break through with Poole, which was defended by three regular British divisions and two new recruit divisions with more than 60,000 troops.

The battle immediately entered June 23. On this day, first of all the Dover War Zone, the French army's four divisions had all landed, and launched a fierce attack on Dover with the support of the navy. The British 3rd** Artillery Brigade also rushed to Dover and entered the battle, but since the war started, they have been suppressed by the French Navy and have not played their due role at all. What they played was only to restrain most of the firepower of the French Navy. Under the fierce attack of the French army, even with the most powerful British 1st Infantry Division, the war was still very unfavorable to the British army. By the evening of June 23, the French army had completely broken through the British defense, entered Dover, and engaged in fierce street fighting with the British army. Under the attack of the French army, the British army retreated step by step, and if there were no reinforcements, they were driven away.

It would be a matter of time before Dover was released. Wellington made a mistake in his judgment of the battle situation. In his opinion, it was obviously impossible to completely defeat the French army with three infantry divisions and one brigade of more than 50,000 people, but it would not be difficult to resist the French attack. When the two armies were exhausted, the remaining division and two brigades in his hands could appear in the form of a surprise soldier. By that time, defeating the French army would be no longer a guess on paper. However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. He did not expect the French army's attack power to be so powerful, or the British army was so unbearable. When he knew that the British defense line had been broken and became increasingly unfavorable, he sent all the troops to Dover, but it was too late. The British army could not resist the French attack.

The battle situation in Portsmouth also changed tremendously on this day. Bill's remnants were defeated again, forcing him to give up Havente and retreat towards London. More than 30,000 people from the 3rd, 4th and 7th Division of France's Marine Warfare also began to march towards London, becoming the first unit among all units to break into London.

The 5th Marine Division did not march towards London because they had new missions. There were 60,000 British troops in the Poole area and 40,000 British troops in Salisbury. If the British troops from these two places gathered together, it would be a very huge threat to the French army. So the mission of the 4th Marine Division was to march westward, interspersed between Poole and Salisbury, and prevent the two armies from converging. At least they had to be there before the British troops in the Poole area were eliminated.

In Poole, the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions of the 89th French Army gathered the 2nd Infantry Division of the 89th Legion, the direct troops of the 89th Legion, and the 2nd Marine Division, and the 2nd Marine Division, re-attacked Poole with the support of artillery fire on the Navy. If the British troops stationed in the Poole area were still very motivated during the battle on June 22, then today, after learning that the British army had completely failed on the southern front, they had become an isolated army, and even the rear route was cut off by the French army, they no longer had the courage to continue fighting. In the fierce attack of the French army

Next, they only resisted for 3 hours and were broken through the entire line. Most of them chose to break through to the north, but the 4th French Marine Division defended there, and in the end only more than 10,000 people successfully broke through. Others were either killed or chose to surrender. The 4th French Marine Division also suffered heavy losses in this battle. People's survival was very powerful. When their lives were endangered, they often showed great attack power. Therefore, after this battle, the French Marine Division had only more than 4,000 left in the entire division.

The French General Staff could not bear the division being fought over and asked them to withdraw their homes and rest. However, this order was strongly opposed by all the officers and soldiers of the 4th Marine Division. They demanded to stay in Britain and to the last moment of the war, even if only one soldier and one soldier were left. In the end, the General Staff agreed to their request and allowed them to continue to fight in Britain.
Chapter completed!