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The Belgian Expeditionary Corps of Armoured Cars in Russia ((フランス語:Corps Expeditionnaire des Autos-Canons-Mitrailleuses Belges en Russie)) was a Belgian military formation during the First World War which was sent to Russia to fight the German Army on the Eastern Front. Between late 1915 and 1918, 444 Belgian soldiers served with the unit of whom 16 were killed in action.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Russia/Russia_00.htm )〕 ==History== As the front line in the west stabilized following the Battle of the Yser, the Belgian army was left with a number of armoured cars produced by Minerva, a motor company based in Antwerp, which could not be used in the static trench warfare which had emerged along the Belgian-held Yser Front. In early 1915, Tsar Nicholas II formally requested military support from King Albert I and the redundant armoured cars were deployed as superfluous to Belgium's own requirements. As Belgium was not officially an ally of the Russian Empire but a neutral power, the Belgian soldiers in the unit were officially considered as volunteers in the Imperial Russian Army itself. A British armoured car unit of a similar size, known as the British Armoured Car Expeditionary Force (or ACEF) also served in Russia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.wio.ru/tank/for-rus.htm )〕 The first contingent of the Belgian Expeditionary Corps (333 volunteers equipped with Minerva Armoured Cars) arrived in Archangel in October 1915. The unit fought with distinction in Galicia and was mentioned in the Order of the Day five times.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/postal-history/wwi-belgium-armoured-car-division-in-russia/ )〕 After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the Belgian force remained in Russia until the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk withdrew Russia from the war. After the ceasefire, the unit found itself in hostile territory. As the route north to Murmansk was blocked, the soldiers destroyed their armoured cars to prevent their capture by Bolshevik forces. The unit finally reached the United States through China and the Trans-Siberian railway in June 1918. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Belgian Expeditionary Corps in Russia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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