Great to look at but the plot holes!

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2020)

The effort Sam Mendes has gone to to create an authentic WW1 setting is astonishing. The scenes of the trenches, dead horses, bomb craters etc really put you in the scenes, and I was blown away by the film from a visual point of view. My problem is that the plot holes in the story were as big as some of the bomb craters. And after leaving, I realised they were too many and obvious to allow me to enjoy the film. (I'm about to reveal spoilers, so don't read on if you haven't seen it).
So we all know that it's true that German forces retreated from trenches at times. As the distance between allied and opposing forces was as matter of yards in many cases, the fact they had abandoned their line would have been obvious over a relatively short period of time to the allies, because of air and recon intelligence.
When the rat triggered the trip wire, both men were literally on top of the trap. It was a big enough explosion to collapse the entire tunnel, but they both survived without a scratch.
After the pilot killed Blake, almost straight away, Schofield was suddenly joined by a huge troop of British Allies. Where did they come from? Why didn't they just take the message?
When they drop Schofield off, he immediately starts getting sniped, while the troops are presumably right next to him. Why didn't they shoot back to help? Where did they disappear to?
When Schofield is being chased, he kicks a door through in clear view of his pursuer, and the pursuer just runs on. Leaving Schofield to spend a random night with a woman and baby who happened to be surviving on their own with no food and water, hidden in the same ruins as German troops.
There are more. I won't labour the point, but once you start seeing the flaws, they just all add up to make what is a beautiful film just too implausible for me.