Chapter 2033 The Judgment Comes One

In the early hours of April 5, 1914.

"Your Excellency, the Prussian Army is ready," Admiral Kruger said.

"Your Highness, the Bavarian Legion and the Bohemian Legion are ready to go." General Caliput said.

"Very well, let's end this war!" Ruprecht nodded, and then gave the order to attack! A few minutes later, the flames that tore apart the sky opened the prelude to the last battle on the Western Front of World War I!

From Laon to Champagne, with a straight-line distance of 38 kilometers and a battle line distance of 50 kilometers, the Allied Powers concentrated more than 8,000 barrel artillery of various calibers at this moment, accompanied by a loud noise like a tsunami , Flames tore apart the pitch-black night, countless destructive light spheres rose into the sky, and the largest bombardment in human history so far began!

On more than 300 artillery positions, the commanders, gunners, and ammunition delivery vehicles are running precisely like parts on a huge machine. Every minute, hundreds of tons of steel pour out and fly to the distance The intended target, accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of shells passing through the air, the first batch of shells hit the French position. From the forward position, which is less than 400 meters away from the German army, to the rear military station, which is more than 35 kilometers away from the front line, at this moment, it is completely within the coverage of the German artillery!

"I have never seen such a spectacular scene. Countless shells flew across the sky. They joined each other end to end, forming a waterfall of flames hanging down from the sky. In the distance, the ground was constantly shaking in the explosion of the shells, and there were flames. Burned the French position in the distance into a sea of ​​flames, there was no sun in the sky, but the light was as bright as day. My ears were full of explosions, and we had to be very close to each other, and we had to speak loudly to be heard , so we communicate with writing boards or gestures most of the time. It is hard for me to imagine that under this kind of shelling, when we attack, the French can still have a few living people!" A front-line German officer described the time scene.

Cannons of various calibers and a large number of mortars at the forefront have blown up the obstacles, barbed wire, and minefields that the French have worked so hard to deploy for two months in a very short period of time, like raindrops The falling shells turned over every inch of the land with the passage of time. They crossed the no man's land in the middle of the battlefield, crossed the trenches, destroyed the bunkers, and then thought about the depth and rolling on both sides.

Ten minutes after being shelled, the French divisional grenades and cannons began to try to counterattack. These artillery hidden 8 to 10 kilometers away from the forward position sprayed out a series of fatal firepower points at the distant German firepower. Tongues of fire, these artillery are deployed in solid fortresses or semi-underground offensives, so there is no need to be afraid of howitzers below 150MM!

"The French's front-line support firepower counterattacked! The number is 30% more than our previous investigation. It seems that their recent busy work has been somewhat effective." At this time, a German officer in charge of counter-battery suppression said with a smile.

"Before, we didn't have enough siege artillery, and we couldn't completely eliminate these annoying guys, but this time it's different. Austria may not be able to charge and close combat, but the artillery is still good. A Junker officer from Danzig said with a smile.

After the anti-battery observation post on the front line captured the unique frequency of French artillery through audio equipment, several detection points were positioned at the same time, and then the obtained data was transmitted to the siege artillery cluster at the rear by phone! (This is not fabricated by the author. During the First World War, there was a technology to locate artillery by sound, but this was the technology of the British army at that time. The principle is that the frequency of different types of artillery is different.

Then special marks are made on the paper bag by vibration and magnetic needle. The position of the cannon was then determined by solving trigonometry and time, and this technique worked very well. )

A large number of M large-caliber siege guns are deployed in the middle. These guys with a range of 12 kilometers to 16 kilometers are used to suppress professional long-range artillery. They may be powerless because of their short hands, but at this distance It is really best to hit the division-level artillery with relatively tight protection.

With the help of the artillery servo, the shells weighing more than 200 kilograms were loaded into the barrel of the 280MM heavy gun, followed by propellant charges weighing dozens of kilograms, and then locked, and the horizontal and vertical angles of the artillery were adjusted. After the preparations, these bunker killers finally showed their power!

Unlike the sharp roar of the rapid-fire cannon, the sound of the short-barreled siege cannon is more dull. This guy called a battering ram has a slow rate of fire and is inconvenient to move, but every blow is terrifying! Hundreds of siege guns cleared the suppressed artillery deployed in the second line of the French army. From time to time, huge fireballs shot into the sky on the battlefield. This was the last echo of the destruction of the heavy artillery positions or the detonation of the ammunition depots! Under the repeated attacks of battering rams, the French's front-depth support firepower was gradually disintegrated.

At this time, the most powerful weapons of the French army on land were the "Ney" 400MM super-heavy train gun, the "Davout" 340MM super-heavy train gun, and a large number of M and train guns. And the M Saint King Kong self-propelled artillery that was assigned to the first level of the army began the final counterattack. More than 3,000 French army artillery began a desperate counterattack against opponents far stronger than themselves!

"The Germans have attacked, and their firepower far exceeds ours, but now, we can still hold on." At the French Army General Command, an officer reported to Commander-in-Chief Foch and the front-line Chief of Staff Petain.

"It won't last for too long. Once dawn, the survival time of our ultra-long-range artillery may only be calculated in minutes." Petain said. The reason why the French can persist with less than half of the artillery of the Germans is that on the one hand, Germany has spent a lot of firepower on clearing obstacles, dealing with front-line trenches, and suppressing communication lines, directly using them to suppress the opponent's artillery. Not much firepower. On the other hand, because it is not yet dawn, some heavy artillery with extremely long ranges are outside the strike range of German long-range artillery. And as time goes by, once the Germans have completed their attack on shallow positions and the air force can be used, the French artillery can only choose between destroying or hiding!

"I hope the British air force can be stronger," Foch said.

"Are you kidding me? They can't even watch the sky of London, let alone the sky of France." Pétain sneered.

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