Chapter 2038: Into the Night Three
The French army, who thought they had found a breakthrough, began to rush into the German position along here, but soon, after breaking away from the artillery support, they ran into the oncoming German support troops, and the long-range firepower supporting their attack was at this moment. There is a problem again! Relying on the marked reference objects, the German airship patrolling the night sky quickly located the position of the French army's long-range artillery, especially the two 520MM super-heavy train guns, which became the key targets! From 25 kilometers away, the Bavarian Second Army mobilized nine 380MM super-heavy train guns to cover the target!
A shell weighing 750KG flew out of the muzzle at a speed more than twice the speed of sound, and a huge orange fireball rose into the night sky. Then, the exhaust gas generated by the propellant formed a ring-shaped air mass and spread outward. After flying for tens of seconds, these destructive shells roared and fell around the French artillery positions!
The first thing to suffer was a command post next to it, which was responsible for exchanging information with the front line. The wooden house was directly blown to pieces by a huge shell, and the aftermath of the explosion affected the engineering personnel next to it. It became a pile of minced meat!
Subsequently, tons of shells fell from a distance, and a channel on the right side of the gun position that transported shells from the underground ammunition depot was destroyed, and the vehicles and personnel transporting shells were crushed under dozens of tons of stones and soil. And the end of this 520MM heavy cannon is not too far away. After 8 minutes of firing, a shell landed on the circular track at the front of the heavy cannon! Tons of steel rails and sleepers were directly blasted into the sky, and an indiscriminate strafing was carried out at the personnel who were operating at the tail of the gun. The huge steel rails even smashed a hanging basket behind the artillery! A boulder accidentally dropped the push bomb equipment next to it. Half of the huge cannonball got stuck in the tail of the cannon, making it impossible to advance or retreat!
And just when the French braved the artillery fire to try to push away the shell, the disaster finally came. A 750KG shell landed accurately on the rear car of the 520MM train gun! The huge power directly destroyed this improved rear car with a 7-axle train trailer! As if a giant had a leg broken, the gun body weighing hundreds of tons fell to one side, and the 1654KG heavy grenade in the gun position also exploded due to the violent collision!
The explosive power of this artillery shell, which is heavier than the main artillery shell of the battleship Yamato, is so powerful that the unfinished business of the German shells was completed by it. With a loud noise, the artillery shell more than ten meters long was blown into two pieces. part! And then when the flame ignited the propellant of the opponent next to it, the entire artillery position instantly turned into a gushing volcano. Soldiers on both sides of the war on this front all saw that doomsday-like scene!
Compared with those powerful train guns that cost more than 100 tons, the French self-propelled artillery performed very well, especially the two ultra-long-range self-propelled artillery, the GPF194MM self-propelled cannon and the 155MM self-propelled howitzer. The former's range of more than 20 kilometers allowed him to avoid most of the German counterattack firepower. (Historically, it was 18,900 meters. The French on this plane increased the elevation angle, so the range is longer.) When being targeted by heavy train guns, the 120-horsepower engine attached to this gun can make the gun shoot at 8 to 10 Withdraw from the position at a speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour. As for the 155MM self-propelled howitzers, there are a large number of such things and they move quickly. Although the range is relatively short, they still have a high survival rate.
Compared with the loss of artillery units, the loss of infantry and armored units on the front line made the French even more worried. More than 100 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, and 5 of the 7 infantry divisions that went into battle were disabled. in battle,
The French suffered at least 30,000 casualties. Although this loss is not unacceptable for the French Legion, which has gathered 4 armies, it is obviously a very bad sign-the Germans are systematically destroying the vital forces of the French army. They are full of confidence, well-planned, little by little compression and consumption of the French army, until the opponent collapses!
And as the exposed heavy artillery and towed long-range artillery were knocked out one by one, the French night battle also came to an end. And the German military's evaluation of the French night attack on this night after the war is very intriguing, that is-it's just some minor troubles.
"The combat effectiveness of our army is worrying." Petain, who hadn't slept all night, said to Foch, his bloodshot eyes and haggard face showed his fatigue and anxiety.
"The gap between us and the Germans is not only in the quality of weapons, quantity and personnel quality, but more importantly, our soldiers have lost their fighting spirit, and an atmosphere of failure pervades the entire battlefield. Look at the performance of our troops today , not only soldiers and low-level officers, but even senior officers were shaken when the operation was implemented. This battle is already difficult to continue." Petain continued.
"The situation is worse than we imagined. It seems that the original plan is impossible to implement. It is hard for me to imagine what will happen when our troops collide with the Germans in the open field." Foch also saw that the war was coming. The shadow of failure, but at this time he can still give it one last go!
"Let the British go, those cowboys from Australia and New Zealand can fight more than the British Home Army on the British Isles," Petain said. "At any rate, they have the strength of an army group. It's up to them whether they can stop the Germans."
This is not an exaggeration. In fact, if we simply talk about the quality of the troops, the quality of the British troops on the Western Front was the highest at the beginning of the war. But unfortunately, after three months, the first batch of British troops who participated in the war either died on the battlefield or went to the hospital. …. Subsequently, as a large number of newly mobilized troops joined the battlefield, the quality of the British army began to decline, while the combat effectiveness of the colonial troops from Australia and New Zealand began to show their prowess. They were more eager to prove themselves in the war than the native British, looking for excitement. Even many British troops from Oceania have their own flattery and some equipment. And from the arrival of the first batch of Anzac troops to the present, this regiment still maintains a high combat effectiveness and strong morale!
"Very well, I will contact Lord Hamilton immediately. If we follow today's speed, the Germans will have about 3 days to completely pass through the defense line, which is enough time for us to discuss a practical plan with the British. ’” Foch nodded.
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