Knock Knock...... Knock knock knock......

Not to be outdone, the rapid-fire guns placed at various firing points along the defensive line roared unexpectedly, and everywhere the shells reached, blood and mud were scattered.

In the defense area of the Basston Student Regiment, only seven 5PIR (25mm) rapid-fire guns remained available from the four mutilated combat battalions. They are called rapid-fire guns, and according to the standards of the earth's civilization, they clearly belong to the category of machine guns - these hand-cranked rotary tube weapons consist of five barrels, use a 30-round magazine to feed them, and their theoretical rate of fire is 300 rounds per minute, the scale range is 10,000 feet, the combat rate of fire is about 200 rounds per minute, and the effective range is 6,000 feet, that is, about 1,800 meters. Although the principle of action is very primitive, and the combat effectiveness cannot be compared with that of automatic weapons in the true sense, these burst weapons are undoubtedly the most common and reliable high-lethal equipment for infantry combat before the advent of the era of electrification. For the past week, the Union troops stationed on the border have stubbornly resisted waves of Norman attacks, and a considerable part of the Norman casualties are "given" by these rapid-fire guns. However, with the increase in combat attrition, the rapid-fire guns that could still be used by the defenders have been reduced by half, and there is a serious shortage of ammunition, and the actual combat effectiveness has been greatly weakened.

"The enemy is 2,000 feet away...... All of them...... Ready to shoot ......"

Hart Resos's voice was so loud that it still covered a considerable area of defense in this battlefield full of artillery fire. Weiss poked his head out of the trench and saw that the forward line of the Norman warbands had advanced to three or four hundred meters from the trench. Under the continuous fire of rapid-fire guns, many Norman soldiers had fallen on the way to the attack, so that the attack formation was sparse in front and behind. If the defenders had more rapid-fire guns in their hands, or a certain number of machine guns at the front of the position, such a skirmish attack would be a death sentence!

Seeing that the Norman soldiers were within effective range of their rifles, friendly units in adjacent positions opened fire impatiently. As soon as the dense rifle sound rang out, the Norman soldiers at the head of the platoon suddenly fell in large numbers. The soldiers behind continued to rush forward desperately, coming up and falling down the next row, and for every ten feet of advance in the front line, at least a hundred men were paid. At this rate, the Normans will shed their blood again in front of the defenders' positions!

The Norman soldiers, known for their bravery, ignored the horror of death and resolutely stepped forward on the corpses of their comrades. To break through the defenders' positions, they first had to pass through the minefields laid by the defenders, over the trenches and barbed wire belts in front of the positions, and then annihilate or drive back the defenders in the first line of trenches. After a lot of shelling and repeated attacks in these days, the minefields on the periphery of the position basically no longer pose a threat, and the originally wide and deep trench has become the starting position of the Norman soldiers for the second offensive due to the Norman army's artillery fire and blasting.

This time, the Norman soldiers rushed to a distance of about a hundred meters from the trench and suddenly fell prostrate one after another. It was too late, and the smoke rose from the woods, and the shells whistled down and landed on the defenders' forward positions.

Suddenly covered by Norman fire, the Union officers and soldiers had to take shelter in place. In the muddy trenches, Weiss crouched and crouched, his fingers plugged in his ears, his eyes closed, his thoughts racing. It was another barrage, and many casualties and equipment damage of the defenders occurred in this situation. As soon as this short artillery bombardment was over, the Norman soldiers must have launched an almost frantic charge into the defenders' positions as if they had been doping. At this time, the morale and fighting spirit of the federal officers and soldiers will always be suppressed by the other side, and the enemy cannot be stopped by bayonets at all, so they have to retreat to the second-line position to reorganize the defense, waiting for the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and it is possible to continue to hold the defensive line......

The Norman army, which landed in the rear of the Union Army by air, has always relied on the air supply of its own ships and the materials captured from the battlefield to maintain the needs of the war. Therefore, their artillery preparation was always very short, and this barrage Xu Jin only lasted two or three minutes. As soon as the cannon stopped, the charging slogan of "Long live the emperor" once again sounded with the momentum of a mountain and a tsunami.

Weiss looked in, good fellow, the Norman soldiers rushed over with their bright bayonets, and he shouted with all his might: "The enemy is coming!" Free Fire! Free Fire! ”

On the defenders' positions, the "Grumman Burning Stick" sounded, but its sound was dull and its momentum was messy. It was a long time before the rapid-fire cannons rejoined the fray, and by this time they were no longer able to stop the Normans.

Seeing that the Norman soldiers quickly crossed the trench and the barbed wire belt, and in the blink of an eye came to the front of the position, Weiss hurriedly shouted "throw the spinach bombs". Compared to bolt rifles, which have a slow rate of fire, this oval grenade is undoubtedly more effective in defensive combat. Alerted, the Union soldiers in the trench threw bombs one after another, and after a dense and compact explosion, the Norman soldiers who rushed forward were either killed or wounded, and their line of attack basically retreated to the vicinity of the trench.

At this moment, the artillery units of the defending units began to exert their might, and 15PIR (75mm) field guns and 7PIR (35mm) rapid-fire guns poured artillery fire on the front of the position. The former is a high-level dual-purpose cannon, suitable for accurate shooting at medium and close ranges, and the shells use two fuses of trigger/delay, which can be competent for a variety of ground and air defense tactics; The latter is a hand-cranked turn-tube repeating weapon, a 4-tube construction, using a 10-round magazine to feed ammunition, and the actual rate of fire is 60 rounds per minute, which is not only better than the 5PIR (25mm) rapid-fire gun, but also the infantry killing effect of the 7PIR caliber trigger grenade is much better than that of the 5PIR caliber solid bullet regardless of the cost factor.

Contained by the artillery fire of the defenders, the Norman offensive stalled on the line of the trenches. At this moment, a lead-gray battleship suddenly "jumped" out of the woods in the Norman-controlled area. In terms of size, it was a small-tonnage second-class cruiser, concealing itself in the woods by clever disguise in order to create a surprise effect in battle.

In the previous magnificent air duel, the main fleets of both sides paid a very heavy price - the Normans won a tactical victory with relatively small losses in exchange for relatively large results, but the battle-damaged ships basically fell in the area controlled by the federal army, and most of the "star source stones" in the wreckage were obtained by the Federation, and these refined floating materials can allow the industrially powerful Federation to rebuild a fleet in a relatively short period of time, so the Federation has become a strategic beneficiary.

After this battle, both sides still retained their aviation units on the battlefield of Wessex and on the front of the Monamolin Mountains, but neither the tactical winner nor the strategic winner wanted another tough battle with such huge losses at this stage. So, on the Ulster-Wessex border, the battle for air supremacy has entered a rather delicate situation: skirmishes of the cruiser class have occurred frequently, but both sides only want to take advantage of it and do not want to fight to the death. If a Federation warship appears near the border defense, whether it is to escort a transport ship or attack the Norman army, the Norman warship stationed at Mespold Air Harbor will quickly send an air force at least equal to the strength of the opponent.

Since both sides are trying to deal with the enemy fleet, the energy and effectiveness of supporting ground operations will naturally be weakened. Nowadays, the Normans have tried to let a cruiser "ambush" on the battlefield, and what they can grab is the time difference of more than half an hour. As long as the Federation warship arrives, it will definitely stop its ground attack, or meet it or withdraw, there is no third way.

A second-class cruiser carries about the same number of guns as an ordinary artillery battalion, but its attack efficiency is much higher than that of an ordinary artillery battalion when fired directly at a condescending position. The rumbling of artillery accompanied by the roar of machinery echoed across the battlefield, and the situation and momentum of the attacking and defending sides were quickly reversed. On the defenders' side, the rapid-fire guns and field guns originally used to suppress the Norman attacking forces had to be hurriedly switched to anti-air fire, but the small-caliber rapid-fire guns were difficult to penetrate the hull of the Norman cruisers at a long distance. Affected by this, the defenders' field artillery opened fire very few, and occasionally three or two shells were fired, and they also missed the target by a fraction of a second.

The Norman cruiser, which suddenly appeared on the battlefield, temporarily suppressed the defenders' artillery fire in a brutal manner, and the Norman soldiers who were waiting for their opportunity in front of the position lost no time in charging. They climbed out of the trench, ignoring the oncoming bullets and grenades, shouting "Long live the Emperor", rushed through the buffer zone between the trench and the defenders' positions, rushed into the trenches, and used bayonets and fists against the defenders on the forward positions.

The fierce Norman soldiers, who had appeared in Weiss's nightmares more than once, were demonized and feared by almost every Union soldier as a child. Now they had to confront the influx of Norman soldiers, their guns and bayonets, and without enough courage and faith, the battle line would have collapsed at the touch of a button......

On the position, Weiss carried a "Grumman burning stick" equipped with a bayonet in his left hand, and held an officer's gun in his right hand, and calmly fired at the Norman soldiers who jumped into the trenches, almost every shot was sure to hit, but unless the shot was critical, a pistol bullet would not kill the enemy, but would make the Norman soldiers rage like wounded beasts.

Having emptied the bullets in the pistol's magazine, Weiss didn't have time to reload before he was entangled by a burly Norman soldier. He put the pistol on his belt, held the rifle diagonally, and did not forget to greet his companions: "Go back!" Back! Go to the second position! ”

The border defense line on the Union side was originally more than twenty miles deep, but the Norman army attacked from behind, and the available depth area shrank by half, and the defenders could barely organize three positions. The second-line position mentioned by Weiss was only a thousand feet away from the forward position, and the two positions were connected by a number of communication trenches. In order to hinder the enemy's advance, these communication trenches are serpentine at both ends, and the middle section is hundreds of feet straight, once the forward position is broken through by the enemy, the defenders can quickly retreat to the second-line position, and directly block the communication trench with rapid-fire guns and bullets.