When the Luftwaffe cleared the air power of the Allies, the Germans on the front line also began to attack.

During the offensive, although their heavy artillery did little in the previous stage of the battle, due to the effect of the Thunder attack aircraft in the sky. But when the Entente airfields were attacked by 300 German military planes, they became active.

Although the Germans did not have any attack aircraft, the opening in the belly and the installation of two bomb pylons also fully improved the combat effectiveness of the "Albatross D". While their initial weight may have affected their mobility, once a bomb was dropped, they became a headache for Allied pilots.

At this time, Albatross D continued to suppress the French anti-aircraft artillery position, and a series of strafing and 12-kilogram bombs and incendiary bombs attacked the anti-aircraft artillery unit to suffer heavy losses.

Slowly, the French air suppression firepower was completely lost in the opponent's air assault force, and in the face of the German attack, they could only rely on the desperate resistance of the front-line infantry for the time being.

Of course, apart from being able to suppress the anti-aircraft artillery on the French side, they did almost nothing at all. 12 kilograms of bombs fell from the sky and accurately hit the pillboxes of the French "fast" front. Although the acceleration of gravity allows it to penetrate the protective layer composed of small sandbags, it has no way to face the hard cement and steel protective layer inside.

As a result, these pillboxes stood tall under the bombardment of aircraft. However, after the planes gained air supremacy for Germany, the life of the French ground troops was not easy, because they would face an attack by the German heavy artillery units.

105, 130, 155 mm guns will be a nightmare for the fortifications built by the French trust on the fast front.

Of course, direct fire from small-caliber artillery will not cause them any damage at all, but a heavy artillery with a range of more than 10 kilometers is likely to deprive the fortress of its outer defenses, and if the armor-piercing shells of the second cannon hit directly, then even the strongest fortress will not be able to withstand their fire.

This is the case with the current artillery fire.

The French used the fast front to establish one position after another with mortar units as the core, with mortar fire on the inside and infantry pillboxes on the outside to resist the close attacks of the German infantry. In the case of protection by air power, it is basically safe. But when the planes that were active in the air were replaced by those of the Germans, the situation was very bad.

The assault group of the German infantry was running desperately on the ground. They followed behind a wall-like barrage of bullet barrages, running from crater to crater, aiming directly at the bunker group formed by the rapid French front.

The barrage cleared them of barbed wire, minefields, deer barbs and other obstacles in their path. As mentioned earlier, the German infantry attacked in formation, with their assault squads at the forefront, armed with machine gun squads, flamethrowers, and mortar detachments.

They stopped when they approached the bunker group where the French were frightened by German artillery fire. The artillery observers set up artillery mirrors in the large craters provided to them by the bombs just now, and the infantry quickly answered the telephone to communicate with their own fronts.

"Hey...... Feed...... Ruler...... Explosive projectile ......"

At the sound of the observers, the shells of the 130mm rapid-fire guns or 150mm guns, which were specially designed to destroy the pillboxes, streaked through the air with a dull chirp.

The French, who were relying on the rapid front, did not have the spirit of taking the initiative at all, although their mortars also poked their heads out of the fortifications and counterattacked the German assault teams under the instructions of the observers. However, the artillery groups of the French army were unable to exert their might due to the suppression of German artillery fire and air power.

Amid the continuous explosion of heavy artillery shells, the mortar positions in the pillbox group became a pile of ruins in an instant. The gunner's body and mortar parts flew out of their pillbox, and the close-range artillery support of the pillbox was wiped out by the heavy artillery shells.

At this time, the German assault squads became active, braving the enemy's rain of bullets and flying around them, regardless of them. One by one, they quickly approached the French pillboxes, and under the cover of their own mortars, they constantly destroyed the French pillboxes one by one with fire weapons and explosives.

As the French front-line bunkers were dealt a fatal blow, more German units infiltrated and stormed the French bunkers. At this time, if the underground passage connecting to the destroyed bunker is not cut in time, then the fall of the entire bunker complex will begin from the inside.

The French officers, on the other hand, were expecting reinforcements to arrive quickly through the underground passage leading to the rear. They believed that if there were reinforcements, then they could launch a counterattack against the Germans and would recapture the bunkers.

News of the success of the German attack and the desperate need for reinforcements at the front reached Pétain's command.

"The first line of defense was broken by the Germans!"

The news from the front made Petain's heart tremble, and he could not understand how this fast front, which had been so strong and impossible for the Germans to attack, could be broken so easily.

"The commanders at the front said they needed reinforcements so that they could recapture the lost pillboxes from the Germans."

"Reinforcements, where can I find reinforcements, should we use the First Assault Cavalry Division now?"

Of course, this is just Petain's angry words, and as a campaign reserve, it cannot be used until a critical moment.

(The first release of this book) does not laugh at group A: 35761481; Email: [email protected].

"I think it's better to ask the General Headquarters for help! We need more, purely infantry divisions to make up for the losses we have suffered in the line of defense on the front line. ”

Of course, it should not be a fast column like the 1st Cavalry Division that conducts defensive operations in the fast front. They were supposed to be infantry in fortified areas armed with rifles and machine guns. Otherwise, even if the 1st Assault Cavalry Division recaptures the lost positions now, there will still not be enough ordinary infantry to hold it.

This was the situation before Xia Fei returned to his headquarters, and when he returned to headquarters, it was even worse.

After the German artillery group was suppressed by the lack of air power, it was fully activated, and the originally smooth supply channels for supplies were being cut off one by one by these powerful artillery fire. Although the supply channels between the fortified area and the fronts can still be maintained unobstructed because they are all built underground.

General Xia Fei, who returned to the headquarters, stared at the map for a long time, looking at the situation on the front line, and did not say anything for a long time, but he had only one thought in his heart.

"It seems that the battle of Verdun, as predicted by Don, is not over, and it has only just begun! So what should I do? I need some strong assault troops to restore my front, I need more ordinary infantry to fill the gap on the front, but our logistics are ......"

Suddenly, Xia Fei was surprised to find that the battle situation in front of him was exactly the same as what Tang Yunyang had told him at the beginning.