At 2 p.m. on September 13, the 7th Air Division, with high morale, set out in full gear and marched north with the 30 Infantry Division on the right flank, aiming directly at the city of Kutno, the old nest of the Polish Army Group Poznan.

The destruction of the Bodsky Cavalry Brigade sent not only a large number of weapons and ammunition to the 7th Air Division, but also a large number of military horses and carriages.

The wounded and dead horses were buried in the stomachs of paratroopers and Polish prisoners of war in a sumptuous feast of horse meat under the hard work of the chefs of the 7th Air Division.

The wagons were used by the paratroopers to transport artillery, and each artillery crew was assigned one, and Chen Dao was no exception.

The artillerymen walked at the end of the march, and instead of riding in the carriage with the 37-mm anti-tank gun he used, Chen Dao squeezed into the carriage of Lieutenant Randolph.

"So your promotion order has come down, and I'm going to call you Captain Randolph in the future?" Chen Dao said to Lieutenant Randolph with a smile.

"Let's wait for the new epaulettes to come down before changing the name." Lieutenant Randolph said embarrassedly with a troubled forehead.

"Major, after the war against Poland you will definitely be promoted to lieutenant colonel, what position does a lieutenant colonel usually hold in the air defense forces? The commander of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment? Lieutenant Randolph shifted the conversation to Chen Dao.

"I don't know, but I don't want to be an anti-aircraft artillery anymore, you see that you can't see the Polish planes in the sky at all, what can I do with a group of anti-aircraft artillery? Sweep the enemy's infantry with 20-mm anti-aircraft guns? Hit a tank with an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun? In this case, I might as well drive a tank, so that I can fight both infantry and tanks, and the tank has strong defense capabilities and a sense of security. Chen Dao said with his arms crossed.

"The tank is indeed a more versatile weapon, he perfectly combines mobile fire defense, I used to want to be an armored soldier, but unfortunately they said that I was too tall and inappropriate, and finally had to be an artilleryman, I like to listen to the roar of the cannon when it fires, every time I hear the sound of the artillery salvo of the artillery regiment, my blood boils." Lieutenant Randolph stretched out his right hand and measured his height of 1.9 meters above his head, and then said helplessly.

"It's really hard for your height to fit into those Beetle-like tanks, but don't be discouraged, we'll definitely build bigger tanks in the future, and then you can go and become a tanker." Chen Dao comforted.

"I hope so." Lieutenant Randolph shrugged his shoulders and said, "But don't be discouraged. ”

Chen Dao stared at Lieutenant Randolph curiously, and said in his heart, what am I discouraged?

Lieutenant Randolph met Chen Dao's puzzled gaze and said, "How can the Air Force have tanks?" In the Army, only armored divisions will have tanks, and if you really want to drive tanks, you can apply to be transferred to the Army. ”

"Okay, I'll think about it." Chen Dao nodded, but he didn't think so, who said that the Luftwaffe couldn't have tanks? What is a tank under the power of my brother-in-law? What is an armored division? Even the Panzer Army is just a matter of my brother-in-law's mouth.

Chen Dao took out his diary and pencil from the satchel he was carrying, and asked Lieutenant Randolph, "What type of artillery do you use in the artillery regiment?" How about the performance of this artillery? Is there any trick to using it? ”

"My artillery company uses a le.fh18 howitzer, 105 mm caliber, and the maximum firing range is 10,671 meters・・・・・・" Lieutenant Randolph recited the weapon parameters to Chen Dao like a few treasures, Chen Dao recorded them one by one, and then the two had in-depth exchanges on the use of howitzers.

When Chen Dao said the simultaneous single tactic, Lieutenant Randolph sat up straight with the carriage baffle, asked for the diary and pen from Chen Dao's hand, and then asked, "Can you carefully explain this simultaneous single tactic?" ”

"Major Rosen, you speak carefully, I want to hear it too." A voice sounded behind Chen Dao, and Chen Dao looked back to see that Stud had come to the carriage on a brown war horse.

Chen Dao moved his body to face Student and began to flicker around the sky: "This artillery tactic was accidentally thought of when I was training the 88-mm anti-aircraft gunners of the anti-aircraft battalion. Our 88mm anti-aircraft guns are so good that I sometimes train them as howitzers or cannons, and of course, if necessary, I also give them cameos as anti-tank guns.

When it was used as a howitzer, I initially conducted a test fire like other artillerymen to determine where the shells landed, and then ordered the artillery to continue firing, but I found that this artillery tactic could only deal with some inexperienced enemies, and those experienced enemies would be prepared when we test fire. ”

Lieutenant Student and Lieutenant Randolph nodded in unison.

"We all know that the first shells that land are the most powerful, and the first salvo is the "effectiveness fire", which usually catches the unprepared enemy, can achieve the maximum benefit, and at the same time can achieve the best effect with the minimum amount of ammunition, so I came up with a simultaneous shelling tactic to strengthen the power of the first salvo.

This tactic simply means that the artillery of each unit, regardless of the caliber, is aimed at the center of the designated target area. The firing distance may be far and near, and the firing time may be sequential, but it is necessary to adjust under command to the point that all the shells reach the target area at almost the same time, and depending on the number, the difference in the time of the shells hitting the shells is only a few seconds at most. ”

"No test launches? Direct fire coverage? Lieutenant Randolph asked, staring at Chen Dao after finishing the record.

"Yes, there was no test firing, direct fire coverage." Chen Dao nodded and said.

Student frowned and digested Chen Dao's words before asking, "Is there anything more detailed?" ”

"No, this is just an idea I had when I was training 88mm anti-aircraft gunners, and I didn't study it in depth, after all, we are an anti-aircraft artillery unit, and there is a difference between it and the army's artillery."

Lieutenant Randolph tore off the two pages of the single sheet of the document, folded them neatly and tucked them into his jacket pocket.

After returning the diary and pencil to Chen Dao, Lieutenant Randolph said: "Major Rosen, when I return to the artillery regiment, I will definitely report the tactic you said to the regiment commander and ask him to test the power of this tactic." ”

"Even without testing, I can imagine the power of this tactic, and if our troops are being massed, and suddenly they are bombarded by this kind of enemy artillery, even the most experienced veterans will not be able to escape, and we will end up like these Poles." Student said, pointing to the corpses of the Poles on both sides of the road.

At this time, the 7th Air Division happened to pass by the battlefield where Chen Dao ambushed the Bodsky Cavalry Brigade, and the fields on both sides of the road were piled with the corpses of Polish soldiers and war horses.

Yesterday, when the paratroopers cleaned up the battlefield, they naturally did not bother to build graves for the dead Poles, they just threw the bodies of the Poles on both sides of the road to make way for future marches.

"yes, so if we encounter an enemy who knows this tactic in the future, the best thing to do is to smash shells on their heads before they even spot us." Chen Dao said.

Lieutenants Stud and Randolph were convinced・・・・・・

For the next two days, Chen Dao discussed his own ** experience with Lieutenant Randolph, and Student would join in when he had time.

Along the march, neither the 7th Aviation Division nor the 30 Infantry Division of the friendly neighbor encountered a decent enemy, and with the exception of a few battles of little intensity that were not worth mentioning, the 7th Aviation Division could be said to have reached the city of Kutno unimpeded.

Sitting in a carriage and climbing up a dirt slope, Chen Dao could clearly see a city without a telescope, and there were bursts of gunfire in the city, and from time to time there were flashes of fires from shell explosions.

Chen Dao picked up the binoculars and looked at them, and found that the figures that appeared outside the city with thick smoke seemed to be German soldiers.

"It looks like someone arrived before us, and they've already invaded the city." Chen Dao put down the binoculars and said.

"So it's going to be a street fight." Lieutenant Randolph said.

Hearing the word street fighting, two place names instantly appeared in Chen Dao's mind - Stalingrad and Grozny - and then he thought of a term that made him tremble.

"Lieutenant Randolph, are you trained to deal with snipers in street fighting?" Chen Dao asked.

"No, why do you ask this?" Lieutenant Randolph looked at Chen Dao suspiciously, and he keenly heard Chen Dao speak with a trill.

The corners of Chen Dao's mouth trembled and said, "I raise my hands and strongly recommend that before entering the city, the next topic we discuss is how to deal with snipers in street battles. ”

Without waiting for Lieutenant Randolph to reply, Chen Dao added: "We must discuss the results before engaging in street fighting." ”

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ps: There is one more chapter before 10pm.