The flares reflected the flickering light and darkness of the battlefield of Nuoda, and the dense gunfire and artillery explosions were intertwined, showing the intensity of the battle. The expression on Karl's face was a little uncertain, and he was known for his ruthlessness, and it was difficult for him to make up his mind for a while in the face of such a dangerous battle situation.

Two green flares rose from the west and south, striking the flickering night sky. Karl didn't know what this meant, but he knew that it was sending a message, and the Qing army's methods of night warfare were endless, and he had faintly regretted launching this night attack in his heart.

"As far as the means of night fighting are concerned, our army is really too backward." James followed the two green lights in the air, and sighed softly, the flares of the Qing army are like small suns, which can illuminate the battlefield as if it were daytime, and the flares are as if they don't need money, they have not stopped since the war, and this green flare is obviously a long-distance communication method at night.

"Can't retreat! Nor can they sweep the Qing army on the periphery! "Frederick. Karl gritted his teeth and said viciously: "Fight!" Order the departments to quickly advance and intersperse! The more chaotic the fight, the better it is for us! ”

Qing Army Command.

An operational staff officer reported loudly: "Green flares were fired in both the west and south directions. ”

In the west and south directions are the 251st Brigade, because the time is tight, the march is urgent, and the wired telephone cannot keep up, so it can only use signal flares to transmit information, and the green represents that it has been deployed and is safe.

"Let them stand by and stop them on the spot." Feng Zicai said in a deep voice, the plan he made was to attack inside and outside, but the time was not right now, and he still prevented the Germans from escaping.

After the staff officer withdrew, Yi Zhengxing spoke: "The German general on the opposite side is Frederick. Karl, Prince of Prussia, nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm I, known as the 'Prince of Blood', was the most famous field commander in the War of German Unification, the commander of the Second Army in the Franco-Prussian War, captured the fortress of Metz, forced the landing of 140,000 French troops, and was known for his ruthlessness and harshness. ”

Feng Zicai naturally knew about these materials, and after pondering for a while, he said: "What does Your Highness mean, the German army will not break through and retreat?" ”

"It's unlikely." Yi Zhengxing said a little vaguely: "This blood prince is not cunning, but quite brave. ”

Feng Zicai hesitated, after all, he didn't say anything, this battle is too big, judging from the current battle situation, it is either a big victory or a big defeat, he doesn't dare to take risks, once the 251st Brigade is allowed to attack, the battle situation may be further chaotic.

The rain did not stop, and the rain gradually became heavier, and despite the drainage measures, there was still a lot of water in the trenches, and after the heavy rain and the long period of rain soaking and the explosion and vibration of the shells, many places in the trenches that had not been hardened collapsed and were muddy.

Just after repelling an enemy attack, the company commander Song Youguo shouted loudly as he walked in the trench: "Withdraw!" Hurry back! ”

He knew very well that the enemy's mortars would immediately carry out artillery bombardment, to be honest, he really didn't pay attention to the Germans, but after a fight, he immediately paid attention to it, the German infantry and artillery combined quite well, the infantry almost stepped on the explosion of the shells to charge, if it was not for the fire was strong enough, a charge could lose the position.

The mud in the trenches seriously affected the speed of the soldiers' retreat, and before they could completely evacuate, they heard the whistle of dense shells in the air, Song Youguo hurriedly lay down on the spot, and the dense explosion shook his ears, "Dog, how many mortars are there?" ”

Although the German army has never fought with the Qing army before, but the strategy and tactics of the Qing army have been paying close attention, the Qing army every foreign war, the German army will carefully study, it is true that the Qing country has always been ahead of European countries in terms of weapons and tactics, for the Qing army is good at trench warfare, the German South African expeditionary force this time deliberately equipped with a large number of mortars specifically aimed at the Qing army's trenches.

The shells that fell in the trenches exploded and splashed a lot of muddy water, Song Youguo was anxious and angry, this time the shelling was only afraid that it would cause serious casualties, and if it continued like this, the position would be lost soon, what about the artillery? And what about their own artillery? He was sure that the enemy who had just been repulsed was launching a second wave of charges at this time.

More than a dozen heavy machine guns sprayed tongues of fire at different firing angles, and the bullets that poured out were intertwined into a barrage from far and near, and the Germans who were charging with the sound of artillery fell to the ground like wheat.

However, as soon as the heavy machine guns were exposed, they were immediately bombarded indiscriminately by mortars, and despite the fact that the heavy machine guns had cover, they were quickly dumbed down by the dense shells.

The mortars, which had been holding their breath in the trenches, began to counterattack at this time, but because it was impossible to aim at night, and the German mortars learned their lesson and took a dispersed approach, although they were violently recalled, the effect was not great.

At the same time as the mortars of the two sides competed, the German infantry launched a charge again, and the German heavy machine guns also took the way of firing upwards to spread a rain of bullets to the Qing army's position, listening to the sound of "poof" bullets into the flesh and into the soil, Song Youguo was tightly attached to the trench, he knew that the heavy machine gun was terrible to shoot on the back, even in the trench could not dodge, close to the opposite trench is the only effective method.

"Bang" A small explosion came into his ears, and Song Youguo's heart trembled when he heard it, this is a grenade? The sound of explosions soon became loud, and I glanced back, but I couldn't help but feel anxious when I didn't see reinforcements coming up, "I'm afraid I can't keep the position!" ”

Outside, gunfire, artillery explosions, and the phone of the 252nd Brigade headquarters at the rear of the position also rang, "Hey, hey, what?" Too much enemy fire? Pleading for reinforcements? Brigade commander Chen Baicun said loudly: "There are no reinforcements, no matter how fierce the artillery fire is, I will hold on!" ”

"I am the third regiment, I am the third regiment, the enemy is attacking fiercely, and the casualties are too great......."

"It's not just your three regiments that have suffered heavy casualties!" Chen Baicun said angrily: "There are no reinforcements!" As long as there is still a pant, nail it to the position! ”

"I'm a group, the forward positions are lost, the forward positions are lost! Implore artillery to cover ....... ”

Chen Baicun frowned, and his hand holding the phone trembled, less than an hour after the start of the war, the forward position was lost so quickly? Artillery fire cover? At this time, the Germans were looking forward to them exposing their artillery positions, light howitzers and marine artillery could not be counted on, as for mortars, large-caliber mortars were taken away by the 251st Brigade, and small-caliber mortars were scattered in the trenches.

Sanderton, Command.

"Commander, the commander of the 252nd Brigade, Chen Baicun, phone." An operational staff officer reports.

After taking the phone and listening to a few words, Feng Zicai ordered without thinking: "Give up all the outer defense lines, retreat on all fronts, and stick to the second line of defense." ”

Putting down the phone, he returned to the sand table with his hands behind his back, and Yi Zhengxing, who saw him, cast an inquiring look, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness's expectation is good, this blood prince really did not break through and retreat, but increased the intensity of the attack, a typical carelessness." ”

Yi Zhengxing said slowly: "The Blood Prince is not an ordinary person, what does he want to do if he cares so much?" ”

"It's nothing more than fighting to break the net." Feng Zicai's voice was a little low, the German army's style of play could be described as the worst result for him, even if he won a big victory in the end, it would inevitably be a miserable victory - killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred.

After lighting a cigarette, Feng Zicai set his eyes on the sand table, he was very clear about the tactics of European countries, it has always been artillery battles first, then foot battles, and finally cavalry sweeps, and what really determines the outcome of the war is not infantry battles or cavalry battles, but artillery battles! The German army should be the best at artillery warfare among European countries, which was vividly demonstrated in the Franco-Prussian War, and several major battles were won by virtue of huge artillery superiority.

The current battle is also determined by the artillery battle, whoever can destroy the opponent's artillery will have the last laugh! Although the German army deployed three artillery battalions on the Western Front and the Southern Front, but there was no movement on the Eastern Front, he was sure that the German Army also had artillery battalions on the Eastern Front, but he didn't know if it was one artillery battalion or two?

Although there are flares, but the distance is a rainy night, the line of sight can not be far, unless the opponent's artillery fires, it is impossible to detect the opponent's artillery position, which he did not expect before, the torrential rain in this ghost place generally does not last long, but tonight's rain has been continuous, the west artillery battalion has been disabled, he easily did not dare to take the east artillery battalion risk.

After a while, he asked, "Where is the 105 light howitzer?" ”

Soon, a staff officer came in and reported: "It is expected that it will take another half an hour to arrive at the designated location." ”

After the start of the war, the rain kept falling, so he deliberately separated the light howitzer from the infantry artillery, and divided the infantry artillery into two, in order to avoid too much loss, the current German offensive is too fierce, if the artillery support and suppression can not be carried out as soon as possible, it will inevitably cause great casualties.

Yi Zhengxing pointed to the two small red flags on the sand table, "If the 251st Brigade attacks from behind, will it make the German army in chaos?" ”

"It's a long way off!" Feng Zicai said without thinking: "Besides, once it is disrupted, it may give the German army a chance to escape." ”

In this case, still thinking about a pot end? Yi Zhengxing secretly said to himself, this heart is not ordinary.

Feng Zicai said in a deep voice: "Order Hong Shengkui's troops to reinforce the 252nd Brigade, and they must hold on for more than half an hour!" ”

As the Qing army contracted the defensive line and retreated to the second line of defense, the German offensive was more ferocious, for the German army, there was no way to retreat, only to move forward, only to capture Standton to have a chance to win, or to get a glimmer of life.

Under the circumstance that the Qing army's land artillery did not dare to be exposed, the German army, which had a large number of small and medium-sized mortars, had the advantage on the contrary, and the Qing army's large and medium-caliber mortars were all withdrawn, and the small-caliber mortars did not have an advantage in terms of quantity, and they were inferior in range, and they were soon suppressed by the German army, and the losses were not small.

The Qing army, which had no artillery advantage and was also inferior in terms of troops, could only grit its teeth and hold on hard in the face of the almost non-stop attacks of the German army, and there was also no way for the Qing army to retreat, and if they retreated, they could only retreat into Standton.

On the kilometer-long front, the sound of guns and cannons turned into a pot of porridge, and the two sides were red-eyed, and in some places there were even white-knuckle battles, and in less than 20 minutes, the second line of defense of the Qing army was in danger.

As the front advanced, the German command continued to move forward. Carl didn't pay much attention to the fierce battle ahead, he had been paying attention to the Qing army in the rear, and when he found that the Qing army in the rear had not moved forward, his mood was getting heavier and heavier, obviously, the Qing army still had a back hand, otherwise the Qing army in the rear should cooperate with the internal and external attacks, instead of cutting off their retreat!

Chief of Staff James was also aware of this, "Your Highness, move the headquarters to the east, right?" ”

Frederick. Karl was silent and silent, the German sentry cavalry on the eastern front had repeatedly reconnoitred, and no Qing army was found within twenty kilometers, that is to say, the Qing army left a way for the German army to retreat in the east, "There is a saying in the Oriental Art of War, called the siege of three queyi, the east is deliberately left by the Qing army, once we retreat to the east, we will fall into the strategy of the Qing army, and the Qing army with a large number of cavalry is enough to encircle and kill us on the plateau of South Africa." ”

Of course, James knew this, he had no confidence in winning this battle, from the very beginning they fell into the ambush of the Qing army, and the Qing army in the rear could obviously attack inside and outside, but only held behind them, which is enough to explain a lot of problems.

After hesitating for a while, he spoke: "Your Highness, judging from the current battle situation, it seems to be beneficial to our army, in just over an hour, the battle line has advanced for two kilometers, and it is completely pressing the Qing army, but the Qing army is very tenacious in the second line of defense, and our army has unconsciously completely entered the artillery range of the Qing army."

The Qing army had a large number of cavalry, but our army had a large number of mortars and machines, and as long as they could successfully break through, the cavalry did not pose much of a threat........ ”

"You should think about it, why did those six thousand strikers surrender?" Frederick. Karl said, turning away from speaking.

Seeing his resolute attitude, James was speechless for a while, he knew very well that the other party still did not give up, after all, the current battle situation was quite favorable to them, and he sighed secretly, and then he said tactfully: "At present, there is still an artillery battalion on the eastern front, and the headquarters is moving eastward, which is also conducive to the nearest command." ”

"Let's move east, then." Frederick. Karl dropped a sentence and strode out of the military tent, it is impossible for the Qing army to have no artillery positions in the east, the battle has reached this point, the artillery of the Qing army still has not fired, so it is certain that the number of artillery of the Qing army on the eastern front should not be much, if the artillery of the Qing army on the eastern front can be completely eliminated, this battle will have a chance to turn around!

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