When the first wave of Japanese troops rushing forward was fighting with the Germans, the machine gun group that had been transferred to the flank suddenly opened fire, and one after another fire snakes flew towards the following Japanese troops, wantonly dividing the Japanese formation like a knife cutting tofu. The explosive firing of the company-level 60MM mortar and www.biquge.info the battalion-level 82MM mortar in a short period of time caught the opponent by surprise.

"We never imagined that the same machine guns and the same mortars would play such a big role in the hands of the Germans. We can clearly feel that the other side does not have much support firepower, but the other side can always hit us where we have the most headaches! A Japanese soldier recalled after the war.

The machine guns were not suppressed for a long time, and several machine guns were transferred after alternating one or two chains of 250 rounds, and in the process of transferring, the German soldiers would change the barrels and choose new machine gun positions, unlike the French, who had a Shosha machine gun with three groups and one squad, and a group of only six people for an MG11 light machine gun. Although they did not carry much ammunition, they still achieved good results through constant shifts and flanking attacks in suppression operations, not because of how many people they could kill, but because they bought time.

The mortar group performed better, although at night, but according to the pre-prepared references and the "reserved" passages, it was possible to determine the situation of the Japanese troops with the help of only a few flares, and then in the shortest possible time, quickly cover the target with a rate of fire of about 12 to 15 rounds per minute. The mortar group also inherited the characteristics of German artillery, pursuing the maximization of instantaneous firepower, and the shelling often lasted only a few minutes, but the shells that fell in an instant were enough to cover an area.

"When our fifth shell came out of the barrel, our first shell hadn't hit the ground yet!" This is how a German officer described the mortar team after entering the effectiveness of the fire. There was pride in the tone.

Although they were initially attacked by surprise, under the cover of the support points and the good performance of the grassroots troops, the losses of the German troops on the periphery were not large. Most of them, as long as they were not particularly unlucky, had withdrawn to their intended garrison area, where they were usually battalions and could be supported by mortars and a small number of anti-aircraft guns, and there were relatively strong pillbox groups, with a large number of machine guns and semi-automatic fire, which were able to hold out for a considerable period of time without the Japanese focusing on them.

Now, the Japanese top brass obviously has no intention of clearing up the opponent, and the roads leading to depth have been opened, and according to the Japanese plan, they can pass through the most dangerous areas at night, and then enter the open area behind the position at dawn, and after a short rest, they can fight directly to the Marne. After all, the Japanese army has an absolute numerical superiority, and in the cognition of Akiyama Yoshiko and others, after the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese army under the numerical superiority does not seem to have lost a battle!

By the time the sun shone on the land again, a considerable number of Japanese troops had already passed through the gaps in the blockade line. And now, the 2nd and 3rd Divisions have gone to the front, and the 1st Division has gone to the back because of the need to cooperate with the British troops, and in this period when the power of the tank has been revealed, in order to deal with the tank, both sides are still painstaking, anti-tank cones and minefields are essential, and anti-tank trenches are also needed. The former is relatively easy to clean up, and sapper blasting and minesweeping are fine, but the latter is very troublesome to deal with.

The British promised to provide the Japanese with tank and armored vehicle support, which is true, but did not say that they would provide a full set of engineers, and it was the first time that the Japanese had seen such a wide anti-tank trench on the battlefield, which they had never encountered during the Russo-Japanese War. Sappers had no experience at all. In the end, it was the British who were very experienced, and they put a large bundle of firewood on each tank and motor vehicle, went to the side of the trench, threw it directly into the trench, piled it up in bundles, and drove it over. (This is what the British did in World War I)

Because there were dozens of heavy vehicles and some artillery that needed to be transported over, Terauchi Shouichi's troops were a little slower, and the first to pass were Takao Suzuki and Utsunomiya Taro, and the Japanese did run a little fast, and by dawn, a considerable part of the Japanese army had already completed the assembly. The strength of each of the two divisions and regiments has one wing, and according to the European establishment, it is probably two regiments.

Takao Suzuki, who followed the troops through, picked up the binoculars in his hand and observed the open field of the platform in the distance. When he finished a scan, the first thought that came to him was, this place is really good! This is the battlefield for the superior side, and it is also a battlefield for the attacker! Like a white cloth, there were no bunkers, hills, or anything else in the way. Even if the battle is high, Takao Suzuki can even see the Somme River not far away! As long as your troops can stand by the river, then it's all over!

"Gentlemen, work hard, our second division must be the first to penetrate the opponent!" By this time, Takao Suzuki was also a little hot-headed. And like him, Utsunomiya Taro was also quite excited, and the two Japanese armies rushed forward like a race!

"Although there are some deviations from what we expected, the first to come are the Japanese 2nd and 3rd Divisions, but it doesn't matter, let's clean them up first! According to the original plan, the armored units quickly crossed the river to fight, and the infantry units concentrated in the south could start from the defensive line, and we hit the 3rd Division first, and then the 2nd Division! ”

The German staff officers are still very fierce, although it is an open field, but it still has the effect of catching the Japanese off guard, the tank troops and the accompanying motorized infantry move fast, then they can naturally drive from the other side of the river by pontoon bridge, and then launch an offensive, but the main force of the infantry is obviously if it rushes directly, then it will take at least 11 roads to walk several kilometers, which is a great drain on the physical strength of the soldiers, and at the same time makes the battle lose its suddenness, so, The Germans chose to deploy a part of the troops in some of the flank positions, and as the Japanese troops increased, their attack on the front would definitely unfold, and the deployed Japanese flanks would "take the initiative to approach" the preset assembly area of the German troops on the flanks of the positions! This will shorten the distance between the two sides!

If the opposite side was the British and French troops, such a situation would not have arisen, because the French and the British knew that if they could not take the place that should be taken, they would pay a heavy price, which was ...... reason that the British battlecruisers did not spend money properly, so they were more brittle.

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