When the French infantryman Michiel Blarian, hidden in the trenches, saw the gray metallic German tanks braving the artillery fire and approached the position, he felt that his heart was beating faster than when he first confessed to the girl. How he wish www.biquge.info ed it was just a nightmare, no matter how frightened and desperate he was, he would wake up, but his rational consciousness reminded him over and over again that this cruel war was real, that many of his compatriots and partners had died on the battlefield, and that death that once seemed far away was now in front of him, and that could befall him at any time!

On the French positions, it was clear that Blerian was not alone in being overwhelmed by this pent-up nervousness. Just looking around him, there was not a single face that was not frowning and grim, and the officers and men had not yet recovered from the shadow of the defeat at the Battle of the Marne, and they were again stubbornly pushed to the front. The German artillery fire was as fierce as ever, and after more than three hours of shelling in the early morning, the orderly defensive position became full of holes, the trenches on which high hopes were placed collapsed in many places, and there were many gaps in the continuous barbed wire belt, and the dense craters in front of the position provided natural shooting shelter for the attacking German soldiers.

During the Battle of the Marne, Blarian had seen German chariot groups on the battlefield, and because of their presence, the German steel offensive was no longer a false mental suggestion. These steel-clad and gun-armed guys have a strong impact on conventional field fortifications, rifles and machine guns have no effect on them, only the accurate bombardment of field artillery can stop their attacks, and field artillery is not always able to appear in key positions at critical moments.

A few days earlier, the friendly troops of the 40th Infantry Division had fought a relatively successful defensive battle at Claisouy in front, dragging the Germans for a day and a night with fewer enemies and more enemies, and it is said that more than 20 German tanks were destroyed. After the remnants of the 40th Infantry Division withdrew to Villeparisi, the mystery of dealing with the German tanks blew like the wind through the French positions - when the German tanks drove to within 300 meters, they were aimed at the small-caliber rapid-fire guns and hit hard!

In this huge attack, the Germans threw in sixty or seventy chariots in one go, which were divided into two kinds according to their size, the large ones were all on the line, and the small ones were like the poor porters, and on each side of the body hung several steel plates five or six meters long and more than one meter wide. The last time Bririan saw the German tank, he only glanced at it in a hurry, so he didn't realize that there was something strange in front of him. He crouched silently on the edge of the trench, leaving only his eyes exposed. When the German tanks were still two or three kilometers from the position, the French field artillery in the rear opened fire rather dishably, firing one or two hundred shells, most of which were used against the infantry and cavalry, which seemed to have no effect on the German tanks, and all the gray iron bumps were moving forward in an orderly manner.

"Three hundred meters! Three hundred meters! ”

Blarian muttered in a voice that only he could hear, and a five-barreled rapid-fire cannon was deployed more than ten meters away from him, and the gunners had built a half circle around it with sandbags, and built a sturdy shed on top of it with a tree trunk the thickness of their arms, and covered it with nearly a meter of dirt to protect it properly.

In the sky over the battlefield filled with gunsmoke, the fighters of the two sides with bright colors came and went, driving each other, and on the whole, the German planes painted in gray had the advantage, and whenever the field artillery behind the French position opened fire, they rushed like sharks smelling blood, and then reported the position of the French field artillery to their own artillery, and the German heavy artillery then used the range advantage to carry out countermeasures, which was also a key factor in the unsatisfactory performance of the French field artillery today.

The artillery of the opposing sides was busy, and the combat units of both sides that were about to start a frontal battle were preparing to attack. The French forward positions were already lined with infantry, and the communication trenches and shelters were full of officers and soldiers ready to rush to the front line at any time, while the German chariot groups in a wedge-shaped queue continued to approach the French positions, followed by at least seven or eight thousand German infantry in six echelons, and heavy machine guns and light artillery could be seen in the infantry ranks.

There were still more than 1,000 meters away from the French trenches -- 13,400 meters away from the French army's first-line trenches, and the German tanks stopped one after another. Moments later, the Germans opened fire, their shells smashing directly into the French forward positions, every protrusion that seemed to be a machine gun or artillery fire point would be taken care of, and the 37mm tank guns were just powerful enough to penetrate the bunkers of ordinary civil structures, and some unfortunate machine gun crews were killed before they could enter the battle.

The close fire of the German tanks was not the most terrifying blow, and just after they opened fire, a thunderous roar suddenly sounded in the rear of the German attacking troops - this was the roar of field artillery groups and light howitzer groups, which were not as destructive as heavy howitzers, and their effective range was not as good as that of heavy cannons, but they were superior in the number and rate of fire of artillery guns. In the blink of an eye, the forward positions of the French army were shrouded in flickering firelight and billowing smoke and dust -- the short suppressive fire lasted only ten minutes, and the number of French officers and men killed and wounded was probably more than in the previous two or three hours!

Under the name of the suppressive fire of their own artillery group, the German infantry who entered the attack decisively accelerated the speed of advance, especially those who were in the first echelon, they trotted all the way, closely following the rhythm of the chariot troops to the French trench, at this time, the German artillery group projected a batch of smoke bombs into the French position, gunsmoke, dust and chemical smoke were mixed together, the French officers and soldiers not to mention aimed shooting, even normal breathing was a little difficult.

"The Germans are going to rush through the trenches!"

I don't know who shouted, and the officers in the trenches were both startled and anxious, and they hurriedly drove the soldiers to take up arms and go into battle. Being bombarded by the German artillery just like this, Blarian's head was blank, and it wasn't until he was kicked in the ass that he subconsciously grabbed his rifle and stood up, and when he heard the bullets whizzing over his head, a deep chill suddenly rose behind him, and the whole person suddenly came to his senses. He hurriedly lowered his head, his vision was full of smoke and dust, and he could not see the Germans at all, but his companions around him were shooting, and Bririan had no choice but to pull the trigger, as for where the bullet went, I'm afraid only God knows.

After five or six minutes of brainless fighting, the smoke and dust that had filled the position cleared a little, and before the smoke bombs of the German artillery could turn the place back into a chaotic world, Brarian saw that the German tanks were all parked in front of the wide trench - they could not cross the trench, and they could not climb down and up again - this was the result of Gallieni's original vision.

"Attention! The muzzle of the gun is lowered and the aim is aimed at the guy's turret...... Ammo hand, keep the ammo delivery speed ......" with all your might"

The nearby small-caliber rapid-fire artillery crew was clearly overwhelmed by the approaching fire of the German tanks and the fierce suppression of the rear artillery group, and the officer's roar immediately gave Brerian and the surrounding French infantry a glimmer of hope in the dark depths. The 37 mm M1877 rapid-fire guns were the standard equipment of the French Navy in the late 19th century, and they used vertical magazines containing 10 Hatch Chase shells, and their combat performance was similar to that of the Maxim guns, except that the operator had to rotate the barrel by hand to achieve a maximum rate of fire of only 60 rounds per minute.

Hearing the sound of machine guns like drummers beating the drums of war, Brerian looked eagerly over the trench, how he wished to see the German chariots destroyed one by one. At a distance of no more than 300 meters, machine shells continued to hit the German tanks, and these iron pimple turrets or hulls were scattered everywhere, but none of them smoked and caught fire or even exploded. Brarian watched the German tank in front of him still open fire after a dozen shells in a row, and he felt a deep sense of despair.

Soon, the German artillery group once again let out a thunderous roar, and to the surprise of the French officers and soldiers, the German troops engaged in the battle were at the front of the French position, and their artillery was several kilometers away, and it was impossible to avoid accidental damage. Shells rained down, but instead of a deafening explosion, the muffled sound characteristic of chemical smoke grenades. From the front of the trench to the rear of the French trenches, a huge area was filled with gray-white smoke, and the German tanks and the infantry that had entered the trench once again "disappeared" from the guns of the French soldiers.

Under the repeated shouts of the officers, Blerion and the French infantry around him had no choice but to continue to shoot blindly. At the same time, because of the presence of this smoke, the direct threat to the French troops on the position was temporarily reduced, and the soldiers gradually began to adapt to the urgent atmosphere of the battle, and the commanders also took advantage of this rare respite to increase the reserves, plug the gaps, and have the field artillery cover the front of the position with rapid-fire fire, in an attempt to thwart the German attack.

With 18 rounds fired, Blerian guessed that he might have taken a chance to kill one or two German soldiers, and was pleased with this self-deception, but in an instant, the situation suddenly changed, and the loud roar of German tanks in a state of movement came from the fog, followed by a shout: "The German tanks have rushed through the trench!" ”

Blarian didn't know whether it was true or not, but he vaguely heard the sound of the stakes hanging the barbed wire being broken and the barbed wire being pulled, and the roar of the engine, the friction of the tracks became clearer, and the oncoming bullets became denser. After two or three minutes of great terror, Blerian suddenly heard the shouts of German soldiers ahead, and then a black object appeared in front of the trench. The surrounding French soldiers desperately opened fire on it with their weapons, but the hideous-looking iron guy continued unmoved, and the gray crowd of German soldiers appeared in the dissipating fog, and the iconic pointed steel helmets, cold and fierce faces, and the bright bayonets in their hands held Blarian's breath......

(End of chapter)