Finally, slightly sparse and scattered artillery fire was fired from behind the beaches of Bonemouth. After a short flight, the shells made by the British arsenals fell into the sea about 3,000 yards from the beach, and columns of water, large and small, rose on the surface of the sea. The artillery skills of the British Navy and Army are recognized as second-rate in the world, but at this time the German landing ships have covered almost the entire near-shore area, and any British artillery shell that does not shoot in the wrong direction has the opportunity to become a hero who hits the invaders.

After seeing the large, medium and small caliber artillery of the British army firing at the same time, most of the naval officers and men in the near-shore and main artillery fleets, the commanders of the mixed armored divisions, and the generals of the 8th Army sweated for the landing ships and the landing soldiers inside.

At this time, Chen Tian, who was standing on the "Border Governor" and watching the battle, was surprisingly calm, and it was normal for the British to start a counterattack, if the German soldier landed on the beach without encountering any resistance, he would have felt that there was a huge conspiracy hidden there, perhaps countless poison gas bombs, or terrible traps, but the British artillery fire made these worst guesses untenable.

"There are about 10 heavy howitzers above 203 mm, about 20 medium howitzers from 120 mm to 155 mm, and between 30 and 40 rapid-fire guns under 100 mm, which basically conforms to the 1:1 ratio of British heavy artillery to light artillery!"

General François was still staring at the telescope when he spoke, and the generals around him looked at him in surprise and appreciation, and Chen Tian also nodded with satisfaction. François, 58, and Mackensen, 65, were the two treasures of the East Prussian Army, both traditional Prussian soldiers, with excellent command skills in artillery and infantry tactics, and they could complement each other well with a new generation of generals who emphasized the army's mobility and assault capabilities.

"It's unbelievable that there are less than 100 guns! With so little firepower deployed by the British on such an important beach, did they all transfer their artillery to Brighton and Dover? Olg did not doubt François's judgment, and the falling shells were the best proof of this, but he felt that if he were the commander of the British army, he would have deployed hundreds of cannons in such a landing place.

"General, don't forget that our fleet has been shelling here for 4 hours, and more than 10,000 rounds of high-explosive shells are 1.2 times the standing ammunition of our fleet. I'm sure the mud hasn't completely cooled down when our infantry landed on the beach! Scheer on the side interjected, and before Org could say anything more, the latest salvo of the battlefleet began. The Navy and the High Seas Fleet spent a lot of money on this landing, and in early December each battleship returned to port with new main gun barrels, and even then after the landing battle, the life of these guns was basically at the end of their life. The Navy's demand for shells for large-caliber naval guns has reached an unprecedented level, which naturally makes Krupp and other arms dealers smile from ear to ear, and their shell workshops are also operating at full capacity, and large quantities of acceptable shells are constantly being transported to naval warehouses and then sent to battleships and supply ships.

The two British George V-class battleships, which had been renamed "Prince of Prussia" and "Tirpitz", showed exceptional strength in today's shelling, Their 10 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns were more powerful than any German battleship, and they fired more than 3,000 high-explosive shells at the British, who built them, and all the ammunition they carried with them had been returned to the British when they were captured, and they were now using shells specially made for them by German military factories. The manufacture of 343-mm high-explosive shells and armor-piercing shells was not a difficult task for a German powerhouse with first-class artillery technology, and the new German battleships under construction would also be equipped with such powerful main guns.

According to the instructions of the German airships over the beach, a large volley of shells fired by the bombardment fleet flew accurately around the British artillery positions after crossing the beach, and the British army's already thin artillery fire suddenly weakened.

"A war without sea and air supremacy is terrible!" Chen Tian couldn't help but sigh.

At this time, on the three aircraft carriers in the fleet, the crew and pilots were making final preparations before takeoff. The flat, wide wooden deck, the orderly array of carrier-based aircraft ready to fly, the high-speed propellers, and the roaring engines that spew green smoke outward, everything here is the most feared and hated by the British.

A new round of red sun has not yet risen from the sea, when the hazy veil that shrouds the world has gradually disappeared, when the sea is bright enough to fly, the first "Sea Eagle II" fighter fearlessly slid to the end of the deck, when the blue sea is in front of him, Lieutenant Colonel Madoni smoothly pulled up his warhawk, this is his 99th official flight as a carrier-based pilot, today is a memorable day for him, If nothing else, he will be the first pilot in the German Navy to take off and land more than 100 times from the deck of an aircraft carrier. His career as a pilot witnessed every major battle in the rise of the German Navy, including the 39th flight to raid Pascafro, the 49th to bomb Newcastle, the 55th to target London, the 56th to attack British destroyers and mine-striking formations that had fallen into mines, and then the seaports and shipyards on the eastern and southern coasts of England. This time, he would take his attack aircraft formation to provide close support to the landing force and protect the landing ships and soldiers from British aircraft.

After flying off deck, Lieutenant Colonel Madonny and his Seahawk II, designated L-01, began to hover over the aircraft carrier, and during the air raid on Pascalflo, it was the plane that dropped the first bomb on the British fleet, and the British Navy began to fall into the abyss of defeat. From the air, the eastern sky had begun to turn red, and at this time the sky was very calm except for the shells that kept passing at low altitude, and even the industrious seabirds were far away from this place of right and wrong. The attack planes and bombers on the carriers were sliding off the runway in turn, and as there were fewer and fewer planes left on the deck, the huge white iron crosses painted on the decks of the three aircraft carriers were gradually revealed. Every time he saw this striking logo, Madonie reminded himself to defend the honor of the Empire to the death, and for most pilots, this symbol was the driving force behind their battles.

When more and more German warhawks gathered over the aircraft carrier formation, the British beach was already within reach of the first batch of landing ships, and the soldiers who stayed in the cabin could still only see the shells constantly crossing overhead and the column of water rising high nearby, the landing ships shook violently under the impact of the waves and the explosion of British shells, and the splashes were constantly falling, and the soldiers of the vanguard of the mixed armored division could no longer care so much, they did what they did in training and exercises, Ordinary soldiers raised their rifles, and those in charge of mortars and machine guns carried their weapons on their shoulders, all silently waiting for the moment when the steel landing ladder on the bow of the ship was lowered.

A sharp whistle finally sounded on the beach in Bonemouth, and the sporadic sound of rifles first proved that there was still an Indian Xiaoqiang alive in the beach defense line, and then the British Maxim heavy machine gun began to shoot at the German landing ship less than a kilometer away from the beach, and the thick steel plate in front of the German soldiers gradually made the sound of being hit by a bullet, and the heavy machine gun on the landing ship returned fire without showing weakness, and the battle was finally no longer monotonous because of the addition of machine guns and rifles.

On the German destroyer "Champion", Goodry looked at the situation on the beach with a telescope with a safe and attentive attention, after the continuous heavy artillery bombardment, there seemed to be no life on the flat beach, most of the bullets were now fired from the top of the breakwater, the head covered with a large turban was faintly shaking, and many Indian soldiers were still trying to move along some of the remaining trenches to the beach forward position.

Guderian's inshore artillery fleet had moved to a distance of only four nautical miles (about 7,000 yards) from the beach, and shells from behind the beach occasionally landed very close to the warships, but the naval officers and men here were not in the slightest fear. On the semi-enclosed gun emplacement, the gunners were busy stuffing 120 mm or 150 mm high-explosive shells into the gun chambers, the sound of these single-mounted naval guns was far less shocking than that of the battleship guns, and the white gunpowder smoke gushing out of the gun muzzles was quickly dispersed by the sea breeze, and because the gun emplacements were very close to the command room, Guderian could even clearly hear the crisp sound of the unloaded shells falling on the deck.

"Oh God!" The captain of the destroyer next to Guderian, a young naval captain, cried out, and in his sight, a Type 1914A landing ship was directly hit by a small caliber shell, and in the flames and smoke of the explosion, there were scattered limbs, torn clothing and weapon parts everywhere, and the landing ship carrying about 50 soldiers suddenly became a living hell, although the whole ship did not fall apart, it quickly stalled and began to sink. It is rare for a shell under 100 mm to inflict such damage in battle, and the King should indeed award a medal to the lucky British gunners.

After a while, a heavy shell fell a few meters away from the bow of the "Champion", the water column had not yet completely fallen, several sailors on the deck fell in a pool of blood at once, unfortunate things happened one after another in front of his eyes, Guderian's eyes showed a trace of sadness, this was the first batch of army and navy officers and soldiers killed after the start of the landing operation. As the battle progresses, the number of casualties will only increase, and this is the price of victory.

The landing ship had not yet completely sunk, and more ships passed by it without fear, and the momentum of the thousands of sails on the side of the sinking ship was the best manifestation of the strong vitality of the German landing force, and on the foredeck of the "Champion", the sailors quickly carried the dead and wounded back to the cabin, the destroyer's front guns were still firing at the beach with all their might, and the only traces left by the British shells were the pool of blood on the deck and a few shattered portholes.

Brighton Beach, South of England.

Private Weil of the British army was dumbfounded, his immediate superior, the sergeant with the butt smashed in the ass, Lieutenant General Bitta, the commander-in-chief of the Brighton Line, dumbfounded, the Scottish cavalry who had just arrived from the cantonments of the two armies of London and Reading were dumbfounded, and the infantry and artillery who came galloping by train were also dumbfounded.

Off Brighton, hundreds of freighters, which had no personnel or supplies at all on the waterline, were contentedly dragging a larger number of small fishing boats and small sampans on their way home, and even the German battlefleet and small hulls did not bother to waste an extra shell here, and the sharp bows of the battleships drew a huge V-shaped on the surface of the water and turned back, as if even the flags on their masts were laughing at the stupid British.

"Ruined ......"

There were not a few British people who fell to the ground because they lost their souls, and Weir, the first person to discover the "German landing fleet," had become a British sinner, and the sergeant who reported this "important information" to his superiors could not escape his involvement, and Lieutenant General Bitta, who hurriedly reported to Haig about the German landing and vowed to turn Brighton Beach into a cemetery for the German landing force, did not know how to explain it to Haig.

When the news of the Brighton hoax and the German landing at Bonemouth reached General Haig's British Home Defense Command, the future of the cavalry general, who had been the youngest general of the British army, was basically doomed.

However, before the Germans secured their beachheads, Haig felt he had a chance to make amends.

"By my order, all the southern garrisons are to move at once to Bonemouth, and drive every German soldier who lands off the coast with all their strength and speed!"

After giving this somewhat desperate order, Haig began to wonder how he could get the King to give him a little more time, even if it was a day, and he might go from being a sinner to a hero.

"Lieutenant General Bita, I'm sorry!" Haig sighed, sometimes people really can't help themselves, and if he doesn't do this, he won't have a chance to turn over.

In a phone call with King George V, Hague placed the main responsibility for misjudging the location of the German landing on Lieutenant General Bitta, the poor commander of the Brighton Line, and in addition to suggesting that Bitta be replaced by Allenby, who was also a cavalry commander, Haig assured the King that everything was under his control, and that he would use his superior forces to squash the German landing force in the Bonemouth Beach area before the sun rose on December 28, and George V, who was already at a loss, actually promised. It also approved the transfer of all British fighters by Haig.

After this, Haig's headquarters showed remarkable efficiency, and the 1,420,000 British troops stationed in the south of England were immediately ordered to assemble all but a small garrison to Bonemouth as quickly as possible. Haig's optimistic estimate was that he could concentrate at least a million troops outside Bonemouth before dark, and based on previous estimates of the German navy's capacity, he knew that the German landing force would not exceed 300,000 men, and that there would be no heavy artillery support other than naval guns.

Hague, who was busy making up for the big leak, did not know that the more he did this morning, the more wrong he became, and he inexcusivably despised the fact that the reserves of the garrison at Bonemouth had been attacked by the Germans from behind, and drained nearly half of the British troops stationed around the fortress of Dover and the defensive line, and that there were only 80,000 defenders left there before the attack of the 5th Hindenburg Army, knowing that Dover had a much larger defensive area than Bonemouth.

"The fighter unit went out in full force, drove all the German airships and planes near Bonemouth, and forced the German fleet away from the beach!"

Haig finally put all the belongings of the British army on this gambling table, and the more than 100 British fighters that had been withheld no matter how arrogant the German airships and planes were were finally going to be used, and the British pilots who had announced that they would shoot down 20 German planes and 10 German airships last time also had a chance to realize their dreams. Of the 132 British fighters, 82 were "Eagle" fighters armed with three Lewis light machine guns on the front, and this number would have been even more had it not been for the destruction of the German commandos and the blockade of the German Navy.

The "Eagle" fighters were stronger than any previous British and French military aircraft, their speed and firepower surpassed those of German bombers, torpedo planes, and most reconnaissance planes, and their performance was relatively similar to that of the German "Sea Hawk II" carrier-based aircraft.

"Attention......"

The crew, located in the rear control area of the landing ship, shouted loudly, and after only a few seconds, after a muffled pop, the landing ship where Kartwasser was located suddenly stopped. Fortunately, the landing ship was not fast in the first place, and the soldiers did not fall due to the small inertia, and after a few shakes of the hull, Kartwasser and his companions held their breath as the landing ladder in the bow of the ship fell sharply, and the beach of Bonemouth was completely and clearly presented to everyone at such a close distance.

The sporadic fires, the smoking shells, the broken breakwaters, the cratered mud and rocky beaches on the surface of the moon, the shrill whistles of the shells that keep falling behind the beach, the softer ones come from the shells flying from the back of the beach, the strings of machine-gun bullets fired from the landing ships roar overhead, the sound of machine gun and rifle bullets flying from the beach comes from far and near, and splashes in the sea water in rows and rows of water more than ten centimeters high and as thick as a pen. Or smash sparks and clanks on the hull of a landing ship.

It turned out that this was a landing operation, and many German soldiers, including Kartwasser, did not have time to think about it, and a loud cry broke out from the crowd on the landing ship:

"Rush!"

Stepping on the landing pedal with the front end in contact with the bottom of the water, Kartwasser strode into the water, whether the sea was cold and biting, whether the beach was soft and the tide was soft, he had no feeling at all at this time; The steel helmet on his head was no longer heavy at this time, and he clutched the Mauser rifle held in front of his chest, and his eyes were only the firm back of his companion in front of him, and the beach less than ten meters away from him.

UK, here we come!