At the forward observation post, the officers could see very clearly the details of what was happening in the front battlefield through the artillery mirrors: according to the offensive tactics that had been rehearsed many times in advance, the artillery was responsible for clearing and suppressing the enemy's fortresses, and used special mine-clearing shells to clear a large area of the minefield, and after the offensive began, the engineers in charge of battlefield operations carefully used demining equipment to detect the remaining mines in the minefield and detonate them one by one with special detonators. When the passage was opened, the tank group slowly crossed the minefield in a compact formation, followed by tracked armored combat vehicles and half-track armored personnel carriers......

As the coalition assault force approached the perimeter of the fortress at Ellsden, several horizontally fired shells whizzed into the group of tanks, and the two coalition vehicles were instantly hit and burst into flames. Immediately after, the massive fortress was awakened! The defenders' fire points hidden in various parts of the fortress began to fire one after another, and howitzers, field guns, and anti-aircraft guns weaved a dense network of fire, exposing the open area to the coalition armored forces by surprise, and the combat vehicles were hit one after another, caught fire and even exploded violently, and the armored vehicles were even more busy reversing and retreating - in this case, it was simply difficult for chariot guns and vehicle-mounted mortars of various calibers to find and destroy those fortresses built using the terrain!

Less than a quarter of an hour into the battle, the first coalition attacking forces lost more than 20 combat vehicles and the wreckage of armored vehicles and hastily withdrew to the starting position of the attack.

Witnessing the formidable defense of the fortress of Elsden, Crown Prince Louis heard an exclamation around him, and the generals of the coalition army were assessing the difficulty and cost of this battle with unprecedented caution, especially in terms of time span.

"Looks like we'll have to use our housekeeping magic to solve the problem!" At the Forward Observation Post, an Austro-Hungarian general in a double-breasted military uniform spoke. Don't look at the old uniforms of the officers of the Austro-Hungarian army, as if they were antiques left over from the First World War, their large-caliber artillery is really speechless. Named after Emperor Karl I, the "Karl Mortar" is a self-moving, cross-country capable super self-propelled gun, except for a short range, it is no worse than the main gun of any battleship.

After a while, two thunderous sounds sounded from the attacker's position one after another, and then two more violent explosions came from the Ellsden Fortress, which were more than ten kilometers apart, and the ground could still be felt shaking!

I saw two huge pillars of smoke rising from the northerly position of the dark brown Els Mountain, and the entire fortress suddenly only had a rumbling echo!

The entry of the giant mortar guns reinvigorated the Allied generals, but the two weapons did not fire a second round of artillery until ten minutes later. In order to adapt to the needs of the battlefield, the Austro-Hungarian Army even equipped them with ammunition delivery vehicles modified from the chassis of tracked combat vehicles, but because the shells were too heavy, and the raised guns had to be restored to the level after each fire to be loaded, the firing speed was not much faster than that of ordinary train guns!

The coalition artillery observation points deployed on the front line have also transmitted the information of the defenders' fire points observed in the early stage to the nearest howitzer and cannon positions. Although these 105 and 150 mm caliber conventional artillery guns were not enough to penetrate thick concrete or even armored fortifications, considering the large number of small forts at Ellsden Fortress, the Allied General Staff, which needed to ensure a victory, still had four heavy artillery regiments in advance and prepared plenty of shells in advance.

Following the pace of the attack of the two "Karl mortars", the coalition artillery group began a fierce bombardment that lasted for two hours. The shelling scene is certainly spectacular, but it is inevitable that aesthetic fatigue will occur over time. Out of boredom, some of the officers even opened their cards in the fortress......

Two hours later, tens of thousands of shells were poured into the Scottish fortress by a coalition artillery group including the "Karl Mortar Cannon", and the scene of volcanic ash once again appeared in the otherwise beautiful Elsden, and the artillery fire seemed to hit one of the defenders' ammunition depot, so that the fire on the south side of the fortress lasted for a long time, but only after the shelling stopped, Scottish soldiers were faintly seen coming out to extinguish the fire.

Taking advantage of the artillery bombardment, the coalition ground forces decisively launched a real onslaught!

More than 100 combat vehicles belonging to the 1st Armoured Brigade of the New United Kingdom flowed like a black river rushing towards the sea over the open area south of Elsden. Undenied the onslaught of fire from the Scottish fortress, the brave armourers allowed shells to fall around and explode violently, and every tank and armoured vehicle advanced at a near-dash speed. With a screeching grinding sound, the steel tracks spun rapidly, raising clouds of dust majestically.

Seeing that the fortress was close at hand, a group of coalition vehicles rushing to the front stopped, and they adjusted their guns slightly and opened fire on their respective targets—a distance of three or four hundred meters, no less than a bayonet fight between infantry for the artillery of both sides. The white-knuckle battle soon showed its cruelty and brutality, and the Scottish firepower points that were still spraying tongues of fire were fired directly at close range, and the flesh and blood in the bursting bunkers were blurred and the guns were twisted; Coalition vehicles made with welding technology look mighty, and when pierced by large-caliber armor-piercing shells, they will instantly become iron coffins to bury the charioteers. In just a few minutes, the number of blown Scottish forts and destroyed coalition vehicles was growing at an alarming rate!

It was during these oppressive few minutes that the chariots equipped with flamethrowers and the armoured vehicles carrying the infantry quickly crossed the open area to the south of the fortress, the former rushing straight to a distance of tens of meters from the Scottish fortress, and the piercing fire dragons sprayed mercilessly into the bunkers built against the mountain, while many of the infantry were knocked down by flying bullets and even large-caliber machine shells as soon as they left the armoured vehicles. Probably the wisest way to get involved in this brutal gladiatorial arena is to rush forward with your companions!

Once inside the corner of most of the opposing guns, the well-trained Coalition infantry quickly used a variety of explosives to blast through the defenders' forts and tunnels sealed with steel gates, and then advanced down the narrow, dark passages into the fort. For the allied officers and soldiers fighting on the front line, the inside of the fort is no less dangerous than the outside, and the battle around the labyrinthine tunnel may continue for a long time, but the gates of Scotland have indeed revealed the cracks, and the magical light spills out from them, baptizing every "pilgrim" who comes here.

"Look! We have knocked on the door of the enemy! Lieutenant General Dimi Case, a general of the English Army who served as the commander on the ground, exclaimed excitedly.

"Our troops have stormed the fortress?" Crown Prince Louis quickly returned to the artillery mirror. Following the tradition of the Hohenzollern family, the prince entered the military academy at an early age and officially entered the army as an adult. During World War II, he landed in Britain as a staff officer and was supposed to take part in Allied military operations in North and Central America, but at the end of the Battle of Britain, his lieutenant tragically stepped on a landmine, and Louis, who was only a prince at the time, nearly lost his life. Upon hearing the news, the old Emperor Wilhelm II personally intervened and transferred Louis back to the General Staff to serve. He hasn't been on the battlefield since.

"It's a pity that our secret weapon was used in the first battle." The Austro-Crarian double-breasted general said in a loud voice, implying that a large part of the credit for the coalition forces being able to break through the fortress was due to the two powerful self-propelled mortar guns.

Crown Prince Louis ignored the man, and instead asked, "Which army was the first to storm the fortress?" ”

Lieutenant General Case replied cleverly: "I saw the armored forces of Ireland and the infantry assault groups of England attacking the enemy fortress group side by side. ”

"This is thanks to our 'Karl mortar' knocking on the door of the enemy." The Austro-Crarian double-breasted generals muttered unrelentingly, completely oblivious to the fact that they had joined the warbands without the Austro-Hungarian Empire declaring war on Scotland.

"The battle inside looks very fierce, and a lot of the artillery is still firing, so it's better to have the reserves ready to go into battle at any time." The new United Kingdom general, General Zeller, who is of mixed German and Irish descent, drew everyone's attention back to the topic with a pragmatic reminder.

Compared to the well-known fortresses of the two wars, the defense of Ellsden Fortress is narrower than the front, and the depth of the defense is more than ten kilometers, like a super warship moored on land. The use of a large amount of reinforced concrete gave the "battleship" a high level of defensive strength, and many of the town's original buildings were preserved and converted into ground firepower points, while drainage ditches and underground pipes were also used to form a criss-crossing internal defense system, even if the coalition vehicles and infantry broke into the fortress, they could not easily overcome the remaining firepower points of the defenders.

By noon, the coalition attacking forces had largely removed the outer firepower of the fortress at Ellsden, so that combat and transport vehicles could move freely through the open area south of the fortress, while the fighting inside the fortress intensified. Just in the southern part of the fortress, the troops of both sides fought back and forth for four rounds. Not only were flamethrowers and bazookas used extensively by the attackers, but the defenders were also equipped with these melee weapons, resulting in the intensity of the battle and the casualties of the participating troops far exceeding the command's expectations.

To be a handsome, vision, judgment, determination and courage are indispensable. By the early afternoon, Lieutenant General Dimi Keyes, who was the commander of the ground in England, ordered the reserves to be put into battle. The 7th Infantry Division of England took over from the 1st Infantry Division, which had been fighting for a long time, and the 20th Task Force, modeled after the Irish Special Operations Force and trained by the Irish side, joined the battle with the armoured units. General Keith ordered all the troops to take down this frontier fortress of great significance to the Scots before nightfall, and completely pull out the hard nail that the Scottish army had buried in the border line.