After Yan Youbing put down the phone, the two artillery non-commissioned officers who had just been transferred from the National Defense University for internship were a little surprised as the French liaison officers on the front line, because they found that these veteran officers had directly canceled the step of artillery preparation in the first battle!

Doing so two years ago would not have been a cause for concern, because at that time the Wehrmacht's long-range firepower and infantry squad were stronger than those of the opponent, but now a standard platoon of the German army had three squads, one Maxim heavy machine gun and three grenadier canisters, supplemented by one 80 mm mortar, each company was equipped with two 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, and after arriving at the battalion, there were six 75 rapid-fire guns and four 80 mortars to assist, so the firepower was slightly stronger than that of the expeditionary force.

I have been in France for more than three months, and I am no longer a rookie and a novice who is full of enthusiasm when I set off, and I only need to look at the figures of shell consumption in each major battle on the Western Front to deduce how important the time and intensity of artillery preparation are! How can these points of fire be destroyed without artillery preparation?

Yan Youbing did not answer the confusion of the non-commissioned officer and student, and those who were familiar with him knew that this young artillery colonel was definitely a monster of ice and fire! The calmness in training and combat, the fanaticism of artilleryism all present on him. And everyone knows that he was one of the early officers who received special guidance from the commander-in-chief. For so many years, I have never wanted other officers to take the initiative to explain tactics when it is not necessary, but let everyone experience it for themselves, unless I really don't understand it, I will explain it in detail, of course, this also means that the artillery officer who accepts the explanation will be severely punished for copying the tactical table hundreds of times. Therefore, the two junior non-commissioned officers and students immediately crowded into the middle of the staff officers, carefully looked at the operation map, and carefully searched for the "answer" plan they needed.

Their performance made Yan Youbing slightly hook the corners of his mouth. As early as the precedent of the Qing Dynasty, all military academies across the country offered courses such as cardinal algebra and geometry, and after more than ten years of training, the Chinese officers were not much worse than the Western officers of the same level in mathematics, but they were much worse in application and understanding, and the main reason for this was the gap that was difficult to bridge in terms of equipment and tactics, and it was not until the commander-in-chief Huā wrote a book and tactical shooting table for more than a year that this situation began to slowly reverse.

However, mere rote memorization will not make you a qualified officer! Yan Youbing took a deep breath and saw the pocket watch go to the last grid. Nodding to the staff officer.

Fire!

With a roar, 120 203-mm, 155-mm, and 105-mm howitzers of the two separate heavy artillery brigades that were 5 kilometers apart suddenly exploded, and swept 10 kilometers away like a hurricane sweeping across the Atlantic! At the same time, the artillery regiments of the divisions under the 8th Division and the artillery battalions of the brigades and regiments that undertook the offensive task also sang in unison, and the dense shells and hedgehogs gathered together and extended to the enemy. At the same time, the long-range firepower composed of 12 105 and 12 155 long-range cannons began to suppress the German position that Xue Muhua had just discovered, and the mortars were responsible for suppressing the support points of the German trenches.

The attack of nearly 400 artillery pieces of all kinds seemed to the layman to be absolutely chaotic, but the two French liaison observers who had been following the 8th Division's infantry frowned fiercely.

"Pete, what is this?"

"They have combined the three tactics of barrage Xu Advance, Support Point Destruction and Follow-up Cover!" The French lieutenant named Pitt clenched his fist fiercely, his face turned red, and he said excitedly: "God, Jason! How did they do it? This requires complex calculations, a meter of artillery fire accurate to the meter!"

"Look at the attack without preparation!" The officer's eyes widened even more. Because he saw that the artillery had just begun to attack the infantry, and these Chinese soldiers wearing military uniforms that were closer to the surface of the surface were stretched very wide, and each person was about 35 meters apart, which was nearly twice as large as the standard skirmish line of the French army! How can such a large gap give full play to the advantage of firepower? As doubts rose in their minds, the German shells on the opposite side also tilted down.

Without artillery preparation, would you have seen a massacre?!

When the French observers and liaison officers at various observation points raised such doubts, two joyful shouts came from Yan Youbing's artillery command center: "I know, I know!"

"Tell me." Yan Youbing looked at the non-commissioned officer who was four or five years younger than him.

The two little guys glanced at each other, and the black-faced young man on the left, who was obviously a few years older, saluted. Clenched his fists and ran to the large map and said his "answer": "Give up the artillery fire and prepare to start with the barrage of barrage, directly cover the infantry until the first trench and stop the shelling for 20 minutes, and then extend to the second trench at a rate of 100 meters every three minutes." When you reach the second line of trenches, you will be blocked from firing. By this time the infantry should have entered the first line of trenches, and artillery fire could cut off support from the second line! The follow-up artillery bombardment needs to see the speed of the infantry attack, it is expected that the infantry can complete the clearing of the first trench within 2 hours and then advance to the second trench, so after the infantry completes the clearance, the artillery fire will be extended to the third lane again, and so on gradually compressed until the second trench occupation is completed, and quickly changed to the blocking artillery bombardment of the enemy's two flanks and the rear road, at this time, the main infantry force will follow up and quickly complete the penetration to the depth and complete the occupation of the target area!"

"That's true, but you didn't say why you didn't prepare for artillery fire."

"Report, because of inertia!" Facing Yan Youbing's questioning eyes, the non-commissioned officer not only did not flinch, but puffed up his chest: "Start with the war." Both the British, French and German attacks will launch a long period of artillery preparation, from half an hour to several days and nights, after two years they have developed the habit of retreating into the second and third lines of solid bunkers when encountering enemy artillery fire preparations, waiting for the end of the battle before entering the position! This is not something that can be solved by tactics, but by the inertia of thinking! Because of this inertia, they will think that we are only preparing for fire now, so the first trench at this moment is the emptiest! Even when the enemy was stationed, most of them hid in sortie bunkers and waited for the shelling to end. When our infantry arrived, they were ill-prepared! So that our infantry can quickly take the front line and gain a foothold!"

Yan Youbing nodded with satisfaction, although the little guy said it simply, without considering the physical strength and speed of the infantry, but the artillery part said it all! So he smiled and waved his hand to the guards: "Send them to the front line to observe the infantry in action!" Remember to protect them!" After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze and admonished: "The core of infantry artillery tactics is not artillery, but infantry!" A good artillery commander needs to understand the tactics and capabilities of the infantry you are covering. ”

"Yes!"

When the two little guys put on helmets and gas masks and quickly rushed to the truck outside, the fierce battle ahead had already begun!

"Keep up."

"Pay attention to distance and speed."

"Slow down!"

Officers shouted, whistled, and exploded one after another along the assault line, and the three regiments in charge of the assault straddled the five-kilometer-long front in a zigzag staircase with battalions as units. Hundreds of infantrymen, wearing gas masks, bent over and following the shells with their heads down. As the two petty non-commissioned officers said, the Germans did not expect that the 8th Division would jump out of the artillery fire to prepare for this step, so when the shells fell, they naturally hid in the fortified second and third line bunkers and waited for the artillery fire to end before entering the battle position. So they realized that the danger was rushing forward, but at this time, the shells of the two artillery brigades had been cut off, and the dense artillery fire instantly caused heavy casualties to the German troops who were desperately moving forward.

The second-line trench in Du Zishan's eyes is already in flames, but his goal is the first trench! He gasped hard, and under his gas mask he could clearly hear his own violent heartbeat, and because of the need to achieve suddenness, the assault needed to be three times longer than normal! It was already a huge physical exertion, but it was stuffed in a mask. It's a terrible feeling! But he didn't dare to take it away, because no one wanted to be poisoned here by the poison gas that could appear at any time. Seeing that there were still 300 meters away from the first German trench, the tongue of fire in front of him suddenly erupted, which made him subconsciously fall to the ground, and the butt of the Winchester 1912 shotgun in his hand was pulled out of the mud.

The bullet flew past the scalp, but the hit was not too high, because almost all the comrades behind him were lying on their stomachs. He took the opportunity to take a few breaths to regain his strength, and then pulled the bolt and continued to crawl forward. He liked the new gun because it had 36 lead in its 16.83mm bullet. Four or five people will be unlucky if they go down with one shot! The only regret is that the range is too short and can only hit 40 meters, so it can only be assigned to trench commandos.

The light machine gun of the squad opened fire, and immediately afterwards the grenadiers also began to suppress the enemy machine guns. But the most powerful are the two 12.7mm fanged heavy machine guns in the company, which require 5 people to operate with a tripod, which is definitely a weapon of suppression! They can strafe opponents out of range of the Maxim, even if the enemy is hiding in infantry fortifications.

Sure enough, Makqin, who was in the way under the suppression of the fanged heavy machine gun, was quickly killed, and seeing that there was a gap in the enemy's firepower, Du Zishan suddenly jumped up and ran continuously, and when he saw that the trench was in front, the grenade that had been prepared was quickly thrown, and then the gunsmoke cover rushed to the edge like a sharp sword.

That's it! Two German soldiers suddenly appeared in his pupils, and he didn't think about the shotgun in his hand when he fired a bullet, rolled on the spot a few times, and then pulled his left hand and swept out a second shot.

Two German soldiers fell bloodied. He also took the opportunity to roll to the edge of the trench, but instead of standing up and jumping in, he followed the tactical movement and "rolled in" with his left hand sideways. Several German soldiers in the trench obviously did not expect him to come in with this action, and the muzzle of the gun that had just been raised immediately pressed down, but the shotgun was already firing! The tubular 5+1 magazine could not withstand too high-intensity battles, but because the German second-line infantry was blocked, there were not many soldiers in the first-line trenches. After a shot, the Germans who had gathered together all fell.

Due to the short firing range and the jagged shape of the trench, it is almost negligible to accidentally damage when using submachine guns, so after the comrades also came in with shotguns, everyone cooperated with each other to sweep the curved trenches over and over again like a "big broom". Under the terrifying close-range power of the shotgun, Du Zishan and his partners attacked and advanced along the trench to both flanks without difficulty, and the first trench was quickly occupied as more and more comrades rushed in.

"Machine guns are fast!"

"The second echelon is ready to attack the second trench!" While the second line of German trenches was still suffering from artillery fire, a heavy machine gun and mortar with strong fangs were already aimed there, and the second echelon had already crossed the first trench with the least difficulty with artillery and began to penetrate in depth.