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The battle returned to its original way, and 300 cannons of various types from the German army kicked off the bloodiest day.

Although bombers were dispatched in advance to take out the most threatening heavy siege artillery, the German firepower was still terrifying. Relying on the support of the convenient French railway network behind the Hindenburg Line, a large number of heavy equipment continued to arrive in the Bazangkur theater, on the contrary, the expeditionary force was destroyed by the Germans, and the road was trampled into a muddy pond so that many heavy equipment could not arrive in time, and it was necessary to focus on the main force of the German First Army, so the artillery quickly fell into the disadvantage.

In particular, the German 150-mm howitzers and long-range cannons formed an artillery group, frantically tilting the German anger towards Bazangkul, and even the veterans who had experienced the previous breakthrough in the Avila Valley could not even lift their heads in the face of such artillery fire. The biggest advantage of the sieve trench is that it takes a short time to build, and the staggered cascade can take full advantage of the multi-layer firepower, and it also ensures that the enemy will swarm along the trench after breaking through a little bit like the traditional long snake trench. But when it comes to defending against shells, it is inferior to traditional trenches. Fortunately, after two days and three nights of repeated reinforcement, as long as they did not fall directly into the trench, they could help the soldiers survive the most terrible shelling preparation stage.

He probably had already learned that the main force of his First Army was surrounded in the Rainywell-Charles Valley, so not only Ludendorff strictly ordered his troops to desperately open the road, but even the German crown prince sent a telegram from the General Headquarters of the Ilsun Front asking the front-line officers to immediately end the battle in Bazangkul and move closer to the First Army. So the shelling lasted only half an hour. The Germans used barrage tactics to send the Kuroshio-like infantry on a 20-kilometer-wide front.

In the woods in the northeast corner of Zabal Mountain, two short trenches have been joined together, camouflage nets have been torn apart by artillery fire, a large tree that has been blown off lies horizontally above the trench, and dozens of sand-yellow figures are curled up in the tunnel, and the floating earth covers most of their bodies. As the artillery fire gradually extended backwards, the first figure on the left squirmed slightly. In an instant, most of them began to move, like a swarm of sandworms, but a few of them stopped moving at all.

Li Yuguo raised his head. Only the dark eyes seemed to be distinguishable on the dirty face. This is his temporary headquarters, and he was slightly relieved to see that most of them were in good condition, but before he could speak, his guard had already shouted: "Regiment commander." Hill. "The not very high peak was filled with smoke and dust, and only a vague outline could be seen, and the figures in the smoke were entangled and disorganized, and it was obvious that the Germans had broken through the advance position and began to storm the mountain.

Zabal Mountain is undoubtedly the key to the entire battlefield, and whoever controls it completely will be able to set up a cannon and take advantage of the height difference to sweep the entire battlefield! So Li Yuguo jumped out of the trench without thinking about it: "Reserves, follow me!" ”

The reserve soldiers in the left and right trenches all jumped out of the trenches, each wearing a gas mask and holding a steel gun, and the snow bayonet had already been inserted, and followed the regiment commander towards the hill. On the top of the hill a few hundred yards ahead, the brother troops stationed at the top of the mountain had reached the point of running out of gas! The trenches were filled with soldiers whose hearts and lungs had been shattered by heavy shells of large calibers. The few remaining soldiers also used their last strength to fight bravely against the rushing Germans!

"Up, up, up." In Li Yuguo's waving arm, there were figures rushing out of the trenches along the way and following closely, and when they reached the foot of the mountain, the number had reached a thousand! Not all of these people were soldiers in the regiment, in fact, the entire battlefield at present, except for the two divisions later, has been completely disrupted. Soldiers can only rely on the consciousness they have trained in peacetime to follow the officers on defense and offense.

With the support of 6 80-mm mortars, Li Yuguo was the first to rush to the top of the mountain, and the 32-round machine gun in his hand swept rapidly, and several German soldiers who were about to rush up were hit. But a mere submachine gun was too weak, and it was swarming like ants to the Germans. The magazine was emptied in just a few strokes, and he didn't even have time to change the magazine when a bayonet rushed at him.

"Commander, be careful!" The orderly shouted, and the rifle in his hand was thrown at the enemy like a javelin, and the German soldier was so frightened that he hurriedly dodged, at this time he also rushed to Li Yuguo's side, and the engineer shovel swept towards the enemy. With a crackling sound, the shovel slammed into the German soldier's face, smashing him all over the blood. But this German soldier was also extremely fierce, and at first glance he looked like a veteran who had been fighting for several years, and he actually lay on the ground and stabbed the orderly in the thigh despite the pain.

Seeing that the fifth orderly he had changed in three days fell, Li Yuguo's eyes were bleeding, and the pistol was aimed at him and pulled the trigger until the guy's head was blown up. The soldiers behind him rushed up and crossed by, and the Germans were completely strangled together, Li Yuguo had time to pick up the orderlies, and the little guy was still gasping when he was carried on the stretcher by the medical soldiers: "Regiment commander, am I considered meritorious?" ”

"Stand, Lao Tzu will report to you when he goes back." After comforting this little guy who was nagging all day long about making meritorious contributions, Li Yuguo picked up the sapper shovel and waved it at the nearest German army.

Fierce hand-to-hand combat stretched from the top of the mountain to the mountainside, nearly a thousand pairs of soldiers fought each other, the German army was tall, the expeditionary force was short and agile, both sides were all muzzle to muzzle, bayonet to bayonet, bullets flying sideways through the crowd, grenades raining each other down. This kind of picture appeared in front of every front-line trench, and the German army deserved to be the most powerful army in Europe, with a stubborn will to fight and excellent individual soldier quality, even in the face of the most brutal white-knuckle battles, still shouting slogans that everyone could not understand.

The whole line of defense was as terrible as a boiling hot oil pan, all kinds of shouts, flags and flares were raised from that side, some called for reinforcements to hurry up, some asked for artillery support, and some were simply in a hurry. The artillerymen on both sides were also completely red-eyed, and they fired rows of shells at the defensive line without caring about accidental injuries, plowing lines of fire on the support roads of their respective opponents. Even though the land of France was still very cold at the beginning of May, the artillerymen on both sides almost all took off their clothes and competed shirtlessly to see who was faster! The shells were slamming on the road where each other's reinforcements had come up. And the reserves on both sides were even more desperate to brave the dense artillery fire to surge forward. Everyone forgot how deadly the explosion was, and there were only two thoughts left in their minds. Occupy and block!

The machine gunner swam in the trench with a Han III heavy machine gun, and when he saw that it was penetrated by the Germans, he sent a shuttle of bullets over, although the pointed bullets were not as powerful as the German troops, but they still dominated the battlefield within 300 meters, and the combat method of moving flexibly was not comparable to the MG8 Maxim, and it was often a string of bullets that stirred up a rain of blood in the sky. Relying on dozens of heavy machine guns and hundreds of light machine guns, no matter how desperately the German army fought the front, it was always firmly in the hands of the expeditionary force. The Germans were also in a hurry. Braving the fierce artillery fire of the opponent, the dead and heavy Makqin was dragged to the front line, grenadiers, mortars, 37 guns, 47 guns, etc., as long as they could move, all pulled forward and fired at close range. The officers also hated to rush forward on their own. All troops are strictly ordered to seize positions regardless of casualties!

Colonel Granmeson had seen countless battles, but he was still shocked by the tragic fighting style of the two sides, and his eyes couldn't help but look at Yue Peng, who was holding a telescope next to him and never put it down.

"The second reserve echelon goes up! Half an hour into the third echelon, don't be afraid of sacrifice. Time is in our hands! Yue Peng continued to hold the telescope in his left hand, and waved it down again with his right hand.

In the cold-blooded order that was criticized by countless people after the battle, the entire two brigades of the second echelon rushed up from the sortie position, and suddenly a crowd appeared behind the position! As soon as they left the third echelon, they rushed into the steaming sortie position, and behind each mask were serious, nervous and even shivering, vomiting yellow faces! Is he really that cold-blooded? Colonel Granmesson's gaze swept to a cracked button on the mound of mounds, and he could not help but think of the young lieutenant general's action of tearing open his neckline just now, and with this he found that his eyes sharpened, and soon saw beads of sweat running down his wrists, and the collar of his wet shirt.

The lieutenant general was also nervous, but he did a great job of hiding his heart. And he seems to have a strong belief that the Rainyvale-Shire Valley will succeed, otherwise he would never have died like this! From the beginning of the breakthrough at the mouth of the Avila Valley, Colonel Granmeson gradually changed his attitude, and he had always felt that the Chinese expeditionary force was taking advantage of the opportunity to make money, and almost all the Entente officers and soldiers held this idea. Even 4 days ago, this idea was deeply ingrained, so it is not surprising that Niveller and Mangran were extreme. You must know that the French government pays their soldiers a hundred times more than the French soldiers! After all, it was a French war, and it was the duty of every dignified person to defend the country, but then a lot of industrial support was given, and all the equipment of the 35 infantry divisions was given. Dozens of Chinese goods were included in the list of "munitions" and entered Europe, which made everyone indignant, when will it be China's turn to export goods to Europe? They used to sell only cheap raw materials, but they took the opportunity to join the Entente and send troops to open the European market without difficulty.

It wasn't until four days of fighting with them that Colonel Granmeson realized that the French had neglected this army too much, and that behind the interests they had no less spirit and fighting power than the French army with high morale at the beginning! If they could have given them more ammunition, more support, and even more trucks and pack horses to help them improve their ability to transport heavy equipment, would it still be so hard now? Looking at the corpses of the German mongrels who had fallen like a ridge in front of the position, he even believed that even if the German First Army broke through the encirclement, everyone would re-examine this army, and any rumors about sky-high compensation would disappear.

However, there was one more thing he never understood. Although they have played with dignity and let the world see clearly the power of China, the politicians raised by the bitches at the top will never sacrifice the interests of the colony to China because of this, so why are they so persistent and so desperate? They sent hundreds of thousands of troops across the ocean, did they just want to be in the limelight once?

When Colonel Granmesson was secretly speculating, there was a sudden agitation in the bunker, and when he looked up, he found that the artillery fire in the distance was much more dense, and when he raised his binoculars, he found that the ridge of the vital Zabal Mountain had turned into a burning belt of fire. It turned out that after the German army that attacked there was defeated, the embarrassed Germans concentrated a hundred cannons and bombarded them a little.

Oh, God! At least two regiments, not three regiments are gone!

He hurriedly turned his head to look at Yue Peng's face, but the latter was still as cold as a statue, and even the lines on his cheeks didn't seem to change. "Draw 2 regiments from the third echelon to find Li Yuguo and them, if you live to see people and die, you want to see corpses!"

The herald clenched his fists and ran to the sortie, and Colonel Granmesson moved his lips. He felt compelled to remind the lieutenant general that his casualty rate had reached a critical line, and that if there was no more news from Raineyvale's side, it was only a matter of time before the line collapsed. But just as he opened his mouth to make the first kind reminder, an earth-shattering shout suddenly erupted behind him!

All the officers turned their heads, and saw that the telegraph room in the depths of the woods suddenly exploded, and then a news swept over Bazangkur like a hurricane and thunder.

"Report!"

Bai Chongxi straightened his waist. The loud voice almost overshadowed the explosion louder than the dry thunder: "Brigadier General Zhang Xiao is in a hurry." ”

In the translator's quick reactionary mouth, Colonel Granmeson and all the observers from England, France, and other countries present were completely stunned! Great news, great news! Victory in the Raineyvale-Shire Valley! After a series of transfers and detours. The 7 divisions of the main force of the German First Army, which had rushed to the battle, were extremely uncomfortable with the rapid attack launched from all sides by the 14 divisions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and completely collapsed after 33 hours! Except for half of the cavalry division and a small part of the infantry who forcibly crossed the Aisne River and fled, the rest were all annihilated! Rainiwell is restored!

Oh, God!

"Blow the trumpet. No! Blowing the Triumph also gave the Germans a taste of our awesomeness! ”

In Yue Peng's loud command, 3 red signal flares suddenly rose in the sky above Bhazankul! The sound of trumpets like the beat of victory drums struck the entire battlefield from south to north! "Won over there? That side won! We won! Lord, brethren. ”

"Wehrmacht attack!"

At that moment, Colonel Gramsson and everyone felt that electricity rushed up their spines and then all over their bodies! Every trench, every crater, every soldier who could still run roared, shouted, roared and rushed westward, and the already exhausted German army was soon overwhelmed by the hot current of the tide.

May 5, 1917, 4 p.m. Only four and a half days have passed since the breakthrough in the Avila Valley. The siege of the Rainevill-Shire Valley and the interception of Bazangkul, which began the latest of the April offensive on the Western Front, came to an end. In the fierce battle of three days and three nights, only 4 of the 11 divisions of the German First Army were spared (1 escaped from the encirclement, 2 Moronviliers, 2 broke through the valley and was crippled and then merged and retreated to Reims), and the rest were all annihilated, of which more than 80,000 were captured. In the simultaneous battle of the Bazangkul interception. The Chinese Expeditionary Force, which was dominated by five light infantry divisions, suffered more than 18,000 casualties of its own, but finally blocked the crazy attack of a total of seven German infantry divisions for three days and three nights, and killed more than 20,000 German soldiers, and also captured 5,000 prisoners and a large amount of equipment and baggage. If it had not been for the early deployment of the second line of defense by Ludendorff along the Reims to the Aisne, if it had not been for the two divisions that had moved south from Ilsunsedon to hold the north bank of Artigny, if it had not been for Mangran's stupidity. Perhaps the entire situation on the Western Front seems to have been completely rewritten!

Although the final result was a little disappointing, these four and a half days have been recorded forever! Due to the underestimation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the mobilized German troops paid a heavy price, and within four and a half days, not only was the opponent punched a huge salient 80 kilometers wide and nearly 150 kilometers deep between Reims and Moronvilliers, but also lost more than 170,000 people! More than 1,300 cannons (including mortars), 970 heavy machine guns, 37 tanks, 210,000 guns of various types were lost, and the ammunition and baggage were immeasurable! Combined with the 130,000 troops consumed in the Anglo-French offensive in April, the loss of 300,000 troops in a month became the second largest monthly loss after the 350,000 troops of the Brusilov offensive on the Eastern Front. As a result, Hindenburg had to rearm 20 divisions from the workers who had just been sent back to produce more equipment to the Western Front (1.2 million soldiers had already been rehabilitated and returned to factories), which also exacerbated the problem of human resource shortage in Germany.

But even with twice the strength and back and forth to take the lead, the expeditionary force, which had just adapted to the battlefield, also paid a huge price. In addition to the 18,000 casualties in the interception battle, the previous interspersed and encirclement battles were also as high as 37,000 casualties in the hasty decisive battle because the heavy weapons were not in place, plus the losses in the 100-day battle, the 22 divisions that had arrived on the Western Front had a total of 460,000 expeditionary forces and paid 70,000 casualties, of which 25,000 died, 15,000 were severely disabled, more than 10,000 were disabled, and all the disabled soldiers returned home early after two months.

The impact of this battle was far-reaching, and the entire Western world began to re-examine the ancient East from this war, and the tactics and armored assault methods of the Chinese army became the object of imitation by the armies of various countries later. Similarly, a number of new equipment and technologies, such as the T2 armored vehicle and the 25-mm Wild Bee rapid-fire gun, have become sought-after goods in the world arms market, and since then the international arms market has been adding the word "Made in China," which has been expanding its share year by year.

When the "Dragon's Roar" campaign brought the world to a new understanding of China, it also quietly changed the situation in the world. First of all, after receiving Pershing's detailed report, US President Wilson went to Congress for the first time to discuss whether to enter the war, announcing that the countdown to the US entry into the war had begun. Secondly, due to the contrast between the stupidity of Mangin and Neville and the achievements of the expeditionary force, both were inscribed with the charge of disregard for the soldiers, which led to the most serious unrest within the French army. The two divisions of the Russian army that went to France to participate in the war even withdrew from the battlefield en masse and aimed their guns at the French army, and finally Britain and France had to use artillery to solve the problem. So much so that during the period when the Chinese Expeditionary Force was resting, the French army on the Western Front never launched any major offensive for a whole year, forming a situation in which China and France watched Britain fight, which also relieved the German army, which was originally worried that the huge salient would threaten the entire Western Front, and finally held out until Russia fell.

On May 25, when the Chinese Expeditionary Force showed sufficient strength to use the war to expand its influence in Europe, the British and French governments began to discuss for the first time the hope that China would secure national status in order to compete for post-war interests under the condition of organizing 1.5 million troops, and Wilson declared war on Germany at the White House.

*****

ps: This is not the end of the other, hehe. ()