The moonlight was cold, the stars flickered, and in the hazy dark night, a faint gray shadow was moving quickly in the fields. The French moonlight in spring is so bright that these nightcrawlers can still make their path without the help of additional light sources. They were covered with weeds for cover, and they did not talk to each other; Even the mules and horses with carts of ammunition and heavy artillery were bound to their hooves to prevent any unnecessary noise.

A figure stepped out of the queue and quietly turned on a flashlight under a dirt slope, and in the dim glow, a large number of detailed maps of the battlefield in German came into view. Since the current German air force dominates the skies of Western Europe, this map is also drawn in detail and clearly under the scouting of the air forces; In just a few moments, this highly trained captain officer had already memorized everything in his heart.

"Cross the creek ahead, and go another four hundred meters in the direction of 11 o'clock, and we will be in our intended position." The captain quickly returned to the group, and said to a young herald next to him in a low voice, "After arriving at the destination, first establish the company's concealment, then release the telephone line to the no-man's land, and finally deploy the cannon in place." There are still five hours until dawn, and we have to do these things before the French even notice. The young herald whispered in reply, and trotted quickly to the back of the group.

This detachment is a suppressive artillery company belonging to the German "Crown Prince" campaign cluster.

According to the latest offensive orders issued by the German command, a large number of artillery originally deployed in the rear positions began to be transferred to the front: in the face of the upcoming offensive campaign, the previous deployment method of relying on defensive operations at home was undoubtedly abandoned. And in order to be able to give the assault force maximum support during the attack. The German artillery positions would be farther forward than in any previous battle: only now in the dim darkness of the night. so that they can avoid the threat of suppression by the enemy's artillery fire in the process of carrying out this maneuver.

Slow steps. wheels; After checking the map again in detail, Captain Wolfgang of Artillery finally gave the order for his troops to halt their advance and start moving. In the dark, the Germans quickly unloaded the vegetation, green leaves, and fiber nets that had been prepared from the horse-drawn carts, and began to wave their shovels to build artillery and personnel camouflage fortifications based on the surrounding terrain. At present, they are less than 1 kilometer away from the central no-man's land, and they are already completely within the range of the French artillery fire on the opposite side; If the camouflage is not completed quickly, the French guard post after dawn will surely find the signs of this anomaly, and they will be sent to God by a cannon fire!

Along with the soldiers' labor, Captain Wolfgang also took part in the process of picking up an engineering shovel: in this kind of grassroots combat unit at the company level. Commanders are usually required to do the same physical work as the soldiers, and they spend their days mingling with their robes, neither food nor shelter. In a way, this phenomenon undoubtedly bridged the gap between the traditional Junkers and the civilian soldiers, allowing the German Army to remain loyal to the crown even after mass mobilization. For a moment, the quiet night was filled with the rustle of shovels piercing into the dirt; The soldiers who were in charge of carrying the earth and rocks were also out of breath and in a hurry. These freshly shoveled earth and stones should not be dumped at will, otherwise the overly obvious traces would be easily seen by the French after dawn, and there would be nothing left under the first round of artillery fire.

Fortunately for Wolfgang, there were no annoying large rocks underneath the land, which had been farmland, and the company's excavation went quite smoothly; In less than three hours. Six wide and deep artillery bunkers appeared right in front of Wolfgang's eyes with a dusty face. Several soldiers struggled to push the cannon into the bunker holes and covered them with a web of fibers covered with vegetation. for cover. At present, the artillery company under his command has more than 180 people under its command, equipped with six standard LeFH-08 105mm L22 howitzers: this firepower that has not appeared in history is another standard weapon with high cost performance that the German armed forces have been listed and put into service under the leadership of Qing Ying.

With a total weight of 1,350 kg, the gun was lighter than a conventional 75 mm cannon, and could be used for maneuvering traction with the help of a war horse: this was undoubtedly a highly tactical attribute during the First World War, when the army lacked mechanization. In artillery support, this weapon can easily project a high-explosive projectile weighing 15.7kg to an area of 8400 meters away, and there is no essential difference in range compared to the classic French Miss 75. This, combined with its much greater power than the 75 mm cannon, made the gun very popular when the Fang Fu was equipped with troops, and since then it has become the first choice for the German army to expand the howitzer firepower in response to trench warfare. Today, this cheap and reliable weapon has been massively used in German artillery and has played a pivotal role in countless battles!

As for the soldiers' bunkers, they were also built in a very short time. The current location of the Wolfgang Company was at the forefront of the German defensive line, and there were many improvised trench bunkers left behind, although these fortifications could not withstand the massive fire of the enemy's heavy artillery, but they were more than enough for temporary concealment. During this time, a makeshift underground command post was also excavated, and German soldiers also camouflaged vegetation on the damp earthy surface; A protective gun mirror protrudes from the inside, allowing those inside to observe what is going on above the surface. Telephones for communication were also systematically set up at the command post, and a soldier had placed the telephone line on the edge of the no-man's land, waiting for the assault troops to dock with their own lines before the attack, and then extending it in the middle of the battle.

Wolfgang looked at the time, and it was just over an hour before 6 o'clock in the morning. The horses used to tow the artillery baggage were brought back to the rear after unloading, and their undercover mission was completed ahead of schedule. After satisfactorily inspecting the position, he immediately pushed aside a piece of "turf" and went back to the cramped command post, and waited excitedly in front of the artillery mirror for the arrival of the offensive operation. According to the battle plan drawn up by the General Command, the artillery company will start roaring again in the second phase after the fire of its own heavy artillery, so as to attract the attention of the opposing artillery to the traditional rear as much as possible. However, in the meantime, Wolfgang was not prepared to miss this perfect opportunity to watch the game on the front line; The new fire support tactic, known as the "Artillery Waltz", had already been passed on to the troops, and he wanted to see what it would look like.

The waning moon is coming to an end, and the morning light is faint. After taking a nap, Wolfgang got up from the mud and immediately brought his eyes to the gunner's mirror. Although there were traces of the surrounding ground being turned over, Wolfgang was still very confident that he would not be detected by the opposing observation post if he was observed from thousands of meters away. At this time, the inky blue in the sky had turned into a dark blue, and the east had a pale blue brilliance. Just as he was contemplatingly waiting, a brilliant red signal flare suddenly swept and flew like a comet, straight into the sky!

The red light was thin, the golden light was dazzling, and the originally blue sky was instantly covered by the brilliance of gold, purple, orange and red; However, Wolfgang knew that this was not the brilliant morning glow shot in the east at sunrise, but the brilliant light of hundreds of cannons when they fired. After a while, a loud sound like a landslide and tsunami reverberated in his ears, and countless sparks of collapse bloomed on the French position opposite.

The sky was dazzling and shining, and the thunder was loud and rolling, and its momentum was fierce and majestic, as if the god king Zeus was in the sunrise clouds at this moment, and kept throwing the thunder and lightning heavenly punishment in his hand. As far as the artillery fire reached, the sand, gravel, and gravel all burst into pieces, shooting into the sky in all directions in a surging and vigorous flame. Wolfgang, who was at the forefront, was suddenly shocked when he heard the sound of explosions coming back from the French position: the explosion of this shell was so regular and uniform! Wolfgang immediately listened to this, and as time went on, the shock in his heart grew stronger.

The rolling roar is as unbridled as the sea, and the gorgeous waves of light sweep like the ocean. In the midst of this majestic bombardment, the originally chaotic and chaotic angry notes seemed to have life; They are no longer intermingling and colliding with each other, but stacking each other, bringing each other's peaks and valleys together in an unprecedented tacit understanding. The explosion and roar of each round of shells is like a tsunami waterfall rushing around the head, or thousands of troops roaring and rushing in unison; Even from a distance of several kilometres, Wolfgang could feel the strong rhythm that resembled the sound of an orchestra.

"So many artillery fires exploding at the same time are enough to form an almost impenetrable wall of steel fire against the French in front of them, right?" Wolfgang muttered to himself in shock, vaguely guessing in his mind the astonishing effect of implementing this tactic. The explosive air caused by the explosion of the shells will not only form an insurmountable wall of shrapnel and high temperature around the vicinity, but also greatly interfere with the normal aiming and shooting of the trench defenders, so that the attacking troops can break through the no-man's land of the battlefield with far less damage than before. And once your own air power is backing up, this situation will be further improved! (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the reward of zhouyu1976~~~ Today's subscription has plummeted to the bottom, and the author's heart is cold