Chapter 324: Shocking Change
The red light was shining, the 10,000 artillery pieces roared, and the time had just entered 4 o'clock in the morning, and the artillery unit of Russell on the southern front once again launched a hurricane lightning thunderous bombardment of the French positions on the opposite side.
After the all-night efforts of the military technical brigade, four 240-mm train guns from the rear also joined the ensemble of artillery fire, and the heavy shells they fired through the reduced charge inflicted a heavy blow on the French positions comparable to aerial bombs. Every time the artillery is fired, the French position will be swept away by layers of purple waves and red waves, and the air waves will burst into the sky; Countless civil engineering works, steel masonry and stone have been shattered and collapsed, and fragments have been shot out in a colorful manner. From afar, it seems as if countless meteor showers are shining and dancing in the vast night sky, crashing into dazzling red fireworks in an area that stretches for several kilometers.
The stars were hidden, the sun was rising, and after two hours of shelling, the German artillery finally stopped roaring. Before the French officers and soldiers could catch their breath, they saw a few small dots suddenly appear in the eastern sky: fierce eyes and blood-red eyes, and fangs. In the glow of the glorious morning light, their beige bodies seem to be plated with a layer of glittering golden glow.
Seeing this, there was a commotion when the French army ascended the position. Although the French soldiers who "have ideals in their hearts and sword in their hands" can not frown at all in offensive battles, this does not mean that they can have 100% courage to fight to the death under any circumstances; The German Kirov airboats, which resembled a sky fortress, had already left a terrifying shadow like a nightmare in the hearts of the French officers and soldiers. Each of their attacks, at worst, had the majestic power of a 280-millimeter high-explosive bomb, and the largest aerial bomb exploded with an overwhelming wave of fire. It's even more shocking than a landslide and tsunami!
"Boom!" With a loud sound like the sky cracking down. A sea of surging firelight and clouds. It rolled in all directions like a frenzied wave, and the area within a radius of more than 100 meters from the explosion point was suddenly engulfed by the high temperature and rushing air waves. Above the thick smoke of gunpowder, a giant airship more than 200 meters long is humming into flight, and against the backdrop of the terrible situation on the ground, it looks like a demonic troll that has broken free from the abyss of hell, and wants to turn the monstrous anger that has been suppressed for thousands of years into the purest destruction and slaughter.
The German Kirov airship slowly rotated in the air, and a pair of extremely expressive blood-red giant eyes shone fiercely. Under this terrible pressure, the French Third Colonial Division was the first to be unable to withstand this pressure. These officers and soldiers from Algeria were originally illiterate black cattle. He was drafted into the battlefield with only a single blood, and his understanding of the Great War was still limited to the most superficial rifle shooting. Yesterday, in the face of the combined onslaught of German airships, aircraft, tanks, and heavy artillery, they had already suffered heavy losses, and they were inexplicably frightened of the enemy in front of them; At this moment, seeing this kind of fortress of gods and demons with the power of overthrowing mountains and seas under a single blow again, he lost all confidence in resistance. In their eyes, the Kirovs were simply god-like beings that could not be fought against man; This trembling fear from the depths of the soul immediately caused the Algerian soldiers to run backwards like crazy under Kirov!
Fighter planes roared and roared across the sky; The tracks are sonorous and the tail is smoky. At the same time as the airship was dispatched, the German fighters, tanks, and infantry advanced rapidly as yesterday, and the momentum was surging. All observation balloons and lookout towers on the French positions were blown apart by German fighters. Flames are blazing; The French artillery fired only a few rounds, and was also covered by Gotha bombers and dive strafing by Fokker fighters. Quickly mute fire. Under the guidance of the reconnaissance planes, the artillery in the rear of the German army fought fiercely and accurately: the French defensive positions were bombarded with rocks, a sea of fire rushed, and from time to time accompanied by mutilated flesh and blood flew up, red mist sprayed, and blood was excited.
Under the combined attack of the German triad, the second line of French trench defense was once again suddenly broken. As a day before, the Germans tore through the barbed wire fence erected by the French army in front of them with the torrent of steel that was not afraid of bullets and bullets, terminated the French machine-gun positions, suppressed the fire of the trenches, and then began to clear the French soldiers in the trenches together with the infantry. Machine guns roared, grenades were thrown, and the remnants of the French resistance in the trenches were quickly wiped out by the Germans, who were outnumbered and outnumbered.
By noon, the frontal French units of the German southern flank assault group had retreated on all fronts. The battlefield stretched for more than ten kilometers, and everywhere there were raging fires, billowing smoke, scattered debris, and bloody corpses. German soldiers carrying stretchers ran back and forth on a messy battlefield, carrying the officers and soldiers of the enemy and us who were not dead to the field hospital for temporary treatment; A large number of soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, looking for something usable in the scattered debris. Groups of French prisoners of war with their arms in their hands were driven to the makeshift prisoner camp under the escort of German soldiers with bayonets and machine guns.
In just over a day, the two French divisions were routed and fled under the ferocious attack of the German army. More than 10,000 French officers and men were killed or captured, and nearly half of their overall combat effectiveness was lost, while the total number of German casualties and missing was no more than 3,000. In Tionville, the beaming German staff officers were nervously directing the transport troops, loading ammunition, munitions, spare parts, fuel, foodstuffs, forage and other materials onto trucks, and then transporting them to the front line in a steady stream of horses or automobiles in order to ensure the intensity of the assault on the southern flank. The entire German command was confident, and they were all looking forward to the second battle of Sedang again.
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The dangerous peaks are abrupt, and the dense forests are green.
Halfway up the mountain, at the lookout, Finney, a German private was bored looking at the vast mountains and forests in front of him. The cliffs are dangerous, and the trees are thick. A few feet away, the tall Secy also had a tired look on his face, and he had a weed in his mouth, chewing incessantly to pass the time and kill it.
"I said dude, we've all been in this damn place for a week." Finney lazily leaned against the wooden wall of the lookout, his words filled with a deep sigh and loss, "For so many days, not to mention the French, not even a wild boar has been seen in this Ardennes mountain, what do you mean by us staying here?" ”
The weeds in Sisi's mouth jumped, and he said vaguely: "I heard from the officers in the regiment that our army has launched an offensive on both the front and the southern flank, and has fought fiercely with the French, but it is still on the defensive in the north. There is nothing more disappointing than the french beating the French, and we can only stick in the middle of this mountain stream like a log. ”
Finney was silent. As a young soldier from an ordinary family who coincided with his military service, Finney, who was deeply influenced by domestic ironism, was desperate to make a distinction in this war in order to realize his own value and glory at the same time. However, when he was passionately drafted from the reserves, the officer in charge of arranging the post gave him the position of auxiliary lookout because of his 2.0 eyes, which was very different from his idea of wanting to join the front line. After being assigned to the Fifth Army under the command of the crown prince, Finney thought he would experience a real head-on battle; However, it was the middle and southern flanks that started the battle, and the troops in the northern and other mountainous areas where he was located were all stationed!
Finney sighed softly, still holding up the telescope as usual, and looking into the distance. The dense forest is like a cover, and the boulders are craggy. In early May, the Arden Forest is at its most beautiful time of the year: green grass, gurgling streams, and wildflowers blooming on the meadows. Yellow and purple are colorful, blue and white are intertwined, and large areas of red are rendered in it, like a brocade.
Wait a minute...... What's the deal with so much red?
Finney's mind froze, and an incredible thought suddenly crossed his mind. Although he knew that the probability of this incident was infinitely close to zero, perhaps because of the rigor of the soldiers, the dullness of boredom, or even the onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder, he still picked up the 98K rifle in his hand, and the scattered look in his eyes instantly condensed. Seeing this, Ceci next to him was suddenly taken aback and said, "Little Finney, have you found anything?" ”
Finney's right arm was slanted and his face was unprecedentedly serious. Ceci spat out the weeds in her mouth and looked intently from the barrel in the direction of Finney's finger. After a while, he put down the telescope in his hand and said with some doubts: "Everything is normal, I don't see anything?" ”
"Look at the red, the red in the woods." Finney spoke softly, his words full of complexity, like anticipation, excitement, shock, and fear, "When did so much bright red appear in this jungle?" I'm sure it was all green at this time yesterday! Secy raised his binoculars again and stared for a long time, only to see a little blush seeping out of the layers of green leaves. The lens tube rotated and swept around, but I saw the same situation in the forest next to it.
After a moment, Sisi was startled and exclaimed, "You mean, these red pants are all worn by the French?" It can't be! ”
"Is there any other explanation?" Finney took a deep breath, flattened his rifle, pulled the safety of the rifle, and fired all five bullets from the gun in one go. The crisp and loud sound echoes in the deep mountains, clearly recognizable, and can be heard for thousands of miles. After doing this, Finney looked out of the mirror tube again, and saw that the faint crimson in the dense forest was flashing again and again, as if he was running fast!
Finney's pupils constricted, his face turned pale, but two strange red clouds quietly appeared on his cheeks. (To be continued......)
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