696 Battle of Augusta (7)

"Fire!"

Under the series of telephones, on the frontal battlefield of Flinders Ridge as long as 60 kilometers wide, a full 1,200 army howitzers roared at the same time, and under the guidance of the unification and standardization trend of imitation of later generations, China began to completely eliminate the previous 75, 76, 57 and other caliber army guns ten years ago, and all adopted the 105 mm imported from Germany and the 152 mm improved by the naval gun as the standard caliber. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

Originally, Li Mo also wanted to use the 155 mm of later generations, because the 155 mm shells had a large mass, but because the British system was used before, the large-scale restructuring not only involved equipment, but also involved manufacturing machinery and other factors, not to mention that the navy used 152 as the standard secondary gun and cruiser main gun caliber, so from the perspective of intensification, the current restructuring cannot be realized.

However, it is now 1916, and the 152 mm is not only not comparable to the monster-like Great Berta, but it is also enough to dominate the land battlefield, not to mention that the long-barreled war hammer has the advantage of range.

The strength of almost 8000 shells per minute is unimaginable to those who have not experienced it, and a simple multiplication can be calculated with only 105 mm 22 kg projectiles, which can deliver 176 tons of ammunition per minute to enemy positions 7 km away!

This is the power of firepower coverage in the operation of large army groups!

According to the plan, such a fire preparation needs to cover 2 hours, that is, at least 21,120 tons of ammunition will be consumed, and at least 4 10,000-ton ships will need to be able to transport it, and this is not counting the weight of the propellant.

Even the Chinese soldiers hiding in the sortie position were numb when they saw this scene, and many of them never thought that everyone used to envy the navy and air force, but now they know that when the army is in full swing, its power is no worse than that of its brother troops!

In the command post, in front of the special periscope artillery observation telescope, even Zhao Long's eyebrows were a little proud; in the early years, the army paid a lot of sacrifices for the navy, but with the improvement of the country's financial situation, it has really added some belongings in recent years, and in last year alone, the armament department has provided the army with 2,627 large-caliber artillery, 3,200 mortars and recoilless guns, 600 tanks, 15,000 machine guns and 3,000 rocket launchers.

Coupled with the pre-war reserves, the Chinese Army alone has more than 7,200 cannons of the 105 mm or more level, which is comparable to Germany and equivalent to Britain.

The artillerymen had almost taken out the strength to feed, and for so many years, none of them had fired so many shells so freely, and the pile of shells that had been stored behind them like a hill began to shrink rapidly, and 105 mm shells were spread all over the position.

What made them happy was that they did not need to worry about the enemy's counterattack from beginning to end, because in 2 days the air force had basically destroyed the enemy's artillery power, and even if it was left, it was necessary to face dozens of reconnaissance planes and bombers in the sky that were on standby.

Although there have been large-scale artillery battles in Europe, they are still facing it for the first time, especially the American troops who came from afar, they originally lacked training in this area, so under such a dense rain of bullets, almost everyone was in danger, and they didn't even dare to observe the probe, so they only cared about holding the steel helmet desperately, and shrank in the trench and waited for the roar to end.

Shells fell endlessly, mountains turned into powder, trees were uprooted, and trenches were filled in directly, and the soldiers hiding in the trenches felt for the first time that time was so long and so difficult to pass.

Two hours later, when the last few explosions fell, the low Flinders Ridge seemed to be flattened, the front of the slope was littered with craters and the remnants of the explosion, and by the time some soldiers poked their heads out of the mud and sand, hundreds of tanks spewing black smoke had appeared at the foot of the mountain.

"Get up, get up!"

"Get ready, they're attacking!"

"Cheer up, don't be afraid, we're condescending and piercing their bowels with your bullets!"

As soon as the sound of the artillery subsided, the officers hurried out of their bunkers, and while running in the trenches, they tried their best to give the soldiers courage, but no matter how much they shouted, they still could not relieve the tension of the soldiers, especially after seeing the tanks, their faces turned white. 【 I want: super fast update 】

"Machine guns, machine guns!"

In the midst of the shouting, several American soldiers vigorously pushed away the heavy sandbags, revealing the few Maxim or Lewis machine guns behind them, and the tongues of fire began to spray projectiles and swept across the position.

Knock knock knock .......

A distinctive sound of artillery fire, the sound of a 37mm rapid-fire gun, led the infantry to a slow climb of the slope, and although they were in danger of being destroyed against St. Chamon, they could basically ignore the heavy machine guns in front of them.

A series of shells exploded from the front of the position, although the power of these small-caliber rapid-fire shells was not great, but the speed was too great, and the fatal thing was that their accuracy was far more powerful than that of large shells, constantly drilling into the trenches, scattering and exploding.

Thompson held a rifle and stationed more than 50 companions on the protruding horns of the jagged trench, don't underestimate these protruding horns from the trenches, they are the focus of the enemy's fire, if you want to attack the trench in an all-out way, you must first take these jagged horns, but to take the horns, you have to face the crossfire behind.

Bang bang bang .......

Thompson aimed at a Cheetah tank, and hit the steel body with one bullet after another, and could not see anything but Mars, seeing that he could not penetrate them, so he had to aim at the Chinese infantry behind.

But the infantry was so tricky, they bent over, kept running, skillfully used the craters and rocks that had just been blown up by the shells, and the cover of the tanks made it very difficult to aim.

"Bang."

Thompson finally killed one, and when he pulled the bolt and was about to aim at the next target, he found that the tank was in front of him, and immediately took out a grenade to give the other party a color to see, but before he could pull the fuse, two Chinese soldiers with barrel cylinders on their backs and a thick tube in their hands suddenly flashed out behind the tank.

Their movements were more skillful than those of the soldiers, and they looked like veterans of many battles, and they crawled from crater to crater, and in the blink of an eye they rushed to within 50 meters.

Seeing these two people, Thompson always felt a little strange, and his heart suddenly twitched, and he subconsciously wanted to throw a grenade at them.

But at this moment, the two soldiers also raised the thick tube in their hands, and before Thompson could understand, an orange red in his eyes made him freeze suddenly.

Flame, it's flame!

"Boom!"

The flames enveloped the grenade and filled the salient in an instant, and more than 50 soldiers became fire men almost instantly, and even if they were not sprayed, they could not stay here, because the entire tunnel was already filled with flames.

Groups of Allied soldiers rushed out of the trenches and fled backwards, many without even holding their guns, giving the Chinese machine gunners something to do, who had been waiting for a long time.

Long tongues of fire burst out from behind the tank and rushed in front of the enemy, and the thick pipes suddenly turned into dragons, and in an instant the jagged protrusions became a sea of fire.

"Oh God!"

"What the hell is that!"

"Kill them, kill them!"

"Leave, get out of here, the flames are in!"

A nervous and hurried shout suddenly made the entire defense line shake up, although it hit a few of these soldiers who carried the meeting on their backs, and the flames that burst out swallowed them up with their own people, but many of these soldiers had already rushed to the front of the trench.

Using the cover of flamethrowers, a group of Chinese soldiers quickly and quickly closed the distance, and mortars and grenades began to rage, although the Americans also returned fire with grenades, but as soon as they poked their heads out, they became good targets for tanks and machine gunners.

"Good boy, this flamethrower works really well."

Feng Guozhang, who was hiding in the headquarters, saw this scene and immediately praised it, although Huang Fuqi was also very satisfied with the flamethrower used for the first time, but when he saw the tragic condition of one of his own soldiers after being hit, he sighed: "If only this thing could be safer." ”

"It's that simple." Zhao Long shook his head: "This kind of thing is very lethal, but it is not easy to operate, as for safety, don't think about it, unless it is a special tank, otherwise it will not be able to prevent bullets at all." ”

"yes, why don't you give us tanks? Didn't you say that more than 100 of them have already been converted from old tanks? Feng Guozhang remembered the tank of the Marine Corps and immediately asked in surprise.

"Why?"

In Zhao Long's rhetorical question, Feng Guozhang was slightly stunned, but he understood in an instant that they must have been shipped to Honolulu and used when waiting to be solved in the United States.

"They won't last long." Huang Fuqi didn't have the heart to think about the next thing, raised his binoculars to look at the infantry rushing towards the mountain pack, and asked, "What happened to Wu Peifu?" ”

"Yanta has been basically taken, at present 2 infantry divisions have finished the battle and begun to build positions, artillery has also been stationed in Yanta Town, only the armored division is still pursuing the remnants of the enemy, according to their own words, the evening will be completed by 3 o'clock tomorrow morning to build a complete sniper position."

"In addition, the supporting 37 and 51 Infantry Divisions also passed through the town of Mali and will arrive at Yanta in 48 hours by night."

"So? He Wu Peifu is wasted, just digging trenches is more than just a little time, right? As soon as the staff officer finished speaking, Feng Guozhang jumped up, feeling incredulous for such a quick unfolding.

"Does that need to be said? Wu Peifu must have used the trenches dug by the Australians, and they would certainly not have thought that the trenches and fortifications used to block Wu Peifu would become a big stumbling block for them to return home. Huang Fuqi was still holding the binoculars, and as soon as he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he shouted suddenly: "Breakthrough, No. 4 Heights!" ”

His words immediately made everyone raise their binoculars, only to see that on a hill to the west, hundreds of Chinese soldiers had jumped into the trenches, and the five tanks covering them had also crossed the trenches and began to penetrate vertically.

A moment later, the three soldiers planted a double-headed eagle battle flag on the high ground, and the battle flag fluttering in the wind undoubtedly inspired all the troops involved in the assault!

Because, that's the double-headed eagle, it's the battle flag of the Imperial Army!

As more and more tanks climbed the ridge and began to penetrate deeply, the long, carefully dug trenches became meat grinders, grenades and shells shuttled to each other, and mortars were even dragged in.

"Attack, blow the trumpet!"

When Zhao Long and the others saw the success of the breakthrough and immediately decisively invested the main force composed of 15 infantry divisions, Major General Jim fell into the cold, he didn't expect that the defense line he had carefully constructed was torn apart in less than 4 hours, although there was a second layer and a third layer behind, but in the face of so many tanks and the terrible flamethrower just now, how long could it last?

The important thing is that the trenches are also defensive from the outside but not from the inside, and if the other side continues to break through along the trenches that extend in all directions, God knows what will happen.

What to do?

Just when Major General Jim was anxious, a voice sank all the hearts to the icy bottom of the sea.

"General, Yanta, Yanta is lost! Both Colonel Douglas MacArthur and command were ....... The staff officer shuddered for a moment and said heavily.

"...... by the enemy, captured!"

Besieged?! The thought flashed, and just when Major General Jim and the others were cold and stiff, a loud military horn suddenly sounded outside, it was so high, it was so loud!

Is that.

The charge of the Chinese Army!

"Kill!"

September 6, 1916.

In the early morning light, after eight hours of fierce fighting, there was still a thick smell of gunpowder smoke in the sky over the Yanta, but the soldiers could no longer care about fatigue, and changed from attackers to defenders.

After a busy night, and more than 20,000 captives toiling at gunpoint, enough trenches were finally dug up, and now it was their turn to teach the British and American forces a lesson, what is sniper defensive warfare.

All the heavy artillery had been deployed in the middle of the town, tanks and armored vehicles were arranged on the flanks, and in the long tunnels the soldiers were nibbling on meatloaf and dry food, piling up sandbags and carrying boxes of ammunition into the tunnels, and even the captured guns and ammunition were collected to make up for the lack of ammunition during the attack.

After inspecting the defense line, Wu Peifu still didn't dare to rest assured, he had too many enemies to face, even if the air force guaranteed to provide support, but hundreds of thousands of red-eyed enemy troops who wanted to escape were not so easy to block, not to mention that he was worried about those prisoners of war, more than 20,000 people, at least nearly 3,000 people needed to guard, disguised containment of his own troops, what should I do? Kill them all?

Wu Peifu just thought about it, think about it, forget it, although there have been many prisoners since ancient times, but they are no longer what should be done in this era, not to mention that doing so can only be painful for a while, but it will definitely leave a bad record in the army and affect his future future, so he still decided not to do it as a last resort.

The soldiers escorted the prisoners of war to a half-meter-deep dry salt lake in the northwest, and after setting up a defensive line with machine guns around it, Wu Peifu called in MacArthur.

"Colonel Duras, I think you should be aware of your current situation, I don't want to kill you, but if my soldiers feel the slightest danger, then I don't care about tens of thousands of corpses lying here."

MacArthur nodded, his ambitions were long gone, and looking at the firepower points set up around the salt lake, he knew very well what would happen if his people rioted.

In fact, Wu Peifu was a little too worried, after yesterday's indiscriminate bombing and fiasco, whether it was MacArthur or other officers, or those ordinary soldiers, they had completely lost their fighting spirit.

After watching MacArthur leave under the escort of the soldiers, Wu Peifu received a telegram.

"Division commander, they are coming, the plane says ......, and the mountains are all over the field!"

RO！ ~！