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Text Chapter 420 Fighting on the Western Front!  (one)

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    In the early morning of April 9th.

    The road from Reims to Soissons was crowded with troops of different numbers. The soldiers trudged on the muddy road in the pouring rain. The drivers who were afraid of being late and delaying the attack kept honking their horns, but the whole team still remained.  Slow as a snail.  More than ten meters away, the artillerymen silently tied the ten-ton long-range cannon stuck in the mud with a rope, and then hung it on the butt of the Renault truck that was towing it. As the engine screamed and the wheels spun, the mud kicked up covered the entire body of the surrounding soldiers.  It was shrouded, but unfortunately no matter how hard the truck tried, this heavy artillery that was urgently needed on the front line remained motionless. In the end, even the truck fell into the big hole dug by the rear wheel.

    The soaked artillerymen stood helplessly beside the cannon with blank eyes. Although the officers were still shouting, everyone could see that it was impossible for them to arrive at the scheduled position on time to participate in the attack.  There were heavy artillery and ammunition trucks stuck in the mud everywhere in front and behind the cannon. These big guys blocked the road and then blocked the infantry from moving forward, so that the chaos became more and more chaotic and eventually became a mess that no one could untie.

    "What happened? It's such a mess! Didn't it say that a fight was about to start?" Xue Yue muttered, not satisfied with the chaos in front of him.  As the first officer to graduate from the armor training class taught by Yang Qiu, he pointed at the Renault truck stuck in the mud and was puzzled: "Commander Qiu, the last telegram said that the French army is equipped with many tanks, why didn't you see them all the way here? What if?  There is one that can be towed out here."

    "It's quite a lot. There are more than a thousand in total, but" Qiu Wenbin glanced at Cai E, who was sitting in front with his eyebrows furrowed, spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "You'll know after you wait for a while.  Well, tanks are not as effective as artillery here."

    "How is that possible!" Xue Yue heard him say that tanks are not as good as artillery, and he jumped up like a rabbit whose tail was stepped on: "The firepower and destructive power of tanks are indeed not that of artillery, but their mobility is far beyond that of artillery. The commander-in-chief said.  Future warfare must be a combination of firepower and mobility, and even infantry must be armored to break through trenches"

    "The problem is. They can't get personal instruction from the Commander-in-Chief!"

    "That's that's true." He was interrupted by Qiu Wenbin before he finished speaking.  The first period was all taught by the Commander-in-Chief himself.  From the meaning of tanks to the tactical courses, everything was written by him. After using experimental tanks and Gray Wolf armored vehicles for experiments and confrontation training, everyone gradually understood how powerful that tactical manual was.  On the contrary, British, French and German tanks have just appeared, so there is no strategy at all.  But having said that, how did the Commander-in-Chief actually compile a tank combat tactics manual a few years in advance?  Could it be inspired by the Gray Wolf armored car and bunker truck?  Xue Yue held his chin and thought hard. Cai E didn't say a few words from the beginning. At this moment, he was looking at the long line of people outside without saying a word. Seeing his worried face, Qiu Wenbin asked curiously: "Deputy  Chief of General Staff¡­what¡¯s wrong with you?¡±

    "Wen Bin, Boling. Did you find anything wrong?"

    Qiu Wenbin glanced around, and Xue Yue searched for a long time before asking: "Something's wrong? Apart from this muddy road delaying the trip. What's wrong with that?"

    "Pay attention, listen to the sound."

    "Voice?" Qiu Wenbin's eyes lit up. After listening to the meeting, he said with emotion: "Deputy Chief of Staff, you are really amazing. You saw through the French army's problem at once." Xue Yue was puzzled at first.  But gradually I understood, because apart from the sound of vehicle engines and rustling footsteps, there were very few loud conversations around.  Even if there is conversation, most of the soldiers' voices are very soft, as if something is stuck around their necks.

    On roads stretching for tens of kilometers, hundreds of thousands of troops trudging, thousands of trucks and cannons stuck in mud, mud-covered artillerymen and infantrymen moving together without making any loud noise!  God, even if there are thousands of coolies working together, they will still shout and work together!  After realizing this, the hearts of the three of them began to sink  It is clear!  After nearly three years of fierce fighting and paying the price of millions of military and civilian casualties, the French army, known as the world's largest army before the war, is on the verge of collapse!  If this battle fails again, France may lose its last bit of confidence in resistance!  So until they arrived at the frontline headquarters, the three of them were immersed in the silent picture just now, worried and silent.

    After Qiu Wenbin showed his special pass, the military vehicle drove into the strategic location of the French assault group with hundreds of thousands of people. As soon as he got off the car, the sharp-eyed Xue Yue saw Yue Peng and Zhang Xiaozhun hiding under the eaves and smoking cigarettes, with the flickering butts reflected  Both faces were a little gloomy.  When she saw him and Cai E, she managed to recover and came up with a smile: "Brother Songpo, why are you here?"

    "Don't mention it. The commander-in-chief saw that I was idle and getting paid for nothing, so he couldn't stand it and kicked me here to serve as your staff."

    "Can I get help from Brother Songpo?"Fist, I have to thank the Commander-in-Chief.  "

    "Haha" After making a few jokes, the heavy mood just now gradually dissipated. Zhang Xiaozhun was concerned about the country and asked: "How is the situation in the country now?"

    "The snowstorm at the beginning of the year was quite serious, and the floods in the north are expected to cause a lot of crop failure in the summer. Everything else is peaceful, except for something happening in Mongolia." Cai E gave a general account of the murder of Zhebu and the false accusation against the National Defense Forces.  After hearing that Russia still refused to agree to send troops from the Northeast Theater to Siberia to suppress bandits after repeated negotiations, and even deliberately restricted the scope of activities of the National Guard and the Railway Brigade after the fall of the Tsar, Yue Peng couldn't help but snorted: "After the fall of the Tsar, they became tough.  Well, I don¡¯t know where the confidence comes from!¡±

    "Forget it, the commander-in-chief has his own arrangements for this matter, let's talk about the situation here." Cai E looked at the busy French officers around him and asked: "You two are also considered senior officers, why don't you go in and take a look?  "

    Speaking of this matter, Zhang Xiaozhun was full of resentment. He was still angry at the meeting that day when Niweiler and Mangran deliberately targeted the expeditionary force. He immediately said angrily: "What's so good about it! After all this, it's still covered by the same set of firepower.  The old-fashioned thing of infantry following, the new tactics we spent more than a hundred days to develop, but I didn¡¯t see any trace of it! Damn, I was busy in vain." Seeing Zhang Xiaozhun, who rarely loses his temper, he looked angry and cursed, Cai  E couldn't help but laugh and said: "Sure enough, the Commander-in-Chief guessed it right. He said that after seeing you, my ears will be filled with complaints. It's true."

    Yue Peng smiled and asked Xue Yue: "Is the armored brigade here?"

    Xue Yue did not dare to interrupt when the three senior officers were talking.  Besides, it was his first time coming to the Western Front.  It is always right to listen more and learn more. He did not salute until asked: "Report to the commander, 72 vehicles arrived with us yesterday afternoon. According to the plan, 108 vehicles will arrive tomorrow, and France promised to transport all the remaining vehicles to Lanzhou within five days.  Si, but most of the soldiers came with me first."

    "Within five days? Haha It would be good to arrive in ten days." After so long.  Zhang Xiaozhun finally saw through the so-called high efficiency of the French army, but Yue Peng was not angry and continued to order: "There is not much time! The troops who arrived first will start adaptive training immediately. I estimate that it will be our turn in half a month at the latest."  ¡±

    Upon hearing that he would be entering the battle in half a month, Xue Yue excitedly clapped his chest and assured: "Don't worry, Commander, we started training in October last year, there will be no problem!" Yue Peng didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, but seeing that this kid was obviously still  Not understanding how difficult this battle was, he warned with a straight face: "Don't talk nonsense, here tanks won't be very effective."

    Xue Yue curled his lips disapprovingly.  I thought Yue Peng and Qiu Wenbin didn't understand how powerful the armored assault was, but just as they were about to defend themselves, they suddenly heard several muffled thunders.  At first he thought it was spring thunder, but as the surrounding French troops and some observing national officers started shouting.  I immediately felt something was wrong.  But this feeling only stayed in my mind for a few minutes.  Thunderbolts suddenly exploded from all directions!

    The fight has begun!  The fight finally begins!

    There are a total of 3,000 heavy artillery pieces of 150 mm or above on the 50-mile frontal front from Reims to Soissons.  There are nearly 2,000 cannons of other calibers roaring in unison!  Connected by telephone lines, tens of thousands of artillery shells cut through the rain with a dark red streamer and rushed towards the German defense line five miles away.  Looking from the area where the headquarters is located, the entire sky seems to be filled with colors, and there is no room for other sounds in the ears!  Although the rain blocked his sight, and although he was in a low-lying area and could not penetrate the darkness to reach the target area, the flowing flames on the horizon made Xue Yue, who had witnessed the war on the Western Front for the first time, widen his eyes and even his lips trembled  .Can the German army survive such heavy artillery fire?

    But soon Zhang Xiaozhun pinched his watch and said a word that completely hit this newcomer on the Western Front: "The density is not enough! One-third of the artillery on the road has not arrived, and the speed has not reached full speed. It is probably because of the outage of artillery transportation and storage.  Problems." So many problems can be seen in just ten minutes. Even Cai E had to say that war is really a training exercise.  If so many cannons and ammunition hadn't been stuck in the mud when he arrived, he might not have dared to make such a conclusion.

    Only Xue Yue stuck out his tongue: "This is not enough Chief of Staff, I don't want you to attack people like this."

    "It's not enough at all, and it's a waste of artillery shells!" Yue Peng smiled and looked at this young officer who made great contributions in the Sino-Japanese War and was selected into the armored training regiment and escaped. He raised his finger: "If you knew, France  A full 11 million artillery shells have been prepared for this attack, and according to their command's requirements, they must all be fired within five days You won't say too much."

    "11 million shells fired in 5 dayshe French guy is stupid!" Xue Yue was strangely not surprised this time. Instead, he unexpectedly jumped up, clapped his thighs, and counted with his fingers: "Even if  The cheapest 75mm shells cost 6 US dollars each. If all this money were used to make our ground dragon tank??, even if all parts are ordered and assembled from abroad, 3,000 vehicles can be built!  If it were to be self-made, it would be 6,000 cars, and I could fill this place directly!  "

    Yue Peng was too lazy to pay attention to this man. He waved to the guards to drive a military car and looked at Cai E, who had just arrived: "Let's go, I will take you to a higher place to see." Cai E had also long thought about how the French army fought, so  Get into the car immediately.  After driving about two kilometers, the car stopped in front of an artillery observation post that was transformed from a lighthouse.  Since several people had special passes, the French artillery observers stationed here cooperated and gave them the top loft.

    After climbing to the top of the five-story lighthouse, his sight suddenly became clearer. Cai E took out the Zeiss eight-fold telescope he carried with him, but after looking at it for a while, he gradually frowned and turned to Yue Peng: "Zian, I'm afraid you should have looked earlier.  Is there something wrong?"

    "Multiple days of heavy rain have caused the soil to become soft, and the shells will pierce deeply after they fall, and the explosion shock wave will be absorbed by the mud to absorb most of its power." Yue Peng looked into the distance with a solemn face and snorted: "So  This is a pure waste of artillery shells!" As if to verify his words, as the sky brightened little by little, the Hindenburg Defense Line in the distance began to become clear. Through the telescope, Xue Yue finally understood what a waste of artillery shells was, because the artillery fired for several hours.  After at least one million shells were fired, the German position, which looked like a gray line, still looked relatively complete.

    "Look, the tanks are out!"

    In the heavy rain, dozens of French Renault FT17 and Santa Monsa assault tanks emerged from the haystacks and woods used for camouflage, formed a straight horizontal line and rushed towards the Hindenburg Defense Line. However, Xue Yue saw this  The excited heart behind the picture suddenly twitched: "Commander, this is how they use tanks? Where are the infantry!" (To be continued)

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