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Text Chapter 432 Fighting on the Western Front!  (over)

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    The battle returned to its most primitive form, and 300 cannons of various types from the German army began the bloodiest day.

    Although bombers were dispatched in advance to kill the most threatening heavy siege artillery, the German firepower was still terrifying.  Using railway lines to quickly deliver heavy equipment to the front line seems to have become the simplest and most direct means of insertion on the Western Front. Relying on the support of the convenient French railway network behind the Hindenburg Line, a large number of heavy equipment continues to arrive in Bazangkur.  In the theater, on the contrary, the expeditionary force was destroyed by the Germans and the road was turned into a muddy road, which made it impossible for many heavy equipment to arrive in time. In addition, it needed to attack the main force of the German First Army, so the artillery quickly fell into a disadvantage.

    In particular, the German 150mm howitzers and long-range cannons formed an artillery cluster, and they were tilting crazily towards Bazangkul. The fury from Germany, even veterans who had experienced the previous breakthrough battle in the Avila Valley, still couldn't even raise their heads in the face of such artillery fire.  stand up.  The biggest advantage of the mesh trench is that it takes a short time to build. The staggered stacking can give full play to the advantages of multi-layer firepower. It also ensures that the enemy will not be swarmed along the trench after breaking through a little like the traditional long snake trench.  But when it comes to the ability to defend against artillery shells, it is not as good as traditional trenches.  Fortunately, after two days and three nights of repeated reinforcement, as long as it did not fall directly into the trench, it could help the soldiers survive the most terrifying preparation stage for the bombardment.

    He had probably learned that the main force of his First Army was surrounded in the Reniver-Shire Valley, so not only did Ludendorff strictly order the troops to desperately open the road, but even the German Crown Prince sent electricity from the General Headquarters of the Ilsund Front.  The newspaper asked frontline officers to immediately end the fighting in Bazangkul and move closer to the First Army.  So the bombardment lasted only half an hour.  The German army used barrage tactics to send the black tide of infantry onto a 20-kilometer-wide front.

    In the woods at the northeastern corner of Zabar Mountain, two short trenches have been connected together. The camouflage net has been torn apart by artillery fire. A big tree that was blown off lies over the trench. Dozens of sandy-yellow figures are huddled in the tunnel.  The floating soil covered most of their bodies.  As the gunfire gradually extended back, the first figure on the left squirmed slightly.  In an instant, most of them started to move, raising their heads like a group of sandworms, but a few of them stopped moving at all.

    Li Yuguo raised his head.  On the dirt-covered face, only the black eyes seemed to be distinguishable.  This is his temporary headquarters. He was relieved to see that most of the people were intact, but before he could speak, his guard had already called out: "Captain. The top of the mountain" On a mountain that was not too high.  The smoke and dust were so thick that only the outline could be vaguely seen. The figures in the smoke were entangled and chaotic. It was obvious that the German army had broken through the front position and began to storm the hilltop.

    Zabar Mountain is undoubtedly the key to the entire battlefield. Whoever completely controls this place can set up cannons and use the height difference to sweep across the entire battlefield!  So Li Yuguo jumped out of the trench without thinking: "Reserve team, follow me!"

    The reserve soldiers in the trenches on the left and right all jumped out of the trenches. Everyone wore gas masks and held steel guns tightly. Their sharp bayonets had already been inserted, and they followed the regiment leader and rushed towards the top of the mountain.  A few hundred yards ahead, on the hilltop, the brother troops stationed on the top of the mountain were running out of gas!  The trenches were filled with soldiers whose hearts and lungs were shattered by large-caliber heavy artillery shells.  .The few remaining soldiers used their last strength to fight bravely against the oncoming German troops!

    "Up, up, up" As Li Yuguo waved his arms, figures rushed out from the trenches along the way to follow closely. When they reached the foot of the mountain, the number had reached a thousand!  These people are not all soldiers in the regiment. In fact, except for the two later divisions, the organization of the entire battlefield has been completely disrupted.  The soldiers can only rely on the consciousness they usually train to follow the officers to defend and attack.

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

    "Captain, be careful!" the orderly shouted, and the rifle in his hand was thrown at the enemy like a javelin. The German soldiers were so frightened that they quickly dodged. At this time, he also rushed to Li Yuguo's side, and the engineer shovel was bent and swept towards the enemy.  With a crisp crackling sound, the shovel hit the German soldier's face hard, leaving his face covered in blood.  But this German soldier was also extremely fierce. He looked like a veteran who had been fighting for several years. He lay on the ground regardless of the pain and stabbed the orderly in the thigh.

    Seeing the fifth orderly he had replaced in three days fall down, Li Yuguo's eyes started to bleed. He pointed his pistol at him and pulled the trigger repeatedly. He didn't stop until he blew the guy's head off.  The soldiers behind him rushed up and passed by, and they were completely strangled with the German army. Only then did Li Yuguo have time to hug him.When the orderlies got up, the little guy was still gasping for air when he was carried on a stretcher by the medical soldiers: "Captain, does this count as meritorious service?"

    "It's done. I'll report it to you when I get back." After Li Yuguo comforted this little guy who was nagging all day about making meritorious deeds, he picked up the engineering shovel and swung it at the nearest German army.

    Fierce hand-to-hand combat extended from the top of the mountain to the mountainside. Nearly a thousand pairs of soldiers fought against each other. The Germans were tall and the expeditionary force was short and nimble. Both sides had their guns pressed against their muzzles and bayonets against bayonets. Bullets were flying across the crowd, and grenades were flying in the crowd.  Throwing at each other like raindrops.  This kind of scene appears in front of every frontline trench. The German army is indeed the most powerful army in Europe. With its tenacious fighting will and excellent individual qualities, even in the face of the most brutal hand-to-hand combat, it still rushes forward shouting slogans that no one understands.

    The entire defense line was as scary as a boiling hot oil pot. All kinds of shouts, flags and flares were raised from there. Some called for reinforcements to come up quickly, some asked for artillery support, and some simply fought in a hurry.  .  The artillerymen on both sides were completely red-eyed. They fired rows of shells at the defense line without caring about accidental damage, plowing lines of fire on their respective opponents' support roads.  Even though it was still very cold in France in early May, the artillerymen on both sides almost all took off their clothes and competed with each other to see who was faster!  The artillery shells were flapping on the road leading up to each other's reinforcements.  The reserve teams on both sides rushed forward despite the dense artillery fire.  Everyone had forgotten how deadly the explosion was, and there were only two thoughts left in their minds.  Occupy and block!

    The machine gunner was swimming in the trench holding a Han III heavy machine gun. When he saw the Germans penetrated the trench, he fired a round of bullets at it. Although the sharp-tipped bullets were not as powerful as the Germans, they still dominated the battlefield within 300 meters, and they were able to move flexibly.  The method is even more unmatched by mg8 Maxim's. Often a string of bullets will stir up a rain of blood in the sky.  .Relying on dozens of heavy machine guns and hundreds of light machine guns at the rear, no matter how desperate the German army was, the front line was always firmly in the hands of the expeditionary force.  The Germans were also worried.  Braving the opponent's fierce artillery fire, he dragged the sinking Maxim to the front line. Grenade launchers, mortars, 37-guns, 47-guns, etc., as long as they could move, were all pulled forward and fired at close range.  The officers also wished they could rush forward on their own.  All troops are strictly ordered to seize positions regardless of casualties!

    Colonel Grandmaison has seen countless battles, but he was still shocked by the brutal fighting style of both sides. His body trembled slightly, and his eyes couldn't help but look at Yue Peng, who was holding a telescope beside him and never put it down.

    "Go up to the second reserve echelon! Join the third echelon in half an hour Don't be afraid of sacrifice. Time is in our hands!" Yue Peng continued to hold the telescope with his left hand and waved it down hard with his right hand.

    In an order that was criticized by countless people as cold-blooded after the war, two entire brigades of the second echelon swarmed up from the attack position, and instantly a crowd appeared behind the position!  As soon as they left the third echelon, they rushed into the steaming attack position. Behind each mask were serious, nervous, even trembling, vomiting, yellow faces!  Is he really that cold-blooded?  Colonel Grandmaison's eyes glanced at a broken button on the trench mound, and he couldn't help but think of the young lieutenant general's action of ruthlessly tearing open his collar just now. With this discovery, his eyes sharpened, and soon he saw something along the  There were beads of sweat running down his wrists, and the collar of his shirt was damp.

    The lieutenant general was also very nervous, but he concealed his inner feelings very well.  And he seems to be particularly confident that Rennevale-Shire Valley can succeed, otherwise he would never hold on like this!  Since the breakthrough at the Avila Valley, Colonel Grandmaison has gradually changed his attitude. In the past, he always felt that the Chinese Expeditionary Force was taking advantage of the opportunity to make money, and almost all the Allied officers and soldiers held this idea.  Even four days ago, this idea was deeply ingrained, so it is not surprising that Niweile and Mangran are extreme.  You must know that the French government pays their soldiers a salary a hundred times higher than that of the French soldiers!  Just the salary is not enough. After all, this is a war in France. Defending the country is the obligation of every dignified person. However, a large amount of industrial support was subsequently given, including all the equipment of 35 infantry divisions.  Dozens of Chinese goods have been included in the "munitions" list and entered Europe. This has made everyone filled with indignation. When will it be China's turn to export goods to Europe?  They used to only sell cheap raw materials, but by taking advantage of the opportunity of joining the Entente and sending troops, they easily opened up the European market.

    It wasn¡¯t until he experienced four days of fighting with them that Colonel Grandmaison realized that France had ignored this army too much. Behind the interests, they also had the same spirit and combat effectiveness as the French army with high morale at the beginning!  If we could give them more ammunition, more support, and even more trucks and packhorses to help them improve their heavy equipment transportation capabilities, would it still be so difficult now?  Looking at the corpses of those German bastards lying 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 thing he still couldn't figure out.  Although they showed their dignity and let the world see clearly the power China hasHowever, the son of a bitch politicians at the top will never sacrifice colonial interests to China because of this, so why are they still so persistent and desperate?  Did they send hundreds of thousands of troops across the ocean just to make a splash?

    When Colonel Grandmaison was secretly speculating, there was a sudden commotion in the bunker. When he raised his head, he found that the artillery fire in the distance was much denser. When he raised his telescope, he found that the crucial ridge of Zabar Mountain had turned into a burning fire belt.  It turned out that after the German army that attacked there was defeated, the angry Germans concentrated a hundred cannons and bombarded it

    God!  At least two, not three, groups are gone!

    He quickly 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 seemed unchanged.  "Draw two groups from the third echelon and look for Li Yuguo and the others. They will live to see people dead or see corpses!"

    The orderly soldier clenched his fists and ran towards the attack position, while Colonel Grandmaison moved his lips.  He felt it was necessary to remind the lieutenant general that his casualty rate had reached the critical line. If there was no more news from Reniwell, it was only a matter of time before the defense line collapsed.  But just when he opened his mouth to prepare for his first kind reminder, a burst of earth-shattering shouts suddenly broke out from behind him!

    All the officers turned their heads and saw that the telegraph room deep in the woods suddenly seemed to explode, and then a message swept across Bazangkul like a hurricane and thunder

    "Report!"

    Bai Chongxi straightened his back.  The loud voice almost drowned out the explosion louder than the thunder: "Brigadier General Zhang Xiao's urgent call"

    In the translator's quick reactionary words, Colonel Grandmaison and all the observers from Britain, France and other countries present were completely stunned!  Good news, huge good news!  A great victory in Rennevale-Shire Valley!  After repeated maneuvers and detours.  The 7 main divisions of the German First Army, which hastily responded to the battle, were extremely unsuitable for the rapid attack launched by 14 divisions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force from all directions, and completely collapsed after 33 hours!  Except for half of the cavalry division and a small number of infantry who forced their way across the Aisne and escaped, the rest were all wiped out!  Reniwell is back!

    God!

    "Blow the charge horn. No! Blow the triumphal hornand let the Germans have a taste of our power!"

    Amid Yue Peng¡¯s loud command, three red flares suddenly rose over Bazankul!  The trumpet sound like a victory drum struck the entire battlefield from south to north!  "That side won? That side won! We won! Come on, brothers"

    "Wehrmachtattack!"

    At that moment, Colonel Grandmaison and everyone felt that electric current rushed up the spine and instantly poured into the brain, and then attacked the whole body!  Every trench, every crater, and every soldier who could still run roared, shouted, and roared as he rushed westward. The exhausted German army was quickly overwhelmed by the scalding heat.

    May 5, 1917 at 4 p.m.  Only four and a half days had passed since the Avila Valley breakthrough.  The siege battle of Riniver-Shire Valley and the interception battle of Bazangkul, which started last in the April offensive on the Western Front, ended one after another.  In the fierce fighting for three days and three nights, only 4 of the 11 divisions of the German First Army survived (about 1 escaped during the siege, 2 at Moronvilliers, and 2 broke through the valley and were maimed before merging and retreating)  Lance (1) and the rest were all annihilated, and more than 80,000 of them were captured alone.  In the simultaneous interception battle of Bazangkul.  The Chinese Expeditionary Force, composed mainly of 5 light infantry divisions, suffered more than 18,000 casualties, but finally blocked a total of 7 German infantry divisions' crazy attacks for three days and nights, killing more than 20,000 German troops and capturing 5,000 prisoners.  and a large amount of equipment and baggage.  If Ludendorff hadn't deployed the second line of defense along Reims to the Aisne in advance, if it hadn't been for the two divisions moving south from Ilsons-Sedan to guard the north bank of Artini, if it hadn't been for Mangan's stupidity.  Perhaps the entire Western Front war situation seems to have been completely rewritten!

    Although the final result was a bit disappointing, these four and a half days were recorded forever!  Due to the underestimation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the mobilized German troops paid a heavy price. Within four and a half days, their opponents not only created a huge protrusion 80 kilometers wide and nearly 150 kilometers deep between Reims and Moronvilliers, but also suffered heavy losses.  More than 170,000 people!  More than 1,300 artillery pieces of various types (including mortars), 970 heavy machine guns, 37 tanks, 210,000 firearms of various types were lost, and the ammunition baggage was unmeasurable!  Including the 130,000 troops consumed by the British and French offensives in April, the loss of 300,000 troops in one month became the second largest monthly loss after the 350,000 troops in the Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front.  To this end, Hindenburg had to re-arm 20 divisions from the workers who had just been withdrawn from the country to produce more equipment and march to the Western Front (at that time, the Western Front had already withdrawn 1.2 million soldiers and recovered and returned to the factory), which also increased the burden on Germany's human resources.  Insufficient problem.

    But even with twice the strength and mobilizing back and forth to gain the upper hand, 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 insertion and encirclement battles also suffered casualties of up to 3.70,000. Including the losses in the hundred days of fierce fighting, the 22 divisions that have arrived on the Western Front totaled 460,000 expeditionary forces and suffered 70,000 casualties, including 25,000 dead, 15,000 severely disabled, more than 10,000 disabled, 2  Months later, all disabled soldiers returned home early.

    The impact of this battle was far-reaching. From this battle, the entire Western world began to re-examine the ancient East. The tactics and armored assault methods of the Chinese Army also became the objects of imitation by the armies of other countries.  Similarly, a batch of new equipment and technologies such as Type 2 armored vehicles and 25mm Hornet rapid-fire guns have become hot commodities in the world arms market. Since then, the word "Made in China" has been increasing its share in the international arms market year by year.

    When the "Dragon's Roar" campaign allowed the world to re-understand China, it also quietly changed the world situation.  First, after receiving Pershing's detailed report, U.S. President Wilson went to Congress for the first time to discuss whether to join the war and announced that the countdown to the United States' participation in the war had begun.  Secondly, due to the sharp contrast between the stupidity of Mangan and Niweiler and the performance of the expeditionary force, both of them were charged with neglecting the soldiers, which led to the most serious turmoil within the French army.  The two Russian divisions that went to France to participate in the war even withdrew from the battlefield collectively and pointed their guns at the French army. In the end, Britain and France had to use artillery to solve the problem.  So much so that during the rest period of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the French army on the Western Front never launched any major offensive for a whole year, creating a situation where China and France watched the British fight. This also made people originally worried about the huge salient threatening the entire Western Front.  The German army breathed a sigh of relief and finally held out until Russia fell.

    On May 25, after the Chinese Expeditionary Force showed sufficient strength and used 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 organize 1.5 million troops to ensure its national status in order to compete for post-war interests. Wilson said  The White House declares war on Germany.

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