Chapter 236: Bloody Battle with Saint Meilang (2)

The black soil stirred by the shells hit the trenches like raindrops. The advance troops of the Expeditionary Force were mostly veterans who had experienced many wars. It can be said that they fought from 1911 to 1915. However, such continuous and fierce shelling still made them feel as if the sky was collapsed and the ground was sinking. Everyone was curled up in the hasty reinforced trenches, enduring the violent turmoil on the ground. The shells fell one after another, and their own fierce firepower in this regard. There was no other sound in the world except for the roars made by Mars. Even the sun that jumped into the sky was frightened to the point of being pale at this moment. In the eyes of many soldiers, all the scenery of the day was black and white.

The results of the attack of the expeditionary force were unexpected by both sides. The Allies launched an attack on the German front in two directions at the same time. The main force of the left wing was the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and their main attacking troops were less than two regiments. The attack troops on the right wing launched an attack in Tianming. The attack fronts of the two sides were about 60 kilometers apart. The troops taken out were the 3rd Army, which had only been replenished in Belgium, which had been combating in Belgium, including two active divisions. However, they still used the same old methods to launch a continuous attack on the defenders of a German division in front of them. The courage of the French infantry was amazing, but the casualties were also amazing. After the Chinese Expeditionary Force, it took a midnight and a morning of attack.

After the attack was fully occupied by the German positions on the front line, the price paid could only be said to be minor according to the standards of the Western Front. The French army paid the price of seven or eight thousand casualties, and both large-scale attacks were repelled. Looking down from the air, the huge German Atova-Shambani protrusion. On the left wing had been depressed by the Expeditionary Force, but the right wing still maintained the front line. However, the Saint-Melan Town Hub on the left wing was already under the threat of the Expeditionary Force, and their mortar shells could directly reach the Saint-Melan Town. Once this town that controls the traffic pass was attacked by the Expeditionary Force, then this huge protrusion, at least on their left wing, the supply line behind it, was completely cut off. The German army that had lost the left wing would inevitably retreat northward.

Of course, the French and British sides realized the great achievements of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Their new attack tactics, their use of small groups of strong infantry, and their flexibly used artillery. The entire Western Front Allied Forces were refreshed! Praise telephones and telegrams rushed in. They all praised the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to give the entire Allied Force a surprise. The Allied Forces also moved to the left. The Chinese Expeditionary Forces were independent from the command sequence of the 11th Army, and the French headquarters directly issued combat orders. Their hope for the expeditionary force was huge, especially after the careful preparation of the right wing failed! Xia Fei unambiguously asked the Chinese Expeditionary Force to use all their strength immediately and firmly

Grasp the front line of positions they have already obtained, and while smashing the German counterattack, quickly expand the results and win the town of Saint Melan! While they were attacking, the entire 11th Army and part of the Sixth Army that came into motion would launch an attack in the south to restrain the German troops from moving towards Saint Melan. At the same time, a powerful artillery group with more than 100 artillery companies was specially formed, which was under the command of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. In this Oriental force, they had no high hopes before, but now they hoped that they could lay a victory! Xia Fei also made generous promise that if the Expeditionary Force felt that the troops were insufficient, they would prepare two colonial divisions as the follow-up reserves of the Expeditionary Force--the French army, even if it was just black people, it would still be under the command of He Shui!

The commander-in-chief of Germany on this front, Prince Rupresit and their Fifth Army, also felt that they had been hit hard. The Allied forces began a large-scale offensive on September 25, as they expected. Although the attack began with great momentum, the calm and tenacious army of His Majesty the Emperor still resisted tenaciously and effectively. After more than ten days of fierce fighting, the Allied forces suffered heavy losses, and the attack spirit and momentum were gradually exhausted. The Fifth Army itself had thirteen.

Half of the division was later dispatched nine more divisions to join the front. The Crown Army launched a restrained offensive on the West Flank. In his opinion, the climax of the battle was over. Although they lost several trenches and lost 40,000 to 50,000 troops, they gave exponential damage to the Allies. Their big overhang is far from shaken! Even if the Allies' army launched several more comprehensive offensives, they could still resist step by step and persist until the final victory of this battle!

But on the Saint-Melan Front, in fact, on this front, Prince Rupresit, who attaches great importance to it, gathered two multi-divisions (the 59th Bavarian Division and the 45th Saxony Division) here to provide deep-seated equipment, and more than 200 artillery support. The general reserve team can be drawn to reinforce through the transportation route at any time. The battlefield here is not very large and the terrain is not good. The German army of two multi-divisions was weakened, but it is not too much to resist the attack of one or two armies of the Allied Army for a few days. As long as there is this time, Rupresit still has three general reserve teams of three multi-divisions, and can reinforce everywhere at any time. He believes that he can defeat all the offensives of the Allied Army!

But the German prince, commander of the Fifth Army, never expected that the front line of the barrier town of Saint Melan was lost in one night, plus half a day! The enemy's attack troops were expeditionary forces sent from China. These cunning Easterners launched a shameful sneak attack. They were born thieves on the battlefield, sneaking to steal the victory he deserved! But the prince had to admit that this small group of infiltrating attack infantry tactics are very suitable for this trench warfare. Selected assault infantry can ensure infantry firepower and reduce attack casualties. If they cooperate with artillery more effectively, perhaps there may be no front line to

Resist their infiltration attack! Both sides of the war recognized the change in this tactical means, and in the future, both sides would adopt the absorption and correction application. But at this moment, what His Majesty the Prince was most worried about was how to deal with the current situation! Saint Melan has been completely exposed, and some infantry units entering the reserve position urgently had no room for maneuver, and their reserve position has been subjected to fierce fire. To ensure Saint Melan's safety, it is necessary to counterattack and regain the front-line position occupied by the Chinese to win the time for the troops to adjust and deploy! Otherwise, half of the troops of this protruding unit would be cut off by the Allied forces!

His Excellency the Prince rushed to order Colonel Lindenberg, the commander of the 59th Division of Saint Melan, to serve as the commander-in-chief of the front line, and quickly coordinated the troops retreating from the front line, including the reserve forces of the 45th Division of Saxony. He immediately launched a counterattack! At the same time, all forces that could be grasped from all over the place were drawn, and reinforcements were quickly sent to the General Staff. Finally, a telegram asking for help was sent to the General Staff: "…………As Saint Melan was exposed to the threat of the Chinese army, the battle in the direction of Atuva-Shambany suddenly reached the most dangerous time! The line that has gradually become quiet may become more intense! Reinforcements must arrive immediately!"

The Chinese Expeditionary Force ushered in their more intense battle. Once this long-trained sharp blade was unsheathed, the cold light suddenly shone on everyone's eyes. At the same time, it also ushered in a real challenge.

Baihuo crawled like a mouse in the muddy trench. He no longer thought about what the soft things he had touched with his hands and feet. The young captain wore a French gas mask and looked out from the viewing hole, which was already blurred. The enemy's firepower exploded everywhere, and sometimes poisonous gas bombs exploded dullly. But seeing that the firepower was extending backwards, their offensive was about to begin! Every soldier who was waiting for the artillery fire to pass by against the wall, he would slap them hard, gesture the gesture of preparing to face the attack immediately. Someone was beaten by him and fell down like this. These brothers were already killed by flying shrapnel and died in this muddy and dirty trench. Liaohe Company was injured in the attack last night.

There were only more than twenty people killed, but after half a day's shelling, the hero company huddled into the broken trenches, with casualties reaching more than thirty brothers, exceeding the casualties of hand-to-hand combat! However, all weapons and ammunition were replenished. Without the firepower of the Maxim machine gun, he had no confidence to block the German counterattack! The entire company had two sixty mm and one eighty mm mortar with ammunition in full, and he could roar wildly. Looking at the barrage of the shells, the barrage finally surpassed the trenches, Baihuo struggled to stand up from the trenches, gasping heavily, looking forward from the blurry eyepiece. In front of him, there was still gun smoke. But he knew that the German infantry was just behind this gun smoke!

Bai Huo pulled the communications soldier beside him and gestured a phone call. The communications soldier shook the phone on his knees vigorously, but it was obvious that the telephone line had been interrupted by shells. Bai Huo shouted: "Call the signal balls! Let the mountain cannons in the rear focus on bombarding the area 100 meters ahead of our trench, blocking the route from the German devils. We can use machine guns to shoot, and we can eat as much as we come! We will cheer me up. When we arrive at this place, don't think about going home. Take down the Saint Melan and show the majesty of our An Meng army!"

The soldiers in the trench seemed to hear the agitation of their company commander in the sound of artillery, and they all stood up from the trench. The machine guns were set up, and a rod of rifles stretched out their muzzles. The grenades were uncovered and the leads were pulled out. Red signal flares rose one after another in the air above the trench. The artillery behind understood the meaning of these infantry brothers, and they were ready to fight! The firepower of the 75-mm mountain field cannon used as direct support for infantry, and the 107-mm heavy mortar group began to shift, and they formed firewalls one hundred meters in front of the infantry trench. Shields roared around. The German artillery firepower extended from the trench direction and began to attack these artillery positions with the shooting positions. This was just the beginning, and the artillery firepower of both sides was as if the sky was about to collapse!

The three infantry groups of more than three regiments of infantry that were pieced together by the German army, flocking in such artillery fire. These infantry were also strictly trained and also with the strictest discipline. On the European battlefield in the 20th century, they were undoubtedly one of the most powerful infantry. The artillery fire swept across their dense storm-formation. Under the superior artillery of the Allied forces, the countermeasures of the German artillery group did not have much effect. One round of shells broke their bodies and threw them into the sky.

The lower-level officers hoarsely urged their subordinates to maintain their charge formation under such firepower. They endured all this and rushed through the blockade of the artillery fire at the fastest speed. Amid the dust and smoke that covered the battlefield, these German infantry wearing gray uniforms and pointed military caps could not see the movements of their left and right sides, and could only stumble forward and rushed forward. A shrapnel nightmare whizzed past their ears. As long as they were not hit, they could not stop their charge!

Finally, the first batch of German infantry rushed through the blockade of artillery fire and staggered forward at the front of the trench that had been knocked into the surface of the moon. Everyone buried their heads and bayonets were installed on the rifle. First, there were a few people scattered, and then groups of them appeared from the smoke of gunfire! Although the formation had been defeated, their size was still rolling like the ants moving! No commander unified the order to open fire, and the machine guns and mortars on the entire front were fired at the same time. Then the rifles joined the death chorus. On the entire front, the expeditionary army deployed less than 3,000 troops, but the number of machine guns of Maxim, Lewis, and Maderson reached more than 100! These machine guns were transported to the trenches that faced the German counterattack at the fastest speed!

The flames spit out by the machine guns were like the sickles of the god of death, cutting down the German army's dense storm-formation. The Chinese soldiers could see that the soldiers in the first row of Germans, as if they were pushed hard at the same time, all turned backwards! The heavy bullets of the powerful machine gun cut off the arteries of these German soldiers and the blood splashed out immediately dyed the gray and black battlefield red! The soldiers behind were still rolling up, and then they rushed to the ground. These German soldiers did not have the complete weapons as the Chinese assault infantry, some of which were probably rifles and bayonets. They also didn't seem to know how to crawl forward, using the terrain and land, and they just charged forward, and no one even bent down. They just charged forward straightly, and then paved the roads with gray corpses on the road ahead!

Baihuo himself controlled a Maxim machine gun, swaying left and right, shooting wildly. The skin on his face was shaking due to the violent vibration, and there were only piles of gray people in his eyes! The temporary shooting platform was loosened, and the cooling water of the machine gun water-cooled sleeve boiled, but the machine gun fire still did not stop. The two soldiers supported the machine gun's tripod with force. The violent oscillation made them vomit blood and their teeth were bitten off. But they were still maintaining the firepower of the machine gun. Under such an attack, only the continuous firepower of the machine gun is the key to defending the position! In the dense firepower, life became the most insignificant thing.

Various screams echoed through the sky. The casualties of the German counterattack troops could no longer be described as heavy, it was a complete killing! A few days ago, they used the firepower of machine guns to slaughter British and French attack troops in this way. A few days later, such fate fell on their heads! The front of the entire front line had become an ocean of German soldiers' bodies. The German soldiers who had not died were moaning in pain, and the officers whose legs were blown off continued to crawl forward in a daze. Some wounded soldiers who were hit in the water in the crater were drowned alive by the accumulated water that was only deep in their knees. For these German officers and soldiers who were counterattacking, this was purgatory!

After all, the front occupied by the Expeditionary Force was only obtained, and only limited reinforcement was done. The obstacles in front of the position were not set at all. After paying the heavy casualties, the German army finally rushed to the front of their trenches. Grenades and crows were thrown into the trenches of the Expeditionary Force, and the explosion suddenly sounded in the trenches. Several machine guns were shooting violently and mute. Captain Baihuo threw away the machine gun in his hand and threw off his anti-virus.

Mask. He grabbed a Type 98 rifle with a bayonet and jumped into the trench. His military uniform was broken and covered in mud. Only the An Meng army's skin cap on his head summoned Chinese soldiers to follow him like a flag: "The Qing army will fight for each other!" This battle slogan that resounded through China finally exploded like thunder in Europe. Countless expeditionary soldiers shouted and rushed out of the trench, showing off bayonets and rushing forward unstoppable. Large-scale hand-to-hand combat has always been the time when the soldiers' courage is the most tested!

The yellow waves and the gray crowd collided fiercely, and the bayonets penetrated each other's chests. The engineer shoveled up and down. As long as there was something in his hands, he would use whatever he wanted! In the memories of the German survivors, these yellow-faced soldiers emerged from the trenches like hungry ghosts in hell, and then they launched the most fierce battle with hands and blades! Some soldiers were wearing the shoulder straps of Lewis machine guns and shooting at their waists with machine guns. At such a close distance, such a dense crowd, after a drum-like bullet was shot, a flesh-and-blood alley could be tear out! These German soldiers passed by

After such a long charge, after being hit by artillery shells and baptized by machine gun bullets, the last bit of courage and sharp fighting had been exhausted. The soldiers dropped the rifles in their hands, turned around and ran back. Some people who had no physical strength to retreat raised their hands high, indicating that they would never want to die in this terrible war. The Chinese soldiers with red eyes were still chasing forward with bayonets. They chased them for dozens or hundreds of meters until they didn't know which shells from the side fell on their heads, and they knew that they had repelled the German counterattack.

The German counterattack was timely and mobilized their greatest strength. However, all this was considered by He Sui and Li Rui before the war. After taking down the German front, they immediately considered not to immediately expand the results of the war. After losing their suddenness, the infantry attacked the enemy's reserve position, and they could imagine that the casualties were large and the results were small. Instead, they immediately adopted a configuration of heavy firepower and light troops. On the one hand, they reduced casualties under the enemy's counterattack artillery fire, and on the other hand, they concentrated on killing the enemy's counterattack and had vitality. As long as the enemy's soldiers were put into place

The force-killing injury reached a certain point, and when the rear reserve team had not yet made a large investment, it might have had relatively good results in launching an expansion offensive. The tactics carried out in Europe were before going abroad. The General Staff Operations Office, Training Office, and the Advanced Soldier Research Office of the Jiangbei Official School and their commanders repeatedly deduced. Even Yuchen often participated in the preparation of this theory and often put forward his opinions and opinions. After the troops trained according to this system, they did achieve amazing results once they were used on the European battlefield.

"The German counterattack has collapsed! The troops in the front are already very tired. I am ready to use the main force I control and continue to expand the results at night... Commander, I need the support of the reserve troops and let the remaining two regiments of the first division follow up! In addition to the artillery... Yes, it is artillery, I need absolute control over the artillery group. In addition to the effective support of our division artillery and military artillery, the French artillery group is simply a waste of artillery shells! It can't be suppressed by anything! It's better to use it in a concentrated manner. Now the left and right are already opened. As long as we can break into Saint Melan, we can let the British and French army follow up. Commander, I promise you that this mastery must be our army!"

Wang Ting's voice came from the headphones of the phone. Listening to his excited tone, it seemed that the major general was in high spirits. He Sui held the phone and ummed twice, not saying too much. He just reminded him: "Replenish ammunition soldiers to the front line and transport the wounded soldiers down. There are still three hours before dark to guard against the Germans' next counterattack! How to carry out the war at night, wait for the order!" He put down his headphones and walked to the front of the map. The staff had marked the changes in the front line on the map.

The left wing of the protruding part had been opened with a width of two or three kilometers, and the assault troops of the Expeditionary Force were now guarding there. Several powerful artillery groups were supporting them. One or two kilometers ahead of them, they could cross the reserved position built on a low ridge, and look down at the town of Saint Melan, and several roads were within the fire control range of the reserved position on the ridge. Through the town of Saint Melan, it was the strategic railway. Except for the Fifty-Nine and Forty-Fifteenth Divisions, the other troops of the Germans were undoubtedly concentrating in this direction. Now they were about to fight for time, and they could not let their soldiers fall into a terrible war of attrition. Attacks of the night expansion offensive must be carried out!
Chapter completed!