Chapter 771： casualties

"Attack!" Lieutenant General Alexander Linsingen, on a transport ship, issued an order for the Marine Corps to launch an attack. Thousands of officers and soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of the Marine Corps took a defeated landing craft and started the landing operation ten kilometers from the coast.

These landing craft, each capable of carrying an infantry squad, are driven by oil extraction machines and are very fast. The distance of ten kilometers only takes less than twenty minutes.

After the Marine Corps successfully established a beachhead on the beach, the transport ship will drive further to the coast to save landing time. At the same time, amphibious tanks and other landing weapons will also start to attack, assisting the marines who have already washed up on the beach, and further expanding the results of the battle.

Hundreds of landing craft are scattered in this sea area, densely packed. The German marines shrank their bodies and lowered their height as much as possible. The landing craft used by the Marine Corps are all reinforced. In the front, a thin layer of armor is added. Although it cannot resist shells, it is still no problem to resist bullets. Even machine gun bullets may not be able to penetrate.

The landing operation was undoubtedly very tragic, especially before the brave marines rushed to the beach, they didn't even have the ability to protect themselves at all. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the safety of the Marines as much as possible.

"General, the Germans have landed. They dispatched hundreds of landing craft, densely packed, almost covering the sea!" An officer reported to Admiral Douglas Haig.

After escaping from Le Havre and returning to England, Admiral Douglas Haig and others were not punished, but were still entrusted with important tasks. After all, the British Army already lacks experienced generals. There are even fewer generals like Admiral Douglas Haig who have been on the battlefield. Therefore, these generals can be regarded as valuable assets of the British Army. Such a general, even if he loses a battle, still needs to be reused. Otherwise, where would they find so many generals to lead troops to fight?

General Douglas Haig is now in command of the 1st Army of the British Continental Army, with a total of 200,000 people. It is a real elite. Their defense zone is Margate.

In addition, General Benson, the former commander of the 2nd Army of the British Expeditionary Force, was also transferred to the commander of the 2nd Army of the Continental Army after returning home. Major General Goff, commander of the 5th Army of the Expeditionary Force, served as commander of the 3rd Army of the Continental Army. These three group armies can be regarded as the real elite troops in the local army.

The three armies were stationed on the front lines of Margate, Dover and Folkestone respectively, and became the main force against the German army. The other two elite armies were deployed in London to serve as the capital's defense force and reserve force. In addition, there are several second-line armies in the southeastern theater of the British mainland, with a total strength of 1.6 million.

"Order our artillery and start attacking. Coastal defense artillery also joined in. Focus on attacking the German landing force!" Admiral Douglas Haig ordered.

After experiencing the disastrous defeat of the expeditionary force, Admiral Douglas Haig also had a great change. He paid more attention and vigilance to the German army. He knew the power of the German army and knew that it would be very difficult to defeat the German army. It is necessary to give priority to killing the vital forces of the German army. Otherwise, it will only cause unnecessary casualties to oneself.

Admiral Douglas Haig Xinzhi, relying on the artillery in their hands, if they want to compete with the German fleet, it is simply a dream. That's why he focused the shelling on the German landing troops. It is obviously much better to wipe out the German landing force than to fight the German fleet meaninglessly.

"Yes, General!" The officer immediately went to convey the order.

A few minutes later, the British artillery, who had been silent since the beginning of the battle, began to roar.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

More than a thousand British cannons began to fire violently. These cannons belong to the British 1st Army and 6th Army. The Sixth Army was also stationed at Margate, under the control of Admiral Douglas Haig.

In addition, the navy's coastal defense artillery has more than two hundred cannons. These cannons have a long range and are very powerful.

The shells fell on the sea like raindrops, splashing jets of water into the sky. The officers and soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of the German Marine Corps, who were charging towards the shore, were immediately in danger.

"Boom!" A landing craft was hit by a shell, and the fragile landing craft was immediately scattered. The heavily armed marines all fell into the water. Although, they immediately untied their equipment to avoid being dragged into the sea by the wet equipment. But there are still many people who could not escape and sank into the sea.

"Boom!"

A shell exploded not far from a landing craft. Although it missed the landing craft, the scattered shrapnel still penetrated the landing craft, and several soldiers were hit.

After the British artillery began to fire, the casualties of the Marine Corps who had not yet been able to rush to the shore began to rise.

"Damn it! Where's our artillery? Suppress the British cannons!" Lieutenant General Alexander Linsingen roared with red eyes. Under such circumstances, no matter how brave the soldiers of the Marine Corps are, they are like lambs waiting to be slaughtered!

"General, the naval warships have begun to suppress the British artillery!" The adjutant reported.

The warships of the navy on the sea, of course, it is impossible to watch the marines suffer from British artillery fire. They immediately changed the coordinates of the bombardment and began to fire on the British artillery positions.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

One after another, the powerful naval artillery shells slammed into the artillery positions of the British army. The power of large-caliber naval gun shells is not comparable to those of these army shells. As long as it is hit, almost one shell can cause a lot of damage to the British artillery positions.

"Boom!"

A 280mm artillery shell hit an 83.8mm field artillery position of the British Army. The whole position was like a typhoon passing through, and suddenly became very embarrassed. Several cannons were blown up, and many artillerymen were also directly killed, which looked very miserable.

Although, the artillery of the British Army is huge. However, under the fierce attack of the German Navy's naval guns, they still paid a heavy price. At the same time, as more and more artillery were eliminated, the British artillery positions were gradually suppressed.

It's just that the British shelling has caused a lot of casualties to the German Marine Corps.