Chapter 1351： Get out of the way

Lieutenant General Sosaku Suzuki thought for a while, and then said: "Let the 22nd Artillery Regiment, the 100th Division Artillery Team and the 102nd Division Artillery Team get ready and go into battle in half an hour!"

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander." Major General Tomokami Miharu replied.

The 22nd Field Artillery Regiment is an artillery unit under the 16th Division. As the artillery under the four-unit division, it is powerful, equipped with 36 75mm field guns and 12 120mm howitzers.

As for the artillery teams of the 100th Division and the 102nd Division, their strength is relatively weak. Because the strength of the 100th Division and the 102nd Division is also relatively weak. There are two infantry brigades under each of these two divisions, but there is no wing formation. Under each infantry brigade, there are four independent infantry brigades and communications teams. The artillery team under the division is only as strong as the artillery team of the independent mixed brigade, equipped with 12 75mm mountain guns and 6 75mm field guns. The reason is that these two divisions were upgraded from independent mixed brigades. This makes them stronger than independent mixed brigades, but they cannot be compared with normal divisions. Even the three-unit division is stronger than them.

While the artillery of the island country army was performing, the artillery of the German army was also busy. The 23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade, the 227th Infantry Division, the 229th Infantry Division, plus the artillery of the 225th Infantry Division and the 228th Infantry Division, are all adjusting their design orientations, preparing to give the artillery of the Japanese Army a hard time.

Less than five minutes after the artillery of the island country army ravaged, the German artillery had completed its preparations.

"Fire!" With the order of Major General Abraham, the commander of the 23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade, the German artillery immediately started shelling.

The 72 210mm heavy artillery pieces of the 23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade fired first.

These self-propelled guns have orange flames shining from the muzzle. One after another, the heavy shells have already flown out. With the help of an automatic loader, these 210mm self-propelled howitzers can fire at a rate of two rounds per minute.

Immediately after, the artillery belonging to the four infantry divisions opened fire. 72 150mm heavy howitzers, 144 105mm light howitzers and 216 75mm field guns. These artillery pieces all started shelling. So much so that shells hit the artillery positions of the Japanese army like raindrops.

"Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!" One after another, the shells flew in the air at high speed, rubbed against the air violently, and made a sharp whistling sound.

"The enemy's shelling!" The artillerymen of the island army raised their heads in horror, looking at the shells falling from the sky.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The shells fell like raindrops, and the sound of explosions sounded one after another.

I saw the artillery positions of the island country army completely covered by artillery fire. The cannons were destroyed in the explosion. The artillerymen were blown to pieces. Those artillerymen who were lucky enough not to be killed by the bombing scattered in all directions, running faster than rabbits.

Under the guidance of the calibration aircraft in the sky, the German artillery shells could accurately hit the artillery positions of the Japanese Army, causing very heavy casualties to the artillery of the Japanese Army.

Lieutenant General Sosaku Suzuki watched this scene with a livid face. He just praised their powerful artillery, but in a blink of an eye, their artillery was destroyed! This is undoubtedly a blatant slap in the face.

As for Lieutenant General Kobayashi Asaburo, head of the 30th Division, and Lieutenant General Hojo Tenkichi, head of the 54th Independent Mixed Brigade, their hearts were bleeding even more. The loss is all their artillery! What's more terrible is that without the fire support of the artillery, if the infantry alone launches an attack, I am afraid that all their troops will be lost, and they will not be able to break through the German defense line!

Lieutenant General Keisuke Fujie, Commander of the 16th Division, Lieutenant General Jiro Harada, Commander of the 100th Division, and Lieutenant General Fukuei Shinpei, Commander of the 102nd Division, all looked unsightly. Although it is the artillery of the 30th Division and the independent mixed 54th Brigade that is lost now. But everyone knew that soon it would be their artillery turn. The German artillery is so powerful, which naturally makes them feel lingering fear.

"Baga!" Lieutenant General Suzuki Sosaku couldn't help cursing.

"How could the German artillery be so powerful? Such a large crater was definitely caused by heavy artillery!" Suzuki Sosaku said with a livid face.

"Your Excellency, the German artillery has always been powerful. It has been famous all over the world since the last world war. Now, the German artillery has undoubtedly become even stronger!" Major General Tomochi Miharu said.

"Your Excellency, if we fight the artillery with the Germans, we may not be their opponents at all. Even if we gather the artillery of the entire front army, we may not be able to win. Especially in terms of large-caliber heavy artillery, it is difficult for us to compete with the Germans." Contest!" Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke said.

The artillery of the island country army is indeed much worse than that of the German army. The general divisions are almost all equipped with 75mm mountain guns and 75mm field guns. Only a small number of divisions were equipped with 120mm howitzers. These 120mm howitzers seem to have a larger caliber than the German 105mm light howitzers. However, the power is at most comparable to the German 105mm howitzer. This is the same as the Russian Army in that it can only increase its caliber to increase its power when there is no technical solution. As for larger caliber artillery, only the Independent Field Heavy Artillery Wing or the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade are equipped with 150mm heavy howitzers. And these 150mm heavy howitzers are probably even worse in performance than the German 150mm heavy howitzers.

In the current Southern Army, there is no independent field heavy artillery wing or independent heavy artillery brigade. This made it impossible for the island army to compete with the powerful artillery of the German army on the battlefield.

"Can we just watch the German artillery ravage?" Lieutenant General Suzuki Sosaku asked.

All the generals fell silent.

"Your Excellency, to deal with the German artillery, the only way to deal with the German artillery is to dispatch the Army Air Force to bombard it. Or the Navy dispatched capital ships to bombard it with naval guns." Rear Admiral Tomokami Miharu said bravely.

However, these two methods are obviously not feasible. The Army Air Corps of the island country cannot even seize air supremacy. If bombers are dispatched, they will only become the target of the Luftwaffe's fighter force.

As for the Navy's main fleet, it will not be so easy to participate in the war. Not only did they have to guard against the German Navy, but they also had to guard against the German Air Force.

It took only ten minutes for the German artillery to launch a counterattack, and the 30th Field Artillery Wing of the Japanese Army and the 54th Independent Artillery Brigade had been completely lost.