Chapter 2038： Night three

The French who thought they had found a breakthrough began to rush into the German position along here, but soon after leaving the artillery support, they ran into the oncoming German support force, and the long-range firepower supporting their attack was at this moment. There is another problem! Relying on the realization of the marked reference, the German airship patrolling in the night sky quickly located the position of the French long-range artillery, especially the two 520MM super heavy train guns, which became the key targets! From 25 kilometers away, the Bavarian Second Army mobilized 9 380MM overweight train guns to cover the target!

A shell weighing 750KG flew out of the muzzle at a speed of more than twice the speed of sound, and a huge orange fireball rose up in the night sky. Then, the exhaust gas produced by the propellant formed a circular air mass and diffused outwards. After dozens of seconds of flying, these devastating shells roared and landed around the French artillery positions!

The first thing that suffered was a command post next to it, which was responsible for exchanging information with the front line. The wooden house was directly blown into fragments by a huge artillery shell. The aftermath of the explosion spread to nearby engineers, and the shock wave and fragments directly tore the fragile human body. Become a pile of minced meat!

Then, tons of artillery shells fell from a distance, and a passage on the right side of the gun position that transported artillery shells from the underground ammunition storehouse was destroyed. The vehicles and personnel transporting the shells were crushed under dozens of tons of stones and mud. And the end of this 520MM heavy cannon is not too far away. After 8 minutes of firing, a shell fell on the circular orbit in front of the heavy gun! Tons of steel rails and sleepers were directly blown into the sky, and an indiscriminate shot was carried out at the personnel operating at the rear of the gun. The huge steel rails even shattered a hanging basket behind the gun! A boulder blew off the pushing equipment next to it. Half of the huge cannonball got stuck in the tail of the artillery, unable to advance or retreat!

And just when the French braved the artillery fire and tried to push the shell away, disaster finally came. A 750KG shell accurately landed on the rear car of the 520MM train gun! The huge power directly destroyed this improved rear car with a 7-axle train trailer! Like a giant having a leg broken, the barrel weighing hundreds of tons fell to one side, and the 1654KG heavy grenade in the gun position exploded due to a violent collision!

The explosive power of this shell, which was heavier than the main artillery shell of the Yamato battleship, was so powerful that the unfinished business of the German shells was completed by it. With a loud noise, the more than ten-meter-long artillery was blown into two pieces. segment! Then when the flame ignited the propellant of the opponent next to him, the entire artillery position instantly turned into a spewing volcano, and the pillar of fire rising into the sky was so conspicuous in the night sky, even from Laon to Champagne. Soldiers on both sides of the war on all fronts saw the scene like the end!

Compared to the powerful train guns with a capacity of more than 100 tons, the French self-propelled artillery performed very well, especially the two ultra-long-range self-propelled artillery, the GPF194MM self-propelled cannon and the 155MM self-propelled howitzer. The former's range of more than 20 kilometers allowed him to avoid most of the German counter-fire attacks. (Historically, it is 18,900 meters. The French on this plane has increased the elevation angle, so the range is longer.) When it is targeted by heavy train guns, the 120-horsepower engine of this artillery can make this artillery at 8-10 The kilometer road was evacuated from the position at a speed of one hour. As for the 155MM self-propelled howitzer, there are a lot of these things and they move quickly. Although the range is relatively short, they still have a high survival rate.

Compared with the loss of artillery troops, the loss of infantry and armored units on the front line made the French more worried. More than 100 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, and the 7 infantry divisions that went into battle were maimed by 5 in one night. In the battle, the French sent at least 30,000 casualties. Although this loss is not unacceptable for the French Legion, which has gathered four armies, it is obviously a very bad sign-the Germans are systematically destroying the vital forces of the French army. They are full of confidence, plan carefully, compress and consume the French army a little bit, until the opponent collapses!

As the exposed heavy artillery and towed long-range artillery were knocked out one by one, the French night battle also came to an end. The German military's assessment of the French night attack on this night after the war is very intriguing, and that is-just a little trouble.

"The combat power of our army is worrying." Petain, who hadn't slept all night, said to Foch, his bloodshot eyes and haggard face revealed his fatigue and anxiety.

"The gap between us and the Germans is not only in the quality, quantity and personnel quality of the weapons, but more importantly, our soldiers have lost their fighting spirit, and an atmosphere of failure pervades the entire battlefield. Let’s take a look at the performance of our troops today. , Not only soldiers and low-level officers, but even high-level officers were shaken during the implementation of the operation This battle has been difficult to continue." Petain continued.

"The situation is worse than we thought. It seems that the original plan is no longer possible. I can hardly imagine what happens when our troops collide with the Germans in the open field." Foch also saw that the war was about to come. The shadow of failure, but this time he can still fight for the last!

"Let the British go, those cowboys from Australia and New Zealand can fight better than the British native army on the British Isles." Petain said. "They also have the strength of a group army anyway. Whether they can stop the Germans is up to them."

This is not an exaggeration. In fact, if we simply talk about the quality of the troops, the quality of the British troops on the Western Front was the highest at the beginning of the war, but unfortunately, three months later, the first batch of British troops who participated in the war either died on the battlefield or went to the hospital. .... Subsequently, as a large number of newly mobilized troops joined the battlefield, the quality of the British army began to decline, and the combat effectiveness of the colonial troops from Australia and New Zealand began to show their strength. They were more eager than the native British to prove themselves in the war and look for excitement. Even many British troops from Oceania brought their own flattery and some equipment. And from the arrival of the first batch of Anzac troops, until now, this corps still maintains a high combat effectiveness and strong morale!

"Very well, I will contact Lord Hamilton immediately. If at today's speed, the Germans have to pass through the defense line in about 3 days, it is enough for us to discuss a practical plan with the British. "Foch nodded and said.

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