Chapter 1350 Shelling

On the other side of Crocker Hill, the defense lines of the German 227th Infantry Division and 229th Infantry Division. After nearly half a month of careful construction, the German officers and soldiers of these two infantry divisions have built a solid line of defense in the valley of the mountain pass.

The entire line of defense was more than ten kilometers long, guarding the only exit from Crocker Hill. If the island country army wants to cross Crocker Mountain, it can only pass through here. The rest of the places are all places with high mountains and dense forests, and it is impossible to march through large troops.

The German army dug three trenches on this line of defense. Barbed wire fences were stretched between each trench and landmines were planted. The trenches are connected by traffic trenches.

In front of the first trench, a fairly large minefield was buried and three barbed wire fences were pulled up.

Behind the line of defense, there are artillery positions. The heavy artillery brigade under the German 23rd Army, the artillery regiments under the 227th Infantry Division and the 229th Infantry Division, and the field artillery battalions of each infantry regiment. In addition, the artillery regiments of the 225th Infantry Division and the 228th Infantry Division also have field artillery battalions, and all of them have been strengthened. Although these two infantry divisions suffered a lot of losses in the previous battles. But the main losses were artillery, and little was lost to infantry. In this defensive operation, these artillery can also come in handy.

As for the artillery of the 221st Mechanized Infantry Division and the 222nd Mechanized Infantry Division, they went to reinforce the 226th Infantry Division.

With the German army carefully building a solid line of defense and at the same time gathering a large number of cannons, it is conceivable that the island army wants to break through the German line of defense. The final result is undoubtedly that the army of the island country was bruised and bloody in the face of the strong defense of the German army.

The German army undoubtedly hopes to pass through these lines of defense and consume as much of the island's army as possible. It would undoubtedly be the best if hundreds of thousands of island country troops could be wiped out in front of the defense line.

Major General Leizer, commander of the German 227th Infantry Division, and Major General Manteuffel, commander of the 229th Infantry Division, were speaking. The division headquarters of the two are not very far apart. After all, this line of defense is in charge of these two infantry divisions, and they need to work together.

"The islanders are coming, and it is expected that they will launch an attack soon. Next, let's watch our performance." Major General Lazer seemed relaxed, and was not frightened by the massive attack of hundreds of thousands of enemy troops.

"We have done what we should do. The next thing to do is to enjoy the process of fighting. Of course, this process may be very cruel and bloody. However, that is for the islanders. Major General Manteuffel laughed. He seemed to have seen that the island army had suffered heavy losses in front of their defense line. That was certainly what he wanted to see.

"This time our mission is to slaughter those islanders. I think God will forgive us. After all, islanders are not believers in God." Major General Lazer said.

"Haha, General Lazer, you are right. Sending those islanders to hell may be a task entrusted to us by God!" Major General Manteoffel looked deeply convinced.

"By the way, is the air force ready to contact? I don't want the planes of the islanders to drop bombs on our heads." Major General Lazer asked.

Although the Army Aviation of the island country has been at a disadvantage in the battle with the 5th Aviation Group of the Luftwaffe. However, it has to be admitted that the Japanese army aviation still has certain strength. Since this period of time, the two sides have been fighting for air supremacy. Although many fighter planes were shot down, the Japanese army aviation still persisted.

"The air force is ready. The air search radar has been working. Once the islanders' planes are found, our air force will take off fighter jets to cover us. The islanders want to drop bombs on our heads, then Impossible!" Major General Manteoffel seemed very confident in the strength of his own air force.

Major General Laize nodded, so he felt relieved. Perhaps when they are attacked by the army of the island country, the air force can still provide them with fire support. In that case, they will undoubtedly have greater confidence in holding the line of defense and resisting the attack of the Japanese army.

Just after one o'clock in the afternoon, after lunch, the island army, who took a half-hour rest by the way, began to form a team and prepare to launch an attack. Lieutenant General Asaburo Kobayashi, head of the 30th Division of the Japanese Army, and Lieutenant General Hojo Tenkichi, head of the 54th Independent Mixed Brigade, have both given orders to attack.

In this offensive, the 30th Division of the Japanese Army will invest in two infantry regiments at one time, namely the 74th Infantry Regiment and the 77th Infantry Regiment. The independent and mixed 54th Brigade will also invest in four infantry brigades in this attack. It can be regarded as having invested the main force.

"Fire!" Following the order of Otsuka Otsuka, the captain of the 30th Field Artillery Regiment, 36 75mm field guns and 12 75mm mountain guns began shelling.

In addition, the mountain artillery squadrons of the three infantry regiments under the 30th Division also joined in with a total of 12 75mm mountain artillery.

The 12 75mm mountain guns and 6 75mm field guns of the artillery unit of the brigade belonging to the independent and mixed 54th Brigade also started shelling.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As these mountain artillery began to shell, shells hit the German defense line one after another.

However, when the Japanese Army's shelling had just begun, the German officers and soldiers on the ground had already drilled into the artillery holes. Therefore, the shelling of the Daoguo Road was at most destroying some fortifications on the position, and did not cause too many casualties to the German army.

What's more, the mountain artillery and field artillery of the island army are not very powerful. It is simply impossible to seriously threaten the German army.

"Yoxi! Our artillery is still very strong. An infantry division and an independent mixed brigade can assemble 36 75mm mountain artillery pieces and 42 75mm field artillery pieces. Such strength is already quite It's tough." Lieutenant General Sosaku Suzuki watched the artillery performance of the Japanese Army with a telescope, and nodded with satisfaction.

From the perspective of East Asia, the artillery strength of the army of the island country, although it seems that there has been no improvement in the past two decades, is already ahead of other countries. However, compared with the world's first-class army, the gap between them is undoubtedly very large.

At least, they have no advantage at all in front of the artillery of the German Army.

"Your Excellency, Commander, if the artillery from the other three divisions can be added, it may be able to play a greater role!" Major General Tomochi Miharu reminded.