Chapter 329 Carpet Bombing

In the city of Chelm, Lieutenant General Feodor and Lieutenant General Golovin of the Russian Fourth Army are discussing how to strengthen the defense of Chelm. The German attack outside Chelm in the morning caused heavy losses to the Russian 4th Army. At the same time, it also allowed them to see the strength of the German army, and knew that it was almost impossible to fight the German army in a field battle. Therefore, urban street fighting is their only way outside the city.

"General Golovin, the remaining 70,000 of us have all entered the city of Chelm. Chelm is only a small city, so we can deploy sufficient troops on every line of defense. The Germans want to It is absolutely impossible to defeat us as easily as in the battle outside the city." Lieutenant General Fyodor smiled confidently.

"Well! After all, the Germans have too few troops. In urban street battles, the Germans' advantage in weapons will be weakened. The gap between us and the Germans will not be so big. If this battle is fought well If we do, we may not have the opportunity to hit the Germans hard." Lieutenant General Golovin also seemed very confident.

"The most important thing is to find a way to deal with the German tanks. As long as the German tanks are destroyed, the German advantage will disappear. When our reinforcements arrive, we can launch a counterattack. At that time, I would like to see how the Germans will face our counterattack without tanks," Lieutenant General Fyodor said.

In their view, the German army easily broke through the Russian army's defense line relying on its strong firepower and the powerful assault capabilities of its tanks. If these two advantages are deducted, the German army is not much stronger than the Russian army. It is not impossible to defeat the German army when the Russian army has an absolute superiority in strength.

"If the Germans dare to send those tanks into the city of Chelm to fight, we can destroy them. I have ordered all units to prepare for death squads. Once the German tanks enter the narrow streets, They would carry the explosives to blow up the German tanks," Lieutenant General Golovin said.

Although, such tactics are very dangerous and cruel. For those daredevils, it is even a narrow escape. However, if there is no other way, this method can only be used.

Lieutenant General Fyodor nodded. In the field, it is difficult to use death squads to attack German tanks. However, in urban street fighting, the chances of success are undoubtedly much greater.

"I hope the proud and arrogant Germans will send their tanks into urban street fighting!" Lieutenant General Fyodor sighed. If the German tanks do not enter the urban street fighting, they have nothing to do.

Of course, in that case, they might be able to easily hold back the German army. The combat tasks assigned by Admiral Ivanov can be easily completed.

On the afternoon of October 7, 1914, the 17th Army under the 8th Army of the German Army swept away the outer defense line of the Russian army in Chelm, and directly launched an attack on the Russian army stationed in the city of Chelm.

However, the German attack this afternoon was not to use infantry to enter the city of Chelm and start a fierce street battle with the Russian army, but to use artillery to shell the city of Chelm.

The 17th Army's 54 150mm heavy howitzers, 108 105mm light howitzers, and the remaining 150 75mm field guns fully included the small city of Chelm within their range. Immediately, violent shelling began.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

More than 300 cannons of the German army began to shell Chelm.

Accompanied by a thunderous sound, shells roared and smashed into the city of Chelm. The shells exploded, blowing the houses and streets in Chelm into ruins.

Chelm was just a small city, and before the war broke out, its permanent population was only 50,000 to 60,000 people. This makes Chelm's urban area actually not that big. After more than 70,000 Russian troops poured into the city, it immediately made the city a little crowded. Although this made the Russian troops on each line of defense more sufficient, but also, the increased density also made them suffer relatively greater casualties once they encountered fierce German firepower.

"boom!"

A 150mm artillery shell hit a three-story building. In the violent explosion, the small building was directly blown down. A platoon of Russian soldiers stationed inside was buried directly in the rubble.

A 105mm shell hit a house next to a street. In an instant, bricks and rubble flew everywhere, and the Russian troops stationed under the street were smashed to death, and some people were even directly smashed to death.

Under the heavy shelling of the German army, the buildings in the city of Chelm gradually began to be damaged. This originally beautiful small town began to turn into ruins bit by bit.

The Russian army stationed in the city was also under heavy shelling by the German army, and its losses began to rise sharply.

However, this is just the beginning. The German attack was not just shelling.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the German 8th Air Force arrived on the battlefield. More than a hundred bombers formed a dense formation and flew over Chelm from the north.

Hundreds of planes gathered densely together, like a cloud, blocking even the sun.

The Russian officers and soldiers on the ground looked at this scene with a stupefied look.

"God! How many planes the Germans have! With so many planes, do they want to wipe Chelm off the map?" A Russian officer said in horror.

Soon, the plane began dropping bombs. Although, each of these bombers can only carry 500 kilograms of bombs. A 25kg bomb can only carry twenty pieces. However, hundreds of bombers dropped two thousand bombs in one attack. This kind of bomb hit an area in the northern urban area of ​​Chelm densely.

Intensive explosions sounded, and gunpowder smoke shot straight into the sky. The buildings in the bombing area collapsed during the explosion.

When the smoke cleared, the Russian soldiers stationed in the city of Cheum were horrified to find that the city had been completely blown into ruins. All the buildings have collapsed. Houses, streets, etc., no longer exist. It was as if it had been erased directly by someone.

Of course, the Russian soldiers stationed in this area were also erased at the same time. Such a scene directly frightened the Russian officers and soldiers in the city of Chelm into a war. Some people even urinate out of fear.