Chapter 581: Heavy Loss

"Whoa! Whoa!"

A sharp and piercing whistling sound sounded above the heads of the German army. As veterans who have experienced the baptism of war, these soldiers naturally know what this means. However, this whistling sound was very sharp, as if it was going to pierce a person's eardrum. This caused quite a few soldiers to change their faces drastically.

"God! What's going on here? How could the British have such a large-caliber cannon?" A German officer said with a look of horror.

"boom!"

There was a violent explosion, and the whole ground seemed to be shaking. Bricks, rubble, and dust, under the influence of the shock wave, splashed all around.

A shell landed on a dilapidated street. After the explosion, half the street was blown up. Many German soldiers who were on this street were all blown to death.

"No, this is definitely not the army's cannon, it is the navy's naval gun. Only the navy's large-caliber main gun has such great power!"

"Damn it, did the British use the navy? How could they be so shameless?"

The German field artillery, although very powerful. But the caliber is only 150mm. This is already the largest caliber cannon that can accompany infantry in combat. Although when attacking the Liege Fortress, the German army used a larger caliber siege cannon. But that kind of cannon is too heavy, and it is not suitable for accompanying infantry combat at all.

Now, the British actually directly invested large-caliber naval guns in the Battle of Le Havre. One can imagine how powerful this will be.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

On the sea, 21 former dreadnoughts and 13 armored cruisers of the British Navy are firing fiercely. Among those former dreadnoughts, except for the two "fast-class" battleships equipped with 254mm main guns, the remaining 19 former dreadnoughts were equipped with twin 305mm main guns. In addition, these pre-dreadnought ships are also equipped with a large number of secondary guns. Although the caliber of the secondary guns is different, most of them are 152mm, 190mm or 233mm. For the infantry, these secondary guns alone are not something the Army's artillery can fight.

The 13 armored cruisers of the British Navy, the 'Minotaur-class' and the 'Warrior-class' are equipped with 233mm main guns. Among them, the 'Minotaur class' is equipped with two twin 233mm main guns and ten 190mm secondary guns. The "Warrior Class" is equipped with three dual-mounted 233mm main guns and four 190mm secondary guns. The "Devonshire-class" armored cruiser is equipped with two twin 190mm main guns and six 152mm secondary guns.

Now, these former dreadnoughts and armored cruisers of the British Navy are frantically pouring shells at the position of the German army on the coast according to the coordinates provided by the British Expeditionary Force. Each shell is a large-caliber heavy artillery compared to the army. This naturally put the attacking German army in the midst of devastating shelling by the British navy.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two consecutive 305mm shells hit a street corner. Entire street corners were leveled. A German infantry platoon hiding in this corner was blown to pieces on the spot. On the ground, only huge craters were left. After that, there is nothing.

The German army attacking Le Havre suffered extremely heavy losses under the fierce naval gun attack of the British Navy. Even, they are the bravest soldiers. However, looking at one's own troops, under the fierce shelling of the enemy, they were torn to pieces at once. This kind of feeling is enough to make people's will completely collapse.

"Damn it, retreat! Retreat immediately! Despicable British, they actually used naval guns!" A German officer ordered loudly.

Although, there is no order from the headquarters yet. However, I can't care about anything else. If they continue to persist, they will only suffer greater losses.

As soon as the order was issued, a 233mm artillery shell fell from the sky, directly blasting the German officer and several surrounding German soldiers to pieces. The stumps and broken arms were all gone, and all that was left were pieces of minced meat.

When the violent explosion sounded, even the German headquarters far away from the front line could hear it clearly. Admiral Crook and Lieutenant General Ludendorff suddenly changed their expressions.

"What's going on? What is this voice?" Admiral Crook frowned.

"Large caliber cannon! A very large caliber cannon. It is very likely to be the main naval gun of the British!" Lieutenant General Ludendorff's face was even more livid.

Lieutenant General Ludendorff recognized the sound on the spot. However, this made him feel a trembling from the bottom of his heart. In front of the navy's large-caliber main guns, anyone would probably have such a performance.

"Damn it, did the British use their navy? Isn't their fleet nearly overwhelmed by our navy? Why is it still here?" Admiral Crook also became anxious.

Now, the German infantry are still under the ravages of the British's large-caliber naval guns!

"General, we can't wait any longer. Order the troops on the front line to retreat immediately! Now, we don't care about continuing to launch an attack. As much as we can withdraw, we can do as much as we can," Lieutenant General Ludendorff ordered.

"Okay, order the troops to retreat immediately. In addition, contact the aviation team and let them take off the reconnaissance plane to see what's going on!" Admiral Crook ordered.

"Yes, General." Lieutenant General Ludendorff nodded.

When the order to retreat was issued, the German soldiers who entered Le Havre and were ravaged by the terrible naval guns of the British Navy retreated in a hurry. But even so, they have lost too many troops under the fierce shelling of the British navy. Many people even had expressions of horror on their faces. Obviously, what happened just now was like being in hell to them. This is a serious devastation to their spirit and will.

These soldiers, without proper recovery, may not be able to go to the battlefield again.

The bombardment of the British navy did not stop because of the retreat of the German infantry. Under the guidance of the artillery officers of the British Expeditionary Force, they also shelled the German artillery positions.

Large-caliber naval guns are not only powerful. It also has a very long range. Even the German artillery positions are far away from the coast. But it is also within the range of the main guns of the British Navy.

Under the bombardment of the British Navy's main guns, the German Army's artillery positions suffered heavy losses during the bombardment. So much so that these artillerymen had to withdraw from the front line. It is safe to retreat until it is out of the range of the main guns of the British Navy.