Chapter 784 The Great War Begins

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Strait of Dover, five 'Bavaria-class' battleships, five 'König-class' battleships, five 'Deutschland-class' battleships and five 'Brunschweig-class' battleships of the German Navy , is using 380mm main guns and 280mm main guns to bombard Canterbury.

Although the main guns of the "Deutschland-class" battleships and the "Brunschweig-class" battleships are both 280mm main guns, their power is limited. However, it is not a big problem to hit Canterbury, which is ten kilometers away. It can also cause great casualties to the British troops stationed here. Not to mention the 380mm main guns of the "Bavaria-class" battleships and the "King-class" battleships, the maximum range is as high as more than 20 kilometers, which is enough to cover the entire Canterbury and surrounding areas within their maximum range. The power of the 380mm main gun is also more powerful.

In addition, the five 'Weichelsbach-class' battleships, five 'Kaiser Friedrich III-class' battleships and four 'Brandenburg-class' battleships that originally provided fire support for the 3rd Army Corps and the 3rd Division of the Marine Corps class' battleships, also joined in. After the British army retreated to Maidstone, it had far exceeded the maximum range of the main guns of these former dreadnoughts. Therefore, they can only shift the target. It just so happened that the main force of the British southeast theater was concentrated in Canterbury, and the German army just needed to use powerful artillery fire to hit them and cause them more casualties.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The continuous sound of explosions continued to sound in Canterbury. The warships of the German Navy fired high-explosive bombs, and each shell exploded, leaving a huge crater on the ground. Buildings or animals within the killing radius will pay a heavy price for this.

"boom!"

A 380mm artillery shell hit a British artillery hole. The powerful 380mm artillery shells directly destroyed the anti-blasting hole, and hundreds of British soldiers were buried in it. The British soldiers outside quickly started digging, trying to rescue the comrades inside. However, in the absence of sufficient mechanical equipment, it is undoubtedly very difficult to dig with bare hands. When the British soldiers buried inside were excavated, they were basically silent.

"boom!"

A 280mm shell hit a five-story building in Canterbury. The building collapsed in an instant, and a group of British soldiers who were passing by the street below were crushed to death.

In the continuous and violent shelling of the German navy, the British army has already caused a lot of casualties. At the same time, this also caused the morale of the British army to continue to decline.

Many British soldiers were too frightened to leave the barracks, and even shrank directly in the artillery holes. Although, the anti-gun holes they dug were not very defensive in front of the German large-caliber naval guns. Once hit, it is likely to be bombed. However, this gave them much psychological comfort.

"Buzz!"

The fighter planes of the German Army Air Corps once again visited Canterbury. More than two hundred bombers, under the cover of hundreds of fighters, bombed Canterbury.

"Shh! Shh! Shh!"

Aerial bombs one after another, like dumplings, roared and hit the downtown area of ​​Canterbury.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Intensive explosions sounded, and a city was reduced to ruins under the bombardment. The buildings were completely destroyed, as were the barracks and defensive positions of the British army there.

"Da da da!"

The fighter jets that had completed covering the bomber operations began their massacre operations after the bombers returned. These fighter jets searched for traces of British soldiers. Once found, shoot them with aviation machine guns immediately and kill them. This kind of killing game has become the favorite thing for the fighter pilots of the German Army Air Corps.

Almost every time the Army Air Force launched an operation, it would cause considerable losses to the British army.

"Bastard! How did this happen?" Admiral Hamilton looked at the daily losses and was going crazy.

On the 28th, the German army began to advance towards Canterbury. It's just that the advance speed of the German army is very slow, and it seems to adopt a steady and steady tactic. However, the bombardment by the German navy and the bombing by aircraft were very violent. On the 28th alone, more than 20,000 British soldiers died from shelling by the German Navy and bombing by aircraft.

On the 29th, the number rose to 30,000 there. It can be said that within two days, they lost an army. This is undoubtedly an unacceptable result for the British army.

"Your Excellency, Commander, two days have passed, and the Germans have only advanced three kilometers. They seem to want to use naval guns and planes to destroy our vital forces!" Admiral Haig's face was very ugly. There seems to be a big deviation between the development of the battle situation and what they expected before! This made the faces of these generals a little hot.

"Why don't we take the initiative to launch an attack?" Admiral Benson suggested.

"No, taking the initiative to attack will also be hit by the strong firepower of the Germans. In addition, launching an attack will also cost us more losses." Admiral Haig shook his head.

"So, what should we do? Should we just wait like this forever?" Admiral Hamilton's face was about to become grim due to excessive anger.

"Your Excellency, Commander, we have no other choice but to wait. No matter how slow the Germans are, they will definitely advance to Canterbury. The longer the delay, the more unfavorable it will be for them. It is already the end of August In three more months, the cold winter is coming. At that time, it will be even more difficult for the Germans to supply supplies." Admiral Haig explained.

Admiral Hamilton was taken aback for a moment, and then nodded: "Okay, let's do it! Order our troops to cover and suffer as little loss as possible. I want to see how long the Germans can hold off!"

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander." Admiral Haig and others replied.

"Your Excellency, Commander, if possible, I hope that the Air Force can compete with the Germans for air supremacy. The losses caused by the German air strikes are even greater than the losses caused by their naval guns. If the Germans can be stopped Air strikes, our losses can be reduced." Admiral Haig suggested.

"I will contact the Air Force!" Hamilton nodded. This is something he has been paying attention to. However, it doesn't seem to be going well.