Chapter 813: The gap is too big (ask for a monthly ticket)

   "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

   Less than five kilometers away from Epsom is the artillery position of the German 8th Army. The artillery belonging to ten infantry divisions is firing fiercely at Epsom and its surroundings.

  Since Emperor Qin Tian became the commander of the 8th Army, he has focused on strengthening the firepower of the infantry. Cannons are even more important. After the 8th Army won a big victory on the Eastern Front, the German army also strengthened the firepower of various troops during the winter-long rest. This makes the current German army have the most powerful artillery fire in the world.

  The 8th Army has a total of 180 150mm heavy howitzers, 360 105mm light howitzers and 540 75mm field guns. Not counting light artillery such as mortars, there are a total of 1,080 artillery pieces. The number of such artillery is already very terrifying. In another time and space, only the Americans during World War II can compare with it.

  The artillerymen carried the shells shirtless, stuffed the shells into the barrel, and fired them out. They don't care about whether the shells fired hit the target at all. The firepower preparation of the German army before the attack often took the form of covering shooting, that is, firing shells to a certain area. Anyway, under the intensive artillery fire, there are very few who can escape. Even with the blessing of God, I escaped by luck. But the number is also very limited, and they don't pose much of a threat anymore.

   "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  The artillery shell exploded on the British army's position, earth and rocks flew across, and there was a burst of flying sand and rocks. Soon, the position of the British army became like the surface of the moon. There are craters left by shell explosions everywhere.

  The fortifications built by the British army are constantly being destroyed under the heavy shelling of the German army.

  The city of Epsom was also the target of German shelling. After all, the British built a lot of fortifications in the city, trying to use street fighting to make the Germans pay a heavy price. It is better to use as many shells as possible to cause losses to the British than to use infantry to destroy them!

  In order to hit the British army as much as possible and also hit their morale, the German army took a very long time to prepare for firepower. Throughout the day of September 14th, firepower preparations were carried out. The artillerymen need to shoot at least half of the shells stored by the German army during this period. You know, that's millions of shells.

   It may be hard to imagine what is left on the British southern defense line after the German shelling is over. The powerful artillery fire of the German army was enough to plow the British army's position several times like using a plow.

   "Oh my god! The German shelling has been going on for a whole morning. Don't they have free shells?" A British soldier complained. At this moment, he is holding his head, shrinking in the anti-blasting hole. The dust constantly falling from the top of his head made him look like a mud monkey.

   "The Germans have long been known for their powerful artillery fire. On the battlefield, they will never let the infantry go all out if they can kill the enemy with artillery shells." A veteran said.

   "No wonder the Germans are so powerful! If we also have such a powerful artillery, maybe we won't be beaten so badly by the Germans!" A young British soldier looked forward to it.

"Hmph! The reason why the Germans dare to do this is because they have a strong industrial and logistical system. In other countries, how could there be so many shells? Even if there were so many shells, it would be difficult to transport them to the front line. !” said an officer.

"Although the industry of the British Empire is inferior to that of Germany, it is not impossible to do all of this. Especially when fighting at home. But unfortunately, the empire's home resources are insufficient. After the defeat of the navy, our The overseas trade line has been cut off. Now there are empty arsenals, but no raw materials to produce those ammunition and weapons, so naturally they are far behind the Germans!" The officer continued.

   There was a sudden silence in the bomb defense cave. Everyone knew very well that the current British Empire was just struggling to prepare.

   "It's all the navy! The navy accounts for a large part of the military expenditure every year. But they still lost to the Germans in the end. It made the empire fall to where it is today." Someone complained.

   "The navy is not easy! They have tried their best. It is said that countless people died in the navy. Everything is because the Germans are too powerful!" Someone said.

   "Okay, shut up. If you don't have time to talk about this, why not pray to God, and pray that the German shells won't blow down our bomb defense holes!" The officer scolded.

   Immediately, the other soldiers had no choice but to say nothing more.

   "Boom! Boom!" Two loud bangs sounded above the heads of these British soldiers, and cracks appeared on the ceiling of the top of the anti-bunker hole between them, and dust mixed with stones fell from above.

   "Damn it, we were hit by heavy German artillery, and the anti-battery hole is about to collapse, run away!"

  The British soldiers hiding in the anti-gun cave ran desperately towards the entrance of the cave, trying to escape from here. However, the entrance of the cave was so small that it was so crowded that, except for a few people who stayed at the entrance and managed to escape, the rest of the people were buried alive in it.

  The powerful artillery fire of the German army has begun to exert great power. Not only the fortifications of the British army were destroyed, but also the anti-gun holes of the British army were also blown up, which caused the losses of the British army on the front line to continue to rise.

  The artillerymen of the German army faithfully fulfilled their responsibility, that is, to clear the way for the infantry to attack as much as possible. Compared with the infantry who had to attack against the enemy's bullets, the artillery was undoubtedly happy. At least, their safety is guaranteed under normal circumstances. Unless it is when a fierce artillery battle breaks out between the two sides, the safety of the infantry will be threatened. However, such cases are generally rare. Especially after the German army has a strong army air force, it is even more difficult for the enemy to threaten the German artillery.

  In order to minimize the loss of one's own troops during the attack, the German army will carry out fire strikes regardless of the cost before the attack. Even if this will increase the cost of the war, the German army will not hesitate. After all, the cannonballs can be manufactured when they run out. But if the soldiers are killed, there is nothing left. The population of Germany is not large, which makes the lives of these German soldiers even more precious.

   In contrast, the British artillery has remained silent. It's not that they would rather be like this, but that their strength is inferior to others! At the same time, they did not want to be bombed by German planes.