Chapter 800: Southern Offensive
Just as the German army launched the Marne offensive, the southern German army under the command of General Heilingen also launched an offensive from the Lorraine area of Alsace. Although the fortress of Verdun was still indestructible, although the fortresses of the Belfort area were densely covered. , The trenches and barbed wire are criss-crossed, very difficult to break through, but the area between them cannot be as strong as the two garrison areas. More importantly, the French forces on the southern front are not enough to defend this long front!
In order to break through this area, the German Army also equipped the offensive forces with large-caliber siege artillery, such as the 420MM Big Belsa heavy artillery that established a feat in the attack on the Liege Fortress!
"God created you to destroy the most powerful enemy! I hope you don't let me down." It took three full days for the German base camp directly under the siege artillery regiment to deploy 6 420MM heavy artillery in place. The 42.6-ton artillery is the most powerful artillery that can be produced in the German arsenal at this stage! It can shoot a major 810KG shell at a speed of 426 meters per second! According to the experience in the Belgian Liege Fortress, the super-heavy reinforced concrete armor-piercing projectile fired by this artillery can penetrate more than ten meters deep underground, and then detonate inside the fortress!
In order to break the line built by the French in the border area, the German Army headquarters mobilized a total of 18 guns of this level. The remaining 12 artillery pieces were deployed elsewhere. In order to solve the problem of the slow rate of fire of the artillery pieces, the German Army specifically improved the loading process. At the rear of the gun position, a crane, tackle and other recommended loading systems are specially deployed, which increases the rate of fire to one shot every 10 to 15 minutes!
"Let's get started!" With the attack order being issued, the officers and soldiers of the artillery company checked their weapons for the last time. The Big Belsa artillery is composed of five parts. After entering the firing position, two steel tires will be fixed on the ground. There is a loading platform directly behind the artillery. The artillery will level the barrel before loading, and then push the shells and propellant packs into the artillery through the loading platform at the back. It turns out that the process of pushing the shells into the barrel is entirely manpower. , But now, designers have changed it to mechanical assistance.
After the shell was loaded, the 6-meter-long artillery slowly raised again. The power of the artillery when firing is so great that people must be far away to fire, otherwise the violent muzzle storm can throw people into the air like a toy and smash them into flesh!
The huge barrel shrank sharply, and a visible wave of air quickly spurted from the muzzle and spread out. The huge pressure difference produced a circular impact, and a flame of several meters long came from the gun. The sonic boom produced by the artillery fire caused a considerable number of people present to lose their hearing for a short time! A gust of wind swept across the entire launch position, blowing dust and other debris into the air. After the launch was completed, the artillery began to reset slowly with the help of the hydraulic system.
The 810KG shells roared and flew to the target 8 kilometers away. It took half a minute for the observation post to see the shells landing! A black figure plunged into the earth instantly, and the huge impact directly set off a gray plume of smoke more than ten meters high. This shell penetrated more than 6 meters of soil and then nearly 3 meters of reinforced concrete!
In the end, this shell exploded in the power supply room of a fortress area. The explosive weighing nearly 100 kilograms instantly tore everything in the room to pieces. Several generators and a large number of pipelines were destroyed. The violent explosion even destroyed the underground. A considerable part of the supporting structure of the fortress, when viewed from the ground, the entire area sank suddenly and a pit with a depth of several meters and a diameter of more than 60 meters appeared!
Along with the continuous firing of the Big Belsa artillery, one after another plumes of smoke heralding destruction rose in the entire breakthrough area. The pre-calibrated targets such as heavy artillery positions, warehouses, and personnel shelters were wiped out in the attacks. At the same time, the long-range 12-inch and 350MM heavy-duty train guns also began to attack the stations, material centers and military depots behind the fortress group. These ultra-long range weapons try to isolate the breakthrough area from the outside.
The key fortresses and bunkers are taken care of by 420MM heavy artillery and 305MM heavy artillery. For those semi-large and large bunkers and gun nests, the German Army has prepared 210MM heavy artillery to deal with. These artillery are concentrated near the breach, with 4 artillery and one artillery company. There is only 150 meters between each artillery company! With such a strong frontline vitality density, the French self-confidently sturdy bunker turned into piles of rubble under repeated blows by shells weighing 100KG.
No matter how strong the bunker is, it only delays the time to be destroyed. If the opponent’s artillery cannot be effectively suppressed, the attacking siege artillery will be able to kill all these annoying things sooner or later! The fundamental reason why the Fortress of Verdun was able to hold in history was that the French’s heavy artillery was absolutely powerful, and the force was also very sufficient. Before the battle of Verdun, the French deployed eleven divisions and as many as 632 artillery, and because it is a fortress area, the proportion of heavy artillery here is obviously higher, there are 244 various heavy artillery! When the French army launched a counterattack in November, it used as many as 400 artillery companies...
The current situation is that the French not only did not have enough long-range artillery to suppress their opponents~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and even not enough manpower. They did not expect the Germans to launch a large-scale counterattack in the middle while still being able to carry out on the southern front. A massive attack, and the firepower density of this attack is far more than the French expected! With a large number of troops being transferred to the center and lack of artillery, the French could no longer hold on to it. Their line-up gradually appeared loopholes, and with the influx of a large number of German troops, this loophole became bigger and bigger... .
"We seem to be unable to hold the line of defense." The commander of the French Fifth Army Lang Rezac said, looking at the deteriorating front every minute and every second.
"Your Excellency Commander, we cannot easily abandon the southern front. We have built a defense system for decades, with a large number of bunkers, artillery, and materials. If we abandon this place, then the weak heart of France will be against the Germans. Open! We absolutely cannot afford to buy another fortification system like this!" the officer on the side said loudly.
"But we don't have enough mobile forces to close the gap. The fortress and defense can only delay the opponent's attack, but cannot prevent it. Now, where can we mobilize enough troops to defend this area? ?" Langley Zak sighed helplessly, he decided to report the matter to Xiafei, and then the latter would make a decision!
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