At ten o'clock on the night of May 2nd.
The Imperial Expeditionary Force, which has been guarding the defense line, attacks!
Ten divisions, nearly 120,000 field troops, hit the flank of the German Fifth Army like a heavy punch.
At the beginning of the attack, the first was heavy artillery bombardment!
Facing the roaring sound of artillery, tens of thousands of soldiers crossed the trenches, and the energetic team rushed towards the position of the Germans, like a huge wave, one wave after another, rising and falling,
Never stop.
On the battlefield late at night, fierce gunshots reverberated in the air, dense gunshots reverberated in the air, tracer bullets dragged green and red trajectories in the dark night, and small and medium-caliber mortars continued to fire.
Cannonballs.
This kind of large-scale field attack has not happened since the Franco-Prussian War. Even after the start of the World War, a collision between group armies has never happened.
Starting at ten o'clock in the evening on May 2, attacks, detours, assaults, and even hand-to-hand combat between bayonets became the sonata of the night. From late night to early morning, and then to sunrise, the expeditionary force's offensive never stopped.
Compared with the exhausted German army after a long-distance forced march, the expeditionary force could be said to be recharging its energy. They launched fierce attacks again and again. After the sky became brighter, the attacks not only did not stop, but became more fierce.
In the past ten hours, the 120,000 expeditionary force rolled in like a wave and launched a fierce attack on the German army. Even if the German army organized defense on the spot, the Imperial Expeditionary Force still maintained its strength with dozens of companies and battalions.
Large-scale commandos interspersed among the gaps between the German troops, dividing and surrounding them. Once the division was implemented, the follow-up troops would continue to bombard the German troops with heavy artillery. Facing the fierce artillery fire of the Ming army, they had no time to build up
The fortifications and the German troops without heavy artillery to counterattack could only struggle under the fierce artillery fire. During the fierce artillery attack, the German troops without heavy artillery to counterattack could only retreat hastily, and the retreat was not that difficult.
Smoothly, after all, the battlefield has taken on another situation - battalions and regiment-sized offensive forces inserted behind enemy lines not only divided the German army, but also completely disrupted their defense, so that the German army found Ming troops everywhere.
They are being attacked everywhere.
This kind of mobile warfare has never been encountered by the German army. In the face of this "unfamiliar" fighting style, the German army was completely exhausted. The communication between troops was cut off as the troops crossed, and the relationship between infantry troops and artillery troops was
Contact has long been lost, and even the group army headquarters has lost contact with the armies. On a front covering hundreds of square kilometers, the Imperial Army is on the land of South America, using Brazil as a military training ground, and using two
The new type of mobile warfare summarized from ten years of exercises showed its amazing combat power for the first time in war.
Perhaps the pattern of war has not changed, but on the 3rd, under the fierce attack, the German Fifth Army was completely clueless and could only passively take the beating. It was only in the evening of that day that they organized a basic defense.
But defense without heavy artillery cover is destined to be meaningless.
"how so?"
Standing in front of the map, Pabie, the commander of the German Fifth Army who had an outstanding record in the Franco-Prussian War, stared at the shattered German troops on the map, his brows furrowed.
As a typical Junker officer, he had never encountered such a style of play.
"Flanks, flanks... Shouldn't the Ming people use their main force to attack my weak spots, and then alternate attacks?"
What should the attack look like according to the normal play style?
It should be a heavy blow!
It is to concentrate a heavy punch and hit the enemy's flank hard. This is the most normal way of fighting. And for this kind of fighting method, there is no response, or when the ribs are attacked, the abdomen is contracted to
Arms and legs fight back from both wings.
In other words, it is to shrink the area being attacked and defend on both sides or to counterattack. However, the Ming army's style of play is very special. They did not focus on attacking a certain area at all, but attacked in all directions.
Even until now, Pabie has not figured out where the focus of the Ming army lies, let alone organizing an effective defense or counterattack, because he does not have much spare time to organize a counterattack.
"Sir, I think the reason why the Ming army attacked like this is because they found that we were out of touch with the artillery!"
The chief of staff's reminder made Pabie frown. Indeed, in order to pursue speed, the infantry and artillery were too far apart.
"Without the cover of artillery, it would be impossible for us to organize a fierce counterattack. On the other hand, the Ming army could continuously bombard our defense lines with heavy artillery. In the rush, our troops did not have effective defenses to withstand the Ming Dynasty.
The artillery fire of the Ming army directly led to the disadvantage of the entire front. Now the Ming army is attacking everywhere, but what about us? But we are retreating everywhere..."
Although he was unwilling to face this situation, Pabie still had to admit this reality. Faced with this reality, he could only order his troops to organize defense on the spot, but he still expressed relief.
"Our ultimate goal is to induce the Ming and French coalition forces to attack our flanks. This is one of the reasons why we exposed our flanks. Soon, we will launch a counterattack. After all, we have an absolute advantage in terms of military strength."
After saying these words, Pabie stood in front of the map again. He stared at the map on the wall, his brows furrowed. Occasionally he would pick up his pipe and take a few puffs, and then talk to himself:
.
"Their tactics are very strange."
The reason Pabie felt this way was because this kind of interspersed attack with battalions as assault units was not only fierce but also very flexible. Facing the fierce attack, his troops could only passively defend.
"When we shrink our defense, the gap between the troops will become larger, which will be more conducive to their attack... Damn it, what if we shrink it? No..."
Pabie immediately rejected this idea because he was out of touch with heavy artillery. Without heavy artillery, shrinking the army to defend on the spot was just their target. At least now that the troops were dispersed for defense, the Ming army's artillery fire was also dispersed.
He took a puff of cigarette, held the pipe in his hand and thought for a while, then he said to himself.
"Fortunately, half of our strategic goals have been achieved. Now that the Ming and French coalition forces have taken our bait, everything will be over tomorrow, the 4th at the latest..."
The old group has died and a new book club group has been established: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!