After Captain Irascu forced the crash of Bulgarian Lieutenant Bebkov's plane, Bulgaria's aerial reconnaissance was interrupted. After no Bulgarian aircraft took off, the Romanian flying team headed by Captain Irascu,
With the advantage of the machine guns on its own aircraft, not only could the Bulgarian position be clearly observed, but the observation hot air balloons on the position were also wiped out. Now the Bulgarian army can only rely on sending soldiers to conduct reconnaissance.
At 8:15 in the morning on the 13th, the artillery support group consisting of three 150 heavy artillery regiments and one 210 heavy artillery regiment was ready. They were scattered among six artillery positions. There were already prepared artillery positions, and
Rows of trucks are transporting ammunition. Especially the 210 heavy artillery. This is currently Romania's biggest killer. Its shells weigh 120kg. A Dongfeng truck can currently only transport 12 such shells at a time. According to the rate of three rounds per minute
The rate of fire means that one Dongfeng truck can be transported in four minutes. The 36 heavy guns of the 210 heavy artillery regiment alone require the one-time transportation of more than 1,600 trucks. Not to mention the ammunition consumption of three 150 artillery regiments.
, and there are a large number of 105 howitzers and 75 artillery pieces, so modern war is about money and national power.
When the hour hand reached 8:30, a rumble of artillery sounded from behind the Romanian position. Nearly two hundred heavy artillery pieces with a caliber of over 150 fired fiercely at the soldiers of the Bulgarian First Army stationed at the Tsarevets Mountain position.
Open fire. The massive positions built on the Tsarevets Mountain position were destroyed by heavy artillery. The Bulgarian soldiers hiding in the trenches were hit by heavy artillery from time to time. Without even a chance to scream, they turned into a pool of blood and invaded the soil.
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Especially the 120kg 210-caliber cannon shells, even if they are not hit, will be killed within ten meters. Therefore, on the positions of the Bulgarian First Army, rows of soldiers are often seen in the trenches.
They lay silently and motionless in the trench. There were no scars on their bodies, as if they had fallen asleep in the trench. Experienced veterans knew that they were shocked to death.
Faced with such a scene, we could only pray to God that the artillery shells would not fall in our section of the trench. As for leaving the trench and retreating to the rear, several recruits who could not bear it had already set a good example, and they all died under the attack of heavy artillery.
The dust remains on the Tsarevets Mountains.
During the three-hour heavy artillery bombardment, the First Army, which had experienced the artillery treatment on the Western Front of World War I in advance, suffered heavy casualties, losing at least 5,000 people. However, the greater loss was that most of the fortifications on the position were destroyed, especially the ones laid out.
The firepower points have been almost destroyed. Now there is no green at all on the Tsarevets Mountain where they are stationed. There are huge craters everywhere. It looks like the surface of the moon. The entire position is filled with the choking smell of gunpowder smoke.
Lieutenant General Kudinchev, the commander of the Bulgarian First Army who defended the position, just let his soldiers bear the artillery blows alone, and did not order artillery counterattacks. On the one hand, Bulgaria has very few large-caliber artillery (16 120mm cannons).
The firing range was not enough, and Romanian aircraft were hovering over his position like annoying flies early this morning. So he decided to save the precious artillery for use at critical moments, and the only choice was to sacrifice soldiers.
In a hidden observation post in the rear, Edel took the Chief of Staff, Army Minister General Courtois, and Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Prossi, to observe the effect of the artillery bombardment.
After watching the bombardment, Edel said with emotion, "This is the power of heavy artillery bombardment!"
"Yes, Your Highness, but not many countries can use this kind of attack effect."
Chief of Staff General Courtois also spoke with emotion. This three-hour bombardment destroyed more than 3,000 Romanian artillery shells, which will certainly be spectacular.
"But we can't afford it many times."
Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Prosi said from an economic perspective, Romania cannot afford to use such attacks many times.
Faced with Major General Prosi's truth, Edel couldn't refute and had to change the subject. "Let's continue reading."
After the heavy artillery bombardment, it was the Fifth Division of the Second Army that launched the attack this time. Crown Prince Eder and the others saw in the telescope that the first unit of the Fifth Division, taking advantage of the moment when the heavy artillery had just subsided, jumped out of the trench and raised their weapons to attack Charley.
The Vitz Mountain position flew away. When they were halfway there, Bulgarian artillery fire from the position fell on their heads.
These soldiers of the Fifth Division completely ignored the shells that were about to fall above their heads and continued to bend down and rush towards the position. After the defenders' artillery opened fire, the Romanian army's 105 howitzer took advantage of its long hand and launched a fire attack on the discovered Bulgarian artillery position.
Counterattack. Sure enough, these Bulgarian artillerymen no longer had time to take care of the Romanian soldiers. They were all driven to move positions by the Romanian artillery. When they entered a distance of 500 meters from the front-line position, the soldiers of the 5th Division lay on the ground and began to crawl forward.
This made Lieutenant General Kudinchev, commander of the Bulgarian First Army, who was looking in the observation post behind the defensive position, wrinkle his forehead. Seeing the wrinkles on the face of his partner Lieutenant General Kudinchev that could kill mosquitoes, Chief of Staff Kazzyv
The major general also said with an ugly face, "Now we are in trouble."
After hearing his partner's words and knowing his partner's thoughts, Lieutenant General Kudinchev said without raising his head, "I hope what we expected was an illusion."
The soldiers of the two sides who were fighting fiercely around the front line had no time to consider the thoughts of the upper-level commanders. Now the key was for them to kill each other and save themselves.
A Bulgarian soldier aimed his rifle at a Romanian soldier, and there was a "pop" sound. The Romanian soldier he was aiming at fell down. Before he could feel happy, his vision went dark and he could never wake up.
There was a bullet hole in his forehead. None of the soldiers around him looked at him. They all raised their weapons and fired at the attacking Romanian soldiers.
The two sides fought fiercely in front of the position, and the artillery from both sides also joined in. However, Romania gained a huge advantage with its large number of artillery. A large number of Bulgarian machine guns and small artillery on the position were destroyed. See here, Kudinchev behind the position
A staff officer next to the lieutenant general said, "Tell Major General Sarafov to stop using machine guns and small artillery."
When the staff went to call Major General Sarafov to inform Lieutenant General Kudinchev of the decision, the attacking Romanian soldiers began to retreat. After the gunfire completely stopped, the chief of staff, Major General Kaziyu, took the list of losses to Kudinchev.
Lieutenant General Dinchev said, "We suffered heavy losses in technical equipment. 34 machine guns were destroyed, and 27 57 and 75 artillery pieces were destroyed. The casualties among the soldiers in this shooting were not large, but there were only a few too many.
This time we won’t have to fight.”
Hearing the words of his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Kudinchev frowned even deeper.
Behind the Romanian position, the commander of the fifth division of the attack was being praised by Edel. "General Ankodar, you fought well this time. If you come here a few more times, the Bulgarian position will fall in one battle."
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Among a group of generals, Major General Ankodar said without arrogance or arrogance in the face of the crown prince's praise. "We just caught the Bulgarians by surprise this time. We shouldn't have such luck next time."
After hearing Major General Ankodar's words, Army Minister General Courtois said disapprovingly. "Then you turn the temptation into an attack and see if these Bulgarians can still take away their wealth."
Edel nodded when he heard General Courtois's words and said that he agreed. Now the Romanian army must show an unreasonable momentum to overwhelm the Bulgarians. They cannot care about gains and losses, so he agreed very much with the words of the Minister of War.
In the end, it was Crown Prince Edel who made the final decision. "Just follow what the General said. I also want to see how long the Bulgarian army can endure."
