Chapter 177, Making Dumplings
"I plan to assemble the tank companies from each combat battalion in the entire brigade. More than fifty tanks will form an armored fist, and under the cover of artillery, they will smash towards the center of the enemy's defense line."
"After forming a breakthrough, our mechanical troops and motorized troops will quickly follow up. We will have to open a 30-kilometer-deep wound on the enemy's position for at least a day, so that we can prepare for the follow-up friendly troops. , creating conditions for breakthrough and encirclement.”
Perbov revealed his plan to his old partner.
After listening, Leroy thought for a moment and had no objection.
This is really Purbov's style: rush forward and pierce the enemy.
"You have no objection, then let's do it. We will set off tomorrow morning. The troops have rested for two days, which is enough. I hope that the new recruits who have just come in will be able to use it without any problems."
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……
It turns out that the new recruits did not disappoint Purbeuf. Compared with the veterans who have participated in many brutal battles, although these newly recruited soldiers are a little immature, their military skills are definitely sufficient.
Early the next morning, at dawn, the first brigade set off.
The shocking artillery fire covered the enemy's position.
The soldiers and leaders of the anti-governor alliance were stunned by the ferocious artillery fire.
Prior to this, they had experienced the power of Alliance artillery when fighting against the 7th and 8th Divisions. But at that time, the two divisions combined only had about fifty schools.
But it was precisely because of the existence of these fifty heavy artillery that the 70,000 to 80,000 anti-governor allies were unable to advance even an inch.
The defense is okay, relying on fortifications and anti-gun holes, they can barely resist; if they take the initiative to attack, without artillery countermeasures and lack of armored force cover, the fifty heavy artillery will be enough to allow their offensive troops to come. How much to send.
After giving away some heads, they knew they couldn't fight like this.
But before they could come up with any new ideas, the Alliance's Iron Fist arrived first.
At this moment, the rebel troops were squatting in the artillery holes and various fortifications as usual, and then the artillery came.
They thought this was like the shelling they had been subjected to every day for more than half a month. Although it is uncomfortable, even though people may die, it will be over after just one blow.
But actually, that's not the case at all.
This time the bombardment was much more intensive and longer-lasting than before.
This is definitely not the effect that fifty artillery pieces can produce!
And that's exactly what happened.
At this moment, a total of ten artillery battalions can be pulled out from the five divisions, and more than 300 artillery pieces are fired at the same time!
Almost all the artillery units of the five divisions and brigade-level units were concentrated and utilized. The joint artillery positions concentrated in the direction where the Xiefeng Brigade was about to launch an assault, bombarding them indiscriminately.
Within an hour, one hundred rounds, 30,000 rounds of 155mm howitzers, were fired, hitting a position about eight kilometers wide in the center of the enemy's army. On average, if it is less than thirty centimeters, a 155mm howitzer will hit - the shells will not be able to fit!
What happened to the bombhole?
If a bullet is hit in the middle, if the dug hole is slightly shallower, it will be blown down; if you are lucky, if you are not hit in the middle, the earth will shake and earth will fall down; I don’t know how many times it will be shaken, it will be even worse. It can collapse all the bombholes.
Not to mention, it is impossible for all soldiers to have bomb-proof holes to stay in. Some can only stay in trenches or even foxholes.
If one shot like this hits, a whole group of people will lose their lives.
And these 30,000 rounds of artillery shells are just a prelude to the attack.
When the artillery fire stopped, an officer from the anti-Governor Allied Forces came out of a cement bunker built in the trench and half buried in the ground.
He was a mess, his ears were deaf, and there were even dried blood stains hanging in his ears.
Just now, at least ten rounds of heavy artillery landed near the bunker.
Fortunately, none of the bullets hit the bunker directly, otherwise he would have been dead; unfortunately, the trenches leading to the two exits of the bunker were both hit, which deafened his ears and made him fly. The incoming artillery shrapnel killed several staff officers around him and also cut off one of his arms.
He covered his bleeding arm and walked out of the bunker. What he saw were corpses scattered in the trenches. Some people were wailing, but there were also many people who couldn't even utter their wailings, and some even couldn't even find their bodies.
He staggered, stepped on the shooting pedal like rolling and crawling, and looked in the direction of the Union army.
He saw fifty steel monsters, spaced about 20 to 30 meters apart, and skirmishers were moving toward the trenches in a mighty manner.
And following these steel monsters with gun barrels, there were also infantry fighting vehicles that he couldn't count.
Further back, in the distance are many trucks full of infantry, which is even less clear.
He shouted loudly for the soldiers to come out to fight and block the enemy's attack, but his voice could not even be heard by himself - he was deaf.
No one responded to his call.
At least in the small area where he was, there were no survivors.
What to do next?
Before he could figure out what was going on in his dizzy head, he saw a tank with its gun barrel rotating and aimed at him.
He stared blankly at the dark muzzle, which emitted a burst of orange fire, and then his vision went dark, and he knew nothing.
……
Following the charge of the troops, Lieutenant Colonel Purbov, who was probably several hundred meters away from the enemy tanks on the front line, risked his head and looked at the battlefield with a telescope.
He happened to see the scene just now.
He cursed and said: "Mom, if you see a mosquito, you have to hit it with a cannon, right? Cannonballs cost nothing, right?"
He looked a little depressed.
It's not really because the tank crew wasted shells, but...
"Damn it, the artillery did all my work! What should I do?"
He flopped back into the car, not too happy.
Leroy, who was next to him, certainly understood the virtues of his old partner. He smiled and patted Purbov on the shoulder, comforting him: "If a problem can be solved with artillery shells, don't take human lives to solve it. I think this is good. What's more, if you want to fight, it's not like you really can't fight." , although the artillery brothers are capable, can they really do all the work?”
Of course Leroy has a point.
A shell less than thirty centimeters is an exaggeration. The enemy's position does not only have one line. No matter how amateur or stupid the commander on the opposite side is, he still knows how to build a deep defense line.
It was indeed badly bombed, but it was really not that there were only a few soldiers on the front line which was eight kilometers wide and at least three kilometers thick.
In fact, the Xifeng Brigade encountered resistance.
The enemy began to appear, and some people who were lucky enough to survive the bombardment had already emerged from bunkers, fortifications, and anti-gun holes under the orders of the officers to launch a counterattack against the attacking enemies.
However...
The intensity of this counterattack is like scratching an itch.
I don’t know if the artillery position of the Anti-Governor Allied Forces was damaged by the previous 30,000 heavy artillery pieces. Anyway, there is no trace at this time;
The soldiers did have some weapons that could barely be regarded as anti-armor, such as rocket launchers, explosive packs, etc., but the number was not enough and the power was not enough. That rocket launcher, whether it's hitting a Cruiser or a Challenger tank, is just scratching the surface, unless it's really at close range and very accurately hits the thinnest parts of the tracks, wheels, and butt armor of tanks and armored vehicles. The explosive packs require someone to get close to them.
But that's difficult. In order to ensure accuracy and power, it must be very close to the armored unit. However, their tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are not turtles. They can run faster than people and have a lot of firepower. Not to mention cannon tubes, machine guns on tanks, machine guns on infantry fighting vehicles, and bolt machine guns are all items that can cause explosive damage to light infantry. Without fire cover, relying solely on light infantry, they would be beaten to pieces before they could get close.
If someone is really lucky or perseverant and can wait until the tank passes by and then suddenly rush out, then success... is also basically impossible.
The Xifeng Brigade's tactics of infantry-tank coordination and armored charge are their specialty.
The infantry of the Union Army were not vegetarians.
This time, the Xifeng Brigade adopted an infantry-tank coordination tactic of armor-guided impact, with tanks in the front, dismounted mechanized infantry in the middle, and infantry fighting vehicles in the rear. On both sides and rear of each tank, there are usually one or two infantry squads. The firearms in their hands will teach enemies who feel that the tank barrel cannot rotate fast enough and want to strike from the side. At the same time, the infantry fighting vehicle further back serves as the infantry's key fire support.
At the same time, the tank troops will not make the mistake of being out of touch. They often maintain a distance of 20-100 meters from the infantry. After occupying a position, the tanks will stop for a while and wait for the infantry to come up.
After the infantry comes up, they will complete the occupation and clearing of the surrounding area. The tanks will set off again at this moment, breaking through another position, and the infantry will follow.
So back and forth.
After the motorized troops at the back follow up, they will carry out the final cleaning work on the enemy troops that have been washed to pieces.
This tactic is not easy to defend against even an enemy position with a tight defense line, let alone the current group of anti-governor allies.
They were originally a ragtag group of people pulled together from various settlements. There were differences visible to the naked eye in terms of equipment, morale, training, and experience. After being plowed by 30,000 artillery rounds again, not many people could survive. What's more, even among those who were alive, their morale had already reached the point of collapse.
To be honest, if he had not been forced to resist by the officer, he would have run away or hid waiting to surrender.
But...aren't the officers of the Anti-Governor Allied Forces themselves afraid of death?
Obviously also afraid.
In some places, the soldiers fled, and the officers tried to call the soldiers back, but to no avail. They were so disheartened that they simply ran away;
Some officers, after calling the soldiers to go out and resist, fled first;
Some officers simply ran away with their soldiers.
In general, these anti-governor allies, after suffering a terrible bombardment, were able to organize the remaining people to carry out a certain degree of counterattack, which was pretty good for their status as a ragtag group.
But under the impact of the armored troops, this resistance was quickly shattered.
If the fleeing soldiers run to both sides, Purbov's soldiers will not pay much attention to them and have no time to take care of things on both sides of the battle line; but if they panic and run backwards, they will be chased by armored troops all the way. Behind the butt, that's obviously very bad. Two legs can't run as fast as a wheel.
Especially after the enemy's resistance became less and less powerful, Purbov adopted bold and radical tactics. He no longer allowed infantry and armored forces to maintain close cooperation. Tactical discipline was put aside and more emphasis was placed on impact speed.
The infantry fighting vehicles began to overtake the slower Challenger tanks and reached the front; the engineer battalion rode on armed trucks to catch up quickly. When they encountered places that could not be driven over, the engineers got off the car to fill in the trenches and build temporary roads.
This is actually very dangerous, but there is no danger.
Just two hours after the Xifeng Brigade officially entered the battle, the entire unit penetrated the middle area of the enemy's defense line.
Eight kilometers wide and four kilometers deep, it was completely washed away.
At this point, Commander Yan's 'center bloom' tactic can be considered an initial success.
The enemy's line, which is about fifty kilometers wide, has now been "flowered" from the middle, and an eight-kilometer-wide protrusion has been punched out from the middle.
All of this, including the artillery bombardment and the completion of the assault by the armored forces, all happened within three hours.
Next, comes the next stage of the central flowering strategy: making dumplings.
The salient was hit, of course, in preparation for annihilating the enemy.
After breaking through the defense line, the Xifeng Brigade did not stop. After crossing the difficult trench area where the enemy was still resisting, the road to the back became even smoother. The mechanized troops of the Xifeng Brigade ran very fast on this smooth road.
Five hours later, the leading troops of the Xifeng Brigade had already marched fifty kilometers away.
At this time, only eight hours had passed since the bombardment started.
Eight hours was not even enough time for the anti-Governor Confederates, who were divided into two parts, to have any effective response.
But Yan Fangxu's follow-up attack plans have already followed.
The 2nd Motorized Infantry Division quickly followed up from the salient created by the Xifeng Brigade. Some troops were left to stand firm in the central protrusion, while the other troops, together with the Xifeng Brigade, were outflanking due north and due west respectively.
This is the retreat of the two divided enemy forces.
At the same time, the 3rd Beast-Slaying Independent Regiment and the 7th and 8th Garrison Divisions, with the support of artillery, began to launch an all-out attack.
The enemy's troops began to waver.
The center was breached, contact was lost on both sides, the rear was surrounded, and the front was flooded by ferocious artillery fire...
Under attack from many sides, they became dumpling fillings.
It took Yan Fangxu half a day to make the center bloom, and another day to make a solid dumpling.
The skin is thin and the filling is large, but the meat filling cannot break through the seemingly weak dumpling skin.
They were surrounded for three days.
No supplies, no ammunition, no reinforcements...
A ragtag group of people, expected to fight until they run out of ammunition and food and all the people are dead?
Unrealistic.
By the fourth day, enemy troops began to surrender on a large scale.
At this point, this thin-skinned dumpling with large filling is considered cooked.
————
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
There was a part missing yesterday, about La Crocha's promotion to the military rank. There were only two sentences. I didn't understand where the line was broken, so the review deleted it for me...
The content was deleted for the second time without any knowledge, which is very annoying.
Already refilled.
(End of chapter)