Chapter 1440: Poison Gas and Bombardment (First Update, Please Subscribe)
How long did the shelling last?
One hour?
Two hours?
Twelve full hours!
After more than ten hours of bombardment, the Ming army's positions were bombarded inside and out - although the British army fired a lot of shrapnel, which exploded in the air and would hardly cause any damage to the fortifications, the barbed wire in front of the Ming army's positions was blown to pieces, most of the surface positions were destroyed, and even the trenches were razed to the ground.
Such a fierce bombardment was unprecedented and unparalleled. The reason why the British launched such a fierce bombardment was to... break through! Break through the defense line of the Ming-French coalition.
Since the British and German Allied Forces suffered a setback in their offensive on the Marne River on May 7, they began to retreat across the board. After retreating to the Verdun line, their front line fell into a stalemate, and trenches and barbed wire became insurmountable obstacles.
In the following two months, hundreds of thousands of British expeditionary forces arrived in Verdun, and the British commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Kitchener, proposed a plan to break through the defense line. According to this plan, the British and German forces were determined to break the current deadlock and threaten Paris again, or even occupy Paris to force France to withdraw from the war.
"Millions of troops are being trained and assembled in Russia, and the same number of troops are being assembled in Austria. If we cannot break through the French defenses as soon as possible and force France to withdraw from the war, then we will have to face the dilemma of fighting on two fronts..."
The pressure of reality forced the Anglo-German Allied Forces to speed up. They needed to resolve the French issue before France's allies, the Roman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, completed their war preparations.
So at the suggestion of British Commander-in-Chief Kitchener, and after careful planning by him and German generals such as Schlieffen, they decided to break the deadlock with a fierce attack.
And what broke the deadlock in the first place?
Of course it was heavy artillery fire!
Use fierce artillery fire to destroy the barbed wire in front of the Ming-French coalition forces' positions and flatten their trenches... In a word, let the cannons speak!
The next morning, the shelling stopped!
After the bombardment ended, the world suddenly became unusually quiet. The soldiers in the anti-bombardment caves all looked up at the top of them and whispered to each other. Suddenly, shouts were heard from outside the caves.
"Poison gas! Poison gas..."
The poison gas is coming!
After the bombardment, the British and German forces released more than 500 tons of chlorine gas on the battlefield using gas cylinders!
During the Battle of Brazil, the Imperial Army had used chlorine gas to severely damage the Brazilian army, which directly led to the destruction of the Brazilian army and the demise of the Brazilian Empire. Now, in order to break through the Allied defenses, the British and German forces also chose poison gas.
"Poison gas, poison gas..."
Accompanied by shouts of fear, the imperial officers and soldiers in the anti-gun cave all grabbed gas masks from the cloth bags around their waists and put them on their heads in a hurry to prevent the poison gas from harming them.
As the first country in the world to implement chemical warfare, China was not only ahead in poison gas, but also in protection against it.
"Quick, quick, prepare for a counterattack..."
When the green poison gas was approaching like a ghost, under the urging of the officer, Honjo Shigeru and his comrades walked out of the anti-artillery hole. They stood in the deformed trench that had been blown up, leaning against the breastwork and aiming forward.
Because they were wearing gas masks, they always felt that they couldn't breathe enough and sweat was flowing in the masks.
"The British are coming, get ready, get ready..."
According to common chemical warfare practices, the enemy will launch an offensive after the gas attack.
The British are coming!
…
"beep"
On the morning of July 9, whistles echoed over the British positions. British soldiers, who had been preparing for the attack since the early hours of the morning, stood up facing the direction of the attack with the hope of ending the war.
Although the faces under the helmets were full of longing, their movements seemed a little nervous, unable to hide their fear of death. Some of them could not even insert their bayonets, and finally could only do so with the help of officers and sergeants.
After checking the soldiers' readiness for the last time, Captain Hank, the nobleman, looked at the soldiers and encouraged them.
"Gentlemen, each of us joined the army driven by honor, and now our moment of glory is coming. If we win this battle, we will win the battlefield! We will occupy Verdun and Paris, and soon, all this will be over! By Christmas, we can spend Christmas at home with our families!"
After some encouragement, Hank took out his pistol and handed it to the soldier next to him.
"Doug, hold my gun! If anyone retreats or doesn't leave the trench, you will be the one to carry out the order!"
"Yes, sir!"
Supervising battles is an old tradition of the British Army. The so-called glory and reputation are often not as useful as the pistols or sticks in the hands of officers.
The bombardment that had lasted for twelve hours stopped, and silence returned to the world again. The rising sun shone on the devastated battlefield. The Ming army positions, which had experienced nearly devastating artillery fire, were deathly silent.
At the same time, green poison gas was released. The green poison gas spread along the earth like morning mist. Under the influence of the wind, it rushed towards the Ming army position little by little, and it would bring death!
The green poison gas quickly devoured the barbed wire, and soon, it would pour into the trenches of the Ming army!
At the same time, a shrill whistle suddenly sounded from the British position.
“Quick, quick…”
Captain Hank, standing on the top of the trench, shouted loudly, urging the soldiers to climb the ladders and rush out of the trench, while Sergeant Doug, holding a pistol, kept kicking and hitting the soldiers who were too slow, pushing them out of the trench that was more than two meters deep.
In just a few minutes, tens of thousands of British soldiers climbed out of the trenches and began to march towards the Ming army positions. Although the Ming army positions were already covered by poison gas, the artillery of the British and German coalition forces once again launched an artillery bombardment.
This was the most intense artillery cover before the charge.
The Ming army's positions were immediately covered by fierce artillery fire. This kind of artillery fire was the experience gained by British observers in the Battle of Brazil. In fact, at that time, the imperial military had only just begun to study it. In another world, this tactic was called "Xu Jin Barrage."
Although it has been studied for nearly twenty years, in fact, neither the Imperial Military nor the British have figured out the key points, such as the distance between the barrage and the infantry, what rhythm the speeds of the two should maintain, how to guide the artillery fire, and so on. These things cannot be explained clearly in just four simple words.
After all, in another world, the principle of "Xu Jin Danmu" was figured out by Europeans after millions of lives and several years of bloody fighting.
Just relying on daily practice may not necessarily help you grasp the essence of it.
However, despite this, the British still believed that they had grasped the secret to victory. Even when their soldiers jumped out of the trenches, the British officers in the rear had already begun to cheer for victory with joy.
The British Empire is destined to win this war!
There is no doubt about it!
The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
