Chapter 1442: Verdun Meat Grinder (Third update, please subscribe)
"Machine guns are only used against natives!"
As early as the 1870s, military experts from European countries made this conclusion.
Even now, European countries have limited interest in large-scale machine gun equipment, and they are only used in colonial wars and for fortress defense. During the Franco-Prussian War, the German artillery had a longer range, and the French machine guns were often destroyed by German artillery fire.
Compared to cannons, machine guns have unclear firing trajectories, a short range, and are easily suppressed by artillery.
In a word, in front of the "civilized countries" that can operate artillery and use skirmishers, machine guns away from the fortress are simply vulnerable.
However, unlike European countries, the imperial military has always attached importance to the use of machine guns.
They believed that the machine gun was a weapon that could defeat the enemy if it could be used to its full potential.
As early as the era of the Gatling gun, the Imperial Military had developed vertical firepower through extensive experiments. Later, in response to the threat of artillery to machine guns, they developed indirect fire.
In the machine gun shooting tactics of the Imperial Army, "indirect shooting" was placed in a very important position. The so-called "indirect shooting" means shooting at targets beyond the line of sight. This shooting technique is extremely difficult to master, but the combat effect is extremely good. The greatest value of indirect shooting is that the machine gun can be well hidden behind the defense line of the side, killing the enemy with firepower equivalent to "murder".
The aiming and range calculation methods of machine guns in "indirect fire" are similar to those of artillery, and both use the sight to shoot. However, the effects of the two are completely different. When the shells are flying, soldiers can get early warning through the whistling sound of the projectiles and avoid the fire by lying down or hiding.
When the machine gun launched indirect fire from two kilometers, or even three or four kilometers away, the soldiers could not hear the gunshots at all, but only the rustling sound of wheat fields in the wind. Then came the sound of bullets hitting human bodies and the screams of those hit. In addition, indirect fire could easily form a crossfire with almost no blind spots.
It is not easy to carry out accurate indirect shooting. It requires careful calculations. This method is complicated. Although the Imperial machine gun experts have long developed a full set of equipment, manuals and conversion tables required for indirect shooting, with their help, shooters can carry out indirect shooting at invisible targets, but the shooting preparation is somewhat lengthy.
After entering the position, the officers of the machine gun company unfolded a large-scale map and began working on the map like the artillery. With the help of various instruments such as compasses, goniometers, inclinometers, protractors, and aiming posts, the heavy machine gunners in the rear took almost two minutes to complete preparations for indirect fire.
"Hurry up, in a few seconds, we have to send the British guy back home 3,000 meters away!"
The machine gunners shouted excitedly. The 7.5mm heavy pointed bullets used by the Type 10 machine gun were different from ordinary bullets. The 13.9-gram warhead and 3.6 grams of propellant gave it an amazing range and powerful power. The effective range of this powder-penetrating bullet was up to 4,000 meters.
In fact, the Imperial Military developed it to enable it to fight against artillery, or to carry out long-range indirect shooting outside the range of artillery.
Now, the machine gunners believed that they could definitely bury the British in the death zone composed of bullets and shells!
"I bet we can kill at least 20,000 British today!"
Fujita, carrying an ammunition box, said to his comrades around him.
"I bet two dollars that I can kill at least thirty thousand!"
At this moment, two red flares flew into the sky, trailing red smoke. That was the signal for shooting - the British army had entered the shooting area.
"shot!"
Following Song Deji's order, the six Type 10 heavy machine guns under his command opened fire. At the moment the machine gunner pressed the firing lever, the Type 10 machine guns, with the gun raised high and pointing to the sky, roared joyfully.
…
The sound of wind!
As Sergeant Doug advanced with the troops, the first thing he heard was a gust of wind!
The sound of the wind was like the sound of the wind blowing through the wheat when he was playing in the fields in the Irish countryside.
"rustle……"
This sound did not sound threatening, but when the wind stopped abruptly, the soldiers marching in front suddenly collapsed to the ground. The next moment, the rustling sound became more intense, and the gentle sound of the wind blowing through the wheat waves seemed to turn into a storm.
But this storm did not bring up waves of wheat, but waves of red.
The red fog... instantly enveloped the earth. Amid the rustling sound of wheat waves blown by the wind, red mist rain rose up, and the blood mist enveloped everything around.
Without any warning, the bullet hit the sergeant's helmet. The bullet, which was still powerful, shattered his head. As he fell suddenly, bullets rained down from the sky. The soldiers were shot in the shoulders or heads, and anyone who was hit was almost certain to die.
The wind blows and the wheat waves ripple!
At this time, more than 60,000 British troops would be like wheat in a wheat field, falling continuously in the dense rain of bullets, just like countless harvesters working, and wheat falling down in large pieces.
When these British fell, they did not hear the gunshots at all. At 2,500 meters away, Song Deji commanded his machine gun company to carry out indirect shooting at a large angle. At the same time, hundreds of machine gun companies, under the command of officers, carried out indirect shooting according to the "table". In the continuous shooting, the cold water in the cooling cylinder was heated by the barrel until it boiled. At the moment when the belt was empty, the ammunition operator directly pulled the belt flat and inserted the primer into the machine gun. The machine gun was jubilant again. Amid the deafening gunshot, the 13.9-gram heavy pointed bullet whistled into the sky and flew towards the target more than 2,000 meters away.
For the British in the open area, everything was silent. It was a silent massacre, and bullets swept everything on the ground like a storm.
But in just a moment, nearly 70,000 British troops were covered in dust and blood mist stirred up by bullets. The red blood mist was like boiling steam from the ground, enveloping everyone.
In the torrential rain of bullets, no one could hear the gunshots. All that could be heard were the screams and desperate cries of the wounded. But even so, the officers still stubbornly carried out orders and ordered the troops to charge towards the Ming army's defense line.
Amid the rustling sound like raindrops, one person after another fell down. The air was filled with the crisp sound of bullets hitting the soldiers' bones. Some people had their heads pierced by bullets, and the white brain matter flew like snowflakes. Some people were even broken into two by bullets.
red!
But in just a blink of an eye, this open area was shrouded in red. The red fog covered the earth like morning mist. The blood fog had a strange beauty under the sunlight.
When some British people jumped into bomb craters and lay there to avoid the rain of bullets, bullets kept falling over their heads, hitting their heads and backs.
There was total silence between heaven and earth, but Britain, standing in the middle of this slaughterhouse, could clearly hear the sounds around them - the thumping of bodies being hit and the sound of bones breaking!
It was miserable cries and desperate screams, which became the last sound in the lives of many of them.
They died...silently!
(End of this chapter)
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