Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 143 Artillery Advance!

The soldiers of the Imperial 27th Army had no idea what was going on when they saw a large number of grenades being thrown in from outside the makeshift trenches.

Those soldiers who hadn't even entered the air-raid shelter were almost instantly thrown out by the shockwave, falling to the ground and groaning in pain. Many more soldiers could only drop to the ground the moment they saw the grenades, but even that couldn't save them.

The trenches they dug were so dilapidated that they used only a few planks to secure the earthen walls on either side.

The grenade explosion transformed the loose planks and nails into the best weapons. The shockwave cut through the soldiers' clothing, but due to insufficient momentum, they could only embed themselves in their muscles and skin, unable to take anyone's life.

Countless cries of agony echoed from every trench on the front lines, but this was merely an appetizer.

The real battle has not yet begun.

In front of the trenches.

McQuay had a whistle, the kind only squad leaders and commanders were issued, in his mouth, and all he could hear were the wails of Imperial soldiers.

He stuffed a 32-round magazine into his MP-14, and then, with all his might, blew the whistle that signaled death.

The deputy platoon leader and other commanders immediately shouted the attack slogan. With a series of rapid "LOS! LOS! LOS!" shouts, the assault company soldiers immediately put on their makeshift masks, strode to the nearest trench, and opened fire on the still wailing Imperial Army soldiers.

The signalmen who had been inspired to send out honor communications rushed to the front of the unit, using the red beams of light behind them to guide the assault company soldiers in their direction of advance.

Even in such a pitch-black environment, many Imperial Army soldiers still managed to reorganize into combat teams.

They carried their Mosin-Nagant rifles through the trenches, but the smoke from the burning white phosphorus shells was rapidly eroding their remaining will to fight.

But this posed no problem for the soldiers of the assault company.

The simple masks made of cowhide canvas and glass shards allowed them to remain unaffected by the irritating smoke, and the MP14 submachine guns and P-08 carbines in their hands could easily take the lives of a dozen or even dozens of Imperial soldiers with a single pull of the trigger.

They used grenades to clear paths for themselves, and with a configuration of one submachine gunner, one carbineman, and one grenadier, they pierced through the defenses of the Imperial 27th Army in less than two minutes.

In the sky several kilometers away.

Inside the bridge of the Z331 airship, Rein stood at the forefront, looking at the land shrouded in a white haze of smoke, no longer feeling the urgency he had before the war.

By using maps that overlapped with the actual battlefield, Raine was convinced that every soldier in the assault company was capable of accomplishing their assigned tasks.

But to François, who was standing nearby, the battlefield in the distance was nothing short of a man-made hell.

The earth was tinged with the blue-gray of the sky by the faint sunlight in the early morning, and everything looked as if it were connected, with no distinction between heaven and earth.

But the white smoke that suddenly appeared on the ground turned into a churning sea of ​​blood under the red light of Honor Communication.

Rifles, carbines, and a series of weapons resembling machine guns, but moving at extremely high speeds, spewed out blinding flashes of fire.

The billowing smoke and flashes from the explosions of grenades and artillery shells further propelled the already turbulent sea of ​​blood into the sky.

Blood-red waves surged across the land, and even without a single scream, the sight was enough to suffocate anyone who witnessed it.

He stared intently at the battlefield, watching the assault company soldiers pierce through the Empire's defenses, relentlessly reaping lives in the front-line trenches.

Sixty squads of three soldiers moved like hurricanes, leaving no Imperial soldier alive in their wake. The communications soldiers, serving as the command center, carried the transmission devices for honorary communications and unhesitatingly risked their lives to guide the attack of their allies.

But what shocked François even more was the sheer number of beams of honor.

An Imperial company typically has only two officers, meaning that at most it can only fire one beam of honorary communication.

But amidst that vast expanse of smoke, more than twenty beams of light suddenly rose up.

This means that the vanguard force sent by Raine consists of at least two full infantry squads of officers and communications personnel.

This is enough to meet the communication needs of an army corps or even half an army group.

This was just one of the elite companies under Rein's command.

"too crazy……"

Looking at the red beams of light that had gathered together but were now almost scattered throughout the trenches of the 27th Army's front line, François finally understood why Renne dared to send his small force of only two hundred men as the vanguard of the entire battle.

But at that moment, Renn glanced at the pocket watch in his hand.

At this point, two minutes had passed since the battle began.

He said, "The smoke will dissipate in thirty seconds, Lieutenant."

“Yes!” Brinkman immediately understood what Renn meant. She took a few steps forward and stood next to François. “General, the time has come. Please order the 34th and 45th Infantry Regiments to launch the offensive.”

Her clear voice immediately gave François a strange illusion, as if he were commanding a battle that was destined to be won, instantly calming the panic that would always rise up at the start of a battle.

"Yes, I know."

François glanced at Rennes discreetly, muttered a few words, and then said to his adjutant, "Call Frederick's command. The 34th Corps is to launch an immediate attack to assist the 102nd Air Special Service Fleet Marines in their operations at the front." The adjutant immediately made the call, and within minutes, Rennes saw a large group of soldiers gathering in the trenches where the 34th Infantry Regiment was located.

Under the orders of their squad commander, they fitted bayonets to their rifles and climbed out of the trenches as fast as they could, rushing towards the front.

The 45th Infantry Regiment followed closely behind, and as their whistles began to be heard in succession in the surrounding trenches, the 44th, 43rd, and 33rd Infantry Regiments also finished their pre-charge mobilization work.

Tens of thousands of infantrymen, under the cover of artillery fire, charged madly toward the twenty or so red beams of light that stood within the Imperial Defense Line.

But the Imperial Army was completely unaware of this.

Because the smoke from the initial impact on their position had not completely dissipated.

Meanwhile, the support trenches located fifty to two hundred meters behind the front-line trenches were directly hit by the smoke blown in by the wind.

The artillery also thoughtfully provided them with two rounds of smoke grenades. The irritating smoke emitted by the white phosphorus smoke grenades directly suppressed the soldiers of the Imperial 27th Army on their positions. Even if anyone still had the idea of ​​resistance, they would be immediately pulled back to the air-raid shelter by their officers and comrades.

But the worst thing they could do was hide in an air-raid shelter.

At this moment, in the trenches of the 27th Army's front line.

McQuay was still wearing his gas mask, which made him look like a medieval jinx. In front of him were a dozen Imperial Army infantry squads who had been trapped in the air-raid shelter and had their entire magazines emptied by him, and who had all died.

But he couldn't see those images.

Through the small shard of glass, which was a size larger than a beer bottle cap, all you could see was a patch of ground stained red with blood, and two or three arms and legs.

You can't see anything else.

He looked up to the sky.

All the honor communication beams were still lit, indicating that the communications soldiers were well protected and none had been killed.

And faint whistling sounds began to drift through the air.

At the same time, the deputy platoon leader appeared in front of him: "Mai'er, the 34th Infantry Regiment has charged up!"

"Wait, don't rush."

McVell immediately held down the deputy platoon leader who was trying to fire a signal flare into the sky, and only let go after he actually saw the soldiers of the 34th Infantry Regiment.

"it's OK now."

The deputy platoon leader glanced at him, then fired a yellow flare into the sky, signifying a change of the main attacking force.

A breeze blew.

The surrounding smoke finally dissipated.

McQuay quickly ripped off the bird-beak mask from his face, exhaled the stale air that had accumulated in his lungs, and then said, "This is no longer our business. Contact the entire company, retreat, and hand over to the Second Battalion!"

"Yes!"

The deputy platoon leader immediately turned and left, his whistle ringing out in a peculiar rhythm as he began to gather all the scattered troops.

And in the back.

Both Ryan and the second battalion commander saw the yellow signal flare light up in the sky.

It was like a small sun, hanging in the blue-gray sky.

"Lieutenant, take over the Second Battalion headquarters."

Brinkman immediately grabbed the microphone, and the Second Battalion Commander's voice rang out: "We've seen the signal flare!"

Ryan: "You will proceed as planned, together with the 45th Regiment, to cover the self-propelled artillery as it reaches the front line and completes its erection."

The second battalion commander asked, "Should we continue the advance alongside the 34th Regiment?"

Ryan: "They won't cross the support trenches. You need to confirm the locations of the machine gun positions and command posts under their cover, and then have the communications officer guide the self-propelled artillery using honor communications, understand?"

"Yes, do not enter the prepared trenches. After completing the sweep of the support trenches, retreat immediately. Understood!"

After the second battalion commander finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Ryan to reply.

Immediately afterwards, several long whistles sounded from the ground.

The Second Battalion, which had been prepared to depart long ago, immediately set off with the three truck-mounted artillery pieces, as well as all the accompanying supply vehicles and recovery vehicles.

They mingled among the soldiers of the 34th Regiment, advancing at a pace slightly slower than walking, trailing plumes of black smoke, as they plunged into the sea of ​​blood created by the artillery and communications troops.

(End of this chapter)