Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 151 The First Combat of Motorized Units
The young mobile artillerymen didn't understand what Rein meant by "relaxed" earlier.

But their captain and battalion commander quickly realized what was happening.

The 105th Regiment of the Twelve Gates had to face an army of tens of thousands. Anyone who would say that this job was easy must be a little out of their mind.

But it also made them realize that they were the real fools who actually believed this nonsense back then.

But no matter what, those were real combat missions. As troops transferred to the front lines for support, regardless of how they viewed the mission, they had no choice but to execute and complete it.

However, once these mobile artillerymen from the Ninth Army actually boarded the train bound for the front lines, they discovered that they were actually quite lucky—the mobile artillerymen in episode eight were to set up their cannons directly within rifle range and fire at Imperial Army positions.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire battle, Rein would even lead a company to charge at the front line.

There's nothing that can boost morale better than an Imperial Colonel, adorned with numerous accolades, leading the entire army in a charge.

the other side.

As the sun gradually rose, the 3rd Reserve Infantry Division officially began its operations.

Those heavy artillery pieces belonging to its unit, which were too heavy to leave the front line, began their continuous artillery bombardment as soon as the sky began to lighten.

Dozens and hundreds of kilograms of warheads rained down on the positions of the Imperial 17th Army, turning the front trenches and support trenches that the soldiers had spent half a month digging into what were already resembling regular trenches into a complete mess.

The light drizzle arrived late, after the sun had officially risen.

This made the 3rd Reserve Division increasingly effective in destroying trenches.

At this moment, inside the rear command post of the 17th Army of the First Army Group of the Imperial State.

The artillery units only completed the calculation of the parameters twenty minutes ago, but have not yet entered the formal artillery combat state.

This greatly displeased General Alexei Brusilov, commander of the 17th Army.

But he could only watch helplessly as the trenches at the front were riddled with holes by artillery fire from the Empire.

"Have the observers at the front not yet been able to confirm the effects of the shelling?"

As soon as his adjutant saw the messenger, he grabbed him and pulled him to his side: "Why haven't we been able to pinpoint the exact location of the Imperial forces yet?"

But the communications officer was terrified by the adjutant, who held the rank of major general.

After a long while, he said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Army's artillery bombardment is too intense; our observation post is within their firing range..."

A simple sentence left the Imperial Major General speechless. He had considered many possibilities, but he never expected it to be like this.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he immediately gave the order to the communications soldier: "Notify the First Army that we need to borrow their airships to assist the artillery in carrying out artillery bombardment operations."

Without wasting any words, the communications officer sprinted towards the communications company's post at a speed faster than a rabbit.

Alexei, inside the command post, saw all of this clearly.

As one of the highest-ranking generals in the Empire, Alexei actually knew better than most of his colleagues what kind of troops he had.

Unlike the empire, which has a professional army and maintains a standing force of one million soldiers year-round, the Imperial Kingdom's troops are almost entirely composed of soldiers assembled in emergency situations.

Although most of the command staff in the military, like those in the Empire, are hereditary nobles or officers from military academies, the disparities among the lower-level troops are simply too great…

Anyone with a modicum of sense knows that a hastily assembled force of former serfs and tenant farmers could never possibly contend with an imperial army composed of professional soldiers, relying solely on numerical superiority.

Unfortunately, the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Area Army was not one of those people with any brains.

The Imperial Army currently tasked with attacking Imperial territory is the Southwestern Area Army. Its commander-in-chief, Zhlinsky, was captured by the Japanese on the front lines ten years ago during the Russo-Japanese War due to poor command.

If it weren't for the fact that he hadn't had time to change out of his uniform and run away, Alexei was certain that the bastard would have died from the Japanese Arisaka bombs right then and there.

To put it bluntly, Zhilinsky was a complete idiot—incompetent in brains, incapable in warfare, and incompetent in all his endeavors.

The Tsar, in a more abstract sense, immediately promoted Zhilinsky, who had been captured before, to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front after receiving news that Farland was going to attack the Empire, and ordered him to command two army groups to launch an attack on the Empire.

To be honest, two army groups could theoretically wipe out one army group, but Zhilinsky and the Tsar were both idiots.

One believed his troops were capable of launching a major offensive in East Prussia, while the other forgot that he had changed the railway's wheel spacing from standard to narrow to prevent the empire from invading the Imperial State.

This directly led to the First Army Group rapidly running out of supplies due to the high-speed advance required by its superiors, putting it in a dilemma.

The Second Army Group, however, was not as quickly drawn into this state due to its slower organizational pace.

But clearly things aren't going well on their end either.

Alexei had recently heard that the Second Army had engaged in battle with small Imperial forces and successfully repelled them, and was now rapidly advancing into the Empire.

According to his prediction, the Second Army Group would run out of supplies within a week at the earliest, and would be caught in the same dilemma as the First Army Group.

The fatal flaw was that the First Army Group had just run out of supplies—the location of the First and Fourth Armies is the best proof of this.

Meanwhile, another communications soldier arrived at headquarters with news that was hard to tell whether it was good or bad: "Report! The Imperial artillery bombardment has suddenly stopped."

This immediately alerted everyone in the command headquarters.

Alexei raised his hand to the communications soldier, gesturing that he could leave. He then turned to look at the sand table in front of him, glancing at the war zone map hanging beside it, his mind filled with thoughts of the Empire's attack on the 27th Army a few days earlier.

The other staff officers also looked tense, and one of them glanced at his pocket watch and said, "The shelling has lasted exactly forty-five minutes, Commander."

"So, their target is us now?" Alexei asked in a low voice, looking at the sand table.

His adjutant said, "The Empire also used this battle plan in the previous battle against the 27th Army. If they resume their attack in fifteen minutes, it will confirm that they are going to attack our 17th Army's position."

A young staff officer immediately said, "I heard from the 27th Army that the Imperial troops are heavily equipped with machine guns, and many soldiers are even advancing on the front lines armed with machine guns..."

"At its peak, some even confirmed that the Empire had as many as two hundred machine guns firing on the front lines..."

His words immediately made all the officers present hold their breath.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

A staff officer of noble birth waved his arm vigorously: "An army group of the Empire only has a little over three hundred machine guns. How could they possibly send at least half of their machine guns to the front line all at once!"

Not to mention that the Imperial MG-08 alone weighs a full 26 kilograms, and the tripod weighs more than 40 kilograms.

Using such a large device on the front lines is simply impossible.

All the officers present were well aware of this, regardless of their seniority or experience.

Alexei responded by saying, "But it's also a fact that so many machine guns have appeared on the front lines. Sergei, what do you think?"

Sergei was his adjutant.

The relatively young major general rested his chin on his hand, his gaze fixed on the sand table in front of him, his mind replaying the Empire's previous attack on the 27th Army.

After a while, he said, "Considering the Empire's fighting style, we should disperse our troops as much as possible and assign some officers who can use the Magic Mirror to machine gun strongpoints to ensure that even if the front line is covered by smoke grenades, the strongpoints will still have the ability to block the Imperial army."

As he spoke, Sergei placed some black pieces on the firing points on the sand table and moved most of the infantry units back to the middle of the front trench and support trench.

"During the Empire's attack on the 27th Army, most of their shells landed in the trenches, without bombarding the area between the two trenches."

“I think we can deploy some soldiers into these empty areas and launch a counterattack while the Imperial soldiers emerge from the smoke.” “These areas are also within the range of our artillery, so the troops can withdraw immediately after a failed attack and leave the enemy to the artillery.”

As he spoke, Sergei stood aside and said slowly in a hesitant voice, "Considering that the Empire has hardly lost any soldiers in its previous battles, I believe that their main objective is to demoralize us rather than kill our personnel. The situation of the 27th Army is the best example of this."

His words were like a reassurance, immediately calming many staff officers down: "So, this operation will be just a feint, like before?"

"almost."

Sergei nodded: "The way the shelling was conducted was also intermittent, which made us lower our guard, and it was enough to show that the Empire's shell reserves were insufficient."

"After all, if they had enough shells, choosing to bombard directly for six to eight hours and then launch an assault would be much more deterrent and threatening to our soldiers."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of artillery shells exploding on the ground came from the front lines again.

The same staff officer replied, "Exactly fifteen minutes, Commander."

“It seems to be the same tactics as before.” Alexei’s voice was thoughtful. “So, how many officers can we send to the front lines?”

“If we mobilize the officers of my 6th Infantry Division, we might be able to meet the demand for Magic Mirrors for one-third of the machine gun positions in the front trenches,” a lieutenant general immediately said. “However, we don’t have enough Magic Mirrors…”

This made Alexei look over.

The 6th Infantry Division was one of the main forces of the 17th Army and one of the few units with combat experience, although it had only suffered defeats before.

Sergei immediately chimed in, "Perhaps we could borrow a group of junior officers from the Fourth Army who can use the magic mirror?"

“They are currently the furthest from the front lines and only recently received supplies. Perhaps we can borrow some officers and magic mirrors from them using some of our unused equipment to ensure the number of front-line firing positions.”

Perhaps fearing that Alexei would reject the proposal, Sergei immediately added after speaking, "Commander Anton von Salza of the Fourth Army has been complaining these past few days about the insufficient supply of artillery shells..."

"How many millimeters?"

Alexei asked instinctively.

Sergei's lips curled into a slight smile: "We'll take any size, no matter how many millimeters, because when the logistics department resupplys them, they prioritize food and medicine, and the ammunition stops as soon as it reaches us."

Alexei was taken aback: "When did this happen?"

"Regarding yesterday's events," Sergei's expression finally became somewhat natural. "After the 27th Army was attacked, Commander Leningkamp immediately issued orders, and now the 4th Army is arguing about it."

"Then leave it to you."

Knowing that time was of the essence, Alexei quickly ordered, "Also, it would be best to negotiate the price further."

"Yes, Commander!"

Sergei immediately saluted, strode away from the command post, and rode off towards the Fourth Army.

at the same time.

Imperial Army Frontline.

A cold wind swept across the battlefield, carrying the familiar, bitter smell of gunpowder to Renne's nose.

Although he had gotten used to the taste, he still needed to numb himself with the nicotine from cigarettes.

The rumbling of trucks and trains passing through the sky was incessant, and the sour smell in the air made the soldiers nearby complain in hushed tones.

But they weren't complaining about the shells and the bitter air.

"The soldiers are all eager to leave, Colonel."

Brinkman changed into a new combat outfit: a button-down jacket and trousers secured with a leather belt, along with new waterproof leather boots that didn't require leg wrappings, making her feel very comfortable.

Most of the assault company soldiers also wore this loose-fitting set of equipment—the same equipment that Renne had used when attacking Verdun.

The only difference was that the color was changed to the matte lead gray characteristic of East Prussia, instead of the dark blue and black night battle color scheme that Rennes had used.

These are all equipment brought by the soldiers of the Second Battalion when they came from the rear, but they hadn't used them before.

Renn glanced at Brinkman's uniform. The new uniforms were very loose, so the men and women in the army looked almost indistinguishable except for their height.

Having fighting spirit is a good thing.

He held a cigarette in his mouth, squinting as he looked at the Imperial 17th Army's position in the distance, where plumes of black smoke were rising.

The 3rd Reserve Infantry Division's target was the 4th Army's positions; bombarding the 17th Army's positions would not actually affect the 4th Army.

They had set off with the 1st Cavalry Brigade two hours earlier and were expected to be in combat positions within two hours at the earliest.

Ryan could see the location of the 3rd Reserve Infantry Division on the map; they were now behind a hill about seven kilometers from the 4th Army's front line.

The cavalry brigade soldiers drew a larger circle, speeding along the path in the middle of Lake Masuria towards the rear of the Fourth Army.

If all goes well, they will arrive at the rear camp of the Imperial Fourth Army in an hour and a half.

However, they did not need to directly tear apart the Fourth Army's positions, because their mission, as previously determined, was to destroy the Empire's fighting will and undermine their morale.

This would be a fatal blow to the Imperial soldiers who had just been starving and nearly frozen to death in East Prussia.

Shaking his head, Ryan shifted his attention from the map to the soldiers in front of him who were ready to board the vehicle.

The convoy of thirty-four trucks was to be filled with soldiers, with twenty men in each truck. The first ten trucks were for the assault company, and the remaining twenty-four were for the first and second companies of the second battalion.

Each soldier was equipped with six magazines containing 32 rounds of 9mm ammunition. Soldiers equipped with MP-14 submachine guns were additionally equipped with a Mauser rifle capable of fully automatic fire and four special ammunition racks as secondary weapons.

These men were tasked with tearing apart the First Army's first and second trenches under artillery cover.

Having already fought against the 27th Army once, this was not a problem for them.

As for the Third Company, which did not have a ride, they would travel to the front lines by train and use the long-range firing advantage of the GW.98 to cover the mobile artillery in their operations.

Further ahead, the soldiers of the 8th Cavalry Brigade had already set off.

They will travel to the battlefield at a speed of about ten kilometers per hour, conserving the strength of their warhorses.

Once the troops arrive at the front, they will launch an attack at the same time as the 1st Cavalry Division, charging forward from the enemy's rear, tearing open the enemy's lines from behind, and then retreating towards Insterburg after a successful attack.

Looking at the time, Ryan spat the cigarette butt he had finished smoking onto the ground, then turned to the soldiers in front of him and said to Brinkman, "Lieutenant, assemble the troops and prepare to depart."

"Yes!"

A shrill whistle sounded.

The soldiers from the assault company and the second battalion immediately stood up and boarded the vehicles in an orderly manner.

The roar of motorcycles filled the air as they carried twenty light machine guns to the front lines.

The trucks followed, and finally three more carrying 77mm field guns, and three self-propelled trucks carrying a load of 77mm shells and supply vehicles.

Motorized troops were deployed in actual combat for the first time in the world.

(End of this chapter)