The French infantry divisions, each armed with 36 75-mm field guns, and a very small number of 105-mm howitzers. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info British infantry divisions, each armed with 58 83.8mm field guns and 18 114mm howitzers. The four armies deployed by the Anglo-French forces on the front line were one British Expeditionary Force and three French armies. In total, these units are armed with 1,296 75-mm field guns, more than 100 105-mm howitzers, 696 83.8-mm field guns and 216 114-mm howitzers.

Although, such artillery, it is already considered very strong. However, compared with the German army, it is undoubtedly much worse, in terms of quantity, it is only less than half of the German army. What's more, they did not have heavy guns of caliber more than 150 mm. The 105-mm howitzer was also seriously inferior to the Germans. This also made the Anglo-French forces completely suppressed by the Germans in the artillery battle.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

The artillery of the Anglo-French army began to fire at the German artillery positions, in an attempt to suppress the German artillery and protect their own positions from being destroyed by German artillery fire.

It's just that most of the artillery positions of the German army were deployed far from the front line, and the artillery of the British and French forces, except for a few 105-mm howitzers and 114-mm howitzers, the rest could not reach at all.

On the contrary, as soon as they opened fire, they were discovered by the Germans. The German artillery positions, guided by reconnaissance aircraft and observation balloons, began to cover the artillery positions of the British and French forces.

"Your Highness, the artillery of the Anglo-French army has opened fire. Our artillery began to use 105-mm howitzers and 150-mm howitzers to strike at their artillery positions. Major General Manstein said.

Qin Tian nodded, and used his telescope to observe the situation of the British and French forces opposite.

Sure enough, soon columns of smoke rose in the rear of the British and French forces, and those places were the places where the British and French troops deployed artillery. It's just that these artillery positions of the Anglo-French army are completely within the range of German artillery. In particular, the 150-mm heavy artillery could directly pose a great threat to the artillery positions of the Anglo-French forces.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

You know, the four corps of the German army had 105-mm howitzers and 150-mm howitzers, which in number were more than all the artillery guns owned by the Anglo-French army combined. When all these artillery pieces were concentrated to shell the positions of the British and French forces, the consequences could be imagined. The artillery positions of the British and French forces were destroyed one after another under the heavy shelling of the German army.

"Very good, very nicely done. If this continues, it will not be long before the artillery of the British and French forces will be completely lost. When the time comes, our artillery will be able to continuously bombard their positions and destroy all their fortifications. Qin Tian was very satisfied with the performance of the artillery. After the Anglo-French artillery was eliminated, the German artillery was able to fire at the positions of the Anglo-French forces without interference. With fierce artillery fire, all the fortifications of the British and French forces were directly smashed, clearing the way for the follow-up infantry attack.

Although, the artillery battle was very fierce. The artillery of both sides could not see each other, but the shells they fired, once they hit each other, were enough to tear each other to pieces.

"Bastard, damn Germans, how many cannons have they gathered? Shouldn't they have concentrated all the artillery on the Western Front here? "The commander of the French 2nd Army, Decarthy? Admiral Terno complained.

In this great battle, the French army can be said to have suffered a lot from the German artillery. But unfortunately, because of the urgency of the war, a large number of weapons and equipment need to be produced. The more mature 75-mm field guns have become the first choice for the production of various French arsenals, and the production of large-caliber heavy guns urgently needed by the front line is very small, which makes the French army on the front line completely unable to raise its head under the fierce shelling of the German army.

Also very depressed are the generals of the British Expeditionary Force. The British Army also attaches great importance to artillery, and the number of artillery pieces in each of their infantry divisions was still the largest in the world in the second half of last year, more than that of every infantry division of the German Army. However, after only half a year, they were completely overtaken by the Germans.

In the rear of the Anglo-French forces, Marshal Xia Fei personally sat in command of this battle. In his opinion, this German offensive was undoubtedly very threatening to the British and French forces. If they were unable to withstand the German attack, it was very likely that the Anglo-French forces would not be able to hold the Marne line. Once the Marne line was breached, the Germans would be able to directly threaten Paris.

It's just that the battle has just begun, and the Germans have shown extremely strong attack power, which makes Marshal Xia Fei worried.

"Your Excellency, the front is asking for more artillery support from them. Under the heavy shelling of the Germans, the artillery losses of the front-line divisions were very large. A staff officer reported.

Marshal Xia Fei's brows couldn't help frowning. In his hands now, apart from the artillery of the reserves of the two army groups, there is no other artillery at all, and he can't send the reserves to the front line just after the battle has just begun, right?

"Tell the front that there is no extra artillery to support them. Now, the battle has just begun, and they need to hold the line on their own! Marshal Xia Fei ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency." The staff officer immediately went to telegraph.

"God bless the French Republic!" Marshal Xia Fei muttered. He knew that this battle would undoubtedly be the final test for France. If it can resist, then France will be able to continue to hold on. If you can't resist it, the collapse of France is just around the corner!

However, under the carefully prepared offensive of the German army, it is almost impossible for the British and French forces to resist the German attack on the Marne.

The German artillery was still raging, and the artillery positions of the British and French troops were suppressed, and they suffered heavy losses.

What's more, the various air units of the German Army also actively participated in the attack on the artillery of the British and French forces.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, more than two hundred fighters and bombers flew to the front line. These fighters, with machine guns, strafed anti-aircraft fire from the positions of the British and French forces, covering the bombers for bombing.

"Whew! Shout! Shout! ”

One bomb after another fell from the bomber's magazine like dumplings, and the artillery positions of the British and French forces were instantly shrouded in smoke and fire. By the time the smoke cleared, the artillery positions of the Anglo-French army were in shambles. The artillery was blown up, and the artillery was left with no bones.

After the addition of the German air force, the artillery of the Anglo-French army, losses began to rise sharply.