The attack of the "Dora" artillery on the Maginot Line was an important part of the "Double-headed Eagle Plan" formulated by the German High Command and named by the German Emperor Ruprecht I himself.

Due to the opposition of the previous "Yellow Plan" to attack France by the German generals led by Manstein and others, and the plan was leaked due to the unfortunate crash of a German plane in Belgium, the German General Staff accepted the plan proposed by Manstein and named it "Operation Scythe", which means that the German army will sweep France from the side like a swinging sickle, but the German Emperor Ruprecht I supplemented the plan, and the original cover of the Maginot Line was strengthened. It could even be said that it turned into a real offensive, so the plan was renamed "Project Double-headed Eagle", meaning that the Germans were a powerful two-headed eagle, one eagle head pecked at the breach of the Ardennes Forest, and the other eagle head pecked at the Maginot Line.

And the "Dora" cannon is one of the sharp eagle's beaks that pecked at the Maginot Line.

At this time, the "Dora" artillery group completed another salvo, and the gunners struggled and began to reload. With a loud thunderous sound, in the direction of the Maginot Line in the distance, a pillar of smoke rose again.

Ruprecht I raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the rising pillar of smoke, at this time, the sky above the head of the German emperor heard the roar of aircraft engines, Ruprecht I put down the telescope, looked up at the sky, only to see a series of bombers in a neat formation flying over the clouds, in the direction of the Maginot Line.

Looking at the Iron Cross emblem shining in the sunlight on the wings of the plane, Ruprecht's eyes became extremely fanatical for a moment.

"Go ahead! Go ahead! For the glory of Germany! ”

At this time, in the underground combat command room of the fortress "Shenan", a French commander crouched down on the chart. In many places on the picture, a prominent black X is drawn.

"Sir! The Observatory has spotted them! It's the tanks of the Germans! They are rapidly approaching us! ”

"Notify the turrets and prepare to fire!" The commander commanded loudly.

"The shells are loaded! Sir! Another said.

At this time, in the turret, the gunners nervously stood by the gun mount and stood by.

"It won't be long before enough!" Someone said.

"Now it's our turn to show what we're capable of." Someone intersected.

"Enemy tanks found!" The turret commander shouted, "Prepare now!" ”

"Aim your guns at your target!" The gunner repeated aloud.

The round turrets on the fortress turned rapidly, and the muzzles of the 75mm short-barreled guns stretched out, pointing in the direction of the enemy's attack. At this time, a gray mist was rising on the ground in the distance.

The gunners, who were ready to go, looked at each other. Many of them had no combat experience at all, and had never heard the loud sound of artillery firing at the enemy, nor had they waited for enemy shells to fly far away and explode through ......concrete armored bunkers, as they did now. People's nerves are tense to the extreme. Just seconds after the order was given, they had everything ready. At the moment, they are only so desperate that they don't have time to think about anything else. Only the nostalgia for their relatives back home and the incredible sense of terror occasionally flashed through their minds.

"I wish it had started sooner." Someone said.

Others anxiously tapped their fingers on the bolts in front.

"Don't do anything that doesn't have to do with it!" The gunslinger snapped, "Concentrate your energy!" ”

The indicator red light on the wall began to flash, and the first salvo of 75-mm guns began. This was followed by a series of repeated processes: the bolt was opened, a new shell was loaded and pushed into it with a pusher, the cartridge was loaded, and the bolt slammed shut again.

"Gun No. 1 is ready!"

"Gun No. 2 ready!"

"Gun No. 3 is ready!"

"Gun No. 4 ready!"

Another salvo was fired. The gunners were furious. A loud bang came from nowhere, and several gunners were shaken.

"Did we get hit?" Someone asked scaredly.

"Leave this alone!" The gunners shouted, "Quick! Keep shooting! ”

"We've lost contact with the Observatory!" Someone then shouted.

At the Ground Observatory, Rocher? While observing the situation on the ground, Brüge kept reporting the positions of the swarming German tanks, and the communicator carried the data to the turret by telephone.

In the smoke of gunpowder, a huge German tank suddenly appeared in his periscope.

It was a boxy-looking tank, with a sturdy hull, a heavy turret and a black-hole barrel, all of which showed the rigidity and ferocity of the Germans. It was a heavy tank, it looked very heavy, but it was moving very fast, and Roger saw a 75mm shell that seemed to hit it, but it didn't show signs of being damaged, but continued to rush forward.

Roger had never seen such a tank, and for a moment forgot to report its coordinates.

Suddenly, a blinding red light flashed from within the ground observation post, followed by a deafening loud bang, a powerful shockwave enveloping flames and shards of steel, sweeping through the room, spreading death around every corner.

Roger's last action was to pick up the phone, but he was never able to make this call again.

At this time, the French gunners who were shooting frantically in the turret did not know, Roger? Brüge and his companions are now gone. Originally, under the bright light, they had been working in the observatory with all their concentration and strength, and they were trapped in a small space, isolated from the outside world. There was a solid and heavy cement layer and armor steel plates on it, but under the continuous bombardment of the "Dora" cannon, the cement layer was gradually peeled off, and at this time, a semi-armor-piercing bullet fired by a "Dora" cannon smashed down, and it actually penetrated the peeling cement layer and armor steel plate, penetrated the top wall, and happened to pass through the weak part of it, and fell all the way to the inside of the observation post along the narrow unprotected path and exploded. In the blink of an eye, Roger and his companions were all reimbursed before they could figure out what was going on.

"Shoot according to the predetermined coordinates! Fast! The gunslinger ordered.

In the Maginot Line, the typical large underground fortifications resemble a tree that grows underground, and the command and living quarters are the roots of the tree, extending long passages to reach the various bunkers. The bunker is armed with cannons, mortars and machine guns. Equip up to 17 weapons in a large bunker. The cannon is hidden in a steel, liftable turret that is fixed to a circular turntable made of reinforced concrete. Since only a steel dome was exposed on the ground, and nothing else could be seen, the cannon was safe in normal times. During the battle, as soon as the order was received, the steel roof rose 2 feet, and a pair of barrels that could be rotated were exposed.

In each cannon's rotating turret, a realistic view of the surrounding countryside is depicted around the walls of the circular turret, so that the gunners can visualize the numerically marked targets on the firing coordinates. The mathematically minded French accurately calculated in advance every square yard of land under the control of the artillery and set their coordinates.

"Damn it! Shelling and bombing didn't do much either! The French still fight so fiercely! ”

In a Tiger tank, German tanker Altman cursed as he watched the situation outside from the scope.

At this time, the outside of the tank was completely a boiling sea of fire, with the rumbling of cannons, the rain of bullets, and countless pieces of rubble and mud around the tank. The smoke from the German tanks that were hit and caught on fire, mixed with the smoke of the guns fired from the guns, swirled and floated above the Germans, creating a picture of a fiery hell.

Suddenly, a shell from the French hit Ultraman's "Tiger" tank, and although it was not a vital point, the "Tiger" tank shook suddenly, and then thick smoke instantly filled the entire turret.

"Damn French!" Ultraman cursed loudly.

"How? Can the turret still turn? Captain Baker, the commander, asked.

"No problem!" Altman replied.

"See that fort? Altman? Kill it! Captain Baker ordered.

Altman began to run through the turret, and at this time many shells flew in, and not far from the "Tiger" tank, a "No. 4" tank was hit, and immediately burned like a matchbox, and several German tankers covered in fire howled and rushed out, but soon a burst of machine gun bullets swept over, knocking them all to the ground.

The Tiger tank was moving quickly through a hail of bullets, and Will, the loader, loaded a shell into the chamber. His mouth was constantly talking, but his words were often interrupted by the thunderous salvos of artillery outside.

"Now it's our turn, it's my turn and you. Do you understand? He went on to say: "The army headquarters in Berlin is free to make plans at will; Admiral Brauchitsch could look at his map, and Admiral Halder could draw up a battle plan; Major General Guderian can call the shots. However, it is our tanks and artillery that really solve the problem. If we stop, we don't continue to move forward and launch. Then the generals had no choice but to go back to their hometowns like us. Ultraman, do you understand? ”

As he said this, he paused slightly to check the placement of the shells.

When he saw that Ultraman was about to shoot, he actually kissed the cannonball and said, "Go! My beauty! ”

Ultraman didn't have time to pay attention to Will's chills, his eyes were firmly fixed on the target that had been locked, and he shot out.

"Look! Look! That's great! Hit! Captain Baker exclaimed excitedly.

With a loud bang, a huge column of smoke rose high above a high ground in front of it.

Ultraman also saw this through his telescope. At the beginning, the outline of the large fortification emerges from the smoke, and the lines are clearly recognizable. Subsequently, accompanied by the hit of a tank shell, a puff of gray smoke erupted from its front. Huge columns of smoke are formed. Immediately afterward, a column of smoke rose larger than before. The smoke stretched out with the wind and gradually joined together, forming a huge cloud of smoke that hung over the fortress. Under the cloud of smoke, a thick, curved barrel loomed. It was then that Ultraman saw through the scope that there had been another huge explosion in the fort. Debris flew up into the sky, even higher than the cloud of smoke that had barely risen since the first eruption. Then, he clearly saw that the fortress was burning from the inside, as if a child surnamed Ren had stuffed some straw in a box and suddenly set them on fire from the inside.

All that Ultraman saw was just a matter of a moment. Then, smoke rose from the numerous crevices in the fortress. The cracked toy was immediately engulfed in smoke and flames. Now, except for the fragments of armor that were thrown high into the air in the explosion, fell on Zhou Jia, everything was covered by thick smoke, and nothing could be seen.

"You shattered the myth of the Maginot Line, Ultraman." Captain Baker happily congratulated Ultraman.

Ultraman knew that the reason why his shot was successful was because it entered the observation window and detonated the enemy's ammunition inside.

Although his artillery skills are not said, this cannon can have such a great effect, and it can also be said that there is a lot of luck in it.

At this time more German tanks and infantry rushed up. Although the French artillery fire was as fierce as before, and was not weakened by the destruction of a fortress, the Germans lost no time in taking advantage of the gap and effectively implemented the breakthrough.

For the French, such a gap in the Maginot line is actually nothing and can be easily plugged, but the French have another much larger gap than this, which there is no way to plug at all.

Due to time and money, the French were unable to defend their entire borders with the formidable fortifications of the Maginot Line. So there are also many holes in the defense of the French, and it is a huge omission. The Germans knew this inside and out. In fact, the Maginot Line extended only to the south of the Ardennes Forest, east of the city of Sedan and on the French-Belgian border. The French General Staff confidently asserts that the Great Forest, like the Rhine, is a safe and reliable natural barrier. In 1934, Marshall? Petain and other high-ranking French officers, inspecting the construction of the Maginot Line, also said: "Because of special measures, it is impossible to cross the Ardennes forest." Therefore, there is no danger in this section of the line. ”

After the Ardennes Forest, there is the Belgian border, which leads directly to the English Channel. The French did not make any serious effort to build fortifications on this section of the line. After all, France reasoned that their ally, Belgium, was a good buffer zone for France, buying France eight days to organize its own defenses. This conclusion was made on the basis of the speed at which the infantry was marching. Unbeknownst to the French, however, the German army had been motorized and mechanized. reoccupation of the Rhine region and annexation of Austria in Germany; After the appeasement of the Munich Agreement brought the Sudetenland into German hands, Germany invaded Poland. These obvious crises allowed the French commanders, who were stationed in the unfortified border sections, to build fortifications more or less if they wished, in the areas they liked. As a result, the long border was dotted with thousands of small machine-gun bunkers, which were extremely disproportionate to the overall defensive situation.

Petain's rash conclusions about the safety and reliability of the Ardennes border section now embarrassed the French. At this moment, the genius German general Heinz? Guderian's tanks opened a hole in the Belgian-French border, and German troops flooded through the Ardennes Forest, outflanking French forces and isolating the Maginot Line. The 54 German divisions, which followed closely behind Guderian's tanks, pierced directly through the Great Forest by virtue of civilian roads alone. The Belgians did not carry out the resistance programme at all, nor did they do the work of setting up roadblocks, digging traps, or destroying roads. At this time, some 40 French divisions were confined to the Maginot Line, which was "defended but unguarded" in the face of a rapidly advancing invader, as if they were there to defend the line itself. The other 30 or so French divisions were scattered along the line from Montmedy, the end of the Maginot Line, to the English Channel.

The Germans were armed with modern tanks, fighter jets, Stuka dive bombers and rapid-fire cannons that were much more advanced than the French, especially the intimidating high-speed 88mm electric firing gun of the Tiger tank, which was arguably one of the most effective weapons ever invented. In addition, the German artillery invented simple but lethal tactics against machine guns and observation posts in small fortifications. They repeatedly bombarded the same place with their 88-mm guns, and the shells punched holes in this place like a pickaxe, eventually penetrating a solid 12-inch thick steel plate. Eight shots will generally suffice.

At this point, under the cover of smoke bombs, the German infantry rushed forward and stuffed grenades, smoke bombs and explosive packets into the hole. Twenty-four hours later, the large fortress was breached, and hundreds of French soldiers who survived the first attack suffocated to death wearing ineffective gas masks. Because the smoke and poisonous gas from the explosion at the entrance of the cave filled the fortified tunnels.

Under the "Double-Headed Eagle Offensive", which was personally ordered by Ruprecht I, the Maginot Line came under a terrible direct attack. The Germans used an incredible variety of weapons, from 800mm Dora cannons, 530mm mortars, 88mm cannon groups, Tiger tanks, and more. They placed cannon groups outside the range of the Maginot Line's Type 75 short-barreled guns and bombarded the Maginot Line. Heavy bombers and Stuka dive bombers then swarmed and dropped the "Thor's Hammer" giant bomb and the 250-kilogram high-explosive bomb at the target. The Maginot Line underwent purgatory-like sacking.

(To be continued)