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The 8th Group Army of the Chinese Army has six infantry divisions and a number of brigade-level units directly under it, with a total strength of nearly 200,000 troops. After the British ** team approached Birmingham, except for the 44th Infantry Division of the Army, which remained in Birmingham and continued to search the secret warehouses of the British royal family, the rest of the infantry divisions and troops directly under the group army were ready for battle!

About ten kilometres south of Birmingham is a small town called Knoll. It has now become the forward position of the 8th Army of the Chinese Army, and more than 18,000 officers and men of the 9th Infantry Division have been ordered to garrison here. Behind the 9th Infantry Division was the 8th Armored Brigade, the Artillery Brigade and the 10th Infantry Division. In addition, the 36th Infantry Division was responsible for the left flank line, the 37th Infantry Division was responsible for the right flank line, and the 45th Infantry Division was in reserve. Cavalry brigades cruised around the battlefield, waiting for opportunities to attack British flanks, such as attacking British supply lines. Hundreds of thousands of British troops were massed south of Birmingham, and the daily consumption of supplies was also an astronomical amount. After the railway network north of Northampton was blown up by the carrier-based aircraft forces of the Chinese Navy, it was not an easy task for the British to ensure the daily consumption of these hundreds of thousands of people! If the logistics supply line is cut off by the squadron, it is even more likely that the British army will be quickly defeated in this battle! Therefore, Admiral Hamilton deliberately transferred the elite troops of an army to be responsible for the defense of the logistics supply line!

On the morning of July 1, Hamilton, General of the British Army, Commander of the Home Defense Command, gave the order to attack! The squadron wished that time would drag on so that they would have plenty of time to find the secret warehouse of the British royal family. But the British **** team can't wait any longer, if the Chinese empty the wealth of the British royal family by then, then even if they take Birmingham back, I'm afraid it will be useless!

The 2nd Army of the British Army became the main attacking force this time, and Admiral Hamilton personally came to the front line to supervise the offensive of the 2nd Army! Several of the main forces of the British Army, a large part of the soldiers and troops, came from the expeditionary force withdrawn from France, and they fought the Germans in the French theater for two years. Although there are many defeats and few victories, the experience is far more abundant than that of ordinary troops! At the same time, the soldiers' combat quality is also much better, and their will to fight is much stronger! In this case, the British army will have a much better chance of winning!

On the positions of the British troops, the 2nd Corps of the British Army amassed more than five hundred heavy guns, which, in addition to the artillery units belonging to the 2nd Army. All of them were drawn back from several other armies. The British Expeditionary Force suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield in France, and most of its heavy equipment was lost. After returning home, he was sent to the Birmingham front before he had time to replenish!

"General, the 2nd Army is ready, we have figured out the situation on the other side, in Knorr. The Chinese have only one infantry division, less than 20,000 men. However, they were reinforced by the artillery of the main forces! In addition, the armored forces of the Chinese are probably hiding somewhere! However, we are confident that we will break through the defenses of the Chinese and fight all the way to Birmingham! Lieutenant General Scott, commander of the 2nd Army of the British Army, said.

"Hmmm! Watch your performance today! I hope that we can get to Birmingham today and take Birmingham tomorrow. Kick the Chinese out! Admiral Hamilton said. No one in the British army, except for him, knew why they were in such a hurry to retake Birmingham. However, this did not prevent the units of the British army from carrying out the orders of their superiors!

"Yes, General!" After Lieutenant General Scott saluted, he immediately went down and prepared to go!

At 7:15 a.m., the British Army began artillery strikes on Knoll! Five hundred heavy guns with a caliber of more than 100 mm opened fire one after another, and the dense shells pierced the air. With a sharp whistle, it smashed towards the position of the squadron!

"Whew! Shout! Shout! ”

"Shelling! Take cover! On the front-line positions, the junior officers shouted loudly. The soldiers bent over their waists and walked through the trenches to take refuge in the nearest anti-artillery holes. If it was too late, he lay at the bottom of the trench, covering his ears with his hands and his mouth wide open. In order to hold on to the possibility of being injured in the shelling! The trenches of the squadron are about two meters deep, and as long as they are not directly hit by shells, they will generally not suffer much damage! If, of course, the shell fell inside the trench. That's dead!

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The shells exploded on the position, splashing orange-red fireballs and shrapnel flying sideways, raging all around. The shock wave swept over the positions, and the entire position was dusty. Craters began to be left on the ground, and if you wait until the smoke clears and look down from above, you will have the illusion of reaching the surface of the moon!

On the battlefield, the Chinese soldiers endured hardship, but they believed that it would soon pass. When your own artillery fires, you will definitely be able to suppress the British. If you fight artillery, the Chinese are not afraid!

The artillery of the 8th Army of the Chinese Army did not disappoint the soldiers either, and less than ten minutes after the start of the British shelling, the artillery brigade and the 9th Infantry Division of the 8th Army, as well as the artillery battalions of the 10th Infantry Division and the Armored Brigade, opened fire! A total of three hundred and sixty 100-mm heavy guns fired back fiercely at the British artillery, including 72 155-mm heavy howitzers and 48 155-mm heavy cannons, specially designed to suppress enemy shelling!

After the artillery of the Chinese army opened fire, the artillery of the British army had to divide a part of the artillery to engage in an artillery battle with the Chinese artillery, which made their artillery attack on the forward positions of the squadron much less. And that's just the beginning!

In Kagandi Bay, the Chinese Navy's four 'Emeishan-class' aircraft carriers were already ready, and when the British bombardment began, the carrier-based aircraft on the four aircraft carriers began to take off. From Kagandi Bay to the sky over Birmingham, it is only one hundred and fifty kilometers, and for carrier-based aircraft, it only takes an hour's flight!

Four aircraft carriers, each of which took off a squadron of F5B 'Puffin' fighters, a squadron of H5C 'Osprey' torpedo attack aircraft and a squadron of H5D 'Fish Eagle' dive bombers, a total of 144 fighters, formed four squadrons, flew over the battlefield! The H5C 'Osprey' torpedo attack aircraft was also carrying aerial bombs at this time, carrying out horizontal bombing missions, but the accuracy could not be compared with the H5D 'Fish Eagle' dive bomber! But for dense targets on the ground, it is still able to form a strong striking force!

In the artillery battle between the two sides, the British artillery did not take advantage of anything. Therefore, the artillery battle ended hastily after only half an hour. After the British received information that the carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Navy were coming, the artillery immediately stopped the shelling and began to evacuate, so as not to be blown up by the carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Navy! In addition, Admiral Hamilton also began to contact the British Air Force, asking them to give the troops air cover!

Although the shelling ended, the attacks of the British Army did not stop! As soon as the shelling ended, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the 6th Infantry Division of the British Army jumped out of their positions and launched an attack on the town of Knoor, where the 9th Infantry Division of the Chinese Army was stationed!

"Enter the position, the British are coming!" Led by the commanders, the soldiers rushed out of the anti-artillery holes, took up arms and entered the positions, ready to meet the British!

"Fire!" When the British rushed to a distance of less than a kilometer from the forward positions, the commander of the front gave the order to open fire! Infantry guns and mortars of all calibers opened fire, and a dense stream of shells whizzed towards the British attacking ranks. After the shell exploded, shrapnel reaped life wantonly, and many British soldiers were thrown away, and when they fell back to the ground, they became a pile of minced meat, and stumps and broken arms were scattered everywhere!

"Da Da Da!" When the British troops were less than 500 meters from the forward positions, light and heavy machine guns opened fire. Dense bullets fired at the British troops, and a large number of British soldiers who had no time to dodge were shot directly! However, more British soldiers charged on the corpses of their comrades and kept as far distance as possible from each other to reduce casualties!

"Bang bang bang!" Then the rifle began to shoot as well, and the crisp sound of fried beans rang out. Although the firepower is not intensive, the accuracy is much higher than that of the machine gun. In the establishment of the Chinese Army, each infantry squad will have a soldier with the best marksmanship to serve as a sniper, and use a sniper rifle to eliminate enemy officers and machine gunners! This made the British army in the process of charging, and people were constantly headshot, which made the command of the British army gradually chaotic!

At 8:20 a.m., the British attack was completely suppressed, and a large number of British soldiers were pinned down about two hundred meters from the forward position, unable to move. Whether it continues to advance or retreat, it will be hit by the superior firepower of the squadron, which makes the British army a little dilemma!

"Commander, the carrier-based aircraft unit has fifteen minutes to enter the battlefield!" Inside the temporary headquarters north of the town of Knoor, a staff officer reported to Admiral He Bingju!

"Contact the carrier-based aircraft unit and let them bomb the positions of the British according to the predetermined plan! In addition, give the armored brigade an order to attack, ready to break through the lines of the British in one fell swoop! Let the 10th Infantry Division cooperate with the armored brigade and strive to win the battle! Admiral He Bingju ordered directly! Being beaten all the time is not the style of the squadron, even when defending, it is the same! After all, the best defense is offense!

After receiving the order, more than 200 tanks and armored vehicles of the 8th Armored Brigade were mobilized and began to enter the offensive positions, preparing to wait for the arrival of the carrier-based aircraft units to launch an attack on the positions of the British troops!