After a few years of war, because the French artillery could not match the Germans, they learned the flesh and blood lesson that 'all offences must be a wide frontal attack', that is, the width of the attack must be at least twice the range of the German howitzers, that is, the frontal must be more than fifteen kilometers. Only then did the salient not suffer from covering fire from German howitzers from the left and right; Taking into account the transportation of the salient and the stationing of troops, the width of the salient is often more than 20 kilometers, or even 25 kilometers.

In this way, this width is not at all a situation that a few divisions can open, which requires hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops to be put into an area, and to gather so many troops, it will inevitably be discovered by the German reconnaissance planes, coupled with the long time to prepare for artillery fire, and when the French army begins to attack, the German army on the opposite side has already been prepared, and the war will eventually fall into a long stalemate.

The experience of the French army could indeed be helpful to the expeditionary force to some extent, but this time it was clear that it was not useful. After Xu Shuzheng, chief of staff of the 11th Army, persuaded him with kind words, he sent Colonel Bertrand away with the general words that 'our army will act on cameras'. At this time, he hoped that Wu Peifu of the 1st Brigade of the 33rd Division would be able to rush to the outside of Baledik City as soon as possible after receiving the telegram, and if he really took it by chance, then all the problems would be solved.

From watching from the breakthrough to receiving the offensive telegram from the rear headquarters, Wu Xiucai's reaction was quite fast, and he had previously transferred the artillery regiment of the whole division to the breakthrough of the tank battalion, waiting for the order to attack. As soon as the telegram was received at this time, the defense line was handed over to the division commander Cao Kun. With the remaining regiment of the first brigade and half of the artillery regiment, he went straight to Baldik along the road opened by the chariot battalion, and he fully understood that the key to the whole battle now was whether the city could be successfully taken.

Sixteen kilometers is not too far. The rapid march took less than two hours, but in just over an hour, the armored forces in front had already been deployed by the Germans in the outskirts of Baledik.

The armored units that were all the way through the city hit the wall several kilometers outside the city -- unlike the field artillery, the artillery in the city had strong bunkers, and the planes could affect the normal operation of the field artillery, but for the urban artillery in the concrete bunkers, they were at most buzzing around them. So, three kilometers southeast of the city of Baledik, a howitzer smashed on the way of the armored troops. The flames and shrapnel from the shell explosion burned and pierced the commander, gunner and others through the cracks, and the rest of the crew members were also dizzy. The 150 and 105 howitzers were so powerful that these tanks that were hit by the bullet could not move on the spot. One of them caught fire and exploded.

Major Zhang Liuji, who commanded the battle, immediately guessed that there was a German artillery observation post nearby. While ordering the vehicles to retreat after releasing smoke, he ordered the front vehicles to conduct fire reconnaissance. Sure enough, as soon as the front machine gun of the tank rang out, the Maxim machine gun in the German fortifications more than 1,000 meters away on the opposite side also began to return fire, and the bullet hit the front armor plate of the tank, but there was no damage. It was only when the fire suddenly appeared, and a few shells came from the opposite side and exploded around the chariot, that Zhang Liuji felt that this should be a key point for the German army.

What to do. To fight or not to fight? If you don't fight that attack, you will be delayed by the Germans, and wait for the Germans behind to be ready. That battle will be harder; If it is fought, then under the fire of the German long-range artillery and the anti-tank artillery in the fortifications, one bad will suffer heavy losses.

Thinking about this question in his heart, but with a map in his hand, and comparing the mileage he had traveled, Zhang Liuji felt that he should have arrived at a place called Savoni Edwanba on the outskirts of Baledik, which was still three kilometers away from Baledik, and there was a stream crossing the road not far ahead.

"Artillery battalion, artillery battalion, immediately find a place to mount the cannon." Zhang Liuji made up his mind to attack and ordered the self-propelled artillery battalion to begin to deploy. This place was already very close to the city, and beyond that, the artillery fire could only be fired directly.

Taking advantage of the deployment of the artillery battalion, Zhang Liuji called the second company commander Meng Qingshan again, "Take your company to bypass from the west and attack on the flank, pay attention to be fast!" We are here to attract the attention of the enemy. ”

As Zhang Liuji spoke, the German howitzer group, which had lost its specific target due to the smoke, still smashed on the ground like a hammer, and every explosion shook the ground. "Who do I take with me?" Between an explosion, the commander of the second company hurriedly asked.

"Take the men of the 33rd Division." Zhang Liuji didn't dare to consume too much of the infantry of the motorized infantry battalion, so he had to take the number of people from the 33rd Division.

"Understood." Meng Qingshan, the commander of the second company, did not say a word, and immediately took a company of nineteen steel chariots carrying a company of the 33rd Division to bypass from the west.

On his side, the remaining tanks could only fire heavily at the German positions on the opposite side of the smoke to show that they were still in the smoke, but the range of the vehicle-mounted machine guns and artillery was a full two kilometers, and the shells of the German howitzer group that could not determine the target distance were scattered in the smoke between the tanks and the German fortifications, and the troops were not damaged.

Taking advantage of the second company's detour, the mechanic company risked his life to drag back the several chariots that had been damaged by howitzers in the smoke, and the company commander Mi Fangtian reported on another channel on the radio: "Battalion commander, the first company commander has died!" ”

"my mother!" Zhang Liuji, who leaned out of the turret, smashed his fist on the roof armor of the car, and he wiped his face hard to calm down a little, and then asked, "What about the others?" Can the car be repaired? ”

"Five more were sacrificed, and the others were either injured or dizzy, and there was no way to fight." A native of Mifangtian, the southern dialect can barely be heard in the explosion of howitzers. "Two tanks are completely scrapped, and the other three can be repaired!"

"Fix it quickly!" Zhang Liuji admonished, and then shouted the second company in the channel, he didn't wait for Meng Qingshan to speak, and then split: "Lao Fei sacrificed, you fucking want to avenge him!" ”

Meng Qingshan didn't understand what the battalion commander meant at first, and when the battalion commander cut off the radio, he chuckled in his heart, remembering that it was Fei Yushu's company that rushed to the front, and with the habit of commanding old Fei, his body must still be outside the car when the howitzer hit.

"it! Comrades. The first company commander has died, everyone has to avenge him! Meng Qingshan shouted wildly over the radio, and his voice passed through the car radio. It was passed to the other eighteen chariots of the second company. "Erdezi and Omaozi are not good birds, they are both masters who take advantage of the fire to rob! Don't be merciful this time, everyone, hit hard! ”

After Meng Qingshan mobilized the vehicle crew, he opened the turret hatch at the risk of being hit by a cold gun and looked at the infantry carrying outside the car, and he shouted to the infantry commander of the 33rd Division......, who was a little unknown,...... Follow! Watch out for enemy crossfire! Be sure to watch out for crossfire!! ”

The company commander understood the order to 'get out of the car and fight'. However, judging from the performance of the subsequent battles, he obviously did not understand the order of 'pay attention to crossfire', but there was no time to elaborate on the battlefield. Meng Qingshan saw that the infantry of each car got out of the car. He ordered the twelve wolves in the company and his command vehicle to form a wild goose formation and break through the German position.

For the Germans stationed here, the sudden appearance of a large number of enemy tanks on the right flank was a matter of great panic, because the smoke from the front did not cover the entire battlefield, and these tanks on the right flank must have made a long detour to return to the flank. The sudden appearance of the chariot was able to give the howitzer group in the city a clear target for firing. But the distance between us and the enemy was only about a kilometer at this time. Even if the howitzer group in the city had pre-determined the shelling parameters of various places, it was still too late.

So, with the order of the battlefield commander here, some light machine gun and mortar fire was the first to be transferred to the flanks, but the distance was so close that except for the machine guns that could strafe the combat vehicles and the infantry behind the combat vehicles, the panicked mortarists could not hit the target for a while. The defenders tried their best to block it, but the thirteen chariots that could exert all their firepower under the Wild Goose Formation opened fire one by one. In the smoke of gunfire, each car first fired at the German machine-gun position with machine-gun tracer shells in accordance with the drill code, and once the tracer bullets hit. The gunners fired the shells - you could clearly see the shells coming in through the firing holes of the bunkers, and with each hit, the bunkers burst into flames and smoke, and then the machine guns were dumb.

When the distance was only more than 400 meters, several 77mm anti-tank field guns that had finally been transferred began to fire at the tank, but although the distance was close, the tank charge that spit out and fired again in the smoke of gunpowder made the German gunners tremble, and the first two shots did not hit. Although there was no loss on his side, the light strip brought out by the 77mm shell made Meng Qingshan anxious, this caliber of artillery hit the chariot at this distance, it was simply a knife to kill chickens, he ordered each vehicle to destroy the anti-chariot cannon immediately on the radio, and at the same time opened the turret cover in order to better aim at the target regardless of the danger, and poked his head out.

"Aim for tracer!" Meng Qingshan picked up the machine gun on the roof of the car and fired angrily to point the direction of the artillery, and at the same time shouted loudly: "Armor-piercing bullets!" ”

The company commander personally calibrated the target, and the gunner Zhou Zhiqiang operated the direction machine and high and low machine of the main gun with tracer bullets, aiming the muzzle of the gun at the target, and then he shouted loudly like the company commander, "Armor-piercing bullet!" ”

Yang Arong, the loader, had been waiting with the armor-piercing bullet in his arms, and when he heard him shout the armor-piercing shell, he immediately stuffed the shell into the barrel of the cannon, and as the bolt clicked, he also shouted: "The armor-piercing bullet - medium!" ”

'Boom! The chariot seemed to jump, and a crimson fireball flew out of the muzzle. The strange thing is that this cannonball only drew a green light above the shield of the field artillery, and the green light flashed away, and Meng Qingshan, who was watching, hurriedly shouted: "Damn! Ricochet! Look down and put it! ”

Listening to the company commander shouting ricochet, Zhou Zhiqiang really wanted to shoot himself in the head, and the ricochet showed that he had hit high. He took a sip of himself and adjusted the high and low machine slightly, and when the loader Yang Arong stuffed another armor-piercing shell into the chamber of the gun, he shouted again, "Medium!" When he pressed the electric shock with his right index finger, 'Boom! With a bang, the chariot jumped sharply, and another red fireball shot out.

"it! Hit again!! Meng Qingshan outside the car vigorously pounded the roof armor, he was really anxious, the first richeted bullet, but the second shot hit the mud on the side of the 77 gun, what the hell is this, you must know that Zhou Zhiqiang is the sharpshooter in the company; And just now, a shell from the 77 hit the turret of car No. 081, and the armor of twenty millimeters at such a close distance was immediately penetrated, and after a violent explosion, the turret of 081 was blown up on the spot!

"Armor-piercing bullet - medium!" Loader Yang Arong stuffed a third armor-piercing round into the barrel, and this time Zhou Zhiqiang aimed accurately. The fireball hit the frontal shield of the 77 gun, and although the German gunners survived a few, the gun was considered useless. But at this time, the chariot had rushed to within two hundred meters of the enemy's formation, and Meng Qingshan didn't have the time to direct the artillery bombardment, but turned around and looked back, which was okay, and saw that there were only a few dozen people left in the nearly two hundred infantry that were originally followed behind, and he had the heart to vomit blood.

"Attack! Attack now!! Meng Qingshan no longer cares about scolding people and getting angry, and now this is the moment. The most important thing is to let the infantry rush up and sweep away the remaining enemy forces.

In infantry coordination, the infantry must keep up with the chariot, and the cooperation between the two is good at first, but after the German 77 anti-tank field artillery was transferred to this direction. The command vehicles leading the speed of the geese marching array began to speed up unconsciously, and all the vehicles in the company even concentrated their firepower under the command of Meng Qingshan to deal with the 77 anti-tank field artillery. We really need to be held accountable. This was misdirected by Meng Qingshan. The firepower of each vehicle was not well distributed, and the infantry company of the 33rd Division did not have a good sense of coordinated combat and failed to follow the combat vehicles.

Only those who are alive have the opportunity to sum up their experience, and the officers and men of the 122nd Tank Company in the battle have no time to worry about their poor hit rate, and they all increase their throttle and rush through the trench to the German soldiers, and this rush swept away the German position, which was four kilometers long and less than a kilometer wide. The German soldiers, who saw the enemy tanks rushing into their positions, had no time to organize resistance, and they were either swept down by the tank's machine guns as they fled, or they lowered their guns and raised their hands in surrender. Fifteen minutes later. The town, called Savoni Edwamba, was completely occupied by the 122nd Tank Company.

"Boom... Boom ......", after a comprehensive sweep of the entire battlefield. Meng Qingshan took the troops and German prisoners out of the town one step ahead of the enemy, he thought that the civilized German army would not treat his comrades as coldly as the Japanese army, but obviously his caution was very necessary, and within a few minutes after the troops left the town, the German howitzers in the city came over.

"It's fucking disgusting!" The armored vehicle was hidden in a vineyard with fallen leaves outside the town, and although facing the battalion commander, Meng Qingshan couldn't help but curse.

"Lost three vehicles...... lost one hundred and thirteen infantry ......, how could you lose so much ??" Major Zhang Liuji ignored the curses of his subordinates against the Germans, he just couldn't figure out why the infantry losses were so large.

"It's my fault!" Meng Qingshan reluctantly grabbed the chariot cap on his head, scratched his head, and said profoundly, "I only patronized the 77 field guns in front of me, and missed a few machine guns on the side, the 33rd Division should be the first time to implement the coordination of the infantry in actual combat, and the car was too loose to follow, and it was ...... as soon as the German machine gun fired from the sidefire."

"Why don't you let them follow closely and pay attention to the German machine-gun crossfire?!" Hearing that the reason for the loss was actually like this, the major's face changed suddenly, but then he restrained himself, and he sighed: "Forget it, this is a lesson from the past, and I am also a guilty person." Now you can start thinking about the content of this accident report, remember to use the five whys analysis method to find the root cause of the accident. ”

"Understood, sir!" The battalion commander was greedy for a quick assault, so he let the troops follow the road, and did not pay attention to spreading out the formation within the range of the enemy's howitzers; And he only focused on the front and ignored the rear in the battle, knowing that the 33rd Division was not a qualified infantry team, but did not pay more attention to and guide them, this kind of performance was only a qualified tank company commander, not a qualified armored unit commander, and the mistakes of the two people killed many people.

"Battalion commander, why do you want to stop here?" Suppressing the idea of guilt, Meng Qingshan was a little puzzled by the battalion commander's order to stand by here.

"If we can be hit by German howitzers, it means that the German artillery in the city has not been suppressed by our air force, this is already three kilometers away from Baledik, and further out of the vineyards, we can see our traces on the bell tower of the church in the city, we should not take this risk until we are fully prepared." Zhang Liuji said.

"Fully prepared?" Meng Qingshan and Song Desheng, the commander of the third company, were a little puzzled.

"The 1st Brigade of the 33rd Division has come up and is about to arrive, and if we really want to attack Baledik, we will have to wait for them, as well as the infantry we have pulled down. In addition, Brigade Commander Wu also brought in half of the artillery regiment of the 33rd Division, plus an artillery battalion we already have, and under the guidance of the aircraft, we should be able to suppress the German artillery in the city. Major Zhang Liuji judged, "There are also two divisions, the 31st and 32nd, have begun to move, although they are only holding back the German troops on the other defensive lines and preventing them from reinforcing Baledik, but this is enough." ”

As soon as he was talking here, the warrior off-road vehicle coming from afar braked suddenly, and Wu Peifu jumped off the car, he didn't say a word, and when he saw Zhang Liuji, he said: "Major Zhang, Wu is here to listen to your command, as long as you say a word, the 33rd Division will be killed today, and Baledik will be defeated." ”

Wu Peifu was refreshing, Zhang Liuji was not polite, he didn't answer Wu Peifu's words, but said: "When will the artillery battalion you brought be completed?" ”

"It's already unfolding, and it will take an hour at most to fire, is this too late?" As the so-called artillery is the courage of the infantry, Wu Peifu, as the commander of the artillery regiment of the previous 33rd Division, understands the importance of artillery to the infantry very well, and he has already ordered the artillery regiment to deploy before he rushed to Zhang Liuji.

"How many howitzers are more than 100?" Zhang Liuji asked.

"I brought in the 105 howitzer battalion in the division, and the other battalion is 75 field artillery, with a total of 30 guns, and the shells are also sufficient, there are three bases." Wu Peifu said.

"Good!" When Zhang Liuji heard that he had pulled all the howitzers, he felt more confident in his heart. Only one division of the German 86th Division was stationed in the city, and according to the establishment it should have fifty-four guns, half of which were over 100mm. And on his side, with the addition of the newly arrived twelve 105s, there are a total of twenty-two large-caliber howitzers, plus another twenty-four 75 field guns, as long as the aircraft is accurate, there is no problem in suppressing the German army.

This is a comparison of the artillery fire of the enemy and us, and in the infantry, although the opponent has the strength of one division, he has 59 tanks and a brigade. In terms of combat effectiveness, if a rifleman's combat effectiveness index is one, the combat effectiveness of a wolf chariot is 600, and the combat strength of the jackal is 200 ......, while urban street fighting will reduce one's offensive effectiveness by 20 percent, but air supremacy can increase by 10 percent......

In the face of a pure infantry division, he felt that his own combat effectiveness index had a data advantage of about three times compared with the garrisoned 86th Division, although it could not reach the 'five attacks' mentioned in the art of war, but as the party that grasped the initiative, he could 'divide the multipliers', but the attack must be fast!

Thinking of this, Major Zhang Liuji said to the map of Baledik spread out on the ground, "The plan of the attack is this: the second company, with a platoon of six wolf chariots, a self-propelled artillery company, and an infantry battalion, will cross the Ornan River from here and detour to the northeast of Baledik to start the attack, so that not only can the defenders divide their forces, but also cut off the railway line between him and the rear. ”

Speaking of this, Major Zhang Liuji looked at his watch and said, "It's been almost two hours since we broke through, and I don't know when the German reinforcements will arrive, but I think they're coming soon." You're only making a feint against Baledik, but of course you can break in and cause chaos if you have the chance. But the most important task is to pin down the German army, distract them, and really kill on my side! (To be continued......)