afterglow

Chapter 389 Attack!Drive straight in

As the distance got closer, the small-caliber Flak30 anti-aircraft guns also began to fire, and the formation of the French bomber formation had been disrupted by endless explosions.

Some of the Br693s that were hit slowly fell into the distance, and some fell apart in the air. There were also planes that continued to break away from the formation due to panic.

In the end, only ten of them were able to successfully reach the target. They faced the intensive firepower coming from the ground, but they were completely unable to aim.

The huge railway gun had been hidden in the billowing gray smoke, and the gray-white smoke mixed with the nearby woods, creating a scene shrouded in clouds and mist.

Br693, who took the lead in the navigation, did not dare to joke with his own life anymore, so he had to drop the aerial bomb at the approximate location.

The other aircraft that followed also hurriedly dropped bombs, and each 100kg aerial bomb fell from the belly bomb bay and fell to the ground.

I saw clouds of fire and smoke suddenly spurting out from the thick layer of gray smoke on the ground, as if trying to tear apart a newly rolled out smoke blanket.

Thanks to the tight protection of anti-aircraft and chemical units, the French air attack on the Einhausen railway guns failed.

Dozens of aerial bombs were missed by more than a hundred meters, and most of them landed in nearby forests or wilderness. The nearest 100-kilogram aerial bomb only destroyed two trucks and caused several casualties.

The German Society named the two 740mm giant railway guns "Einhausen" and "Hespe" respectively. Both were named after the heroic towns that fought against the British and French intervention forces.

During the Battle of Einhausen, the inferior German army successfully stopped the invading French 11th Cavalry Division and drove it back with outnumbered enemies.

During this period, the division commander Major General Rafael was killed by a 77mm grenade, becoming the highest-ranking officer killed in the British and French intervention forces.

The Battle of Hespey is even more legendary, small and short in scale and duration, but incredible.

It was the early stage of the intervention war, and the British 3rd Infantry Division, known as the Iron Division, marched deep into the industrial city of Hanover.

The bloody trench warfare stalemate for many years had only seen action near the border, but this time it was able to penetrate deep into Germany. The British generals were very proud.

However, they encountered a tenacious resistance in a small town called Hespe. The regular army defending Hespe actually only had a military police platoon and a communications squad with a total of more than 40 people. However, local civilians, police, fire brigade, and veterans They all spontaneously participated in the battle.

The British 3rd Infantry Division launched seven consecutive attacks but failed. In the end, it found that the German army was approaching, so it could only retreat in despair.

Now, two giant railway cannons bearing the name of Hero Town are ready for launch.

At 5:19 in the morning on May 7, the Einhausen railway gun opened fire on time.

The German officers and soldiers present stared excitedly at this behemoth. In an instant, a dazzling light suddenly appeared on the muzzle of the gun, making people subconsciously raise their hands to cover their eyes.

Immediately, the violent muzzle blast swept through the surroundings, making people's eardrums hurt, and they felt that the internal organs in the chest and torso were shaking.

The 6.2㎜ concrete-destroying bomb weighing 740 tons hit the SFL fortress 21km away.

The Maginot Line is actually composed of a series of fortresses, and the SFL fortress is one of the western sections of the defense line. It consists of 7 VDP observation fortresses, 8 LG mortar fortresses, 15 GM machine gun fortresses, 6 It consists of an AM anti-tank gun fortress.

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And this is just the tip of the iceberg, because there is another mystery deep in the underground body. There are complete headquarters, accommodation rooms, rescue rooms, rest rooms, ammunition depots, food depots, and the air filtration equipment of the ventilation system is also equipped with anti-virus. Function, it can be said to be impregnable.

Stationed here is a battalion of the 105th Fortress Division, with a total of 427 soldiers and 13 officers.

In fact, starting a week ago, French officers and soldiers had noticed signs of activity by German reconnaissance units, and on several occasions they were "bold" and got very close.

But after being driven away by machine gun fire, the French army never found them again. The past two days were very uneventful.

However, this is clearly the calm before the storm.

"call out--"

Because of the Doppler effect, the whistling sound caused by the huge shell squeezing the air is particularly sharp and makes people nervous.

The concrete-destroying bombs containing huge kinetic and potential energy hit hard, leaving the soil as soft and weak as tofu.

The shell passed through the soil layer more than ten meters deep, easily penetrated the three-meter-thick reinforced concrete outer wall, and exploded inside the fortress.

The 210kg TNT explosive loaded inside the concrete destruction bomb was so powerful that the first aid room, the rest room for No. 11 personnel and nearby passages collapsed on the spot, burying 3 soldiers, 1 nurses and [-] military doctor alive.

This is because it is in combat mode, so most people are at their respective posts, and there is no one in the rest room.

"My God, what the hell happened?!"

"Check the ammunition depot, is there any fire?!"

"Lieutenant, report the situation!"

There were only a few survivors near the explosion point, and most of them were bleeding from their orifices, confused, and close to a state of shock.

The French officers and soldiers stationed there initially thought there was a fire and explosion in the ammunition depot, but they soon realized that something was wrong.

The two ammunition depots of the SFL Fortress were intact, and the explosion just now was definitely not caused by gadgets.

The red warning light was flashing continuously, reflecting the nervous and frightened faces of the officers and soldiers present.

The pale-faced Major Leno looked at the pile of rubble and rubble, and saw only twisted steel bars clawing their teeth. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood. There seemed to be some gaps on the top, and the light slanted down through the gaps.

In other words, the fortress was completely penetrated from top to bottom? !
But the main body of the SFL Fortress is buried nearly 20 meters underground, and the reinforced concrete outer wall is three meters thick. How is this possible? !
The surprise quickly turned into panic, and the anxiety quickly spread to everyone.

It was in this state that the French officers and soldiers received the second artillery shell.

About 10 minutes later, the second concrete-destroying bomb hit hard.

It hit an AM anti-tank gun fortress without any bias, and easily penetrated its 200mm thick cast steel shell.

The shell still penetrated deep into the ground before exploding, directly destroying the fortress made of cast steel and collapsing the underground passage connecting it to the main body of the fortress.

While the Einhausen railway guns were dropping steel and explosives on the SFL fortress, to the southeast, the Hespe railway guns were also firing on the SFMA fortress.

Two giant railway guns are deployed in this area, about forty kilometers apart.

The German army decided to carry out several exploratory attacks on the western section of the Maginot Line to evaluate the feasibility of a large-scale attack. Even the worst results could actually reduce pressure on other fronts.

There are three army groups deployed along the entire front from north to south:

The Essen cluster attacked the Netherlands and Belgium on the northern front; the Koblenz cluster ran through the Ardennes Forest on the middle line; the Mannheim cluster attacked the western section of the Maginot Line on the southern front.Now, the 7nd Infantry Division, 62th Infantry Division, and 24th Armored Division of the 5th Army of Mannheim Army Group are responsible for the frontal attack and try to break through the Maginot Line.

Although it is a fortified area with a large number of solid and permanent fortifications, the Maginot Line has never been impregnable, and it can be conquered as long as a sufficient price is paid.

But one of its practical effects is to delay the attacking force and greatly slow down its advance, so that the French army has sufficient time to dispatch reinforcements through the extensive railway network.

The French believed that in this way, the exhausted and exhausted German army would run into the well-formed French reinforcements.

In that case, the best outcome is a successful counterattack, and the worst outcome is a stalemate.

All day long on May 5, the Einhausen railway guns and Hespe fired continuously.

According to the continuous guidance of the artillery observation aircraft, the Einhausen railway gun fired a total of 11 concrete-busting bombs and 3 high-explosive bombs, basically destroying the SFL fortress.

The progress of the Hespe railway gun was slower. It fired 13 concrete-busting rounds that day, but the SFMA fortress was still not destroyed.

The unknowing advance detachment of the 62nd Infantry Division conducted a fire reconnaissance, but was immediately cross-fired by multiple GM machine gun fortresses and was suppressed in place unable to move.

The rear large forces fired smoke bombs into the middle area, hoping to cover the retreat of the advance detachment, but the French army had already locked onto this detachment. The two LG mortar forts fired continuously, and 81mm mortar shells fell one after another, cutting off the retreat. the road.

The unit commander was hit by a bullet and died of serious injuries because he could not be evacuated for surgery.It wasn't until nightfall that they were able to escape.

The next day, the 5th Armored Division and the 24th Infantry Division began to advance in an orderly manner.

The SFL fortress has been reduced to ruins, and reconnaissance planes flew by. The pilot lamented that "there are many large craters on the ground, just like the surface of the moon I saw in the telescope."

The division's engineer battalion blasted minefields, barbed wire fences, and deer villages to remove these obstacles and open up a spacious passage for tanks and infantry.

One night seemed not enough time for the shocked remnants of the French army to recover. The 5th Armored Division and the 24th Infantry Division encountered almost no decent resistance.

Because the progress was too smooth, the commander of the 5th Armored Division sent a message to the Army Group Headquarters, asking for instructions on what to do next - should we go around to the back of the still resisting SFMA fortress and help the 62nd Division capture it?

Captain Gerhard Kotter quickly sent back a reply - that was their mission.

So, without any worries, the 5th Armored Division drove straight west along the road, regardless of whether the infantry could keep up.

The German aviation forces deliberately avoided roads during air raids to avoid hindering their own advancement.

In the months since the beginning of the war, the German army has airdropped many leaflets to the French border areas. The leaflets are self-explanatory, and also indicate several radio broadcast channels.

The German Press Agency specially set up a propaganda radio station in Stuttgart to promote policies and purposes to civilians in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

After all, in Western Europe, which was the first to industrialize, the number of radios owned by these countries is very considerable. Not to mention urban residents, even rural people also have a considerable number of people who have purchased radios.

Even if nationalism is prevalent and strong, how much hostility can ordinary people really harbor?

Obviously, the hostility of most French people towards the Germans is far from reaching the point where they would fight to the death as soon as they meet.

Hundreds of Type III C and Type IV A tanks of the 5th Armored Division rumbled past, maintaining a standard marching distance of 50 meters between each tank.

Many tanks were crowded with hitchhiking infantry. Although the tank crews did not like this, there was no reason to refuse at the moment.

They passed through French villages one after another. The civilians looked at the rolling German tanks in surprise, with disbelief in their eyes.

In the fields, French farmers drove tractors produced by the Peugeot company, while German officers and soldiers drove and rode tanks produced by the Mercedes-Benz company on the road beside the fields.

Many people froze on the spot, and some smart people hurriedly ran home, alert and worried.

The sun was setting in the west, and the 5th Armored Division advancing westward was facing the setting sun.

"We are still 9000 meters away from Boncourt, comrades, keep moving forward!"

On a No. [-] command tank of the advance detachment, the tank commander, Captain Heinrich, put down his binoculars, turned to a group of infantry at the rear of the vehicle and said: "There must be enemy troops in Boncourt. You must get off the vehicle immediately when the time comes."

The accompanying group of infantrymen was a company of the 24st Regiment of the 71th Division, and the company commander, Captain Otto, was also among them.

"Of course, you'd better spread out in a horizontal formation at that time, so that my people can follow."

"That would be too much trouble. We might use an echelon formation."

While the two were talking, several soldiers nearby were smiling and greeting nearby French civilians, and a sergeant even casually sprinkled a handful of candies to a group of children.

Looking down from the sky, the line of tanks is endless, at least ten kilometers long.

The tanks that broke down due to mechanical failures also tried to use their inertia to drive to the side of the road to avoid hindering the subsequent tank column.

From morning to evening, although it was delayed for a long time due to a French air attack, the 5th Armored Division still marched more than 60 kilometers to reach Boncourt.

At Boncourt Railway Station, the French 42nd Infantry Division, which was ordered to come for reinforcements, had just gotten off the train. It had not yet had time to form a team, and the heavy weapons had not yet been unloaded.

Only one battalion of the 11th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division was stationed here. Facing the oncoming German tanks, they immediately became confused.

The German infantrymen riding on the tanks jumped out one after another, carrying rifles and machine guns and quickly spread out into a sparse formation, preparing to directly follow the tank troops to attack...

At the same time, the SFMA Fortress has reached its final moments.

It failed to destroy it yesterday, but how could the Hespe railway gun allow it to survive today?
"boom!!!"

After firing 7 concrete-destroying bombs and 1 high-explosive bomb, the front-line troops were startled by the violent shaking of the earth. A large ball of fire and thick smoke rose into the sky, and the roaring explosion was deafening.

After judging that this should be the explosion of the ammunition depot, the 62nd Infantry Division immediately launched a strong attack.

Under the setting sun, the remaining VDP observation forts and GM machine gun forts fought independently, but due to the lack of unified command, they were quickly divided and surrounded.

Under the cover of smoke bombs, dozens of combat engineers carrying flamethrowers and large quantities of explosives arrived at the scene.

"Fire cover!"

"call--"

Flames were poured into the firing ports of the fortress, and the billowing heat waves made the nearby German infantrymen frown. They could vaguely hear the miserable howls coming from inside.

(End of this chapter)