Expedition to Europe

Infantry-artillery coordination tactics have been around since the emergence of artillery. With the improvement of artillery performance, infantry-artillery coordination has become more complex and more time- and discipline-oriented.

The main methods of infantry-artillery coordination are: artillery fire preparation to create conditions for infantry to launch an attack or prepare for an attack; artillery fire directly supports infantry combat during the battle; suppress targets in the enemy's depth.

The principle of infantry-artillery coordination is: infantry actions are the main focus, so that artillery firepower and infantry actions are coordinated.

In infantry-artillery coordination, special attention should be paid to mastering the safety range. The safety range is to prevent accidental injuries from one's own artillery fire, and one's own infantry must stay at a minimum distance from the edge of the target. If the infantry does not pay attention to the safety range and mistakenly enters the safety range, it is possible that they will be accidentally injured by their own artillery fire.

The tactics currently being carried out by the Germans have exceeded the scope of infantry-artillery coordination.

When the Germans were defending and the British and French coalition forces were attacking, the Germans knew to hide in the tunnels and wait for the British and French coalition forces' artillery fire to extend before entering the position to prepare to attack the British and French coalition forces.

Now the situation has changed. The British and French forces are defending and the Germans are attacking. The Germans naturally understand that the British and French forces will also hide in the tunnels. The German artillery has no effect except destroying the ground position facilities.

In this way, the firepower strike before the war actually does not play a big role.

War is the best teacher. The smartest thing about human beings is that they will sum up experience, and then implement counter-tactics against the enemy's tactics to achieve tactical goals.

The Germans let go and chose to use artillery to strike indiscriminately while the infantry was still charging. This is a double-edged sword. If the British and French forces hide in the tunnels, the Germans will occupy the position. If the British and French forces do not enter the tunnels, they will definitely suffer heavy casualties in the German artillery strikes, and then the Germans can still seize the position with their superior forces.

Sure enough, when the first round of artillery shells came, 6 of the 12 heavy machine guns on Qin Zhiyuan's position were damaged. Although the remaining six were still firing, nearly half of the machine gun crew members were also injured or killed, which was the largest casualty since the war began.

If the casualties of the French soldiers were not enough to move Qin Zhiyuan, the casualties of the Chinese soldiers were simply heartbreaking. They had no experience in fighting heavy artillery. When they encountered artillery fire for the first time, some of them were stunned, and some stood up in panic to find shelter. At the moment they stood up, they were hit by the German army and died on the spot.

The grenadiers also suffered heavy casualties. Qin Zhiyuan clearly saw a shell fly into the trench and landed in the grenadiers who were throwing grenades. 14 grenadiers were killed on the spot and 6 were injured. This was because the trench was in a zigzag shape. If it was in a "one" shape, the entire grenadier squad would probably be wiped out.

For a while, Qin Zhiyuan regretted that he should have left the Chinese soldiers in Kapi and brought them up after they had undergone rigorous training. Perhaps in that case, the casualties of the Chinese soldiers would not be so heavy.

At this point, there is no regret medicine to take. Qin Zhiyuan can only run back and forth, trying to remind the soldiers to reduce casualties as much as possible.

"Don't panic, don't panic, squat on the ground and fight, don't stand up, don't lie on the ground, open your mouth to breathe... Auxiliary soldiers, come and carry the wounded... Medical soldiers..." Qin Zhiyuan ran back and forth in the trenches and shouted loudly, reminding the soldiers to protect themselves and calling military doctors to rescue the wounded.

"Sir, your position is not here, you should stay in the tunnel to command now." After seeing Qin Zhiyuan, Gars shouted to remind Qin Zhiyuan.

"Before the Germans retreated, my position was here." Qin Zhiyuan was firm.

Gars was stunned, and then saluted Qin Zhiyuan with a solemn expression.

Being in the battlefield, you may die at any time. Qin Zhiyuan grabbed Gars who turned around and wanted to leave with respect: "Now determine the command sequence. If I die, you will command. Behind you is Ian, then Charles, and then Captain Qin Zhisheng of the Sixth Regiment."

Qin Zhiyuan did not continue to sort. After Qin Zhisheng, it is estimated that the whole army here has been wiped out. Thinking of this, Qin Zhiyuan suddenly remembered that he still had a reserve team in his hand, and ordered Gao Hongshi behind him to notify immediately that the reserve team entered the position.

At the beginning of the war, there were more than 200 French infantrymen and about 100 Chinese soldiers on the position. In just five minutes, the position suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 30 Chinese killed and more than 60 injured, while the number of French casualties was nearly 100, and almost everyone was injured.

After experiencing an artillery bombardment, the advantages of the Chinese people's physical flexibility and fast reaction speed were revealed, especially Chen Kangjian, who was born to be a soldier. He could actually distinguish the approximate landing point from the sound of the artillery shells, which was really amazing. Under the command of Chen Kangjian, the Chinese soldiers finally stabilized their positions and bravely fired under the German artillery fire.

Qin Zhisheng also performed well. He was injured in the shoulder during the first round of artillery bombardment, but after hastily bandaging the wound, Qin Zhisheng continuously transported thirteen wounded people into the tunnel, and then returned to the position and insisted on commanding the battle.

Grief was even more resilient. He didn't speak or make a sound, just like a stone, aiming, shooting, aiming again, and shooting again...

Two soldiers with injured eyes squatted behind him to help him load the bullets, but they couldn't catch up with his firing speed. At least 50 German soldiers had fallen under his gun, and the number was still rising.

Under Grief's influence, his company fought calmly and in a disciplined manner. Although there were many casualties, there was no chaos at all, and no one retreated in the face of battle.

"Fuck... Am I dead? Why am I not dead yet?" Zheng Dali crawled out from under a pile of dirt, cursing and rejoicing.

"Get down!" Qin Zhiyuan shouted loudly, and Zheng Dali rolled and crawled towards Qin Zhiyuan while holding his head.

Boom!

This was a heavy artillery shell with a caliber of at least 155 mm, which landed about 50 meters away from Qin Zhiyuan. After a burst of flying sand and rocks, a crater with a depth of about half a meter and a diameter of nearly three meters was left on the ground.

Fortunately, Zheng Dali ran over just now. If he had stayed where he was, he would have been shocked to death or fainted, and he would not have recovered for three or two months.

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"Fuck! It's really fucking powerful." Zheng Dali looked back at the crater on the ground, secretly rejoicing with lingering fear.

"I'll get you two tomorrow." Qin Zhiyuan patted the dirt on Zheng Dali's head and was shocked.

"Really?" Zheng Dali was overjoyed.

"Really!" Qin Zhiyuan vowed, and then kicked Zheng Dali back to the position: "Let's talk about it after we beat the Germans back."

"Okay, Master Qin, just wait and see!" Zheng Dali took out two grenades, adjusted the fuse and stuffed it into the explosive part, and then threw it out with force. Looking at the arc, it was at least 90 meters.

Although shells fell from time to time, no one on the position retreated. Everyone was red-eyed. They gritted their teeth, not thinking about the companions who fell beside them, ignoring the shells exploding beside them, and focusing on the charging Germans, fighting to the death.

"Be careful!" Qin Zhiyuan helped a lightly injured soldier who was rushing to the shooting position with a bandage on his head, and turned to enter the tunnel.

"Charles, keep calling for artillery support." Qin Zhiyuan shouted to Charles who was calling for support, and then called the sergeant from Kapi: "Find soldiers who can use heavy machine guns, operate those machine guns, and make them sound, the guys need them."

"Yes, Mr. Angel." The sergeant used Qin Zhiyuan's nickname when he was in Kapi.

Qin Zhiyuan suddenly realized that it was only one day apart, but it felt like a lifetime ago...