Published at 13th of February 2023 07:08:26 AM

At eight o'clock in the morning on April 2, the counterattack of the British and French allied forces finally kicked off. In order to drive the German troops who crossed the Marne River back to the north of the Marne River, the British and French allied forces can be said to have invested their main force in the Marne River defense line. Not only did they mobilize new forces such as the 8th and 9th armies of the French army, but the four armies on the front line also mobilized the main force to launch an attack, in order to win this battle in one fell swoop.

"Order all ministries to launch an attack according to the predetermined plan. Warriors of the French Republic, God bless us, attack!" Marshal Joffre gave an order to counterattack in high spirits. Although, he is personally full of worries about this counterattack. However, in front of other people, he still looks full of confidence, as if only in this way can he infect others.

"Fire!"

The artillery commander of the British and French coalition forces gave the order to fire.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

More than two thousand 75mm field guns, 105mm howitzers, 83.8mm field guns and 114mm howitzers on the artillery positions of the British and French allied forces began to roar, and smashed shells one by one at the German army.

The positions of the German army on the south bank of the Marne River and the pontoon bridges erected on the surface of the Marne River became the focus of shelling by the British and French allied forces.

The German army's previous strong firepower preparations taught the British and French allied forces a good lesson. It can be said that the reason why the German army was able to easily cross the Marne River has a great relationship with its strong firepower preparations. Otherwise, the German army would not have crossed the Marne so easily, and at the same time, the casualties would definitely increase exponentially.

It is a pity that the British and French allied forces do not have strong air power and cannot replicate the powerful firepower of the German army. At the same time, once their artillery positions are fired, they will inevitably be suppressed by German firepower.

It is precisely because of this that the artillerymen of the British and French coalition forces were ordered to fire as many shells as possible in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, once the German army suppressed them with firepower, they would have no way to continue firing.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Shells fell from the sky one after another and landed on the German positions. After the shell exploded, earth and rocks flew. The German soldiers huddled in the trenches, letting the mud or stones hit their helmets.

Because the time was so close, they simply didn't have time to dig the blast holes. Therefore, they could only hide in bunkers such as trenches and endure the fierce shelling of the British and French allied forces.

"Boom!"

A 105mm howitzer shell hits a trench. After the shell exploded, it not only collapsed the trench, but the shrapnel also set off a **** storm inside.

"Boom!"

A 114mm howitzer shell fell on the Marne River and hit a pontoon bridge. The wooden pontoon bridge couldn't withstand such a violent explosion at all, and was instantly blown up for a section.

The fierce shelling by the British and French allied forces not only caused the German troops on the front line to suffer huge casualties. At the same time, the pontoon bridges on the Marne River were destroyed one after another.

When Qin Tian saw this scene, his face turned livid.

"Damn, I didn't expect the French and the French to hide so many artillery. It seems that our firepower preparation yesterday was not sufficient! Order the artillery to immediately suppress the artillery of the British and French coalition forces. At the same time, let the air force immediately dispatch, Destroy their artillery." Qin Tian ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness." Major General Manstein immediately went to give the order.

"In addition, let the engineers get ready to repair the pontoon bridge immediately after the artillery of the British and French coalition forces is suppressed. In any case, the ammunition needs in front must be ensured." Qin Tian continued to order.

It can be foreseen that after the fierce shelling by the British and French allied forces, it was the infantry who launched a large-scale offensive. At that time, the consumption of ammunition on the front line will undoubtedly become very alarming. If the needs of the front line cannot be guaranteed, this will cause great casualties to the German army, and even cause them to be defeated in this battle.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A few minutes later, the German artillery launched a counterattack. Those 150mm heavy howitzers and 105mm howitzers began to suppress the artillery of the British and French allied forces. As for the 75mm field gun, it is temporarily on standby. Their task is that once the British and French allied forces invest in infantry to launch an attack, they need to provide fire support for the front line, and use powerful artillery fire to kill and injure the vital forces of the British and French allied forces.

The German air force also arrived at the battlefield ten minutes later. Thousands of fighter jets and bombers rushed towards the artillery positions of the British and French allied forces.

"Da da da!"

The aviation machine guns of the fighter jets fired, killing the artillerymen. The bombers dropped their bombs directly, leveling the artillery positions.

Under the heavy artillery suppression and bombing of the German army, the artillery losses of the British and French allied forces began to soar. Artillery positions one after another were destroyed by the Germans.

The pressure on the front-line German troops also began to decrease.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, the Germans counterattacked very violently. They dispatched a large number of fighter planes to deal with us. Our artillery suffered heavy casualties." An artillery general reported to Marshal Joffre.

Marshal Xiafei looked at the German fighter planes circling in the sky, his eyes were full of hatred. Indeed, in this battle, the German aircraft caused great losses to the British and French allied forces. If it weren't for these fighters, they might not be in such a mess.

"Order the artillery to hold on. Twenty minutes later, the infantry will attack." Marshal Xiafei ordered.

"Yes, Marshal!"

Although it only lasted 20 minutes, it was a complete torment for the artillery of the British and French allied forces. They can only pray to God, and pray that the German shells or bombs will not fall on their heads. Otherwise, there is only a dead end.

Twenty minutes passed quickly. It took only an hour from when they fired their guns to when they withdrew from their positions. However, the British and French allied forces lost more than half of their artillery. There are no more than a thousand cannons of various calibers remaining. The number seems to be quite a lot, but if it is scattered over a defense line of hundreds of kilometers, it is undoubtedly nothing at all.

"Come on!"

After the bombardment by the British and French allied forces ended, the infantry who had already been prepared jumped out of their positions and attacked the German defense line hundreds of meters away.

Countless soldiers of the British and French allied forces ran forward desperately, holding rifles and shouting slogans. The order they received was to rush into the German defense line in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, what awaits them is the slaughter of the German army's intensive firepower.