"These bastards! There are so many cannons after being bombed like this!" A soldier of the Tang Army hiding in the trench held his rifle and shook the loose soil off his body in depression.
A shell just landed near his position, raising dust all over the sky and almost burying him.
The gravel falling from the sky hit the M35 steel helmet, making a crackling sound. From time to time, medical soldiers ran by, running towards the sound of shouting.
No matter how well the trenches are dug, some unlucky people will still be hit by artillery shells. Either they were killed by a quick explosion, or they lay on the ground with broken arms and legs, wailing loudly.
There are also those who are not so lucky and are scratched by shrapnel... This kind is the most unlucky. They are slightly injured and cannot get out of the firing line, and they have to continue fighting while bleeding.
The most ruthless thing about war is that no matter you are brave or cowardly, whether you are a soldier or a civilian, you will always die.
The first warrior to stand up and charge may be hit by bullets and fall down, or he may be unharmed. In the same way, the second soldier who jumped out of the trench to follow may also be shot, or he may be fine.
If you don't dare to move forward, you may not be able to survive even if you squat in the trench with your eyes closed. It's possible that when a shell falls, you will go to another world peacefully. But if you move your body, there is a chance you will be hit and die.
Bullets don't have eyes, they don't distinguish between good and evil, and they don't show mercy. The moment it flies out of the gun barrel, there are only two possibilities: hit or miss.
In the sky, a Stuka dive bomber roared down, making a terrifying scream, and dropped a bomb while getting close to the ground.
From the Qi army's position in the distance, there was another dull loud noise, and a column of smoke rose into the sky, rolling up and hitting something else.
The Qi army was not to be outdone. Another artillery shell landed near the Tang army's position. The huge explosion raised up dust that covered the sky, and the air was filled with a choking smell of burning.
Lying on the edge of the position, a platoon leader looked at the Qi army's position with a telescope. Then he retracted his head and reminded his men loudly: "They are coming up again! Prepare to fight! The Qi army has begun to attack! Be prepared!"
Everyone began to check their ammunition, and there was a sound of pulling gun bolts on the position. Immediately afterwards, another artillery shell from the Qi army fell, landing in Luo Zhen behind him.
A low building collapsed, raising a cloud of dust. At this time, no one even looked back, because everyone was used to it.
Some of the Tang soldiers who were having fun even started a bet on how many buildings would be left in Luo Town after the battle.
"Here we come!" When everyone was ready, the soldiers of the Qi Army had already pressed forward. They stepped over the bodies of their companions and approached the Tang Army's defensive position step by step.
The battle broke out immediately, and the machine guns of the Tang Army hidden in the frontal position began to roar again. The annoying sound of tearing cloth once again devastated the ears of Qi soldiers. They even really complained that the Tang army always had weapons and equipment with unique and unpleasant sounds.
The firing rate of the mg42 machine gun is quite fast, so most of the Tang army chose to use bullet belts to feed ammunition. That is to say, the Tang Army's logistical support is very good, and the generals also attach great importance to it, otherwise they really can't afford this kind of weapon that shoots bullets like water.
After the sound of a tearing machine echoed on the battlefield, the Qi army's offensive briefly stopped again. However, this time they did not retreat as usual, but continued to grit their teeth and approach the Tang Army's position.
Tang Jun also immediately discovered the problem. There seemed to be more troops entering the battlefield behind the opponent. This time Qi Jun did not use one regiment, but two regiments or even more troops.
The densely packed Qi army entered the battlefield. The Qi army that was close to the Tang army's position was shot by machine guns, and then they pressed against the Tang army's position.
This time, although the mortars fired dozens of shells, and these shells also landed in the most densely populated areas of the Qi army, the Qi army, which suffered heavy casualties, did not retreat, but continued to advance desperately.
It seems that after several trials, the Qi army is not willing to waste time anymore. They are planning to retake Luo Town today and open up the road to Nanye.
"Bang!" The shooters of the Tang Army began to join the battle. They aimed their K3 rifles at the enemies approaching their positions, and then opened fire calmly.
After firing a round of bullets, they did not observe the results of their battle, but retreated directly into the trench, pulled the bolt of the gun and reloaded.
With the addition of these shooters, the Tang army's firepower suddenly became three-dimensional and became more intensive.
The Qi army who dispersed the impact immediately felt the pressure. Even if they had dispersed their formation, some soldiers would still fall in the face of the opponent's bursts of fire.
It is not an easy task to attack by stepping on the corpses of previously killed friendly troops. Although there is no difficult barbed wire fence in front of the Tang army's position, this does not mean that this journey is easy to walk.
Bullets hit them head-on, and there were not many Qi soldiers who had the courage to continue advancing. Most of the time, they crawled on the corpses. The last distance of more than a hundred meters was like endless torture for them.
However, the Qi army does have a numerical advantage. Not to mention that the entire Qi army on the western front is moving closer to Luozhen. Just talking about the 3rd Army alone, there are three infantry divisions and a force of close to 25,000 people.
Unlike the infantry division of the Tang Army, the infantry division of the State of Qi did not have a huge establishment of 20,000 men. The infantry division of the State of Qi was very traditional, with a small number of 4,500 men. It was made up of three old legions during reorganization.
As for the main force like the 3rd Army, the three divisions under its jurisdiction are all elite, so the establishment is large and strengthened, and they are all equipped with six to seven thousand people.
Including the artillery and other miscellaneous troops directly under the military headquarters, the entire Third Army has more than 20,000 troops, close to 25,000. This is probably the strength of one division of the Tang Army, and the firepower configuration of both sides is also similar.
However, there is still a huge gap between Qi and Tang in terms of training, performance of weapons and equipment, and the ability of commanders, which also determines the battlefield performance of the two armies.
The reason why the Qi Army invested more troops in this attack was because reinforcements arrived later, and the Qi Army had assembled more than 30,000 troops nearby.
With so many troops crowded together, it was obvious that they could no longer hold the crowd. If more troops are not invested in the attack, then everyone can only hold together and wait for the Tang Air Force to blow up.
Therefore, this time, the Qi army dispatched three infantry regiments and the strength of an entire infantry division to launch a fierce attack regardless of the cost.
The dark soldiers of the Qi army held bayonets and used the most primitive tactics to attack the Tang army's position. As they approached, the Tang army's flanks, which had been hidden all this time, began to cross fire and finally began to roar.
At this time, the commanders on the front line of Qi realized that the Tang army, which had been fighting with them before, was not serious at all.
Now that hidden firepower has joined the battle, the Tang army's three-sided firepower doubles the Qi army's casualties in an instant.
The red-eyed Qi army did not retreat. The supervising team pressed forward and continued to force their troops to attack regardless.
Five to six thousand people were crowded on the battlefield, with numerous casualties and numerous casualties, standing still, unable to move forward or even take a step back.
As time passed, the defenders' ammunition began to become scarce on the Tang Army's position. A soldier opened the ammunition box at his feet and found that it was mostly empty.
"Ammunition! I need ammunition here!" Almost at the same moment, the soldier on the other side pulled out the last magazine of the Thompson submachine gun from the magazine bag on his chest and shouted loudly.
"The reserves are almost gone! The one who delivers the ammunition will have to wait ten minutes..." the platoon leader shouted loudly while loading new ammunition into his K3 rifle with a bridge clip.
"The tank troops should counterattack! If they don't fight, we won't be able to hold on here!" After all, it was a temporary defensive position. The Qi army's desperate attack created a lot of trouble for the Tang army. A battalion commander who was guarding the position put down his telescope and said to the liaison officer beside him.
"The regiment commander has already sent the message to the armored forces, and I don't know why there hasn't been any news yet." The liaison officer raised his binoculars and looked at the enemy lines that were very close to his own position, and said anxiously.
"No way! Wait...if something goes wrong, they will never die!" The infantry battalion commander was a little annoyed. He didn't want to lose the outer positions of Luo Town on the first day of the battle.
If the Qi army is really put into Luo Town for street fighting, the Qi army's military advantage will be fully utilized. Although the Tang army may not necessarily lose, falling into passivity is an inevitable result.
On the other side of the battlefield, the armored troops of the Tang Army had been ordered to leave the reverse slope where they were hiding. They were already some distance away from the battlefield, but at this moment they did not attack the side of the Tang Army's defensive position.
After some discussion, the 1st Battalion felt that if they just repelled the Qi army, there would obviously not be much gain. It also exposed the hidden position that was finally found, which was simply a loss-making deal.
So they decided to do something big: raid the Qi Army's hinterland, take away the Qi Army's artillery positions, and turn the enemy's assembly point upside down!
This plan took advantage of the speed advantage of the armored forces. If successful, the benefits would be greater than directly attacking Qi's frontline troops.
So after leaving the 4 tanks of the 2nd Battalion and 3rd Platoon to raid the flanks of the Qi army's attacking troops on the front line according to the original plan, the remaining 5 platoons, a total of 18 tanks, just made a big circle from the other side in a menacing manner. Around the flank of Qi's 3rd Army.
Just when the infantry of the Tang Army were waiting hard for their tanks to launch a flank attack to help them relieve the pressure, the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Armored Division of the Tang Army went crazy again.
