The weather in Belgium was already a little cold at the end of September, especially in the trenches, where all the troops were already dressed in thick tweed coats, and the rainy season and the river made the surroundings very muddy.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions of the U.S.
Army, as the first three divisions to attack, have now broken through the enemy's first line of defense and rushed to the second line of defense after the rout.
The German second line of defense was not prepared in the slightest, and they had been shelling it all morning, and they were used to it for a week, and they did not know when they were going to go to the first line of defense, because after the shelling there would inevitably be a large number of casualties, and these things were taken for granted.
But today it looks a little different, the shelling seems to be a little more intense, and the time is a little longer, but it doesn't matter to the soldiers, every day is like this.
But the situation soon changed, after the artillery fire was extended, there seemed to be chaos on the front-line positions, but it could not be seen or heard, but soon the order was conveyed to prepare for battle, and the Americans attacked.
However, when they were not ready, the rout had already come to the second line of defense, and the real mortar attack that followed them, then the grenade, and then the hand-to-hand battle, everything happened too quickly.
The chief of the general staff of Hindenburg, who had just been in office for a year in the German army, is still in Berlin with His Majesty Kaiser Wilhelm II to discuss the war between the east and the west, after all, the British and French forces launched a spring offensive and suffered heavy casualties, if you want to launch a large-scale campaign again, it will take a long time to prepare, and you still need to accumulate troops, and the Americans have just arrived in Europe, and the number is not very large, only a few hundred thousand.
Hindenburg didn't expect the Americans to attack, and the attack was so fast, there was no preparation at all, Wesley took advantage of the time when the United States had just intervened in the war, and used ships to transport supplies, this situation is easy to be misunderstood, especially when the American expeditionary force has just arrived, it is impossible for spies to transmit intelligence, so the outside world does not know much about materials.
The long-standing fixed mentality, the carry-around after a battle, the backward means of communication, the heavy equipment and the slow response, and the light deployment of the American army have led to the fact that the German command system does not know exactly what is going on.
And the two years of training of the US army are not given in vain, even if they have not been on the battlefield, but the infantry drill is mature, and this is the benefit of the standing force.
"Knock out the machine gun in front."
A lieutenant company commander of the 1st Division of the U.S.
Army shouted.
Hearing his order, the 80 mortars of the company were opened, and then there was a roar, and the infantry in front of the squad as a combat unit began to charge, such a situation was everywhere, the number of automatic fire and small-caliber mortars was too large, forming an absolute superiority in the area, this was the effect of Wesley's request, and the effect of the line of fire promotion was also extremely obvious, and some people who were not adapted to the war were sent directly to the rear.
At the beginning of the battle, Wesley picked up the phone and connected to the Paris General Command, the effect of the old-fashioned telephone was very average, but it would be good to be able to talk, "Please find Marshal Petain, I am Wesley Gibson, the commander of the first echelon of the American Expeditionary Force." ” "Hey General Gibson, is there anything going on?"
asked Petain, the British and French armies knew nothing at the moment, only the troops connected to their defensive positions knew some, and their front commander was sending someone to Wesley's headquarters to inquire.
"Our American troops have already launched an attack and broken through the enemy's first line of defense, and now I hope that the British and French troops can immediately launch artillery strikes on the frontal enemy's front-line positions, and then be ready for battle."
"What are you sure you're not joking" Petain's voice raised, his shocked expression unobstructed, and Haig was smoking a cigar on the sidelines, startled by Petain's sudden voice, and looked over in surprise.
"Of course not, we have broken through the enemy's first line of defense, and are currently attacking towards the second line of defense, please prepare friendly forces."
"Why don't you say in advance that our supplies and soldiers are not ready for such a big thing" Wesley didn't wait for him to finish his tirade, but directly interrupted him, "Your Excellency Marshal, please hurry up, the time has come to defeat the enemy, I don't want friendly forces to delay our attack, the shelling does not need to be prepared, isn't it staged every day, the troops are ready to charge when the shelling is carried out, my troops will continue to attack, and you can also not participate."
Wesley was relieved to call.
Wesley, who put down the phone, directly gave the order, and the Second Army began to move to protect the right flank of the First Army, wanting to attack the right flank and start defending after advancing five kilometers, and the Third and Fourth Armies began their own tasks and followed the advance.
The command moved forward, and at the same time contacted the naval fleet to ask if all four brigades of the Marine Corps had landed.
When it comes to blitzkrieg, many people think of Germany in World War II, but Wesley thinks that blitzkrieg is actually speed war, and speed is relatively speaking, I just need to be faster than you.
The road was not very good, the engineer brigade began to act, they paved the prepared earth on the road, and then began to roll it, and the rollers produced by the companies of the Gibson Group drove up directly, and this is the advantage of the concentration of sappers.
The artillery of divisional units has begun to move forward, and it is also convenient for relatively lightweight artillery to move, and divisional troops do not have a heavy burden, while heavy artillery can slowly move forward.
"Report, the First Army reports that they have broken through the enemy's second line of defense, and the Germans are in the process of being defeated."
"Order them to replace the front-line assault troops, and then continue the attack, bite the tail of the rout, and keep attacking and advancing, they will meet the marines in the three lines of defense, and the three lines of defense are no longer a problem."
Wesley said.
"Yes."
Wesley's Marines mysteriously appeared in the enemy's rear, which caught the Germans even more off guard, and their last line of defense was attacked from both sides and lost, but because of the number of people, the Americans had no way to surround all the German routs, and could only use firepower to kill and wound.
The German troops on the right flank of the Second Army launched an attack, and it was the enemy of the enemy's second line of defense, and the confrontation between the two sides was originally a long snake formation, and the German troops on the right flank did not understand why the American troops suddenly appeared, and their hasty counterattack was weak.
The Second Army did not have time to spread its troops, so they could only deploy while attacking, although in a hurry but not chaotic, and they knew what to do after a week of preparation, and attacked five kilometers directly, and then began to defend in place.
Petain put down the phone, looked at Haig and said: "The Americans have attacked, they have broken through a line of defense. ” "What is how could they say it now" t1706231537: