(Chapter to)
The defense line of the Iberian Army in Orleans is actually very simple. The two divisions plus the three cavalry regiments of the Cavalry Legion and the troops directly under some other legions are all distributed in Orleans and outside the city in a certain proportion. Kilometers of defense. Two divisions, the 1st Division and 2nd Division of the 88th Army Corps, in order to have the greatest deterrent effect, the 1st Division with the most powerful combat effectiveness was deployed outside the city, while the 2nd Division stuck to the city of Orleans. Various types of artillery are also deployed outside and inside the city according to different ranges.
The defense line outside the city is composed of several criss-cross trenches and barbed wire fences, which were completed by the officers and soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Divisions in just a few days. Although the time is relatively short, the defense line reinforced with concrete is still very strong, enough to withstand the attack of the anti-French coalition forces.
On August 13, the anti-French alliance's participating troops had been deployed according to the scheduled plan and were ready to launch an attack at any time. Kutuzov and others also arrived at the front that morning. Observing the defense line of the Iberian Army through the binoculars, Kutuzov couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It really is an elite army. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find a comparable army like this in the whole of Russia." To be honest, he still admires the 88th Army very much. Since the great battle in Slubice that year, he has suffered a lot under this army, but this does not affect his admiration for this army. He didn't want to be an enemy of the 88th Army. He knew that the gap between his army and the 88th Army was huge, but for the benefit of the country, he had to fight, and he had to find ways to win, even if this opportunity was very small. slim.
"Yes, it is said that the infantry drills widely used in France and a large number of new tactics came from this legion. It is hard to imagine that the person who founded this legion was just a child at that time." Clausewitz also said with emotion . Fighting against Xiao Jie put a lot of pressure on him.
Austria was the first to accept new tactics other than France, and Grand Duke Charles also had a deep understanding of this.
"However, this person is now our greatest enemy, isn't he? No matter what, we must try our best to defeat him. I have a hunch that he will be even more terrifying than Napoleon." Wellington also said . Although he wanted to defeat Xiao Jie very much, so as to avenge his shame, but there was also a trace of fear in his heart.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the anti-French coalition forces began their first tentative attack. In order to find out the strength of the Iberian Army, they invested 30,000 people in two full divisions for the first time. The charge of these recruits was not organized at all, and they launched an attack on the position of the 1st Division in a chaotic manner. Seeing their poor performance, many Iberian officers had expressions of disdain on their faces.
As the coalition forces entered the firing range of the Iberian army, there was shelling first, and then various firepowers were added to the ensemble one after another. Under the strong firepower of the Iberian army, the farthest finger of the 30,000 coalition army rushed to the barbed wire in front of the Iraqi army's position, and most of the others fell down on the way to charge. The situation on the battlefield is completely one-sided, making people feel that this is not a war at all, but a massacre to be precise. The heavy machine guns and squad machine guns of the Iraqi army are undoubtedly the protagonists in this massacre. Under their strafing, the coalition forces often fell in pieces like harvesting wheat. Perhaps those coalition soldiers were still very brave, but watching their comrades fall continuously, their courage was also losing rapidly. In the end, someone couldn't stand it anymore, turned around and ran back, led by him, more and more More and more people started running backwards. In the end, it became a major trend on the battlefield. When the last coalition soldier escaped the range of the Iraqi army's firepower, it was only an hour before the attack was launched. In one hour, the attack of 30,000 coalition forces was completely defeated, and more than half of them fell on the battlefield. In front of the Iraqi army's position, a thick layer of corpses was piled up.
"Pull up all the artillery and start shelling the Iraqi positions." Kutuzov ordered with a livid face. He had expected that this attack would not have any effect, but he did not expect that the blow he suffered was much worse than he expected.
Wellington passed on Kutuzov's order without saying a word, and now all the more than 300 cannons of the entire coalition army have been pulled out. After adjusting the range, the coalition artillery began to roar. Fierce shelling was launched on the Iraqi positions like a plow. But their actions have long been understood by the Iraqi army. Except for the necessary observers, all the others withdrew from the position through the traffic ditch, and those fixed firepower points have been reinforced, so they are not afraid of the bombardment of the coalition forces.
The 155mm howitzers and 122mm howitzers of the Iraqi army are much larger than the coalition artillery in terms of power and range. In the artillery battle between the two sides, the coalition forces are in a passive position. Under the fierce attack of the Iraqi army's large-caliber artillery, the coalition artillery was quickly silenced. In just half an hour, the coalition lost hundreds of cannons. This is not a loss they can afford. Wellington quickly ordered to stop the shelling and shift the artillery position. But there are airships monitoring in the sky, no matter where they move, they can only become the target of the Iraqi artillery. As a last resort, the coalition artillery had to retreat and completely withdraw from the range of the Iraqi artillery, which was safe.
After the Russian artillery was suppressed, the soldiers of the 1st Division quickly entered the position, waiting for the attack of the coalition forces. At 12 o'clock, the coalition's second offensive began. This time is no different from the last time, except that the number of troops participating in the attack has increased from 30,000 to 50,000. But the only change brought about was that they lasted longer on the battlefield, and some soldiers even began to destroy the barbed wire fence of the Iraqi army, but under the powerful firepower of the Iraqi army, it was difficult for them to achieve their goals. When the coalition forces retreated, the two cavalry regiments ambushed by the Iraqi army took advantage of the chaos to attack. The coalition forces did not investigate, and suffered countless casualties under the charge of the Iraqi cavalry. In the end, Kutuzov had to send troops to respond, and then forced back the two Iraqi cavalry regiments.
After repelling the two waves of coalition attacks, Xiao Jie didn't feel anything. He knew that this was just the beginning, and more intense battles were yet to come. Sure enough, the intensity of the battle in the afternoon increased a lot. It is estimated that the troops participating in the attack in the morning are relatively low in combat effectiveness, and the ones in the afternoon are the real elite. However, their participation was still unable to break through the Iraqi army's defense line, and at most it brought more pressure on the 1st Division. In the afternoon's battle, naval warships also began shelling. Although the largest caliber naval guns on the "Iberia" class battleships were only 105 mm, the cannons used on the battleships were always more powerful than the cannons used by the army, so these naval guns still caused a lot of casualties to the coalition forces.
Wave after wave of coalition attacks were repulsed by the Iraqi army, but their attacks did not stop, but became stronger and stronger. The battle slowly entered a white-hot stage.
"Order the air force to start air strikes, focusing on attacking the enemy's rear, mainly where various materials are gathered." Xiao Jie issued a new order decisively.
In this battle, the Air Force sent a total of 10 large airships, 20 medium airships and 20 small airships. They had flown from Iberia and had been taken to Olivier, about 5 kilometers south of Orléans, before. At the beginning of the battle, they were fully prepared, and as soon as they received Xiao Jie's order, they immediately started to advance on the battlefield.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, after less than 20 minutes of flying, the airship finally reached the sky over the battlefield. The coalition forces, who had never seen an airship before, were deeply shocked, and all guessed what those big guys in the sky were. Many people believed that they were demons summoned by the Iraqi army from hell, and they fled for their lives in fright, even the officers could not stop them.
The small airships started to drop bombs when they were in the sky above the battlefield. The 50 kg bombs they carried were not inferior to those powerful artillery shells. Often a bomb would leave a big crater on the ground. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com Medium-sized airships and large airships continued to fly forward, and their targets were the coalition army staging areas and material warehouses. Under the attack of the airship, people can still flee everywhere, so the loss will not be too much. But the warehouses were different. They were destined to be the targets of airship bombing. Warehouses full of ammunition or food were quickly turned into ruins under the bombing of airships.
The situation on the battlefield is out of control, and the defeat of the anti-French coalition forces is inevitable. After the airship joined the battlefield and achieved decisive results, the Iraqi army launched a fierce counterattack. The coalition forces only wanted to escape for their lives, so how could anyone care about resisting.
"It's over." The army was defeated like a mountain! With fear in his eyes, Kutuzov looked at the behemoths in the sky that were constantly dropping bombs and gave the order to withdraw the troops. What he is thinking now is no longer about capturing Orleans, but how to keep northern France from being occupied by the Iraqi army.
"Is this the end?" Xiao Jie was also very surprised by the huge battle results achieved by the airship. Originally, he thought that the appearance of the airship would definitely bring unexpected effects, but he did not expect that the results would be so great. Fifty airships scared the **** out of the entire 600,000 coalition forces. It seems that the size of the air force has to be further expanded. By then, his airships will cover the sky, so there is no need to fight that battle. It will scare people to death directly, Xiao Jie couldn't help thinking this way. (To be continued, if you want to know the future, please log in to .QDAN., more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)