Chapter 43: Who is the King of the Battlefield

When the cannon fires, it's worth its weight in gold.

In the distant East, the backward industrial and warlord-ridden situation, where bandits roam, has created a unique status for artillery. Just dragging along a cannon might be enough to show off one's prowess. Meanwhile, on the European battlefield, the presence of artillery is ubiquitous. However, from a different perspective, even a medium-caliber field gun firing a shot might, if lucky, take out a dozen or so well-trained regular soldiers. When considering their intrinsic value along with the compensation the government needs to pay to their widows, it all adds up to this "worth its weight in gold"!

The fame of Krupp's cannons is world-renowned, and Britain's "gold" is continuously supplied to the Isle of Wight...

After the battles of Arras and Dunkirk, at the request of the German military, within just two months, Krupp's arms factories produced tens of thousands of armor-piercing and high-explosive shells for the German 88mm guns. On the broad battlefield north of Newport, two 88mm heavy anti-aircraft guns operated by SS troops, at a distance of less than a kilometer, almost always managed to blow up a British tank worth between £8,000 and £10,000 each with each precise hit. Two other tanks, also belonging to the "Fuhrer Guard Regiment," quickly opened fire with their 50mm guns—although these smaller-caliber guns struggled to penetrate the armor of the "Matilda" tanks, they had no major problems dealing with several types of British cruiser tanks (which were not actually cheaper than the Matildas). In no time, more than half of the British tanks stopped advancing. Even if they didn't explode, they could only watch as their infantry comrades charged forward into the enemy's concentrated firepower.

Perhaps fearing that after all their tanks were knocked out, the infantry would fall into a terrorizing crossfire of German artillery and machine guns, the British commanders quickly ordered an assault while there were still a few tanks available to provide close-range fire support. With the sharp whistle sounding again, British infantry, armed with rifles and fixed bayonets, switched from a jog to a sprint. The slow infantry tanks were soon left behind.

When over two thousand people collectively run, the jumping Tommy helmets and glinting bayonets look spectacular, and the dust kicked up by the soldiers' feet gradually creates an overwhelming haze, giving the German soldiers on the defensive line a vague sense of being overwhelmed by thousands of troops and horses charging at them.

When the machine gun fires, it's also "worth its weight in gold".

Since the British forces entered their range, dozens of MG-34s on the defensive line, along with Browning light machine guns captured from the British, have never stopped roaring. Experienced machine gunners concentrated their fire between 300 and 500 meters in front of the frontline, trying to kill enemy infantry with crossfire. The German military had already realized during the last war that the killing power of crossfire on dispersed infantry formations far exceeded that of simple frontal sweeps. After more than twenty years of accumulation, this practical experience in combat tactics had not been abandoned but instead had been greatly developed by the German soldiers who now possessed more advanced weapons.

In the face of a relatively intact defensive system, the rapidly advancing British infantry were not falling one by one. Though they were all flesh and blood, they were being harvested like wheat in autumn...

The infantry kept coming, while the surviving British tanks and the artillery deployed on the starting line also kept firing. Wherever the shells fell, the German machine gun fire momentarily paused, but the gaps were immediately filled by bullets from other firing points. As large groups of British infantry entered the 500-meter range, the mortars behind the German positions calmly began to fire: the Rheinmetall 36-type 50mm light mortar had a maximum range of only 520 meters, weighing 14 kilograms, only a quarter of the weight of the Type 34 80mm mortar, and costing only 400 Imperial Marks. Its specialized ammunition had about half the killing power of an 80mm mortar shell, making it very suitable for paratroopers and rapid maneuvering units to use; the 80mm mortar made by Rheinmetall, also costing 810 Imperial Marks, had a maximum range of 2400 meters, and the maximum dispersion radius of the mortar shell was 65 meters. Due to its large size, it was usually transported by truck or half-track armored vehicle.

With the situation developing in this way, the British attacking force, which was passively under attack, was finding it difficult to hold out against the German defensive positions for more than ten minutes. But when they hit a brick wall, the British finally knew how to turn the tide: the officers in the infantry formations finally abandoned their annoying whistles and instead used exaggerated body language to signal their soldiers to retreat. However, the attacking force did not withdraw completely beyond the range of the machine guns; instead, they transitioned to local defense at about 600 meters from the enemy—on the battlefield, every soldier must have known the tactical arrangement in advance to be able to perform such a move.

The two-inch or one-foot-high ridges became temporary positions for the British infantry to take cover. After lying down, they quickly set up light machine guns and Lee-Enfield rifles. The scene of gunfire exchange was a stark contrast to the mainstream tactics of this era, where steel-clad troops clashed head-on!

As the attacking side organized effective shooting, the Germans on the opposite side gradually quieted down. But such a change was not enough to reverse the situation on the battlefield. Several British infantry units tried to break through with their firepower, but before they ran a hundred meters, they were all laid flat by a sudden burst of "rip" sounds from the German positions. Then, without warning, mortar shells from the Germans began to rain down, each one capable of taking out several or even a dozen British soldiers lying on the ground. The narrow ridges, only one or two inches high, were not enough to withstand the attacks from the German tank guns!

In what seemed like an impasse of a stalemate, the gap in casualty rates meant that the British were still at a disadvantage. But as if it had been arranged in advance, a clumsy-looking seaplane with double-layered wings (a ship-type seaplane with no floats, with a boat-shaped fuselage below) arrived from the north at a critical moment. Those familiar with the British Navy would easily recognize it as the Supermarine "Walrus" seaplane, usually equipped for battleships or cruisers and capable of catapult launching. Slow-moving and defenseless, it was a tasty meal for any fighter plane. Equipped with wireless equipment, it was mainly used for maritime reconnaissance, artillery calibration, and search and rescue missions under normal circumstances.

Through high-power telescopes, Lieutenant Skaub could observe the ugly-looking seaplane more clearly. Its boat-like fuselage was not suitable for carrying bombs, and the two round things under the wings looked scary but were just small auxiliary floats. Its only weapon seemed to be the machine gun mounted at the nose, which appeared to have little killing power!

After taking a glance, Lieutenant Skaub, with precise marksmanship, refocused his attention on the frontline battlefield. Pushing a row of bullets into the magazine, he painstakingly repeated the consecutive actions of pulling

 the bolt, aiming, and shooting. After the British assault stalled, a large number of infantry remained within rifle range, and he could still find British officers carrying revolvers. Although he couldn't pick them off one by one, shooting defenseless rabbits was quite satisfying!

After hitting three unlucky souls in a row, Lieutenant Skaub pulled back the bolt and took out a row of five bullets from his pocket. The seaplane with a boat-shaped fuselage had circled around once, and the buzzing noise of flies was still in his ears, when suddenly, from afar, came the annoying sound of a steam whistle!

Like most German soldiers on the defensive line, Lieutenant Skaub cursed the British Navy and all its ancestors, all eighteen generations, in his heart, while obediently tucking both his big and small heads back into the trench. When it came to land warfare, the British army wasn't half bad, and the Royal Air Force was passable, but it was the British Navy that was truly remarkable. Their warships seemed to be free—there was always a group of them! Their shells seemed to be free too—they would fire for hours on end! Their fuel seemed to be free as well—they would run thousands of miles just to catch some disobedient natives and beat them up!

At first, the probing artillery fire was sparse, and two shots even landed squarely in the area where the British infantry were. The German soldiers observing from above ground in the trenches couldn't contain their joy, but their happiness didn't last long. As the artillery adjusted its position, shells from the sea began to cover the positions once again, extending into the rear of the positions. This situation was not uncommon in the past ten hours, but now that the German soldiers were all on the frontline to resist the British ground attack, casualties quickly increased under the bombardment of the British warships. In no time, even a 88mm anti-aircraft gun in the bunker was tragically hit, with its tall carriage twisted and deformed, and a dozen gunners were killed!

With no other choice, the German commander had to withdraw all the Panzer IV tanks and half-track armored vehicles to the rear. The German defensive firepower was completely suppressed, giving the British infantry, who were staying in place, a chance to breathe, but they also began to gather their strength for the attack again under the thunderous roar of the guns—the British infantry in the rear rushed forward with heavy machine guns and mortars.

Land, sea, and air coordination finally gave them the qualifications to compete with the German positions.

Twenty minutes later, the gunfire stopped abruptly and was immediately replaced by the roar of British machine guns, mortars, and rifles. If one closed their eyes and listened to the dense gunfire, they might have thought that the German side had quickly regained control of the battlefield!

Due to being suppressed in firepower, when the British infantry resumed their assault, the German commander quickly dispatched a mobile force composed of Panzer IV tanks and half-track armored vehicles to defend. However, it seemed that it was too late, as over a thousand British infantry rapidly approached within arrow range of the German positions. The slow-reacting German firepower seemed unable to stop the surging tide of people.

Watching the breakthrough about to be achieved through ancient tactics, the silent German rear suddenly resounded with bursts of gunfire. Although the artillery shells initially were not accurate and even accidentally injured some German soldiers on the positions, after calibration, they began to rain down on the British infantry running forward with alarming frequency. And when a mortar shell came down, its killing power was usually eight to ten times that of a single mortar shell...

"Our mortar?" Lieutenant Skaub listened in surprise to the commotion outside the trench. It seemed that it wasn't necessarily a good thing to stay in one place all the time. In just one day, there had been significant changes in the deployment of both sides on the island.