afterglow

Chapter 198 On the eve of the battle; send them to hell!

This night felt like it was much longer than previous nights. The gunshots and explosions from two directions almost never stopped. Although it was not intensive, it continued until dawn.

More than a dozen reconnaissance groups returned one after another, and then quickly summarized the ascertained situation under the organization of the staff officers.

They not only found out the specific terrain of this undulating land, but also found out some guard posts and strongholds arranged by the Italian army.A combat patrol also launched a probing attack, which proved to be weakly defended by the Italians.

But there is one exception, and that is a highland adjacent to the location of the Italian army. The height of the map is 109. It can also be said that the Italian army is deliberately relying on it to arrange the garrison.

In the morning, in the headquarters, more than a dozen officers of different ranks gathered here.

Chretien snuffed out the cigar, stretched out his finger and clicked on the map, and said slowly:
"After the enemy captured here, they did not continue to go deep, but stuck here. This highland is the most critical, and it is higher than any nearby places."

"The Italians built a lot of field fortifications here. There are many obstacles such as barbed wire, deer villages, trenches, etc., and there are mine belts with a width of about ten meters."

"They sent an infantry company to guard this place, and they also strengthened their firepower. There are at least five heavy machine guns. The fire support points of the main position are all reinforced earthworks, and there are also a lot of trenches in the rest."

"We can easily see that it decides the balance of the battle, and the attackers will pay a huge price. Rebel and Italian air forces may also attack in the meantime, which is not good news."

Such a place is like a fire hedgehog, whoever touches it will be stabbed.

In the eyes of the officers, the way to attack it is to concentrate a large amount of artillery fire repeatedly, one time, two times, three times... use steel and explosives to destroy all exposed bunkers, and then invest a large number of troops to attack continuously.

But it is clear that the current [-]th Brigade does not meet such traditional tactical requirements, so it has to find another way.

According to Zhou Changfeng's order, the 73rd "Lincoln" Battalion formed two breakthrough detachments. Each detachment was formed on the basis of an infantry platoon, equipped with fifteen additional MP34 submachine guns, and attached to an engineering squad. In addition to explosives, it is also equipped with two FmW35 flamethrowers.

"...Now I will determine the plan and assignment of tasks." Zhou Changfeng picked up a red pencil, drew a circle on the field map where the Italian army is located, and said solemnly: "It is time to end this Italian army unit. "

At the same time, in the garrison of the Italian army...

As the head of the 38th Regiment of the 79th Infantry Division of the Royal Army, Lieutenant Colonel Archid is a different guy. He dismisses the identity of an officer and doesn't care about the so-called "difference".

Unlike most of the high-ranking Italian military officers, he was quite casual. He often wandered around the barracks to deal with soldiers, and even often played the mandolin, which he was best at, in public.

Because of this, he was often criticized by others for his poor style and damage to the image of the Royal Army, but Archid dismissed it.

Largely because of poor popularity, his unit was transferred to such a dawdling place. When other Italian troops were marching forward, the 79th regiment was ordered to defend Talavera to cover other friendly forces besieging Madrid. flank.

While the two sides on multiple fronts were having a great time fighting back and forth, the area around Talavera was extremely quiet, with only small fights.Last night it was 47 days since repelling a probing attack by the 28th Republican Brigade a month earlier.

The inexplicable surprise attack last night suddenly broke the life they were used to, which made many people wake up like a dream—we are still interfering in wars on the land of other countries!
Until now, the Italian army is still not sure which army is the enemy in front of it, because its appearance is a bit strange-although it is wearing a Spanish M26 field uniform, it is wearing a German M35 helmet.

Although most of the officers had always thought it was the International Brigade, Archid and some officers were skeptical.

Because based on past experience, the international brigade usually only appears in places where the fighting is fierce, and the Republican Army Command often uses them as an emergency fire brigade.

But why did it suddenly appear in Talavera, which had been peaceful for a long time this time?This is really abnormal.

If something goes wrong, there must be a demon. Does this mean that the Republican Army will launch a large-scale offensive against it?
Once the thinking diverges, all kinds of weird ideas will come out. Archid, who claims to be an artist, always thinks that he has a rich imagination, so he imagined in just a cup of coffee. There are four or five possibilities.

Throughout the day that day, the vast wilderness south of Talavera showed an eerie silence, and all the divisions of the [-]th Brigade entered the scheduled assembly area one after another, and then rested in place.

Although the confused Italian army was unresponsive, it was still a qualified army of an industrial country. They successively organized three motorized search teams to reconnaissance in the southwest direction, but this was tantamount to a sheep entering a tiger's mouth.

The peripheral security unit of the 71st Battalion stood by and waited for a rabbit, using rifle grenades and machine guns to repel these search teams neatly.

When the sun went down, the wrecked Fiat 621 trucks and Benelli M36 tricycles were still alive, and the conspicuous flames could still be seen.

"The Italians are too conservative, and it is difficult for me to give them a positive evaluation." Roald, who served as the commander of the 73rd Battalion, said.

Brett took over his words and continued: "The correct approach should be to reorganize a larger search team and forcefully break through the ambush, so that we have to expose ourselves, so that we can understand our situation. I don't know these Italians When will people take war seriously."

"How do you evaluate this attack plan?" Roald changed the subject, "I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling...it will definitely succeed."

"It shows that you trust him completely at least now." Brett took off his big cap and shook it, then put it back on. "He is too mysterious."

"I think Orientals are very mysterious."

"After all, Ni's Norway is too far away from the east."

Although Zhou Changfeng asked all the troops to take a good rest during the day and close their eyes even if they couldn't sleep, for most young soldiers, the feeling that they were about to join the battlefield they dreamed of made them feel excited.

It's almost impossible to fidget, let alone sleep!
Because of the application for air support, Zhou Changfeng set the attack launch time at four o'clock in the morning.

In this way, we can not only seize the good time of dawn, which is suitable for raids, but also ensure that we can get our own air support after encountering obstacles.

"Check the time, check the watch!" Zhou Changfeng looked at the watch with the microphone in one hand, "...four, three, two, one, twelve o'clock."

At midnight, the bright moon was in the sky, and the surrounding environment was quiet.

The frontline headquarters was set up next to a forest, and there happened to be a two-person high slope here, and the headquarters was built on it.Due to the existence and activities of people, the birds perched in the woods never returned to their nests after flying away, and the only sound around them was the rustling of the branches and leaves in the wind.

After walking in the forest for a while, Zhou Changfeng suddenly felt a little sleepy. After returning to the headquarters, he wrapped himself in a military blanket and lay down on the camp bed before falling asleep.

In fact, he is also very anxious and apprehensive, because what is linked to his job is responsibility, and any mistake will determine the life and death of hundreds of people and the outcome of the battle.

But he couldn't show this restlessness. As the core of an army, as a commander, he could only bury it deep in his heart.In fact, the more calm and indifferent he is, the more at ease the people around him will be.

At 3:45 in the morning, Miller woke up the sleeping Zhou Changfeng on time. The latter felt that he had only closed his eyes for a moment, and a few hours seemed to be truncated.

He dreamed that Xia Xiaoshi was next to him in a trance and asked if he was healthy, but he was woken up before he could answer.

"15 minutes left, sir." Miller said calmly.

Zhou Changfeng, who was awake, walked out of the headquarters, and took a pair of binoculars to the nearby dirt slope.

This is destined to usher in a fierce and cruel battle. Even if the morale and combat effectiveness of the Italian army are not very good, it is always a big mistake to despise the opponent tactically.

What's more, with the right time and place, they occupy an excellent location!
How many respectable volunteers will give their lives in the next 24 hours in order to pursue the ideals in their hearts?

At 3:50 in the morning, the countdown is 10 minutes.

"哃—咚咚—哃哃——"

Several types of old artillery roared on time, and a round of 105mm and 75mm shells flew over with different ballistic trajectories, and smashed hard on the Italian positions.

Because the number of artillery pieces is limited, and the number of shells is only one and a half bases, Chretien and Zhou Changfeng agreed that the artillery preparation before the attack should be as short and violent as possible, rather than a long-term continuous shelling.

This can maximize the deterrence of the enemy under limited artillery fire, but the disadvantage is that the damage to the enemy's fortifications is not good, and many targets will undoubtedly be missed.

Even so, the area of ​​the 109th highland held by the Italian army is small, narrow and lacking in depth, so the deployment of the company's troops is quite concentrated. The company headquarters and two platoons are defending the main body of the highland, and the other platoon is deployed in the southwest of the highland. direction.

The artillery was limited, and in order to increase the density of firepower as much as possible, the shirtless artillerymen tried their best to almost hit the old artillery at the theoretical maximum rate of fire.

The sudden ferocious shelling seemed to throw a large handful of gravel into the calm lake, and it stirred up a thousand waves in an instant.

In the explosion of "Boom Boom Boom," the falling shells kicked up countless soil, weeds, and sawdust in the explosion, including fragments of clothes.

A 16mm high-explosive shell from the FK75 field gun landed on the top of a shelter with the same precision as luck. The structure of this shelter is to dig a hole in the trench to the side and then reinforce it with logs.

When this cannon was ejected from the factory, the German Empire was still there, but year after year it had already changed, and some of the artillerymen who manipulated the cannon to launch it were even younger than it.

The aging mechanical fuze is a little bit slower than when it was brand new. Even if the artillerymen adjusted the fuze to the instantaneous state, the fuze took tens of milliseconds later to work.

This caused the shells to explode after penetrating through the soil layer and the flat logs above the shelter, and the six or seven Italian soldiers inside were buried in the graves they dug out by themselves before they could make any noise.

"Captain, what should we do?!"

The two officers braved the artillery fire and rushed into the shelter where the company commander was, only to see that the company commander was already yelling into the microphone for reinforcements.

The soil and dust that fell from the shock wave fell one by one, like countless mosquitoes flying under the gloomy yellow light.

At 3:59 in the morning, counting down for 1 minute, in the headquarters of the 79th regiment of the Italian Army...

A staff officer was shaking the phone's rocker anxiously, while Lieutenant Colonel Archid, who had just woken up, was using another phone to communicate with 109 Heights.

"Sir! The shelling...was so intense that we...didn't know..."

"Calm! Stay on your ground and don't panic!"

Shelling can not only affect wireless communication, but also interfere with the effect of wired communication to a certain extent. The continuous background sound of explosions makes it difficult for both sides to communicate.

Lieutenant Colonel Archid walked out of the headquarters after hanging up the phone, and now he has no idea what the enemy in front of him is trying to do.

He knew that the other party might be about to launch an offensive, because they had already observed their patrols measuring the hydrological conditions of the Tejo River yesterday, but why are they shelling in the direction of the hills now?
Are you going to attack Height 109?Isn't that unreasonable? It's condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Will there really be commanders who will choose to attack the hardest target as soon as they come up?

The Italian army, which has been passively defending and standing by for orders from yesterday to now, lacks sufficient understanding of the surrounding situation. They are not even sure whether the enemy in front of them is the international brigade.

The attached artillery battalion's more than a dozen artillery pieces have been deployed long ago, and the artillerymen have already adjusted the fuzes for the artillery shells, but the order has been delayed.

There are no anti-artillery radars these days, and it is not easy to determine the exact location and coordinates of the opponent's artillery positions.

Doing mental calculations without intention, passive defense is destined to suffer big losses.

Since setting foot on the land of the Iberian Peninsula, the Italian army has not experienced the feeling of being bombed for a long time.

Under the gunfire of revenge, clouds of gunpowder smoke rose, and various sundries fell one after another. The earth shook slightly in the explosion. It was always one's own side pouring artillery fire on the other side. At this moment, the two sides exchanged positions, which made the Italian soldiers terrified. .

When Lieutenant Colonel Archid was looking through the binoculars, someone suddenly exclaimed: "Firework signal!"

I saw a red flare soaring into the sky in the distance, followed by a second one.

In an instant, the previous explosions came to an abrupt end.

Archid's heart tightened. When the prelude to the attack was over, of course the interlude followed.

Just one kilometer away in a straight line, in the rugged and undulating land, the 72nd "Montmartre Heights" Battalion had quietly arrived at the starting position of the attack a few hours ago, and when the previous shelling began, they Taking the opportunity to enter the shock starting position.

"... Now, it's time to send them to hell! Long live for liberty, equality, and fraternity!"

"Beep beep beep—"

The officer blew his whistle, and the soldiers shouted like a tide.

Taking advantage of the precious opportunity when the Italian army was blown dizzy by the previous short shelling, they rushed from two directions to the 109 Heights hundreds of meters away.

In this dry, slightly hot summer dawn, hundreds of volunteers from France launched an impact against the dense bullets fired by the enemy, fearlessly rushing towards the fiery firepower.

At 4:00 in the morning, the attack was launched on time.

"Boom! Boom!"

Rifle grenades and 45mm mortar shells constantly flew down from the high ground and exploded on the ground, flying the shattered soil into the air; plumes of smoke floated in the bomb crater near the explosion point, and the dry soil was soaked in blood. And become moist.

The people in front were hit and fell, and the people behind jumped over the corpses of their comrades-in-arms and continued to move forward.

The terrified Italian soldiers opened fire on the pre-marked path with everything they could use.

There was no pause in the sound of "da da da" gunshots, and within half a cigarette, the empty shell casings under the heavy machine gun had accumulated into a pile up to the ankle.

Suddenly, the sky brightened almost to daylight. It was the flares fired by the artillerymen in the Italian garrison with 70 mm mountain cannons. In mid-air, the pale light burst out from the burning of aluminum and magnesium powder instantly dispelled the darkness before dawn.

Accompanied by the attacking infantry, there are two 37mm infantry guns. This kind of light artillery with a total weight of only 85kg is very convenient to provide timely and effective direct fire support.

The veteran manipulating the infantry gun only felt as if he had returned to the old battlefield 20 years ago, aiming at the position where the dazzling muzzle flame flashed, and then suddenly pulled the lever.

"Bang! Boom—"

The 27mm high-explosive bomb with a charge of only 37g is not as powerful as a grenade, but it is still enough to suppress the heavy machine guns of the Italian army that are crazily firing.

In the early hours of yesterday and today, some reconnaissance teams tried to remove some mines in the minefields outside the 109 Heights, and opened up several safe passages with a width of four or five meters.

The soldiers of the 72nd Battalion who successfully arrived under the high ground began to attack upwards. The light machine gun teams equipped with MG13 were scattered behind the surrounding bomb craters, tree trunks, and stones, and kept firing to cover other people's attacks.

As the distance narrowed to only two or 30 meters, Italian soldiers began to throw M35 grenades. This red cylindrical "can" performed well, but because the shell was stamped from a thin aluminum plate, the number of fragments was very small , not suitable for use as a defensive grenade.

Explosions one after another set off clouds of gunpowder smoke, and many of the approaching soldiers were blown down, but the rest also threw grenades backhand after lying down to pay respects to the soldiers.

Although the Italian troops in the position were blown up, they still contained the attack of the 72nd Battalion by virtue of the reinforced fortifications on the left and right.

The intensive crossfire completely sealed off the attack path. The infantry artillery team fired several times in a row but failed to silence it. Instead, it caused a series of bullets, and several people were shot dead on the spot.

"We are suppressed! We need support!"

(End of this chapter)