Boom! Boom! Boom!
Once the mortars and grenade launchers on the German positions began firing as well, the Island Nation's Army finally understood what it meant for shells to fall like rain. The entire valley was almost blanketed by German shells. Shells landed on nearly every inch of ground. With explosions at such density, the Island Nation's Army troops who had charged into the valley had nowhere to hide, and men were constantly being blown to death.
"A massacre! This is plainly a massacre!" Lieutenant General Tōkichi Hōjō said grimly.
Watching his own troops being slaughtered by the enemy's overwhelming firepower was indeed an unbearable feeling, as though his heart were dripping blood. The Independent Mixed 54th Brigade had only six infantry battalions in total. If all four battalions participating in the attack were lost, it would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to the Independent Mixed 54th Brigade.
Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi, standing beside Lieutenant General Tōkichi Hōjō, looked just as grim. As a triangular-division unit, the 30th Division had only three main infantry regiments. If the 74th Infantry Regiment and the 77th Infantry Regiment were lost, on top of the 30th Field Artillery Regiment that had already been lost, then the 30th Division would likewise have suffered a devastating blow.
Under the German military's concentrated firepower, the Island Nation's Army suffered enormous losses. Of the more than ten thousand men thrown into the attack, they were heavily mauled before they could even get near the German defensive line. If this continued, then no matter how many troops they sent out, they likely would not be able to break through the German defensive line. They would merely be adding to the German military's tally of victories.
As casualties mounted, the Island Nation's Army troops involved in the attack inevitably collapsed