Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki thought for a while, and then said, "Let the 22nd Field Artillery Regiment, the 100th Division Artillery Team and the 102nd Division Artillery Team be ready and enter the battle in half an hour!"
"Hi, Your Excellency Commander." Major General Miyoshi Tomochika replied.
The 22nd Field Artillery Regiment is an artillery unit under 16th Division. As the artillery under the four-unit division, it is powerful and equipped with 36 75mm Field Gun and 12 120mm Howitzer.
As for the artillery team of the 100th Division and the artillery team of the 102nd Division, their strength is relatively weak. Because the strength of the 100th Division and the 102nd Division is also relatively weak. Each of these two divisions has two infantry brigades, but there is no wing organization. Under each infantry brigade, there are four independent infantry brigades and communications teams. The artillery team under the division is only as strong as the artillery team of the independent mixed brigade, equipped with 12 75mm mountain guns and 6 75mm Field Gun. The reason is that these two divisions were upgraded from independent mixed brigades. This makes them stronger than the independent mixed brigade, but they cannot be compared with normal divisions. Even the three-unit divisions are stronger than them.
While Island Nation's Army was performing the artillery performance, German artillerymen was also busy. 23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade, 227th Infantry Division, 229th Infantry Division, plus the artillery of 225th Infantry Division and 228th Infantry Division are all adjusting their design directions, preparing to give the artillery of the Island Nation's Army a hard blow.
After the Island Nation's Army's artillery raided for less than five minutes, German artillerymen had completed preparations.
"Fire!" Following the order from Major General Abraham, the brigade commander 23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade, German artillerymen immediately started shelling.
23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade's 72-door 210mm Heavy Gun was the first to open fire.
The muzzles of these self-propelled artillery guns were shining with orange-red flames. Heavy artillery shells had already flown out. With the help of an autoloader, these 210mm self-propelled Howitzer are capable of firing at a rate of two rounds per minute.
Following closely behind were four artillerymen belonging to Infantry Division. 72-door 150mm heavy-duty Howitzer, 144-door 105mm Light Howitzer and 216-door 75mm Field Gun. All these artillery pieces started bombarding. So much so that the artillery shells hit Island Nation's Army's artillery position like raindrops.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The shells flew through the air at high speed, causing violent friction with the air and making a sharp whistling sound.
"Enemy's shelling!" The artillerymen of the Island Nation's Army and Panic raised their heads and looked at the shells falling from the sky.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Shells fell like raindrops, and explosions sounded one after another.
I saw Island Nation's Army's artillery position completely covered by artillery fire. Cannons one after another were destroyed in the explosion. The artillerymen were blown to pieces. Those artillerymen who were lucky enough not to be killed fled in all directions, running faster than rabbits.
Under the guidance of the calibration aircraft in the sky, German military's artillery shells can accurately hit Island Nation's Army's artillery position, causing very heavy casualties to the Island Nation's Army's artillery.
Sōsaku Suzuki Lieutenant General looked at this scene with a livid face. He had just praised their artillery for its strength, but in the blink of an eye, their artillery was destroyed! This is undoubtedly a slap in the face.
As for Lieutenant General 30th Division Commander Asasaburo Kobayashi and Lieutenant General Regimental Commander Tōkichi Hōjō of the 54th Independent Brigade, their hearts were bleeding. All that was lost were their artillery! What's even worse is that without the fire support of artillery, if they rely solely on infantry to launch an attack, they may lose all their troops and they will not be able to break through German defensive line!
Lieutenant General 16th Division Commander Keisuke Fujie, 100th Division Lieutenant General Division Commander Harada Jiro, 102nd Division Lieutenant General Division Commander Fukuei Shinpei, their faces are not very good-looking either. Although what is lost now is the artillery of 30th Division and the independent mixed 54th Brigade. But everyone knows that it will soon be their artillery's turn. German artillerymen is so powerful, which naturally makes them frightened.
"Baga!" Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki couldn't help but curse.
"How can German artillery be so powerful? Such a large crater is definitely caused by large-caliber heavy artillery!" Sōsaku Suzuki said with a livid face.
"Your Excellency Commander, the artillery on the Germany road has always been powerful. It has been famous all over the world since the last time World War. Now, the artillery of the Germany people has undoubtedly become more powerful!" Major General Miyoshi Tomochika said.
"Your Excellency Commander, I am afraid that we are no match for the artillery of the Germany people. Even if we gather the artillery of the entire front army, we may not be able to win. Especially in terms of large-caliber heavy artillery, it is difficult for us to compete with the Germany people!" Lieutenant General Keisuke Fujie said.
The artillery of the Island Nation's Army is indeed very inferior compared to German military. Almost all divisions are equipped with 75mm mountain guns and 75mm field guns. Only a small number of divisions are equipped with 120mm Howitzer. These 120mm Howitzer seem to have a larger caliber than the 105mm Light Howitzer of German military. However, the power is at most equivalent to 105mm Howitzer of German military. This is the same as Buru Army. When there is no technical solution, the only way is to increase the caliber to increase the power. As for larger-caliber artillery, only the Independent Field Heavy Artillery Regiment or the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade are equipped with the 150 mm heavy Howitzer. And these 150mm heavy-duty Howitzer are probably even worse in performance than the 150mm heavy-duty Howitzer German military.
Among the current Southern Army, there is no independent field heavy artillery regiment or independent heavy artillery brigade. This makes Island Nation's Army unable to compete with the powerful artillery of German military on the battlefield.
"Can we just watch German artillery looting?" Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki asked.
All the generals fell silent.
"Your Excellency Commander, to deal with German artillery, I'm afraid the only way is to dispatch Army Air Corps for bombing. Or the navy dispatches Capital Ships and Naval Gun for bombardment." Major General Miyoshi Tomochika said bravely.
However, these two methods are obviously unworkable. Island Nation's Army Air Corps can't even seize air superiority. If Bomber is dispatched, it will only become a target for German Air Force fighter planes's troops.
As for the Navy's Capital Ships team, they will not join the war so easily. They not only have to guard against German Navy, but also German Air Force.
It only took more than ten minutes for German military's artillery fire to counterattack, and Island Nation's Army 30th Field Artillery Regiment and the independent* mixed 54th Artillery Team had already lost all their lives.