14th Area Army of the Island Nation's Army Headquarters, Lieutenant General Commander Masaharu Honma is listening to the report of Lieutenant General Masami Maeda, Chief of Staff of the Front Army.
"Your Excellency Commander, 35th Army has launched an attack on German military. Their attack was very fierce, and the officers and soldiers fought very bravely. However, The German military's firepower was very strong. They assembled hundreds of artillery pieces, many of which were heavy artillery with a caliber of more than 200 millimeters. Therefore, 35th Army's losses were very heavy," Lieutenant General Masami Maeda reported.
Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma nodded. German military would deploy powerful firepower on the defense line. This did not surprise him. Although this is the first time 14th Area Army has played against German military. But by reading the information about the battle between the Netherlands East Indies Expeditionary Army and German military, you can see how powerful German military is.
However, even so, Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma has great confidence in his troops. After all, the 14th Area Army he led had a total strength of more than 300,000. Not to mention the assistance of the 7th Area Army and 18th Area Army. Therefore, Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma believes that they will be able to defeat German military in this battle.
"Send Telegram to Mr. Suzuki and ask him to continue to attack with intensity. Don't let the Germany people relax at all. Even at night, we must continue to launch the attack. Even if the entire 35th Army is lost, the attack The attack cannot be stopped! In addition, send Telegram to Mr. Hengshan and let 41st Army be ready. Once 35th Army loses its combat effectiveness, they will attack!" Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma ordered.
Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma's tactics are very simple, which is to use their strength advantage to continuously attack German military, leaving German military exhausted. In this case, no matter how powerful German defensive line is, there will still be loopholes. Once Island Nation's Army seizes this vulnerability, it can break through German defensive line. Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma believed that under their fierce attack regardless of losses, German defensive line would eventually be broken through by them. Of course, such tactics will cause very high casualties to the troops. However, Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma doesn't care. As long as he can win in the end, he doesn't care no matter how big the loss is.
"Hi, Your Excellency Commander!" Lieutenant General Masami Maeda replied.
At this time, an officer reported the arrival of Lieutenant General 7 Front Commander Seiichi Tanaka and Chief of Staff Major General Ayabe Tachibana.
Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma and Lieutenant General Masami Maeda immediately greeted them.
"Hello, Tanaka-kun!" Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma said with a smile on his face. Although now 7th Area Army is under his control. However, he had no unruly expression at all. He hopes to cooperate closely with the 7th Area Army in the next battle and defeat German military in one fell swoop.
"Honma, let's take a look, how is the situation on the front line?" Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka said.
"Tanaka-kun, our attack has begun. Now, 35th Army is attacking the Germany people's defense line. However, the firepower of the Germany people is so powerful that our losses are very heavy." Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma said.
"Honma, it doesn't matter if the loss is bigger. As long as we can defeat the Germany people in the final battle, everything will be worth it." Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka said.
Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma nodded. "I think so too. We have much more troops than the Germany people. Therefore, we can withstand larger losses. On the other hand, the Germany people, they There is simply no way to send reinforcements to South Seas. If we lose one, we will lose one. In order to win as soon as possible, we will definitely defeat them."
"Well, Mr. Honma, this arrangement is very correct. If there is a need for the 7th Area Army to take action, Mr. Honma can just give you the order!" Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka said.
"Tanaka-kun, don't worry, 14th Area Army is fully capable of breaking through Germany people, don't worry!" Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma said. He seemed very confident in the troops under his command.
In fact, the battle on the front line is already very fierce. At the request of Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki, Island Nation's Army 30th Division and the independent* mixed into the 54th Brigade and launched a fierce attack on German defensive line. This caused these two troops to suffer very heavy losses under the powerful firepower of German military.
When night fell, Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki issued the order to stop the attack. However, at this time, 30th Division and the independent 54th Brigade had almost lost everything.
However, Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki did not care about this. In his opinion, an afternoon of high-intensity fighting certainly caused Island Nation's Army to suffer a lot. But it also made German military very tired. In this case, as long as fresh troops are deployed to attack during the night battle, the possibility of them breaking through German defensive line is undoubtedly very high.
"Harada-kun, Fukuei-kun, the 100th Division and the 102nd Division will launch an attack tonight! Do your best to launch the attack. I believe that victory must belong to us!" Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki ordered.
In tonight's battle, Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki plans to invest two divisions at once. Even though the combat effectiveness of the 100th Division and the 102nd Division is weaker than that of ordinary divisions. But the two divisions combined, there are sixteen independent infantry brigades. This is already a very powerful force. Under the cover of night, the firepower advantage of German military cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, the possibility of the Island Nation's Army winning this battle is undoubtedly very high.
"Hi, Your Excellency Commander!" Lieutenant General Harada Jiro and Lieutenant General Fukuhara Shinpei both replied.
They had also expected that their troops would soon participate in the attack. However, by being able to launch an attack at night, they have great confidence in defeating the Germany people.
That night, the Island Nation's Army 100th Division and the 102nd Division launched an attack. The artillery teams of these two divisions, plus the 22nd Field Artillery Regiment of 16th Division, launched a fierce artillery bombardment on German defensive line.
However, German artillerymen then launched a counterattack. Even affected by the darkness of night, the accuracy of the shelling was not high. However, German military relied on the large number of artillery and the larger caliber of the artillery, and still easily suppressed the artillery of the Island Nation's Army. Island Nation's Army not only failed to complete the fire support mission, but also suffered heavy losses.
As a last resort, the Island Nation's Army 100th Division and the 102nd Division had no choice but to launch an attack without sufficient fire support. However, the Landmine array and barbed wire deployed by German military had a great impact on them. When being blocked, German military on the position used powerful firepower to harvest the lives of the Island Nation's Army.