Early in the morning on August 24, the officers and soldiers of German military were still sleeping, but each of them was awakened by the urgent military situation. After daybreak, the observation post discovered that a large number of Russian troops appeared two kilometers in front of the position. Densely packed, I don't know how many there are. The observation post immediately issued a warning.
Even though the officers and soldiers were very tired, many of them did not wake up at all. But military intelligence is the order, which makes them take up arms and prepare to fight as soon as possible. Whether it was infantry, artillery, or 8th Armored Division's armored troops, they all entered combat readiness immediately.
"What's going on?" Lieutenant General François also rushed to the front line.
"General, last night Russians launched a tentative attack on our defense line. Originally, I thought they gave up. But I didn't expect that they started preparing to attack early this morning." A Major General Division Commander reported.
"Have these Russians's brains been caught in the door? Don't they know that Russian 2nd Army Corps also tried to break through our position when Tannenberg was there. As a result, there were piles of corpses in front of our position." Lieutenant General François said incredulously. After all, Russian 2nd Army Corps has served as a warning, and the Russian army should have been prepared for this.
"Who knows! Maybe those Russians are like this." Major General Division Commander said.
"Okay, no matter what Russians is planning to do. Since they plan to take the initiative to attack, that is our advantage. Order all ministries to prepare for battle. Once Russians dares to launch an attack, then let me destroy them all." Lieutenant General François ordered.
"Yes, General." Major General Division Commander nodded.
"Let the artillery be ready. Once Russians fires, suppress them immediately. We cannot let Russians's artillery fire cause too much damage to us." Lieutenant General François warned.
Although, I learned from 17th Corps that the Russian army had abandoned a lot of cannons in the process of escaping. But Russian 1st Army Corps has twenty Infantry Division. If they are full, they will be equipped with at least 960 76.2 mm field guns. Although these many cannons are small-caliber field artillery, they are enough to pose a serious threat to German military.
"Yes, General." Major General Division Commander looked serious.
Lieutenant General François inspected the positions one by one and was very satisfied to see that the soldiers were confidently preparing to meet the Russian attack. It rang when he was about to return to his headquarters. The soldiers were woken up early in the morning and didn't even have time to eat breakfast.
"Let the cooking soldiers prepare breakfast and send it to the front line, even if it is all bread. We cannot let the soldiers fight hungry. Who knows how long this battle will last?" Lieutenant General François ordered.
Once the Russian army launches a full-scale attack, a large-scale battle will inevitably break out. The battle may last for a long time, even more than a day. During the battle, it would be difficult for the soldiers to find opportunities to fill their stomachs. Therefore, Lieutenant General François had to prepare early.
Major General Division Commander was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, general, I'll give the order right away."
On the Russian position opposite, Russian officers at all levels were giving lectures to the troops. There is only one general content, that is, their situation is very dangerous now. They are intercepted and pursued by soldiers. If they cannot defeat German military in front of them in today's battle, then they will have no choice but to die.
The speeches of the Russian officers made the Russian soldiers understand how dangerous their situation was. Although, they have no culture. However, this does not prevent them from having a strong desire to survive. The eyes of almost every Russian soldier shone with a strong desire to survive. They don't want to die, they want to live. The only way to survive is to defeat Russians who is blocking their retreat.
These Russian soldiers once again mustered up their courage and forgot their timidity.
This is also why Huaxia The ancient art of war says, "Don't stop when you return to the army." If an army is cut off from its retreat, it will explode into extremely powerful combat effectiveness. Especially in the era of cold weapons, it often determines the outcome of a battle.
Of course, this is the era of hot weapons, especially German military is equipped with a large number of automatic weapons. Therefore, they have no worries at all about cutting off Russians's retreat. They have enough firepower to make even the Russian army full of fighting spirit sink into the sand.
"Order the artillery to hit me hard. Fire all the shells. If you can't break through the Germany people's defense line, those cannons and shells will be useless if they stay." General Leiningen-Kempf ordered.
"Yes, General."
A few minutes later, Russian artillery began shelling. Their remaining cannon, more than three hundred of them, were concentrated. Although, these cannons are all 76.2mm field guns. However, the power of so many field artillery bombardments is still amazing.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The shells roared and hit German military's position one after another. The Russian gunners fired hard and fired more shells. Because they know that once German military starts to fight back, they will never have a chance again.
Just two minutes after the Russian shelling began, German military's shelling began to counterattack. Mr. Infantry Division's artillery launched a counterattack, and then other artillerymen also joined in. In terms of quantity, it is no better than the Russian artillery. In terms of caliber, range and power, it is even more capable of suppressing the Russian artillery fire.
But even German military's artillery suppression caused great losses to the Russian artillery. But their bombardment never stopped, and instead became more powerful.
The Russian shelling forced German military's frontline troops to withdraw into the fortifications. Many of the fortifications they built were destroyed. After all, this is just a fortification that German military hastily built overnight. It is not very strong and cannot resist the attack of artillery shells.
But the officers and soldiers of German military believed that under their artillery counterattack, Russians's artillery would soon be knocked out. At that time, it will no longer pose a threat to them.
However, what no one expected was that before the Russian artillery stopped shelling, the Russian infantry launched an attack. More than 20,000 Russian soldiers, holding rifles and roaring loudly, launched an attack on German military's position. It was as if they were not afraid of being accidentally injured by their own artillery shells.