"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Artillery shells fell from the sky one after another, hitting the Russian army's position hard, and a violent explosion occurred.
For a time, smoke and dust rose everywhere, and the smoke filled the air. The Russian army's position was filled with flying sand and rocks.
A shell hit a section of the trench, which immediately collapsed by more than ten meters. A machine gun fire point was hit by a 75mm artillery shell. Amidst the violent explosion, the machine gun fire point was immediately blown away.
German military often makes sufficient firepower preparations before attacking. Although this will cause them to consume a large amount of artillery shells, it will most likely destroy the enemy's defenses and clear obstacles for subsequent infantry attacks.
The defensive positions that Russian 4th Army Corps's troops had painstakingly built were turned into ruins bit by bit under the fierce bombardment of German military. The Russian army's soil work is not very strong to begin with, and it lacks materials. Therefore, the Russian army's defenses were simply unable to withstand German military's artillery fire. Especially those heavy artillery can easily destroy German military's defenses.
In order to preserve its own strength to the maximum extent, Russian 4th Army Corps dug a lot of anti-gun holes on the defense line. The original intention was to allow soldiers to hide in the anti-gun holes when German military was shelling. After German military's bombardment was over, they came out of the anti-gun holes and attacked the attacking German military. However, the Russian army's defense against gun holes seems to be substandard. This made their defenses seem somewhat inadequate when resisting German military's bombardment.
"Boom!" A 105mm artillery shell exploded above a Russian artillery hole.
The violent explosion caused the shell-proof hole to shake violently. At the same time, the soil continued to fall from the top of the bombhole, making a terrifying killing sound.
"God! The shelling of the Germany people is more terrifying than the legend! Can our anti-gun caves withstand the shelling of the Germany people?" A Russian soldier said with a pale face.
Although, before the battle began, they had already heard about the horror of the German military bombardment. However, it was not until they encountered the bombardment of German military that they realized that the bombardment of German military was more powerful than they expected!
"Boom!" Another heavy artillery shell hit the Russian artillery hole. And, this time it was a 150mm heavy-duty Howitzer shell. Under the huge power of the shell explosion, huge cracks suddenly appeared on the top of the anti-gun cave. The faces of the Russian soldiers hiding inside changed drastically.
"God! The bombhole is about to collapse. Run away!"
The soldiers scrambled to get into the hole of the anti-gun cave, but the hole was narrow, which greatly restricted their speed. At this moment, the earth and rocks on the top had begun to fall in large chunks. Some Russian soldiers were even beaten to a bloody head. But everyone no longer cares about that much. Finding a way to escape from the bomb hole is the most important thing. That way, you can survive. Otherwise, once the bomb-proof tunnel collapses, everyone will be doomed.
"Boom!" A huge piece of earth and stone fell, blocking the entrance of the anti-gun cave. The life path of the Russian soldiers inside was suddenly cut off. Although, they desperately screamed and asked for help inside, while digging with their hands. But it didn't work at all. Because the earth and rocks above were still falling, and the shell-proof hole was soon buried. Of the hundreds of Russian soldiers hiding inside, except for a very few who escaped, the rest were all buried alive inside.
This is not an exception, but the norm. The Russian army's defenses were not up to standard, and they had already suffered a lot. But even so, the Russian army cannot change this.
During the fierce shelling of German military, the Russian artillery holes were destroyed one after another, and countless Russian soldiers were buried alive inside. The heavy losses made the Russian generals watching the battle from behind frown.
"General, we can't go on like this. Our artillery can no longer remain silent. Otherwise, the frontline troops will suffer heavy losses. When the time comes, what can we do to stop the Germany people's attack?" said a lieutenant general.
"Can our artillery fight against the Germany people?" General Dimitriev asked.
Even if Russian 4th Army Corps gathered 100,000 people in Chełm, which was six Infantry Divisions, the total number of artillery pieces in these six Infantry Divisions was only 288, and all of them were 76.2 mm field guns. With such strength, it is obviously impossible to compete with German military. Especially among German military's artillery, quite a few are large-caliber heavy artillery.
As for the Russian army, even if it was strengthened before the war, it only had more than twenty 105mm Howitzers. The gap between the artillery strength of the two sides is really huge.
"General, our artillery is not as good as the Germany people. However, if the Germany people want to completely suppress us, it is impossible. Our attack on the German artillery position can at least prevent them from continuing to bombard our forward positions." Artilleryman Commander said.
General Dimitriev nodded, this was undoubtedly the answer he wanted.
"Order the artillery to fire! We need to hold on here for a long time. Therefore, we must not let German artillery attack our defense line unscrupulously." General Dimitriev ordered.
"Yes, General." After receiving the order, artilleryman Commander immediately went to prepare.
Ten minutes later, Russian artillery began shelling.
One after another, 76.2mm field guns and more than twenty 105mm Howitzer began a fierce bombardment.
"Boom! Boom!"
Orange-red flames shone at the muzzle, and the shells slammed into the German artillerymen position one after another.
However, except for those 75mm Field Gun positions, the remaining 105mm Light Howitzer positions and the 150mm heavy Howitzer positions are arranged relatively far back, completely outside the range of the Russian 76.2mm field artillery. Therefore, the only things they can threaten are those field artillery positions.
But even so, the Russian shelling also caused some losses to the German artillerymen position. However, the loss is not big.
"The field artillery continues to bombard the Russian artillery positions, the light Howitzer and the heavy Howitzer, to suppress the Russian artillery. In addition, send Telegram to Air Corps, so they can launch an attack." Lieutenant General Seeckt gave the order with an expressionless face.
"Yes, general." Communications Officer immediately went to give the order.