Fog

But at this moment, the military dogs deployed by the Britain came in handy. They began barking wildly.

"All units, be on alert! All units, be on alert! Anti-personnel directional mines, prepare! Artillery, load with shotgun shells, prepare!" As soon as Battalion Commander Richard heard the barking of the military dogs, he immediately picked up a microphone and started shouting. Colonel Edward Stanford, who was originally about to leave, also stopped in his tracks.

"They're here!" Edward Stanford said, his eyes widening as he tried to see through the thick fog. Of course, the fog hadn't lifted yet, and he could only vaguely make out about twenty or thirty meters ahead.

After the barking of the dogs, the Ireland knew that the Britain were now on guard. But they continued forward in a loose formation, carrying explosive charges and demolition charges.

Visibility was only about twenty meters, maybe thirty meters at most. A quick charge would get you there. In this era, there were no powerful weapons like machine guns; the only substitutes were cannons firing grapeshot and anti-personnel directional mines like the Claymore.

The firepower density of these two items is certainly sufficient, but their sustained firepower is much worse. If a large group of enemies rushes up at once, these items are just as effective as machine guns. However, if the first wave of enemies is small, and a second wave immediately follows after one round, then the sustained firepower of this configuration becomes very problematic.

More importantly, the barbed wire was a good 40 to 50 meters away from the bunker. This is a suitable distance under normal circumstances, at which rifles, directional mines, and artillery shot have a fairly good hit rate.

But at this moment, the barbed wire disappeared into the fog and was completely invisible.

The Britain hung many bells on the barbed wire; the sound of the bells indicated that someone was working on the barbed wire. However, this design was intended for nighttime operations. At night, upon hearing movement, searchlights would be shone, and rifles, cannon fire, and directional mines could be opened fire as needed. But at this time, however, a thick fog shrouded the area, rendering the searchlights useless.

The Ireland quickly reached the barbed wire fence. They took out wire cutters from their backpacks, carefully removed the bell from the fence, and then used the wire cutters to break through the wire, cutting gaps in it.

Of course, someone did ring the bell.

"Sir? What should we do?" Battalion Commander Richard asked.

"Fire! Have the soldiers fire at the sound of the bell! But don't move the directional mines and artillery yet!" Edward Stanford ordered.

So the Britain began firing indiscriminately. However, because they couldn't see their targets, this blind firing didn't pose much of a problem for the Irish Independence Army fighters.

"Jerry, don't worry, the Britain are just trying to bolster their courage," Matra, the Independence Army platoon leader who was following behind and holding a demolition charge, whispered to the soldier next to him who was holding a rifle with a bayonet fixed.

"I know, I'm not nervous," the soldier replied, his hand gripping the rifle so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Matra chuckled, said nothing more, and turned his gaze back to the widening gap in the barbed wire.

"Fix bayonets!" Edward Stanford said. "The enemy is charging! We'll likely have to fight with bayonets!"

The order was relayed, and the British Army soldiers began to fix bayonets and prepared to charge out of the trenches to engage the Ireland rebels in bayonet combat.

"Our bayonet fighting skills are far superior to those of the rebels; we will definitely win through bayonet fighting," Edward Stanford encouraged his men. However, he inwardly cursed the damned weather. He knew that while training was important in bayonet fighting, morale was even more crucial. Based on his experience dealing with the Ireland training levels were generally inferior to the British Army, even among the Ireland "main force"; but their morale was exceptionally high, even among those local rebels.

A unit with high enough morale can withstand greater casualties in close combat. And in close combat, unless one side's morale collapses and they are relentlessly pursued, the exchange ratio will never be significantly higher. Edward Stanford was indeed confident of gaining the upper hand in a close-quarters battle where the numbers were roughly equal. However, he only had a slight advantage; the rebels numbered in the tens of thousands! If he suffered heavy losses in close combat, General Wilson, the city's garrison commander, would certainly come after him...

At this moment, some indistinct figures appeared in the British Army's line of sight. These scattered figures rushed towards the British Army positions, throwing Grenade at the same time.

British Army troops opened fire on the men and threw Grenade at them. Many Ireland fell to the ground, but because the distance was too close, some Ireland charged forward with explosive charges and demolition charges. Then, with a series of explosions, some bunkers, along with the British Army inside, were sent flying into the air.

At this moment, more figures appeared in the mist!

"Fire! Fire! Use directional mines!" Battalion Commander Richard shouted.

The artillery positioned further back opened fire, and shrapnel knocked some Ireland soldiers to the ground, while some directional mines also detonated. However, because a volley of explosive charges and demolition charges fired by the Ireland in front had also destroyed many of the directional mines, this salvo, although inflicting considerable losses on the Ireland, did not stop them from continuing their advance. At this point, the Britain artillery and directional mines did not have time to fire a second volley.

In fact, even the second wave of Ireland attackers wasn't particularly large. It was only due to the dense fog and the tense atmosphere that the Britain had the illusion of a large number of attackers. However, the number of Ireland deaths in this round of shelling and directional mine bombardment was not as high as the Britain had imagined.

"Fix bayonets! Counter-attack! Artillery, provide covering fire on target area number two!" Edward Stanford ordered as he watched the Ireland charge forward again.

If the Ireland were allowed to charge again, a barrage of explosives would result in enormous losses. Therefore, Edward Stanford decided to immediately launch a bayonet counterattack and drive the Ireland back.

Now, influenced by the decadent France, the once abundant martial spirit of Europe armies has gradually deteriorated, and even something as virtuous as bayonet fighting has become utterly pathetic.

In the old days, when "bullets are idiots, bayonets are heroes," everyone honestly used bayonets to communicate. That was true manliness, real courage! But now, the France have ruined the rules. They invented a shady tactic of mixing bayonets and shotguns in bayonet fighting, using bayonets to control distance, and then spraying the enemy in the face with shotguns. So now, bayonet fighting is still nominally called bayonet fighting, but in reality, it's become shotgun fighting. It's utterly pathetic, utterly pathetic!

Today, all of Europe, including Britain and Ireland, has been influenced by the France's utterly ineffective tactics, so their bayonet-fighting teams are all equipped with similar configurations: basically two rifles with bayonets and one pump-action shotgun. Thus, the battlefield is immediately filled with the clatter of shotguns.

Meanwhile, Britain artillery continuously bombarded the routes through which Ireland reinforcements might come with shrapnel. While such indiscriminate bombardment was obviously inefficient, it still created some difficulties for the Ireland follow-up attacks. Thus, the Britain managed to force back the Ireland rebels through bayonet fighting and hold the first line of defense.

After repelling the first wave of Ireland attacks, Edward Stanford, seeing that the fog was gradually dissipating, left the front lines and returned to his regimental headquarters. As soon as he entered, someone told him, "Sir, General Wilson wants you to go to command post immediately."

Colonel Edward Stanford immediately went to General Wilson's headquarters.

By this time, the other regimental commanders had also arrived. Seeing that Edward Stanford had also arrived, General Wilson said, "Now that everyone is here, let's all talk about the situation on our respective lines."

So, apart from the Grave Regiment, which served as the general reserve, the other regiments began to report on the attacks they had suffered and their current losses. Basically, either they had consumed a lot of ammunition or suffered heavy personnel losses. Some units had even lost their positions.

"As you've all noticed, the weather has created some unexpected situations," General Wilson said. "It's hard to say whether this dense fog will continue tomorrow. If the next few days bring this terrible weather, given today's casualties and ammunition depletion, our situation will be extremely dangerous. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"I suggest we immediately send a telegram to Dublin and Galway requesting reinforcements. Otherwise, if the fog continues, our defenses could be seriously compromised," Edward Stanford said immediately.

"However, our mission is to hold this place for at least a month so that reinforcements from home can arrive, and then..." another regimental commander said.

"My regiment didn't lose any ground today, and we even killed quite a few rebels. However, my regiment alone lost nearly seventy men this morning alone, and with the wounded who are at least temporarily incapacitated, there are probably close to one hundred more. If we have a few more fogs like this, my entire regiment will be rendered unable to fight. I just heard the reports from everyone else; the losses are no less than mine. Based on my many years of experience in Ireland, fog is common during this season. So, it's entirely possible for fog to persist for several days in a row. If that happens, it's not impossible for us to lose ground. Is it necessary for us to take such a gamble?"