69novels Chapter 1043
Chapter 1043
The U.S. military had indeed destroyed the defenders’ artillery before!
Morganton is such a small place, there are very few places suitable for setting up artillery positions. The previous round of salvos by the U.S. heavy artillery cluster basically destroyed most of the German defenders’ artillery, and the remaining few did not escape the subsequent bombing. Admiral
Pershing had confirmed the results of the battle through a telescope before, but why did the defenders have artillery now?
Moreover, the previous round of artillery fire was quite dense, causing considerable casualties to the U.S. military. Judging from the dense explosion, the enemy should have at least dozens of artillery pieces, but where were these artillery pieces?
Why didn’t he see them at all?
“Well done! That round of shelling just now killed at least hundreds of enemy soldiers!”
“That’s right, all those Eagle Sauce guys were crowded in that group, and a shell landed in the crowd, which was simply a huge explosion!”
“Hehe, we usually find that passage halfway up the mountain difficult to walk through. Now that the US troops are going to attack from there, I’m afraid they’ll suffer!”
“That’s right, our brothers in that stronghold are really awesome. If they hadn’t fought to the death to stop the enemy, maybe the U.S. military would have attacked now!”
The German defenders on the top of the mountain saw that their artillery was so powerful that it killed and injured hundreds of enemies at once, directly resolving this wave of enemy attacks. Their morale was immediately boosted, and their confidence in holding their positions increased a bit!
When the U.S. military launched the attack, the defenders were actually very panicked. They were located at a considerable distance from the main force of the German army, and they were still located in the mountains. Even if friendly forces wanted to support them, they could not arrive in a short time. So, when they saw large groups of U.S. troops rushing up, they were a little desperate! However, what happened next was something they never expected!
Even though their number was small and it was extremely difficult to rescue them, the German headquarters still did not give up on them. Not only did they send several air forces to support them at the first time, but they also mobilized airborne troops to help!
This battle had already become a tragic war of attrition. , the precious treasures of the military, such as the airborne troops, have been thrown into this meat grinder. This shows that General Manstein and the Empire attach great importance to them. The Empire has never given up on them!
This is the biggest motivation to support these soldiers to fight alone until now!
After all, the troops stationed in Morganton are not the direct troops of the German army, but the troops from the Southern Army. Their combat effectiveness and will are not as good as the regular German army. It is very difficult to persist until now. If they are not provided with strong backing support, they may really collapse!
However, this battle has achieved unexpected results. Through this battle, the Southern Army deeply felt that the Empire treated them equally and did not give up on them just because they were not direct descendants, leaving them to fend for themselves!
Since the Empire treats them like this, what reason do they have not to fight to the death!
The US military quickly figured out what was going on with the artillery fire that attacked them!
“Mortar! Judging from the power and firing speed, it must be a mortar!”
The artillery commander of the US Army carefully observed the German positions with a telescope, but did not see any obvious artillery positions.
Generally speaking, if there is no artillery position, such a neat volley cannot be fired, unless the enemy is not using conventional artillery, but another kind of artillery – mortar!
Mortars are different from conventional artillery. They are very small and light. Mortars with a caliber of less than 80 mm can even be directly equipped to infantry as squad-level accompanying infantry support firepower.
This kind of artillery does not require a large area of artillery positions. They only need a small area to fire, and the mortar has a very fast firing rate, firing more than a dozen shells per minute. It is a common occurrence. If you encounter a skilled veteran, it is possible to fire dozens or even hundreds of shells in a minute!
Therefore, only seven or eight mortars, coupled with a few qualified mortar gunners, can fire a volley like the one just now.
After figuring this out, the artillery commander of the US Army was obviously relieved.
He clearly felt the anger in Admiral Pershing’s heart. Facing such a small stronghold, and the defenders inside were not regular German troops, but the group of traitors of the Southern Army, the US Army dispatched an entire division, attacked for eight hours, and paid the price of more than 4,000 casualties. As a result, this stronghold has not been captured until now. This is really unacceptable.!
And as Admiral Pershing’s first battle after his comeback, he certainly didn’t want to fail here. If he returned to the White House with a failure, then what awaited him would surely be the sarcasm and doubts of the crowd!
So, he couldn’t afford to lose!
In this situation, the U.S. military was trembling with fear, fearing that they would not do well and allow Admiral Pershing to seize the opportunity to vent his anger. No one wanted to be his punching bag.
If the enemy’s conventional artillery was not destroyed, then the responsibility really lay with the artillery commander of the U.S. Army. Artillery is the best anti-artillery weapon because of its great power and long range. So as long as the enemy’s artillery position was discovered and the artillery on our side could reach it, then it would definitely be the first Attack the enemy’s artillery as soon as possible.
From this point of view, he has actually completed his mission. The German artillery has indeed been killed by him. As for the remaining mortars, that is not a problem he can solve. The enemy’s mortars are hidden in every corner, and they are light and easy to carry. There is no fixed position. Unless their shells have eyes, it is impossible to completely destroy the enemy’s mortars!
If Admiral Pershing used this reason to blame him, he would definitely not accept it!
Fortunately, Admiral Pershing did not do so. On the contrary, he was very curious:”If it is a mortar, why didn’t the defenders use it before, and had to use it at this time?”
Although the mortar is not as powerful as conventional artillery, it is still a kind of artillery after all. It can provide some artillery support for the infantry. Mortars are still capable of doing these tasks.
So he was puzzled why the Germans did not use them before. Did the Germans deliberately keep them until now, waiting for this moment to take action?