In the summer of 1914, the fully mobilized German team was well-organized and equipped, and the number of combatants of each active infantry division was basically close to or exceeding 20,000. Under normal circumstances, each German infantry division consisted of 2 brigades and several battalion-level direct units, each brigade included 2 regiments, each regiment contained 4 battalions, each battalion contained 4 companies, and each company contained 2-3 platoons. A full-sized infantry battalion usually consisted of 700-800 soldiers, and was equipped with Ruger pistols and Mauser rifles. Some elite infantry battalions may also be equipped with Maderson light machine guns or 1-2 machine gun groups equipped with mg08 water-cooled heavy machine guns.

After the early battle consumption, when they launched a counterattack with friendly and neighboring troops to the French team that threatened their own traffic lines, the combatants of the infantry battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Otziger were less than 600. The 22nd Infantry Division of the German Army assembled 3 infantry battalions this time and received support from a 77mm field artillery company and a heavy machine gun company. Compared with the French infantry regiment opposite the battlefield, which had lost most of the horses in the attack, the German army had a relatively advantage in troop strength, while the field artillery fire was at a disadvantage.

If we infer from the previous offensive and defensive effects of both sides, the German offensive situation is also not optimistic. However, like the opponent, the German commander was full of confidence before the dust of this battle was settled and thought he was sure to win, so he issued an offensive order without hesitation.

Accompanied by the rumbling sound of 77mm caliber field artillery, three battalions of more than 2,000 German infantry crossed the road and entered the field on the side of the French army. Although this area was within the effective range of the French field artillery, perhaps to show the fearlessness of the soldiers, or to cheer themselves up, these German soldiers held their heads, raised their chests, and shoulder to shoulder with their companions. Such a compact formation is not wiser than the French.

After the opponent's guns fired, the German officials began to order their troops to change into combat storm-form. In recent years' exercises, the German General Staff not only realized the important role of machine guns, but also saw the disadvantages of traditional infantry clusters in front of artillery fire and machine guns. Therefore, they decisively gave up the linear array of the flintlock era and changed to a sesame-style scattered formation. Although they failed to achieve infantry tactical innovation in one step, they were already quite good compared to the French's rigidity.

After the formation of scattered troops was spread out, the German officers and soldiers of these three battalions still advanced steadily at normal marching speed. Each French artillery shell that fell into the target area could cause more than a dozen casualties. Moreover, the terrifying thing about the French 75mm field rapid-fire guns is that they can fire a burst rate of 12-15 rounds per minute. In terms of lethality, a French artillery company with 4 Type 1897 field guns was able to smash a German infantry regiment exposed to the open fields in just 10 minutes.

In the Mons and Sambur Rivers in northeast France, in the Ardennes and the Maas River areas, the German troops in the attack had tasted the power of French field rapid-fire artillery many times. The collapse of the entire battalion and regiment was not an isolated case, but the situation of victory gradually blinded the eyes of many German commanders, who had not yet truly realized the fatality of this tactical weapon.

After moving forward for about five hundred meters, the three German infantry battalions had killed two or three hundred people under the bombardment of enemy artillery. The numbers were probably the same. The "seeds" scattered in the fields were no longer as even as they were at the beginning. Some soldiers and soldiers were still relatively close, while others became too loose under the deterrence of enemy artillery fire. In the telescope, Xia Shu saw that the situation of Lieutenant Colonel Otziger's battalion was quite stable. The distance between the soldiers and their companions was roughly maintained at about five steps and the tactical arrangement temporarily conveyed was of such execution. The quality of the officers and soldiers was indeed commendable.

The sight moved forward, and at the junction of hills and open fields, more than a thousand French infantry were waiting for the Germans to enter the range of gunfire. They did not dig individual bunkers in defense like German infantry, not because they were completely ignorant of this, but because the top French troops over-emphasized attack in tactical terms and always felt that bayonets were more useful than anything else, so French soldiers usually did not carry military shovels in marching, and rifles and bayonets were obviously not used to dig fortifications.

From a distance, the French infantry were roughly divided into two rows. The front row was crawling on the ground, ready to shoot in a lying position; the back row was on one knee and fired in a squat position at any time. In the Tsarist Russian War ten years ago and the Balkan War two years ago, all parties engaged in battles using the same or similar combat modes in battle, but it was essentially still part of the Napoleonian era. In fact, after more than a hundred years of changes, the range, rate of fire and accuracy of firearms have been greatly improved. Although volleyball shooting can severely kill and injure the invading enemies, it cannot effectively protect its officers and soldiers in the enemy's offensive shooting.

His eyes temporarily left the telescope, and Xia Shu turned his head, and the only Hubert 13 tracked chariot was parked not far away.

"Can you set out?" he asked loudly.

The Navy First Class, who was the commander of the chariot, stood beside the chariot, and he replied simply: "As long as you want."

Xia Shu raised her thumb and said, "Go!"

The three crew members immediately got into the cabin, and the chariot immediately rang out a low engine roar. The summer heat was hot, and there was no need to heat the car. The driver seemed a little excited. The chariot started a little fiercely. It suddenly trembled forward and made a strange noise. Fortunately, the overall situation was not damaged. After a little adjustment, the chariot moved forward steadily and ran for a distance before it started to accelerate. Although the chariot of this primary model was not domineering and mighty enough, and the off-road speed was only a pitiful dozen kilometers per hour, not as fast as the horses, but watching its rolling tracks raise dust and listening to the unique metal friction sound, Xia Shu was very proud. He knew that there would be one day in the future, the chariot sprayed with the iron cross logo would turn into an unstoppable torrent of steel, crushing through all obstacles that blocked the empire.

When the single-shaped crawler chariot drove to the French position at about twice the speed of walking, the three German infantry battalions had passed the densest parts of the French corpses. These German soldiers wearing pointed helmets ignored the falling shells and maintained steady marching speed. Even if their companions fell, few people would look back. This kind of courageous temperament continued from the age of flintlocks and was close to the end.

Xia Shu's eyes returned to the telescope. In his sight, the Ultraziger Battalion on the right side of the offensive force had been divided into four obvious echelons, each echelon was an infantry company, and the infantry platoons to which each infantry company also had a certain distance between each other. Although there was such a gap, the Ultraziger Battalion did not seem to be looser than the two neighboring battalions. In Xia Shu's eyes, such an offensive formation was obviously more orderly than "scattering sesame seeds evenly".

After crossing the center of the battlefield, the German infantry gradually approached the range of the French ammunition. In previous offensive operations, the French army did not put machine guns, but this did not mean that they were not equipped with machine guns. When World War I broke out, the French team had equipped the Hatchets air-cooled heavy machine guns developed and produced by their country. Their equipment was not as large as the German mg08, but their combat performance was not inferior. However, the French senior executives listed this excellent combat equipment and heavy artillery as defensive weapons, rather than supporting the attack like the 75mm field rapid-fire cannon.

According to non-professionals like Xia Shu, there were still about 1,200 active forces in the German offensive troops at this time, because the German field artillery also killed some French infantry, and the attacking side still maintained a weak advantage in terms of number of people, but with the different nature of offense and defense, such advantages are difficult to transform into victory. If the French team in front of us were determined to stick to the end, the German troops might not be able to capture the French positions, let alone expel the French artillery.

The Western Front in history was a battle in the Western Front that you could not defeat and I could not defeat and lasted for four years until the Allies fell down due to lack of resources.

Natsuki placed half of his hopes on the tracked chariot that was riding solo, and the other half was on the Ultraziger camp using the new tactics.

Before the German troops could fully enter the range, the French infantry rushed to fire. Smokeless gunpowder was not really completely free of gunpowder. The French team suddenly dotted and lit up in pieces on the front line, and the roar of machine guns sounded without surprise. Immediately afterwards, the sound of cannons that had been silent behind the French positions sounded again. The four 75mm field rapid-fire cannons that had been hidden behind the hills appeared on the hills. They lowered the muzzle and bombed the German infantry with shrapnel. In the era of flintlock, cannons using shrapnel played a role similar to machine guns, and swept the enemy infantry within the effective range. The advancement of technology made the power of the new cannons several times higher than before. Even if the German infantry dispersed their formation, there would be more than a dozen or twenty casualties in one shot. The deterioration speed of German combatants increased sharply.

Before entering the range of gun-bombs, the two German infantry battalions used the old tactics had accelerated the attack. The officers held pistols and soldiers held rifles and ran forward in well-trained pace. At the beginning, they were trotting. When the dense gun-bombs came towards them, some soldiers in the front row were constantly shot and fell down. The remaining soldiers ran quickly under the double power of victory and survival, and fired while running, and some temporarily stopped and aimed at shooting, but overall, the suppression firepower of advancing was very limited.

Untrained and hastily used new tactics, the infantry battalion of Ultraziger seemed a little chaotic at this time. The pressure of death on the battlefield at any time made many soldiers forget their pre-war deployment and rushed forward. Many officers also seemed at a loss at this time. Fortunately, these people did not account for the majority. After entering the range of French guns and bullets, the four infantry companies began to advance alternately, and the platoons also gave up the formation of advancing together and instead covered each other.

In this way, although the overall propulsion speed of the Ultraziger Battalion was slower than that of the other two battalions, it could organize more effective shootings in front of the French front. As the two mg-08s were successively put into battle, the firepower of the French army opposite was greatly suppressed. One was rising and the other was getting worse, and the offensive resistance of the Ultraziger Battalion continued to decrease. The infantry saw that the enemy front was already in front of them, and finally roared a charge under the guidance of a sharp whistle.
Chapter completed!