Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 44: Draft! I'm a friendly force, don't hit me!
The vanguard of the Farlans was let go.

This made the people in the second battalion very unhappy.

As the local garrison of Mulhouse, the 2nd Battalion had been responsible for guarding the Rhine Valley in Alsace before the war.

They have been holding grudges against the people from the first episode of Farlan for a long time, but they have never had the opportunity to vent them.

But they were now eating the food given by Ryan, so they could only vent their anger verbally.

Similarly, Ryan also knew that these guys were waiting to take the heads of the Farlans, and since he was an airborne commander, he did not pursue the matter.

However, the battalion commander of the second battalion was still very sensible.

He first scolded his complaining subordinates severely on the phone, and then assured Ryan that he would not let his subordinates open fire first - unless the Farlans took action first.

Ryan was very satisfied with this. Then he looked through the map and telescope and saw that a group of about 500 Farlans, almost half a battalion, had gathered together and were preparing to retreat.

At this time, about half an hour had passed since the first squad was released. Ryan could confirm from the map that this group of guys were passing through the front-line trenches that had not yet been completed.

They only had to go another mile to break through the imperial lines and reach the borders of the empire.

This made Ryan take another look at the map.

Unlike before, this time the map gave the exact time it would take for the Farlan soldiers to leave the imperial territory - twenty minutes.

Outside Mulhouse, at the location of the third trench, the other two Farlander infantry regiments also began to retreat.

Those soldiers who were blocked at the edge of Mulhouse city were definitely unable to retreat. The firepower network that Brian learned from Ryan was arranged very densely, enough to instantly eliminate all the guys who showed up.

But the Farlans behind seemed ready to abandon their friendly forces in front, and they retreated at an incredible speed.

"It's about time, right?"

Brinkman, also holding a telescope, stood beside Ryan. She patted Ryan's arm and pointed at the map below, holding a small light bulb connected to a battery by copper wire. "As long as the Farlans retreat to the second line of defense, our artillery can begin to attack... but the effect may be less."

The second line of defense was a formal defensive fortification built before the war. The trenches were three meters deep and built in a standard Z-shape horizontally. They could effectively withstand attacks from artillery with a caliber of 200mm or even 300mm or above. It was the main battle line originally envisioned by the empire.

"There's no need to be so late."

Ren shook his head.

As he spoke, he looked at the FK.96 field gun beside him.

"Prepare the gun, load armor-piercing shells, and fire the next grenade."

Upon hearing the order, the loaders almost immediately took out two shells, skillfully stuffed them into the barrel, and then retreated to a place twenty meters away.

The gunner first kept shaking the handle, aiming the artillery at the position of the third line of defense command post, then pulled a rope, squatted in a corner not far away, and looked at Ryan.

Ryan raised his right hand high, held the telescope in his left hand, and looked in the direction he was aiming at.

A big wave of your hand!
"Fire!!"

A deafening roar was accompanied by intense flames, and the dust that was raised almost immediately covered the ground in front of the muzzle.

Ryan felt the ground beneath his feet shake violently, and then he saw a yellow projectile whizzing through the air. After flying for seven or eight seconds, it landed precisely above the central command post of the third line of defense.

Through the telescope, Ryan could clearly see that the sandbags on top of the command post were blown to the side, and a thick smoke rushed out of the trench, but no fire was seen.

But it doesn't matter.

Because in the next second, the second artillery several kilometers away also fired a shell.

The artillery piece was equipped only with grenades, and it accurately fired the grenades into the trench at the entrance of the command post.

Their position allowed them to see all the important trenches of the third line of defense, and grenades were simply their best weapon. As the first shell hit its target, the artillery crew, dispersed to prevent the barrel from exploding, immediately surrounded their guns, ejected the scalding shell casings, prodded the barrels with pig bristle brushes, and then stuffed the second grenade in.

The gunner readjusted the direction and then fired the cannon again.

The grenade drew an arc that was more curved than an armor-piercing bullet and flew for more than ten seconds, but it still accurately hit the location of the command post.

Now Ryan saw a ball of flame bursting out of the trench.

He even saw several long and thin objects blown into the sky, and he didn't know whose arms or thighs they were.

Similarly, such an artillery attack almost completely destroyed the fighting will of the Farlan army.

In the trenches.

Pierre watched helplessly as his command post was blown up into the sky.

He stood up with difficulty with the help of several non-commissioned officers and looked in the direction where the shells came from.

That was a hillside along the border between the Empire and the Republic. Judging from the distance and angle, it must be our own artillery.

The power of the shells is not great, and the continuous firing speed seems to be more than thirty rounds per minute.

This time Pierre really couldn't hold it anymore.

He almost cursed in front of hundreds of soldiers.

"Fuck the artillery regiment!"

"You guys are fucking hitting friendly forces! You're a bunch of idiots!"

But at this distance, there was no way his words could reach Ryan's ears.

What's more, Ryan is not his ally - he didn't hit the wrong person at all, he hit you.

The artillery was still firing, and for a moment, the trenches that were originally lit by torches immediately became the best targets for the artillery.

The two FK.96 field guns began to continuously sweep out the Farlanders stationed in the trenches along the lights, almost as if calling a roll call.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments lost unity in an instant. The soldiers rushed out of the trenches in a panic, but because of the bright flames and flares, they became the target of the Imperial machine gunners in the city of Mulhouse.

The situation on the battlefield instantly changed from the easy attack of the Farlans on the morning of August 8 to a massacre of the Farlan army. No Farlan soldier could stand on the battlefield for more than three seconds without being targeted by the Empire's firepower. They were pinned to the ground by firepower from both the front and the back, and could only try their best to keep their bodies pressed to the ground, praying that the shells and bullets would not fall on their heads.

Some smart and nimble soldiers imitated the actions of the Second Infantry Regiment and crawled away from the Imperial trenches into the night.

Seeing this, the others immediately followed suit, ignoring their rifles and even the bright red-topped, blue-rimmed military caps, and just wanted to rush into the trenches in front as quickly as possible.

at last.

After half an hour.

Most of them entered the most perfect trench dug by the Empire.

In the Vosges Mountains.

Ryan took the microphone handed to him by the communicator.

he said.

"Artillery Regiment, prepare, the prey is in the net."

(End of this chapter)