Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 57: Not eating actively, there is something wrong with your brain

The truck with larger wheels became much slower than usual.

It took a full three hours to climb the 600-meter-high mountain road, which was 15 kilometers long.

But for the artillerymen from the 14th Army, this was already a terrifying statistic.

This truck, which looked like it was dragging two swollen hind legs, not only easily dragged the ten-ton artillery up the 600-meter-high hillside, but also had enough fuel left for three round trips.

If this was done with the regiment's Malay pullers, we would be thankful if we could pull the cannon up the mountain before midnight!

Not to mention wanting to replenish the ammunition in time afterwards.

For Ryan, being able to complete the towing of three artillery pieces in three hours was a remarkable achievement.

This is because the Vosges Mountains are on the leeward side of the Rhine Valley, with heavy moisture, and it has just rained several times in a row due to the war.

The already muddy dirt road on the hillside absorbed enough water that motorcycles could get stuck inadvertently.

However, the truck with new tires did not get stuck. The only problem was that the smooth tires would occasionally slip in the mud. However, because the artillery weighed ten tons and had sufficient downforce, it was not a big problem.

7pm local time.

Ryan had earlier directed the loader to dig a pit two meters deep and more than thirty meters wide on the reverse slope where the artillery needed to be set up.

The three artillery pieces were quickly moved into their installation positions by trucks and loaders, and the preliminary installation work was completed.

Ryan immediately ordered the loader to use the Esco explosion-proof wall that was delivered to the front line this afternoon to speed up the reinforcement and construction of the artillery position.

The three guns are spaced ten meters apart, separated by a dozen explosion-proof units filled with mud, ensuring that the left and right guns can each cover half of the firing range of the middle gun.

克努伯的K13型150火炮和地球的K16型150几乎是一个东西，左右射界有8度，上下则为-3到+43度。

This type of artillery has an extremely long range, which allows it to be placed in a position far beyond the range of the Farlan artillery to provide artillery support on the battlefield.

The K13 has only one type of shell, which is a basic grenade.

However, there are three different versions of the artillery shells, the difference lies in the initial velocity, ranging from the lowest 550 meters per second to the highest over 700 meters per second, which is basically enough to adapt to combat in most environments.

The maximum range of 24 kilometers is enough to make any infantry unit that wants to destroy this field gun fall into despair.

With a maximum firing rate of three rounds per minute and an extremely long range, the target will be turned into powder to increase the fertility of the soil.

It is worth mentioning that the reason why the First World War in reality developed into trench warfare was mostly because the range of artillery far exceeded the mobility speed of infantry units.

This may be a bit extreme, but the reality is that the infantry's mobility speed cannot allow them to quickly escape the coverage of artillery, so that the war eventually turned into a war of attrition in which the infantry waited to die in the trenches and all combat was left to the artillery.

It's not just ammunition that's consumed.

It also includes the enemy's food, soldiers, and morale.

Whoever's troops can't hold on first will be the one to be swept into the trash can.

The Empire is the country on the entire continent that can least withstand such consumption.

As a land-based country, the empire only has a few usable ports in the North Sea in the north.

But to obtain supplies from these ports, it was necessary to break through the blockade of the fleet from the United Kingdom.

Similarly, on the mainland, the empire found it difficult to obtain sufficient strategic material reserves because it was surrounded by enemies.

As a result, the Empire must force its one-sided enemy to sit down at the negotiating table as quickly as possible and deploy its idle troops to another battlefield.

That’s right, the empire’s strategy is not to completely defeat the enemy, but to rely on the enemy’s request for peace.

But under the influence of modern artillery, this plan of forcing peace talks by force is nothing but a joke.

On the hillside, Ryan, wearing a raincoat, watched the first truck loaded with Type 1 (low initial velocity) ammunition climb up the hillside, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The K13 shells weigh about kilograms, and a truck can carry to shells. This truckload of shells is enough for three artillery pieces to use for a period of time.

Ryan immediately called the scouts of the second battalion and instructed them: "You two, take the people from the fourteenth batch to calculate the various elements. The target is..." He took out a map, drew a circle on the road from Belfort to the imperial border, and wrote a few numbers. This was the range to be measured.

Thanks to the ballistic calculation function of the system map, Ryan had already obtained the approximate artillery coverage range of the three artillery pieces before they were put into position.

The scouts took the map and looked at Ryan with some confusion, and at the precise altitude of the artillery and Belfort that he had marked in the blank space on the side.

They didn't know how Ryan got such precise numbers, but they were smart enough to keep quiet and not ask. After saluting, they turned and walked towards the two artillery lieutenants from Chapter 14, took them on motorcycles, and went to confirm the actual terrain of the front line while looking for signs that could be used to confirm the impact points.

The artillery guys thought that Ryan's troops lacked skilled observers, so they had better make more preparations.

Ryan saw what they were thinking, but he didn't say much.

After all, these guys are the most precious treasures of the empire, so he won't interfere too much and just needs to give orders.

Furthermore, Ryan also felt that he only needed to wait until the next offensive was over to make these young men fully understand the joy of 150mm artillery flat firing.

A victory witnessed with your own eyes is always more exciting than hearing about it from behind.

and.

Just as Ryan completed the command of the artillery position and returned to the hillside ahead where the FK.96 field gun was located, a series of car lights in the distance outside the city of Belfort caught his attention.

"Lieutenant, give me the binoculars."

He immediately called Brinkman, who was still gnawing on a sheep bone. This girl had been busy the whole afternoon after the Second Battalion left. She didn't even have time to eat. All her thoughts and energy were focused on building a new firepower point.

Ryan could see that her pants and clothes were covered in dirt and dust, and there were several blisters on the edges of her palms.

It was obvious that he had been shoveling dirt for the entire afternoon - the Esco explosion-proof wall required manual compaction of the contents.

"Give."

The girl holding the sheep bones and bread immediately lowered her head and bent her waist, looking like a shrimp standing on the ground with two arms.

Ryan thought this was a good thing.

After all, if you are not active in eating, there is something wrong with your brain.

Then he grasped the string of the telescope from behind the girl's neck, unhooked it, and pointed it in the direction of Balfour.

It was already dark, so he immediately followed the car lights to find the group that caught his attention.

They had stopped on the roadside on the east side of Belfort, closer to the battlefield.

The Farlan logistics soldiers standing in a row were busy transporting stacks of supplies. Ryan couldn't see clearly, but he saw an officer in a black and gold uniform grab a stack of black supplies, shake it casually, and it turned into a brand new black cloth as tall as a person.

"broken."

Ryan immediately frowned and thought to himself.

"I accidentally killed the fool, and now Farlan has a smart guy coming up instead."

Some of the Farlans might have discovered that red pants and red hats would make soldiers conspicuous targets, which is not a good thing.

He immediately put down the telescope and shouted, "Where's McIver! Someone call McIver over here!"

Then, a hand was raised from behind a dirt slope about ten meters away. It was McIver: "I'm here, Captain."

Ryan waved his hand and said, "Drive to the rear immediately and bring more white flares for field artillery."

"The Farlanes may attack at night."

"Also, please ask the General Staff and the Intelligence Department to see if the Farlans have changed their commander today."

"Damn, I always feel like this new guy is kind of smart."

(End of this chapter)