Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 61 Sneak attack!

The situation in Belfort is different from that in Mulhouse.

Because of the Farlans' offensive plan, there are not many people living in Belfort at present.

Most of those who remain in Belfort are civilians who are working to maintain the normal operation of Belfort and provide services to the troops - most of them are female workers.

It is true that there were some people who originally wanted to escape, but Farlan was in unrest these days. Instead of taking the risk of escaping, it was better to stay at home honestly.

Then the guy who took the lead in proposing this idea was blown into the sky by Ryan's artillery with a 150mm cannon.

The shells fell like raindrops on every corner of Belfort almost indiscriminately, and there was no intact brick left wherever they passed.

Many of the soldiers who were still sleeping died directly in this wave of continuous shelling, and the remaining ones who were injured huddled in the ruins created by the shells, using their cries to attack the psychological defenses of the survivors.

The soldiers of the Farlan First Army were already confused at this moment.

Except for a small number of elite troops, the rest were almost all in a state of disorganization and chaos.

The situation in the temporary command post on the front line is relatively good.

Because the first batch of combat troops were just being mobilized, Damon was lucky not to return to his bedroom in a residential building - a 150mm grenade had just penetrated the bedroom window and was now flying into the sky.

"Why did the Imperials suddenly launch an artillery attack?!"

He stood outside the command post, holding his hat with one hand, leaning against the exit of the alley with only his head exposed, and asked one of his staff officers.

The staff officer was so frightened that he even forgot to check the intelligence and just shouted: "I don't know, they opened fire suddenly!"

This made Damon immediately realize that the guys under his command were unreliable.

"You must organize everyone immediately," he shouted at the staff officer, grabbing his shoulder with one hand. "Let all the troops that can still move out of the city of Belfort. It is best to move west or north. Do you understand?"

There's nothing wrong with such a small thing.

The staff officer immediately saluted in response, turned around and disappeared into the dark alley.

This made Damon feel relieved, but he immediately went back to the headquarters.

There are still several staff officers in charge of night work who have not left.

Even though the artillery fire outside was deafening, they still stood at their posts, but their work had shifted from confirming the composition of the Imperial Army's forces to changing how to deploy artillery on the battlefield.

But Damon thought these people were talking nonsense.

"Call me to artillery headquarters!"

he cursed.

"I want to see artillery arrive at Belfort from fifteen kilometers away within the hour! Damn it, the Empire is about to hit us in the face, and our artillery hasn't even set up artillery positions on the front line that can directly hit the Empire!"

The familiar staff officer immediately handed the phone to Damon. Damon didn't care about the identity of the person on the other end of the phone and just started cursing again.

Then, he moved closer to the battlefield sand table and asked a major whose clothes were decorated with gold trim, "What's the current situation?"

"Very bad, sir."

The major shook his head and took out a pendant from his pocket. Then, many numbers surrounded by black frames appeared on the sand table.

These numbers were scattered in every corner of Belfort, with only a few outside Belfort, and the words on them were the same - they were all combat troops that had just been sent out to carry out missions.

The major pointed to the distance, which happened to be the location of Ryan's artillery position. "The enemy defense force seems to have deployed heavy artillery. The current position is very tricky, just right to hit us, but we can't hit them because of the trajectory of the ballistic missile."

"Perhaps it's because the troops we sent earlier made so much noise. In short, we've completely lost all the prerequisites for an offensive." "General Louis Bonnot hasn't received any orders yet, but our suggestion is to gather as many remaining troops as possible, regroup outside the city, and return to Belfort after the bombardment ends."

Then the major was pushed aside by Damon.

Damon knew better than anyone that they could no longer carry out their attack plan on the Vosges Mountains as they had previously thought.

But precisely because of this, he understood that he could not retreat even a single step now.

"The Imperial bombardment is a deterrent."

Damon said: "Their artillery bombardment frequency seems high, but in fact, only two or three large-caliber artillery pieces can cause damage. This is not enough to pose a threat to us."

This is what he judged from the sound of the explosion.

The explosions of the Empire's large-caliber artillery and small-caliber artillery grenades made completely different sounds and were easy to distinguish.

"Pass my order, have all troops gather in areas that have not yet been hit by artillery fire."

A messenger immediately rushed out of the command post with his rifle.

Immediately afterwards, the Farlan Army's assembly call sounded outside.

The panic sounds that were originally audible disappeared almost immediately. The chaotic yet orderly sound of footsteps even drowned out the sound of 77mm grenade explosions. It appeared from the east of the command post and disappeared to the west.

Damon could see that many figures in the bombarded area were moving around the command post, which meant that the order was effective.

"Then, have everyone disperse inside Belfort to facilitate their search for their own troops."

The order was conveyed immediately, and after seven or eight minutes, the numbers on the sand table became neat.

But many are still moving.

All in all, there are probably two or three groups.

But that's enough.

The assembled troops were as large as six regiments.

For Damon at the moment, it is completely sufficient.

"Have the assembled infantry regiments leave the western ring road and move to the south."

Damon continued to give orders.

"Are we going to launch an attack?" A staff officer made an inopportune sound, interrupting Damon's thoughts.

But Damon didn't care.

He nodded in agreement, but added, "Once we're assembled, we'll charge towards the Rhine, not the battlefield."

"The enemy's attacks were launched from both sides of the battle line, which shows that they didn't have a large number of troops deployed on the front line. The trenches had been destroyed in previous battles, so they wouldn't send troops to charge."

"We must cross the Rhine from the south and flank the Imperial front!"

"In this way, the Empire's artillery bombardment will not pose any substantial threat to us!"

"After the troops have assembled, they will launch an assault on the Empire's right wing under the cover of darkness."

"As long as the troops can push up, the 150mm artillery on the mountain will be useless."

(End of this chapter)