Chapter 388: Defense Training

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After crossing the defensive line, Wesley first ordered the ten divisions to set off. However, they did not take over the defensive line immediately. Instead, they began to build a complete second and third line of defense behind the first line of defense. Although there were also fortifications here, in Wesley’s opinion, they were trash.

The American soldiers became groundhogs and diligently began to dig. The results of all the training were displayed here, and after the ten divisions completed the defense line, they entered the second line of defense to rest.

On the night of September 20, 1917, the follow-up troops quietly entered the first line of defense and replaced the original British and French soldiers. Then, they began to rebuild the trenches. A large number of logs were sent to the first line of defense, and a large number of soldiers entered the fortifications to be built. The sappers were constantly transporting logs.

The next morning, the defensive position here was quiet. The German troops began to observe the situation on the other side. The commotion last night was not small. They thought that the enemy was ready to attack, but now it was silent. This made them very depressed, and the tension had been spreading.

Wesley deployed 50 divisions of troops and 10 heavy artillery brigades to the Somme River defense line. The first line of defense consisted of 10 divisions. Although the U.S. military had only 12,500 personnel in one division, which was more than half the number in other countries, the automatic weapons, equipment, and artillery were all stronger than them, especially in defense.

The problem now was that these soldiers were all new recruits, and Wesley needed to hone them. The daily shelling of both sides was the best training, especially the quality of first-line officers.

He divided all the troops into four corps. He kept ten divisions as reserves, and the heavy artillery brigade was divided into two corps each.

On the front line, Wesley was observing through binoculars. Now he needed to understand the enemy lines, but there was nothing new when he saw them. They were all old trenches from World War I. Many soldiers had been here for almost two years and they were exhausted.

Returning to the rear command post, Wesley directly ordered six heavy artillery brigades to concentrate their artillery on the enemy’s front line. The new 155mm howitzer directly bombarded the local position, while the new 120mm howitzer bombarded the front of the local position. The carpet was a bombardment that destroyed the local minefield area.

Wesley’s defensive position was only twenty kilometers of defensive line, which was neither much nor little. Six of the heavy artillery brigades would be engaged in a week-long artillery bombardment, while the remaining four were ready to defend against the enemy’s artillery counterattack, and the hidden front was closer.

The first cannon opened fire, and then hundreds of heavy artillery guns were fired at the farthest distance. Explosions began to occur continuously in the local positions. Wesley used carpet-style artillery fire, which was more demanding for artillery fire. The artillery observers in the front line kept sending back data, and the artillery began to adjust.

The Germans were confused by the sudden bombardment, but they did not expect the other side to attack. This was the norm on the defensive line, especially this spring offensive. Britain and France had suffered heavy losses. Although the Americans had come, would the Americans attack directly?

The German artillery began to counterattack, but it was not very effective. However, the counterattack that greeted them was devastating. Wesley’s 155mm howitzer had a maximum attack range of 18 kilometers and was deployed 16 kilometers from the local position. There were many large-caliber artillery pieces during World War I, but range was a problem.

They could only bombard the front line. Immediately after, the four heavy artillery brigades lying in ambush began to clear the area. This caught the Germans off guard. The range of the enemy’s artillery was too far.

Wesley observed the effects of the artillery battle and was satisfied. “Not bad. Last for a week. Let the artillery units take their own chances. Every artillery bombardment has to be extended, and at the same time, the troops have to constantly change to feel the effects of the bombardment. All soldiers have to get used to the bombardment roar for a week.”

Wesley asked his adjutant to relay the order and then returned to the back to check on the situation of the supplies. Because there were not as many troops as in the parallel universe, all the transportation began to guarantee ammunition and supplies from the North Sea. A large number of destroyers and light cruisers began to serve, giving the sea route a guarantee.

The listening is very rough now. For warships equipped with sonar, they are like bright lights under the sea, especially since the United States Navy has currently sunk more than 20 submarines.

Gathering all the commanders again, Wesley deployed the battle plan for a week later. “The First Army will attack on the morning of September 27th. The heavy artillery brigade will be the first to fire. The First Army will concentrate three divisions and launch a breakthrough at three parallel points. The follow-up forces will tear open the hole at the point and expand it.”

“The First Army is responsible for attacking all the way forward. What I want is speed. You must maintain the speed and keep moving forward. You are not allowed to stop without orders.” The commander of the First Army is an older major general. They are all major generals and brigadier generals here. There is not even one lieutenant general. Such a strange thing is really rare.

“The task of the 2nd Army, after the 1st Army breaks through, you are responsible for their right wing. You have to break through the attack like the right wing, but don’t attack too deeply. You have to let the Germans understand that their overall western line has been broken through, causing their rear flank or sending troops to defend.”

“Third Army, follow the First Army forward. If they don’t stop, you can’t stop. Once the First Army attacks smoothly and keeps moving forward, you have to supplement their right-wing defense line. Your two corps can bear up to 20 kilometers of the right-wing defense line.”

“The Fourth Army is preparing to deploy a defensive line 30 kilometers behind the local position. The engineer brigade will assist the heavy artillery brigade to move forward. The divisional artillerymen have to make use of the advantage of mobility, especially the advantage of small-caliber mortars and 75mm rapid-fire cannons at the front line. They will use the short-term firepower advantage to make the enemy unable to fight back. They can only keep retreating and use automatic weapons to effectively kill the enemy’s active forces.”

“The 5th Group Army is in the middle reserve and will bring two heavy artillery brigades with me and be ready to support the battle at any time. The characteristic of this battle is that it is fast. All the participating countries have a problem, and that is that their equipment is heavy. Whether it is their weapons or uniforms, they are all abnormally heavy. This is the problem that we avoid when we form troops.”

“Why did we form the new army? Our equipment is light and simple, especially troops below the regiment level. It is light, flexible, and has sufficient firepower. On the battlefield where close combat is common, we have a full advantage. Of course, we also have a disadvantage, which is that our soldiers are all new recruits, so you have to pay attention to this point. Let the soldiers constantly fight alternately and let them feel the war, especially the first-line commanders. Once they have an emotional breakdown, they will be dismissed on the spot and promoted.”

“Do you understand?” Wesley glanced around one last time.

“Yes.” War. The stage for soldiers.