"Chief, you go back to headquarters first! I'll stay here and observe, see what tricks the British are up to!" Logan suggested to Lindemann.
Face is important, but one must distinguish the occasion. Lindemann didn't hesitate and nodded, "Then be careful yourself, Reck. You stay here to assist General Logan in commanding the troops!"
So, except for Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal, who looked remarkably like Tom Cruise, the army staff who came to inspect the front lines quickly followed the boss and left this dangerous frontline.
Logan didn't think much about it either. Since crossing to this era, he has been at the forefront of the battle many times. Although his rank has risen several levels now, he hasn't lost the courage of a newcomer who isn't afraid of tigers.
Under the command of the officers, the German soldiers in the trenches had already entered their firing positions. Looking around, the paratroopers with short-brimmed helmets mixed with the army soldiers wearing large-brimmed helmets, indistinguishable from each other.
As the enemy infantry appeared on the other side of the small river, the heavy and light machine guns on the German position opened fire first. Several different machine guns roared in unison, like the instruments in an orchestra coordinating to compose a rich concerto.
Dark red bullets and white tracer rounds formed an impenetrable curtain of fire in front of the position. Many figures wearing khaki uniforms hadn't even crossed the stream before they were knocked down. Then, the infantry cannons and mortars behind the German positions also opened fire one after another. Bullets of all sizes whistled through the air from above the position, blasting up large chunks of turf, mud, and bloody limbs on the originally lush green grassland.
Even Logan, who had participated in many brutal battles, couldn't help but look away from the periscope in the face of such monotonous and brutal slaughter. Deep in the trenches, soldiers had to stand on steps dug out beforehand or platforms made of empty ammunition boxes to fire towards the front. Some soldiers carried ammunition boxes back and forth, replacing empty ones with full ones next to machine gun positions. And next to each machine gun, one or two soldiers were responsible for supplying ammunition, taking out strings of bullets from the ammunition boxes. The German MG34 used metal ammunition belts, while the Maxim and Vickers machine guns used fabric belts. As for the Bren light machine gun, the ammo handlers had to quickly reload the empty magazine!
"Don't the British realize that such an attack only wastes soldiers' lives in vain?"
Logan found himself puzzled.
Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal didn't appear remorseful due to the ongoing carnage. He replied wisely, "This is war, sir! If we were attacking the British positions, as long as there's hope of victory, we'd continue to assault! I believe the reason why both sides suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties at Verdun in 1916 is exactly for this reason!"
In the history of the Great War, the "Meat Grinder of Verdun" was notorious. Logan had visited the site before, a small fortress area that soaked the blood of 540,000 French and 430,000 German soldiers. Even if lined up in dense formations, they would fill the entire Verdun.
Logan was about to say something when the phone in the command post rang. The lieutenant captain who had been standing by picked up the phone, "Yes, sir, this is Paul, what? Reserve troops? Understood!"
Hanging up the phone, he shouted to his deputy, "Quick, Anka, take the 3rd platoon to the southern position!"
"What's going on?" Although Logan was the deputy commander of the campaign, at this moment, he was only inspecting and not fully integrated into the battlefield command system. Besides, he was tasked with coordinating the navy and air force, while the army still directly fell under the command of General Lindemann - this also reflected the importance of the German army in the entire defense force system.
The lieutenant captain replied promptly, "Sir, the 3rd-11th position in the south was hit hard by British artillery fire, and the regimental command ordered us to reinforce the reserve!"
"Oh!" Logan glanced southward, seeing a group of fully armed army soldiers sprinting along the trenches, but he couldn't see the actual situation of that position.
"It's all right, sir, we have mobile tanks nearby. The British won't break through the defense line so easily!" Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal comforted.
"Humph! I know that!" Logan turned back to the periscope. By now, the British infantry had crossed the river, but the closer they got to the German positions, the stronger the resistance they faced. However, on the opposite bank of the river, British machine guns were also deployed. The gunners took cover behind bushes, mounds, or shell craters, firing at the Germans. The bullets from the other side whizzed past, and in the German trenches, the medics began to get busy.
"Uh, what... what units are those?" Logan suddenly noticed some soldiers who weren't wearing Stahlhelm helmets. They were dressed in khaki uniforms with large turbans on their heads. Their skin color couldn't be discerned from a distance, but they were quite different from the typical British mainland troops or second-line militias.
Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal went over to take a look, "Hmm... They should be colonial troops, African or Indian colonial troops! But... this is the British mainland! They seem to have never appeared on the British mainland before!"
"Indian Sikhs?" Logan couldn't help but stroke his chin. In his own timeline, Sikhs had a certain advantage in electronics, but they had made some embarrassing mistakes in weapon localization. They had advanced rockets, but stumbled when it came to walking steadily. Besides being the world's top military power, they were probably the most talkative too!
The lieutenant colonel observed the people carefully for a while, "Hmm, judging from the skin color, they should be Asians! It could be Indian Sikh troops. They're said to be brave and loyal to the British Empire for a long time... General, having colonies is better than not having them. You see, when the crisis comes, they can still draw a large number of troops from federal countries and colonies around the world!"
Logan didn't continue the conversation with the young officer. Instead, he wondered why the British would bring Indian colonial troops at this time. Ideally, Italy had already launched an offensive in Africa, and the British didn't have many troops in Africa to begin with. Faced with the mighty Italian expeditionary force, colonial troops drawn from Southeast Asia should have been sent to East Africa and North Africa. In that case, did the British intend to abandon Africa and focus on defending the mainland?
"General, General! Look at that flag in the south, that's a Canadian unit!"
"Oh? The troops from federal countries have all arrived?" Logan approached the periscope, but unfortunately, as a newly promoted Air Force Major General, he wasn't an expert on flags. For him, Canada was represented by the maple leaf flag. The flag with a red background and a golden emblem on the battlefield looked a bit like the Spanish flag.
"This indicates that the British are still determined to defend the mainland, isn't it?" Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal frowned, resembling "Tom Cruise".
"Not necessarily!" Logan suddenly had a flash of insight, "If Britain has both mainland troops and colonial troops, when the great retreat comes, which ones will they retreat first?"
Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal was stunned, "Of course, it would be the mainland troops! Are you saying... the British plan to retreat?"
Logan shook his head, "That may only be their last resort. The outcome of the Battle of Britain has not yet been determined. It's reasonable for them to make a last stand! However... I'm personally curious about how much of the staggering wealth that the British Empire has plundered from around the world over the centuries has yet to be transported away!"
"Countless!" Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal said, "There are quite a few in the Cardiff National Museum and Cardiff Cathedral. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to loot some before the British own naval guns turned them into ruins!"
For those two small "treasuries," Logan also had a small regret: if the British H Fleet had arrived a day later, he should have been able to deploy some soldiers to move some of the precious cultural relics!
The machine guns on the German positions were still roaring tirelessly, treating British mainland troops, federal troops, and colonial troops equally in the face of bullets. Although the British infantry guns were accurate and fierce, the attacking forces still failed to tear open a breakthrough in the German positions. After nearly an hour of stalemate, without the deployment of mobile tank forces by the Germans, the British voluntarily withdrew.
Looking back at the front of the position, the grassland was no longer the lush, watery green but had turned into a pitted mud pool. Hundreds of bodies in khaki uniforms were left in various poses on both sides of the river. Blood mixed with mud presented a nauseating purplish color, and military caps, canteens, and firearms were scattered all over the ground. Some wounded soldiers were still struggling, convulsing, and groaning helplessly.
With Lieutenant Colonel von Kinsal, Logan walked slowly in the German trenches. The intense battle had also caused casualties among the German officers and soldiers. Some shelters were directly hit by British artillery fire. Broken helmets, blood-stained cloth strips, and some blurry flesh looked horrifying. The heavy panting and painful cries made people feel heavy-hearted.
In a shelter with a periscope, Logan stopped and looked out. British medics wearing white "armbands" and red cross fabric covers appeared on the battlefield, using stretchers to carry away the seriously wounded, and carrying some lightly wounded personnel down on their shoulders. On the German positions, the officers and soldiers who had experienced the fierce battle just silently watched this tragic scene. From a humanitarian perspective, shooting at medical personnel and wounded soldiers was not allowed; from a strategic perspective, having more wounded soldiers meant that the enemy would have to spend more manpower and resources to take care of them.
Suddenly, a melodious bagpipe sounded.
Listening to this sound, Logan suddenly remembered "Braveheart". What was particularly impressive in the movie was the melancholic and ethereal Scottish bagpipe, carrying a strong sense of sorrow. After the fierce battle, it sounded even more ethereal and melancholic, as if the souls of the fallen were weeping in grief.