Chapter 685 07.684: “Krieg’s Desperate Struggle”

There was a tense and murderous atmosphere in both the front and rear areas of the Siege of Passchendaele-Ypres.

This place is only 256 kilometers away from the central hive group, which has now become a nest of traitors and self-righteous fallen knights.

Outside of its towering city walls, the enemy built several lines of defense.

The first line of defense lay right before Horatio’s eyes. It was a chess front 35 kilometers deep.

Once they successfully capture this place, the imperial army will be able to advance 78 kilometers along the road network to the enemy’s lair and approach the enemy’s central defense line.

After breaking through the central defense line, they can march straight in and reach the last line of defense outside the hive city wall.

The towering city walls, standing behind a 45-kilometer-long defense line, ruthlessly defied the authority of the Divine Emperor’s soldiers.

The soldiers of the Divine Emperor will use the most cruel means to punish those who are unkind, unjust, disloyal and unfaithful.

In the command trench of the 1313th Infantry Regiment, the staff team had already gathered together.

The light in the trench was dim, with only a few flickering lights illuminating the unrecognizable faces of the people wearing gas masks. The atmosphere was silent and depressing.

A telegram lay quietly on the table in front of Horatio, recording General Blücher’s offensive orders.

The entire 15th Siege Army, with 20 infantry regiments and a total of about 100 million people, will launch a coordinated attack within two days, and even the attack waves of each regiment have been carefully arranged.

It can be seen that this Krieg man known as the ‘Advance General’ has already played all his cards.

On the Passchendaele-Ypres siege line, the first to bear the brunt of the battle were the relatively complete 1124th and 1118th Infantry Regiments.

The two regiments will launch the first attack on the enemy’s Passchendaele position on the first day.

Ideally, they would penetrate the enemy’s Passchendaele Line in one fell swoop.

If this fails, then we must try to weaken the defensive power of the enemy’s position as much as possible, undermine the enemy’s morale, and drain the enemy’s energy.

The 1313th and 1314th Infantry Regiments will launch an attack on the Ypres Defense Line the next day.

If these two rounds of attacks failed to capture the enemy positions, the Passchendaele-Ypres siege line would fall into an embarrassing situation, and it is very likely to fall into the vicious cycle of one side gaining while the other loses:
The enemy launched an attack and our army defended with difficulty; after defeating the enemy’s attack, our army recuperated and launched another attack on the enemy.

Now time is running out, with only three months left. The entire army is determined to launch an attack at all costs.

After all, the failure of the Carpathian Campaign would surely become a mark of shame for the 15th Siege Army.

This was more unbearable for the Kriegs than suffering complete casualties.
–
“The specific offensive strategy and plan will be arranged by each regiment…” Horatio glanced at the telegram and slowly read the last sentence. Then he raised his head and frowned slightly. “In other words, we have to decide on our own how to dispatch the company to attack the enemy?”

“Yes.” Staff Officer Clausewitz responded quickly.

“The Krieg’s company is so large, how should we split it up? Should we attack as assault platoons, or as a whole company?” Horatio continued to ask, tapping his fingers lightly on the sand table on the table.

“The width of the battle seemed too small in comparison to the 735-man infantry company launching an attack.

Krieg units typically split an infantry company into two half-companies of 350 men, leaving 35 soldiers to man the trenches and use them as anchor points for company reinforcements,” Clausewitz elaborated.

“It’s equivalent to retaining the company number.” Horatio nodded slightly and said thoughtfully.

“Yes,” Clausewitz reaffirmed.

“The attack will be on Sunday of Bentela week, and the 1124th Infantry Regiment and the 1118th Infantry Regiment will launch the first attack on the Passchendaele area on Saturday.

So, can we dig a tunnel to the enemy’s position before Sunday?” Horatio looked deeply at the smoke-filled perimeter of the command fort, then turned to look at Staff Officer Clausewitz.

“If there is no enemy obstruction, it is theoretically possible,” Clausewitz replied after a moment’s thought.

“I will personally enter the tunnel one night before the attack to check the progress. And…” Horatio stared at the staff officer through the black lens. After a moment of silence, he slowly asked:

“How many chemical weapons do we have left?”
–
“The 1313th and 1314th Infantry Regiments will launch an assault on the Ypres defenses on Sunday of Bentela week.”

Farida stood in the dim command post, holding a telegram in her hand, reading it aloud to Louise in front of her.

Her voice sounded muffled due to the gas mask on her face.

“Louise, can I take off my gas mask in the command post? I feel like I can’t breathe. I haven’t taken off the mask for the past three days. I even have to wear it when I sleep.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand and tapped the gas mask gently, her eyes full of fatigue and desire.

“I do not recommend removing your gas mask in the field, Inspector Hood. We must always be on guard against the enemy’s insidious tactics.

The captain said his position was attacked by the enemy’s hallucinogenic toxin. We still don’t know if there is an antidote for this toxin. We only know that the gas mask can isolate the hallucinogenic powder inside. “Louise said with a serious expression and a firm tone.

“It’s really stuffy in here, and in this damn place, even taking a shower has become a luxury.

Also, the Krieg’s food is weird, sticky, and tastes… really hard to swallow.”

Farida complained as she picked up an object that looked like a jelly bag. It was her daily ration.

Because the Kriegs generally eat with gas masks, their water and food are packed in these special jelly bags. Farida looked at the food in her hand with a frown on her face, full of disgust.

Although the taste of this food is not disgusting, it is definitely not delicious. To say that it tastes like chewing wax is a compliment.

She also saw with her own eyes that the Kriegs would stuff the ashes of their fallen comrades into the gunpowder of their logging guns.

All these horrifying customs made Farida feel alienated from this terrible legion and extremely uncomfortable.

However, it is worth noting that she finally replaced her flashy riding boots with more practical gaiters and combat boots.

These gaiters and long shoe covers are a high-end and practical piece of equipment, similar to leggings, and are very popular among the British and Sintilans.

It can fit tightly over the shoe like a boot shaft, wrapping the entire calf tightly and extending all the way to below the knee.

From a distance, it seemed as if she was still wearing her boots, maintaining the dignity and respect of the Military Supervisory Commissioner very well.

This shoe cover is tailor-made according to the size of her calf, one-to-one, and perfectly fits the graceful natural curve of her calf.

The entire style was tailor-made for her by her best friend Lina on the orbital ship, and was then sent down along with the supplies.

A total of four sets were delivered, two of which were sent to Horatio and the other two remained with the 1314th Regiment.

Since this shoe cover is not a traditional boot but is only covered on the combat boot, it will not hinder the movement between the ankle and the calf at all. It is extremely practical in a complex environment such as a trench, and at the same time can provide effective protection for the calf.

However, most ordinary soldiers do not have the conditions like her to find such a skillful lady to customize these practical consumables specifically for them.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to be patient for a while. The Krieg Death Legion is an extremely unique existence in the entire Astra Militarum system.

They come from that dead planet, and many of their cultural customs are difficult for people from other planets to understand.” Louise shook her head helplessly. Although she herself had some grudges against some of the Krieg’s horrible customs, her qualities as a professional soldier made her choose to bury these emotions deep in her heart.

Farida looked embarrassed, but she endured the discomfort and finished the sticky jelly-like food in one gulp.

After eating, she shivered all over and got goose bumps all over.

“After we finish eating, let’s start formulating an attack plan. Finally, we have a chance to show our skills! I’ve had enough of being attacked by the enemy in turns. This time, we must defeat them, break through their defenses, and then advance all the way to be the first to reach the central hive group.”

Farida looked proud, staring at the siege map in front of her, and said confidently.

Although she was wearing a mask and others could not see her expression, her high morale was clearly revealed in her words, and the corners of her mouth beneath the mask must have been raised high.

The reason why she was so confident was that she had actually reorganized the huge 1314th Regiment. This was the first time she had operated a division-level “regiment” so independently.

Although this was achieved with the strong assistance of Louise and the entire staff team.

But it also boosted her confidence and faith in the entire war.

“I hope so, Inspector Hood. However, breakthroughs in positional warfare are always extremely difficult.

When I was studying at the Cadia White Shields NCO School, the instructor emphasized in the first class that, ‘In all military operations, attacking a pre-set position is the most difficult part.'” Louise looked worried and reminded calmly.

“You are right, Captain Louise.”

Farida put her hands on her hips, turned around with an upright posture, looked at Louise and said, “Although you and I are ‘competitors’ to some extent, the fact that you can become my opponent is enough to show that I recognize your strength.

Now that we are in the same trench and have become comrades in arms, let’s show Horatio that we can deal with these enemies independently without his help. We can handle it on our own and share his worries.”

“You are right, Commissioner Hood, we should work together to prove our capabilities to the captain.”

Louise did not respond to the first half of the sentence, but acknowledged and agreed with the second half of Farida’s speech.

“我们要进攻的是伊普尔阵地，目前我们手上有一万八千人的步兵，后方炮兵部队的大小900门火炮（720门75毫米轻型火炮+180门150与少数208毫米撼地炮）会根据我们的需求提供最凶狠的火力援助。

I plan to concentrate on breaking through from here, and then intersperse from here. How do you think we should deal with this firepower point? Perhaps we should arrange three light artillery companies and one heavy artillery company to suppress this place with separate firepower…”

Farida walked to the war sand table, her golden hair gleaming slightly in the dim light.

She stretched out her fingers, gestured on the sand table, and began to explain her tactical ideas.

Louise stood aside with a focused look, examining her tactical plan from a professional perspective, and from time to time she would point out key points that she had overlooked, to complete and improve the offensive plan.

The Chaos rebels seemed to have sensed that the Imperial Army was about to launch a large-scale attack. During this week, they did not launch a large-scale attack, but only launched several small-scale raids at night, but they were all successfully thwarted by the Imperial Army.

In this way, a period of relative peace came to the front line, like the brief calm before the storm.

However, everyone knew that beneath this calm, a more violent storm was brewing and a war was about to break out.

In this depressing atmosphere, the smoke-filled front line spent a relatively quiet week.

until……

(End of this chapter)