Chapter 259: Air strike

The Iberian army's defense line in Orleans was actually very simple. The two divisions, together with the three cavalry regiments of the cavalry regiment and the direct troops of some other legions, were all distributed in a certain proportion on the line of defense in Orleans and 4 kilometers outside the city. In order to play the greatest deterrent role, the 1st Division, the 88th Legion, had the strongest combat effectiveness, and the 2nd Division, which was deployed outside the city, while the 2nd Division defended Orleans City. Various types of artillery were also deployed outside the city and in the city according to different ranges.

The defense line outside the city consists of several crisscrossing trenches and barbed wire, which were completed by the officers and soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Divisions in just a few days. Although the time is relatively hasty, the defense line after reinforcement with concrete is still very strong, enough to withstand the attack of the anti-French alliance.

On August 13, the anti-French alliance troops had been deployed according to the scheduled plan and could launch an attack at any time. Kutuzov and others also arrived at the front line that morning. Observing the Iberian army's defense line from the telescope, Kutuzov couldn't help but sigh: "It's indeed an elite force. It's probably difficult for such troops to find a comparable force in Russia." To be honest, he still admired the 88th Legion very much. Since the war in Swubica, he suffered a lot under this army, but this did not affect his admiration for this army. He did not want to be an enemy of the 88th Legion. He knew that the gap between his army and the 88th Legion was huge, but for the sake of the country, he had to fight and had to find ways to win, even if the opportunity was very slim.

"Yes, it is said that the infantry exercises and a large number of new tactics widely used by France came from this legion. It is hard to imagine that the person who founded this legion was just a child at that time." Clausewitz also sighed. Fighting with Xiao Jie put a lot of pressure on him.

Austria was the first to accept new tactics except France, and Grand Duke Charlie also deeply understood this.

"But this person is our biggest enemy now, isn't it? No matter what, we must try our best to defeat him. I have a premonition that he will be even more terrifying than Napoleon." Wellington also said. Although he wanted to defeat Xiao Jie very much to avenge his previous shame, there was also a hint of fear in his heart.

At 10 a.m., the anti-French alliance began its first tentative attack. In order to find out the strength of the Iberian army, they invested 30,000 people in two divisions for the first time. The charge of these new recruits had no rules at all, and they launched an attack on the position of the 1st Division. Seeing their poor performance, many Iberian officers showed disdainful expressions on their faces.

As the coalition entered the range of the Iberian army, the first shelling was bombarded, and then various firepowers were added to the ensemble. Under the powerful firepower of the Iberian army, the farthest finger of the 30,000 coalition rushed to the barbed wire in front of the Iraqi army's position, and most of the others fell on the way to charge. The situation on the battlefield was completely one-sided, making people feel that this was not a war at all, but a massacre was carried out to be carried out. The heavy machine guns and squad machine guns of the Iraqi army were undoubtedly the protagonists of the massacre. Under their strafing, the coalition forces often cut wheat.

Fallen fell in pieces. Perhaps the coalition soldiers were still very brave, but watching their comrades fall down constantly, their courage was also rapidly lost. In the end, some people could not stand it and turned around and ran backward. Under his guidance, more and more people began to flee backward. It eventually became a major trend on the battlefield. When the last coalition soldiers escaped from the range of the Iraqi army's firepower, it was only one hour before the attack was launched. In one hour, the attack of the coalition 30,000 people was completely defeated, and more than half of the people fell on the battlefield. In front of the Iraqi army's positions, there was a thick layer of corpses piled up.

"Pull up all the artillery and launch a shelling attack on the Iraqi positions." Kutuzov ordered with a pale face. He had expected that this attack would not have any effect, but he did not expect that the blow he suffered was much worse than he expected.

Wellington passed on Kutuzov's order without saying a word. All 300 cannons of the entire coalition were pulled out. After adjusting the firing distance, the coalition's artillery began to roar. They launched violent shellings on the Iraqi positions like plowing the ground. But their actions had long been seen by the Iraqi army. Except for the necessary observers, all the others withdrew from the positions through traffic ditches, and the fixed fire points were reinforced and they were not afraid of the coalition's artillery.

Only 10 minutes after the artillery attacks on the coalition side, the Iraqi artillery began to counterattack. The artillery aiming airships had also taken off, and they passed the position of the Russian artillery positions to the Iraqi artillery. Under the guidance of the airship, the Iraqi army's 155mm howitzers and 122mm howitzers soon began to speak, pointing to the Russian artillery positions.

The Iraqi army's 155mm howitzers and 122mm howitzers were much more powerful and range than the artillery of the coalition. In the artillery battle between the two sides, the coalition was in a passive position of being beaten. Under the fierce attack of the Iraqi large-caliber artillery, the coalition's cannon was quickly dumb. In just half an hour, the coalition lost hundreds of cannons. This was not a loss they could withstand. Wellington quickly ordered the stop of artillery bombing and transfer of artillery positions. However, with airships monitoring in the sky, no matter where they moved, they could only become targets for the Iraqi artillery. As a last resort, the coalition artillery had to retreat back and completely withdraw from the range of the Iraqi artillery, which was safe.

After the Russian artillery was suppressed, the soldiers of the 1st Division quickly entered the position and waited for the coalition's attack. At 12 o'clock, the second attack of the coalition began. This time was no different from the last time, but the force involved in the attack increased from 30,000 to 50,000. But the only change brought was that they had persisted on the battlefield for a longer time. Some soldiers even began to destroy the barbed wire of the Iraqi army, but under the strong firepower of the Iraqi army, their purpose was difficult to achieve. When the coalition retreated, the two cavalry regiments that were ambushing on the flanks took advantage of the chaos to launch an attack. The coalition did not investigate and countless casualties were killed or injured under the charge of the Iraqi cavalry. In the end, Kutuzov had to send troops to respond, and forced the two cavalry regiments of the Iraqi army to retreat.

After repelling the two waves of attacks from the coalition, Xiao Jie didn't think anything about it. He knew that this was just the beginning, and the more intense war was still behind. Sure enough, the intensity increased a lot in the afternoon's battle. It is estimated that the troops participating in the attack in the morning were relatively low in combat, and the real elite in the afternoon were the ones. However, their participation still could not break through the defense line of the Iraqi army, which brought greater pressure to the 1st Division at most. In the afternoon's battle, the navy's warships also began to shell the shells. Although the largest caliber naval guns on the Iberian class warships were only 105 mm, the cannons used on the warships have always been greater than those used by the army, so these naval guns still caused considerable casualties to the coalition.

The coalition forces were repelled by the Iraqi army, but their attacks did not stop, but instead became stronger and stronger. The battle slowly entered a white-hot stage.

"Order the Air Force to start air strikes, focusing on attacking the rear of the enemy, mainly various materials gathering places." Xiao Jie decisively issued a new order.

During this battle, the Air Force sent a total of 10 large airships, 20 medium airships and 20 small airships. They were enough to fly from Iberia, and Oliwei, who had been radically in the south of Orleans, was about 5 kilometers south of Orleans. At the beginning of the battle, they were already well prepared. As soon as they received Xiao Jie's order, they immediately began to advance on the battlefield.

At 3 pm, after less than 20 minutes of flight, the airship finally arrived above the battlefield. The coalition forces that had never seen the airship were deeply shocked and speculated about the big guys in the sky. Many people thought they were devils summoned by the Iraqi army from hell, and they fled in fear, and even the officers could not stop them.

Small airships began to drop bombs over the battlefield. The 50 kilograms of bombs they carried were not inferior to those powerful artillery shells. Often, a bomb would leave a large pit on the ground. Medium airships and large airships continued to fly forward, and their targets were coalition assembly sites and material warehouses. Under the attack of airships, people could still escape everywhere, and such losses would not be too much. But the warehouses were different. They were destined to be targets for airship bombing. Warehouses filled with ammunition or grain quickly became ruins under the bombing of airships.

The situation on the battlefield was no longer under control, and the failure of the anti-French alliance was inevitable. After the airship joined the battlefield, the Iraqi army launched a fierce counterattack. The coalition was just thinking about escaping, so no one could resist.

"It's over." The defeat was like a mountain! Kutuzov looked at the behemoths in the air who kept dropping bombs and issued an order to withdraw his troops. He no longer thought about capturing Orleans, but how to defend northern France from being occupied by the Iraqi army.
Chapter completed!