Chapter 304: The Isle of Wight (Part 2)

In the evening, the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Division of the French Marine Corps had all boarded the Isle of Wight, and a large amount of supplies were transported to the island. Afterwards, the French army launched an attack on the British army with the strength of the two battalions. After a fierce battle, it pushed the front line to the city of Ventno. If it weren't for the darkness soon, it would have launched an attack on Ventno. "The 1st and 2nd Battalions built defense lines to prevent the British from attacking at night, and the 3rd Battalion protected.

Protect the landing ground and contact the navy at the same time, asking them to stay vigilant at all times. Once the British army launches an attack, I hope they will provide us with artillery fire support." Colonel Anitas, the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Division of the French Marine Corps. Under his command, the 1st and 2nd Battalions quickly built a simple line of defense, and all powerful weapons such as heavy machine guns were arranged, and mortars were all concentrated to form two simple artillery positions.

At the same time, in order to launch a larger-scale attack on the second day, although it was already dark, various materials and soldiers on the transport ship were still transported ashore in a steady stream.

"The commander of the regiment, the commander of the division arrived in person with reinforcements from a regiment." A correspondent reported to John.

When he heard the commander coming, John was still in small cigarette butts in his hand and hurriedly greeted him. "General, you are here, you are incompetent, and you can't drive the French into the sea." John said with some frustration.

"No need to do this, I know you have tried your best. Due to the terrain, the defense here is much more difficult than that in Shanklin." Major General Aubrey, the commander of the 17th Infantry Division of the British, did not blame John, but comforted him.

"Thank you, General. Now, with the addition of reinforcements from a regiment, I am absolutely confident that I can drive the French into the sea." John said confidently.

Aubrey didn't say anything, looked at the injured soldiers around him, and asked, "Are there many casualties today?"

As soon as he talked about this, John's face dimmed: "After fighting for an afternoon, our regiment had lost one battalion's troops. The French artillery fire was so powerful that all our fortifications were destroyed by them. In addition to the gap in weapons, we suffered a lot of losses."

Aubrey nodded and expressed his understanding. "John, I want your people to launch an attack at night to drive all the French who had already landed on the island into the sea. Are you confident?" Aubrey asked suddenly. His mission was to guard the Isle of Wight. Now that the French army has landed on the Isle of Wight, he naturally has to try his best to drive the French army off the island.

John frowned and replied in a little embarrassed manner: "General, the firepower of the French is too strong, and they will definitely be prepared. If we launch a rash attack, we may suffer heavy losses."

"This is impossible. No matter how much the price we pay, we must defend the Isle of Wight no matter what. Tonight is our only chance. We will drive them all down the island while there are not many enemies on the island, and destroy their landing ground. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to drive them off the island if the troops they land on the island are strengthened. Don't worry, I will ask the artillery to provide fire support to you at night." Aubrey insisted. In order to win the battle at night, he brought out all the artillery that had been hidden for a long time. The 17th Infantry Regiment has only one artillery battalion, with a total of 30 cannons, all of which are new cannons, and their firepower is much higher than that of old cannons.

Seeing Aubrey's insistence, John had no choice but to agree and promised to launch a decisive attack on the French army at night.

In the early morning of March 20, except for a few soldiers who had been on guard, the rest of the soldiers fell directly into the trenches and entered a sweet dream. The distant coast was still busy, and a large amount of supplies and personnel were being caught and transported from the sea transport ships. In order to prevent the British army from attacking at night, the French army lit several large fires 150 meters in front of the position, making the front of the position bright.

At two o'clock in the morning, John summoned the troops of the two battalions in his hands and prepared to launch a desperate attack on the French army at night. The artillery gate that Aubrey had been hiding for a long time also pulled out all the cannons.

With Aubrey's order, cannons began to roar, and shells flew towards the French position. Suddenly, a huge explosion broke the tranquility of the night, and the French position was all surrounded by gunpowder.

"Damn it, the British took a break, and the battalions were ready to fight. Contact the navy and let them destroy the British artillery positions with all their might." Colonel Anitas, the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Division of the French Marine Corps, ran out of his camp in disarray and ordered.

The sound of British artillery woke up the sleeping French soldiers, and they all got up, picked up their guns, and prepared for combat. After all, the French defense line was built hastily, and it was very damaged under the British artillery bombardment, and the personnel also caused certain casualties. While the French soldiers were holding their heads and squatting in the trenches and enduring the ravages of British artillery fire, the naval warships anchored on the sea finally began to speak. The power of naval guns was not comparable to that of army cannons. Not long after, the British artillery was completely suppressed. In order to reduce losses, Aubrey had to order the artillery to stop shooting and move to the rear, and John's infantry launched an attack. However, despite this, Aubrey's artillery battalion still lost hundreds of people and several artillery pieces.

The British attack was soon discovered, and the French launched a fierce counterattack. The sounds of rifles, machine guns, heavy machine guns and mortars were all thought of, suppressing the British army to a position of more than 100 meters in front of the French position. Occasionally, the British army, which could rush into the position of twenty or thirty meters, were all solved by French grenades. Subsequently, the navy's naval gun also joined in and tried its best to launch a devastating shelling on the area about 200 meters in front of the French position. The British army suffered heavy losses, and John had to order a retreat. When he returned to Ventero, he discovered that the two battalions of troops who had only returned were less than one battalion. The huge losses made John feel a little crying and tears.

However, Aubrey was very dissatisfied with John's attack. With his insistence, the British army launched several more attacks during the time of arrival, but without exception, they were beaten back by the French army and had nearly a battalion of troops. At this time, the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 17th Infantry Division of the British had basically suffered losses.

On the morning of the second day, the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Division of the French Marine Corps launched a fierce attack on Ventino with the support of the navy. After several hours of fierce fighting, the French army was expelled from Ventino. Aubrey led the remaining troops to Newport in the middle of the Isle of Wight. The French army did not pursue, but handed over the position to the 3rd Regiment to defend, and the 2nd Regiment launched an attack on Shanklin.

Under the attack on both sides of the 4th Regiment and the 2nd Regiment, the 5th Regiment of the British 17th Infantry Division, which was responsible for defending Shanklin, quickly collapsed, and its remnants fled to the north of the Isle of Wight. Shanklin had a medium-sized port, which occupied it, which greatly improved the landing efficiency of the French army. On that day alone, except for the 1st Regiment and the division's direct troops, the rest of the troops boarded the island, and most of the various materials were loaded and unloaded.

On March 21, the 7th Infantry Division of the French Marine Corps all boarded the Isle of Wight. On the same day, the 3rd Division of the French Marine Corps also arrived at Shanklin, the Isle of Wight and began to land.

The 7th Division began to concentrate its forces and launched an attack on Newport, the headquarters of the British 17th Infantry Division. Newport is in the middle of the Isle of Wight, and the French army could not use the help of the navy at this time. Fortunately, all the direct troops of the division had landed. Although the Marines lacked heavy weapons, there were still more than 10 75mm field artillery. With more than 20 80mm heavy mortars, their artillery strength was far greater than that of the British.

Although Aubrey concentrated two regiments of troops to defend the death in Newport at this moment, under the fierce attack of nearly one division of the French army, Newport was captured after only two days. Subsequently, under the joint sweep of the 7th and 3rd Divisions of the French Marine Corps, the British troops that continued to resist were either annihilated or surrendered voluntarily, because the French Navy had blocked the Isle of Wight at this moment, and it was impossible for them to escape back to Britain. On March 23, the Isle of Wight was completely occupied by the French army.

After occupying the Isle of Wight, the French army did not immediately start attacking the British mainland, but began to build the Isle of Wight, building a large number of barracks, warehouses, and ports on the island. A large number of military and military supplies began to be transferred to the Isle of Wight. According to the plan, four divisions of troops were eventually deployed on the Isle of Wight, and various military supplies were guaranteed to be used by at least 100,000 people for three months. At the same time, the Mediterranean Fleet also used the Isle of Wight as a temporary anchorage and set out from here to attack Britain.

Local cities are much closer than starting from the Straits Fleet. At the same time, in order to strengthen the air defense capabilities of the Isle of Wight, the Air Force also mobilized 40 small airships, 20 medium airships and 10 large airships were deployed on the island, and 20 newly developed air defense guns were also transferred, and two air defense positions were built in the north of the Isle of Wight. After all, after seeing the power of the airship, the UK has increased its research and production of airships, and it is very necessary to make preparations in this regard.
Chapter completed!