Chapter 334: Log in at full speed

"General, the 9th Infantry Division surrendered to the French, and now the French are attacking the city." A staff officer rushed into Bill's office in a hurry and reported to him.

"What? Damn it. I must send them all to the gallows." Bill roared angrily. He had no idea that Donald dared to do this, and in this way, his plan was completely disrupted. "Order the 11th Infantry Division to go to the suburbs of the city to set up defenses immediately and must block the army. At the same time, he sent the 10th Infantry Division stationed in Southampton, so that they could immediately approach Pstimulus, and hand over the defense of Southampton to the 8th Infantry Division." Bill ordered. As a last resort, he had no choice but to throw all the troops in his hands into the battle.

It is now 2 pm. The 2nd Regiment, the vanguard of the French 3rd Marine Division, had arrived in the suburbs of Ptsmouth and fought fiercely with the British 10th Infantry Division, which was stationed here. However, when the troops were at an absolute disadvantage, the 2nd Regiment had to stop the attack and retreat and wait for reinforcements.

At the same time, the 5th Regiment heading towards the port area also encountered their enemies. The one responsible for defending here was a regiment of the 6th Infantry Division of the British. When the 5th Regiment of the 3rd French Marine Division arrived, the two regiments fought fiercely to fight for control of the port. In general, the combat effectiveness of the French army was much stronger than that of the British army. Under their attack, the British army retreated step by step. By 2:00 pm, two-thirds of the entire port had been controlled by the French army. In this case, the 4th Marine Division, which was originally anchored at sea, was immediately transferred to the port direction, and it was obviously much less time to land at the port than to directly land from the beach.

As the 4th Marine Division joined the battlefield, the war was even more conducive to the French army. At 3 pm, the 3rd Marine Division concentrated the forces of three regiments to attack from the south of Pstilmouth, while the 5th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division and the 4th Marine Division, which had completed landing, attacked from the west. Under the attack of the French army on both sides, Bill had to put the 6th Infantry Division, which had lost one regiment into the battlefield to resist the French attack. At this time, the British army's defense line in the suburbs had been completely broken, the battle had expanded to the city, and fierce street fighting began between the British and French armies.

At 4 pm, the 4th French Marine Division had all landed, and the 7th Marine Division had also arrived at the port. The situation changed more and more unfavorable to the British army. Under the fierce attack of the 3rd and 4th French Marine Divisions, the 6th and 11th Infantry Divisions in their hands had no counterattack power.

At 4:30 pm, the 10th British Infantry Division arrived at Portsmouth without giving them any rest. Bill directly ordered them to join the battle. With the addition of these new forces, the British army gradually consolidated the defense line, and the strength of the two sides was basically balanced. But at this time, one-third of Portsmouth had fallen into the hands of the French army.

The balance did not last long before it was disrupted, because the French 7th Marine Division joined the battle, which led to the French army's fierce offensive. The British army's living space was constantly squeezed and the positions were constantly shrinking. In the evening, only the northern part of Portsmouth was still under the control of the British army. The French army's goal was to expel the British army from Portsmouth and completely occupy the place.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the French army's strategic goal was finally achieved. Bill and his troops were all driven out of Portsmouth. Bill, who had lost his position, had to lead more than 20,000 remaining troops to retreat to Havent, waiting for reinforcements. After a day of fierce fighting, the French army had no strength to continue pursuing the British army. They had to build a defense line in Portsmouth, waiting for the British counterattack. A large amount of military supplies were also transported from the Isle of Wight, and the 5th Marine Division also began to ship, but their target was no longer Portsmouth, but Southampton. They would land in the bay 5 kilometers south of Southampton, and then launch a night attack on Southampton.

According to the information obtained, there is only one 5th Infantry Division in Southampton now. If the 5th Marine Division launches a sudden attack, it can capture it at a very small price, so that it can form a horn with Portsmouth's troops, and be in a favorable position whether it is offensive or defensive. It can even threaten Poole's British army and surround the British army of the five divisions there.

At 9 pm, the 5th Marine Division arrived at its destination, perhaps because everyone's eyes were attracted by the battle at Portsmouth, and no one noticed the arrival of the 5th Marine Division. At 12 pm, more than 15,000 members of the 5th Marine Division landed, and then immediately set out towards Southampton.

At 1 a.m., the battle to attack Southampton began. The 5th Marine Division invested four regiments and launched a sudden attack from the south and west of Southampton. The British 5th Infantry Division caught off guard. Just half an hour after the start of the battle, it lost its front line and had to retreat into the city to defend. At 2:30 a.m., with the support of artillery, the 5th Marine Division launched another attack. Under the fierce attack of the 5th Marine Division, the British 5th Infantry Division retreated on its entire line. In the subsequent street fighting, it was unable to organize Xiang Yong's defense. The battle was only 5 a.m., when Southampton was occupied by the 5th Marine Division. More than 6,000 troops from the British 5th Infantry Division retreated to Eastley.

On the morning of June 22, five British divisions arrived at Havent after a long journey. Bill was very confident and immediately began to organize a counterattack. At 9 a.m., the counterattack began. In order to recapture Portsmouth, Bill invested 40,000 troops at one time, including the remnants of the 8th Infantry Division and the 28th and 30th Infantry Divisions. Now Portsmouth defenders are three French Marine Divisions, including the 3rd, 4th and 7th Marine Divisions, with a total of more than 38,000 people.

As the 7th Marine Division, who was the last to enter the battle, was responsible for defending the 1st line position. After a brief preparation of artillery fire, the British army launched an attack. It was not that Bill did not want to provide full-range artillery support for his troops, but that he did not dare to do that, otherwise he would lose all his artillery. At the beginning of the British artillery bombardment, their positions were discovered by airships in the sky. After that, the French artillery warships that had already anchored at the sea suppressed the British artillery positions. In just 15 minutes of artillery bombardment, the British army lost more than 20 artillery pieces.

The Scottish bagpipes started to blow passionately, and the British soldiers bravely launched a fierce attack on the French positions. Since there was only one night, the 7th French Marine Division could only build a simple position, which may be a bit weak in comparison, but the 7th Marine Division was confident that it could withstand the British attack.

According to the combat regulations, British soldiers lined up sparse scattered lines and launched an attack on the positions of the 7th Marine Division of the French Army, but there was a great gap between their scattered lines. The connection between the 1st scattered line composed of the 8th British Infantry Division and the two scattered lines behind were completely ineffective. This was probably the gap between veterans who had experienced the war and the rookies who had just entered the barracks.

The British army was very motivated, but it was indeed very cruel. Although they were holding endless anger and longing to drive these invaders away, they could only leave with regret in the end. When they were only 1 kilometer away from the 7th Marine Division's position, the French bombardment began. 75mm field guns and 80mm heavy mortars opened fire. The British offensive front suddenly became panicked. The veterans were fine, but although the shelling they were instinctively panicked.

But he immediately calmed down and continued to attack the French army. The new recruits were completely out of place. As soon as the French cannon sounded, they suddenly panicked. Especially when someone was hit by shrapnel, blood and broken limbs and arms were scattered all over the ground, the new recruits who had never seen such a scene like hell immediately collapsed. They cried and shouted to retreat back, wishing they had two legs long, and they didn't know where the heroism and passion had been thrown, and some even threw away their weapons.

Once they retreated, the 8th British Infantry Division lost its support and had to start retreating, otherwise they would become the main target of the French army, and their losses would be even heavier. Despite this, when the number of people was finally counted, their attack still lost more than 2,000 people.

Bill looked at the disheveled defeated troops with a blue face. He felt extremely angry and despair. He began to wonder if Britain could win the war. In order to regain Portsmouth and then recover Southampton, Bill ordered the 8th Infantry Division and the 28th and 30th Infantry Divisions to attack the French positions. Without his orders, no one could retreat. Otherwise, the general law would deal with it. He also drew some people from his guard battalion to form a military and legal team to shoot and kill the soldiers who retreated without authorization. Under Bill's high-pressure policy, the British troops of the three divisions had to attack the 7th Marine Division of the French. Although they knew that this was no different from dying, it would be much better to die on the road of attack than to die at the hands of their own people.
Chapter completed!