Naval gunfire could reach as far as inland, and was often used to supplement land-based artillery. After the light cruiser demonstrated the effectiveness of naval gunfire against tanks at Gela, the heavy-calibre guns of some eighteen battleships and cruisers were used to stop German Panzer counterattacks at Salerno. Naval gunfire was used extensively throughout Normandy, although initially the surprise nature of the landings themselves precluded a drawn-out bombardment which could have reduced the Atlantic Wall defences sufficiently, a process that fell to specialist armoured vehicles instead.