Chapter 377 Is it possible for us to survive?

Charles was commanding the battle at the police training base, but there was not much intelligence to deal with, and the staff officers, signalmen, typists, etc. were all a little idle.

This was because the air battle was still in the stage of mutual testing. The Germans had been conserving their strength and had not used new fighters, so Charles was happy to continue maneuvering.

Secondly, Joffre forcibly separated the air and ground operations, and Charles only had a general understanding of the intelligence about the Cambrai battlefield.

But Charles knew Cambrai. There had been the Battle of Cambrai in history, where the British army concentrated more than 200 tanks to launch the first tank cluster attack on the German army and won the victory.

(Note: After the British victory, due to the lack of logistics and serious communication problems, the troops were in urgent need of rescue, but the friendly forces not far away were unaware of it. As a result, they were beaten back to the original position by the German army, and both sides lost more than 40,000 people. Human lives were really worthless during this period. A test attack consumed more than 80,000 people)

(The picture above shows Cambrai Burlon Forest, one of the main battlefields of the British attack.)

All Ciel knew was the information sent back by the pilot:

"German troops have reached Cambrai. They appear to be planning an attack."

"Our army went out of the city to meet the enemy, and they deployed their forces outside the city."

"Our army blocked the enemy's attack, but suffered heavy losses. The heavy 'Saint Shamon' was almost wiped out!"

…

After hearing the ending, Tijani said "hmm" in surprise, turned around and picked up the photo of "Saint-Samond M21" on the desk, which was taken by the pilot with his camera.

"It surprised me," Tijani said. "This thing can actually stop the German attack?"

"It's not his credit," Charles replied, "It was the commander, Christine, who turned the offensive into defensive in time."

Tijani thought for a while and nodded slightly: "In defense mode, the disadvantage of the 'Saint Shamon M21' without a turret is not so obvious."

Charles said "hmm". They were lucky to have saved their lives, otherwise the battle would have been extremely brutal and at least half of the French 1st Special Artillery Division would have been lost on the battlefield.

Now, Charles got what he wanted to know:

The 37mm gun was able to penetrate the new German tank from the front, and the known distance was 150 meters.

The German army's new tank has a speed of about 10 kilometers per hour, and may be even faster.

The German tank tactic was to use machine guns to attack the enemy's side and rear armor.

…

At this time, Charles' phone rang. It was General Winter who called. He had been following this "remarkable" victory in Paris for some time. After all, nothing was more important than this at the moment.

"How is it?" General Winter asked, "Are you sure?"

"Almost." Charles replied.

Tijani next to him seemed a little confused. What do you mean by almost there?

General Winter asked again: "How long will it take to prepare? One day? Two days?"

"Two days," Charles answered, but he asked again, "Can you transfer the command to me?"

Charles did not doubt General Winter's "ability". At that time, Britain's influence on France was still very strong, and it was not difficult to transfer the command to Charles with the power of a single country.

The difficulty is to do it without leaving any trace and without raising any suspicion.

General Winter laughed, "The next step is British reinforcements, Brigadier General. We have the right to choose our allies."

Charles understood instantly and agreed to the plan immediately.

When I put down the phone and looked up, I saw Tijani's inquiring eyes.

"What's going on?" Tijani asked, "Is it something I shouldn't ask?"

"Nothing." Charles replied calmly, "It's time for the First Tank Brigade to move in."

This sounds fine, but what does "it's time for the 1st Tank Brigade to go up" mean?

Could it be that all this was part of Charles' plan?

Then Tijanyi thought about it more deeply, and combined with what happened before and after, he suddenly stood there staring at Charles blankly. After a long while, he smiled and shook his head: "Good fellow, they were all fooled by you, right? The Germans and Joffre..."

Charles turned his head and glared at Tijani, who immediately shut up and raised his hands in surrender: "No, that's not the case. I know nothing."

He smiled meaningfully, leaned closer to Charles and lowered his voice: "I'm glad I'm not your enemy, Brigadier General."

…

In the town of Cambrai, Christine has withdrawn his troops back to the town.

This is a helpless move, and only in this way can the 1st Special Artillery Division be preserved.

However, he had just returned to the headquarters in the town and had not yet settled down when Xiafei called him: "What's going on? Why retreat?"

"General!" Christine explained, "We suffered heavy losses, and the heavy 'Saint Shamon' was almost wiped out..."

"I know this." Xiafei interrupted Christine impatiently: "But didn't they succeed in delaying the enemy? Don't we still have 'M21'?"

Then Joffre began to blame Christine in a tone full of anger and without mercy:

"You missed a chance to win, Christine!"

"You can win as long as you attack. The defense you organized was able to stop the German attack, which proves this."

"All you have to do is move forward, forward, forward boldly!"

"Are my orders not clear?"

…

Christine was speechless. Did they really not know what "M21" was? Or even if they knew, they still emphasized advancing and attacking?

Christine believed it was the former, as it would only mean that they were ill-informed or did not understand war.

If it is the latter, it would be pushing the soldiers into the fire pit meaninglessly!

At this moment Joffre roared his orders into the receiver:

"Now, attack while the Germans are still struggling to gain a foothold!"

"Don't hesitate, the fruits of victory are right before our eyes, Christine, waiting for you to pick them!"

“It’s that simple!”

…

Christine didn't answer, thinking to herself, we are the ones who have lost our composure, you fool, the fruit of victory may also be a bomb!

He didn't say it because he knew it was useless to say it, it would only bring another scolding.

However.

Refusing to obey orders? He would be shot.

Obey orders? He and the 1st Special Artillery Division are doomed!

Christian was in a dilemma. He frowned and said, "General, I will attack, but I hope to get the support of air force this time. So, I need to discuss it with Charles."

Joffre was desperate for victory, spectacular victory, by any means, including Charles's air force.

So he didn't think much about it and nodded and agreed: "As soon as possible, the Germans won't give you that much time!"

Christine breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the signalman to send a telegram to Charles.

The message was simple: "Is it possible for us to survive?"

(End of this chapter)