Chapter 379 M21's Momentum

The frogs are croaking and the cicadas are chirping, and my soul is troubled and my mind is tired.

In an open area north of Cambrai, soldiers of the German 1st Tank Division were busy building tank shelters in the sunset.

A tank bunker is a deep pit similar to a trench, but with slopes at both ends for tanks to enter and exit, so that tanks can "hide" in the deep pit to avoid being covered by enemy artillery.

However, the Germans did not need to worry about this most of the time, because their 105 caliber howitzers always crushed the French artillery.

Who made those stupid French people only love 75mm guns?

Major General Nicholas didn't need to worry about these things. He sat on a stone half his height, staring at the notebook in his hand and lost in thought.

He was very satisfied with the results of today's battle. At the cost of 13 "Upper Silesia" tanks, he destroyed the entire French heavy "Saint-Samond" regiment, estimated to have more than 100 "Saint-Samond" tanks.

However!

Nicolas looked at the sketch of the French tank in his notebook. His army was blocked by these small tanks.

This tank actually has wheels?

What is that used for?

A new weapon of the French or a new invention of Charles?

Major General Nicholas was puzzled.

This was also one of the reasons why Major General Nicholas did not order his troops to charge at the enemy during the day. Those strange wheels confused him.

Major General Nicholas had no idea that he had missed a great opportunity, an opportunity to completely defeat the 1st Special Artillery Division.

And the consequences are serious, the surviving small tank will cause him irreparable damage.

As the sky gradually darkened, the sketch disappeared into the darkness unnoticed, and Nicholas simply closed the notebook and put it into his backpack.

He thought, if he encountered the same enemy defense line again tomorrow, should he fight or not?

"Erwin." Major General Nicholas turned his head and shouted.

A tank soldier trotted up to Nicholas and responded, "General."

"Tomorrow." Major General Nicholas said coldly, "Your tank battalion will be at the front and rush to the enemy's defense line as fast as possible. Do you understand?"

"Yes, General." Elman accepted the task without any hesitation.

This is a temptation.

If he succeeds, the main force following him will rush forward and completely defeat the enemy.

If he failed, the main force would still have time and space to retreat.

However, what Major General Nicholas did not expect was that his opponent did not give him the opportunity to "test tomorrow."

Just as Major General Nicolas was thinking about what method should be used to lure the French tanks out of the city tomorrow, the whistling sound of artillery shells suddenly came from the air.

"Artillery attack!" The sentry shouted a warning, and the soldiers fell to the ground instantly.

Major General Nicholas sat there motionless.

It's not that he is brave, but that he knows that the shells cannot hit his position.

Before becoming the commander of a tank division, Nicolas was an artilleryman. He had commanded 77mm field guns to fight the French army on the front line more than once. His battlefield experience enabled him to judge the landing point of the shell from the whistling sound of the shell, which was at least 400 meters away from him.

Sure enough, several shells exploded 500 meters away.

Then came another row of shells, but the landing points were still inaccurate.

Major General Nicolas was surprised. Why did the French open fire without seeing their own garrison?

Ten minutes passed, and artillery shells were still exploding, mostly indiscriminately without a target.

The staff officer ran to Major General Nicolas and reported: "The artillery cannot suppress them. The enemy is mobile artillery fire."

Mobile bombardment means firing one shot and then moving to another location. In the dark night, you cannot be sure where it will be in the next second, so it is meaningless to suppress it.

But at the same time, there is no accuracy in this way of firing, because there is no correction for each shell.

Major General Nicholas frowned. Why were they wasting artillery shells like this?

He listened carefully with doubt in his eyes, and then suddenly understood something. There was the sound of motors hidden in the gaps between the gunfire.

"Enemy attack!" Major General Nicholas ordered loudly: "Move out the tanks!"

Those are enemy tanks, Major General Nicholas thought, and they are using the sound of their artillery to cover up the sound of the tank's engine.

The enemy attacks with tanks, so we should also fight back with tanks!

However, Major General Nicolas made a mistake in command.

"Upper Silesia" is a tank with a turret. Its external perception ability is much worse than that of "Saint-Samond M21". Once the tank soldiers enter the tank, they almost become blind and can see nothing.

This was indeed the case. The tank barely drove out of the bunker, and then could do nothing, staring blankly at the darkness outside the observation hole.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to convert them into infantry on the spot to form a line of defense. Using rifles and grenades for defense may be able to play a role.

The victory or defeat on the battlefield is often a matter of a single thought; the commander's reaction speed and judgment ability often determine the outcome of the battle.

Major General Nicholas seemed to have noticed this, but it was too late to change the order. He could only grit his teeth and order the troops to form a defense line with the tanks.

What's worse, the German "Upper Silesian" tanks were tall and stood like benchmarks on the German defense line. The French army immediately knew the location of the enemy's defense line and found the target.

The first to open fire were mortars. One shell after another, with a sharp whistling sound, slammed heavily around the German tanks. Some of the shells hit the branches of trees and exploded above the enemy's heads, causing the German soldiers to scream in pain.

Intensive gunfire followed, and the fire from the artillery shells revealed the backs of the German army, allowing the French soldiers to target their attacks.

The "Saint-Samond M21" always maintained speed and approached the enemy. The machine gunner stuck half of his head out to observe the front, and the heavy machine gun in his hand fired "da da". As long as there was a dark shadow flashing by, he would fire a shower of bullets without hesitation.

The "Saint-Samond M21" equipped with 37mm guns was not in a hurry. They drove straight towards the German tanks face to face, getting closer and closer.

The machine gun turrets of the German tanks were spewing flames, but it was obvious that they were firing indiscriminately, and the bullets were already flying into the sky without them knowing it.

At almost close range, the 37mm gun of the "Saint-Samond M21" opened fire.

"Boom", white smoke came out of the German tanks, and soon a big fire broke out.

The fire illuminated the German defense line like a torch. Several "fire men" escaped from the tank cabin, shouting and waving, and the scene was in chaos.

The French tanks ignored all this. They did not engage in too much entanglement with the German army. They advanced at full speed regardless of everything, attacking anyone they saw and blowing up any tanks they saw.

The entire battle seemed to be about tanks disrupting and destroying the German defenses in the front, while French soldiers followed behind to "clean up" the remaining German troops.

The German army was defeated and they ran around like headless flies, unable to find their direction in the dark.

At this moment, "Saint Samon M21" actually showed its momentum!

(End of this chapter)