Chapter 411 The Pulse of War

There is only one chapter today due to work, sorry.

I am still the head teacher of the third grade class this year, and I have been very busy with work during the start of the school year.

Because I was writing a novel, I had applied to stop being a class teacher at the beginning of the year. But this is a vicious circle: the more often you are a class teacher and the better you are at it, the more you can't get rid of it. You have to be a class teacher every year, and you have to be forced to be one.

If you give up completely, no one will dare to let you take over in two years.

…

Charles was confident about this battle.

One of the reasons was that the French army had previously captured the "Upper Silesia" tank, and Charles tested it and obtained the complete performance data of the tank.

The front armor of the "Upper Silesian" tank is 14MM, and the 37mm gun of the "Char A1" can penetrate it at a distance of about 350 meters.

On the contrary, the "Charr A1" had additional armor on the front reaching 45MM, and the 57mm gun of the "Upper Silesia" had to get close to about 200 meters to barely penetrate it.

(Note: There were no dedicated armor-piercing shells during this period, otherwise the armor-piercing capability of the 57MM caliber artillery would not be so weak)

After knowing this, the tanks of the 1st Armored Division advanced to about 200 meters away from the enemy trenches and stopped temporarily. They built an iron line of defense in front of the German defense line.

They wasted no time targeting enemy tanks and 77MM field guns, but instead locked onto machine gun positions and infantry in the trenches.

This is because most of the German tanks and artillery were hidden in bunkers with only a small part exposed, and it was very difficult to destroy them with the accuracy of the "Char A1".

The German tanks were dealt with by the "Saint-Samond" and truck-mounted guns that followed closely behind.

The main function is still the truck gun.

Tijani's 1st Mechanized Division was equipped with 80 truck-mounted guns, which quickly followed up and prepared for artillery fire after the "Saint-Samond" forced away the German artillery.

This process can be completed in a few minutes. All you have to do is find a flat ground or level the ground. Then the truck turns around and the 75 gun at the rear points its muzzle at the enemy position.

What is more complicated and important is actually the preparation work before the truck gun enters the combat position:

Artillery observers moved along with the infantry, using binoculars to locate enemy tanks and calculate their coordinates.

The signalmen pulled the telephone lines to the artillery observers in the shortest possible time.

Originally, Charles planned to use a radio, but the sound quality of the radio at that time was poor and easily interfered with. In addition, communication was very difficult on the front line where the sound of gunfire was incessant. For the time being, it was only suitable for transmitting information between relatively stable command posts.

The disadvantage of the telephone is that the line can be easily cut by artillery shells or run over by one's own vehicles.

Charles' solution was to "spare no expense". He assigned two communications squads to each artillery observation group, each responsible for setting up a line.

In addition, an emergency communications company was added.

This communications company drives armored vehicles and sidecars, which are equipped with a roller adapted to the speed. As the vehicle drives forward, the line is laid all the way behind. A call can be connected in as fast as five minutes over a distance of three or four kilometers.

This perfectly solves the coordination problem between the front-line infantry and the rear artillery.

Therefore, the artillery observer reported the coordinates of the tanks in front by phone, and the artillery in the rear fired shells according to the coordinates to eliminate the targets one by one.

The 75mm gun has a maximum firing rate of 30 rounds per minute. Even at a normal firing rate of more than ten rounds per minute, when 80 truck guns fire at the same time, their firepower is quite terrifying.

I saw row after row of shells exploding on the German positions, and soon the German tanks were blown to pieces.

…

The German tanks, however, had almost no results. The shells they fired only produced a flash of fire in front of the "Charger A1", and then it continued to fire shell after shell at the German defense line.

Erwin almost collapsed when he saw this scene. This was one of the few battles he had to decide how to resolve since he joined the war. The other one was Charles' last counterattack in Cambrai.

After a moment's silence, Erwin suddenly shouted, "Retreat, retreat!"

He realized that failure was inevitable and that continuing to fight would only increase casualties.

The signalman passed the signal in time, but in the end only eight tanks were able to retreat, and two of them were destroyed on the way.

The rear armor of the "Upper Silesian" tank is only 5MM. Even if the shell fails to hit it directly but is only hit by shrapnel, it can penetrate it and damage the engine.

Erwin rode a sidecar back to the forest where the tank division was hiding. His body was covered in dust and his face was blackened by the smoke from the shells. His eyes, which had once been extremely confident, now became dull.

Major General Nicolas paced anxiously in front of the bunker. When he saw Erwin coming up, he hurried over to ask, "What's the situation?"

"The situation is very bad, General." Erwin shook his head helplessly: "Char is much more powerful than I thought. The defense I organized is vulnerable in front of him."

Major General Nicholas was stunned. This was not what Erwin would say. This guy always had arrogance on his face. He would never admit defeat and would never take others seriously, including Major General Nicholas.

But now, he looked dejected like a defeated rooster.

"Cheer up, Captain," said Major General Nicolas. "We haven't lost yet. You at least guessed Charles' intention correctly. You're the only one who guessed it correctly! Now, I need you to guess what he will do next and stop him before he does."

"Yes, General." Erwin swallowed, then gritted his teeth and pulled himself together. He walked to a map spread out on the wheel and took a look. "General, we may only have one choice."

Erwin pointed to the map and said, "The town of Wallau, about 30 kilometers away, is the only way to Brussels. There is a highway bridge there. As long as we defend the bridge or blow it up, we can delay the enemy's actions."

Nicolas did not hesitate any longer. He only glanced at the map and immediately ordered: "The entire army retreats to Valo Town, and advance at full speed!"

The German 1st Tank Division became busy, although they only had 38 tanks, several of which had just been repaired, and no one knew whether they could drive to the town of Vallo.

…

At the headquarters of the 1st Mechanized Division, after Charles received a call from the front line that the German defense line had been successfully captured, he said to Foch: "I'm sorry, sir, I may not be able to entertain you."

Foch noticed that the guards were sorting documents and equipment, and asked curiously, "Are you planning to move forward with the troops?"

"Yes." Charles nodded.

"No." Foch's eyes flashed with surprise: "You don't have to do this, Brigadier General. You know, this infiltration mission is very dangerous. If you are not careful, you will be surrounded by the enemy..."

"It is precisely because of the danger that I must go with the troops." Charles answered firmly: "Otherwise, what reason do we have to ask soldiers to charge towards the enemy's position regardless of the danger?"

Foch was stunned, then silently patted Charles on the shoulder: "You are right, I will wait for the news of your victory!"

"Thank you, General." Charles shook hands with Foch.

After Charles and his group left, the headquarters was suddenly empty with only Foch and Weygand left.

Foch asked Weigang thoughtfully: "Now, do you still think his theory is wrong?"

Wei Gang was silent.

Compared to their staff who could only make battle plans in the rear, Charles was a commander who could throw himself into the battlefield.

This means that he can combine theory with practice, that he can grasp the pulse of war, and that he can strangle the enemy by the throat...

So, although Wei Gang was unwilling to admit it, he knew in his heart that he might be the one who was wrong!

(End of this chapter)