Chapter 684 Tank Battle

Montreuil, British Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

Haig was busy inside a wall where a corner had collapsed, and wounded soldiers being carried away and replaced soldiers could be seen everywhere outside.

The shells whistled through the air and then exploded nearby.

The noise of fighter planes came one after another. From time to time, they swooped down and fired fiercely at the ground, causing the British troops below to scream in pain.

The British resistance at Montreuil was difficult.

Their artillery range is not as good as the enemy's 105MM howitzer, their aircraft number is not as large as the enemy's, and their tanks are not as advanced as the enemy's.

The most serious problem was that almost all of the British defense lines were facing Belgium, and no one expected that the Germans would advance along the Somme River and then launch an attack from the rear.

The British army would have been driven all the way into the sea by the German army. Fortunately, Kitchener asked Balfour for help and dispatched three battleships including the "Queen Elizabeth" and five cruisers to use naval guns to block the German offensive.

"General!" The signalman ran to Haig amid the sound of artillery fire and reported at the top of his voice: "Good news, the Russians launched a counterattack on the Eastern Front and won!"

Haig just looked back at the signalman and continued to stare at the map, thinking about how to stop the next wave of German attack.

He did not trust the Russians. He believed that even if the Russians launched a counterattack, it would be on a small scale and would have no impact on the war situation.

As for winning, they would be lucky if they could hold their own defense, as Haig had no expectation that they could win, even a little bit.

Unexpectedly, the signalman reported: "The Russians, led by General Brusilov, have killed and wounded more than 100,000 German troops!"

Haig was stunned. He suspected that he had heard wrongly. He turned around and looked at the signalman in confusion: "What did you say? 100,000?"

"Yes, General." The signalman handed over the telegram.

Haig took the telegram and saw that it was indeed 100,000. What was going on with the Russians?

But this was a surprise, definitely a surprise!

"Great!" Haig's frown instantly relaxed: "The Russians' victory on the Eastern Front means that our pressure will be much less."

Then Haig asked: "How are the Russians doing? Are their victories still continuing?"

"I think so, General." The signalman replied: "The Russians have made full preparations for this counterattack. They have assembled 570,000 people to launch a counterattack against the Austro-Hungarian defense line. The Austro-Hungarian army is collapsing!"

Haig nodded with satisfaction, took a long breath, and turned his gaze to the map again.

But this time he was not thinking about defense but counterattack.

This was the British army's chance, Haig thought. They should take advantage of the German army's chaos to launch a counterattack and win. Only in this way could they re-establish the dignity of themselves and the British Expeditionary Force.

He even acted confidently and said to his staff: "We lured the Germans here to extend their supply lines, and used the Leith River defense line to semi-encircle them. Now, it's time for us to counterattack, teach the Germans a lesson, and make them groan under our guns!"

(The Lys River is to the east of Montreuil, and Montreuil is stuck between the Lys River defense line and the English Channel, which is why Erwin attacked Montreuil)

Haig's words were a whitewash of a strategy. He cleverly transformed the previous defeat of the British Expeditionary Force into "luring the enemy deep into our territory."

If he could lead the British army to turn defeat into victory, everyone would be impressed by his brilliant strategy and military talent.

The staff officer understood the message and took note of it. He would cooperate in telling reporters about it and then build momentum for Haig's counterattack and victory in the public opinion field.

However, before the staff officer could pass on this message, a signalman on the phone suddenly reported loudly. His voice became shrill due to panic, like the cry of a nightingale: "General, the Germans are attacking. Their tanks are tearing through our defense line along the Leith River. Colonel Terrence requests reinforcements!"

Haig was stunned. He did not expect that the Germans did not take a defensive stance but instead concentrated their armored forces to launch an attack, and the attack was on the Leie River defense line.

Could it be that they were planning to bypass Montreuil?

Haig's face turned pale in an instant.

All the forces of the British Expeditionary Force were concentrated in Montreuil to organize the defense. Most of the troops in the area to the north were logistics troops, wounded soldiers and newly arrived reinforcements, and their defense line was in the opposite direction.

Once the Germans advance into the hinterland along the Lys River, they will kill everyone in their path like a tiger among a flock of sheep.

"The Germans may fight all the way to Dunkirk!" Haig's confidence, which had just been restored, was shattered again. He was at a loss and even more panicked than before.

He realized that if the German army reached Dunkirk and occupied this important supply port, hundreds of thousands of British troops would have no choice but to surrender or jump into the English Channel and swim back to Britain.

"Reinforce!" Haig shouted in a hoarse voice: "Reinforce immediately, send out all the tanks, and be sure to stop the German attack!"

…

The British and German armies launched the first major tank battle in human history in the rain and fog on the banks of the Lys River, with a total of more than 800 tanks deployed by both sides.

However, this was more of a massacre than a tank battle.

Erwin had long anticipated that the British would send tank reinforcements, so while attacking he organized his troops to make defensive preparations near the Lys River.

"This is their weak spot!" Erwin smiled as he saw the British tanks appear in the aperture of his telescope. "But they really should have waited for our tanks to pass!"

The "Whippet" tanks equipped by the British were no match for the German tanks, which was one of the reasons why Erwin was able to chase the British Expeditionary Force all the way.

Erwin raised his hand confidently and waved it forward gently.

"Forward!" the German commander shouted, his voice cold and confident.

The tanks led the troops to meet the enemy in a mighty force, with steady steps and determined eyes.

The battle was a foregone conclusion and the British army was badly defeated, even though it had more than 500 tanks, nearly twice as many as the German army.

Haig had originally hoped that they could lead the expeditionary force to achieve the glory of the British Empire, but in reality they became piles of scrap metal emitting smoke and flames.

The German tank losses were minimal, with only about fifty out of more than two hundred tanks lost, a considerable number of which were due to malfunctions.

After the victory, the German 1st Tank Division did not stop. Under the personal leadership of Major General Erwin, it continued to march northward towards Dunkirk.

Major General Erwin was taking a risk; his tanks did not even have enough fuel to make it to Dunkirk.

But Erwin still believed he had a chance of winning.

"We will get the fuel," Erwin said to his men in a relaxed tone. "What you need to do is pay attention to oncoming cars and don't rush to blow them up, because that might be the gasoline we need!"

(End of this chapter)