Chapter 893: Strong Attack

Haig chose to fight to the end; he could not afford the cost of failure.

Pershing's repeated opposition and Charles's judgment, the latter even issued a warning to the public in the newspaper.

And all of this was ignored by Haig.

If he gave in now, he, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, would lose all face.

…

Waltering Forest southwest of Saarbrücken.

Major General Tonio was stationed on the outskirts of the forest with his 21st Infantry Division. Most of his men were local recruits because the colonial army had been disobedient recently.

However, Major General Tonio was not worried about casualties.

His mission was simple: to build a defensive line around the forest to prevent the Germans from counterattacking and thereby protect the supply lines behind him.

After Major General Tonio and his troops arrived at the destination, he immediately ordered the digging of trenches, the laying of barbed wire, and the laying of mines.

He separated his defense line from the forest area by more than 300 meters and set up firing points on the high ground according to the terrain.

He said to his staff:

“The forest will be the enemy’s best cover, and the trees will be their best cover and shelter.”

"If we get too close to the forest, we'll be easily ambushed by the enemy."

"The German stormtroopers do this all the time!"

The staff officers all expressed their agreement.

The more than 300-meter no-man's land with good visibility between the forest and the defense line would leave the Germans nowhere to hide. As soon as they walked out of the forest, they would be blocked by barbed wire and mines, and then fall in large numbers under the British firepower.

But man proposes, God disposes.

At that time, Major General Tonio was inspecting the front line. He used every bit of time to fill the gaps in the defense and increase firepower in key areas.

A signalman ran up to him along the communication trench: "General, our superiors have ordered us to enter the forest and attack the Germans."

Major General Tonio thought he had misheard. He looked at the signalman in astonishment and said, "What did you say? Are you sure you're not joking?"

"No, General." The signalman handed over the telegram: "It's an order from Lieutenant General Haig."

Major General Tonio took the telegram and read it over and over again three times, then turned his gaze to the front of the position.

The area was covered with barbed wire and mines, laid by the British themselves.

The original scene was of the Germans rushing out and being beaten to pieces, but now it has turned into the British army rushing forward to clear the obstacles under the German firepower.

Even if they succeed in crossing this no-man's land, they will have to enter the forest and fight the Germans hiding in the dark...

Without saying anything, Major General Tonio turned and walked towards the headquarters. He decided to argue with Haig and tell him that this was an impossible task.

He even thought of a reason:

"Most of my troops were new recruits. They were trained in trench warfare and had no knowledge or training in jungle warfare, let alone combat experience."

"To allow them to go into the jungle and attack the German lines under these conditions would be a suicide mission."

"It won't do anything, please reconsider."

However, he was unable to speak to Haig because the headquarters' phone had been flooded with calls, and all everyone received was the order passed on by the staff: "Execute resolutely!"

At most, they would add: "We have no choice. If we don't do this, the troops on the front line won't get fuel and ammunition. Hurry and take them down!"

Finally, the battle to attack the forest began.

The German army did not make things too difficult for the British army. They seemed to be worried that if they used too much force, the British army would not dare to enter the forest, so they only used a few machine guns to interfere with the British army's clearing of barbed wire and mines.

Entering the forest was the British army's nightmare.

The well-prepared German army wore cloaks woven from branches and straw hats on their heads. Machine guns were hidden in bunkers, and some even used the British army as targets in caves high up in the mountains.

As for the British soldiers, when the gunshots rang out, they only saw their comrades falling one by one, but they didn't know where the bullets came from.

The forest turned into a huge mouth, swallowing up countless British soldiers who entered it.

The only advantage was that the British troops outside could not see the corpses or the battle situation, and had no idea what was happening inside.

…

The snowy Saarbrücken front.

Colonel Monty, the commander of the tank division, called for artillery support over the phone again and again.

"We need to use artillery fire to cover the enemy's position." Monty shouted amid the sound of gunfire: "There are mines and barbed wire everywhere, otherwise half of our tanks will be damaged or malfunction."

Anti-personnel mines can break tracks, anti-tank mines can blow through the chassis, and barbed wire can get stuck in the road wheels, immobilizing them.

But the artillery's reply was: "We can't do that, Colonel. Once we gather, we will be suppressed by German artillery fire."

Monty looked up into the sky and saw German bombers circling overhead.

Those are the legendary planes equipped with radios, which can transmit the British artillery positions back immediately.

The Germans were then able to suppress the British artillery with far fewer artillery pieces.

Helplessly, Colonel Monty gritted his teeth and could only give the order to storm.

The tank tracks creaked, the engine roared deafeningly, and black smoke spewed out of the exhaust pipe, which soon condensed into mist in the air.

The tanks were like a huge sea of ​​steel, rushing towards the city of Saarbrücken a few kilometers away.

The "Independence" rushing in the front has thick skin and strong firepower, making it very suitable for playing as a forward.

However, the so-called "rough skin" is relative to the "Whippet". After the reinforcement, its frontal armor only reaches 35MM, which is still not as good as the 45MM after the reinforcement of "Char A1".

"Boom boom", several "Independence" tanks hit mines and stopped one after another.

The "Independence" was an immature piece of equipment that was forced into mass production. Its weight of 31.5 tons even exceeded the 25 tons of the "Charter B1".

Even the British soldiers themselves complained: "It has a heavier weight but much weaker armor protection, and its firepower is not as good as the 'Char B1'. What caused such a gap?"

Everyone knew in their hearts that it was Ciel's skill.

The weight and technological asymmetry of the "Independence" is also reflected in another aspect: the strength of its tracks has not kept up. It uses thickened "Whippet" tracks, which can easily be broken by mines.

Monty, who was watching the situation from behind with a telescope, immediately realized his mistake. He turned around and ordered, "Pass the order, Independence slows down and let Whippet go ahead."

The Independence is a heavy tank, and we cannot let them all be destroyed by mines.

The signal flag quickly conveyed the order.

But it still doesn't help.

As the Whippet rushed forward, artillery fire broke out from the German direction.

The gun that opened fire was the 77MM infantry gun.

To be precise, it is a 37MM anti-tank gun.

The Germans invented a new tactic, using 77MM infantry guns to cover the fire of anti-tank guns.

The former fired louder and had a taller gun, and also produced smoke and dust, which prevented the British from discovering the location of the low-barreled anti-tank guns.

All the British army could feel was that their tanks were being destroyed one after another, and some were even igniting balls of flame that looked like blood.

(End of this chapter)