Chapter 206 This is Ciel's style
The mortar suppressed the German trenches. It had a short range and could be closely coordinated with infantry and tanks.
Under the cover of artillery fire, the tanks and infantry slowly advanced towards the enemy trenches.
The tank was a "Mark I" type. Its 17MM front armor was slightly insufficient, but this was not a big problem. It could be dealt with by temporarily tying a layer of sandbags in front of its armor before the war.
It is not necessary to remove the barbed wire, as the wide tracks of the Mark I can easily crush it or even carry it away.
But Brownie took one thing into consideration: "The wire may get caught in the tracks and road wheels. Breaking through the defense line is no problem, but maintenance must be carried out immediately after the battle, otherwise it will not be able to travel more than ten kilometers."
Colonel Estiny agreed: "We should take some time to remove the barbed wire. This will save more time for subsequent battles!"
So there was a scene where engineers hooked away the barbed wire before the war.
The gunfire suddenly stopped.
The German soldiers emerged from the trenches one by one and suddenly found that the enemy tank was right in front of them. The tall body of the tank looked like a giant, and the black hole of the machine gun muzzle was its eye, shining coldly in the rain, which made people shudder.
The panicked German soldiers tried to organize a defense, but machine guns spewed flames at them.
The dense rain of bullets made it impossible for them to raise their heads. Before they could react, another row of grenades fell from the sky into the trenches...
The French offensive and firepower were one layer after another: mortars, tanks, grenades, coordinated with each other seamlessly, leaving the German army no chance.
What the German army lacked was not only tactics, but also equipment.
In principle, the best way to deal with mortars is to use mortars.
But the Germans had no mortars.
The best way to deal with grenades was also to throw a row of grenades to create a barrage in front of the trenches, but their grenades were still in the primitive stage and were not mass-produced.
The result was that the German army was suppressed by the French army throughout the whole process and had no ability to fight back.
…
Under the cover of his subordinates, Basel escaped from a sea of corpses and blood. He thought that the enemy would expand the victory from the breakthrough point and attack the entire line of defense, but the enemy did not do so.
The battlefield became quiet again, and Basel, who was on the run, looked back in confusion.
No enemies, no tanks, and no grenades!
If it weren't for the mess on the battlefield and the corpses of German soldiers everywhere, Bazel wouldn't even dare to believe that the enemy had been there.
what happened?
It came so quickly and went away just as quickly.
In just over twenty minutes, the enemy broke through the defense line and fled, as if they were just passing by and saying hello to the German army.
Colonel Aifuri, who had already fled far away, turned back panting and asked in confusion: "They, they didn't occupy the defense line..."
"They are going to reinforce the besieged French army!" Bazel replied slowly: "They are Charles' troops!"
Colonel Avery's face was instantly filled with surprise.
Colonel Avery always thought that Charles was just a legend. After all, he had never experienced it on the battlefield with his own eyes. It was very likely that Charles was a deified image by the French.
But what happened today forced him to believe it.
Because, it seems that only Charles' troops can do this.
…
General Staff, Berlin, Germany.
Falkenhayn leisurely admired the heavy snow falling outside the window. He believed that the first major victory since taking over the command of the German army was about to come, and it was as unstoppable as this heavy snow.
Falkenhayn will give a perfect answer, and he intends to use it to convince Hindenburg, Ludendorff and the Eastern Front factions.
The Eastern Front faction believed that victory on the Western Front was impossible in the short term, so the main force of the German army should be transferred to the Eastern Front, and then the troops should be transferred back to deal with France with all their strength after victory on the Eastern Front.
"These idiots!" Falkenhayn muttered to himself at the white outside the window: "There are no troops to be deployed on the Western Front. Not only that, but they have to continue to increase their troops. Otherwise, there will be no Germany and no Eastern Front!"
At this time, Colonel Moritz, who was guarding the radio station, suddenly raised his head and reported with a panicked voice, even a scream: "General, Charles' troops have appeared, and they have broken into our encirclement!"
Falkenhayn was startled and turned his head sharply to look at Moritz.
The people at the command center were also surprised when they heard this, and their movements obviously paused.
Falkenhayn rushed back to his desk, his eyes fell on the map, and he asked anxiously, "What's the location? How many troops?"
Colonel Moritz walked quickly to his desk with the telegram in his hand. His voice came before he arrived: "Rhodes direction, about two thousand people!"
Falkenhayn raised his head and looked at Moritz in shock, his tone full of disbelief: "Two thousand people? Two thousand people broke through the defense line of our infantry division with more than 10,000 people stationed there?"
A force of more than 10,000 people should be able to hold off an attack by 20,000 or even more enemies, but now it has been broken through by 2,000 people.
Colonel Moritz read the telegram again and nodded affirmatively: "Yes, General, and it only took seventeen minutes. It was Charles' Mark I tank!"
Falkenham said "hmm". This was Charles' style and he shouldn't be surprised.
Falkenhayn turned his gaze to the map again, first found Rhodes, then looked at Tram on its extension line, and immediately pointed at the map and ordered: "Immediately dispatch troops to reinforce these two places. It is very likely that Charles will break out from these two places!"
"But General!" Colonel Moritz reminded, "The French are concentrating their forces to attack Cape Town. They plan to attack from both sides and break through from the front..."
"No!" Falkenhayn interrupted Moritz and said firmly: "Charles will not break through from the front!"
Falkenhayn drew a line in the Cape Town area and explained, "If Charles's troops go through Lorca to rescue the two troops and then break out from Cape Town, the total route will be more than 30 kilometers!"
Colonel Moritz said, "Oh!" "The 'Mark I' tanks need to change tracks every 30 kilometers. They can't spend several hours changing tracks while breaking through, so they can only take the shortest route!"
"Yes!" Falkenhayn pointed his finger at the town of Lorca. "Unless he loses the tank here!"
Colonel Moritz added: "Even if he is willing to throw away the tanks, it is not feasible. Without tanks, his troops will not be able to break through the reverse defense line of Cape Town!"
Falkenhayn smiled and nodded: "Charles is too arrogant. He actually brought only 2,000 men to break through the siege and imagined that he could change the situation! This time, I will surround him as well!"
"But General!" Colonel Moritz said in a troubled tone, "We don't have any extra troops!"
Falkenhayn didn't think much about it and gave the order: "Call the 4th Reserve Army and ask them to withdraw troops to reinforce the two wings!"
"Yes, General!" Colonel Moritz responded and turned around to give orders.
(End of this chapter)
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