Chapter 208 Devil's Paint
At about 2:30 in the afternoon, the rain stopped on the Samok Straight.
The gray sky began to brighten, and Colonel Matteo thought it was going to clear up and the temperature would rise, but a gust of wind blew, and suddenly white snow flakes began to fall, mixed with some raindrops.
However, this had no effect on Colonel Matteo. He closed the hatch and hid back in the A7V tank, once again "enjoying" the high temperature and suffocating smoke in the cabin.
He envied the infantrymen, at least they wouldn't be like the tank soldiers, who couldn't even breathe a breath of fresh air before they died.
"Order the troops to find favorable terrain!" Mateo ordered the signalman, "There are at least thirty tanks in the straight road. If the French are forced into a corner, they may rush out in a swarm!"
"Yes, Colonel!" the messenger responded and immediately leaned out from the top to signal the surrounding tanks.
This is the contact information of the A7V tank. Among all the tanks, only the command vehicle commanded by Colonel Matteo is equipped with a radio.
Soon, fifteen A7V tanks were divided into teams on both sides of the straight road, forming a rough arc with their front guns pointing at the exit of the straight road.
Just as the A7Vs were quietly waiting for the enemy tanks in the vague snow, the signalman standing guard in front of the radio reported: "Colonel, General Felix called and said Charles' troops have broken through Rodes and are heading towards us. They will reach our position in about an hour and a half. They have at least thirty tanks!"
"Charles's troops? 'Mark I' type?" Colonel Mateo asked, his eyes lighting up.
"Yes, the Mark I," the signalman replied, "frontline officers and soldiers have confirmed it, and they are not seen equipped with artillery, but machine guns!"
The soldiers in the tank cabin cheered and shouted at the same time:
"We're busy again!"
"Let's have another Mark dinner!"
"I like Mark. Is this Charles's insistence? He has a special liking for machine guns!"
…
Colonel Mateo ignored them. After thinking for a while, he ordered the messenger: "The third tank squadron stays, and the rest of the tanks withdraw from the battle and follow me. We will deal with the Mark I!"
"Yes, Colonel!" The messenger sent out a flag signal as instructed.
The first and second tank squadrons responded soon. Like a fat man, they turned slowly and with difficulty on the rugged terrain, and then followed behind No. 501.
The tank troops drove south along the road for more than ten minutes, and Colonel Matteo ordered the convoy to stop.
"Inspect, ventilate, and prepare for battle!"
Ventilation is a big issue. It is not only a breathing problem for tank soldiers, but also affects the vision of drivers, gunners, and machine gunners.
Colonel Mateo hopes that the tank troops can fight in the best condition, even if the opponent is the "Mark I" without cannon.
The tanks stopped one after another with their hatches wide open and visible clouds of thick smoke billowing out, as if there was a fire inside.
The tank soldiers rushed out and greedily breathed in the fresh air outside, some of them were still coughing.
But they didn't care about that, they just waved to each other and shouted excitedly:
"Are you sure you want to go after the Mark I?"
"Of course, there are said to be more than thirty of them!"
"I can't wait to beat Ciel, this is so exciting! This is the best news I've ever heard!"
…
The A7V tank was designed to target Charles' "Mark I". German tank soldiers only received two types of training: necessary operational training and understanding of "Mark I" data.
Everyone, including Colonel Mateo, believed that the "Saint-Chamond" and CA-1 were not tanks. They could be dealt with by infantry and artillery. Anti-tank rifles and 77MM field guns were enough to blow them up.
Only the "Mark I", or more precisely, only the Charles tanks, can fight against them.
For this purpose, the No. 506 "Mephisto" also had a paint job of the devil taking away the "Mark I" painted in front of the muzzle.
(The picture above shows the devilish paint job of the 506th "Moffist" A7V tank, which is holding a "Mark I" tank. This tank was captured by the Australian army and has been preserved to this day)
Colonel Mateo did not get out of the tank. Instead, he climbed to the top of the tank, opened the hatch, and leaned out, carefully observing the other end of the road with a telescope. He was worried that the enemy would suddenly appear in front of him.
When putting away the telescope, Colonel Matteo looked up at the sky and saw two Avro planes circling overhead.
Would they convey the message to the Mark I that the A7V was waiting here?
Would they change lanes because they knew there were tanks waiting ahead?
Thinking of this, Colonel Matteo loudly ordered the crew to get on board, and the ten A7Vs continued to move slowly along the road with the rumbling sound of their engines.
The two infantry battalions that came to cooperate with it arrived just in time. The infantrymen followed the tanks closely with rifles in hand, sometimes even having to jog to keep up.
Although the A7V tank has a large body, each of its road wheels is equipped with a balanced coil spring suspension, which has a certain shock absorption capacity. Therefore, its stability, comfort and speed performance are relatively excellent, and its maximum speed can reach 10 kilometers per hour.
Twenty minutes later, the troops arrived at the town of Samok. Colonel Matteo felt relieved because it seemed that the enemy had not passed by yet.
There is a fork road a few hundred meters east of the town of Samok. This fork road also leads to Tram, but it is a longer detour.
Colonel Mateo was worried that the enemy would speed up their passage through here.
But on second thought, it seems impossible. That road goes deep into the heart of the German-controlled area, and if the "Mark I" takes that road, it will obviously not be able to reach the destination as it needs to change tracks.
The tanks continued to move along the road in a long line.
Matteo looked at the time and estimated that it would take the enemy more than ten minutes to arrive, which was enough time for the tanks to seize the advantageous terrain.
However……
A few gunshots were heard, and blue smoke instantly came out of the three A7V tanks. One of them seemed to be hit in the fuel tank and soon caught fire. The tank crew escaped from it with flames all over their bodies, waving their hands and screaming loudly.
"What's going on?" asked Colonel Mateo.
Someone answered: "It's the town of Samok, Colonel, the enemy is lying in ambush there!"
"Turn to the town, turn to the town!" Matteo ordered loudly: "Pay attention to the enemy artillery, let the infantry go up and eliminate them!"
"Yes, Colonel!" The messenger passed on the order.
Colonel Mateo's first reaction was: "That's the enemy's infantry gun."
The enemy's Mark I tanks had no artillery, so the only thing that could fire was of course the infantry guns.
This is not a big problem. The infantry artillery can launch a sneak attack at such a close distance, and the infantry can end the battle with a single charge!
However, when the A7V tank slowly moved towards the town of Samok, Colonel Mateo was stunned by what he saw... It was a tank! A tank that Colonel Mateo had never seen before!
They are much smaller than the A7V, with a turret, a machine gun and a small-caliber cannon. The three A7Vs destroyed just now are obviously their masterpieces.
Colonel Mateo's heart sank as he realized that he might have fallen into the trap set by Charles!
(End of this chapter)
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