Chapter 480: This Side of the Enemy
Major General Lacoste stared at the map blankly with a complicated look.
He even suspected that the Charles in front of him was a fake, a German spy, whose purpose was to make them lose the war!
Otherwise, who would actively ask the troops to give up the geographical advantage and let the enemy occupy the high ground? !
Charles seemed to see through Major General Lacoste's thoughts. He smiled and said, "General, if you are sure that you can't stop the German attack, why don't you try my method?"
Major General Lacoste suddenly woke up.
If Charles is a fake or a German spy, he doesn't need to do anything but wait, the 2nd Army will be wiped out tonight!
Thinking of this, Major General Lacoste sighed softly: "But Brigadier General, the result of doing this will put us in a completely passive position."
He pointed to the defensive line drawn by Charles:
"If we build our defense line here, the Germans standing on the top of the mountain can easily throw grenades into our trenches, but it will be difficult for us to counterattack because we are at a low point."
"That is to say, the enemy can easily kill us with just grenades."
Ciel replied calmly:
"I don't think so, General."
“Ordinary trenches do have the problems you describe.”
“But it’s different if it’s a trench of different heights.”
Major General Lacoste looked confused: "Different heights?"
Ciel nodded, picked up a pen and paper, and explained while drawing a diagram:
"This is the slope of the mountain. We will build trenches here."
"When the trench was built, all the soil excavated was piled up on the upstream side, which caused the upper side to be much higher than the lower side."
Major General Lacoste suddenly understood, and he exclaimed:
"Any German hand grenade thrown would be blocked by the high upper side."
"Or will it go over the upper side and over the trench and to the other side?"
Ciel nodded.
This was actually an artificially constructed "blind spot" into which grenades could not be thrown, even if the Germans were close enough and on high ground.
Conversely, the French soldiers in the trenches could easily throw grenades to the top of the mountain by simply standing up.
Major General Lacoste's eyes lit up instantly. In this way, the French army took the initiative, although on the surface it seemed to have given up its geographical advantage.
Colonel Crane seemed to have realized something, and he added: "And the German artillery, none of their artillery can reach this side."
Major General Lacoste was stunned for a moment, then his face showed joy: "That's right, the enemy's howitzers will be blocked by the top of the mountain, this area is their blind spot. God, we can even ignore the existence of the enemy's artillery, there are thousands of artillery pieces."
"That's not all." Charles pointed his finger at the bottom of the high ground: "We can deploy artillery at the foot of the mountain."
Major General Lacoste nodded repeatedly, his voice becoming excited:
"Yes, Commodore, it's great."
"The foot of the mountain is still a blind spot for enemy artillery. It is safe for artillery to be deployed here, but they can still hit the Germans who rush to the top of the mountain."
"It's hard to imagine that just moving the defense line back a few dozen meters would bring so many benefits."
"And no one has thought of this before. Only you, Commodore!"
The look in Major General Lacoste's eyes when he looked at Charles had changed from initial suspicion to admiration.
Charles is worthy of being called the Mars of France. He has turned decay into magic!
The Germans would be caught off guard, and in the dark they would be so dizzy that they wouldn't even know where the grenades came from!
Major Jules, who came with Charles, also looked at Charles in surprise and felt a little sad.
If the French army had used this tactic from the beginning, they might not have lost the first line of defense, nor would they have suffered such heavy casualties, such as Colonel De Leon and his comrades...
Only Charles looked calm, as if he had just said something insignificant.
This was not something Charles came up with. It was a tactic used by modern volunteer troops when facing artillery with absolute superiority: the reverse slope tactic.
Actively giving up the top of the mountain position and building trenches on the reverse slope can instantly render the enemy's direct-fire artillery ineffective, including tanks.
Although the indirect fire cannon can hit the target, it can only fire blindly without knowing the exact location of the target.
Once the enemy enters the position on the top of the mountain, the volunteers will jump out of the trenches to launch a counterattack, and soon the two armies will be entangled in hand-to-hand combat.
At this time, all the enemy's advanced equipment will become useless and they can only fight with bayonets.
The reason why European and American countries do not have such tactics is that their battles are always plane against plane and tank against tank, and they never consider the tactics of fighting with bayonets against human lives when the enemy equipment has an absolute advantage.
Gradually, the smile on Major General Lacoste's face faded, and he seemed to have thought of this.
"Brigadier General," Major General Lacoste said worriedly, "Our trenches are too close to the top of the mountain and are still at a low point. Once the enemy launches a desperate charge..."
The elite German troops gathered in Verdun were commanded by the German Crown Prince himself. It was said that 17 of the most powerful divisions were drawn from the general reserve to reinforce them.
These troops dared to fight and charge. More than 100,000 of them used hand-to-hand combat to wipe out the remaining 7,000-plus people of the 2nd Army, which was almost like stepping on an ant.
"So we need this." Charles nodded at Major Jules.
Major Jules understood and took out a square object from his bag and placed it carefully on the table.
Major General Lacoste came closer and saw the words "This side faces the enemy" written in French on the front.
(The above picture shows a directional mine, which is simple to make and cheap, but has amazing lethality, especially in terms of group damage)
(The picture above shows the steel ball inside the directional mine)
"This is a directional mine." Charles stepped forward and patted the mine body, introducing: "Each of these directional mines is equipped with about 800 steel balls. Once detonated, the steel balls will be scattered and fired in the direction of the enemy like bullets. The range is about 100 meters."
Hearing this, Major General Lacoste withdrew his hand that had been touching Lei's body as if it was burned by fire. With fear in his eyes, he looked at Charles and said with difficulty: "800 steel balls? Range of 100 meters?"
Charles nodded affirmatively:
"He will instantly turn any enemy that comes close into a sieve."
"We don't need to see the enemy, we don't need to aim, we just need to know that the enemy is there and then detonate it."
This was almost tailor-made for this battle.
Major General Lacoste swallowed and said, "How many of these directional mines do you have, Brigadier General? If you need them, how much do you need?"
"It's free." Charles spread his hands generously. "The first batch of 10,000 is already on the way. No need to pay. I'm giving it to you for Verdun, for France, and for the lives of the soldiers!"
Now is the time to gain the favor of the army, and Charles will not miss this good opportunity.
Major General Lacoste was instantly moved. He stepped forward, shook Charles' hand tightly, and said excitedly:
"Thank you, Commodore. Thank you very much!"
"You are the savior of France, the real savior!"
"No one is like you. No one cares about our lives but you!"
The people around also looked at Charles with admiration and gratitude. After all, they were just thinking about how to escape, but now they knew that they could not only save their lives, but also possibly turn defeat into victory!
"This is what I should do." Charles glanced at the whole audience: "You are the bravest people, heroes, and the elite of France. You deserve this. Long live France!"
"Long live France!"
"Long live France!"
…
The people around him shouted along with Charles, and some were so moved that they burst into tears.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
