Chapter 528 No Dignity
The morning mist was thick and the clouds were as cold as water.
The once peaceful wilderness of the Somme River had now turned into a scorched earth. The wind carried smoke and the stench of corpses. The sunlight filtered through the mist, refracting into spots of light that sprinkled on the corpses in the no-man's land, scaring away the moles that were feasting and biting on the corpses.
The British attack and bombardment finally stopped for a few hours that night, but neither the enemy nor our side completely relaxed. Everyone knew that the short rest was only for a better attack next time.
"Cheer up." Colonel Ralph, commander of the 21st German Infantry Regiment, shouted to his sleepy subordinates.
He complained: "These bastards, don't think the British will let us off so easily."
"Colonel," someone responded, "Aren't they just not letting themselves go?"
The soldiers laughed in unison; they had not expected the British to launch such a suicidal charge.
Ralph responded expressionlessly:
"You've noticed this, too? So, you just assume that the British are stupid enough to keep doing this?"
"This is war, gentlemen. To survive and win, they must change!"
Ralph raised his head towards the other side:
“That’s why it’s so quiet across the way.”
"So, you should be alert and ready to fight."
"Instead of just sneering at the enemy like we do now."
"Otherwise, they will teach you a hard lesson, and there will be no chance to start over, because you are already dead!"
These guys, they don't know how to empathize with their enemies.
After being reminded by Colonel Ralph, the soldiers looked cautious and silently checked their equipment to prepare for battle. Some people even whispered:
"Guess how the British will attack next time?"
"Who knows?"
"Perhaps, they will transfer the troops from the Ciel."
…
These words instantly frightened the German soldiers. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at each other in horror.
They should have called in Charles's troops long ago. Charles always had a way of winning on the battlefield, which meant defeat and death for the German army.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound of a motor was heard from the opposite side.
Colonel Ralph listened carefully, turned around and shouted, "It's the tanks. They sent the tanks up. Prepare the K-bombs!"
There was a tense "click" sound, and the German soldiers hurriedly pulled the bolt to eject the bullets from the rifle, and then took out K bullets from the ammunition bags and loaded them.
The machine gunner also prepared K-bullet belts.
But they were still pale, and everyone thought that it was Charles' troops coming up, and the K bullets would be useless against Charles' tanks.
Before they could get ready, they heard a loud bang and tanks suddenly rushed out of the bunkers. The tracks made a clattering sound and rolled over the corpses in the no-man's land, bursting out dark red blood. The stench instantly filled the entire space.
At this time, the German soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, and some even cheered: "That's not Charles' tank!"
…
The one coming up was the British Army's Whippet tank.
The commander of this force was Captain Bernard Law Monti, commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Army.
(The picture above shows Bernard Law Monty (alias) in 1915, the son of a priest and an aristocratic officer. The British army's wartime promotion system was quite chaotic. Many officers had held important military positions in the battle, but their ranks had never been promoted. Monty's rank was gradually promoted after the war. I personally think that it was due to the serious bureaucracy. The promotion of military ranks required a set of complicated procedures for approval, while the speed of death in front-line battles was too fast, and the two were seriously inconsistent.)
Monty was a little flustered. He had never commanded a tank before, and he didn't even know that Britain had tanks until last night.
It’s nothing, Monty comforted himself, not just him, all British officers had never commanded a tank.
He wanted to learn from Charles' tactics in commanding armored forces.
However, Haig had always disdained the use of tanks, which left almost no information available on this subject.
Helplessly, Monty could only define the tank himself: it is used to cover the advance of the infantry, and as long as the infantry can rush into the enemy's trenches, it is considered a success!
This laid the groundwork for his failure.
The enemy had many trenches. After breaking through one trench, there were still the second and third ones. If the tanks only reached the first trench, they would stop moving forward. The infantry could only occupy the "forward trenches" used by the German army for maneuvering and for the French army to bombard.
Therefore, tanks must be able to cross the trenches, no matter what means, even with the help of infantry, crossing the trenches is the correct direction of attack.
In addition, Monty should also fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of tanks so that he can play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
Monty knew nothing. He simply used the tank as a shield and a movable machine gun bunker to cover the soldiers' advance.
…
On the battlefield, what Monty could not stand the most was not the bullets fired from the enemy, but the stench in the air and the mud made of minced meat and blood crushed by the tank tracks under his feet.
What’s even more speechless is that while following behind the tank, he had to endure the corpses being blown away by the rotating tracks.
Monty almost vomited out the bread he had eaten yesterday.
There were indeed soldiers in this state. They were vomiting madly and desperately, but it was a pity that there was no pure land where they were, not even a little bit.
Some soldiers lost their minds and charged towards the enemy like crazy, over the tanks, shouting and shooting with their rifles, although they did not see the target at all.
A few bullets ended their lives.
Monty believes that they did this intentionally and this is the result they wanted.
"Attention!" Perhaps to hide his inner fear, Monty raised his revolver and urged the soldiers: "Follow the tanks and keep in formation!"
The soldiers seemed to be feeling better under his command, but they were still retching as they advanced.
Monty could have held back.
But he noticed a "crackling" sound coming from under the tank tracks, similar to the sound of dry wood breaking, which was crisp and pleasant, and was significantly different from the "clang" sound of bullets hitting the tank armor.
The next second, Monty realized that it was the sound of a tank crushing human bones.
Just then, a bloody and smelly mass was thrown onto his face by the inertia of the tracks. Monty couldn't bear it any longer, and a mouthful of vomit gushed out like a fountain.
However, he remained calm and followed the tank closely.
He had to do this, he kept telling himself.
Otherwise, he would be like the corpses on the ground, the next thing to be crushed by tanks, without any dignity!
(End of this chapter)
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