Chapter 413 Belgian Guerrillas
The town of Wallau is located in southwest Belgium, only 5 kilometers from the French-Belgian border.
Most of Belgium is plains, with only the south having mountains. The town of Wallau is located exactly on the dividing line between mountains and plains.
A winding road extends at the foot of the mountain, with a river on one side and a hundred-meter-high forest on the other. A highway bridge is built in the ravine between the two mountains, connecting the two sections of road and leading directly to the town at the other end.
On the roadside, elm trees stretched out their lush green branches and leaves. When a breeze blew, a few golden leaves swayed and fell to the road, adding a bit of comfort to this summer.
Perhaps because they knew the importance of the highway bridge, the German army set up a checkpoint here and stationed a guard platoon to be responsible for its safety. At this time, the guards were shouting at the tractor that was stranded on the bridge:
"Hey, get it out of here right now or we'll push it off the bridge!"
The tractor driver was sweating profusely. He fiddled with the tractor head and responded: "It's broken, sir. Can anyone fix the tractor?"
The German lieutenant replied: "We only kill people. If you don't drive it away within 5 minutes, I will be happy to 'help' you!"
The German soldiers laughed and several of them lit cigarettes for each other.
A short soldier came out of the phone booth and reported to the lieutenant: "I can repair the tractor, sir!"
The lieutenant raised his eyebrows: "Yes, how could I forget you."
The short soldier is called Khalil. He grew up on a farm and had been dealing with tractors since he was a child. He only enlisted in the army a few months ago.
The lieutenant raised his head in the direction of the tractor and said, "Go check the situation. If it can't be repaired, let us know. We must keep the road open."
"Understood, sir." Khalil stood up and saluted. He slung his rifle over his shoulder, turned and ran towards the tractor.
Khalil politely asked the driver: "Has this problem ever happened before?"
"No, sir," the driver replied. "It has never happened before."
"Have you checked the spark plugs?" Khalil said as he took a wrench from the toolbox and walked towards the front of the car: "Or the ignition coil..."
He froze in place before he could finish his words. The driver was holding not a tool, but a pistol, which was pointed at him, in the blind spot of everyone else's sight.
"Do as I say, young man." The driver lowered his voice, "Otherwise you will die a moment before I do. Do you understand?"
Khalil had no doubt about the driver's words, because there was murderous intent in his eyes and sweat on his forehead, and he seemed ready to die together with his partner.
"Okay." Khalil replied nervously, wondering why the driver did this.
The next second, Kalil got the answer, because the rumbling sound of a tank engine was heard from the other end of the road.
This was a deliberate plan, Khalil thought, but there was nothing he could do.
Seeing a tank coming from the other side of the road, the lieutenant, who was worried about being blamed, immediately became nervous. He threw away his cigarette butt, looked at the tractor, and shouted, "Khalil!"
"It may take ten minutes, sir." Khalil leaned forward and said, "It will be there in a moment!"
The lieutenant was helpless. It was too late to push the tractor under the bridge now. Waiting for ten minutes might be a better option.
The tanks rattled along the road and arrived in front of the checkpoint. When they stopped, a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes came up, carrying a strong smell of gasoline.
A lieutenant stuck his head out of the tank and yelled, "What's going on? Did you watch all this happen?"
"The tractor is broken!" The second lieutenant responded quickly: "It will be fixed in 10 minutes, Lieutenant, I promise!"
The tanks stopped one after another, like a long snake circling the mountainside.
Major General Nicholas's car was blocked between the tanks and could not move forward or backward. Just as he was wondering, a signalman ran up and reported: "General, the tractor ahead is broken down and needs 10 minutes."
Major General Nicholas frowned slightly and said "hmm" expressionlessly.
Erwin stuck his head out and looked ahead, then to both sides. His expression changed and he ordered, "Charge!"
"What?" The signalman was puzzled.
Major General Nicolas was stunned at first, then he realized that this might be an ambush. He reacted and repeated Erwin's order loudly: "Go ahead, now! Push the tractor under the bridge."
"Yes, General!" the signalman responded and trotted forward.
But it was too late.
Suddenly, grenades were thrown out from the woods several bodies higher on the right. They rolled in the air, with terrifying green smoke coming out of the handles.
Almost at the same time, gunshots and artillery fire rang out.
The machine gun was a light machine gun, "Saint-Etienne 2". It was easy to carry and had good sustained firepower. It fired a volley of bullets at the guards and soldiers. Before they could understand what was happening, they fell in a pool of blood with screams.
The gun was a 37mm gun. Erwin had engraved the sound in his mind, and its unique sound immediately touched his sensitive nerves.
The 1st Tank Division was finished. The armor of the "Upper Silesian" tanks could not withstand 37 close-range fire, not from any side.
Erwin grabbed Major General Nicolas and rolled to the inside.
Major General Nicolas was about to jump to the left, toward the river, because it was far away from the road.
It was not until he hid on the inside that he realized that Erwin was right. The inside was a blind spot for the enemy's firepower, and even grenades could not be thrown there.
The grenades exploded among the crowd and tanks, and the German soldiers were wailing in pain.
But the German army did not collapse. The well-trained soldiers raised their guns and fired back at the commander's shouts, and the tanks immediately turned their guns and machine guns to aim at the enemy.
At this time, an embarrassing scene appeared: the tanks were unable to attack the enemies in high places. They became a pile of scrap metal, a pile of scrap metal with no combat effectiveness, and even no defensive power, because they were aimed at 37mm guns that could easily penetrate their armor!
"Charles, it's Charles!" Erwin's eyes flashed with anger and he gritted his teeth in hatred.
Major General Nicolas didn't react at first. What does this have to do with Charles? These are clearly Belgian guerrillas...
The next second, Major General Nicholas understood.
The men might be Belgian guerrillas, but the equipment, tactics and battle plans were all Charles’s.
…
Erwin's guess was correct, this was indeed Charles's battle plan.
In particular, the height difference was used to circumvent the firepower of the tanks, forcing the German army to passively take the attack. This was based on the defect of the "Upper Silesia" tank, which had a firing range of only plus or minus 20 degrees.
Most tanks have a firing range of about 35 degrees, for example, the "Char A1" is between -20 and +35 degrees.
There is a machine gun tower in front and behind the turret of "Upper Silesia", and the firing range is only affected by it within plus or minus 20 degrees.
With these skills and equipment, it won't be a problem for the guerrillas to defeat the tank division!
(End of this chapter)
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