Chapter 582 Unwritten Rules
The town of Gembloux, Belgium.
The church bells were ringing, and some choirs could be heard faintly, heralding the arrival of the annual Christmas Eve.
However, this clear and pleasant sound did not bring any joy to people, and the dark cloud of war still hung over the whole world.
Darkness shrouded the earth. It was silent for a while in the wind and snow, and then ruthlessly tore apart the tranquility of the night.
I don't know who started it first. At first there were only one or two shells whistling, and then they became more and more frequent.
Soon, the entire Western Front was filled with whistling and explosions, and intermittent flashes of artillery shells and explosions were everywhere, like lightning.
Major General Christian waited patiently in the trench, feeling the vibration of the shells, from far away to near, and then gradually moving farther and farther into the trench.
This is a common pattern in night artillery battles.
In the darkness, it is unlikely that the enemy's or our own artillery will target the other side's trenches because they cannot see and can only fire blindly.
They prefer to bombard enemy artillery. When the enemy opens fire, the muzzle flash and smoke will expose their position. Whoever can gain the advantage first can suppress the opponent step by step and eventually gain the advantage.
After waiting for a while, when the enemy and our artillery were evenly matched, Christine shouted, "Attack!"
Sharp whistles immediately sounded, one after another, passing down the trenches.
The "Char A1" tank was the first to rush up the no-man's land along the slope. It groped its way towards the enemy's defense line at a low speed of about 3 kilometers per hour. The hatches of some tanks were open, and the commander needed to stick his head out to observe the terrain outside and guide the driver.
Tanks without night-fighting capabilities can only block a few volleys of bullets for the attacking infantry on the battlefield and then drive back safely.
The soldiers climbed out of the trenches in groups along short ladders and followed the tanks towards the enemy trenches.
…
Brigade Commander Godroy rushed to the front and followed closely behind the tank.
This was not because he was brave. Before the war, he analyzed the situation and thought that the rear might be more dangerous and that staying away from tanks would increase the probability of being hit by bullets or artillery shells.
He concluded that the safest place was behind the tank, where there was a blind spot for bullets and artillery shells.
If you are lucky, you only need to follow the tank around the battlefield and return safely, and you can also gain a good reputation for "leading by example".
Sure enough, the heavy machine guns on the opposite side fired a hail of bullets, and mortars exploded one after another around him, but no bullets or shells could threaten him.
The bullets hit the tank armor with a "clang clang" sound like popping beans, which frightened him. But in order to survive, he still mustered up the courage to follow closely.
Perhaps because of nervousness, or perhaps because of the darkness, Godroy did not realize that there were fewer and fewer soldiers around him, and in the end he was the only one left following the tank.
When he looked back out of surprise, suddenly several burning grenades were thrown beside him. Before Godruwa could understand what was happening, he was engulfed by the smoke caused by the explosion.
…
Xavier felt something was wrong from the beginning. As he climbed out of the trench and led his troops forward, he felt that there were always several soldiers following him.
Are they guards?
The shape doesn't seem right.
What's more, they were charging in a dense formation in the dark, and the guards got separated by the sound of gunfire before they had gone far.
Am I too sensitive?
But Xavier didn't think so, because no matter where he ran, those figures were always chasing him like hounds eyeing food.
An idea popped into his mind: he had interrogated many mutinous soldiers and put some of them in solitary confinement to prepare for execution. The soldiers must have a grudge against him.
Fear arose in Xavier's heart. He suddenly realized that he was in danger, that the enemy was everywhere, and that he could be swallowed up by the endless darkness at any time.
"Rafael, Bertrand!" Xavier shouted, over and over again.
These are the two confidants he brought from Paris, and now only they are trustworthy.
"General!" Amid the sound of gunfire, Xavier faintly heard Raphael's response.
Xavier was delighted. He hid in a shell hole and turned back to shout in the direction of the sound: "Come to me, right now..."
Before he finished speaking, Xavier felt a pain in his chest. He lowered his head and saw a bayonet on his chest. Blood gushed out and the half-exposed blade flashed coldly under the gunfire.
Xavier fell to the ground helplessly, breathing with difficulty. Before he lost consciousness, he cursed intermittently: "These bastards, they actually used the German bayonets!"
(Note: The bayonets of the German and French armies are easy to identify, the former is short blade-shaped, and the latter is needle-shaped)
(The above two pictures are a comparison of the bayonets of the German and French armies)
…
Several staff officers huddled together in a bomb crater and dared not move forward. They thought that no one would notice them in the dark and they could stay there until the order to retreat was given.
However, just as they were congratulating themselves for their "cleverness", suddenly several mortar shells accurately hit the crater where they were.
There was also a regimental commander waving a revolver and ordering his men to charge, but a few bullets from nowhere knocked him to the ground...
The offensive lasted for more than twenty minutes, and then retreated like a tide under Christine's command.
Since it was a low-intensity exploratory attack and no strong attack was launched, the casualties were not great, with only more than 200 people killed or injured in total.
But what was "surprisingly" was that the casualty rate among middle and senior officers was alarmingly high. Two brigade commanders were all killed, one of the four regimental commanders died and one was injured, and ten of the eighteen staff officers died.
As soon as Major General Christian came back, he reported to Gamelin over the phone. His voice was heavy with sorrow, and he reflected seriously:
"The officers were very brave, General. They rushed to the front without regard for their own safety. This may be one of the reasons for the heavy casualties."
"In addition, I have reason to suspect that the Germans sent out 'Storm Troopers' to launch a counterattack against our army."
“Otherwise this situation is unlikely to happen!”
The "Storm Troopers" are a special forces unit of the German Army. They always go deep into the enemy camp to attack the enemy headquarters.
When Gan Molin received the casualty report, he snorted expressionlessly.
Having been in the army for 22 years, he knows what is going on. There are some unwritten rules in the army. For the overall benefit, they will punish or even eliminate those who hinder the troops or threaten the safety of the troops.
This is clearly the "unspoken rules" at work.
But Gan Molin didn't say anything. He glanced at Charles, who was sitting at his desk and reading a newspaper leisurely, and turned back to whisper to the staff officer in a cold voice: "Inspect the body, don't let anyone else know."
However, the staff officer replied: "We have checked it, General, and there is no problem."
Then he handed over a report.
Gan Molin took it and looked at it, and was almost angry to death.
All the deaths were caused by either grenades, mortars, or German bayonets. Even the bullets dug out from the wounds were German Luger pistol bullets!
(End of this chapter)
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