Chapter 594 I Almost Thought They Were Our Allies
After discussing it with Lieutenant General Nicholas, Falkenhayn and he felt more and more that Colonel Erwin's battle plan was feasible.
Lieutenant General Nicolas pointed to the map and said:
"Our troops in the area north of the Liege Fortress are in a narrow triangle. Behind us is the Dutch border where we can't retreat. We are easily surrounded by the French army."
"If we can capture Antwerp, we will not only cut off the port supply base of the Belgian defense line, but also open up living space for our more than 100,000 defenders."
Falkenhayn agrees:
"And Leuven, which is surrounded on three sides by Antwerp, Brussels and Namur, we even considered abandoning it."
"But if we can take Antwerp, we can not only ensure the safety of Leuven, but also put the enemy in trouble!"
Colonel Erwin added:
"The point is that the main force of Charles and the First Special Reconnaissance Army of Belgium have all been transferred to Namur in order to attack Namur."
"The British also intend to drive the Charles' power out of Antwerp."
Falkenhayn and Lieutenant General Nicholas both exclaimed at the same time:
"Yeah?"
"Is that true?"
Colonel Erwin pointed to the map and answered confidently:
"Yes, the British mean that the line from Antwerp to Brussels will be guarded by the British."
"Bussel to Namur will be guarded by Charles' 6th Army and the 1st Armored Army."
"They thought this would avoid the chaos of the two armies intersecting."
Falkenhayn laughed: "The British have always been like this, they always take advantage of their allies."
This seems reasonable on the surface, and chaos would indeed occur if the two armies crossed, especially since the two sides had different rifles and ammunition.
However, the defense line from Antwerp to Brussels is in the weak area of the German army. This area is at the tip of the triangular defense zone. The German army does not have many troops. The British army's deployment in this area is not much different from a vacation. The pressure of the war is all on Charles' troops.
Nicolas said sarcastically: "The pressure of the war is all on Charles' troops, but they don't provide Charles with ammunition and supplies. The British's suppression methods have helped us a lot. I almost thought they were our allies!"
Falkenhayn kept his eyes fixed on the map, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "And the French Parliament, we should thank them, don't you think?"
Several people laughed knowingly.
The atmosphere of the discussion became relaxed and pleasant. Falkenhayn opened a bottle of red wine out of joy, and the three of them talked while drinking.
Lieutenant General Nicolas concluded: "With this deployment of forces, it is unlikely that Charles' troops will be able to reinforce Antwerp in a short time when we attack it."
Falkenhayn and Colonel Elwin nodded in agreement.
One reason is that Charles lacks supplies, and the other is that Antwerp is located at the other end of the British defense zone. For the sake of face, the British are unlikely to allow Charles' troops to cross their defense zone to reinforce Antwerp as soon as the war breaks out.
In other words, for a considerable period of time after the war broke out, the German army had to face the British army.
The three men raised their glasses to celebrate with smiles full of confidence and sarcasm. What they were afraid of was Charles's troops, who were 80 to 90 percent sure of winning against the British army.
But at this time, Colonel Erwin hesitated: "The tricky thing is that Charles has reinforced and repaired some of the fortress fortifications. Now these fortifications and defense lines are in the hands of the Belgians. They are a special fortress force trained according to Charles's tactical ideas."
Falkenhayn nodded in agreement. Anything Charles left behind should not be underestimated, even the Belgian army.
After hesitating for a moment, Falkenhayn said slowly, "If Charles can break through quickly with armored forces, why can't we?"
Falkenhayn remembered Shire's breakthrough against Antwerp and wanted to replicate that victory.
But Colonel Erwin, who had studied Charles' tactics, shook his head:
"We can't, General."
"The tank that Charles used to break through the Antwerp Line was the 'Charger A1', which weighed only 7 tons and could reach speeds of 15 kilometers per hour or even higher."
"And our army's 'Upper Silesian' tank weighs 19 tons. Although the data on paper is 12 kilometers per hour, it may not reach half of the speed when driving on the muddy ground in this rainy and snowy season."
The result of the slow speed was that one vehicle after another was destroyed by the fortress's artillery, unlike the "Char A1", which was faster than the fortress's rotation speed, making it ineffective.
Then Erwin added:
"Unless we have a tank that has the same speed as the 'Char A1', or at least not slower than it."
"Defense and firepower don't need to be too strong. After all, our opponents are the British and British tanks."
"Also, there must be a considerable number of them, otherwise it won't have any effect."
Falkenhayn looked at Colonel Erwin in astonishment, and said with pride and relief: "You guessed right, Colonel, we happen to have this type of tank, and in quite a few of them."
"We do?" Colonel Erwin asked doubtfully.
He couldn't believe there were any tanks he didn't know about, especially "there were quite a few of them."
"Yes." Falkenhayn nodded affirmatively: "How many do you need? Are 200 enough? If not, we may add another 100 in half a month!"
Colonel Erwin was stunned. 100 tanks of this type could be produced in just half a month?
Falkenhayn didn't say much. He walked to the door and told his staff officer, who soon brought a file and put it on the table.
Falkenhayn raised his chin towards Colonel Erwin, signaling him to open it.
Colonel Erwin took out the document and saw a photo of a new type of tank.
(The picture above shows the LK1 light tank developed by the German Army in 1918. It looks very similar to the British Army's "Whippet", but it is actually completely different. The German Army simply converted the scrapped and retired car chassis into tanks, which could be mass-produced in a short time and had a rotating turret.)
"It's called LK1," Falkenhayn said. "It weighs 6.9 tons, has a top speed of 18 kilometers per hour, and its main weapon is a heavy machine gun."
Colonel Erwin carefully looked through the data, including the thickness of the armor, and then looked up at Falkenhayn with a look of joy on his face: "This is the tank I need, General. It was born for this battle!"
Falkenhayn was actually also very surprised. This tank was not originally favored by the officials. It was more of a "waste utilization" that made use of retired car engines. Unexpectedly, it came in handy at this critical moment.
"I must warn you, Colonel," Falkenhayn said. "They are likely to be disposable. I mean, once they reach the enemy, they can't be driven back."
"That's not important," Colonel Erwin replied, "What's important is that it can lead us to break through the defenses of Antwerp!"
(End of this chapter)
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