Chapter 597: The Arrogance of a First World Power
The sound of cannons roared and the smoke billowed.
The British line was six miles east of the Antwerp fortress.
This location is actually not suitable for setting up a defense line. It is at the farthest end of the range of the Antwerp Fortress's heavy artillery and is almost beyond its "protection range."
Major General Eden once suggested this to Lieutenant General Avis: "At this distance, the fortress cannot provide fire support for the British army. Our shells can only hit your trenches."
Lieutenant General Ives replied: "Don't worry, Major General, we don't need the fire support of the fortress. In this direction, we are not considering defense, but offense. Our defense line will continue to advance in the direction of the Germans."
But the facts gave Lieutenant General Elvis a resounding slap in the face.
…
On the German offensive line, Lieutenant General Nicolas and Colonel Erwin stood on the hill to observe the German offensive.
In this battle, the 21st Army commanded by Nicolas served as the main attacking force to break through Antwerp.
In fact, it was not just the main attack, the 53rd Army that followed closely behind was also under the command of Lieutenant General Nicolas, and this was an order from the General Staff.
Fighter planes in the sky roared towards the enemy, as densely packed as a swarm of bees.
Those were improved versions of the "Fokker E2". Although their performance was not as good as the French "Camel" fighters, most of the British and French fighters were in the Somme, Verdun, or on the Namur line and could not reach Antwerp in time.
Who made Antwerp the British defense zone?
(The picture above shows the German Fokker E2 fighter, which has a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour. Although it is not as fast as the Camel's 190 kilometers per hour, it is a significant improvement over the Fokker E1's 110 kilometers per hour.)
"This is one of the few battles in which our army has air superiority." Nicolas felt quite emotional as he looked at the sky full of fighter planes.
"Yes, General," Erwin replied, "but I think the tanks are what's important."
Although aircraft are important, their role in a single battle, especially in a quick attack, is very limited.
"Are you talking about LK1?" Nicholas turned his head and looked at Erwin standing behind him with a puzzled look.
He never understood why Erwin, a tank expert, was so fond of this light tank, even after he received the tanks and found that they were converted from retired cars.
"Yes, General." Erwin said firmly: "The LK1 may not be good enough, it cannot be compared with the 'Charter A1', but we are facing the British 'Whippet' and the British tactics."
As they were speaking, British tanks appeared behind their defense lines, a large number of "Whippets", at least more than two hundred.
Nicholas's expression froze. This was not a good sign. The German army had only more than 300 tanks, including the "Upper Silesia". If the shoddy workmanship of the "LK1" was taken into consideration, the strength of the two should be equal. It would be difficult for the German army to break through quickly.
But Erwin was not worried at all. He said calmly:
"The British army's tactics are completely different from ours and the French." Erwin looked at the British defense line from afar: "They don't build anti-tank trenches, and they don't even widen the trenches, which means our tanks can easily cross their defense line."
This was the stubbornness of the British, or perhaps the arrogance of a first-world power, as the British did not believe that the enemy had the ability to break through their defenses.
Erwin added: "Their tactic was to use tanks to counter the attack of our tanks."
Nicholas raised his telescope and looked at the battlefield. The situation was indeed as Erwin said. The British army moved tanks to the rear of the infantry trenches to organize defense, trying to block the flood of German tanks together with the infantry.
Nicholas hummed, and said with some concern: "The problem is that the British armored forces are not inferior to ours. This tactic may be able to stop our attack."
Erwin shook his head slightly. "General, Whippet may have an advantage against infantry, but against tanks, it can only passively take the beating."
Nicholas was stunned, and as he put away the telescope, he asked, "Tell me the reason."
"Speed, General," Erwin replied.
"The Whippet has a top speed of only 13 kilometers per hour, while our LK1 has a top speed of 18 kilometers per hour. This allows our tanks to easily gain an advantageous position by virtue of their speed advantage."
"The Whippet's four machine guns provide it with many blind spots for firepower, so you don't need to worry about its firepower when approaching from the side or front."
(The picture above is the side front view of the Whippet. Since there is no rotating turret, this angle is in its fire blind spot, and there is a large area of vertical armor facing the enemy's firepower)
Nicholas understood. He turned to Colonel Erwin and asked with approval in his eyes: "So, you specially train our tanks to approach the enemy's blind spot?"
Colonel Erwin smiled and nodded: "Why not?"
As they were talking, the tanks of the British and German armies had collided violently.
The battle went just as Erwin had predicted. The two armies were clearly superior as soon as they came into contact. The British "Whippets" were paralyzed one after another by the "LK1", while the "LK1" suffered almost no losses. The few that stopped seemed to be due to malfunctions.
Lieutenant General Nicholas could see clearly through the telescope that the "LK1" tank always used its high speed to seize an advantageous position, and then slowed down after entering the enemy's blind spot to increase its attack time.
In addition, the German army was equipped with K bullets with strong armor-piercing ability, which caused British tanks to emit smoke one after another, and some even caught fire because their engines were pierced.
He was right, Lieutenant General Nicolas secretly praised in his heart. Although the "LK1" was modified from a retired car and its cost was much cheaper than the "Whippet", the "Whippet" was simply vulnerable in front of it.
Then, under the cover of tanks, the German infantry rushed into the British trenches and killed indiscriminately. From time to time, flamethrowers sprayed long strings of fire into the British trenches, burning the British army and making them scream in pain.
It was an equipment invented by the German army not long ago, inspired by the Char submachine gun and shotgun.
Due to the great lethality demonstrated by the French submachine guns in close combat, the German army immediately began its own submachine gun research and development program, but this required a process.
During this window of opportunity, they urgently deployed this flamethrower device that could burn and kill enemy troops in large numbers.
One by one, the firemen rolled and ran on the battlefield, letting out miserable screams as they ran. They sounded like the howl of hungry wolves or the cry of night owls. Even amid the sound of gunfire, their screams were extremely penetrating, striking directly into the hearts of every man on the battlefield and stirring up the fear buried deep in their hearts.
The British soldiers were terrified. They hurriedly climbed out of the trenches and stumbled away. They didn't care even though they knew that doing so would expose their backs to the German army. They just wanted to escape from this horrible purgatory and never come back!
(End of this chapter)
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