Chapter 662: The battlefield is a place where you can’t see humanity
"You mean, a counterattack on the Somme?" Falkenhayn asked. "Have you considered that the advantages of defending would be much greater than attacking?"
Falkenhayn did not yet know the principle of "attack is more important than defense". He was more inclined to what he saw before his eyes: one British team after another launched a charge, and one team after another fell under the German machine guns.
He feared that this would happen to the Germans if they launched a counterattack.
Colonel Erwin seemed to see through Falkenhayn's thoughts. He analyzed:
"General, when we fought the British in Antwerp, I found that the British had almost no ability and tactics to stop tanks."
"I mean, even though they have tanks, they only think about offense and not defense."
“I believe they have the same problem in the Somme direction.”
Erwin was not very sure about this. During this period, he was stationed in the Liege Fortress and had no conditions to understand the situation on the Somme battlefield.
Falkenhayn asked, “What do you mean?”
Erwin replied: "Anti-tank rifles, anti-tank trenches, anti-tank mines, and flexible defensive tactics."
As he spoke, Erwin handed Falkenhayn the sorted documents from his briefcase.
Falkenhayn opened it and found that each item was accompanied by a simple diagram, making it clear and easy to understand.
Colonel Erwin analyzed:
"I think this is caused by the different combat intensities between the British and French armies."
"Since the beginning of the war, the main force confronting our army has always been the French army. Under the leadership of Charles, a military genius, they have grown rapidly, and their equipment and combat theories are relatively mature and systematic."
"However, the British Expeditionary Force had been gathering strength, and the only major battle they fought was the Battle of the Somme."
"Coupled with the British's stubbornness and arrogance, their equipment and tactical theories were relatively backward."
Falkenhayn nodded as he flipped through the documents.
The British did not have any of the defenses against tanks listed by Colonel Elwin, including the Somme Line.
Among them, the flexible defense tactics were particularly noteworthy. Charles used them on the 6th Army and amazed all the German generals.
Including Falkenhayn, everyone exclaimed:
"It turns out that armored units can be used in this way!"
"Germany should also learn this tactic, so that it can defend a longer line of defense with fewer troops."
"We need more tanks. Perhaps only this tactic can stop the Charles' penetration!"
…
Therefore, the French and German armies all knew these tank attack and defense tactics, but the British army was the only one that still maintained a condescending attitude, thinking that it was the world's number one power and did not need to learn from others, and still used the old tactics.
But Falkenhayn remained cautious. He said expressionlessly: "The British have tanks too, Colonel."
Colonel Erwin is confident of this:
"The British tanks are vulnerable, General."
"We know how to deal with this tank without a rotating turret."
"In addition, we have upgraded our tanks. The British Whippets are just a pile of scrap metal in front of our new tanks."
Colonel Erwin was referring to the German LK2 tank.
(The two pictures above are of the LK1 and LK2 tanks. The biggest improvement is the change in the shape of the front armor to make it more defensive. Secondly, the rear of the body has been changed from a square to a prismatic cut to reduce the side area that is vulnerable to bullets. The entire evolution process took only more than two months.)
Falkenhayn added: "They have more troops, Colonel. The British have at least 15 divisions there. We have only eight divisions north of the Somme."
The military strength is about half of that of the British.
"I know, General," Colonel Erwin replied, "but we have tanks. In front of tanks, more troops means more casualties. I admit that this may cause us a lot of trouble when cleaning up the bodies!"
Falkenhayn was silent for a while. "But they still have artillery. The British have been equipped with new 152MM caliber artillery. They have also accumulated a large number of shells, enough to blow all your tanks into the sky."
Colonel Erwin replied calmly: "Then we will wait for them to launch an attack before we counterattack."
Falkenhayn understood instantly.
The British tactics were rigid. They always poured huge amounts of artillery shells on the German lines before attacking, sometimes for hours and sometimes for days.
After this long artillery preparation, they will have very few shells left, and at the same time, soldiers will continue to surge in waves like a tide.
If a counterattack was launched at this time, the steel defense line built by the German tanks would collide violently with the flesh and blood of the British soldiers.
Falkenhayn seemed to have seen the tragic scene of corpses strewn all over the battlefield.
…
The sound of artillery fire was deafening on the north bank of the Somme.
Inside the half-buried front-line command post of the British Expeditionary Force, the broken soil above was falling down through the gaps between the logs due to the vibration of the artillery.
Haig glanced anxiously at the calendar on the table, which was turned to February 23rd.
The artillery bombardment has continued for three days and three nights, and today is the day for the planned attack.
Haig was no longer interested in observing the German positions after the bombardment, because he knew it would be of no use.
Every time, the German positions looked like they had been bombed into ruins and no one could survive, but as soon as the British soldiers stood on the positions, heads and black gun muzzles would immediately emerge from that barren land.
At times, Haig was unsure how to fight this battle.
Interspersed like Ciel?
No, there was no way for the enemy and our own defense lines on the Somme to penetrate each other.
In such a battlefield, even Charles would be helpless, Haig thought.
"General." At this time, the staff officer reported: "There are deserters in the South African Corps, more than 300 people."
It is very common that if there are only a few deserters, the staff officers will not report it at all.
Haig gritted his teeth. These bastards chose to escape at the last moment of the attack. Don’t they know that this would deal a devastating blow to the morale of the troops?
Haig did not hesitate and ordered in a cold voice: "Drive them to the battlefield!"
"Yes!" the staff officer turned around and gave the order.
Soon, a team of more than 300 people were driven into the no-man's land between the enemy and us in groups of three or four under the guns of their comrades. They didn't even have guns in their hands.
Behind them, British officers waved their pistols and shouted to their men:
"This is the price of being a deserter. Remember this."
"They will also die on the battlefield, but as deserters."
"There is no honor or dignity, no pension, and everyone knows they are cowards!"
…
Gunfire rang out, and the German soldiers shot down the deserters one by one with a target-shooting mentality.
Some panicked deserters wanted to return to the trenches, but were knocked down one by one on the snow by the well-prepared British soldiers.
The British army needs these deserters to rush forward and fall under the German guns so that they can find the German firing points!
The battlefield is a place where humanity cannot be seen.
(End of this chapter)
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