Chapter 701 Target Verdun
The midday sun was like golden silk, swaying back and forth in the sky and dispersing the fog over Mezieres, which increased the visibility on the battlefield several times.
Even though Charles was standing on the rooftop of the airport, he could still see the First Armored Army resting on the other side of the river a few kilometers away through the aperture of the telescope.
That's the trouble with tank units. They need at least one overhaul after a fierce battle, especially if some of the tanks have to cross the Meuse River.
The tank soldiers needed to deflate and fold up the tent, and remove the external propeller and batteries to reduce weight.
At this time, Tijani walked up to the rooftop angrily, holding a telegram in his hand, waving it at Charles from a distance, his tone full of anger: "They leaked our situation. These bastards, they did it on purpose, absolutely! They want us to die here!"
Charles took the telegram and saw that it was from Gallieni. He reminded Charles: I don’t know where the news came from, but people in Paris are saying that your troops lack follow-up infantry. I believe the Germans also know about this.
Charles smiled softly and handed the telegram back to Tijani.
He knew who spread the news, and those guys in Parliament and the government would always seize every opportunity to suppress him.
Tijani frowned and asked Charles, "How are you going to solve this problem?"
The 1st Armored Army was indeed undermanned.
This was caused by the penetration into the Ardennes Mountains. The difficulty of supply along the way meant that the 1st Armored Army could not bring more infantry.
Failure to follow up with the infantry meant that once a town, an important location, or even a small village was recaptured, the First Armored Army would need to allocate troops to defend it.
It didn't take long before the First Armored Army was scattered along the defense line like beans, fighting on its own.
(Note: The more backward the communication equipment is, the more taboo it is to disperse operations, because if a certain part is attacked, it is impossible to notify the headquarters in time. During this period, it is often in a state of "if you send out the troops, you can't find them or take them back.")
However, the enemy was able to mobilize several infantry divisions with more than 100,000 troops in a short period of time.
If they tried to penetrate the enemy forcefully, the result would be that the First Armored Army's supply lines would be cut off by the enemy and it would even be divided and surrounded during the penetration.
Ciel replied calmly, "I wonder if you remember 'Elastic Defense', Major General?"
“Of course,” Tijani replied. “That’s the tactic we used with the 1st Special Artillery Division, and our troops have trained in it.”
Ciel nodded and then fell silent.
Tijani didn't understand what Charles meant at first, but then he suddenly realized: "You mean, we use 'elastic defense' to deal with the enemy?"
But the next second he felt something was wrong: "However, 'elastic defense' also requires defense lines and infantry, and we don't have any infantry, unless we use the mechanized troops as ordinary infantry."
This is obviously not cost-effective. Mechanized troops should be more mobile rather than stationed in trenches.
Charles took out a map from his military uniform pocket, walked slowly to the railing and spread it out, and said to Tijani who came up to him, "What if our target is Verdun?"
Tijani was stunned, as he had always thought that the next target of the First Armored Army's infiltration would be Le Taylor.
Le Tell is the closest contested city to Mezieres, only about 60 kilometers away. If one moves fast, one can get there in one day.
(The red circles in the above picture are Mezieres, Le Tele and Verdun. The line from Le Tele to Verdun is the junction of the Franco-German defense line. The Aisne River and the Meuse River roughly form a triangle in this area)
At this time, the French army also thought that Charles's troops would penetrate Le Telelle, and Foch was personally commanding his troops to launch a fierce attack on Le Telelle.
As long as Charles' armored forces stabbed Le Taylor from the rear, the German defense line would collapse.
"Verdun is more than 130 kilometers away from us, Lieutenant General." Tijani reminded: "It will take at least two days to penetrate Verdun than Le Taylor."
"I know." Charles replied calmly:
"But don't you think the Germans are ready at Le Tal?"
"Let me guess what they're going to do."
"Lay mines on the road, set ambushes on the high ground and in the forest, blow up the road bridge or bury explosives on the road, or simply dig up the road!"
Tijani was silent.
The Germans will indeed do this, so these 60 kilometers may be much more difficult than the 130 kilometers of Verdun.
Tijani thought for a while and nodded:
"You are right, Lieutenant General, the Germans are probably unprepared in the direction of Verdun."
"However, we still lack sufficient troops to defend."
"And the longer the penetration route, the greater the gap in our forces, and the more dangerous our penetration will be."
The 130-odd-kilometer penetration means that the supply line is more vulnerable, replenishment is more difficult, and it is more vulnerable to attack.
"Think about it, Major General!" Charles drew a circle between Mezieres and Verdun with his finger and analyzed: "This area is located in the angle between the Aisne River and the Meuse River. What do you think of it?"
Tijani was stunned for a moment, then shouted excitedly: "This means 'elastic defense', Lieutenant General, we can use 'elastic defense' to protect our supply lines, great!"
Charles nodded, Tijani wasn't that stupid.
"Elastic defense" does not necessarily require infantry to build a line of defense.
The reason for building a defense line to guide the enemy to attack from a certain direction is to prevent the enemy from inevitably concentrating and spreading everywhere in the mountains and plains, which will make the armored forces deployed on the second line at a loss as to where to attack.
The Verdun region is characterized by the presence of two rivers that serve as its barrier.
These two rivers are equivalent to two lines of defense built by the infantry. In the absence of enemy defense, the German army will definitely concentrate on the locations with bridges to cross the river.
No one would sit around doing nothing. Even though there is a bridge, people still have to swim or build a floating bridge nearby to cross the river.
As a result, the enemy will be naturally "concentrated" together, and the motorized troops can move back and forth between several bridges as long as they grasp the timing and rhythm, sometimes defeating this crossing force and sometimes defeating that crossing force.
"Do you know what to do?" Charles asked.
"Of course!" Tijani's eyes wandered over the map:
"The point is Bizosai, we should take it down as a base as fast as lightning!"
"We can selectively blow up a few more bridges to eliminate those that are too far away."
"We also need to send out fighter planes to ensure air superiority, so that we can accurately grasp the movements of the German army..."
Charles secretly praised: Tijani has learned a lot.
At least, he could be considered a "veteran" during the trench warfare era!
(End of this chapter)
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