Chapter 702
As night fell, Lieutenant General Nicolas fled to Le Tellet with his defeated troops.
To be precise, it was not an escape, but a campaign to blow up bridges, destroy roads, set up obstacles along the way, and arrange scattered troops to ambush in forests and highlands.
When Lieutenant General Nicolas arrived at Le Taylor, he immediately found Major General Hector, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Division stationed there.
"We must be prepared." Lieutenant General Nicolas said nervously to Major General Hector: "Charles' troops may reach here!"
At this time, Lieutenant General Nicolas looked rather disheveled. He was covered in dust and had a bandage on his forehead that revealed a little red, which was caused by shrapnel scratches on the battlefield on the Meuse River.
Major General Hector looked at Lieutenant General Nicolas in confusion: "General, I heard that you set up obstacles all the way to here."
"Yes, of course." Lieutenant General Nicholas replied, with horror in his eyes:
"But you don't think you can stop him like this?"
"You are totally wrong if you think so, Major General."
"Do you know how many troops I deployed on the Meuse River? Three infantry divisions and one artillery division, a total of more than 70,000 people, but he still defeated them easily!"
Major General Hector did not answer, but just looked at Nicolas helplessly.
Another general who was driven crazy by Charles. The common feature of Charles' defeated generals is that they would lose confidence in everything they have and regard Charles as an omnipotent God.
"Don't worry, General." Major General Hector replied calmly: "Charles's troops are armored troops, and their characteristic is that they rely heavily on roads. There is only one road from Mezieres to Le Tel, and there are many forests and highlands along the way, so I believe..."
"I thought the same thing when we were at the Meuse River!" Lieutenant General Nicolas angrily interrupted Major General Hector's words: "Action, Major General, we should build another line of defense in the opposite direction!"
"Yes, General." Major General Hector stepped forward and responded.
However, he agreed with it but disagreed in his heart.
If the Charles attacks here, what we should do is not to build a defense line in the opposite direction but to escape, because by then our supply line will have collapsed!
It was obvious that Lieutenant General Nicholas was no longer suitable to command this battle.
At this time, a staff officer walked up to Major General Hector and handed him a telegram.
Major General Hector took a glance and then laughed.
He handed the telegram to Lieutenant General Nicolas: "General, what you are worried about will not happen. Charles did not attack Le Taylor. His troops are advancing along the Meuse River and have now captured Bizency."
"Binzansi?" Lieutenant General Nicolas was stunned. He rushed to the desk and found its location on the map. Then Nicolas' face changed drastically and he slumped down in the chair.
"God, his target is not Le Taylor, but Verdun. We are doomed!"
…
Charles personally led the main force of the 1st Armored Division along the Meuse River to penetrate Verdun.
One of the advantages of moving along the river is that it is impossible to get lost. In addition, bridges can be captured along the way, preventing the German troops on the east bank of the Meuse from receiving reinforcements.
More importantly, the Meuse River can serve as an excellent supply route.
A mechanized regiment led by Colonel Estiny, who was stationed in Mezieres, arrived at noon. Charles ordered him to rest in Mezieres, organize the militia and ensure the transportation of supplies.
This was not difficult. All we had to do was gather the ships from Mézières into a transport convoy and then sail upstream along the Meuse River when dark fell.
The German troops on the east bank were in chaos and had no time or thought about the need to close the river.
Tijani led the main force of the mechanized division to capture Bizangsi.
Bizangsi was almost an empty city, with only one German infantry battalion stationed there, a field hospital and a large number of wounded soldiers evacuated from the front line. Tijani's troops captured them effortlessly and seized a batch of medicines.
The reason why we say "a batch" instead of "a large number" is because the German army was in a difficult situation of material shortage at this time and had not much medicine reserves.
(The above picture shows the location of Bizosei)
Buzanci is located exactly halfway between Mézières and Verdun, not far from either river, with the farthest bridge only about thirty kilometers away.
Tijani's combat mode is: based in Bizangsi, with the high mobility of mechanized troops, and in coordination with fighters and bombers, remotely blockade the bridges on both sides to ensure the safety of the troops' supply lines.
The 1st Armored Division did not stop marching at night. Charles only let them rest for an hour, and then continued on their journey to Verdun.
This is what Charles said to Brownie:
"Do you know what slowing down means? If we slow down, we will encounter more enemies. They may build a good defense line, which will cost us our lives to break through it!"
“So, the choice before us is: face exhaustion, or face death?”
Major General Browne had carried out penetration missions more than once under Charles's command. He understood this principle, so he shouted the order to his subordinates without hesitation:
"Go forward, or we will face death."
"The Germans' rifles were facing south, with their backs in front of them."
"As long as we are fast enough, they won't have time to prepare. Victory is waiting for us ahead!"
…
It was not easy for tank soldiers during this period to fight and travel for a whole day, even though the 1st Armored Division was well prepared and equipped with a large number of redundant tank soldiers, and each tank had a spare driver who could be driven alternately.
However, both drivers were almost exhausted by the heavy workload.
Charles once saw a driver who needed to be fed bread during his break because his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't hold anything.
But miraculously, when he sat in the tank again and faced the joystick, he regained his strength.
Their sacrifice proved to be worthwhile: the 1st Armored Division encountered almost no organized resistance along the way.
The Germans brought in reinforcements and tried again and again to organize a defense line, but they were always defeated by the armored forces before they could gain a foothold.
In fact, it was the German tactics that were wrong.
At this time, they should not follow the routine of digging trenches, anti-tank trenches and pulling barbed wire as they did before.
Trenches and anti-tank trenches must be connected to be effective. As long as there is a gap, the armored forces can break through the gap and pass through.
This amount of work would be difficult to complete in just a few days.
It only took the 1st Armored Division two days to penetrate Verdun.
If you take into account the overnight march, it might only take a day and a half.
The correct approach should be to prepare a large number of mines in advance and deploy them in batches, whether they are infantry mines or anti-tank mines.
(Note: Infantry mines also pose a threat to tanks, as they can blow off their tracks)
But of course, Charles would not tell the Germans this.
(End of this chapter)
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