Chapter 704: Multi-line Advancement
Meeting room of Paris City Hall.
Lieutenant Colonel Dura pointed at the map, his tone full of confidence.
After all, they were Briand and Clemenceau, one of them was a lawyer and the other a doctor, and they didn't know much about military affairs, which made Lieutenant Colonel Dura feel no pressure.
"Although the Charr have successfully captured Bizansi, this is likely the farthest the Charr army can go."
"Bi Zangxi is about 60 kilometers away from Meyezil. It would take at least 50,000 men to defend such a long distance, and they would also need time to build complete fortifications."
"Otherwise, the connection between them is very fragile. Any German army that penetrates into the middle area will cut off the connection between the two places!"
Briand and Clemenceau nodded repeatedly, believing in what Colonel Dura said.
What they didn't know was that Dura's theory was only suitable for traditional infantry.
For Charles' mechanized troops, the two cities 60 kilometers apart were not as "fragile" as Dura said, and they did not require 50,000 people to defend them, let alone build fortifications.
…
Éperec is a small town located between Mézières and Buzency. The town is located at the junction of three roads and is an important transportation hub.
Colonel Bernell, attached to the German 21st Army, arrived at the town before dark with a mechanized regiment.
This is a mechanized regiment temporarily formed by Lieutenant General Nicolas based on Charles' organization.
However, the German mechanized regiment was different from Charles' mechanized regiment. They had no tanks, no artillery, no armored vehicles, and of course no infantry-artillery coordination or infantry-tank coordination. At best, they were just infantry sitting in cars.
Arriving at the town, Colonel Burnell immediately found himself in danger.
In which direction should the defense line be built?
At one end is Mézières, at the other Buzency.
There are French troops on both ends, and they are all mechanized and armored units of the French army.
No matter which side you face, your back will be exposed to the enemies on the other side.
Unless you build a circular defense line and surround yourself in it.
But this is obviously not a wise approach. It is equivalent to building trenches and then shouting to the enemy with a loudspeaker: "We have surrounded ourselves, test us severely with artillery!"
Soon, Colonel Burnell discovered that he didn't need to think about this issue at all.
Because before he could catch his breath, the rumbling sound of tanks came from the darkness, from all directions.
"Damn it, we are surrounded, this is a trap!" Colonel Burnell shouted, "Get out of here!"
But it was too late. French tanks rumbled onto the road and blocked all exits. The French army deployed with tanks as the center, and in the blink of an eye, they built a series of steel defenses to surround the German army.
"Boom boom!" The battle began with the 75mm gun of "Saint-Chamond" and the screams of the German army.
The so-called "mechanized regiment" of the German army was vulnerable to the coordinated efforts of the French army's infantry, tanks and artillery.
…
Paris City Hall.
Lieutenant Colonel Dura pointed to Bi Zangxi on the map and analyzed:
"There is no strategic location to defend in Bi-Zang-xi. Most of the houses in this city are made of wood. It cannot withstand enemy bullets and bombings."
"Char will need time to build fortifications, but I don't think he can do it. The enemy will come from all directions and surround it."
"Unless he can mobilize all the citizens of Bizosai, he will not be able to escape the fate of being surrounded."
…
In Bizensi, the citizens were surprised to find that the French army did not build any fortifications after retaking the area.
The citizens did not see the enemy, nor did they see the war. They only heard the sound of gunfire and artillery fire in the distance, and then the news of victory after victory came:
"They (the French army) defeated the enemy at the Morea Bridge and captured more than a thousand Germans!"
"They surrounded the Germans at the Prior Bridge and killed and wounded more than 3,000 people."
"They beat the Germans near the Millau Bridge!"
…
At the Paris City Hall, Lieutenant Colonel Dura folded his arms across his chest and said to the map:
"Charles' biggest mistake was choosing to attack Verdun."
"This interlaced route is too long, more than 130 kilometers."
"It will take them at least two days to reach their destination, which will give the Germans time to prepare."
"I can guarantee that as we go south from Zangxi, Charles' attack speed will become slower and harder, and he may even get stuck in a quagmire and unable to escape!"
…
Charles' First Armored Division reached the town of Sodile, 38 kilometers south of Bizansi, in just 7 hours, which was more than 3 hours ahead of schedule.
When advancing towards Verdun, Charles, contrary to his usual practice, did not order his troops to advance in a long snake formation, but instead divided the 1st Armored Division into two parts based on brigades and advanced in parallel.
The brigade would advance in several routes based on regiments depending on the situation.
This was to find loopholes in the German defenses.
There is a problem with marching in the dark. Tanks, which have almost no night combat capability, can easily run into the German defense lines and get into a tough fight.
At the same time, it is difficult to grasp the accurate enemy situation in the dark without aircraft reconnaissance and cover.
Charles' solution was to deploy his troops on multiple fronts.
When encountering an enemy blockade, the troops do not seek to attack by force. Instead, they can infiltrate the enemy's defense line through loopholes and surround them from behind.
Since the German army was not well prepared and did not have time to build complete fortifications, there were bound to be loopholes.
As a result, the German defense line was collapsed again and again by the French attack from the flank and even the rear.
Sometimes the Germans didn't even know where the French troops came from.
Of course, this requires regular training.
Otherwise, the darkness and terrain alone would have turned each unit, lacking communication equipment, into a loose group fighting on its own.
In the armored vehicle that was swaying along the road, the staff officer reported to Charles: "General, we are still 30 kilometers away from the Verdun defense line. At the current speed, we estimate that we will reach our destination around 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."
Charles hummed, and even he was surprised by the speed.
He originally thought that marching at night would be difficult, and estimated that it would be good if they could advance 30 kilometers overnight while fighting and marching. Unexpectedly, the speed at night was not much slower than that during the day.
It was obvious that the Germans had been confused by this tank outflanking tactic.
Perhaps they would never understand until their death how the French were able to find loopholes in their defense so quickly and then quickly infiltrate and surround them.
This is at night!
There was no aircraft reconnaissance and visibility was low.
After hesitating for a while, Charles ordered his staff: "Send a telegram to Pétain and tell him it's time to counterattack."
"Yes, General." The staff officer responded.
Charles was doing Pétain a favour.
Even if Pétain did not counterattack in this battle, the 1st Armored Division would be able to defeat the German army from the rear and rescue Verdun.
So, Charles was not worried about whether Pétain would attack.
This is not about being offensive or defensive, but about being stupid or not.
(End of this chapter)
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