Chapter 707: Defeat is the only thing waiting for Charles
In the early morning, a ray of golden light pierced the sky and spread across the open land outside the town of Truk. Bursts of artillery fire came from the south. It was Pétain's troops launching a fierce attack on the German defense line.
There were people walking slowly in the town, coffee shops were open and ready for business, smoke was rising, and the breeze blowing in the face was mixed with the aroma of toast.
On the other side of the town was a forest full of green-leaved oak trees. The mist rolled in the sunlight, mixing with the smoke from the town's cooking.
Charles lay on the front of the armored vehicle, observing everything repeatedly through the telescope, but he never found anything suspicious.
Behind him were tanks and armored vehicles, their armor covered with pockmarked bullet holes, as if telling of last night's fierce battle.
The soldiers were covered in dust and fatigue was evident on their faces, but their eyes were filled with excitement and excitement.
Victory is at hand, and the 1st Armored Division will once again create a miracle.
And this victory was epic, solving several major problems in one go:
Rescued the British who were besieged in Dunkirk and saved their millions of troops from the danger of being annihilated by the German army.
The Somme region, which had been unable to be recaptured despite heavy casualties, was recaptured.
The Verdun area, which had been in a stalemate for several months and had not been able to make any progress, was recovered.
…
Everyone has been waiting for this moment to come, now all that’s left is the final touch.
But what is puzzling is that Charles ordered to stop advancing and gather the troops at this time.
"General." Major General Brownie lay down beside Charles and asked quietly, "What's the problem?"
Ciel replied quietly, his voice even, "No one's here."
Major General Browne looked confused. He popped his head out to look at the open space ahead, and said in confusion: "Isn't it normal that there is no one here? This area is suitable for tank combat. Even if the Germans wanted to stop us, they would not choose here."
"But what if tanks are waiting for us?" asked Charles.
Major General Browne was stunned: "You mean, the German First Tank Division?"
When he looked at the terrain ahead again, a hint of fear flashed in Major General Browne's eyes.
If the German tank troops were ambushed in the forest, they could suddenly attack the French army when it passed through and cut it into two sections that could not communicate with each other.
Ciel nodded slightly and asked, "Have you found its location?"
"No, there isn't, General." Major General Browne shook his head.
Since yesterday, the German 1st Tank Division has been missing from French reconnaissance. Although the French have sent out several batches of fighter jets to search for them, they have not been able to find their whereabouts.
"If we can't find the German tanks, there's only one explanation," Charles said. "They're on the train."
Brownie thought that there was a railway line two miles away, and the Germans could transport the 1st Tank Division here and set up an ambush in advance.
"They've set up a good ambush." Charles put away his binoculars, but his eyes were still fixed on the forest. "I can't find any flaws, but they overlooked one point: this place is only 5 kilometers away from Verdun. Regardless of whether it is suitable for tank combat or not, they should mobilize troops to stop us from advancing!"
After saying that, Charles whispered something to Brownie, who responded and went down to make the arrangements.
…
In the forest of Truk town, hidden in the camouflage, there were indeed tanks ready to go.
This was Erwin's decision.
At that time, his tank troops had just withdrawn from Dunkirk and were urgently loaded to attack Mezieres along the railway line.
This is Lieutenant General Nicolas' order:
"Too much material was captured by the French in Mezières, and it has become their supply base."
"I also found that the French army replaced all their rifles with our Mausers."
"That is to say, the ammunition they are using now is ours. So Mezières is the focus!"
This sounds like there is nothing wrong with it. Once the German army recaptures Mézières, they can cut off the French army's supply at the source.
But Erwin hesitated, looking at the map spread out in his hands and fell into deep thought.
Is it too late?
It would take at least a day to reach Mézières and recapture it.
It's just "at least".
The fact is that Mezieres is blocked by the Meuse River, making it difficult for the 1st Tank Division to deploy its forces to launch an attack.
Unless, like Charles did, Tank could hold a balloon and float across the river.
How did this guy come up with this idea?
They actually managed to let the tanks cross the river directly, and ultimately achieved an almost impossible victory!
After some more thought, Erwin decided that there was no point in returning to Mézières to retake it.
He reported to Lieutenant General Nicolas:
"Charles' target is most likely Verdun."
"He's very fast, it only takes a day or two to get there."
"By then, even if we capture Mezières, it won't change anything. We will still face failure."
This is indeed the case.
Once Charles penetrated Verdun from the rear.
All the preparations made by Pétain at Verdun would become another foundation for Charles: Verdun had a large amount of ammunition and supplies stored and sufficient troops.
At that time, Charles will lead Pétain's army back along the original route, and the supply line will still be the Meuse River downstream.
The only way to prevent this from happening was to intercept Charles's troops before they could penetrate Verdun.
Erwin said confidently: "As long as Verdun is in our hands, Charles's troops will be surrounded by us, and victory will belong to us!"
At this time, Lieutenant General Nicolas was in a state of panic. The only thing in his mind was to capture Mezieres!
When Lieutenant General Nicholas saw Erwin's telegram, he suddenly came to his senses. He agreed to Erwin's plan, but at the same time felt ashamed: there was indeed a gap between him and Erwin, even though his military rank was higher than Erwin's.
Erwin's train changed direction as darkness fell because there were no French planes watching from the sky.
He arrived at Truk town more than three hours ahead of Charles' troops.
The first thing Erwin did was to clear the town of Truk and hand over the villagers to the German infantry, knowing that these French people would likely reveal information about the German ambush here.
In order to avoid Charles' suspicion, Erwin ambushed in the forest and at the same time dispatched a regiment of infantry to disguise as villagers to maintain activities in the town.
So, the smoke from cooking fires, the villagers, and the coffee shop are all fake.
Once the battle begins, these soldiers will cooperate with the 1st Tank Division to attack Charles' 1st Armored Division.
In addition, Erwin brought in two more artillery regiments, which completed test firing and fixed the elements in open ground.
Erwin's plan is:
As Charles' 1st Armored Division passed through an open area along the road, it was first covered by artillery fire.
Then the tanks rushed out of the forest and split the 1st Armored Division into two.
Finally, defeat them one by one.
As long as Charles' First Armored Division can be defeated, all problems will be solved. The only thing waiting for Charles is defeat.
(End of this chapter)
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