Chapter 764 Is This Really Charles’s Troops?
On the road leading to Nancy, Gamelin, wearing a helmet and a raincoat, was staggering forward in an armored vehicle.
For the first time, he began to doubt his own theory.
Are tanks really useless?
They were unstoppable during the attack on Thule, and although the Germans had built anti-tank ditches, the bridgelayers were able to pave the way across with ease.
Soon the German soldiers collapsed under the mass attack of tanks.
If it is an infantry attack, it may take several months or even longer to achieve.
But using tanks, the city was taken in less than an hour.
Gamelin sighed, these are the things that Charles used to create miracles. Now they are in his hands, he should make good use of them!
"General," the staff officer sitting next to him reported, "Nancy is three kilometers ahead."
Gan Molin said "hmm", silently took out the map from his pocket, looked at it for a while and gave an order: "Order the Special Mechanized Division to enter the east of Nancy to block the enemy's reinforcements in the east, and the Special Artillery Division to attack Nancy with all its strength."
Gan Molin was ostensibly the commander of the Second Special Artillery Division, but he actually commanded two divisions.
The parliament made a big investment, building everything according to Charles's First Armored Army, including the mechanized division.
"Yes, General." The staff officer conveyed the order via radio.
Gamelin followed the Special Artillery Division and soon approached the German defense line outside Nancy.
He lay on the front of the armored vehicle, using the cover of the front armor to observe the Nancy defense line through a telescope.
Under the drizzle, the German trenches were crowded with people, as if they were making emergency deployments.
This was what Gan Molin was happy to see, as it showed that the Germans were unprepared and were still adjusting their forces until the enemy was at the gates of the city.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and waved it lightly forward. The tank cluster that had been prepared long ago advanced forward with the infantry.
Only then did the artillery open fire.
This follows the principle of "no large-scale artillery preparation before a tank attack", as craters will affect the tank's advancement speed and even increase the tank's failure rate.
The artillery cover was provided by the "truck gun" and "Saint-Samond" purchased from the Charles factory.
The tank formation rushed towards the German position majestically, using Charles' "three-three system", with one tank attacking, one providing cover, and one providing reinforcement.
Even if Ciel were here, he might mistake them for his own troops.
This was a force built with the support of Briand. His idea was simple: if he did not understand Charles' tactics, he would copy them exactly, and do whatever Charles did, including details such as artillery cover.
He thought that if Charles could defeat the enemy with these, so could others.
Finally, when the tanks approached the enemy position more than 300 meters away, the artillery cover stopped in time.
The disadvantage of "Saint-Samond" and "Truck Gun" is that their positions cannot be guaranteed to be horizontal, which will affect the shooting accuracy and there is a possibility of accidental injuries at more than 300 meters.
Gamelin, who had been observing the battle situation through a telescope, had a satisfied smile on his face. The Germans did not react much, and the outcome was decided.
But just at this moment.
“Boom boom.”
“Boom boom boom!”
…
A row of artillery fire came from the German positions, one after another, with at least dozens of small cannons firing in turn.
"What is that?" Gan Molin frowned. He had never heard such artillery sound on the battlefield.
Judging from the sound and smoke, the caliber should not be large. Is this caliber of artillery used to deal with tanks? It's overestimating one's capabilities!
However, when his eyes fell on the attacking tank group, he was shocked. More than a dozen tanks had been hit and paralyzed on the spot, unable to move, and several of them were emitting black smoke.
The staff officer was so nervous that he shouted: "General, their artillery can penetrate our tanks, and the hit rate is very high!"
Gamelin was at a loss as he had never heard of the Germans having such equipment.
Prior to this, German artillery either could not effectively hit moving tanks due to low accuracy, or could not penetrate tank armor.
There is actually a cannon that can both hit and penetrate? !
"Boom boom boom!" Another seven or eight tanks were hit and could not move forward.
"What should we do?" The staff officer shouted at Gan Molin in panic.
This is also what Gan Molin wanted to ask.
If Charles faced this problem, what would he do?
Why did this happen to me?
Asshole, I knew tanks were useless, they were just targets for the enemy, as long as the enemy had the right equipment.
How could I believe it could lead the army to victory!
Gamelin gritted his teeth and said, "Keep attacking. Even without tanks, the infantry cannot retreat. Order them to charge into the enemy's trenches. Advance means victory!"
"Yes, General."
The troops, which had been fighting in an orderly manner, suddenly became chaotic.
Teams of infantry rushed forward, passing the tanks. The tanks had to slow down because they were blocked by the infantry, and their shooting angles were blocked, making them unable to shoot.
At the same time, because of the slower speed, the tank is more vulnerable to being hit by the enemy.
The infantry lost the cover of the tanks and fell in large numbers under the enemy's machine guns.
…
The mobile force of Manstein, who had just arrived, was organizing the defense on the opposite side. As soon as he entered the defense line, he deployed anti-tank guns on both wings of the defense line.
Although this TAK anti-tank weapon can penetrate 25MM armor at a distance of 300 meters, it is aimed at vertical armor.
The front armor of "Char A1" is 25MM thick and has an angle, making it very difficult to penetrate.
Deploying on both sides can target the weak side armor of the "Char A1", and the probability of penetration will be much greater.
However, after the actual breakthrough, Manstein became worried when he saw the French army in chaos.
Is this really Ciel's army?
Even if the anti-tank gun caught him off guard, his formation shouldn't be in such a mess as it is now!
Soon, the French artillery launched a desperate suppression attack again.
That was when Gamelin ordered the artillery to destroy the German anti-tank guns, but in the drizzle the artillery could not find the position of the German tank guns at all, and could only bombard them indiscriminately, causing countless casualties. The French army ran around like ants whose nest had been poked.
Manstein thought to himself that something was wrong.
This is not the Charr's army, it seems we have been fooled!
But now that things have come to this, Manstein can only bite the bullet and continue fighting. He can't withdraw from the battle at this time!
Then, Erwin led his tank division to attack from the flank.
His tank group would bypass the French tank group and attack the French rear artillery.
When tanks fight against artillery, it will be a dimensionality reduction type of crushing.
When Gamelin saw the group of German tanks suddenly appearing on the flank, his face turned pale with fright.
"Mechanized division." Gan Molin shouted, "Send the mechanized division back immediately to stop them!"
"General." The staff officer responded loudly: "The mechanized division has been held up by the enemy and cannot return to support!"
(End of this chapter)
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