Chapter 766: Belt Bridge
Charles stood up and made himself a cup of coffee. While he was busy, he said to Tijani, "You seem to have forgotten the principle of 'attack is more important than defense'."
"No, I didn't forget." Tijani felt wronged. He waved his hand at the map and said, "But this is different, General. What lies before us is the Meuse River. The Meuse River is an insurmountable barrier."
Cross the river using an amphibious landing ship?
This may be a solution, but even if the amphibious landing ship passes, the tank still cannot.
The infantry crossing the river might be wiped out in the German counterattack!
Charles didn't rush to answer. He sat down at his desk with his coffee and took a sip before answering: "Floating Bridge, Major General."
"Floating bridge?" Tijani looked at Charles in disbelief. "Are you kidding? It takes us at least ten hours to build a floating bridge, and it also requires that tanks can pass through it, but the enemy can blow it up in a few minutes."
This was the most absurd idea he had ever heard, Tijani thought, Charles could be hopelessly stupid sometimes.
But Charles still insisted: "What if we can build a floating bridge in ten minutes that is large enough for tanks to pass through?"
"That won't work either..." Tijani replied, but he was stunned the next second. He looked at Charles in astonishment:
"What did you say? Ten minutes? Did I hear you right?"
"Build a pontoon bridge big enough for tanks to pass through?"
"No, that's impossible. No one can do this."
Charles didn't answer. He held the coffee in his hand and opened his briefcase with one hand, took out the documents and handed them to Tijani.
Tijani took the document and flipped through it in confusion. After a while, he couldn't understand it. He looked up at Charles and asked, "What is this?"
"Belt-type pontoon bridge, Major General." Charles said calmly, "To put it simply, it is a foldable prefabricated pontoon bridge. After they are unfolded in the water, they can be spliced together, just like building blocks, and a floating bridge can be formed in a short time."
(The picture above shows the pontoon bridge being folded up and being lowered from a truck into the river.)
(The picture above shows the belt-type pontoon bridge being deployed and spliced in the river)
(The above picture shows a schematic diagram of a floating bridge being pushed by a speedboat after a section is spliced together)
Tijani combined Charles' explanation with the diagram on the document and finally understood it.
He asked doubtfully, "Can this really be put together in a short time? I mean, it only takes a dozen minutes to build a bridge across the Meuse River?"
Ciel raised his eyebrows, "More than ten minutes is already a long time. If you train properly, you may be able to finish it in ten minutes."
Our modern pontoon bridge units can complete a 500-meter-long pontoon bridge within 15 minutes, while the width of the Meuse River is only about 100 meters.
Of course, the French pontoon bridge troops had just been established and their proficiency was not high, so it was understandable that it took more than ten minutes.
But that's enough.
"We have this kind of thing?" Tijani asked excitedly.
"Of course." Charles nodded. "Ever since we had to risk crossing the river in the 'amphibious tank' at Mezières, I've thought of this belt-type pontoon bridge, which has been produced at the Charles Shipyard."
This is due to the fact that the Meuse River is only about 100 meters wide, so the workload is not great.
"Do you need to go and see it for yourself?" Charles asked.
"No, no." Tijani flipped through the documents excitedly:
"My God, a floating bridge can be built in just ten minutes. I understand what you mean."
"That means we can land at any point on the Meuse River and the Germans won't have time to intercept us, right?"
"After all, it only takes a dozen minutes!"
Charles smiled and shook his head:
"I think you still don't understand it thoroughly, Major General."
"It may take us ten minutes to put it together."
"But that doesn't mean the enemy has more than ten minutes to prepare."
Tijani was stunned, and then he understood:
“Yes, we can splice it upstream and then send it downstream.”
"My God, this means that this floating bridge will suddenly appear in front of the enemy."
"Then the troops and tanks rushed along it towards the enemy lines, for which the enemy was totally unprepared!"
Ciel nodded. "That's about it. Now, do you still hope to seize the bridge?"
Tijani took the document as if it were a treasure and laughed: "No, General, only a fool would hope to seize the bridge."
…
What Tijani didn't know was that Charles built this pontoon bridge for another purpose besides crossing the Meuse River: Metz.
Metz's geographical location is extremely important. It is the lever that can leverage the two regions of Lorraine and Alsace.
Once Metz was captured, Lorraine would be defenseless, and Alsace's weak flanks would be exposed to his offensive.
However, Metz, surrounded by rivers and fortresses, is easy to defend but difficult to attack, which is why the belt pontoon bridge comes in handy.
(Note: Metz became an important fulcrum of the Maginot Line during World War II. It is even called the ancestor of the "Maginot Line" because Metz has been a military stronghold since 1500. France has continuously strengthened its fortifications to build it into a fortress, hoping to control transportation to block foreign attacks)
Charles pointed to Metz on the map and said to Tijani: "If the German 1st Tank Division is stationed in Metz, it will be difficult for us to capture this fortress, and even if we can capture it, we will suffer heavy casualties."
Tijani immediately guessed Charles' intention: "So we should lure the First Tank Division out of the fortress, and the bait is Gamelin's Second Special Artillery Division?"
Charles looked up and asked Tijani: "I remember that you were the commander of that artillery division. Did this have any impact on you?"
"Please, General." Tijani spread his hands generously: "Most of the officers in this unit are children of the rich and powerful. I am different from them."
Ciel found this somewhat ironic.
Aren't you the disciple of a rich and powerful person? The son of shipbuilding magnate Wells!
However, Tijani is now less and less like a "son of the powerful". He has grown into a qualified commander in battle.
Charles pointed to the railway between Metz and Nancy:
"This is the main bombing target of our air force."
"Once the German 1st Tank Division is lured out of the city and rushed to the front, our bombers must try their best to prevent them from returning!"
…
This is exactly the dilemma Erwin faces.
Nancy is only 60 kilometers away from Metz. His troops arrived by train in more than an hour. But when they wanted to go back, they found that the railway was broken and the road was full of potholes caused by bombings by the French army.
Erwin gave Manstein an order: "You lead the mobile force back to Metz immediately, I will be there soon!"
Then he added: "We must stop Charles from occupying Metz at all costs!"
"Yes, General," Manstein responded.
Charles may have won strategically, Manstein thought, but he certainly didn't expect that we were equipped with anti-tank guns!
(End of this chapter)
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