Chapter 789
The rain was pouring down, like smoke and fog.
The lead-gray sky was like a piece of iron, pressing heavily on the land on the French-German border.
The accumulated water quickly gathered into small puddles, which were disrupted by subsequent raindrops, forming turbid ripples.
German soldiers in raincoats were in the trenches, methodically building their unfinished fortifications as usual.
In the British trenches opposite, Major Monty could vaguely see the accumulated water and mud thrown out by the German army through the telescope.
Occasionally Monty envied the Germans.
Their soldiers were able to build trenches perfectly no matter what the circumstances.
As for the British and French armies, they were lucky enough to ensure that their trenches did not collapse or get flooded in the rain. If they wanted to improve, it would take God's help.
Not to mention the colonial army, the African Corps had difficulty even building simple trenches.
Beside Monty, British soldiers holding rifles stood quietly in the trenches in neat formations. The rain flowed down their hat-shaped helmets and wet their faces.
Their eyes were filled with anxiety, and their chests heaved violently as if a stone was pressing down on them. Some of them had slightly trembling lips, but they tried their best to suppress the urge to escape from it all.
Someone whispered:
"Why don't they let Ciel take charge? At least get his opinion."
"Yes, we are allies. Just one word from Ciel might save thousands of casualties. Why not?"
"Hush, keep your voice down. Do you think our commander-in-chief will admit that he is inferior to Ciel?"
…
Everyone was silent.
The soldiers only gave their lives, but the generals lost their face!
Suddenly, three red flares rose slowly into the sky with a whistling sound. The red light illuminated half of the soldiers' frightened faces, flickering like blood.
“Boom boom.”
“Boom boom boom!”
…
Intense artillery fire instantly poured towards the German defense line. When the shells landed, huge flames exploded, one after another, illuminating the fragments of fortifications and mud thrown into the air.
Artillery shells continued to hit the ground, the originally flat position was blown into pits and holes, and the barbed wire was blown into pieces everywhere.
The guns that opened fire were British 6-inch 30-cwt howitzers and 20-cwt howitzers.
After more than a month of rest, the British army, in order to "regain their strength", transported more than 300 large-caliber artillery pieces and hundreds of thousands of artillery shells from their homeland and the United States, and were now madly pouring them towards the German positions.
The bombing lasted for half an hour and still did not stop, but it was gradually advancing deeper into the German territory.
Sharp whistles followed, echoing from the trenches, and officers shouted hysterically:
"Go ahead, boys, kill them all!"
"Today is a good day to die, let us fight for glory!"
"Victory is ours, pick up your rifles!"
…
The tanks drove out of the trench along the slope first, and the soldiers crawled out like ants and followed behind. They were so numerous and dense that they looked like a light green ocean.
By now in the battle, it should be a consensus to charge in a skirmish formation like Charles did.
But in the eyes of the stubborn Haig, a skirmish charge could certainly reduce their own casualties, but it would also reduce the impact on the enemy's defense line.
"The main force of the attack is the infantry. If there is no density, even if the soldiers rush into the trenches, they will not be able to capture them. We should not make this stupid mistake."
Haig firmly believed this, so he insisted on using a dense formation to charge against all odds.
The soldiers didn't believe it, but there was nothing they could do. They had no decision-making power and could only move forward according to orders.
The only consolation they had was the five turrets on the new tanks.
Hoping they would be of some use, the British soldiers silently made the sign of the cross on their chests.
Suddenly, the sound of artillery shells came from far away, and flashes of fire exploded in the crowd. People were thrown into the air with screams.
Blood, limbs, and unknown body parts and internal organs fell down with a "pa pa" sound, and the rain seemed to have turned red.
Suddenly there was another flash of fire, and a tank was blown into a fireball, and it was even moving forward due to inertia.
"Hold on!" The officer in front waved his pistol and shouted, "Follow the tank, he will protect us..."
Before he could finish his words, a shell exploded near the officer, and the shock wave threw him several meters away and onto the ground.
The soldiers passing by clearly saw that the officer was covered in blood. His face was shattered like a piece of porcelain dropped on the ground, with many bright red cracks. Blood was oozing from his eyes, mouth and nose. He struggled a few times, kicked with his feet, and never moved again.
The sound of artillery fire was mixed with sporadic gunfire.
This was good news for the British soldiers because it meant they were approaching the enemy lines.
However, when the soldiers looked out from behind the tank, they found that it was just the German army's forward line of defense.
The defense line was vulnerable.
It was crushed in just ten minutes under the British army's overwhelming attack.
The morale of the recruits was greatly boosted and they cheered loudly. They thought that it must be the new tanks that were at work and that the next line of defense would be just as easy.
But the veterans looked heavy-faced, their lips turned pale with nervousness, and some even hid in the newly occupied trenches as quickly as possible.
Veterans knew that before retreating, the German troops on guard would usually use the telephone to report to the artillery positions in the rear: "The enemy has entered my position, open fire in five minutes!"
Sure enough, after a while, artillery shells poured into the British army, causing a bloody storm.
…
Charles was watching the motorized troops' military exercise with Tijani in Bizangsi.
The German Army's 105MM howitzer has been successfully converted into a truck-mounted gun, which has greatly improved its marching and deployment speeds.
"The most important thing is communication," Charles told Tijani, "These units are mobile, which means that most of the time they can only use radios to communicate with the front-line troops."
Tijani looked embarrassed: "But the radio stations are very unstable. They often break down. Moreover, we have to achieve what you said, 'fight and leave', which leaves us with almost no time to set up the radio station."
Long-range artillery is almost blind without front-line artillery observers to report coordinates.
So communication became a big problem.
"It will be improved." Charles said, "The current solution is to equip a few more radios as backup. In addition, we need to train a group of qualified radio operators, requiring them to be fast and capable of repairs."
Otherwise, no matter how many spare radio stations you have, they will not be enough.
"Yes, General," Tijani responded.
At this time, a signalman ran to Charles and handed him a telegram: "General, the British army launched an attack on the German defense line. It is said that they have deployed new tanks."
As he spoke, he handed over a sketch, which was drawn based on the intelligence officer's oral instructions.
Charles took the sketch and looked at it, and almost laughed out loud.
Trying to break through the Hindenburg Line with infantry tanks is simply courting death!
(End of this chapter)
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