Chapter 890 Trap
As soon as the battle started, there were obvious differences between the American and British armies.
The US military's attack was very cautious. They advanced slowly behind the tanks. Soldiers and engineers would only move forward to attack or clear obstacles when they were blocked by enemy fire or obstacles, and they strictly used the tactics of alternating cover.
British soldiers charged towards the enemy all over the mountains and plains. After the soldiers fell down in large numbers, they would bring in tanks to bombard the enemy fortifications, or use tanks to cover the soldiers' advance and rush into the enemy trenches to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Soon, voices mocking the American troops began to emerge among British officers and soldiers:
"Is that the unit trained by Ciel?"
"They don't seem to have learned the quick penetration tactics of the Ciel."
"Because they are all new soldiers, man, they are different from the Ciel's troops!"
…
The British army attacked quickly, advancing three kilometers in less than two hours, successfully occupying the German guard line and approaching the main body of the German Hindenburg Line.
The U.S. military followed slowly from behind, and eventually both advance lines exceeded one kilometer.
"Speed up, Brigadier General." Haig ordered loudly on the phone: "You have exposed our flank to the enemy. We are vulnerable to attack."
"I think you should slow down your attack, Lieutenant General." Pershing replied: "I have always suspected that there is something wrong. The German defense is too weak. This does not make sense."
Haig said with disdain: "There is nothing unreasonable. Like I said, they are at the end of their strength. Attack with all your might, victory is before us!"
As he spoke, Haig threw the microphone onto its stand and cursed angrily, "This coward, I shouldn't have hoped for his cooperation. They are just dragging us down."
However, Haig soon realized his mistake. It was not the U.S. Army that was being held back, but the British Army under his leadership.
In this battle, the US military pioneered the use of a small square barbed wire fence.
Before this, it was often troublesome for soldiers to pass through the barbed wire or obstacles set up by the enemy in front of their positions, and they might even suffer heavy casualties.
The engineers needed to cut the barbed wire under the hail of bullets and then drag them away, or cover them with blankets, wooden boards or steel plates.
The Germans would stop this with bullets and shells in the trenches.
Therefore, by the time the road became passable, the bodies of the soldiers had piled up into a high mountain near the barbed wire.
That's not what the US military does.
When they faced dense barbed wire, they first used explosives or grenades to blow up the stress points to make it flat, and then laid small square barbed wire on top, using this method to allow the soldiers to quickly crawl over it.
Occasionally, they would be pricked by some sharp spikes during the process, but it was much better than being blocked in front of the barbed wire and dying in large numbers under enemy machine guns and artillery fire.
(Note: This is a real tactic used by Pershing in World War I. The small squares of barbed wire will be hooked on the spikes and suspended between several stress points. This suspended part will not touch the spikes.)
Moreover, this barbed wire is not only easy to carry but can also be used to assist in filling trenches and making shelters.
Pershing recommended this small square barbed wire to Haig, but Haig ignored it.
It was not until they reached the German main trench that the British army realized that this little thing was not as simple as it seemed.
In order to deal with anti-tank trenches, British engineers needed to fill them with sandbags one by one to form a trapezoid that was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. Only in this way could personnel and tanks pass through smoothly.
But all of this had to be done within the throwing distance of the German grenades. There were corpses everywhere and blood splattered everywhere. Even with heavy casualties, the anti-tank ditch still could not be formed, but it was almost filled with corpses.
The U.S. military first used small-grid barbed wire to form a shape inside the anti-tank trench, and then filled the middle with sandbags. Soon a passage was formed, which was fast and solid.
So the battle continued until the afternoon, and it was the U.S. troops who came from behind and broke through every main line of defense first.
…
At the Freeman headquarters, Pershing stared at the target on the map, Saarbrücken, amid the sound of telegrams.
At this moment, the phone rang. Pershing looked up suddenly and noticed that it was the special line reserved for Charles.
Sure enough, Hubbard took the microphone and said to Pershing, "It's Lieutenant General Charles."
Pershing quickly picked up the microphone and identified himself.
"General." Charles' voice came from the microphone: "According to the intelligence obtained by our fighter patrols, the Germans did not send any aircraft to fight, nor did they send any reinforcements. Everything is silent."
Then he added: "I think you can understand what's going on?"
"Yes, Lieutenant General, I understand," Pershing said. "Thank you very much."
After hanging up the phone, Pershing immediately contacted Haig: "General, I must report to you an unreasonable intelligence. The Germans did not send reinforcements to the defense line..."
Haig interrupted Pershing: "How do you know that?"
The US military had no planes, and the only troops that could observe the enemy from the air were the British.
Pershing remained silent; his continued contact with Charles was against his superiors' orders.
Then Haig understood: "You are still in the French command system, right?"
"No, General," Pershing said defensively, "I was just getting intelligence from them."
"That's not what I saw." Haig felt insulted: "Do you know what you are doing? You may leak our military secrets, Brigadier General, this is no small matter!"
"Let's talk about this first." Pershing spoke faster:
"Why didn't the Germans reinforce the line when we had already breached the first line of defense?"
“Do you think this is normal?”
"There is only one possibility. The Germans had already planned for us to break through the defense line. They set up an ambush ahead and waited for us..."
Haig lost his patience to continue the discussion and interrupted Pershing coldly:
"Mind your status, Commodore."
"I am in command of this war and I know what I am doing."
"And you just need to follow orders, understand?"
Without waiting for Pershing to answer, Haig hung up the phone heavily.
Haig did not think he was wrong. He believed that it was Charles's lie in order to divide Britain and the United States and thwart the attack.
And Pershing, the fool, was fooled.
On the other hand, Pershing was in despair. He believed in Charles' judgment and intelligence, but could not convince Haig.
Jump into the trap together?
No, I must take responsibility for the lives of the soldiers, and I must prevent this tragedy even if I am fired...
However, before Pershing could give the order, Baker appeared at the door of the command center.
He walked slowly to Pershing, expressionless and warning:
"I heard what happened just now, Commodore."
"This is not what a soldier should do if you insist on doing this."
"You know what the consequences are."
Pershing responded helplessly: "Yes, Your Excellency."
(End of this chapter)
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