Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 15: Battle (6) Cowardly

　　500 meters. On the battlefield, this distance is neither long nor short nor short. A charging unit can run this distance and penetrate into the enemy's position in just a few minutes.

　　 Of course, this also means that they have entered the effective range of almost all weapons of the defending side except pistols and grenades. It has happened in history that the attacking side cannot break through this short five hundred even if the blood is exhausted. The Mi situation happened, but that situation was limited to infantry.

　　 When the first French tank roared out of the burning steel wreckage and appeared in front of the German soldiers, it didn't cause much shock to the young people.

　　 They were already fighting hard. Although the French artillery bombardment caused a lot of casualties to the German troops on the front line, the blood of their comrades did not hit the morale of the loyal fighters, but ignited even more. Up their fighting spirit.

　　 These soldiers are eagerly looking forward to the battle. They are determined to decorate the screen monument of the dead with the heads of the enemy.

　　 This three-kilometer-long central defensive position is guarded by twelve Waffen-SS infantry platoons. The second-line position is set up one hundred and fifty meters behind them, and between the two fronts is large. Large and small heavy weapon launch points and bunkers. The twists and turns of the cobweb-like traffic trenches connect these firepower points and the two fronts.

　　 These traffic trenches were dug very deep, and they were basically as high as one person. Soldiers stood inside and couldn't see the outside. This is the most standard defensive tunnel system of the German Army. This kind of traffic trench not only enables the second-line troops to reach the first-line positions safely under the threat of strong firepower when they need to support the frontline, but also once the first-line positions are breached, those who rush into the trenches The enemy will also lose direction in these labyrinthine traffic trenches.

　　 The German army set up concealed machine gun shooting bunkers at the intersection of these traffic trenches. There is nowhere to hide in such a narrow space. If the French soldier is unlucky and hits this trench trap, his final fate will be certain. It turned into a corpse lying down on the muddy bottom of the trench.

　　The soldiers of the Waffen-SS clenched their rifles, waiting for the officer’s order to fight. Some soldiers even trembled with excitement about the battle that was about to begin. However, their officers do not have such strong hopes. They are worried about the situation they are facing now.

　　All the contact with the forward command headquarters has been interrupted. Now they only maintain the field telephone communication with the battalion headquarters, and the communication between the two battalions has also been interrupted.

　　 French shelling destroyed the headquarters of the position. The switchboard of the battlefield telephone and the communication radio have been buried under the pile of mud that was still faintly smoked as the shelter collapsed.

　　The forward position has lost its unified command, and the two Waffen-SS battalions can now only rely on the communication soldiers to shuttle back and forth to maintain certain contact. What's more serious is that they also lost the communication with the higher-level command agency at the same time, which means they can't call the rear firepower to support them in time.

　　 At present, the only quick way to communicate between the forward positions and the rear is the use of radio. What makes the commanders deeply depressed is that radio communication is now congested. These field commanders suddenly discovered that their only call frequencies had been occupied by the armored forces, and now the conversation on the radio was chaotic.

　　 The field commanders had no thought and time to wrestle with the armored forces. The two SS major battalions quickly ordered their respective communication companies to lay down new field telephone lines as soon as possible, connecting at least two Waffen-SS battalions. Interrelationships.

　　At this time, the French tank group had appeared in the sight of the officers, so the two Waffen-SS battalions had to fight separately before regaining contact with their superiors.

　　 As the distance slowly approached, the outline of the French tank painted in brown and yellow camouflage was clearly revealed in front of the German soldiers.

　　 "There are "Matilda" and B1, hell, and R35, they are all difficult guys."

　　 First Battalion Commander Major Murray took a breath as he watched the slow-crawling giants. He no longer wants to know where the French got the "Matilda" tanks. He only knows that these tanks are definitely not the opponents that the 37 mm anti-tank guns attached to the forward positions can solve.

　　 "What about Fenris, why haven't they opened fire yet? Didn't they see these tanks?"

　　 Murray called out loudly.

　　 "Sir, Fenris is shifting positions. They have not yet entered a new launch position." The battalion staff quickly reported.

　　 "What!"

　　Murray quickly turned his head and looked at Fenris’ position. Now there is only a piece of wolf on that position. The ground is full of shiny shells and all kinds of mess. The most conspicuous thing is A pile of wreckage still in the blue smoke and dozens of launch bunkers built with sandbags and mud.

　　 It seems that the pile of wreckage is the Fenris that was destroyed by French heavy artillery. Murray's gaze patrolled around quickly, and finally saw the trail of the group of Fenris behind the position. This group of huge tank sniper guns were quickly traversing the entire second-line position, and they were shifting to the left wing position of the position.

　　"Just hit the Frenchman, and he was messed up with a cannonball. Is that guy Rawls too late to tell us?"

　　 Murray turned his face to the staff commander and said: "It seems we can’t count on them now. I immediately order the commanders of the two companies and let them do everything possible to stop the French tanks from advancing, I don’t care what they use. The method must withstand this wave of attacks!"

　　 "Yes, sir."

　　"Communications staff, how are the telephone lines laid?"

　　"Connecting."

　　 "Speed ​​up."

　　 "Understand, sir!"

　　"Hmph, look, that’s the Matilda tank made by the British guys. Have you seen it? Although the armor is thick, it’s just a thicker piece of paper in front of our Fenris. Already? No matter how thick it is, it's just a piece of paper, haha!"

　　 Warrant Lieutenant Schmidt waved his Luger while boosting the morale of his soldiers. Although in the eyes of others, his soldiers were already as morale as a rainbow, but Schmidt felt that it was not enough.

　　 Now these young men who have only been in the army for one or two years are holding their breaths and aiming at the slowly approaching tanks with their rifles, their eyes full of desire for battle.

　　Schmidt's platoon has been in the trenches for the whole morning, and so far they have not found a chance to fire. Actually speaking, they were a little slower. When the French fighter jets passed over their heads, none of them thought of firing.

　　 When Schmidt, who reacted first, roared and gave the shooting order, the three French fighters were already rolling like autumn leaves, scattered and falling down, so they even had the only one. I couldn't grasp the opportunity to shoot.

　　 During this time, the French tank group has shortened the distance between them and the German positions to more than 400 meters. The main reason is that these types of tanks have a common problem. The speed is amazingly slow. The Matilda I is already like a bullock cart, and the French BI completely shows what is dull, plus last night. Just after it rained, the wet ground slowed down the speed of these heavy heavy guys.

　　R35 was a little faster than them, but in order to maintain the offensive formation, it had to slow down the speed. The group of French tanks was slow, and "charged" at the German position with walking speed tremblingly.

　　The French tankers are not cowards. They have the same determination and courage as the German fighters on the opposite side. Otherwise, they will not continue to attack without hesitation after seeing an entire tank regiment wiped out within ten minutes.

　　 They have seen the tragedy of the previous tank attack group, and the wreckage of those tanks is now behind them. The miserable sight makes everyone who has seen it shudder.

　　As soon as they rushed to a distance of 400 meters, the French tank group began to launch suppressive fire at the German positions. I don’t know what the French thought. The B1 tank started pouring its 75mm grenade and 47mm grenade towards the German forward position as it marched. These French gunners had limited skills, but now they are also firing on the move. So the accuracy of those shells' hits can be imagined.

　　 In addition to those 47 guns that were able to hit a few German bunkers with shoulder-to-shoulder shots, and sent sandbags and mud all over the sky, those 75mm howitzer shells could only be useless in the air before and after the German trenches. There were boring craters one after another on the ground.

　　 But since it is a suppressed shooting, just consider dumping the shells on the opponent's position as much as possible. If you find that the opponent has any firepower and dare to fight back, then use short-stop shooting to destroy it. As long as you use the shortest time to break through the position of the German army, then you have completed half of the task, and then you only need to continue to penetrate into the center of Germany. That's it, the work of clearing the trenches will be solved by the infantry following the tank group.

　　 "Matilda" type 1 also performed well. Although only two machine guns were installed, the soil splashed on the swept German positions, and the momentum was extraordinary.

　　 The suppression attack of the French tank group looks really vigorous, gorgeous and beautiful. Under the rainstorm-like fire attack, the French tanks successfully raised dozens of large and small plumes of smoke and countless fireballs on the German positions.

　　In the middle of the first array of the tank charge formation, the company commander of the first battalion and company of the Second Regiment of the 6th Tank Division sat in a car. The tank company commander Farian Shaoxiong sat in the small B1 turret with a gun stock on his shoulder The frame fired hard at the Germans.

　　 Although he clearly saw that the 47mm bubble shell he was manipulating destroyed one German shooting bunkers, at this point he was still very confident in his artillery skills, but now I don’t know why Farian felt that he became more and more flustered.

　　 The weird scene on the battlefield now made him suddenly feel an inexplicable fear in his heart. The Germans’ reaction was so strange that they have not responded to their attacks so far. He didn't even miss a shot.

　　 He can now vaguely see the black German helmets exposed on the German trenches. The French tank company commander watched the helmets disappeared in the trenches in the rainstorm of shells and machine guns. But those The Germans continued to lie there motionless as if they were being cast on that period of battle. A very unusual and tranquil scene appeared on the German positions.

　　 looks a bit bad. Looking at the lifeless German positions becoming clearer and clearer, the image of Colonel Xia Nong, the commander of the Second Tank Regiment who was killed just now, suddenly popped out of his mind. He saw the old colonel incomplete as he passed the pile of debris. With the incomplete body, the French tank company commander suddenly felt a chill on his back, and a hint of ominous premonition appeared in his heart.

　　Farian pushed a 47mm cannonball into the barrel, and then he put his eyes on the periscope of the turret, and he carefully observed the German position that was slowly approaching through the fast and narrow reflector.

　　 As his tank group gets closer to the German position, the strange feeling in Major Farian's heart becomes stronger. The French started to feel a little tingling on the scalp, as if even the hair wanted to stand up.

　　What tricks the Germans are doing? Is there any trap? Maybe in the next second, the position will spit out countless deadly ammunition like a volcanic eruption. Filian thought uneasyly.

　　The commanders in the division before the attack explained that they would use heavy artillery to destroy the German anti-tank gun positions. Although he didn't know the result of the shelling, maybe the artillery was really successful.

　　 Maybe the Germans didn’t fire at them because they didn’t have weapons to deal with them, but after his careful observation, they didn’t look like this. Only a few faint plumes of smoke rose behind the German position opposite. , And it all seemed to be the kind of weak energy that seemed to disappear at any time, no matter how you looked at the German position, it didn't look like it had been ravaged by heavy artillery.

　　Especially the soil slopes at the back, on which a large, strong shelter was built. There must be a German command post or observation station. According to the words of the superiors, the artillery would not miss any important targets, but Farian failed to find half of the crater on the small soil slope.

　　 There must be something wrong, why the Germans have not counterattacked until now. The savvy French tank company commander would never believe that the Germans would be so honestly targeted by him. He now vaguely felt that the Germans had started. 'S counterattack will definitely be more terrifying than any one he has encountered.

　　 Now the young French tank officer regrets participating in this attack. Although the thickness of the armor of your tank should be said to be able to withstand the German anti-tank gun attacks, but if the Germans have more powerful weapons than those anti-tank guns.

　　 The miserable sights of the FT17 Renault tanks and the crew once again appeared in the mind of the French tanker.

　　 Just when he was thinking about it, suddenly, with a clear gunfire, the German position on the opposite side suddenly boiled like a pot, and countless large and small cannonballs passed smoothly with colorful A short distance of three to four hundred meters between the two sides hit the French first-line tanks.

　　 Now the German position seems to be an explosive pyrotechnic gallery, and the gorgeous light of various sounds and flames surrounds Ferrian like a tide.

　　 "Dang!"

　　 A violent impact violently stunned Farian from the initial shock, and the German finally fought back. Farian quickly picked up the walkie-talkie next to him and yelled into the microphone.

　　"Don’t mess up the whole company, keep the formation, keep the speed, B1 tank platoon fire suppression, "Matilda" platoon, use machine guns to suppress the opponent’s infantry fire, everyone listen, charge for France."

　　 "Understand, all charge!"

　　 Three platoon leaders’ answers came from the headphones.

　　 "Rottweil, slow down a little bit so that the tanks on the flanks will rush up first." Fillion pounded his pilot lightly with his foot.

　　 "Yes, sir."

　　 The driver is also a clever guy. He dexterously and skillfully retreated the tank by a gear, and secretly slowed down the speed in this chaotic battlefield.

　　 But although Farian’s tank slowed down, this B1 still became the priority target of German soldiers.

　　Farian made a stupid mistake. He forgot how conspicuous his company commander flag was hanging from the rear antenna in the group of attacking tanks.

　　 As the distance to the German position got closer and closer, more and more ammunition hit him in the car. Farian began to feel a little panicked. From the first few seconds, one shot became a secret. It rained just a few shots per second, and Farian had forgotten to continue shooting. He just shrank in his captain’s seat and looked at the top of the turret in fear, listening to every bullet and small-caliber cannon strike coming from his ears. The sharp impact sound from the outer deck of the B1 tank.

　　 Now every sound made Farian feel terrified. He felt that the armor of this tank was about to be pierced alive by German shells.

　　 Now this young French officer has lost the courage to continue fighting. The tragedy of those Renault tanks and those tankers has weakened his will to fight. Now this is how the French major thinks about it as soon as possible. Leave here and go back to a safe place.

　　 Suddenly a dull loud noise rang out of the car, and Farian hurriedly lay on the periscope and looked out.

　　 I saw one of my own R35 tanks ignited a fire. The flames shot up to four or five meters high. The blackened turret was tilted to one side, and a tanker was struggling with flames all over his body. The tank climbed out of the turret, but there was no more movement halfway through the climb. The scorched limbs hung outside the turret like a dead branch, and the turret continued to spray out flames.

　　 "No... No, I'm leaving here, my wife and children are still waiting for me, I can't die here."

　　Farian had only one thought in his mind, to leave this ghost place, what France, what military honor, on the battlefield where life and death alternate, these vague things are not as useful as a steel helmet.

　　I don’t know how precious survival is if I haven’t seen death. Ferrian is now determined to find a way to get out of the battle and leave this battlefield anyway. What France, what medal, what loyalty, let these all go to hell.

　　 He just wanted to be able to return to his wife and children alive, begging them to forgive how stupid he was before, and even throwing them aside for those stupid honors.

　　 Ferian secretly prayed to God that as long as he could escape from this **** **** alive, he would return to his family immediately and never leave them again.

　　 But the current situation makes him feel that his wish is a bit wishful thinking, not to mention that the Germans have been eyeing him, he still hasn’t understood how this happened, so he just said that it’s enough to retreat and escape during the attack. Let the cold-blooded animals of the Military Law Department drag him out of the gun. He didn't want to die in the hands of the Germans, and he didn't want to die in his own hands.

　　 Suddenly, Farian’s mind flashed, and he hurriedly picked up the communication headset. After adjusting the frequency, he said loudly to the microphone.

　　" Colonel Argen, we encountered a very fierce German counterattack, but we have broken through to a very close range. I think it’s time for the infantry to charge. We have attracted most of the Germans’ attention. ~IndoMTL.com~ Now only the last two hundred meters are left. As long as the infantry launches an attack, they may rush up. My tank company and I will provide them with fire support."

　　 "I see." The infantry commander cut off communications without answering his suggestion.

　　 "What's going on, doesn't it seem to work."

　　 Ferion shook his head, but then he showed a smug smile on his face, because he had clearly heard countless wild roars from behind his tank group, and the French infantry was fast. Passing through his tank group, he launched a charge against the dense German bullets.

　　 Today, the VIP update is temporarily suspended. I am exhausted, and I have a day off.

　　 But don’t be disappointed, the story is approaching the second climax since the beginning of the book. In the following chapters, the protagonist will begin to deal with domestic affairs drastically. After the French campaign, he can finally free his hands to deal with the long-awaited economic, political and foreign affairs. Diplomatic and political struggles with France, Japan, Italy, the United States, and the Soviet Union are about to begin. In addition, the famous military air combat in Britain will also begin. Of course, this time will be fought in accordance with the protagonist’s rules. The chapter in May will not disappoint you all. Finally, I hope that everyone will actively vote for the May VIP recommendation votes for this book. I will return you with more exciting plots and stories, thank you. Single Edge~IndoMTL.com~Book friends are welcome to visit and read, the latest, fastest and hottest serial works are all at ~IndoMTL.com~