Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 504: Offensive (4)
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The time is approaching five o’clock in the afternoon, and the setting sun illuminates the entire western sky. All those who participated in the battle clearly remember the beautiful scenery they saw on Cambodia’s Highway No. 5 that evening. , I remember those clouds that are as bright as blood.
Saturday, November 9, 1940, at 5:16 pm Tokyo (Hanoi) time. This is a time recorded in the history of French warfare. The outer guard forces of the French and Siamese armies were almost simultaneously Found traces of the other party.
The Siamese army is educated by the French army, and the infantry tactics are exactly the same as that of the French army. They have deployed reconnaissance units on both wings of the army. Of course, because of conditions, they can only be foot infantry.
A Siamese infantry squad has about twelve people, equipped with a "Siam Type 66" light machine gun that is an imitation of the Danish "Madison" light machine gun. In addition to the two machine gunners, there are three machine guns in the squad. The ammunition hand each carried a metal carrying case containing five 25-round magazines. In theory, this light machine gun carried 600 rounds, which was enough to support a low-intensity battle.
The first to find the traces of the French army was an infantry squad of the third company of the 35th Infantry Battalion. The squad leader was a high-ranking soldier from Chonburi, Babu Peng.
Originally, Lianli had already decided that he would be promoted to a corporal next month and enter the enviable class of noncommissioned officers. The strict hierarchy within the Siamese army is unimaginable in other countries. They almost copied the traditional Siamese rules, except that they were covered with a Western military system.
Squad leader Babu Peng was born in a farm at the bottom level. He hadn’t read many books. He joined the army purely to improve his family’s social status, because Siam was under a military dictatorship at this time, so that the status of soldiers in society Being lifted very high.
As the squad leader, Babu Peng received a Mauser short rifle made in Germany. Although it is a good product, the previous masters maintained it very well. He hated the task now, thinking that it was the deputy platoon leader Pomberba who was avenging his personal revenge. This time there are only a limited number of promotion places in the company. The Bab canopy has dropped the position of the cousin of the deputy platoon leader, but he doesn’t see what his cousin is. He has been in the army for two years, and now he even has a gun. Inaccurate.
Because of the sunset, the light is beneficial to the Siamese army, and the infantry lined up in rows and walked on the wilderness covered with knee-high grass, which has a taste of the American Western.
"What sound?" Babu Teng reached out his hand to stop the team behind, and he crossed the rifle and began to listen. Unlike the noise of people and horses on the road far away, what you hear in your ears is a rhythmic roar.
"It sounds like a tank." Babu Peng distinguished the source of the noise. It was the roar of a large engine. He had seen the Vickers tank of the 1st Armored Battalion of the Eastern Army. Obviously the bigger guy came.
Just when Babu Peng was still hesitating whether to sound the alarm, the enemy first made a choice for him. A whole group of behemoths painted in tricolor camouflage, lined up neatly, roared out of the sparse bush.
"Enemy!" The Siamese superiors exclaimed loudly, and then knelt down instinctively. Squad leader Babu Peng's action saved his life. When he was short, he was facing the French tank in their class and used a parallel machine gun to fire at the infantry on the ridge.
The red tracer struck a dazzling fan, and the Siamese soldiers had no time to react. They stood there like wooden stakes, one after another being chopped down to the ground.
The shooting lasted for three seconds, which is longer than three years for Bubu Teng. He could feel bullets flying by his side and overhead, making a buzzing sound like a bee's wings. He still listened. At the wailing and screams of soldiers in my team, the terrifying sound of bullets hitting and tearing the human body. He felt the warm liquid pouring on the side of his face, he knew it was human blood, and even knew where the blood came from. That should be the rifleman behind him, a 17-year-old recruit from Chonburi province, with a very delicate baby face. Everyone who didn’t know thought it was a girl. What’s his name? Well, Babu Peng found that he couldn't remember anymore.
"Go forward! Charge! Destroy those **** Siamese!"
Lieutenant Vaelli stood in the turret of the car and shouted excitedly. Next to the lieutenant is the tank squadron under his command, fifteen AMC35 light tanks.
The top student of the Saint Cyr Military Academy is extremely excited at this moment. He once thought that he would never have the opportunity to go on the battlefield with his beloved tank again in his life.
This lieutenant once served in the 5th Cuirassier Regiment. At the time, as a second lieutenant, he commanded an armored company consisting of twelve H35 tanks. He fought against the German tanks on the banks of the Somme. As a result, the entire cavalry The brigade was surrounded and annihilated by German troops twelve hours later.
He and his crew were lucky to survive the moment of surrender. At this time, there were only two tanks left in the company and remained intact. The second lieutenant was put in a prisoner-of-war camp in Compiègne, but he was not subjected to any abuse. Every day, he worked with other officers in the brigade to figure out how to peel potatoes.
Vaeli thought that his career would end here, so he waited for the war to be over and exchanged prisoners before taking off his uniform. Whether the French army loses or wins, they will no longer need them. He even thought about his future path, maybe he could pull a few fellow villagers in the prisoner of war camp to open a restaurant with flavor.
He felt that France might be defeated because the prisoner-of-war camp continued to expand, but he didn't expect the defeat to come so quickly, let alone France, after the defeat, signed an alliance treaty with Germany.
This is really a fact that is unacceptable to people like Vaeli. So in those days, the faces of the officers and subordinates who died in battle were spinning in his mind day and night, Vaeli It feels like they are asking themselves whether their sacrifice is worthwhile.
Vaelli can only use President Petain's words to convince himself that the death of these people has brought permanent peace for France.
What makes Vaeli feel relieved is that the superiors are not prepared to abandon these prisoners of war. They will be reorganized and continue to serve the Republic. Not only was Vaeli not ordered to retire, he was even promoted to the first rank, and he was transferred to the newly formed mechanized cavalry regiment and continued to serve as the captain of the armored squadron.
But this time he is not driving the familiar H35, but a brand new AMC35. This is a light tank designed by France for Belgium. There is really a big story about this tank.
The AMC35 experience was a rough one. It was originally designed as a cavalry tank to be assigned to the Belgian light cavalry. It is an improved version of the French Renault AMC34 tank. The Belgians originally ordered fifty vehicles, but due to the nationalization and reorganization of the Renault plant during the delivery period, there was a delay in delivery.
At this time, the Belgian government is worried that the armored weapons trade will cause excessive interpretation in Germany. A group of left-wing politicians have tried every means to disrupt the transaction. The result really made them succeed. They reduced the order to 18 vehicles on the grounds of the weak climbing ability of the tanks~IndoMTL.com~, and then demanded direct due to the slow delivery of the French. Cancel this than order.
The unit price of this tank is 360,000 French francs. Belgium will pay Renault factory a liquidated damage of 4 million francs for this. After Renault’s weapons department was nationalized, because Renault had already prepared the materials for the Belgian orders, the parts and molds were also ready, so France suggested that the Belgian government continue to compare the orders and hand over the production to the reorganized AMX factory. The number has been reduced to thirty-five, which is almost equivalent to the liquidated damages.
However, because the production priority of this tank was ranked last, the monthly output was very small. When the war broke out, all of them added up to less than 22, so that when Belgium surrendered, They only got six cars in their hands.
At that time, AMX accelerated production, and the Army needed all tanks that could be used. When Germany occupied the factory, it found that there were a full fifty new AMX35 tanks parked in the warehouse.
The German Army didn't take a fancy to this kind of light thing, and simply gave it back to the French. The French side didn't know what to do with it at the beginning. It was obviously impossible to hand it over to the Belgian Army. Pétain finally decided to use it himself. In any case, it was a tank.
President Petain swiped his pen and sent it along with the French soldiers on a cargo ship bound for French Indochina. This is actually a small tank with very good performance. It is equipped with a 47mm tank gun and can destroy all known light tanks. The armor is slightly weaker, but it is 25mm long enough to hold it. Most light anti-tank weapons.
The most outstanding thing is its mobility. This armored vehicle, originally designed as a cavalry tank, has a road speed of 42 kilometers per hour, which is enough for old drivers to use it for drag racing. (To be continued.)