Chapter 1045 Send the Germans back to their hometown
The German army used to bombard Paris was a giant cannon called the "Kaiser Wilhelm".
The caliber of the "Kaiser Wilhelm" giant cannon is 8 inches, which is 203 mm. The caliber of this artillery is not as good as the "Big Beretta", but its range is far beyond that of the "Big Beretta". The German army used trains to carry the "Kaiser Wilhelm"
"Transported to the front line to launch a long-range attack on Paris. Fortunately, the number of artillery was insufficient, the firing speed was not fast, and the accuracy could not be guaranteed, so Paris did not suffer greater losses.
In order to prepare for a surprise attack by the expeditionary force air force, the German army placed "Kaiser Wilhelm" in the woods and placed anti-aircraft machine gun positions around it.
The Expeditionary Force Air Force did try to find German artillery positions, but failed to find them.
The damage caused by "Kaiser Wilhelm" to Paris was negligible. Like the strategic bombing of military facilities in Germany by the Expeditionary Force Air Force, "Kaiser Wilhelm" caused more of a psychological blow to Paris, and the actual losses in Paris were not much.
After the British and French allied forces stabilized their defense line, the German offensive faced huge difficulties, limited by Germany's domestic production capacity. Although the German army had A7V tanks, the production was seriously insufficient. The German army lacked an effective way to break through the British and French allied forces' positions. It was brilliant at the beginning of the battle.
The attack method also lost its effect. The German army still sent out elite squads to try to penetrate the positions of the British and French coalition forces. However, the elite squads without heavy weapons were beaten to death in front of tanks and heavy machine guns.
As the number of casualties of the troops continued to rise, the German army actually stopped attacking on April 9th. This day was Ludendorff's birthday. Originally, Ludendorff had hoped to hold an entry ceremony in Paris on this day. But now it seems
Everything has become an illusion.
Also on April 9th, the British and French forces were ready to counterattack.
Before the counterattack began, Roque and Pétain had many phone calls. When the two met on April 1, they decided to launch a counterattack against the Germans on April 9.
As in Roque's plan, the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army will attack Reims from Laon and Chalon de Champagne respectively, encircling all the German troops in the funnel.
In order to capture Reims as soon as possible, the ace combination of the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division was dispatched. These two troops will serve as the forwards of the offensive force. Twelve British troops will cooperate with the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division.
infantry division and four Southern African Expeditionary Force infantry divisions. On April 9, in accordance with the agreement with Pétain, the British Expeditionary Force launched an attack on the German army.
In the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division, the "Muscat Pirates" commanded by Hank are the vanguard among the vanguards. Their task is to clear obstacles for the tank troops and cooperate with the tank troops to launch attacks on the German positions.
The Muscat Pirates are actually equipped with 20 tanks, and these tanks are also included in the order of battle.
"——We are the vanguard of the entire legion, so we have only one mission, to advance towards Reims as quickly as possible. Everyone only carries necessary weapons and ammunition, and nothing irrelevant to the battle. We must carry as many grenades as possible.
Take some with you. If you encounter a strong German position, don't attack it. Find a way around it and let the tank troops deal with them. I hope we can drink together after the battle. This is our last stop. Let us work together to send the Germans off.
Go back home!" Hank was filled with murderous intent. He now also put on a combat uniform and a helmet. Under the helmet was a gas mask.
Hank didn't know if the Germans would use poison gas bombs. Anyway, the tanks of the British Expeditionary Force carried poison gas bombs. Hank spent the whole night filing bullets with a file, filing the warheads of each bullet into irregular shapes.
, so that after the bullet hits the target, it will cause a similar killing effect to the DUM bullet.
To hell with Battlefield Pact!
“Send the Germans back home!”
The officers of the Muscat Pirates were roaring. They all knew the significance of this battle. If the German army in the big funnel could be successfully surrounded, then all the effective forces of the German army would be wiped out. By then, even if Ludendorff was again
Stubborn, German civil servants will also consider ending the war through peaceful means.
As for whether they could successfully annihilate the German troops in the encirclement, the officers and soldiers of the Muscat Pirate Regiment had never doubted this issue.
The officers and soldiers got up at three o'clock in the morning, gathered at four o'clock, had dinner at five o'clock, and were ready to set off at six o'clock. By this time, the artillery unit of the expeditionary force had completed a half-hour firepower attack on the German positions.
"Let's go, hyena!" Hank yelled, patting the cold armor of the tank. "Hyena" was Hank's nickname for the "Light Cavalry" tank. There was no way, the appearance of the "Light Cavalry" tank seemed to Hank
It's indeed a bit ugly.
"Shut your mouth, damn Yankee!" The officer sitting in the tank yelled and started the tank at the same time. The tank engine spit out thick smoke as if it was coughing, and the rusty tracks "crunched" and screamed.
Get moving.
The infantrymen immediately followed closely.
Hank climbed onto the tank and crouched behind the turret to observe through binoculars.
Laon is silent in the early morning, and the forest in the distance is surrounded by white mist. The air contains a fresh natural breath. If it were not for the murderous army advancing, this would be a beautiful morning.
Not long after the troops set off, a tank broke down.
The tank driver climbed out of the tank with difficulty and repaired the tank with the maintenance staff. The infantry accompanying the tank attack were at a loss. It is not good if the weapons are too advanced. The soldiers can easily become dependent and seem to lose the protection of the tank.
It's like he can no longer fight.
Hank ignored the malfunctioning tanks, and Rock sent 850 tanks to participate in the attack in order to occupy Reims as quickly as possible. The malfunction of some tanks would not affect the movement of the troops at all.
There was the sound of aircraft engines in the air. When Hank looked up, six aircraft passed quickly through the sky. Their mission was to seize Lance's airspace, create favorable conditions for bombers and close ground support aircraft as much as possible, and protect ground forces.
offensive efficiency.
Not far from Laon, the tank troops encountered the German army. Just at the beginning of the battle, two tanks were destroyed. The tank crew had no chance to climb out of the tanks. One of the tanks was enveloped in fire, and then the phlegm in the tank exploded.
, the whole tank was filled with sparks like gorgeous fireworks.
The other tank crews were not deterred. After gathering about 40 tanks, the attack began immediately.
This time Hank didn't dare to squat behind the turret. He jumped off the tank and followed the tank with the other soldiers. As a commander, Hank didn't have to be on the front line in person, but this was Hank's habit and he didn't want to change it.
.
When we were marching just now, the tanks were not moving very fast in order to cooperate with the infantry units.
Now the tank troops are attacking with all their strength. The tank driver has almost stepped on the accelerator to the bottom. When the improved "light cavalry" tank is fully loaded, the cross-country speed is about 20 kilometers per hour. With all its strength, the infantry troops accompanying the attack cannot do anything at all.
Can't keep up with the speed of tanks.
Fortunately, when the tank is advancing, if it discovers a German machine gun position or artillery position, the tank can fight back. At this time, the tank cannot shoot while moving. Every time it shoots, it needs to stop and aim, so along with
Only the attacking infantry units could barely keep up.
In order to reduce losses during the attack, the Expeditionary Army tank troops would not stop to counterattack during the attack. They rushed to the German positions as quickly as possible. Some tanks even arrogantly ran over the German machine gun positions.
By the time Hank led the infantry into the German position, the German position was in a state of chaos.
"Go forward, go forward, keep going forward, leave them to the rear for the troops to deal with -" Hank panted violently, patted the tank that was strafing the German troops and shouted, a German soldier rushed out from behind a big tree next to him,
He held four grenades tangled together in his hand, with white smoke rising from the wooden handles of the grenades.
"Fuck--" Hank knelt down on one knee, as if he were proposing, but Hank was holding up a Browning high-powered pistol.
Bang——
The bullet hit the face of the German soldier, and the whole head of the howling German soldier suddenly exploded. The DUM bullet was indeed very powerful.
The grenades in the arms of the German soldiers were still smoking.
Before Hank even had time to remind the surrounding soldiers to lie down, the grenade - the cluster grenade exploded.
Two Muscat Pirates soldiers who had no time to escape were hit by grenade fragments.
"Military doctor, doctor, come here, we need a doctor here!" Hank crawled over and grabbed a groaning soldier and dragged him into the trench.
"Cough, cough, cough, I'm fine, Mr. Colonel, send the Germans back to their hometown!" Along with violent coughing, blood spilled from the mouth of the injured soldier.
"Stop talking, where is the injury?" Hank tore the soldier's clothes directly.
There was no injury to the soldier's chest and abdomen. The wound was near the ribs. Hank took out his towel from his backpack and pressed it against the soldier's wound. He looked up and looked for the military doctor: "Doctor, where is the doctor?"
If it was a simple wound, Hank would be able to deal with it, but this situation was obviously beyond Hank's ability.
Soon a military doctor with a red cross on his sleeve rushed over, followed by two Indian Legion soldiers carrying a stretcher.
The two Indian Legion soldiers had frightened faces. They jumped into the trench and lay directly on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.
"Colonel, let go, he is already dead -" the military doctor conducted a simple examination on the soldier and directly determined that the soldier was dead.
Hank gritted his teeth and said nothing. This kind of thing is actually normal. Life and death really matter in an instant.
"Go forward, keep going!" Hank patted the military doctor on the shoulder, ignored the two trembling stretcher bearers lying on the ground, jumped out of the trench and returned to the tank, and continued to follow the troops to attack Lance.