Chapter 139 Swarm Tactics

"Colonel Estiny!" Charles turned the topic back to the right track: "You seem to have your own opinion on tanks?"

"You can say that, Lieutenant!" Estiny nodded: "I think it should not be just a pile of weapons, but also a kind of..."

"Equipment that can have an impact at the strategic level!" Charles added.

"Yes, that's what I mean!" Estiny's eyes flashed with excitement.

He felt like there was a layer of paper in front of him before, and everything was blurry. After being pierced by Charles' words, the whole world became clear.

"I think the most important thing about it is that it can lead the troops to break through the enemy's defense line!" Estiny was in the state. He used a tray and a coffee cup on the table to set up a dragon gate formation: "Our tanks should be able to cut through the barbed wire and cross the trenches, of course with the help of infantry!"

At this point, Estiny glanced at Charles.

The method of infantry helping tanks cross the trenches was also learned from Charles. Charles' method of quickly filling the trenches with sandbags in the Battle of the Marne River was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Estiny didn't want to plagiarize like this, but after thinking about it, he found that there was nothing more suitable than this.

Charles looked calm, because this was not his method in the first place, so he used it. It couldn't apply for industrial property rights and couldn't bring economic benefits.

Estiny was relieved when he saw Charles' reaction. He continued to sketch the battlefield with his fingers on the table, as if he had fought with the enemy in the hail of bullets:

"Once our tanks and infantry pass through the enemy's defense line, we should not stop, but gather these scattered forces together to form a whole and continue to move forward!"

"In this way, we can attack the enemy's vulnerable rear. The enemy in the rear is not prepared. They are vulnerable to our combined tank and infantry forces."

"Then the enemy's logistics will collapse quickly like an avalanche, and the enemy on the defense line will lose its combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies!"

...

Charles nodded slightly. This tactic has a bit of a "blitzkrieg" look. Both emphasize attacking the enemy's weak rear to ultimately achieve the goal of encircling the enemy.

During World War II, hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops had to surrender under the attack of this tactic.

However, it is still different from the "blitzkrieg". After all, it is a prototype and does not take into account air-ground coordination. In principle, it is still a two-dimensional plane battle.

"I call it the 'swarm tactics'!" said Estiny, "Because they gather in the rear like bees, and can disperse again to attack different targets when necessary!"

When saying these words, Estiny's eyes flashed with excitement and expectation.

He saw from Charles' eyes and thoughtful expression that Charles understood and agreed with his tactics.

This is so rare. Charles is completely different from those people of Grevi. This is what Estiny really wants. He realized that he came for the right reason and it was worth the trip!

However, Estiny did not expect that this was just the beginning. He would soon feel the shock from another era.

"So, you plan to let the tanks cut the barbed wire?" Charles asked back.

"Of course!" Estiny replied, "If we don't do this, infantry and tanks won't be able to quickly pass through the enemy's defense line!"

This is a highlight of Estiny's design of the CA-1 tank, and one of the reasons why it competed with the "Saint-Chamon" for the order: the "Saint-Chamon" can't cut barbed wire, but the CA-1 can. Many congressmen believe that the two tanks can complement each other, so they bought both.

Charles only said one thing and Estiny fell silent: "What if the enemy has a lot of barbed wire? One layer after another, like a wire jungle in front of us, will you also try to cut it with tanks?"

Estiny was stunned. He hadn't thought about this problem, but the fact is that there are indeed many "jungles" made of barbed wire on the front line. Barbed wire is the cheapest and most effective obstacle. As long as the enemy has a circle, they will try to deploy it in front of the position.

Charles asked again: "Or, would you choose to attack from another position?"

Estiny shook his head. This obviously wouldn't work. If you encounter barbed wire, you can change your position. The enemy only needs to surround the important breakthrough point with barbed wire.

"But what can we do?" Estiny asked back: "Only in this way can we pass quickly..."

"This is the infantry's business, Colonel!" Charles said softly: "You can't ask the tank to do everything. The tank is not a separate combat unit. It has infantry cooperation. There are even artillery and aircraft. If you can think of these when you design it, it will be much easier!"

Estiny suddenly realized that the tank would be much simpler in this way. It doesn't need to be able to cut barbed wire, hit bunkers, and add a few machine guns to eliminate enemy infantry. It is...

"Is it part of the combat unit?" Estiny looked at Charles with wide eyes: "A branch of the army that complements infantry and artillery?"

Charles nodded. This is a concept of modern warfare: infantry, tanks and artillery coordination.

But knowing is one thing, and how to realize it on the battlefield is another, especially in the First World War where communication equipment is extremely backward, it is very difficult to achieve ideal coordination.

Despite this, planned and step-by-step training can still achieve initial coordination, which is the correct development direction of tanks.

Estiny was silent for a while, imagining this combat mode in his mind.

Before, he designed the tank to add to the tank, hoping that the tank could do more and have more firepower.

Now I am thinking about subtraction for tanks, which tasks can be assigned to infantry, and which tasks can be assigned to artillery...

Then he exclaimed: "The artillery is not even necessary. It can't hit anything on the tank. Our 75-meter gun has strong mobility. Why not give it to the artillery to fire on the ground?"

After hearing this, Djoka looked at Estini in shock, and then turned his eyes to Ciel.

During this time, Djorka and Joseph had been discussing persuading Charles to equip the tanks with artillery, which they believed was a serious mistake on Charles' part.

Now listening to what Estini said, Djorka realized that it was probably not Charles who was wrong. He and Joseph were trying to convince Charles with their ignorance.

Charles nodded slightly, at least the current tanks did not need to carry artillery.

Charles looked at Estini with a trace of regret in his eyes: "With the artillery, your tanks will either only have a speed of 5 kilometers per hour, or 8.5 kilometers per hour. Do you know what this means?"

Austin suddenly woke up and stood up in shock: "God, they will be used as targets by enemy artillery!"

(The picture above shows the CA-1 tank. The pointed nose and baffle on the front of the vehicle are designed for cutting barbed wire)