Chapter 205 Tank Attack Tactics

At the German Rhodes Line, Major General von Bazel braved the rain to personally inspect the firepower deployment. Colonel Aifuri, the front-line commander, hurriedly followed with several guards.

Major General Bazel frowned as he walked:

"Add a machine gun here!"

"Bail out the accumulated water here, otherwise no one will be able to run!"

"If you don't want to be blown up by the enemy, spread out the ammunition and hide it!"

...

It is obvious that Bazel is not very satisfied with the line.

But think about it, this is the 22nd Reserve Infantry Division, and the requirements cannot be too high.

Reserve forces are usually troops that have received professional military training but have not been on the battlefield.

Such soldiers are easily nervous when they first go to the battlefield and forget everything they have learned. The establishment of reserve forces is to give them a buffer period.

They will accept some low-intensity combat tasks in the reserve army, and then be added to the regular troops after they have adapted to the battlefield environment and have sufficient psychological preparation.

However, due to the shortage of manpower as the defense line stretched out, the reserve troops were almost useless, and they were sent directly to the battlefield to face the most brutal war.

Even so, they were much better than those recruits who only learned to shoot and line up in one or two weeks.

Bazel continued to move forward along the trench. There were still some bodies of French soldiers left near the trench. They were left by the German army when they recaptured the position. Some of them could still move and make a faint groan.

Bazel had no time to care and let them fend for themselves.

The mission of the 22nd Reserve Division was simple, to hold the defense line and block all enemies who wanted to enter the defense zone, especially the enemy's tank troops.

After walking half of the defense line, Bazel thought it was almost done, so he turned around and asked Colonel Avery: "How is the 77MM field artillery prepared?"

"Everything is as you ordered, General!" Colonel Avery stepped forward and answered: "We will disperse them within two or three hundred meters behind the defense line, and they will only open fire when the enemy tanks come!"

Bazel said "hmm" with satisfaction. With field artillery, K bullets, and more than fifty T-type anti-tank rifles, there should be no problem facing the enemy tanks.

Just as he was about to end this inspection and turn back to the headquarters, he suddenly heard someone behind him shouting: "Enemy! They are coming!"

Bazel was stunned, turned around and ran back to the trench along the communication trench. He ignored the blood and mud on the ground, and lay down, grabbed the telescope and carefully stuck his head out.

In the rain, some shadows can be seen. There are not many people. They are very careful to grope forward with the help of craters and terrain.

Bazel was confused.

So far, the French attack has been either a group charge of infantry or a blanket of tanks in the trenches. It is the first time that a small number of infantry have been allowed to advance secretly at a distance of 500 meters.

The soldiers raised their guns and lay down in front of the trenches one after another to prepare for battle. They were originally nervous and couldn't help but mock the French when they saw their "poor appearance":

"Don't they have tanks? Why let the infantry go in front?"

"We may have killed all the French!"

"They should go back and have more children, otherwise it won't be long before there will be only women left in France!"

...

The soldiers laughed "haha", and the relaxed atmosphere spread around along the defense line.

Bazel ignored them. He knew that the soldiers needed to take the opportunity to make some jokes to relax themselves.

Colonel Aifuri trotted over and lay down beside Bazel, reporting: "General, this may be a reconnaissance operation by the French!"

Bazel shook his head slightly. He sensitively realized that this was not the case.

He carefully turned his view and carefully observed the enemy's activities in the aperture of the telescope.

Most of the enemies were active at a distance of 500 meters, and some climbed to 200 to 300 meters close to the trench. There was a faint sound of sidecars, but they were invisible at a farther distance.

At first, Bazel didn't understand what role the sidecars could play here. Did they intend to charge with this thing?

Soon he understood. In his sight, the barbed wire was easily pulled open...

"They are preparing for an attack!" Bazel frowned.

Colonel Aifuri popped his head out in confusion and took a look, then answered nonchalantly: "Do they think they can rush up like this? Our machine guns will teach them a lesson!"

The barbed wire is not the key. As long as there are enough machine guns, no one can rush up.

But Bazel's face suddenly changed: "No, they have tanks!"

As he said, Bazel pointed to several points ahead and said: "Look at those red flags!"

Aifuri raised his telescope and looked in the direction indicated by Bazel. Sure enough, he saw rows of small flags inserted in the ground and fluttering in the wind in the rain, like waving hands.

"That is to direct the path of the tanks!" Bazel explained: "In this way, the tanks can avoid dangerous areas and rush to us in the shortest time!"

Aifuri's face showed a cautious look, and then he passed on the order: "Pay attention to the enemy tanks, anti-tank rifles are ready..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard a burst of "boom" artillery fire, and the shells made a whistling sound in the air, getting louder and louder from far to near.

But they did not explode as imagined, but emitted a thick and pungent blue smoke, and the German soldiers immediately covered their mouths and noses.

The artillery shells were fired one after another, some exploded and some were still smoke bombs. Soon, smoke, water vapor and dust were everywhere near the German defense line. Coupled with the pattering rain, even if it was only a hundred meters away, Only a faint shadow can be seen in the distance.

Bazel looked at all this and felt uneasy.

He realized that this was probably a set of tank offensive tactics developed by the French, with strict and clear division of labor, but the Germans knew nothing about this tactic and were certainly unprepared.

Including him, he knew what the French were doing and why they did it, but did not take any countermeasures.

The sound of artillery became more and more intense, and many artillery shells hit the trenches directly, causing the German soldiers to scream. Many soldiers habitually got into the tunnels to hide from the artillery fire.

But Bazel was aware of the danger. He raised his head and listened carefully, and sure enough, he heard a little "rumble" of the engine in the gap between the shells.

"Enemy tanks!" Bazel quickly retracted his head and ran along the trench, shouting at the soldiers as he ran: "The enemy is coming, organize defense!"

However, Bazel knew it was too late.

The soldiers had no idea what was happening and they had lost the chance to stop the enemy tanks.