Chapter 208 Devil's Paint

It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when the rain stopped on the Samok Straight.

The gray sky began to brighten, and Colonel Matteo thought it was going to clear up and the temperature was getting a little higher. Unexpectedly, a gust of wind blew, and suddenly white snow particles floated down, including some raindrops.

However, this had no effect on Colonel Matteo. He closed the hatch and hid in the A7V tank again, once again "enjoying" the high temperature and suffocating smoke in the cabin.

He envied the infantrymen. At least they would not be like the tank soldiers, who would not be able to breathe a breath of fresh air before they died.

"Order the troops to find favorable terrain!" Matteo ordered to the signalmen: "There are at least thirty tanks in the straight line. If the French are forced to rush, they may rush out in a swarm!"

"Yes, Colonel!" the orderer responded, and immediately leaned out from the top to signal to the surrounding tanks.

This is the contact information of the A7V tank. Of all the tanks, only Colonel Matteo commands this command vehicle equipped with a radio.

Soon, fifteen A7V tanks were arranged in units on both sides of the straight road, forming a rough arc to align the front muzzle with the exit of the straight road.

While a group of A7Vs were quietly waiting for the enemy tanks in the seemingly non-existent snow particles, the communications soldier guarding the radio station reported: "Colonel, General Felix called, Charles's troops have broken through Luo Des moved towards us and reached our position in about an hour and a half, they had at least thirty tanks!"

"Char's troops? 'Mark I' type?" Colonel Mateo asked, his eyes brightening at the same time.

"Yes, the 'Mark I' type." The communications soldier replied: "The frontline officers and soldiers have confirmed it, and they have not seen them equipped with artillery. They are still machine guns!"

The soldiers in the tank cabin cheered, and they shouted:

"We're busy again!"

“Let’s have another Mark meal!”

"I like Mark. Is this Ciel's insistence? He has a soft spot for machine guns!"

…

Colonel Matteo ignored them. He thought for a while and then ordered the orderer: "Stay the third tank detachment. The rest of the tanks withdraw from the battle and follow me. Let's deal with the 'Mark I'!"

"Yes, Colonel!" The ordering soldier followed the instructions and waved the flag.

The 1st and 2nd tank detachments responded soon after. Like fat men, they slowly and difficultly turned around on the rough ground, and then followed No. 501.

The tank troops drove south along the road for more than ten minutes, and Colonel Matteo ordered the convoy to stop.

"Inspection, ventilation, and preparation for battle!"

Ventilation is a big deal. It is not only a breathing problem for tank crews, but also affects the vision of the driver, gunner, and machine gunner.

Colonel Matteo hopes that the tank unit can enter the battle in the best condition, even if the opponent is the "Mark I" without cannons.

The tanks came to a stop one after another, the hatches wide open, and clouds of thick smoke visible to the naked eye billowed out, as if there was a fire inside.

The tank crews rushed out greedily to breathe in the fresh air outside, and some were still coughing.

But they didn't care about this, they waved to each other and shouted excitedly:

"Are you sure you want to deal with the 'Mark I'?"

"Of course, it is said that there are more than thirty vehicles!"

"I can't wait to beat Ciel, it's so exciting! This is the best news I've ever heard!"

…

The A7V tank was designed to target Shire's "Mark I" from the beginning. German tank soldiers only received two types of training: necessary operational training and understanding the "Mark I" data.

Everyone, including Colonel Matteo, believes that the "San Chamoun" and CA-1 are not called tanks. They can be dealt with by infantry and artillery. Anti-tank rifles and 77MM field guns are enough to blast them into the sky.

Only the "Mark I", or to be precise, only the Charles tanks can fight them.

For this reason, No. 506 "Moffist" also painted a painting on the muzzle of the devil taking away the "Mark I".

(The picture above shows the devilish painting of the 506 "Moffist" A7V tank. It is holding a "Mark I" tank in its hand. This tank was captured by the Australian army and has been preserved to this day)

Colonel Matteo did not get out of the tank. He climbed to the top of the tank, opened the hatch and leaned out. He used a telescope to carefully observe the other end of the road. He was worried that the enemy would suddenly appear in front of him.

When putting away the telescope, Colonel Matteo looked at the sky, and there were two "Afro" hovering above his head.

Will they convey the message that the A7V is waiting here to the "Mark I"?

Will they change lanes because they know there are tanks waiting ahead?

Thinking of this, Colonel Matteo loudly ordered the crew to get on the bus, and the ten A7Vs slowly continued to move along the highway amidst the sound of "rumbling" engines.

The two infantry battalions that came to cooperate with it arrived just in time. The infantrymen grabbed their rifles and followed closely behind the tank, sometimes having to trot to keep up.

Although the A7V tank has a large body, each of its road wheels is equipped with a balanced coil spring suspension, which has a certain degree of shock absorption. Therefore, the stability, comfort and speed performance are relatively good, and the maximum speed can reach 10 kilometers per hour.

Twenty minutes later, the troops arrived at Samoc Town. Colonel Mateo felt relieved. It seemed that the enemy had not passed by yet.

There is a branch road a few hundred meters east of Samok Town. This branch road also leads to Tram, but it takes a longer detour.

Colonel Matteo was worried that the enemy would speed through here.

But thinking about it, it was impossible. That road went deep into the hinterland of the German-controlled area, and if the "Mark I" took that road, it would obviously not be able to reach the end because it needed to change tracks.

The tanks continued to move forward along the road in a long line.

Matteo looked at the time and estimated that the enemy would need more than ten minutes to arrive, which was enough for the tanks to seize the favorable terrain.

However...

A few gunshots were heard, and three A7V tanks instantly emitted green smoke. One of them seemed to be hit in the fuel tank and caught fire soon after. The tank crew escaped from it with flames all over their bodies, waving their hands and screaming loudly.

"What's going on?" Colonel Matteo asked.

Someone answered: "It's the town of Samok, Colonel, the enemy is ambushing there!"

"Turn to the town, turn to the town!" Matteo ordered loudly: "Pay attention to the enemy artillery, let the infantry go up and get rid of them!"

"Yes, Colonel!" The messenger passed the order down.

Colonel Matteo's first reaction was: "That's the enemy's infantry artillery."

The enemy's Mark I tanks had no artillery, so the only ones that could fire were infantry guns.

This was not a big problem. The infantry guns were attacking at such a close distance, and the infantry could end the battle with a charge!

However, when the A7V tanks slowly moved towards the town of Samok, Colonel Mateo was stunned by what he saw... It was a tank! A tank Colonel Mateo had never seen before!

They were much smaller than the A7V, with a turret, and there were machine guns and small-caliber artillery on the turret. The three A7Vs that were destroyed just now were obviously their masterpieces.

Colonel Mateo's heart sank, and he realized that he might have fallen into a trap set by Charles!