Chapter 373: Roundabout Tactics

The French General Headquarters was in chaos at this time. No one, including Joffre, expected that the Germans would attack before the French army, so a planned offensive war was temporarily changed to a defensive war.

"What kind of terrain is Cambrai?" Joffre asked anxiously.

"It's hard ground, General." Kanais had fear in his eyes: "Hard ground suitable for tank attack."

Kanais had previously found all the hard ground in the defense line according to Charles's suggestion. Cambrai was one of them, but because it was located in northern France and was the defense zone of Foch's Northern Army Group, it was excluded.

Soon, the staff found more detailed information and sent it to Joffre:

The chalk layer is solid, and there is an open space within a radius of ten miles nearby, and the terrain is very flat.

Joffre closed his eyes in distress. Through the offensive preparations during this period, he knew that such terrain was not only "suitable" for tank attack, but "excellent".

"Why didn't we hear any wind!" Joffre complained angrily after opening his eyes. He didn't even know that the Germans were preparing to attack.

"It was obviously a strict intelligence blockade." Kanais recalled: "The tanks we found were probably intentionally shown to us by the Germans."

Kanais was referring to the photos of tanks covered with canvas on the train taken by the Second Bureau.

"What do you mean?" Joffre asked.

Kanais handed over the photos and documents and whispered: "They made us think that these tanks were shipped to Messina, and there were not many of them."

Joffre was speechless for a moment. This was his judgment.

There were only two carriages with six tanks on the train, which were shipped to Messina.

From this, Joffre concluded:

"The Germans have at most 20 to 30 tanks, and the hilly terrain of Messina is not very suitable for tank warfare."

"They still don't know how to fight a tank battle!"

Then, Joffre asked people to strengthen aerial reconnaissance in Messina and pay attention to the movements of the German army.

Now it seems that he was fooled by the Germans, and all this was what the Germans wanted to tell him.

But of course, Joffre would not admit it.

The embarrassment on Joffre's face disappeared in an instant. He coughed lightly and his expression immediately returned to normal. He glanced at the map and ordered in a steady and calm voice: "Order the First Special Artillery Division to reinforce Cambrai."

"Yes, General!"

After a pause, Joffre ordered again: "Send a telegram to Charles and ask him to command the Second and Third Air Regiments to cooperate with our army!"

"Yes!"

...

Soon, Charles received an order from the General Headquarters to cooperate with Cambrai in the battle.

This is reasonable. The fact that the Air Corps is commanded by Charles does not mean that they are Charles's private troops.

However, Joffre designated the Second and Third Air Regiments, which are the two airports closest to Cambrai.

Charles sent a telegram asking: "Are you sure, General? You should know that the Germans are equipped with new fighters."

The reply from the General Headquarters was full of condescending arrogance: "Of course, I need you to regain air superiority in Cambrai immediately! Immediately!"

Joffre never took the German army's new fighters to heart from beginning to end. He believed that France had air superiority, and it was the case before and now. As long as Charles sent the fighters to the sky, it would be fine.

There should have been a battle plan at this time, so that Charles would know how to command the fighters to cooperate with the ground forces, but Joffre said nothing.

Charles could only reply: "As you wish, General!"

After thinking for a while, Charles telegraphed the second and third air regiments to prepare for battle, and asked the two air regiments to take off four fighters each to rush to Cambrai for reconnaissance.

Charles also specifically said: "It's reconnaissance. Once you find something wrong, retreat immediately!"

After thinking about it, he ordered the first air regiment in Paris to send a flight brigade to reinforce the front-line airport.

…

The town of Cambrai in the north of France was rumbling with artillery fire.

German tanks were advancing slowly towards the French defense line in neat formations amid the smoke and gunfire, followed by teams of German soldiers holding rifles.

This was the 1st Tank Division of the German 2nd Army.

It was a secret reinforcement to Cambrai: the tanks entered the front line under the cover of artillery fire and night, and once they entered the position, they hid in the tank bunkers and camouflaged them. Even the friendly troops on the front line did not know there were tanks.

This was a common way to block intelligence in war. What they needed to guard against most was often friendly troops rather than enemies. Because the main channel for the enemy to obtain intelligence was to capture prisoners for interrogation.

Major General Nicolas, the commander of the 1st Tank Division, stood on an Upper Silesian tank, holding a telescope to observe the battle situation on the front line.

Under his aperture, batches of tanks crossed the enemy trenches, and then divided into several groups to move sideways along the trenches, cooperating with soldiers to break through the enemy's defense line.

This was a tactic developed by Major General Nicolas, which he called the "circumvention tactic."

(Note: Such tactics did exist during World War I, but they were invented by the British. The reason was that there were no armored personnel carriers at the time, so the soldiers could not move fast. Once the tanks quickly broke through the enemy trenches and advanced deep into the enemy, the infantry would be left far behind, and it would be easy for the enemy to divide and surround them and defeat them one by one. Therefore, during this period, it was popular for tanks to break through the trenches and turn back to use machine guns and artillery to cooperate with the infantry to seize the trenches.)

Looking at the French troops in front of him falling under the tank machine guns one by one, and soon collapsing and fleeing, Major General Nicolas showed a satisfied smile on his face.

Originally, he was worried that the new tanks and new tactics would cause accidents, but now it seems that this worry is completely unnecessary.

"General." At this time, the staff reported: "Enemy aircraft was found, it was an 'Avro' fighter!"

Major General Nicolas was shocked, Charles's Air Corps!

They said that the new fighter "Fokker E1" could easily shoot down the "Avro", but who can be sure without actual combat?

What's more, the opponent is Charles!

No one can underestimate Charles, otherwise he will get the most profound lesson!

"Number?" Major General Nicolas asked.

"Four in each direction." The staff replied: "A total of eight, they are searching for our reconnaissance aircraft."

The staff's underlying meaning was to let the "Fokker E1" go, now is the best time to test.

Major General Nicolas also had such an impulse, but he thought about it for a while and still held back.

"Ignore them!" Major General Nicolas ordered.

"General!" The staff was a little unwilling: "Our reconnaissance aircraft is being destroyed by them."

Major General Nicolas ordered coldly: "Order them to escape faster and keep a distance from the enemy aircraft."

"Yes." The staff responded helplessly.

Nicholas was sensitive enough to realize that this was most likely a test from Charles.

Then Nicholas thought of a more terrifying thing: if Charles was testing him, did it mean that Charles knew that the Moral Army had a new fighter?

Even worse, did Charles also develop a new fighter? !