Chapter 375 Tank Battle

At that moment, a strange idea flashed through Christine's mind: asking for help from Ciel.

Charles must know how to solve this problem, Christine thought. There is no problem that he cannot solve.

But Christian cut it off in the next second. He knew the relationship between Joffre and Charles, and also knew that the Schneider tank in his hand was used to defeat Charles.

It's ridiculous to ask Ciel for help in this situation!

The military situation is urgent, and the German army is advancing towards the town of Cambrai at a speed of two kilometers per hour.

Christian had only more than an hour to prepare. He directed the troops to unload the tanks from the train, and then asked the soldiers to use houses to hide the tanks in the town to prepare for battle.

Christian can only hope to win in this way, just like Joffre said, catching the Germans off guard.

However, the facts still disappointed him.

…

Major General Nicholas of the German 1st Tank Division was following the troops on a tricycle.

While observing the battle situation, Major General Nicholas lamented the convenience of the three-wheeled motorcycle. Its small size determines its strong off-road performance, and it is more stable than a two-wheeled motorcycle. It can be regarded as an excellent command vehicle. The disadvantage is that the space is small and there is no protection.

A motorcycle caught up with him from the right, and the rider loudly reported: "General, we have information!"

Without waiting for an order, the driver slowed down and stopped, and the rider handed a telegram to Major General Nicholas.

Nicholas glanced at it and it read: "The 'First Special Artillery Division' is ambushing in Cambrai!"

A smile appeared on Nicholas's lips. They didn't expect that the German army would set eyes on Cambrai?

Of course, such a conspicuous thing as a tank could not escape the detection of the spy. Major General Nicolas even received a picture of the French army's troop deployment in Cambrai.

Nicholas did not follow the troops, he chose to stop and consider the next battle plan.

It is not a good idea to go directly into the street fighting in Cambrai. It is too dangerous for tanks and will not bring out the advantages of tanks.

"General." The staff suggested: "We can concentrate our artillery to bombard Cambrai, and then the enemy tanks will have to leave the city to fight."

This seems like a very good idea.

If the enemy tanks don't come out, they will be blown to pieces.

When they come out, they are not ready and will be attacked head-on by the German tank division.

But Major General Nicholas did not accept this suggestion.

"It takes time to gather artillery, Dim." Major General Nicholas said coldly: "Bombing cannot be effective in a short time."

The staff agreed, especially if the targets were tanks hiding in towns, which would require a long bombardment with many shells.

Major General Nicholas was silent for a while and said, "We have a better way to force the enemy out!"

…

In Cambrai, Christine stood on the bell tower of the church with a telescope. It is the highest place in the town and she can clearly see the situation several kilometers away.

What entered the aperture were the defeated French troops, piled here and there. Many of them abandoned their backpacks, ammunition and other heavy objects in order to escape.

Christine shook her head secretly. It had been a long time since she had seen the French army in such a mess.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared on the horizon, and then several tanks jumped out.

Christine saw clearly that they did have turrets, just like the wounded soldiers described three turrets.

"Get ready to fight!" Christine ordered.

The signal troops used signal flags to convey the order, and the tanks waiting in the streets started to prepare to attack the enemy.

At this moment, the enemy tank slowed down.

Then, they were originally heading towards Cambrai, but they changed their direction and turned towards Cambrai's flank.

Kristine was startled and immediately put away the telescope and opened the map.

On the flank is the defense line of the 97th Infantry Division. If the enemy breaks through this line of defense, it can penetrate behind Cambrai and cut off the railways and roads.

Christian looked shocked. He knew what the Germans were going to do, and he also understood that there would be no surprise attack. The Germans obviously knew that the "1st Special Artillery Division" was here.

Christine made a prompt decision and ordered: "Get out of the city!"

"Get out of town!"

…

One tank after another drove out of Cambrai along the street towards the Germans, with the heavy "Saint Chamoun" in front and the "Saint Chamoon M21" behind.

This is the embarrassing thing about the "Saint-Chamont M21". It can reach a highway speed of 28 kilometers per hour, but this method of maneuvering with tires is basically useless.

The tracked maneuvering speed is only 6 kilometers per hour, which is its combat state. This speed is even much slower than the 10 kilometers per hour of the heavy-duty "Saint Chamon".

A light tank slower than a heavy tank?

And there’s no rotating turret?

Kristen couldn't imagine any fool who could invent such a thing and use it on the battlefield. This was simply murder!

What’s even more ridiculous is that they actually thought they hoped to use this thing to defeat the Germans!

The tanks were assembled outside Cambrai. They formed a wedge facing the Germans, which was a standard offensive formation.

Only then did Christine realize that she had been fooled. The German tanks were also in formation facing this direction. They seemed to have guessed that the French army would leave the city and had been waiting for this moment.

Several artillery shells roared in, and they exploded near "Saint Chamoun" and raised a cloud of dust. The nearest artillery shell was only ten meters away from the tank.

Christine was nervous. This was a test firing of the enemy artillery. Then a large number of shells would hit the tank group, which would be fatal to the tanks.

"Attack!" Christine ordered, and at the same time he put away the telescope and turned to run downstairs. He wanted to be with his troops.

...

Northeast of Cambrai, on a flat open ground, two teams of tanks were rushing towards each other with billowing smoke.

They were not fast at first, as if they were waiting for the soldiers behind them to catch up, but soon both sides forgot about speeding up, and finally left the soldiers far behind and rushed towards the enemy.

The two steel torrents collided fiercely.

The sound of gunfire rang out instantly, and there was a "clang clang" sound like popping beans when bullets hit the armor.

"Saint Chamon" rushed into the enemy's position without hesitation, and the 75 gun in front quickly fired shells at the enemy while moving.

It did not dare to stop and aim, because if it did so, it might become the enemy's target in the next second.

Perhaps the enemy tanks were too dense, or perhaps the 75mm gun had a fast firing rate. The shells were lucky enough to hit several German tanks, which instantly blew up a cloud of smoke, and soon flames came out.

The "Saint-Chamond M21" in the rear could not keep up in time. Its speed of 6 kilometers per hour was not much faster than that of the infantry, and it was left behind by the heavy tanks.

Including the French infantry, everyone was charging at the enemy, shouting, and the bayonets were already mounted on their rifles.

However, what they had to face was the German "Upper Silesia" tank, a tank developed under the influence of the "Charles A1"!