Chapter 525 Rocket Artillery Tactics

At Antwerp Airport, Tijani received a telegram from Gallieni and hurried to Charles.

"They are winning." Tijani was a little nervous: "Although this is good news, if you have any plans to attack Namur, shouldn't you implement it as soon as possible?"

Everyone is saying that the Battle of the Somme will end in victory in a few days, and Commander-in-Chief Nivelle also said so.

However, Charles calmly replied: "No hurry, wait a little longer."

"Wait for what?" Tijani asked puzzled.

"If our army is winning, should the Germans send reinforcements to the Somme?" Charles replied: "Especially artillery."

Tijani frowned: "But if this battle can end with our victory in a few days, the Germans may not even have time to send reinforcements!"

"Don't worry, General!" Charles was confident: "They have time."

Charles knew what happened. The Battle of the Somme in history lasted nearly five months instead of a few days.

The attacks of the British and French coalition forces in the past few days ended with heavy casualties, and there was no victory at all.

After this, Haig, who had always distrusted machine guns and tanks, had no choice but to move tanks onto the battlefield, and only then did progress.

Tijani changed the subject: "Tell me about your method of attacking Namur, Major General, you seem to have a plan in mind."

Charles did not answer but asked: "What do you think is the most troublesome thing about the Namur defense line?"

Tijani turned his eyes to the map of Namur Fortress spread out on the table, and replied slowly: "It is undoubtedly artillery. The Germans have five artillery regiments there. They are deployed on the other side of the river to block the passage. We have no way to deal with it."

Even amphibious landing ships are useless.

The Germans built trenches along the shore in the location they called the "river bend area". An infantry division was set up there, with machine guns, mortars, and 77MM artillery.

Once the enemy intends to cross the river, they will be hit by a storm.

At the same time, the five artillery regiments equipped with 105MM howitzers in the rear can also join this blocking battle at any time.

The fragile amphibious landing ship may have been blown up before it even saw the river.

Charle nodded: "So we have to destroy these artillery pieces, at least to make them unable to block Channels 1 and 2."

There are two roads leading to the Namur Fortress. They are narrow passages formed by forests and rivers, one to the north and the other to the west. Charles named them Channels 1 and 2.

"The key is how to destroy these artillery pieces!" Tijani objected: "Are we really going to use those rocket launchers?"

Charle didn't say anything, just looked at Tijani quietly.

Tijani realized that Charles was serious, and he exclaimed: "God, you are crazy, this can't succeed, Major General!"

Charle smiled at Tijani and asked teasingly: "Now, I just want to know if you still want to have this rocket launcher?"

Tijani was stunned, and then he understood what Charles meant: "Does this mean that if you want this rocket launcher, you must use it to deal with the Germans' 105MM howitzers?"

"You are very smart." Charles praised, his tone was very fake.

Tijani was speechless. Couldn't this guy give a pleasant option?

He always thought that rocket launchers were used to deal with infantry.

When the enemy launched a tidal wave of attacks, suddenly a rocket shell launched a saturation attack on the opposite side, and the front of the position was instantly cleared. That feeling must be extremely refreshing.

But Charles was obsessed. He always wanted to use this crude thing to deal with the 105 howitzer.

If that was what the rocket launcher could deal with, then what was the point of the Germans producing the 105 howitzer?

Tijani hesitated for a while: "Is there anything I don't know?"

Charles only replied: "Do you want it or not?"

Tijani sighed helplessly: "Okay, you win! I decided to use it to deal with the enemy artillery. Now, tell me your answer!"

Tijani stared at Charles fiercely. Compared with the risk of being bombed by the enemy, Tijani wanted to know how this thing could deal with the Germans' long-range howitzers. After all, the range was there.

"The key lies in its firing speed, General."

"Firing speed?" Tijani didn't understand.

Charles nodded and explained slowly: "Artillery has a characteristic. Once they fire, they will produce a lot of smoke and fire. The enemy can accurately judge its position or even the artillery position through these."

Tijani said "hmm", but asked in confusion: "Isn't the rocket launcher the same? It is even worse. Its smoke is much larger than that of artillery, and there is a long tail after firing."

"You are right." Charles replied: "But the rocket launcher can fire all the rockets in a few minutes and then leave."

The answer is that simple.

But Tijani was stunned for a while. If they leave after firing, what can they do even if they are discovered by the enemy?

If the rocket launcher does not fire, it is even more difficult for the enemy to know its exact position, especially since the air supremacy is still in the hands of the French army.

In other words, the rocket launcher can easily sneak into the range of 8 kilometers and suddenly fire at the target.

By the time the enemy artillery reacted and implemented suppression, the rocket launcher was no longer there!

With this tactic, the German artillery could not be used no matter how far it could reach.

After figuring this out, Tijani was so excited that he danced with joy:

"Yes, it can really deal with artillery. It is invincible, as long as we do a good job of intelligence and concealment."

"Great tactics, Major General, you are amazing!"

"Incredible, you turned a waste into a treasure. No one thought rockets could be useful, only you, still use this tactic!"

Somewhat forgetful, he immediately returned to his desk and took out his notebook, which was a record and analysis of all the notes about Charles's tactics.

"You shouldn't do this." Charles stopped him: "At least not now."

Tijani stopped his action, and the next second he figured it out: "That's right, Major General, it hasn't been used on the battlefield yet."

It is undoubtedly dangerous to write down tactics that have not been used on the battlefield in a notebook. Once seen by German spies, the Germans will turn the Namur Fortress into a trap waiting for Charles to get in.

Tijani excitedly imagined this tactic in his mind, and suddenly thought of something, and turned to look at Charles: "Since we have a way to deal with the enemy's artillery, why do we still use the Battle of the Somme as bait?"

"Because the production of rocket artillery is insufficient." Charles answered very straightforwardly: "To be precise, it is the insufficient production of rockets."

This is half true and half false.

The insufficient production of rockets is one of the reasons.

More importantly, only after the "bloody massacre" of the Battle of the Somme is exposed, Charles' victory can form a sharp contrast in everyone's mind, and can give Haig a double blow!