Chapter 539 How Can Charles Cross the Anti-Tank Trench?

In theory, Erwin's judgment was correct.

The fortress of Namur is different from the hard chalk of the Somme. It is full of rivers, forests and soft land.

When the rainy season arrives, the rain will crackle and soak the land, making it soft and sticky. Not to mention the tanks, even if people step on them, they will bring up a lot of mud from the soles of their shoes, making it difficult to walk.

This is extremely detrimental to the attacking side. In addition, there are barbed wire fences and anti-tank trenches ahead. A hasty attack is likely to lead to a tragedy similar to the Battle of the Somme. Tens of thousands of people were killed in one day, and victory instantly turned into a disastrous defeat.

This is one of the reasons why Namur Fortress is generally considered unsuitable for an armored assault by the Charr.

However, since Charles decided to attack the Namur Fortress, he certainly had a way to deal with it.

…

The sky was dim and bright, the heavy downpour overnight had finally subsided, and there was even a little sunshine in the sky.

The whole world seemed to be cleansed and glowing with life. Raindrops were hanging on the leaves. Resident birds came and went in a hurry to look for food in the rain. There were pools of water here and there, slowly gathering together and pouring into the anti-tank trenches built by the German army. .

In the anti-tank trench, the turbid water has covered more than half of the trench and is close to two meters high. Coupled with the mud at the bottom of the trench, even heavily armed soldiers may be drowned if they enter.

(Note: Anti-tank trenches are generally 5 to 7 meters wide and 2 to 2.5 meters deep)

German soldiers wearing raincoats hid in the infantry trenches at the rear, carefully shielding themselves from the rain and eating bread for breakfast.

Further away, there is the 77MM infantry gun with its muzzle pointed at the first anti-tank trench.

Erwin's idea was perfect:

The first anti-tank trench is about 500 meters in front of the defense line.

When the French army stopped in front of this anti-tank trench and was busy filling the trench, the German 77 gun could easily destroy these tanks one by one.

Rifles and machine guns in the hands of infantry can also fire a hail of bullets to kill enemy infantry and engineers. The enemy must suffer heavy casualties before it can pass through the first anti-tank trench.

Then, the second anti-tank trench is 100 meters in front of the defense line. The infantry can accurately shoot the enemy. The infantry on both wings can also rely on oblique angles to use K bombs to attack the weak flank armor of the tank.

"Lieutenant Colonel."

"Lieutenant Colonel!"

…

When Erwin crossed the traffic trench and rushed to the front line, the soldiers gave him a salute one by one.

The anti-tank trench invented by Erwin has proven to be the most practical tactic for blocking tanks on the battlefield, and he therefore became the only officer in the German army who could stop the Charles.

Erwin nodded in response, but his eyes were always fixed in the direction of the enemy.

He came here in the rain from the Riverbend District, hoping to check the situation of the defense line one last time.

The remaining artillery in the Reach was unable to block the passage, which meant that an enemy attack was imminent.

Erwin came to the forefront of the defense line and carefully stuck his head out and raised the telescope. His movements were very slow, like a movie playing in slow motion.

Finally, the anti-tank ditch appeared in the aperture of the telescope.

After observing for a while, Erwin was deeply relieved that the two anti-tank trenches had become an insurmountable artificial barrier for enemy tanks, just as he had expected.

After retracting his head, Erwin leaned against the trench and was stunned for a while, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

The German soldiers didn't care about this. They all looked at Erwin with horror on their faces:

"Lieutenant Colonel, is that the newly invented equipment of Charles? I mean the artillery shells that the French army used to bombard the Reach area yesterday?"

"I heard that the artillerymen in the Reach suffered heavy casualties. Does this mean they have broken through our artillery blockade?"

"Ciel's forces are about to attack, aren't they?"

…

Erwin didn't deny it because it was obvious.

"Yes." He nodded: "But we will defeat them, I'm sure!"

Then, Erwin explained to the soldiers in detail the firepower configuration of the two anti-tank trenches and the benefits of the rain bonus to the German army.

He believed that doing so would help build the soldiers' confidence in victory and overcome their fear of the "Shire Troops."

Sure enough, after listening to Erwin's explanation, the morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted. They spread these words and talked excitedly at the same time:

"This is an objective environmental difficulty. I don't think even Ciel can solve it!"

"Charles certainly didn't expect this rain. I guess he must be troubled by it now."

"It was God who saved us. He sent this heavy rain in time."

…

However, at this moment, a familiar and terrifying whistling sound came from the air.

Rockets, they rushed directly to the German positions with a roar and heat. With bursts of explosions, the German infantry artillery hidden outside the positions was instantly blown to pieces, and the incomplete limbs of several artillerymen were blown to pieces. Throw into the trenches.

The French army did not need to find the hidden 77MM infantry artillery. They only needed to use artillery shells to "comb" the open space behind the German defense line indiscriminately once, or twice, or three times.

Amid the smoke and sound of bombings, Erwin was quite surprised. He thought that the French rocket launcher was used to fight artillery in artillery battles, but he did not expect that it could also deal with infantry.

These bastards, Erwin cursed in his heart, they must be relying on the financial strength of Charles, otherwise how could there be hundreds or even thousands of them in one dozen, and the artillery bombs were raining down like raindrops, as if they were free of charge!

A few minutes later, the sound of bombing suddenly disappeared, and the smoke had not dissipated, rolling and pressing into the trenches under the influence of rain.

Soon, the rumbling sound of a tank engine came from the opposite side, and the accumulated water in the trench began to ripple a little under the vibration.

Erwin was stunned. They started to attack? And they were attacking with tanks?

This is impossible!

Erwin hurriedly stepped on the pedal and emerged again. The tank immediately entered the aperture of his telescope. It was the "Char A1".

Erwin was stunned for a long time.

Char would not send troops to die. His attack was usually sure.

This shows that he has a way to cross the anti-tank trench.

However, what can he do?

The German front-line commander shouted in a long tone: "Get ready!"

The soldiers climbed up the pedal one by one and set up their rifles on the edge of the trench.

It was terribly quiet all around. The rain hit their helmets and made a little sound, then flowed down the side along the edge of the helmet and dripped on the rifles that were ready to fire.

The soldiers had serious expressions and standard movements, and their eyes were fixed on the target in front through the crosshairs.

But they had the same question as Erwin:

How could Charles get past the anti-tank trench?

Erwin held up a telescope and searched among the enemy, hoping to find something different.

Suddenly, a strange tank caught his eye. It had a tank chassis but no turret, instead it had two iron frames.

Charles' new invention?

Erwin swallowed hard, he knew that might be the answer he wanted!