Chapter 547 For Peace Negotiations

The rain was getting heavier, even with a hint of red, hitting the tank armor and making a "dong dong dang dang" sound.

In the assault trench, the 1st Special Artillery Division was ready.

Christine, wearing a raincoat, sat in the open back of the armored reconnaissance vehicle and waited. In front and behind him were the "Charles A1" tanks that had been launched and ready to attack.

The staff officer beside him stretched his neck to look outside the assault trench. The German army had already joined the charging French infantry.

"General." The staff officer looked back at Christine in confusion: "Our training is not like this. We seem to be in the front instead of staying here."

Christine sighed, he didn't know how to answer.

Perhaps the cavalry should rush behind the infantry.

When the infantry of the enemy and us were fighting in a group, the cavalry suddenly rushed out from the flank to surround the flank and make the enemy in chaos.

However, this is a tank.

If it is allowed to rush behind the infantry, how much meaning does its armor have?

Just as Christine was frowning, a sharp and piercing whistle suddenly sounded, followed by a loud command from the frontline commander: "Attack, the First Special Artillery Division! Attack!"

Christine followed the order: "Attack!"

The leading tank "rumbled" and rushed out of the assault trench along the slope at full speed, and other tanks filed out.

An officer stuck his head out of the tank cabin and shouted to encourage his subordinates: "Show the Germans a little bit of power, kill them all!"

Christine had no confidence at all.

This was not because he was negative, but because he knew that Nivelle's battle plan would not work.

The cavalry might survive for a few days or even longer if they penetrated into the enemy's hinterland, because they could more easily obtain supplies, either from the enemy or temporarily requisitioned from French civilians in the enemy-controlled area.

Tanks are different. What they want is gasoline, which cannot be easily seized from the enemy or requisitioned from civilians.

If there is no follow-up plan, the First Special Artillery Division will not even be able to survive for a day after successfully penetrating.

Just as he was thinking, the armored vehicles had already driven onto the battlefield along the slope.

Christine was stunned by what she saw.

The shells were still bombarding the enemy positions, and French soldiers rushed towards the artillery fire in batches.

However, the Germans also noticed the French's fighting style, so they set up machine guns in front of the positions and fired at the French under the artillery fire.

The artillery fire could not pose much threat to the German machine guns, because they were hiding in the trenches behind the parapets built with sandbags, and some machine gun positions were still bunkers built with logs, stones and soil.

Unless the artillery fire hit them directly, it would be difficult to destroy them.

The artillery fire caused great trouble to the charging French army: the smoke raised by the shells hid the German firepower points, and the flying shrapnel and exploded stones made it impossible for the French soldiers to get close.

So, groups of French soldiers fell on the way to charge, but the French soldiers still stepped on the corpses and rushed forward.

Before the corpses that were rotting in the no-man's land were cleaned up, a layer of fresh corpses was immediately laid on top.

The dark red dirty blood and the red blood merged together, and with the help of the rain, they covered the entire battlefield. At first glance, it was a piece of red land.

The soldiers were still charging, and they kept falling in the rain of bullets.

The corpses in different postures under their feet made it more and more difficult for them to charge. Some soldiers had to use their hands and feet to "crawl" on the corpses to move forward.

Christine held up a telescope and observed at the fastest speed, and said expressionlessly: "We can't fight according to the plan."

"But General." The staff officer said: "The plan was made by the commander-in-chief."

Another meaning of not fighting according to the plan is to disobey orders.

Christine hesitated for a few seconds.

It seems that the infantry cannot successfully capture the German defense line. On this basis, if the original plan is implemented, it will basically be a one-way trip.

On the contrary, if the plan is changed to coordinate the infantry attack, there is still a glimmer of hope.

Thinking of this, he made a prompt decision: "Pass the order down, cancel the trench crossing and fully assist the infantry attack!"

"Yes, General." The staff officer responded and immediately passed the order through the signal flag and radio.

Facts have proved that Christine's approach is correct.

Tanks penetrated the battlefield from both wings, suppressed the German machine guns at close range with machine guns and artillery, and used their own armor to block bullets and shrapnel for the infantry, which enabled the infantry to successfully rush into the German trenches and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Afterwards, the French infantry and the "special artillery" (armored troops) formed a tacit understanding in this adversity. They cooperated with each other to continue to advance, and successfully pushed the defense line forward by one kilometer before dark.

Nivelle was overjoyed when he heard the news of the victory. He immediately reported the good news to Paris: "After hard fighting, our army won a decisive victory in the Somme River. In just one day, we seized two lines of defense and advanced one kilometer!"

Then, he couldn't wait to send the news to various newspapers.

The government, members of parliament, and newspapers all remained calm. They did not rush to announce or report the incident, but instead called Nivelle one after another to inquire about the casualties.

Everyone understood that Nivelle's so-called victory was probably achieved at the cost of huge casualties.

Nivelle was a little embarrassed, but he had a history of concealing the truth, so he did not dare to avoid the question this time. After hesitating for a while, he answered truthfully: "A total of more than 40,000 casualties."

Everyone was shocked:

"More than 40,000 casualties in one day? That's twice as many as Charles' troops."

"Charles attacked Namur with only a few hundred casualties, but he pushed the defense line 13 kilometers. Charles didn't even say it was a great victory, but Nivelle called it a great victory?"

"How should we report this 'victory'? Ignore the casualties?"

...

Foch's comments were particularly sharp: "I can't call it a 'victory'. It cost more than 40,000 people to advance one kilometer. At this rate, when we advance to the German border to recover the lost territory of France, we will have to pay all our soldiers."

Pétain stood with Foch at this time: "Then, the Germans can proudly point their guns at our heads. And we can only raise our hands and surrender, because there are no adults in France who can pick up rifles to fight!"

Nivelle didn't expect this to happen. Just when he was indignant, something more deadly came.

Kaiser Wilhelm II spoke through the Berlin Daily: "There is no doubt that the Allies are on the road to failure. It's time to end this meaningless war. Germany is willing to negotiate for peace!"

The Germans thought they were in the upper hand?

And expressed their willingness to negotiate as victors?

And it was after Charles won the victory in Namur?

Obviously, it was the Battle of the Somme that gave the Germans such confidence and courage!

(Note: Germany did propose "for peace talks", but it was proposed in 1916. At that time, both sides were a little bit exhausted and Germany had the upper hand. Both sides were willing to negotiate, but it was destroyed by the American consortium)