Chapter 582 Unwritten Rules

The town of Gembloux, Belgium.

The church bells rang "Dangdang", and some hymns could be heard faintly, heralding the arrival of the annual Christmas Eve.

However, this clear and pleasant sound did not bring people a trace of joy, and the dark clouds of war still shrouded the entire world.

Darkness enveloped the earth. It was silent for a while in the wind and snow, and then ruthlessly tore open the tranquility of the night.

I don't know who started it first. At first, there were only one or two shells whistling, and then more and more dense.

Soon, the entire Western Front was filled with whistling and explosions, and there were intermittent lights when shells were fired and exploded everywhere, like lightning.

Major General Christian waited patiently in the trenches, feeling the vibration of the shells, from far to near, and then gradually moving farther and deeper.

This is a common pattern of night artillery battles.

In the dark, it is unlikely that the artillery of both sides will target the trenches of the other side, because they can only shoot blindly without seeing.

They preferred to bomb the enemy artillery. When the enemy opened fire, the muzzle fire and smoke would expose their position. Whoever could gain the advantage first could suppress the opponent step by step and finally gain the advantage.

After waiting for a while, when the enemy and our artillery were in a stalemate, Christine shouted: "Attack!"

A sharp whistle sounded immediately, one after another, passing along the trench.

The "Charles A1" tank was the first to rush up the no-man's land along the slope. It groped towards the enemy's defense line at a low speed of about 3 kilometers per hour. The hatches of some tanks were open, and the commander needed to stick his head out to observe the terrain outside and guide the driver.

Tanks without night combat capabilities only hoped to block a few rounds of bullets for the attacking infantry on the battlefield, and then drive back safely.

The soldiers climbed out of the trenches in teams along the short ladders and followed the tanks to advance towards the enemy trenches.

...

Brigade Commander Godroy rushed to the front and followed closely behind the tanks.

This was not because he was brave. Before the war, he analyzed it and thought that the rear might be more dangerous. Staying away from the tank would increase the probability of being hit by bullets and shells.

He concluded that it was safest to be behind the tank, where there was a blind spot for bullets and shells.

If he was lucky, he only needed to follow the tank around the battlefield to return safely, and he could also gain a good reputation of "leading by example".

Sure enough, the heavy machine guns on the opposite side fired a rain of bullets, and mortars exploded one after another around him, but no bullets and shells could threaten him.

The bullets hit the tank armor and made a "clang clang" sound like popping beans, which made him tremble with fear. But in order to survive, he still mustered up the courage to follow closely.

Perhaps because of nervousness, or perhaps because of the darkness, Godroy did not realize that there were fewer and fewer soldiers around him, and finally he was the only one left to follow the tank.

When he felt strange and looked back, suddenly several ignited grenades were thrown beside him. Godroy was swallowed by the smoke brought by the explosion before he understood what was going on.

…

Xavier felt something was wrong from the beginning. When he climbed out of the trench and led his troops forward, he felt that there were always several soldiers following him.

Are they guards?

Their figures seemed wrong.

Moreover, they charged in dense formations in the dark, and the guards got separated in the sound of gunfire before they went far.

Was he too sensitive?

But Xavier didn't think so, because no matter where he ran, those figures always chased him like hounds staring at food.

An idea popped into his mind: he had interrogated many mutinous soldiers and put some of them in the confinement room to prepare for the death penalty. The soldiers must have a grudge against him.

Fear arose in Xavier's heart. He suddenly realized that he felt in danger, the enemy was everywhere, and he could be swallowed up by the endless darkness at any time.

"Raphael, Bertrand!" Xavier shouted, over and over again.

These were the two confidants he brought from Paris, and now only they were trustworthy.

"General!" Amid the sound of gunfire, Xavier faintly heard Raphael's response.

Xavier was delighted. He hid in a shell crater and turned back to shout in the direction of the sound: "Come to me, immediately..."

Before he finished speaking, Xavier felt a pain in his chest. He looked down and saw that a bayonet had appeared on his chest. Blood gushed out, and the half-exposed blade flashed a little cold light under the gunfire.

Xavier fell to the ground weakly, breathing hard. Before his consciousness faded, he cursed intermittently: "These bastards, they actually used, German bayonets!"

(Note: The bayonets of the German and French armies are easy to identify. The former is short blade-shaped, and the latter is needle-shaped)

(The above two pictures are a comparison of the bayonets of the German and French armies)

...

Several staff officers hid in a shell crater and dared not move forward. They thought that no one would notice them in the dark, and they could stay here until the retreat order was issued.

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However, just when they were congratulating themselves for being "smart", suddenly several mortar shells accurately hit the crater where they were.

There was also a regiment commander waving a revolver to order his men to charge, and several bullets from nowhere knocked him to the ground...

The offensive lasted for more than 20 minutes, and then retreated like a tide under Christine's command.

Because it was a low-intensity exploratory attack without a strong attack, the casualties were not large, with only more than 200 casualties in total.

But what is "surprising" is that the casualty rate among middle and senior officers was astonishingly high. All two brigade commanders were killed, four regiment commanders were killed and one was wounded, and ten of the eighteen staff officers were killed.

Major General Christine reported to Gamelin on the phone as soon as he came back. His voice was deep and he reflected seriously:

"The officers are very brave, General. They rushed to the front regardless of their own safety. This may be one of the reasons for the heavy casualties."

"In addition, I have reason to suspect that the Germans sent Stormtroopers to counterattack our army."

"Otherwise this is unlikely to happen!"

"Storm Troopers" are the special forces of the German army. They always go deep into the enemy's camp to attack the enemy's headquarters.

When Gan Molin got the casualty report, he said "hum" expressionlessly.

Having been in the army for 22 years, he knows what is going on. There are some unwritten rules in the army. They will punish or even get rid of those who hold back or threaten the safety of the army for the sake of the overall interests.

This is obviously an "unspoken rule" at work.

But Gamelin didn't say anything. He glanced at Charles, who was sitting at his desk and reading a newspaper leisurely. He turned around and whispered to the staff officer in a cold voice: "Check the body, don't let others know."

However, the staff officer replied: "It has been checked, General, there is no problem."

He said and handed over a report.

Gan Molin took it and took a look and almost fainted.

All deaths were caused by either grenades, mortars, or German military spurs. Even the bullets dug out of the wounds were all German Luger pistol bullets!