Chapter 666 Arden Forest

"I know," Gallieni replied, "But I said we cannot sit idly by and watch the British Expeditionary Force collapse, we have to reinforce."

Charles didn't say anything, and he pointed his finger at Charleroi in Belgium on the map.

(The above picture shows the location of Charleroi, Belgium. The blue area is Ardennes and forests. The terrain is rugged and complex, and it is not easy to move and fight. It generally divides the battlefield into two parts that are not connected. At that time, it was generally believed that the armored troops were not Maybe it was passed through, during World War II, the German army passed through this forest and walked around the Maginot Line into France)

Gallieni looked puzzled: "Are you going to attack Charleroi?"

"Yes." Charles replied: "This is a nail that must be pulled before attacking the Liege Fortress. It can attack and defend against the mountain forest, forming a mutual reinforcement with Liege."

Gallieni nodded in agreement.

Prior to this, Charles' battle in Belgium had been in the north and areas with complex terrain to the south were rarely involved.

If Belgium is to be completely liberated, going south is an inevitable choice.

"But." Gallieni asked in confusion: "What does this have to do with reinforcements to the Somme?"

"Airplane, general," answered Charles, "Once our army has occupied Charleroi, our bombers can use it as a base to bomb the German supply lines."

Gallieni thought for a moment and shook his head slightly:

"It really helps, Lieutenant General."

"But we all know that the bomber is inaccurate and its destructive power to enemy facilities is not ideal."

"Secondly, the Germans have learned how to avoid our bombing, and they have even strengthened their air defense."

This is the fact that the battle has been going on.

"Caproni" is not a dive bomber. It's okay to bomb large targets such as German airports or warehouses, but bombing small targets such as railways and bridges depends more on luck.

At the same time, the Germans learned to release smoke to cover their sight, and also used the Becker machine gun to prevent the "Caproni" from bombing at low altitude, which further reduced the bombing effect.

Shire had to say what he really thought: "I plan to go through the Arden Mountains, General."

Gallieni didn't understand what Charles meant at this time, and he answered disapprovingly: "This is not a good idea, Charles. Even if your army can pass through the Arden Mountains, it does not carry heavy weapons and lacks ammunition, not only It cannot pose a threat to the German army, but it may be surrounded and annihilated by the German army."

Military operations are not enough to be interspersed with troops.

If the logistics cannot cross the mountain forests and continuously send ammunition and supplies to the troops, these troops that have been interspersed will soon fall into a desperate situation due to insufficient ammunition.

But Charles answered easily: "I'm talking about the armored forces, the First Armored Army!"

Gallieni looked up at Charles in shock, and after a while, he said, "This is impossible, there is no road, and cars cannot pass through you, but I hope the tank will pass through."

But Charles knew it was possible.

The Germans walked a further trip when they passed through this mountainous area during World War II.

The focus is to do a careful intelligence work before the war, send people to carefully explore every mountain road that can be passed, and where bridges can be built quickly, and where locations need to be widened or reinforced.

The "Shar A1" is only 7 tons, which is more than one ton heavier than the German "No. 1" tank during World War II. As long as the scouts and engineers are sent to be tested on the spot, there is no big problem.

(Note: The "No. 1" tank weighs 5.4 tons.)

Gallieni still couldn't believe it, he looked at the map and looked at Charles: "You, are you sure you want to do this? This is more difficult than you think. How do you guarantee supplies? Armored forces mean more oil , and there are also parts. ”

"The three-wheeled side, general." Charles said firmly: "If we can build a road in the forest that can pass through 'Shar A1', we will definitely pass through the three-wheeled side."

"But that's not enough," Gallieni replied. "Far from enough!"

It is indeed not enough. Once a war starts, a huge amount of ammunition is needed. The bullets of the French and German army are not common, and they cannot be used even if German ammunition is seized.

But Charles had long considered this issue: "So, I'm training the Armored Army to use German rifles, including machine guns used on tanks."

These equipment are not difficult. The Belgian army is equipped with German weapons, which can be produced by the "FN" company.

Then Charles added: "In addition, I am still trying to recharge the supplies with the 'Caproni' airdrop."

"Airdrop supplies?" Gallieni was shocked by Charles' words. Can an airplane do such a thing?

"Why not?" Shire replied: "There may be difficulties in airdropping weapons and ammunition. They may break when they fall to the ground, but the airdrop food is not stressful. Bread and flour do not break, but packaging must be done. and waterproof.”

This is considered that it is possible to airdrop into the water and get damp or break and spill all over the floor.

But these are not technically difficult.

Gallieni nodded slightly and looked at Charles half-believingly: "It seems that you have thought about doing this a long time ago."

"Yes." Charles admitted it straightforwardly.

Since capturing Hasselt against the Liege Fortress, Charles has thought of walking through the Ardennes Forest.

No mistakes, one song, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one reading!

However, at that time, it was to bypass the Liege Fortress and not attack the German Somme defense line from the rear.

There is another point that Charles didn't tell Gallieni.

With Charles' current strength, after his troops crossed the Arden Forest to occupy an area to develop an airport or occupy an airport, "Caproni" could immediately transport supplies, and fighter jets could also enter the airport and join the battle.

Shire thinks there is no need to say too much.

At this time, Gallieni still finds it difficult to understand this combat mode, nor does he know the benefits of this combat mode.

Gallieni was shocked enough, with armored troops crossing mountain forests, providing supplies to three sides, and bomber airdrops.

He felt that Shire's troops had evolved to another level, far beyond the level of this world.

"However, this is still risky, Charles." Gallieni reminded: "I don't know if you ever wonder what we will face once your troops cannot successfully pass through the mountains, or if they pass through but cannot win. The result? ”

"I know, general." Shire replied: "The British army suffered heavy casualties."

This is the "risk" that Charles likes to see.

But Charles didn't say that, adding: "But high risk means high returns, once we succeed..."

Gallienni turned his eyes to the map, looked at it for a while and finally nodded in agreement with the plan.

As Charles said, the risk is that the British army suffered heavy casualties, but if it succeeds, it is the decisive victory of the Somme Battle. The defense line will advance dozens of kilometers in one breath.

More importantly, it is possible to encircle all the German troops located in the Somme River.

Another big siege, Gallieni sighed in his heart, the Germans might be in trouble!