The Rise of the Empire

Chapter 744: Setback on the Western Front 2



"These hateful Krupp profiteers!" Karyus cursed involuntarily as he watched his fifth shell bounce off the opponent's armor. He once again ordered the driver to start the vehicle, prepare to approach a little from the side, and try again. Next to him, the teammate who was covering his advance was being attacked by the Renault tank, and the opponent's 37MM gun easily pierced the turret of the No. 1 tank. With a loud noise, a huge pillar of fire rose from the sky, and the entire tank turned into a burning iron box.

The number of German tanks seems to be a little more, but there is still no advantage. The 8 FT10 tanks on the front are like a mainstay, blocking the German attack. Except for the two-wheeled tank being hit on the tires, causing damage to the walking part and losing combat effectiveness, the remaining 6 FT10 tanks have cleared at least more than a dozen No. 1 tanks and armored vehicles.

"Let's let the No. 2 tank, our tank has no advantage." A team of larger and heavier tanks appeared on the battlefield, and the Prussian Army finally took out a new tank that had been hidden for a long time. The weight of the tank equipped with 50MML45 artillery is 14 tons. Because of the breakthrough problem, the thickness of the frontal armor has been increased to 30MM, and the inclination is 40 degrees. But the sides and back are still designed according to the defensive machine gun firepower. Although the defense is still somewhat different from the "insects" of the Bavarian Army, this is the best unit that has arrived in the Prussian Army.

An armored battalion of 45 tanks has at most one company, that is, 14 No. 2 tanks. When this trump card was played, Colonel Routh of the 7th Independent Armored Battalion trembled for a long time before making a decision. The first battle of the 7th Independent Armored Battalion must never fail!

This time the French FT10 tank encountered a real opponent. The 50MM rapid-fire gun caught the French by surprise. The fan-out No. 2 tank group killed 4 FT10 tanks in a very short time. A gap was opened in the flank of the entire French tank group. Under the guidance of 10 No. 2 tanks, the infantry unit that took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack successfully beat the French back.

"Fortunately, I finally held it. Don't worry. As the traffic situation improves, more and more No. 2 tanks will rush to the battlefield. We will turn the tide of the battle." Kruger said to the frontline combatants.

And then, the situation did change. The two sides deployed troops almost along the border. Although the German troops could not go deeper, the steady flow of troops did make the battlefield more stable. The Germans were even in some areas. A counterattack was launched, but the effect of the counterattack was not very good.

In the Cambrai area, the German First and Second Army gathered 6 complete independent armored battalions to try to open the gap. The initial offensive was indeed very smooth. The two attack arrows composed of 6 armored battalions successfully ripped apart the opponent’s first. The first floor was laid out, and the attack of two French armored forces was repelled, but soon, with the attack of the British train artillery group deployed in the depth, the opening of the attack channel was greatly affected, and the second attack When laying the line, the French gathered 20 companies of 75MM rapid-fire guns and the British 10 companies of 15-pound field guns, so that the German armored forces realized what it means to put a foot on an iron plate...

"On the frontal battlefield width of 8 kilometers, the opponent has concentrated at least 120 medium-caliber rapid-fire guns! Our armored units were slaughtered like infantry assault machine gun defensive positions, and the continuous sound of artillery sounded on the battlefield. You can even see rows of shells coming from a distance, but after 200 meters of distance, my company lost 10 tanks!"

At the beginning of this battle, there were a total of 240 armored units in the 6 armored battalions. However, after a battle, only 80 vehicles were left, and the battle lost more than 60%! Although the sum of the French armored units and artillery they destroyed was more than their own losses, this was also a failure for the Germans.

Soon after the German army launched an offensive at Cambrai and was frustrated, the French and British under the cover of train guns also launched an offensive on the Charleville area. Just like a replica of the Battle of Cambrai, the French also put their feet on the steel plate, and the losses were even more than the Germans!

Under the cover of 200 French armored fighting vehicles and 80 British armored fighting vehicles, a full 5 divisions of French troops and 1 division of British troops launched an attack. This time the Germans also learned their skills, knowing that they used anti-tank trenches, mines, and various artillery bunkers to deal with French tanks.

And this time it is particularly rare that General House of the Third Army specially designed a pocket for the French, and the frontal battlefield was easily broken by the opponent, but it did not matter. He gathered a large number of infantry units next to the breach. After putting a part of the French army over, the reserve team quickly closed the gap under the command of the artillery. The Anglo-French coalition forces with armored forces to open the way are indeed more powerful. But no matter how powerful the tank is, it has no fuel or shells, and it can only lie down.

So, using ingenious tactics, the German Legion this time consumed 3 divisions of the Allied Powers and nearly 200 various tanks ~ www.novelhall.com ~ most of them were abandoned and belonged to that. Kind of pull back and add oil to continue to use...

In this battle, the British MK1 tank was also captured by the Germans. Although the opening performance was not good, almost all German officers who had seen this tank believed that it was a very powerful tank. How to put it, in the view of Kruger and others, from the appearance, it is similar to lengthening the No. 2 tank and then installing more machine guns! The front is 40mm thick vertical armor, and the turret is equipped with a 57mm gun. And 4 machine guns. The entire tank can accommodate 6 people, and the combat weight is 24 tons.

Of course, such a large weight also means a lower speed, the assault speed is only about 4 kilometers per hour. The journey is only more than 20 kilometers. This is the one who lays down first in the battle. Although the German military technicians came to the conclusion that the performance is limited and not suitable for offensive and interspersed, but at the same time also admitted that this kind of thing is not suitable for defensive operations. The 57MM naval gun is enough to destroy the No. 2 tank. The 50MM gun is difficult to penetrate the opponent's protection. There are also many machine guns on the car body, which is simply a mobile fortress.

Although both sides suffered a loss in their offensives, neither Britain, France nor Germany gave up the idea of ​​a quick fight. Germany is limited by its national strength and naturally wants to end the war quickly. Britain and France have similar ideas. Coupled with the request of the Russians, both sides are accumulating strength, ready to open the situation by launching a large-scale offensive!

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