In order to reduce the cost of the tank, the French ** industrial enterprise boldly swung the file at the turret. They found that if the turret was simplified to accommodate only one person, it would not only save the cost of the turret itself, but also greatly reduce the space requirements for the interior of the vehicle, so as to achieve a comprehensive slimming of the whole vehicle. What's more, there are precedents for the design of the single-man turret: the Renault-17, which was known as a classic and best-selling in the world, belongs to this category.

As a result, the French tank has been climbing up the tech tree of the single turret. From the early D1 to the latest Soma-35, all French tanks have a small pocket turret, even for the B1 heavy tank, which is close to 30 tons. The French Army is very pleased with the vehicles made by its own companies: they are not only cheap to build, but also can be operated by only two or three people. Compared with the 4-man or even 5-man tanks of the British and Germans, the French army can save a lot of money every year in terms of personnel expenses alone.

However, the commanders of the French tanks were out of luck. Tragically, they found that they were the only ones in the turret, which meant that they had to perform the basic tasks of observing the surrounding situation and coordinating the occupants of the vehicle, as well as shoulder the gunner's attack duties and even reload the ammunition themselves. If enemy infantry is nearby, the commander will also operate the coaxial machine gun on the side of the gun to fire, and he will naturally be responsible for the reloading chain.

In the late 30s, small radio equipment could be easily cramped into tanks, so the commanders of light tanks such as the H-35 had a new role: part-time communicators. Faced with this situation, the French commanders immediately burst into tears. The work of 4 people is all done by 1 person, and even the most greedy capitalists in the country do not squeeze the hired workers so much! But they didn't have anything to do, there was only the driver in the whole tank except the commander, and the driver couldn't do any other part-time job. As for increasing the number of crew members in the tank to 3, it is even more impossible, these light tanks are simpler and smaller than the other, and it is impossible to cram one person into them!

Even the new S-35 and B1 tanks, which have a full-time communicator, have an extremely heavy task for the commander. Because the communicators of the two tanks sit behind the commander, the distance is still quite large, which makes it impossible for the former to reload the commander or operate the machine gun, and the commander still has to be split into three people.

In contrast, the commander of a German Bobcat tank, who was only a part-time communicator, could already be described as living in paradise. And even the Soviet T-34, which has always been known for its poor ergonomics, is much better than the French tank: the commander of the T-34/76 is only a part-time gunner, and the manual work of carrying shells from the ammunition rack for reloading is also done by the loader.

This question was raised to their superiors by some junior officers of the French armored corps before the war. However, they were soft-spoken, and the French Army's top brass did not value tanks, so these voices were never heeded. In the eyes of Gan Morin and others, the tank was only an auxiliary weapon for the infantry, and it was enough to knock out the enemy's fire point at close range; Back then, the Renault-17 used a single-man turret, and now there is no reason to make changes. This kind of behavior of asking the horses to run and not eating grass has suddenly triggered serious consequences in the current fierce tank battle.

After some fighting, the German panzers soon discovered that the French tanks were stupid and like beasts. The latter were extremely slow to react to changes in the battlefield, and as long as something in front of them caught their attention, even if a German tank approached from the flank to a close distance of less than 100 meters, the French tank would be as unresponsive as a blind man.

The rate of fire and accuracy of the French tanks were also much worse than those of the German army, and coupled with their already impressive penetration, the threat to the German tanks was even less severe. On top of that, the French tanks were in disarray, and the H-35 commanders simply didn't have the energy to operate the radio, which quickly left them in a situation where they were left to fight on their own.

In response to this situation, the German armored forces quickly adjusted their countermeasures. After some of their forces engaged the French in a frontal artillery battle, and the other part of the tanks outflanked them for a short distance by virtue of their mobility, the French commanders, who were focused on attacking the targets in front of them, often failed to react and were heavily fired by the enemy on the flank, and the whole vehicle was killed. The Germans, on the other hand, were several streets away from the French, and on local battlefields, they were almost always fighting with more and less: the H-35/39s, which were attacking alone, were covered by artillery fire from all sides, and even if their armor was strong, they could not avoid being penetrated by shells from low angles of incidence at close range.

If most of the German Lynx tanks were barely able to penetrate the enemy, then the 20-ton Snow Wolf was a complete reaper on the battlefield. The 75-mm L43 gun pointed to the fact that as long as the shell hits the target and the angle of incidence is not more than 30 degrees, then the tank will inevitably be destroyed. With a deep roar almost as close to that of field artillery, the French tanks were destroyed one after another, and although the number of snow wolves was only one-eighth of the total number of German tanks, the results they achieved made the French tremble!

The sky was blue, the land was filled with gunsmoke, and the fierce battle lasted until the afternoon, and the French could not hold it first. They had already left the wreckage of nearly 150 tanks on the battlefield, and the loss of armor force reached 20%, but the results achieved were very few, and there were not many broken and abandoned German tanks as far as the eye could see. In desperation, the French commanders reported to their commanders that if they fired at the enemy tank head-on, the shells would be bounced off without any suspense, and only a tungsten core armor-piercing bullet would be effective if they attacked the enemy's flank. And the enemy tank can destroy itself from the front, especially a long-barreled German tank, which is simply a battlefield can opener that specializes in restraining itself!

"The tank units withdrew, and the infantry launched a cover attack." A few kilometers behind the battlefield, the French commander Lambert gave the order almost through gritted teeth. He didn't expect that the front-line tank troops would be defeated so badly, his armored forces would lose 1 regiment in one shot, and if they continued to fight like this, they would be completely lost in less than two days! Now, Langbei can only send infantry to block the gun hole and protect the tank troops first, otherwise, his three mechanized divisions will really become empty shelves without tanks.

In the face of the adjustment of the French army, Hopner also saw the move and made the most targeted response. Each armored regiment turned an iron fist into a thin sword, focusing on the breakthrough and penetration of the French infantry; The infantry in the personnel carriers quickly followed, filling the gap created by the tank charge. By the time the sun had set, the French infantry battalions had been encircled, and the battlefield was in flames, illuminating the grim, tired, desperate, and fearful faces of the French soldiers.

"What? Lambert's troops encountered the main German armored forces and lost more than 4,000 troops in half a day? ”

In a village on France's northern border, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Gammelin, was stunned when he received the news from the front. He read the telegram several times, then took a deep breath and pondered. There is no doubt that the Germans threw their most elite forces in the Belgian direction, otherwise they would never have been able to make Lambert's troops suffer such a big loss, and even lose a lot of tanks. Thinking of this, Gan Molin's heart ached: that was 150 tanks, and with the establishment of the French army, it was completely possible to form 1 armored division!

"This war...... It's not good. Gan Molin muttered, his eyes showing a bit of solemnity. The three mechanized divisions commanded by Lambert, one of the most combat-ready French field units, were still defeated head-on by the Germans, and even though the telegram mentioned that the French had killed and wounded thousands of German infantry, Gamblelin was not optimistic. He found that he still underestimated the strength of the German army, and judging from the battle that took place east of Brussels today, the destruction of the Poles more than half a year ago was not unjust!

"The mistakes of the Poles cannot be repeated." Gan Molin pondered and suddenly made a decision about the future battle. From now on, the Allied forces should dig trenches, lay mines, build multiple defensive lines, squat and hold on, and never take the initiative to fight a war of movement with the Germans until the accumulation of strength is complete. Since your troops are so strong in the offensive battle, I will shrink behind the turtle shell and play static defense with you: even if your tank is against the sky, facing a dense network of minefields and defensive artillery groups, you will not be able to break through the battle line smoothly.

Although this was basically the case in Gambler's war plan more than half a year earlier, it also included some positive actions, such as the rapid advance of Lambert's mechanized corps to the front of the main force to contain the advance of the German vanguard. And now, Ganmalin is planning to advance like Lin Xu and completely build an iron bucket defense line in the direction of Belgium. The sharpness of the German Panzer Division really shocked the old officer, causing his confidence in his troops to fall rapidly in the field, so that the latter could only be reassured by staying behind the position.

In fact, this mentality was not unique to the French Army. While the Maginot Line provided security to the French border, it also wiped out the last vestiges of the French army's enterprising spirit. The French army did not have a single unit that focused on the offensive in field warfare, and they neglected training in this area on weekdays; As soon as the battle is frustrated, they will immediately pick up the defensive dogma they believe in and prepare to dig trenches as shrunken turtles.

"Report, an urgent call from the headquarters of the 9th Army!" A communications officer hurried into the command room and handed out the telegram. Gan Molin, who was still thinking about the Belgian battle situation, glanced at it a few times, and his brows suddenly furrowed. According to the telegram, a German armored unit suddenly burst out of the Ardennes this evening and is now storming the fortress of Sedan. Due to the haste of the incident, the Sedang defenders rushed into the battle before they could assemble, and it was expected that the area of the city on the east bank of the Maas River would be captured by the Germans until tomorrow afternoon.

"How did Clapp do it, he couldn't even clean up a small group of German troops?" In an angry tone, Gan Molin slapped the telegram on the table and rebuked loudly. Against the backdrop of the defeat in the first battle of the Lambert Division on the Northern Front, Gammel was already convinced that the direction of the German army's main attack was in the north; Even if the Germans also deployed some troops in the Ardennes Mountains in the middle road, they would only be auxiliary forces, not to mention that the Ardennes Mountains simply could not accommodate large troops to pass. Even so, the French army, which had been working hard for several days, could not hold Dongsedang, how could Ganmalin not be angry?

"Call back Clapp, tell him to guard the defense line of the Maas River, and not allow a single German soldier to cross the river and go ashore!" With an angry face, Gan Molin said to the messenger in front of him, "The direction of Sedang is just a feint attack by the Germans, and they will only have a small number of men. If Clapp couldn't even hold the Maas River, he wouldn't have to continue his service. ”