"Sir, our third line of defense is so weak that it is on the verge of being breached!"

After 15 consecutive days of offensive by the British and French armies, considerable progress was made. In the days that followed, the British and French armies, deprived of air support, relied on their strong forces to advance despite casualties.

Fifteen days of fighting had aged much from Falkenhein, and the battle had not gone as he had expected.

In the ensuing attack, Xia Fei and Douglas . Haig changed his previous aggressive offensive methods, which mainly focused on armored spearheads and aerial assaults. Pick up the ones that were once used, the artillery opened the way, and the infantry followed under the cover of non-stop artillery fire.

At this moment, tanks and armored vehicles are no longer the vanguard of the offensive, they have become active fortresses and bunkers on the battlefield.

The war between the two armies, which had already tended to be modernized, now seems to have been added to the original point. However, the close-quarters combat between soldiers has become more brutal due to the change of tactics.

As soon as the bombardment of British and French artillery groups stopped, the swarming Allied infantry, following the tanks and armored vehicles, poured into the German positions. Despite heavy casualties, pressure continued on German positions.

The Air Force, especially those "Mosquito attack aircraft" that can accurately and effectively attack ground targets, is now firmly under the control of Falkenhain and does not allow them to participate in more battles.

What made the Red Barons almost mad was that their "hunting squads" were also assigned some "non-mainstream" missions such as patrols. Even if he vaguely knew the purpose of the commander's action, he couldn't help but curse a few words, and let out that evil fire that was difficult to vent even on a beautiful woman.

"Hmph, if I had known that this would happen, or I shouldn't have recommended that guy to His Highness, in that case......"

Who is going to scold the rest of the words, I guess everyone knows, but he just can't export it, because it is an absolute top military secret. In this state, he spent the most unhappy 15 days of his flight team.

When the forward army line was in dire straits, only the Albatross DII-A and Gotha G.III. twin-engine medium bombers were allowed to attack. They suffered heavy losses from the 12.7 mm machine guns of the almost ubiquitous armored vehicles of the British and French forces, as well as the anti-aircraft guns that Xia Fei transferred to the front line.

In particular, other French aircraft manufacturers that were once excluded from the excellent performance of MPM military-industrial group fighters and almost gasped for breath got this sudden opportunity to supply.

The "SE.5" and "Camel F.1" two British planes, and the French "Spard S.VII." and "Newburgh 17.Baby" and other types of fighters were hurriedly put on the battlefield again.

Although the performance of these combat aircraft cannot be compared with the performance of the "Tomcat" heavy air superiority fighter "Benlei" attack aircraft, they can still play a countervailing role against the "Albatross DII-A" and "Gota" G.III.

As a result, German air power was relatively ineffective in supporting ground forces. In the Red Baron Richthofen's mind, it was all because he and his hunting party did not participate.

For the time being we can put this grumpy fellow aside and talk about what makes Falkenhein old.

Xia Fei, and Douglas. Haig's change of offensive tactics was something he didn't expect. He never imagined that they would abandon armored vehicles and attack mainly with infantry.

Although the new planes supplemented by the British and French air teams were quite weak in their ability to support the ground, they finally held up a small piece of the sky for the ground forces of the British and French forces.

Under these favorable conditions, the breach in the second line of defense was greatly expanded by the frenzied attacks of the British and French soldiers. More French troops and equipment poured in from the breach, and a considerable amount of artillery in particular was moved further forward.

"Now, after ten days of heavy attack, the British and French forces have undergone a short three-day repair. The forward assault force has been replenished with a large number of troops and ammunition, and it can be judged that their general attack is just around the corner! ”

Falkenhein frowned, he knew that the soldiers on the front line had exhausted all their strength. If it continues to hold on, it will undoubtedly be quite a difficult thing.

And in his hands, there is now a complete army of three cavalry divisions and two infantry divisions. As for the other follow-up forces, a counteroffensive will also be launched on all fronts after the offensive of the rapid forces led by Guderian's armored brigade.

Therefore he cannot, at least not now, bring in strong reinforcements to the front. Because then there would be the loss of the heavily armed group that had destroyed the British and French forces, which had been greatly weakened. If that happens, then the sacrifices made by the army in the days ahead will be in vain.

"But we can't send them more reinforcements, so we ordered the reserve division to send small reinforcements to replenish the losses on the front, telling them that the 15-day deadline was coming up and that reinforcements from home were about to arrive. So......! ”

Falcon Hain, who had been hunched over the map, slowly straightened up, his eyes shining with determination, and he accentuated his tone.

“…… So, they had to hold out for 15 days and tell the front-line commander that there was a way to hold on! ”

In the days when the Germans at the front were constantly receiving small reinforcements, the third line of defense in the direction of the Somme and the British and French forces repeatedly rushed and killed. Often, the commanders of the front line survived the attacks of the British and French forces again and again in such comfort as he comforted.

Falkenhein knew that the commander at the forefront of the Second Army was about to run out of oil. Now, the three armies used for the offensive by the Allied forces have suffered more than half of the casualties in the 15 consecutive days of frantic attacks.

Then the day that is about to start is not far away, and victory is probably not far away.

"Alas, if we had more time, I would train them more rigorously!"

Rommel's blue-gray eyes flashed with displeasure as he walked in from outside the headquarters.

In the war room of the newly formed armored assault brigade of the German army, one is Guderian, who spends his days immersed in the problem of the combined combat coordination of various arms. It seems that for this kind of troops, he pays more attention to the coordination between different units.

The other is Manstein, who barely leaves the army all day long, staring at the map every day to think of ideas.

As for the training of armored assault brigades, it was completely thrown to Erwin . Rommel. The consequence of this is that there are a few uneducated soldiers who actually think that this guy is the supreme commander of their brigade - Guderian.

"What's the matter, my captain, have these guys made some low-level mistake again?"

"Sir, what do you expect these guys who were drivers and gunners to do more than ten days ago? I said, if we don't think of something when we attack, I'm afraid we won't be able to win the attack so easily! ”

Erwin. Rommel resigned himself and approached Guderian on the other. He hoped that the idea he had just thought of could be used to put Guderian in the command post in future operations, and then he himself would really become the most direct commander of this armored assault brigade.

"Yes, I have two ideas. As far as I know, our offensive will be launched at night, so I think we may need some searchlights! Some trucks, airplane engines, and poison gas are needed! ”

Hearing Rommel's words, Manstein's eyes flashed with a thoughtful look. Guderian, a general-type commander who focused more on strategy than on tactics, exclaimed.

"Oh my God, Captain Rommel, have you come up with any more brilliant ideas?"

Rommel smiled, a fox-like sly smile on his face.

"Before I said it, I had only one condition. I hope that on the day of the attack, you will be able to control the whole army in the command post, and I will be responsible for the attack in front, what do you think of this deal, sir? ”

Guderian shrugged, he knew what Rommel meant. And he had planned to do so, otherwise why would Rommel be given full control when the pre-war training of this new unit began.

"Well, if you need that, my captain!"

"Of course I need such an opportunity, but I need your help even more, sir. You know, our soldiers are gunners or transporters. Although there are no major problems with driving and shooting, their slow reaction speed is really worrying. Then we need to think of ways to get the British and French soldiers to give them more time to shoot! So, I had two ideas......"

As he spoke, Rommel pulled out two pieces of paper, and it seemed that he had come up with some new ideas on the wheeled armored vehicles in which the infantry was seated. Seeing his solemn appearance, Manstein also came to them curiously.

(The first release of this book) does not laugh at group A: 35761481; Email: [email protected]

"Look, this is a wheeled combat vehicle used by our infantry, and I want to put some propellers driven by aircraft engines on these warring countries!"

"What's the use of this thing......

Guderian was not an expert in sappers, and he didn't have the bad ideas of Rommel, the future "Desert Fox".

"We have used chemical shells to cover our attacks before, and because they have to be used in advance, the time for us to cover is quite short and there are many constraints. And we don't have to worry about that now, with such things in front, the powerful winds they generate will deliver chemical gases to the enemy when we need them. Moreover, our soldiers go behind it and will be affected very little. As for the searchlight, the usage is like this! ”

As he spoke, Rommel had a malicious smile on his face.

"When we attack, searchlights shine behind us, and their bright light will keep the Entente soldiers blind and their gunners unable to see the target! Even if our chemicals can't affect them, they can't shoot at the lights! ”

Rommel looked at Guderian and Manstein's expressions proudly, he didn't know that in addition to being surprised, the two had a common idea.

"This guy is a bad boy, and a smart bad boy!"