At 7:40 a.m. on 22 May, in the town of Parse, the headquarters of the 2nd North African Division, Charles de Gaulle and Brigadier General André, commander of the 2nd North African Division, listened to the reports brought by his subordinates and kept looking at their watches.

At 7:40, the 322 artillery regiment of the 4th Panzer Division 24 75-mm howitzers were ready

At 7:45, 12 155-mm howitzers of the Heavy Artillery Regiment of the 2nd North African Division were ready.

At 7:50 a.m., the 2nd, 24th and 46th Battle Tank Battalions of the 4th Panzer Division were all in place, and 31 B1 tanks and 82 R35 tanks were ready to go.

Behind the tank cluster, the infantry of the 4th Motorized Chasseur Battalion of the 4th Panzer Division and two battalions of infantry supplied by the 2nd North African Division were also ready. As soon as they received the order to attack, they would immediately follow the tank units in front of them to crush the German troops in the bridgehead on the east bank of the Du River.

Confirming that the counteroffensive forces were all in place and ready, de Gaulle secretly held his breath, thinking that this battle was a battle related to the life and death of the Fourth Panzer Division and even France, and he must do his best to fight it well, and must not let the future of the Fourth Panzer Division and France be ruined in the hands of those old-fashioned antiques.

As soon as night fell last night, de Gaulle received an order that shocked him speechless, and the commander of the Third Army Group, General Besson, actually ordered him to disperse the four battle tank battalions of the Fourth Panzer Division and reinforce them to the nearby Second North African Division and other four infantry divisions to enhance the combat effectiveness of the infantry.

De Gaulle was both angry and justified by General Besson's stupid and almost ignorant order.

Almost all officers in the French Army held the outdated idea that infantry was supreme and tanks should be subordinate to infantry, and General Besson was certainly no exception. Under the influence of this old thinking, General Besson was able to give such an unbelievable order for granted, which was absolutely taken for granted by de Gaulle.

De Gaulle, of course, would not have accepted such a seemingly natural order, but in fact an idiot.

De Gaulle used all his resources to fight a telegraph battle with General Besson in the middle of the night by radio, and with the assistance of Brigadier General Andrew, the commander of the 2nd North African Division, he succeeded in convincing General Besson and preserving the integrity of the 4th Panzer Division.

Brigadier General Andrei's idea was simple. The 4th Panzer Division fought in its own territory, and the more tanks it had, of course, the better, so why should it be distributed to other infantry divisions? The Germans now have two armored divisions in their own territory with bridgeheads. After the 4th Panzer Division was dismantled, what did it do to resist the German tanks rushing out of the bridgehead?

After having kept the 4th Panzer Division. Brigadier General André and de Gaulle immediately planned a counterattack plan for the next day overnight, preparing to prove to General Besson that the tanks in the Panzer Division could only be of maximum use if they were concentrated, otherwise General Besson would give the order to disband again.

The new plan of counterattack was drawn up overnight and carried out with great efficiency, and de Gaulle watched the hands on his watch tick and beat happily towards eight o'clock, and prayed in his heart that the infantry of the 2nd North African Division would not be as vulnerable as the British 3rd Infantry Division, otherwise his troops would be betrayed again. Experience a failure without defeat again.

If it weren't for the incompetence of Montgomery and the Third Infantry Division, who were beaten by the German counteroffensive and exposed his right flank to the Germans, his counterattack in the Reims area would have been completed long ago, cutting off the Germans' supply lines and turning the whole tide of the war in one fell swoop, and he would have been sent here as a firefighter.

The hands on the watch finally pointed to eight o'clock in de Gaulle's thoughts, and at the order of Brigadier General Andrei beside him, 12 155-mm howitzers and 24 75-mm howitzers opened fire together. It announced the beginning of the French counteroffensive.

Five kilometres southwest of the town of Champudeville, five kilometres southwest of Zhevri, after a night of fighting, the bridgehead of the 5th Panzer Division on the other side of the Dow River had been expanded to 10 kilometres east-west and 5 kilometres north-south.

The village of Saint-Barrin is located five kilometers southeast of Champurdeville. It is a small village with only seventy or eighty houses.

At this time, about 500 meters northwest of the village of St. Baran, the commander of the 15th Panzer Regiment of the 5th Panzer Division, Colonel Streicher looked in amazement at the village of St. Baran, which was caught in flames, and the German infantry in the village who were scattered and evaded.

At about six o'clock yesterday afternoon, the 15th Panzer Regiment led by Streicher had just supported a battalion of infantry to take the village of St. Baran and the town of Lachen to the northeast of him.

After spending the night in the town of Lachen, Streicher got up early to gather his troops and march to the south-west city of Shosan, preparing to join the infantry of the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade in capturing Shosan, passing through the village of Saint-Baran.

After all, Streicher was on the battlefield, and after a little panic, he immediately regained his composure, and immediately ordered the communications platoon to report to his superiors. A reconnaissance platoon of the regiment was sent to reconnoiter the movement and size of the enemy forces near the village of Saint-Baran.

Streicher judged with great experience from the intensity of French artillery fire that the French artillery bombardment was not a harassment, but a real artillery preparation before the attack.

The four No. 1 tanks of the reconnaissance platoon avoided the French artillery fire coverage. They went around to the west of the village of Saint-Baran and soon received a telegram. More than thirty French tanks were approaching the village of Saint-Barain, with at least three companies of infantry behind them.

As soon as Streicher had the news passed on to the divisional headquarters, the reconnaissance platoon sent him a new piece of information that shocked him that the French tank attacking the village of Saint-Baran was a B1 tank.

Hearing the report of the reconnaissance platoon, Streicher immediately remembered the information forwarded from the military headquarters about the equipment of the Anglo-French forces, in which the commanders of the various tank units were strictly ordered to be careful about the British Matilda 2 tank and the French B1 tank, compared with these two tanks, all the tanks in the German army's active equipment were no match for them in armor and firepower.

After a little thought, Streicher immediately ordered the tanks of the second battalion to retreat to the northeast first, avoiding the route of the French tanks, and leading the tanks of the first battalion to meet the infantry retreat in the village of Saint-Baran.

The German infantry in the village of Saint-Baraam, with only two companies of discontented formations, also found themselves in danger.

Having escaped the chaos caused by the shelling, the infantry took refuge in foxholes and trenches, dodging the French shelling while sorting out their weapons. Prepare to take on the French army.

After about ten minutes, the explosions gradually stopped, and the infantry of the 5th Panzer Division emerged from their hiding places. Look at the French army charging south of the village.

It's a B1 tank! Seeing the tall and mighty tanks rushing to the front of the French ranks, the German infantry also recognized their identities.

I remembered all kinds of descriptions about the B1 tank issued by the division headquarters. The hearts of the German infantry suddenly became nervous, without 88mm anti-aircraft guns, the weather was bad, and the Stuka bombers could not be dispatched, with these small arms in their hands, how to deal with these steel monsters?

More than 30 rounds of 105-mm shells and 150-mm shells fell into the charging French ranks with a gust of wind. The surviving French troops also scrambled to lie on the ground to avoid German shelling, and the momentum of the French offensive was briefly halted.

The 2nd Tank Battalion of the 15th Panzer Regiment took the opportunity to rush into the village of St. Barran, and Streicher shouted with his turret half out of his turret: "Retreat, retreat." ”

Seeing Streicher personally coming to meet the retreat, the German infantry did not hesitate, they fired a series of smoke bombs with mortars to block the view of the advancing French troops, and then jumped out of the trenches and foxholes and ran towards the tanks, the wounded were also supported or carried on stretchers to the tanks, and then fled northeast with Streicher's tank troops.

When the French B1 tank rushed headlong through the thick smoke into the village of Saint-Barran. The village has long been empty

After learning that the village of Saint-Baran had been recaptured and that the Germans had fled to the northeast, de Gaulle and André briefly discussed. The 46th Combat Tank Battalion and the 4th Chasseur Battalion were immediately ordered to continue to pursue the German deserters in the northeast direction, and to cooperate with the 2nd and 24th Battle Tank Battalions attacking the bridgehead from the northeast to flank the front and rear to eliminate the German troops northeast of the bridgehead.

Streicher, who had retreated to the town of Lachen one step earlier, had just settled the wounded he had brought back when he received a report that the French army in the direction of the village of Saint-Baran was approaching the town of Lachen.

With a few sneers, Streicher jumped into his command vehicle, a Type 4D tank, and then gave the order for the 15th Panzer Regiment to assemble north of the town of Lachen, waiting for his orders.

To the southwest of Lachen, the German infantry, who had just retreated from the village of Saint-Baran to Lachen, hastily constructed a defensive line using the terrain and houses of Lachen, and although they knew that the enemy they were about to face was the French B1 tanks, they were not afraid. Because they had eight more 88-mm anti-aircraft guns on their positions.

Major General Walsborn, commander of the 5th Panzer Division, mistakenly believed that the French counteroffensive would launch a main attack from the northeast of the landing ground, so he attached eight 88-mm anti-aircraft guns from the anti-aircraft artillery battalion to the town of Lahen in the northeast. Prepare for a possible B1 tank.

Unbeknownst to them, the main direction of the French attack was placed in the village of Saint-Baraland, southeast of the landing site, and the 88-mm anti-aircraft guns were useless.

Now the attacking forces of the French army in the direction of the village of Saint-Barain were successfully attracted in the direction of the town of Lachen. The gunners of the eighty-eight-mm anti-aircraft guns moved the anti-aircraft guns to the southwest of the town of Lachen, and pointed their guns at the place where the French tanks might appear, excitedly waiting for their prey to come to the door.

Streicher was half out of his turret, and from time to time he looked at the hot battlefield to the north, where the 31st Panzer Regiment and the infantry were fighting the French in full swing.

Why hadn't the French, who had occupied the village of Saint-Baran, yet arrived? Could it be that the intelligence of the reconnaissance unit is wrong? Streicher thought anxiously.

Five minutes later, Streicher still did not wait for the French troops, but for the order from the division headquarters for him to lead the attack.

Friendly armoured units are engaged with the French, so let's go to our aid.

Which friendly unit, could it be the 7th Panzer Division? Their equipment, on par with their own, will they be able to deal with the B1 tanks of the French in the field? Streicher had a secret guess in his mind.

When Stleicher led his men over an obstructive dirt slope and saw the friendly forces fighting the French, he was shocked.

The battle had come to an end, and there were more than 30 French B1 tanks scattered on the battlefield in the distance, of which more than 20 were either emitting black smoke and flames, or standing still, the hatches were wide open, and the tankers inside had already fled, and only four or five B1 tanks were still firing their guns for the last resistance.

Suddenly a voice came over the radio, "Colonel Trycher, take your men to intercept the French infantry, don't let them escape, the first battalion of the 25th Tank Regiment of the 7th Panzer Division will cooperate with your actions and don't accidentally injure friendly troops." ”

On the way to the battlefield, Stleicher had already made contact with the mysterious friendly unit via radio and learned the identity of the other party.

"None of them can run, Colonel Rosen." Streicher replied over the radio.

Chen Dao put down the radio microphone and leaned on the front of the Bandit One to look in the direction of Streicher.

After carefully observing Streitcher's troops in the telescope, Chen Dao frowned and said to Captain Lorenz beside him: "Have you seen that the tanks of the Fifth Armored Division are actually the main force of No. 1 and No. 2, and the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks add up to less than ten, and the Type 38T does not even have one, and their equipment is really not ordinarily backward." ”

"It seems that the efficiency of the Army Ordnance Bureau is not generally low, and I think that after the French campaign, the office building of the Army Ordnance Bureau will definitely be bulldozed by the commanders of the armored units with tanks, especially after they have seen our equipment."

"That's a must." Chen Dao hugged his arms and sneered.

While chatting with Captain Lorenz, Chen Dao saw that the last few stubborn B1 tanks were also destroyed, leaving only the infantry units following behind to be chased by German tanks in the wilderness.

After learning that the bridgehead of the Fifth Armored Division was the direction of the French counterattack, Chen Dao was taken aback. In his original plan, the tank company of the Ghost Battle Group cooperated with the 7th Panzer Division to repel the French counterattack, and immediately moved to the bridgehead of the 5th Panzer Division to cooperate with the troops of the 5th Panzer Division to break through. Because there were no irrigation canals near the landing ground of the 5th Panzer Division, the tank units could gallop freely.

As a result, the B1 tank unit of the French actually made a noise to attack the south from the north, and with a false shot near the landing ground of the 7th Panzer Division, it moved to the landing ground of the 5th Panzer Division in the south overnight to launch an attack.

Admiral Hote then ordered Chen Dao to lead his troops to set out, leave the landing ground of the 7th Panzer Division, and go south along the west bank of the Du River to enter the bridgehead of the 5th Panzer Division.

After Chen Dao led the ghost battle group into the bridgehead, he happened to encounter the French troops who were marching towards the town of Lachen. Chen Dao did not hesitate to order the attack, and the French troops marching towards Lachen Town did not expect the German tank unit to suddenly appear on their left flank, and eight tanks were destroyed in the first salvo of the ghost battle group, and by the time the French tanks on the march turned around in a panic, they had already lost more than half of their tanks in the shelling of the No. 4G tank.

The surviving dozen or so B1 tanks relied on heavy armor and the No. 4G tank of the Ghost Battle Group, and after less than twenty minutes of tank fighting, they all died tragically under the powerful KWK40 tank guns.

After dealing with the vulnerable French infantry, Streicher pressed several French officers to find Chen Dao.

After a few words of greeting, the two began to interrogate the prisoners, and after listening to the answer of a French major led by the prisoners, Chen Dao said with a strange face: "Your division commander turned out to be Charles. De gaulle! Where is he now? ”

The French major originally wanted to be silent, but when he saw Chen Dao take out the box cannon pinned to his waist, he immediately changed his mind.

"He's in the town of Palse."

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ps: My back and shoulders have been hurting badly during this time, and the quality and quantity of updates have been affected, and I don't want to be like this when it was just put on the shelves, but it really hurts and there is no way, so I have to minimize the time spent on the computer, please forgive me. (To be continued)

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