Chapter 80: The 502nd Tank Battalion Strikes

The protagonists of the attack on the Loreto Heights are the commando soldiers of the former 1st Armored Division, who choose to use the terrain quickly interspersed in a different way than the field charge, and use complex craters and terrain to form a kind of oppressive force on the enemy's defensive line. Many machine-gun firing points in the U.S. defense line began to mute due to barrel overheating and mechanical failure, which was tantamount to a mental blow to the U.S. military who had just entered the role. The US military has never experienced this kind of fighting, and the British and French armies, which have fought positional warfare on the Western Front for four years, are also unable to adapt to it.

The U.S. troops, reinforced by artillery fire, also did not have much easier fighting. The German commandos scattered in favorable terrain and shelter could effectively evade the artillery attacks of the Allied countries, and at the same time still find opportunities to get close to the American and British military command structures, ammunition depots and supply bases, greatly cooperating with the main forces, and at the same time providing parameters to guide the German artillery to carry out more accurate and effective strikes.

Although the American army that had just entered the war had good firepower, it lacked enough experience, and was forced by the defenders and Ferdinand? Under the pressure of Marshal Foch, the American artillery positions had to continue firing, but the two sides of the battle were staggered, so that they did not have enough ability to destroy the German artillery array and infantry attack, and they did not even have time to transfer their positions, which allowed the German artillery units to seize the golden opportunity, and after a while, the American artillery positions turned into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye. Without the strong artillery support of the American army, the forward positions of the American and British armies were all exposed to the field of vision of the German artillery, and with the continuous artillery fire, the 501st Tank Battalion, which was waiting for the fighters, launched a general attack with the infantry of the A Army under the leadership of Guderian.

Without the obstruction of artillery, the 501st Tank Battalion only had to deal with large and small craters on the battlefield, and soon pounced in front of the American troops. The German soldiers were entangled with the American troops under the cover of tanks, and a thrilling hand-to-hand combat left the American troops at a loss, and the entire defense line gradually collapsed, and many American troops raised their hands to surrender. Ferdinand? Foch's "firewood tactics" began to appear with firewood but no stove.

Not long after the Germans had eliminated the artillery positions of the American army, the American army's telegram for help no longer came from the front line, but was jointly signed by the presidents of the United States and Britain. However, Foch had his own judgment of the battle, and although he was under great pressure, he did not rush to mobilize the remaining reserves and the French army in the south, but kept his eyes on the front from Lymus to Verdun, and there could be absolutely no problems in these two places. At this time, he was not sure whether the Germans had set up a situation here, although Hoffmann launched several tentative attacks and the military strength appeared very weak, but if there was a vacuum in these two forces, the war would soon be a foregone conclusion, which was unthinkable.

Ferdinand? Foch couldn't understand why the heavily defended north was so difficult to defend, with millions of troops, deep ditches and high fortifications, and the new artillery of the American army, even if the American and British troops were made of mud, it was enough for the German army to rub and make peace for a while, and it could not withstand the attack of a group army. However, things are still not so simple, where did the German army in the north get its troops? This annoyed him greatly. For the overall layout of the battlefield, after some recalculation, Ferdinand? Foch seemed to have come to his senses that his bold conjecture should still be logical, and after communicating with the generals, he sent a telegram to the top brass of the three countries, conveying his ideas to President Poincaré verbaly, and hoping to gain the approval of Britain and the United States. Britain and the United States showed little interest in Foch's speculation, and diplomatic notes even threatened the French government with all the consequences if the line of defense collapsed. However, Poincaré very much agrees with Foch's speculation, believing that he has a unique vision. With the support of his boss, Foch planned to risk breaking through the German defenses in the south, so as to test the strength of the German army in the south, and at the same time, threaten the German territory and force the Germans to stop attacking the northern defenses of the British and American armies.

At 10:30 a.m. on the 22nd, I picked up the Supreme Command Ferdinand? Under the orders of Marshal Foch, the French troops stationed in the Verdun area launched an all-out attack on the German positions in the south, in addition to the remaining troops. Since the tentative offensive of the German army, it has been silent, which made Marshal Foch soberly realize that the German attacking force did not return to its original position, but detoured back to the United States and Britain, and strengthened the overall offensive of the German army in the north.

At this time, President Adrian quietly returned to the capital, Berlin.

High-intensity offensive fighting on the Allied Southern Front continued until 26 November. Because Marshal Foch's aim was to break through the German defenses, penetrate deep into the interior of Germany, and force the Germans to retreat. However, the British and American armies in the north have been forcibly torn open a gap in the defensive line by the Germans, and if the French army cannot open a breakthrough in the southern front and threaten the German army in the north and force the German army to retreat, then Marshal Foch and the France behind him can imagine what consequences they need to bear. Foch was anxious to find a breakthrough on the southern front, and the soldiers could only do it with flesh and blood, and the entire French army that attacked day and night from Limus to Verdun fell one by one in front of the German defense, so that the entire battlefield was covered with a thick layer of corpses. The German machine gunners had to take the opportunity to climb out of the trench at night and push the bodies in line of sight away from the clearing obstacles.

The German Army Group D only had 56 divisions stationed in the line of defense from Riemus to Verdun, and the rest of the troops went north, once the whole line was fired, it would certainly not be able to return reinforcements, Adrian recognized this problem before returning to Berlin, he personally visited the garrison of the D Army to see all the officers and men, and repeatedly stressed that whether the D Army could persist in withstanding the strong attack of the French army was directly related to the survival of the whole of Germany, and he needed all the officers and men to defend the fate of Germany to the death. Encouraged by this guiding ideology, the officers and men of the whole army have greatly increased their confidence, and they have determined to live and die together with the positions, and have done many technical things in the forward positions.

When the battle began, the Germans were in deep ditches and high fortifications, and the commander took advantage of the method that the two armies would inevitably frustrate their spirits, first allowing the French to approach boldly, and then letting the soldiers use the power of the MP16M submachine guns and machine guns in their hands.

The French army blew the horn of the charge, and the whole line shouted and pressed against the German position, but they did not meet any resistance, which made the French army begin to admire Ferdinand? Marshal Foch accurately guessed that the German army had indeed all headed to the north, and this was just a fictitious trick. After a rush, the French found that the Germans were not carrying out artillery strikes at all, and the relaxed French began to stop rushing and even swaggered through the open ground between the positions of the two armies.

The Germans were hidden in a trench more than a man deep, lying on the ground, listening to the footsteps of the French attacking troops to determine the enemy's distance.

The footsteps were getting closer, and the French soldiers were carrying guns and some even lit cigarettes, seeing the attack as a relaxing walk.

The French army is getting closer and closer, just more than 100 meters away from the front trench of the German army, the German army suddenly stood up from the trench as if it was a trick, the MP16M submachine gun was like a bean, and fired fiercely together, the dense firepower made the French army unable to dodge, and the French army in the front was unguarded, and the troops behind could not return fire because of the front army's blocking, resulting in a decisive victory of the charge turned into a fiasco.

Having learned the lessons of the first time, the French began to be cautious, using detours and sneak attacks, but they failed to reach the German forward positions.

Ferdinand? Field Marshal Foch was so angry that he put all the reserve troops stationed in Reims on his orders and broke through the German lines within a time limit.

The Germans who were stubbornly holding on to the rest lacked artillery support, so the defense was more difficult than usual, both the attacking troops and the defenders fought hard, and the French army rushed forward at all costs by virtue of the superiority of troops, and the nearest distance reached the standard of bombing, but the Germans resisted stubbornly and did not give up an inch of land, and both sides paid great casualties in front of the battle. The next day, in the morning, the French offensive continued unabated, and the Germans were overwhelmed, and in order to preserve their strength, the commander immediately ordered an orderly retreat. In order to facilitate the movement of troops, the German trenches were technically treated, and the trenches were interconnected, but if you were not familiar with the retreat path, you could lose your life.

In the afternoon, the French army, which had successfully occupied the German line, began to rest in the same area as the German army, everyone was exhausted, the offensive began to slow down, and the German army was in urgent need of reorganization.

Ferdinand? Field Marshal Foch's vision of a quick breakthrough of the German lines came to naught.

In the early morning of 24 November, the French continued their fierce assault on the Germans with the strength of an army group, trying to take down the enemy in front of them, and then drove straight into the interior of Germany. The German Army Group D suffered heavy losses for several days, and could no longer organize a successful counterattack, so it had to fight and retreat, using grenades and submachine guns to continue to resist the enemy. In fact, on the German-French border, Adrian personally arranged a fresh army, but it has been lurking, and their existence has the utmost secrecy, so even if he witnesses the continuous death of front-line officers and soldiers, without Adrian's orders, he can only stand by and watch, and no one can act rashly.

The Germans and France had been fighting the Verdun front for several days, but the French advance had been stubbornly resisted by the remnants of the German army, and the progress was slow. On the 26th, the French army carried out a central assault, outflanked on both flanks, and the machine rifle cooperated with the method of advancing and marching step by step, gradually gaining the initiative on the battlefield, and the remnants of the German Army Group D were forced to shrink and retreat deep into the territory. At this time, Army Group D had about 24 divisions left, and Deputy Commander Ulysses, following Adrian's secret instructions when he left, ambushed the remnants on the left side of the hill behind the formation, one on the right, and one on the front to lure the enemy.

In the evening, the French had become more and more superior, and began to organize an offensive with great fanfare, and their flanks had reached the rear of the German flank, and the German army put up desperate resistance, and the rest of the troops all broke and fled. At this time, the French army became more and more courageous, and the Germans saw that they could not resist it, so they hurriedly abandoned their positions and retreated to the north. The French briefly rendezvoused at the German positions, cheered and shouted, and then followed the remnants of the German army in non-stop pursuit.

The task of breaking through the German defense line was finally completed, and the French army launched a pursuit battle overnight, and on a narrow road in a hilly area, the French army scrambled to be the first to drive straight into a long way, despite fatigue. Suddenly, gunfire erupted on both sides of the high ground, and the French flanks were fiercely attacked by the Germans, causing great chaos and heavy casualties. The two armies once again engaged in positional warfare on the German border, and the French army had no danger to rely on, and many charges were stubbornly repelled by the Germans, and the two sides began to stalemate. In the middle of the night, the French army did not dare to go out to fight at night when they could not see their fingers, nor did they dare to bury the pot to cook, so they had to retreat quietly.

In the early morning of the 27th, the French troops around Verdun were exhausted by the continuous attack for several days, and the German troops on the opposite side suffered heavy casualties. Foch's guess was not wrong, the German defense here was the weakest on the entire Western Front, but he did not think about the existence of Adrian, and the German Army D did not cowardly in the face of an enemy several times larger, which could be regarded as a defeat and glory. In contrast, the French suffered much greater casualties, and after several major assaults, the French were able to break through the German forward positions with great difficulty at a heavy cost of casualties. And Army Group D almost fought to the bottom of the family.

Just when the French were about to continue the offensive, Adrian sent an urgent telegram from Dresden to the front command. Hoffman then ordered the 502nd Tank Battalion and the 1st Panzer Division, which were waiting for their time, to attack the French. The remnants of the German army on the entire southern front also launched a counteroffensive at the same time, at this time, the French army was preparing to advance in a big way, but the German army suddenly appeared a mechanized army, and the unprepared French army knew that it could not resist, and the troops were suddenly divided and desperately fled.

Far away in Dresden, Adrian was sitting in his office anxiously waiting for Max? According to Hoffman's battle report, whether Germany can take advantage of the situation to get out of the mud of World War I depends on whether Rommel's armored forces can break through the French defense line and advance in depth to disrupt the deployment and supply lines of the French army, forcing the French army to stop and buy precious time for Army Group A!