As the French tank appeared in the telescope in billowing dust, Snyder found himself likely to reconsider his plan.

He had not previously taken into account the length of the queue of French tanks. The French tank march column was much longer than he had expected, with at least fifteen meters between the front and rear of the tanks, and it seems that the Luftwaffe did teach these French a good lesson yesterday, leaving these proud Gallic roosters with serious after-effects.

But now this formation made the German hunters hiding in the bushes frown, and they now did not know where to start.

One French tank after another drove past Snyder's eyes, and before he could count to eight, the French tank at the top was approaching the front of the German ambush position, while the B1 heavy tanks and cars mentioned in the report had not yet emerged from the other side of the road.

It was no longer possible to attack the middle of the French column as originally planned, otherwise his tank group would definitely be surrounded by French tanks at both ends. The consequences were absolutely catastrophic, and Snyder knew that the side armor of the Type 4 was not strong enough to withstand the bombardment of French 37mm tanks.

Snyder decided to strike early, praying to himself that the French would not react too quickly after a surprise attack on the front team, otherwise his tank company would be locked in a hard-fought battle.

"Pay attention, platoons, listen to my orders."

Snyder whispered into the communicator, "In order, each platoon chooses its own target. ”

Snyder held down the microphone and lowered his head to his gun commander and said, "Let's aim for the ninth, armor-piercing shells." Be sure to hit. ”

"Yes, sir." Gun Commander Hank replied in a whisper, and he first turned his head to the loader and ordered, "Armor-piercing shells." Then he leaned on the gunner's scope and began to aim accurately.

Hank gently stepped on the turret rotation pedal, and amid the muffled sound of the electric motor and the slight metallic friction of the turret seat, the tank turret slowly rotated with the short, somewhat ridiculous 75mm gun as the target moved, and the experienced gun commander had pressed the H35 to the reticle line in the scope.

"Armor-piercing shells ready."

Karl, the loader, pushed a cap-piercing shell into the chamber, and the tank gun automatically closed its latch with a crisp metal crash.

"The crews obey my orders."

Snyder stood on the turret and puffed out his chest, then shouted, "Fire!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the roar of a cannon came from my ears. The fiery red muzzle flame illuminated the dark trees, and the shock wave of the muzzle blew the grass and dust on the ground in front of the tank. The dense bush on the front of the tank was torn open by the powerful blast of shells, and the front armor of the tank was covered with broken branches and leaves.

"Hit!"

The gun commander cheered loudly in the tank, but Snyder didn't have time to celebrate now, he urgently shouted into the communicator: "All attention, get out of here now, and rush out at full speed." Each platoon chooses its own target and slures to shoot. Pay attention to the formation, shoot at short stops, and try not to stop. ”

"Yes, sir!" The firm answers of the four platoon commanders came from the headphones.

Snyder raised his right hand and swung it forward, then shouted into the communicator, "Armored troops!" Advance! ”

After a cacophony of mechanical starts, the dull roar of the Maybach engine echoed over the trees. Snyder's armored company began to assault in a neat horizontal column, and the No. 4 tanks overwhelmed the bushes in front of them with a nonchalant attitude, and then roared towards the French tank group five hundred meters away.

But no one noticed a conspicuous gap in the beautiful squad at the time, and Snyder's company did not appear where they should have been.

"What's going on! Ravik! ”

The poor tank company commander jumped and roared on the captain's pedals, while his tank engine only kept making a sharp start-up sound, and he couldn't hear the low, excited roar for a long time.

"I don't know, sir! Half an hour ago it was fine, but now it's ...... Damn it, get me moving! Ravik was also sweating, he quickly checked the readings of various instruments, toggled every major electrical switch back and forth, and skillfully repeated the starting action over and over again, but the tank engine still did not move.

"Keep up, attack, leave me alone!"

Snyder stood outside the turret and waved his hand vigorously while yelling at the wingman tank commander who was looking at him suspiciously, as the wingman of the company, he had to follow closely to the left and right of the long car, so car 302 did not follow the attack queue but stayed. The commander nodded hurriedly, and with a roar, the second car of the company scurried out of the bushes, leaving only a thick smoke slowly drifting among the trees.

"Damn it, you damn thing!"

Snyder jumped to his feet and cursed his car, the road in the distance was already full of guns and explosions, his company had already engaged the French, but as the company commander, he was still vomiting with his tank in the woods. Snyder was about to go crazy, but the No. 301 flute did not give the commander any face, and the engine did not allow Snyder to hear what he wanted to hear, except for the constant nasty starting sound.

"No matter, I'm going to the front to command! Hank, you and the others stay here, and the car is now under your command! Teach the French a hard lesson with cannons. Snyder completely lost faith in starting 301, and he decided to leave his car to chase his company on foot. It would be dangerous to do so, but he couldn't do anything if he stayed here, the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, he had to be on the front line to direct the battle, and he now regretted a little why he didn't go with tank No. 302 at that time.

"But sir, it's too dangerous." Hank shouted to stop him.

But Snyder didn't answer the gunner, and he began to climb out of the turret with all his might. Just as he stepped out of the turret, with a crisp pop, the engine of the No. 301 roared, and the unprepared tank company commander was startled by the solidity, and almost planted the tank from the turret.

"God, this thing is a goddamn dog mongrel, hahahahaha." Snyder couldn't help but be overjoyed, and he found that only such crude swear words could express his current mood.

"Don't say anything, go full speed. Armor-piercing shells. Snyder jumped back into his seat and ordered his men loudly.

"Yes, sir."

"Armor-piercing shells are ready."

Listening to his men's short and powerful answers and the roar of the engine, feeling the vibration and shaking of the tank as it moves, and smelling the smoke of the propellant in the turret, Snyder felt that he had never been better.

With a sound of branches breaking, 302 burst out of the woods and into the dazzling sunlight. Its gray armor was strewn with all sorts of broken branches and leaves, like a heavily armed ancient Germanic warrior covered in all sorts of small bits and pieces, roaring and lunging towards its enemies.

When Snyder rushed out of the woods to the battlefield, he found that the situation was not as bad as he imagined, and although there was no unified command, his company still performed very well.

These tank commanders are seasoned veterans, and the four platoon commanders are the oldest of the old birds. After discovering that the company commander's car did not keep up with the team, they did not panic in the slightest, and their rich combat experience made them have a tacit understanding in private, and the four tank platoons were divided into four small groups to cooperate with each other to beat one French tank after another into scrap metal.

By this time, more than ten H35s had been driven into a hell of fire and smoke on and off the narrow road, and the ammunition that was constantly detonating was like fireworks from the various exits of the French tanks, making the wreckage look like angry little volcanoes.

The corpses of the French tankmen twisted and scattered around their cars, some of the soldiers clutching their pistols before dying, these modern cuirassiers proved with their blood that they were as fearless warriors as their predecessors, but that this time their opponents were far more powerful than their predecessors.

The first attack of the Snyder Company inflicted heavy losses on the French armorers. Although the H35 is the best French tank at the moment, although it has a very good bulletproof shape and heavy frontal armor, the German tank accurately hit their vital point. Its side armor was only 23 mm thick, and the German 75 mm cap-piercing shells could easily penetrate it from a distance of 1,500 meters, not to mention that the distance at that time was only a short 500 meters.

The French armoured units were caught by the Germans in a defenceless manner, and the cuirassiers, who exposed their soft flanks, lost a full six tanks and two more were seriously wounded in the first salvo of the German tank company.

The sudden attack plunged the French armored forces into confusion for a while, and the surviving tanks hurriedly drove down the roadbed, while the tanks in the rear team sped up to catch up, and the French tanks were huddled together.

What is even more incredible is that no one at the time could tell where the attack came from and what exactly attacked them, which caused some tank commanders to even look up in the sky for traces of German planes. It was only when the German tanks burst out of the woods and approached a distance of 300 meters from them that the French realized who had attacked them.

However, the shortage of radio equipment prevented them from quickly organizing their defenses, and in the confusion no one paid attention to the flags of the command vehicles, and as a result, two more H35s became the record of the German armored corps during this time. When the French tanks came out of the confusion and lined up in defensive formation, all fifteen H35 tanks were left with only a pitiful three at this time. And the German tanks were already close to within a hundred meters, which was already close to the distance of hand-to-hand combat.

Four tank platoons, seventeen tank No. 4s, formed three diamond-shaped shock formations, and quickly advanced towards the three French tanks, while also machine-gun fire on the French tankmen who escaped from the destroyed tanks in time.

Ever since the escape from their tanks, the brave French soldiers have been shooting at the German tanks' conning towers with their self-defense pistols, and although this attack does not take the tanks seriously, it poses a great threat to the commanders standing on the conning towers. In order to protect their own safety, the German tankers had to open fire on their tough French counterparts, and the fearless courage of the French tankers impressed the German tankers present.

The three shock formations spread out at a rapid pace, one of them holding back the fire of the French tanks in the front, while the other two began to detour towards the flanks of the French tanks. At this time, Snyder's tank entered the battlefield.

"Watch to stay in formation! You don't have to take a detour to press it up. Snyder shouted loudly into the communicator.

"Yes, sir. Why did you get here? ”

The four-row question made Snyder's heart ache.

"There were some glitches ahead and have been ruled out."

Snyder replied angrily.

At this time, the follow-up troops of the French tank unit appeared on the road, and several military cars painted in rudimentary camouflage were speeding towards the battlefield, followed by a group of light trucks and an English-made bulldog communication vehicle, who probably heard the explosion in front of them and hurried to the scene. It seemed that the French had not yet understood the situation on the battlefield, and the cars were rushing towards the German tanks, and Snyder couldn't help but smile as he looked at the defenseless targets.

At this time, the last three surviving H35s were desperately driving back in reverse, and they must not turn or turn around and escape, which would expose their vulnerable sides in front of the German tanks. The French tankers worked hard to maintain their frontal armor against the enemy, hoping to rely on their 40 mm thick front armor to withstand the Germans' attacks, and as long as their reinforcements were not destroyed before they arrived, they might still have a chance to survive.

H35 is already moving slowly, and backwards are even more sluggish. While retreating, the French tankers continued to resist powerlessly with their short-barreled 37mm guns and machine guns, which could not pose any threat to the front armor of the No. 4 tank except for the possibility of causing a little damage to the external equipment of the German tank, and the crew of the tank would not even feel that they had been hit if they were far away.

The German tankers were now looking at the battle with a playful eye, and in the end, the three No. 4 tanks ended their last struggle with high-explosive armor-piercing grenades approaching fifty meters from H35. In the violent explosion, Snyder clearly saw that the turret of one of the tanks was lifted high, and then tumbled and smashed to the ground on the side, a huge fireball mixed with black smoke rising into the air, like a fire dragon stretching its wings towards the sky, with a hint of grandeur and beauty in the horror.

The exploding fireball also seemed to startle the French cars that were rushing towards the battlefield, and they slowly stopped, and after a few seconds of staying in place, the French finally saw the German tanks and the burning wreckage that were charging towards them. The car team quickly began to make a chaotic U-turn, and then retreated backwards at a faster pace than it had come.

Snyder, of course, was reluctant to give up these prey, and the success of the early battle and the poor command performance of the French armored forces gave him confidence in the final victory, and he felt that relying on his own company might really be able to stop the advance of the French armored forces and turn the whole battle around.

The German tanks began to pursue the fleeing enemy along that road at maximum speed. The command vehicle convinced them that it was a French command that was struggling to flee before them, and that destroying it, whatever rank it was, would be a great achievement.

But the speed of the No. 4 tank could not be compared with that of the car, especially when the opponent was desperately fleeing for his life, and after less than 300 meters, the French had already climbed over a small dirt slope on the road and disappeared from Snyder's field of vision. Before that, the French threw away everything that would hinder their escape, including the 105mm anti-aircraft gun that Snyder was very worried about, looking at the cannon abandoned on the road, Snyder couldn't help but feel ashamed of those French officers, if they had half the courage of those French tankmen, then it was probably himself who escaped.

It wasn't until after the end of the French campaign that Snyder knew that he was completely wrong at that time, the French officers did not lack courage, but they did not know that anti-aircraft artillery could also be used to fight tanks.

"All stop moving, we can't catch up with them. The French still have six B1 tanks that have not appeared, we have not yet won, pay attention to the caution, change to a defensive formation. ”

Snyder halted his advance, and the company began to regroup, and under the command of each platoon commander, the German tanks quickly formed an arc defensive formation centered on the company.

"Now the platoons report the damage." Snyder said loudly.

"There are no losses in a row."

"There are no losses in the second row"

"There was basically no loss in the third platoon, and the communication antenna of car No. 332 was knocked away, and I ordered him to follow me."

"There was basically no loss in the fourth row, and a pair of load-bearing wheels of car No. 343 were damaged, but it did not affect the movement."

"Good. That means we have a beautiful win ahead of us. When this battle is over, I think you'll be sure to add another medal to your chest. Snyder laughs.

"yes, maybe you'll get a first-class Iron Cross." Zaft, the leader of the platoon, replied with a smile.

"The French are coming!"

As one of the captains shouted, everyone looked towards the small dirt slope. I saw a tall black shadow slowly appear at the top of the slope, and after a slight pause, it began to slowly move towards the German tank group under the dirt slope.

"It's a French B1, you see, we've never played against it. Be careful. Everyone began to retreat, pulling away. ”

Snyder commanded loudly, and the German tank group began to retreat slowly, keeping a distance was a safe means until the other side was real.

When one tall black shadow after another appeared on the top of the dirt slope, Snyder felt a little uneasy in his heart, the B1 tanks in front of him had obviously exceeded six, could it be that the French armored forces had received new reinforcements, or that he had only encountered their forward in front of him.

Little did Snyder know that the battle would really begin at this time, and that he and his tank company would face the toughest test.

The first real armored battle of the campaign will be fought between Snyder's company and France's most elite tank forces.

This was the beginning of the French Army's last struggle, and whether the resistance of Snyder's small tank company was the last straw that broke the backbone of the French Army's huge camel, no one including Snyder himself could say afterwards.

There was another thing Snyder didn't know, but even if he was told at the time, he probably wouldn't believe it, and at the same time as he was facing the main French armoured force three times his size, a support unit with the highest level in the history of the German Army was speeding towards him.

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