After the eighth British train from Southampton came to a standstill, the British soldiers armed on the train did not immediately assemble and march towards the battlefield after getting off the train, but deployed tight guard posts around it, and at the same time used steel or thick wooden planks to build a simple unloading ladder between the flat car of the train and the ground.

On the flatbed wagons, the soldiers were busy removing the canvases from the special cargo, and the steel chariots covered with rivets and not exactly the same style gradually appeared in front of people's eyes. The drivers quickly got into their own chariots, and they quickly set the iron guys into action, the familiar roar of the engine and the green smoke from the exhaust vents, this time from the British-made chariot.

Looking west from the location of this train, the figure of the Fording River Bridge is clearly visible.

"Forward, forward, steady! Good! ”

A British soldier in a yellow khaki uniform waved his hands as he directed the armored car as it slowly rolled off the train. From the outside, the armored car, named M10, is nothing more than an armor plate riveted on the chassis of a civilian car, except for the roof of the car equipped with a Vickers water-cooled machine gun, rotating, fully enclosed cylindrical machine gun turret, its size, silhouette is not much different from ordinary civilian sedans, square and bulky front engine, 4 wheels and only 2 are drive wheels. The engine and cab were tightly armoured, only two narrow square viewing holes were left on the front of the cab, and there were 1-2 small shooting holes on each side, the doors were located on both sides of the cab, and there were two spare tires next to the doors.

Like the German armoured vehicles of the "Broadsword" and "Trojan" types, the British army's M-series armoured cars also used solid rubber tires. The British army's armored cars with civilian cars as their territory are characterized by flexibility and mobility, including the M10 produced in 1910 with a road speed of 60 kilometers per hour, and the oldest M07 in service also has a speed of 45 kilometers per hour, the disadvantage of these armored vehicles is that the firepower and protection are weak, they usually have only 3 to 4 members and a heavy machine gun, and the thickness of their armor is generally only 4-5 mm, and the crew members can also carry a small number of weapons such as light machine guns, anti-tank rifles, ordinary rifles and pistols.

"Move, move, keep direction and speed!"

The soldier who was guiding the ugly guy in front of him didn't know what words to use to describe it, and although it had a riveted armored body and a fuel engine like ordinary armored cars, it had a much stranger appearance. Its body is huge, 1.9 meters high, 3.1 meters wide, and 6.7 meters long, and from top to bottom is a rotating turret equipped with a 40 mm gun, the turret is not large, and it seems that it can only accommodate one person; Most notably, it was its steel tracks, a technique not previously used in any British combat vehicle. (The first British tank in history did not yet adopt the famous diamond-shaped hull design, it was more like a tracked armored personnel carrier without a turret and a gun mounted on the wall, and the Mark I tank, which was successfully developed in 1916, was the first tank with a diamond-shaped appearance and an outer ring track)

The five vehicles, developed by Colonel Swinton's technical team, were known as the "Little Nomad" tanks within the British Army, and they were a hybrid of British, French, and German design concepts. The chassis of the "Little Nomad" was based on the tractor with the drive tracks lengthened, and then boiler steel plates were welded to the erected angle steel frame, which was the original design of the British, and the swivel turret on the roof was borrowed from the design ideas of the Germans and French. The total weight of the "Little Nomad" reached 18 tons, which was almost twice that of a German tank, and a Daimler upright water-cooled gasoline engine with a power of 80 kW was arranged in the rear of the body, with armor thickness of 6 mm, a speed of only 6 kilometers per hour, and a maximum range of 30 kilometers. (This is a bit different from the historical Nomad Tank, after all, the course of the war has changed, and many historical details should have changed with it.)

When the 18 British armoured vehicles and 5 Nomad tanks were unloaded, the first non-German armoured unit on the battlefield began to advance towards the Fording River Bridge. These "little nomads" with rice flags not only make loud noises when traveling, but also move at a surprisingly slow speed, getting off at a point of about 4 kilometers to the bridge, and they need to walk for more than half an hour just to get off the bus. The German army's assault tactics of tanks and armored vehicles on the French battlefield have attracted the attention of various countries, and the British Army also admires this tactic, after the six armored vehicles ready to cooperate with the infantry to launch an attack gallop away, the remaining 12 can only accompany the "little nomads" to move forward slowly.

Despite the sight of the bridge and the sound of heavy gunfire telling of the hardships of the German paratroopers there, the German armored commandos had to stop on the side of the road.

"Hell!"

A sergeant commander kicked his tank hard, but the iron guy not only didn't appreciate it, but also made his kicker grit his teeth in pain.

This was the second time that the tank had broken down during the operation, and there had already been a tank abandoned by the assault team because it could not be repaired in a short time, but fortunately it was still under the control of the German 2nd and 3rd Airborne Regiments, and the tank was temporarily watched by the paratroopers. However, this place is not a village in front of the village, there is no store in the back, there is no British army to defend it, and it is far from the area actually controlled by the German army.

More than a dozen soldiers who got off the armored maintenance vehicle immediately surrounded the unlucky tank and checked it, the tank sergeant was smoking a cigarette sullenly on the side, and the other tankers hurried out to breathe and maintain their tanks, marching nearly 30 kilometers in a row to toss them and their tanks enough, after all, in this era the tank technology is still very imperfect, there is no shock absorption device in the car body, the members and the car body have to bear huge bumps during the driving process, and the noise in the car is extremely large, A considerable part of the heat generated by the engine is trapped in the car, and the temperature in the cabin can sometimes reach 60 or 70 degrees Celsius if continuous firing is carried out.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the infantrymen riding in armored vehicles also stretched their bumpy and somewhat sore limbs. Whether it is the "Broadsword" type armored combat vehicle, or the "Trojan" type armored personnel carrier, these German armored vehicles are truck chassis, its speed naturally can not be compared with the British armored car, the general road speed is only 20-35 kilometers per hour, but they are characterized by rough skin and thick flesh, powerful firepower and can carry more infantry, they are generally 4 wheels, a few also have 6 wheels, but as the driving wheels are only one of the pairs, so they and British armored vehicles in the same off-road performance needs to be improved.

"Sgt., how's your tank?"

The commander of the commando, a slightly thin tank captain, walked to the broken down tank with a helpless face, although it was urgent to rush to the bridge, but he could not let this tank and the tank crew on it be left alone in this kind of place where British troops would be infested at any time, and more importantly, the other vehicles in the convoy also needed to rest and overhaul, and it was better to repair here than to break down on the battlefield.

"There seems to be something wrong with the engine, and a few gears don't seem to be working properly!"

As he spoke, the sergeant threw the unfinished half of the cigarette on the ground, and the cigarette butt was snuffed out in the snow. Although the tanks were overhauled before they departed from French ports, pre-war drills and drills were so frequent that many of the worn parts were difficult to detect before they failed.

The captain raised his hand and looked at his watch, "Give you 3 minutes, if you can't fix it, you can only blow it up!" ”

The sergeant looked at the captain who turned away in a daze, and after a while muttered:

"! Bombing can't be left to the British! ”

After finishing speaking, the sergeant and his tank crews also rolled up their sleeves and squeezed into the maintenance soldiers who were overhauling the tanks, and became good doctors after a long illness, and the skills of these tank soldiers in repairing tanks were no worse than those of professional maintenance soldiers.

Three minutes later, the sweaty soldiers officially announced that the tank could not go any further before the overhaul, and although the decision was painful, the sergeant commander personally threw a bundle of grenades into the tank compartment, after which he and two other tankmen would be mounted in an armored vehicle to fight like infantry.

The violent explosion of the bundle of grenades blew the hatch on the turret of the tank into the air for more than ten meters, and the shells and bullets inside the tank were immediately destroyed, the entire turret was overturned, and several parts of the rivet armor also cracked to varying degrees, and finally under the action of the residual gasoline in the fuel tank, the tank turned into a pile of burning scrap metal.

Despite the loss of another tank due to technical reasons, the officers and men of the armored commando team did not have much frustration on their faces, they were more worried about the paratroopers on the other side of the bridge at this time, and even their combat vehicles involuntarily accelerated their pace as they heard the sound of gunfire getting closer and closer. As the sun gradually sank, a convoy of 5 tanks, 21 armored vehicles, and 139 German officers and soldiers finally appeared in the field of view of the Anglo-Canadian soldiers stranded in the Qiaoxi Township area.

Since 6 a.m., when the Garris Airborne Regiment attacked the defenders of the bridge, the steel bridge over the Fording River has been shrouded in battle clouds for more than ten hours, and through the gap in the smoke of gunpowder, the sunlight can still caress every inch of its intact body. Near the bridge lay the corpses of countless soldiers of both warring sides, whether they were wearing khaki uniforms or gray paratroopers, the number was regrettable, if there was no war, there would have been thousands of hard-working workers and peasants, dedicated and healthy professional soldiers, perhaps doctors, scholars, scientists, and even a few ministers and prime ministers, but unfortunately their young lives were lost here, and for them everything was irretrievably over.

Lieutenant Colonel Garris somehow changed into an M16 steel helmet, which can indeed greatly improve the survivability of soldiers in the midst of bullets scurrying around on both sides. At this time, the German paratroopers still controlled an area of nearly 100 meters on both sides of the bridge, and the railway that passed through the town had long been blown into pieces of small wood chips and twisted scrap metal, and only the section near the bridge could still be called a railway. The bridgehead fortifications constructed by the British defenders were now the last German line of defense, including trenches and bunkers dug in the embankment near the bridge, houses in the area near the bridge that were not yet completely in ruins, and improvised forts built with sandbags on both sides of the bridge.

Considering the important position and role of the Fording River Bridge, the British heavy artillery never dared to shell the German positions near the bridge.

After two attacks by the British army, the Germans not only suffered a large number of casualties, but also the fortifications were seriously damaged, the remaining paratroopers were hurrying to repair the trenches and bunkers, and the many dead who had no time to bury were distributed around the position in various postures, and the scene after hand-to-hand combat was always shocking, flesh, bayonets and life-and-death struggles were the main theme of that brutal battle, and what was left behind was naturally coagulated blood, soul-gone bodies and soldiers on both sides who were temporarily fighting together.

The ammunition in the hands of the German paratroopers had been reduced to a minimum, the mortar shells had long since run out, each machine gun was hung with the last cartridge belt, and the soldiers had to search for bullets and grenades from the dead, and some simply used the British Lee. Enfield rifles, because there are more corpses of British soldiers in this area.

Since there were enemy troops on both sides of the bridge, there were only two roads in front of Lieutenant Colonel Garris, blow up the bridge and break through, or blow up the bridge and fight to the death, after learning by telegram that the command had sent armored commandos to help, Garris decided to wait for the arrival of this reinforcement, otherwise he would break through on his own, and after leaving the fixed position, these paratroopers with only light weapons and little ammunition would be mercilessly killed by the British cavalry.

"Look, our armored forces!" The paratroopers who were in charge of observing the situation west of the bridge brought good news.

"Look, the armored vehicles of the British army!" The paratroopers who were monitoring the east side found a terrible situation.

To the west of the bridge, the Anglo-Canadian forces left behind in the town began to fire at the approaching German armored convoy with a small amount of artillery, and the remnants of the infantry were also concentrating on the south side of the town.

On the east side of the bridge, the British launched a third wave of attack, led by six armored vehicles and more than 5,000 infantry, and after they entered the town, the British infantry who had remained behind the ruins during the previous attack also joined the attack. Armored cars open the way, and the leather boots of the British infantry seem to be stepped on particularly loudly, and the sound of traditional bagpipes and engines representing modern technology combine to form a unique tune.

Most of the German paratroopers lying in the trenches had bloody faces, and although their eyes were bloodshot under the steel helmets, their eyes had become more resolute after experiencing the baptism of blood and fire. They were surprised by the British armored vehicles that their bullets could not threaten, but none of them were cowardly or trembling.

Ensign Halim, who was wounded in the head, had a thick bandage on his head, and there were only about 20 people left in the commando team that had become famous for turning the British rear upside down, but the living were not afraid of death, and the dead had no grudges in their hearts, and their spirit made it possible to rebuild the commando.

Second Lieutenant Hildeland, who had improved his sniper record to 451, was also in this trench at this time, the hand-to-hand combat was the closest he had ever participated, and his Luger pistol had shot all the bullets, and now he could only stay in his pouch as a memento of the battle.

At this time, whether it was the ordinary soldiers of the airborne regiment, officers of all ranks, logistics cooks, mortars, or snipers, all those who could still fight were now all gathered in the few trenches, each with their weapons in hand, and they were engrossed in aiming at the approaching British troops, they no longer thought about whether they would be able to leave alive, and more people regarded this as their battle of honor, and perhaps the last battle.

In a bunker on the east side of the bridge, two paratroopers are guarding the detonators, and on the west side of the bridge there is also a detonator with the same effect, and if you press down the wooden handle on either detonator, the bridge will disappear in a burst of brilliant fireworks. At this time, according to the order of Lieutenant Colonel Garris, several sappers were doing the final inspection of the ZHA medicine and leads in various parts of the bridge to ensure that the tons of ZHA medicine did not become a large dud.

Before approaching the German positions, the machine guns on the British armored cars were fired, and these bullets did not hurt a few German paratroopers, but they were able to greatly calm the minds of the British infantry. Behind more than 5,000 British infantry, more than a dozen light rapid-fire guns with a caliber of less than 60 mm had stopped and prepared to shoot, and when the vanguard was less than a kilometer from the German position, they began to bombard the trenches and bunkers where the German paratroopers were.

At this time, the town west of the bridge was more lively than the battle east of the bridge, and the tanks and armored vehicles of the German armored commandos rushed into the town without stopping, and their full speed and powerful firepower panicked the British and Canadian soldiers under the command of Reeser, because the few rapid-fire guns and Hale grenades in their hands were almost useless, and the soldiers exposed to the rubble were easily shot, and the 37mm tank guns of the "Stone II" continued to clean up the remaining Vickers machine guns in the town.

On the east side of the bridge, Hildrand was hunting down officers and soldiers almost one shot at a time, and the rifles and machine guns of the other paratroopers were also firing hard, but they could intimidate the British infantry, but they could not stop the advance of the British armored vehicles. When the first British armored vehicle rushed to a distance of only 100 meters from the German position, the heavy machine guns on it were taking the lives of the German paratroopers almost every second.

Across the Fortin River, where small patches of broken ice floated, the armored units of the British and German armies saw each other on the battlefield for the first time. The tankmen on the leading Stone II apparently noticed the situation on the other side of the river, and its turret spun clockwise and fired across the river at the British in front of the German positions. The 37mm shell didn't hit a single British armoured car, but it set off an armoured party.

At this time, the five British nomads were still trying to make their way to the bridge, and like the German tanks, they had the unfortunate anchors, but none of this could prevent the first tank encounter in history.