Listen to the ticking of the clock next to you, Ian? General Hamilton waited silently, but the phone in his hand did not ring.

From 6 a.m. to 12 noon, the general had his adjutant update him every quarter of an hour on the situation at the front, but received the same reply: "Everything is calm at the front!" ”

It was a strange morning for the commander, who had a reputation as a poet general. Previously, whether it was the intelligence personnel of the army or navy, or even the information provided by other governments, everything pointed to the date of the main German attack, and at midnight, the Germans began their shelling. However, after six hours of artillery preparation, the German infantry did not appear, and the German planes, airships, and airborne troops who had shown their skills during the landing operation were nowhere to be seen.

In order to defend against German airborne raids, Hamilton deployed more than 200 alert cavalry companies within 100 miles of the defensive line, with 10 cavalry regiments and 15 infantry divisions as mobile units, in addition to mobilizing militia forces to coordinate the defense, but all this has so far had no effect.

More than 200 kilometers away in Grimsby, the fortress that protected the city had been reduced to ruins under the heavy shelling of the German fleet, and now the German shells were wreaking havoc on the whole city, the flames, smoke and blood made the once beautiful port city a living hell, the defenders and the reinforcements were helpless against the German battleships outside the harbor, and before dawn, the two squadrons of British torpedo boats that tried to approach the German fleet were completely annihilated under the intensive artillery fire of the other side.

A similar situation occurred in Swansea, in the east of England, where another powerful German fleet was attacked, with German carrier-based aircraft dropping incendiary bombs on industrial areas north of the city, and artillery sinking all the floating debris in the harbor.

In Hamilton's view, the German fleet's attacks were all feints of landing, but this situation made the British royal family and government almost panic when they retreated to the mountainous region of northern Scotland, and their constant calls for information reached the Home Defense Command, much to Admiral Hamilton's chagrin and irritation.

Previously, Hamilton had received a mountain of information. There have been numerous reports of German tactics and weapons, including spies who have received reliable information that the Germans will land again in northern England or Scotland, who say that the Germans will carry out more massive airdrop operations, and even those who report that the Germans will use a deadly chemical weapon on a large scale, but for now it seems that their own strong lines are still so impregnable except for the damage caused by the massive conventional shelling in the morning.

At 2 p.m., a piece of bad news reached Hamilton's command. The German fleet, which had previously shelled Grimsby and Swansea, began a landing attack! According to the observations of the defenders of these two locations, a large number of landing ships appeared on the coastline, and light ships in the German fleet were approaching the coast for fire suppression.

General Hamilton held his judgement, and although both cities were behind his own lines, it was only a German feint. Therefore, the general refused to transfer troops to strengthen the two defenses.

At 4 p.m., the calm that had lasted for most of the day on the Bristol and London lines was suddenly broken, and the Germans began shelling again. About 9,000 artillery pieces, nearly half of which are large-caliber heavy guns, including 420-mm and 305-mm siege howitzers. At almost the same time, fire was fired at the British positions. In a flash. People could feel the tremors dozens of kilometers away, and the violent oscillations that shook the ground lasted for five hours until 9 p.m.

After the end of the second shelling by the Germans. The 170-kilometre-long front, which runs in the middle of England, has fallen silent again. The British line north of the battle line was in shambles, the ground was littered with numerous large and small craters, and the exposed fortifications were almost completely destroyed, and there was not a single erected plant in sight. Although most of the British officers and men guarding the first and second line positions were hiding in deep underground tunnels and hideouts during the German bombardment, the troops of the 70 infantry divisions suffered nearly 50,000 casualties.

Although it was a night with stars, the sight was not good. The searchlights on the British positions were either destroyed in the shelling or hidden in bunkers and had not yet been reinstalled, but at this time, the German ground offensive began!

When I got the news. General Hamilton jumped out of his chair.

The main German offensive was carried out simultaneously on the east and west sides of the front, with the Hindenburg Army Group in the east and the Imperial Guard, the Royal Beast Regiment from East Prussia, on the west.

The world without cannon sound was not quiet, and General Guderian's ears were filled with the roar of engines. When the troops from other places entered their intended departure positions three days earlier, in order to conceal the sound of these tanks and armoured vehicles as they moved, they used the usual tactic of aircraft jamming, that is, constantly sending planes to hover over enemy positions during troop movements, and masking the sound of their own troop movements with the sound of aircraft engines. At least for now, this tactic is simple and effective. For three days after Guderian's mixed armoured division arrived, there was little movement on the other side of the British army - a Canadian infantry division armed only with light weapons and less than 50 guns of calibre calibre under 120 mm was defending the 5-kilometre-wide front - and these were not enough for Mr. Guderian's tanks and armoured vehicles. Soon after the landing operation, Guderian was rewarded for his outstanding performance - promotion to brigadier general, an Iron Cross, and in addition to the fact that his Panzer Division had been greatly strengthened in previous combat preparations, and his Panzer Mixed Division was now close to that of the Panzer Corps of other armies!

When the all-mechanized offensive wave consisting of 207 "Stone 1" and "Stone 2" tanks, 129 "Broadsword" armored combat vehicles, 115 "Trojan" armored personnel carriers, 120 artillery tractor trucks, 240 troop transport and logistics trucks, and 1,200 motorcycles rushed towards the opponent's defense line with a pounding momentum, the more than 10,000 Canadian soldiers guarding there were dumbfounded! Some of them were not even ready for battle, and the lights on the German armored vehicles were on - dazzling, frightened and uncomfortable to the defenders. Although the Canadians were well concealed and mostly unharmed by German shelling, even if they had time to push out the rapid-fire guns and open fire, this weak fire could not stop the German tanks at all!

After the defeat in the anti-landing counterattack, the British and their colonial army finally learned something, and on this front, which was named the Hamilton Line, the British army set up minefields, trenches and barbed wire areas, trenches and fortress areas, anti-shelling observation posts, infantry bunkers and concealments, artillery positions against shelling, and reserve assembly positions, which was almost standard German-style trench defense. Unfortunately, the principle of giving back to the other is not feasible here. The German artillery fire destroyed most of the British minefields and barbed wire, and even the trenches dug high enough for German tanks to fall into and climb out were collapsed in sections, and the trenches and communication trenches, although dug deeply, were so heavy that a considerable part of them were rendered unusable.

The Canadian soldiers eagerly hoped that Guderian's tanks would not be able to penetrate the trenches in front of them, so that they would not be crushed by them, if not destroyed, but they soon discovered that the trenches alone could not stop the steel beasts - the German tanks and battle armoured vehicles at the front were carrying bundles of firewood when there were impassable trenches in front. Firewood was then filled into the trenches, a clumsy method that was as effective as aircraft noise cover. Although it was the German Emperor who made the army do this, these methods were not original to him - they were used by both warring sides in another world.

Although not all German tanks and armoured vehicles were able to pass through the British positions, as the first German tanks broke through the British lines, the volunteers from Canada began to withdraw from the battle - neither their rifles, machine guns, nor a few poor anti-tank guns were effective weapons against tanks, and bundles of grenades could blow up German tanks, but the success rate and life were really high. The Canadians retreated, and the German tanks and armoured vehicles that crossed the trenches fired wildly with machine guns, and after less than ten minutes of resistance. The offensive and defensive war has again become a one-sided slaughter.

Seventeen tanks, armored vehicles and trucks, and several hundred soldiers were lost. In the first hour of the battle, Guderian acquired a 5,000-meter-long and 3,000-meter-deep British line, which was obviously a bargain, considering that the British had been building it for as long as the Germans had been preparing for the attack. The Canadian divisions defending this section of the line were routed. What they left behind were more than 1,000 corpses, nearly 800 wounded soldiers and 2,000 prisoners, as well as valuable flanks of the British lines on both sides. General Guderian then turned 1 tank regiment and 1 armored regiment to the left flank, and the same number of troops to the right flank, and his main forces continued to advance. Behind him, General François's infantry quickly followed, and the British line was torn open here.

About 20 kilometers to the right of General Guderian, the armored forces under the command of General Olg were trying to move forward, but their opponents were not simple. The British Army's 3rd Army, commanded by General Allenby, is currently the most well-equipped unit in the British regular army, and the 54-year-old Allenby is the most outstanding commander of the British Army. On this 12-kilometer-long front, sharp spears and strong shields collided with each other.

As a general of the Kaiser's direct line. Young and talented, Olg had an enviable record of opportunity and achievement. General Guderian became the most favored commander of the armored forces in the corps at present, while Olg was one of the first officers in the corps to come into contact with tanks and the current supreme commander of the corps panzer corps. On this exhilarating night, Lieutenant General Org commanded the 1st Tank Division, the 1st Panzer Division, and the 1st and 2nd Mechanized Infantry Divisions, a powerful assault tip that hit the flattest section of the Bristol-London front and was the focal point of the British defence—both sides were well aware of what this geography meant for the armoured forces. The commander of the British army, Admiral Hamilton, not only transferred General Allenby, but also concentrated 15 front-line infantry divisions to form the 3rd Army, and also transferred the 33rd Reinforced Infantry Regiment, the first specialized anti-tank unit of the British Army. More than 400 cannons and nearly 300 machine guns were provided to General Allenby, a small number in front of the Germans. But it was quite impressive for the beleaguered British army.

In fact, at the beginning of the German landing, the equipment situation of the British army was not as bleak as it is now, but in the landing of the Hindenburg Army and the battle in southern England, the main force of the British army was defeated, not to mention the loss of many heavy equipment, although there was 4 months to regain strength, but the British army was not replenished with enough equipment under the blockade of the German navy.

Despite the fact that, like the General Command, was surprised by the exact timing and manner of the German offensive, General Allenby's troops were able to organize a relatively effective defense in a very short time, and in addition to the artillery behind the position, anti-tank squads armed with small-caliber anti-tank guns, anti-tank rifles and explosives were dispersed along the entire front. Although the German armored vehicles with their headlights wide can deter the opponent in momentum, they will also clearly expose themselves in front of the opponent. At a distance of 2,000 meters, the British 37-mm anti-tank guns were capable of destroying any armored vehicle, and when this distance was reduced to 800 meters, the German Stone Type 1 and Type 2 tanks were also in danger of being penetrated.

For Org's armored forces, thankfully, the British were not equipped with enough anti-tank guns at this time. In total, only about 150 anti-tank guns were smuggled into Britain during the war, most of them from British overseas colonies, and some from France, which was technologically ahead of the British, and where there were several secret munitions factories in the south.

Under the desperate resistance of the British army, the armored units of the German assault began to retreat after the attack was unsuccessful, but this was not a good thing for the British, and while the British troops were still cheering for the repulsion of the Germans on the position, the screaming shells fell like raindrops, and the flames instantly devoured countless lives. It was a "damn shelling" for Allenby, whose soldiers deployed on the front line lost a third before retreating back into safe shelters. This German shelling did not last long, but covered most of the British positions, and the well-protected artillery of the British again survived, but a considerable part of the anti-tank guns were destroyed in this shelling.

Olg's bold artillery arrangements had the desired results, and some of the moving artillery positions were later subjected to retaliatory shelling by the British, but the losses were clearly worth it. Half an hour later, nearly 300 tanks and a larger number of armored vehicles launched a second attack, and under this flood of armored offensives, Allenby's soldiers lost their positions piece by piece, despite their bravery. After the loss of strong positions, the battle invariably turned into slaughter, and the retreating British troops, whether stragglers or groups, became vulnerable to the rampaging German tanks, and the artillery and machine guns on the tanks became an eternal nightmare for the British.