"Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all success and remember that every soldier is the most valuable asset of the legion!"

On the deck of the "Frontier Governor", Chen Tian and others were seeing off the senior generals of the 3rd Infantry Corps, when there were several fewer people than in the morning, General François had already landed with the 1st Infantry Corps to support Guderian's mixed armored division, and General Olg led his troops to land in Area B, east of Bonemouth, and was advancing inland to attack. The fleet's bombardment of Svenge Harbor in Sector C had long since ended, and the artillery fire had almost razed the civilian buildings and British fortifications in the port, but fortunately a considerable part of the wharf was still in use, and the soldiers and supplies of the 3rd Infantry Corps were landing one after another.

The generals don't have too complicated expressions on their faces, at least so far, everything is going according to plan, and now both sides are trying to complete their deployment in the shortest possible time.

The soft reddish light of the setting sun shone silently on the deck, and although no guns could be heard on the sea, countless small and medium-sized ships busily passed between the fleet and the harbor, and the scene was full of life as far as the eye could see.

"Your Highness, Lieutenant Colonel Garris is calling!"

When the staff officer came with the telegram, Scheer and others standing beside Chentian cast concerned eyes, today's combat operations of the Airborne Forces have opened everyone's eyes, and now everyone wants to know what kind of miracle these flying infantry can create, if they did not hold on to the bridge over the Fording River, the vanguard of the British army would probably have joined the defenders of Bonemouth.

Chen Tian read the telegram sent by Garris, which contained both good news and bad news.

"There are so many commemorative things today, the largest landing operation in the era of giant ships and cannons, tactical airborne landing was used for the first time in actual combat, and now it is the encounter between the armored forces of the two armies! I think this battle is about to announce the beginning of a new era! ”

Chen Tian handed the telegram to Hoffman to satisfy the curiosity of these guys. The timely arrival of the armored commandos will undoubtedly greatly improve the morale and combat effectiveness of the paratroopers, according to the situation there, now is the best time for the paratroopers to blow up the bridge and then retreat from the west of the bridge, the bad news is that the British armored forces have broken through the first line of defense of the paratroopers, and if the bridge is blown up before the British attack is repulsed, then a considerable part of the paratroopers will become prisoners of the British army.

"The British armored car they came across should be from the M series!"

Hoffman and other army generals were not surprised by the appearance of British armored vehicles, before the outbreak of the Great War, Britain was one of the few countries that put armored vehicles into actual combat, except for the British colonial wars, the only wars with armored vehicles on the battlefield were the Balkan Wars, but the number of armored vehicles invested by the belligerents was pitiful. Since the beginning of the century, the British M series armored vehicles have been concerned by various countries, Belgium, France, Russia can see the shadow of British armored vehicles on most of the armored vehicles, until a few years before the war, German armored vehicles under the leadership of Chentian rapid development and greatly exceed the number and performance of the world.

"It seems that there is no need for the British to spend huge manpower and material resources on new armored models, but I am worried about their tanks and anti-tank weapons, about which we know almost nothing!"

Although both Britain and Germany tried to steal each other's confidential information through spies, due to the limitations of technical means, the espionage war at this time was far less exciting than that of World War II (the most famous female spies in World War I stole intelligence by chuangting with French and German officers), and before the outbreak of the war, most of the heads of government, whether it was Britain or Germany, did not expect that the two countries would really go to war, the German government sent a large number of German spies to France, and the British ignored the small remote place of East Prussia. As for the "prescient" Chentian, because his spy agency has not been established for a long time, the spies he sent to Britain have not yet penetrated into the high-level or key positions of the British government.

Now Chentian has not equipped the "stones" with anti-tank guns and armor-piercing shells, after all, the main task of the tank at this time is to deal with infantry and cavalry, for the British M series armored vehicles with an armor thickness of 4-5 mm, bundles of grenades can kill them, and on each "Stone I" and "Stone II" there are two special bullet belts, these bullets are still fired through the Maxim machine gun on the tank, However, these bullets contain a tungsten carbide core (the "K" type bullet that the German army equipped for machine gunners and snipers during World War I, which was designed to fire accurately at long-range targets and protected targets), and they were able to penetrate the walls of British M-series armored vehicles at a distance of 200 meters.

However, due to the tight preparation time for the attack on Britain, the German logistics department did not have time to produce enough "K" bullets to equip every soldier, otherwise the British armored vehicles would not be able to move an inch.

As for anti-tank guns and armor-piercing shells, at this time it has become increasingly mature in technology, the latest German "monster" tank is equipped with a 50 mm caliber special tank gun, it uses shells including armor-piercing shells, sub-caliber shells and blasting grenades, armor-piercing shells have a steel thick-walled shell, equipped with ZHA charge, a fuse at the bottom of the bullet and a tracer, which can penetrate a considerable thickness of armor plates; The sub-caliber projectile is made of hard metal to pierce the armor-piercing bullet and fix the bullet center in the projectile body, which is lighter than the general armor-piercing bullet, with higher muzzle velocity and high armor-piercing ability; Explosive grenades are divided into two types: instantaneous fuses and extended fuzes, with instant-fuse shells used to destroy unmasked moving targets or partially masked targets in bunkers, and those equipped with extended fuses to destroy field bunkers and fortifications.

Unfortunately, also for time reasons, the new tank gun and the "Monster" tank have not yet been put into mass production, but fortunately, the testing process of the three prototypes of the "Monster" is relatively smooth, and they will have the opportunity to be transported to the UK mainland for combat tests.

Garris did not mention the British "Little Nomad" tanks that had not yet entered the battlefield, but he only saw some huge iron bumps slowly moving towards the battlefield from a distance in his telescope, and the "Little Nomads" looked like miniature armored trains. Garris didn't know exactly what exactly was going to tell the difference between tanks and armored vehicles, so it wasn't until after the battle that Tatsuten and the legion command realized that it wasn't just a simple armored encounter.

When the first "Stone II" turned onto the bridge, 3 British armored cars advanced to the front of the German trenches were frantically strafing the nearby German soldiers, after years of technology accumulation, these armored cars broke down due to their own failures have rarely occurred, but their weak armor and not strong hull structure are most afraid of falling near shells, if a single or bundle of grenades explodes next to them or even under the car, they will not escape the fate of destruction, The other three armoured vehicles that the British had thrown into the attack were paralyzed in front of the position by German grenades, but their machine guns could continue to fire.

Captain Niklas and his No. 1 tank rumbled forward along the railroad tracks on the bridge, followed by tanks No. 2 and No. 3 of the armored assault team, and the other two tanks that arrived together remained on the west side of the bridge to assist the paratroopers, and the armored vehicles were also divided into two parts, 2 "broadswords", 4 "Trojans" and 1 maintenance vehicle remained on the west side of the bridge, and the rest followed Niklas to the east of the bridge.

Captain Niklas joined the tank corps at the beginning of the East Prussian Legion, was a lieutenant company commander at the outbreak of the war, and in the famous road massacre at the Battle of Compinan, his company took part in the battle to block the rear of the Russian 2nd Army, and later led his troops into Russian Poland, where he was awarded an Iron Cross of the Second Class for his courage and tenacity. After this, the Niklas Company was transferred to the newly formed Guderian Tank Division, along with other companies of the old tank division, and followed Guderian to France, where he was awarded an Iron Cross of the 1st Class and promoted to captain and deputy battalion commander after the Battle of France.

Enraged by the heavy casualties of the paratroopers under the strafing of British armored vehicles, Niklas picked up his machine gun and fired at the British armored vehicles 100 meters away. However, after half a normal bullet belt, the British armored car did not shoot silently, but pointed its guns at his side, and the British shot from a distance of 100 meters appeared to be quite accurate, and their machine-gun bullets hit the frontal armor of the Niklas No. 1 car.

After spotting the uninvited guests on the bridge, the other 2 British armored vehicles and many British infantry focused their attention on this iron lump covered with riveted armor, and countless bullets swarmed in, the British seemed to want to crush the German tank with countless bullets, but unfortunately they were extremely disappointed that the German tank was moving forward as indomitable as that nation. After driving east of the bridge, Niklas's No. 1 turned to the side and stopped, and the barrel on the turret began to adjust, and the muzzle of the gun was finally aimed at the British armored vehicle that had burst out of the front.

Bang......

Before he could recover from the loud noise, Niklas couldn't wait to return his attention to the aiming area, and the smoke of the explosion quickly cleared, to his chagrin that the British armored vehicle had not changed, and it was clear that the shell had not hit it directly.

Niklas did have reason to be frustrated that he didn't hit an object the size of a sedan at a distance of 100 meters, but the short barrel of the 37mm gun on the Stone II and the arc trajectory of the shells fired by the gun limited the gun's accuracy in hitting moving targets, but the machine gun on the British armored car no longer fired, and the members of the car were likely already injured by shrapnel or shock waves.

The gunner quickly opened the chamber and pulled the shells out, and the strong smell of fire filled the tank compartment, forcing Niklas and his tankmen to put their odd-looking gas masks on their faces. As a rational general, Chen Tian has never rejected the use of chemical weapons, so far it has not been put into the battlefield because there is no need to use them, and he also knows that in the war in history, both warring sides used poison gas bombs, and no one can guarantee that the British will not be the first to use poison gas in this case, so before the landing operation, the existing gas masks throughout Germany are used to equip the landing force first, and the factories are also making every effort to produce this tool with a simple structure but can save the lives of countless soldiers, So far, enough gas masks have been supplied to Chentian's 8th Army and Hindenburg's 5th Army, and they will be distributed to the soldiers as quickly as possible in the event of the use of poison gas by the British.

Tank 2 quickly drove past Tank 1 and drove forward without stopping, while its machine guns continued to fire at the British infantry exposed in front of the position, at which point most tankers did not seem to remember the two special cartridge belts in the spare ammunition box. Since no German armored units had been found near the bridge before, the British infantry did not carry anti-tank weapons, and the Hale grenades in their hands were no more dangerous to German tanks than machine gun bullets.

Niklas's second shell finally hit the stopped British armored car, its 5 mm frontal armor could not withstand the close attack of the 37 mm caliber gun, the armor plate connected by rivets was blown out, and the cab of the car was suddenly thick smoke and bloody flesh and blood.

After the No. 3 tank car drove by, the infantry on several "Trojan" armored personnel carriers jumped out of the car one after another, these lively guys quickly entered the defensive position east of the bridge, the paratroopers crumbling defense line was immediately stabilized, under the attack of German tanks and armored vehicles, the British infantry suffered heavy casualties for a while, almost every second several people in yellow khaki uniforms fell under the flying machine gun bullets, and the remaining armored cars of the British army began to shoot while retreating, However, the 37mm guns on the German tanks fired shells at them with a very fast rate of fire, and eventually destroyed them one by one, and the surviving British armorers jumped out of the car in confusion and retreated with the infantry.

After this, the three German tanks aimed their guns at the dozen or so small-caliber rapid-fire guns behind the British infantry, these British guns were far more powerful than the German tanks, but they were almost helpless against the 20 mm thick armor on the front of the "Stone II", and the German tanks could easily kill and wound the uncovered British gunners, and the artillery fire quickly ended with the British artillery retreating in panic.

Looking at the figures of the British officers and soldiers gradually moving away, Niklas and the tankmen could not be happy, in order to hold this line of defense, the paratrooper unit paid a considerable price, from the town to the bridgehead This small area lies thousands of corpses of soldiers on both sides, not so much a battlefield as a large cemetery, now the tanks move every meter over the bodies of several dead people, a considerable part of which belong to the heroic paratroopers.

After hurriedly joining the battle and firing continuously, the infantry who came with the armored commandos finally had a chance to take a closer look at the place, where the guns, hats and helmets of soldiers on both sides could be seen everywhere on the ground, the piles of British armored cars that had become ruins were still burning and smoking, and many of the dying were still moaning and struggling.

Most of the living paratroopers were injured to varying degrees, they either leaned on the trench wall to close their eyes and recuperate, or helped to bandage each other with their comrades next to them, and the few medics were busy near the trenches, and the seriously wounded paratroopers were carried onto armored personnel carriers after receiving emergency treatment, including the first sniper of the German Army, Hildeland, who was found lying at the bottom of the trench covered in blood, although his life was spared, his sniper record in this war also stayed at 489, Until the end of the Battle of England, no sniper could surpass his record. After months of recuperation, Hildrand is back in the team, where he will use his experience to lead the German snipers to new glory in the future.

The British forces involved in the attack did not completely withdraw from the limelight, and after they regrouped and regrouped outside the town and replenished the new troops, the British army ready to attack still looked outnumbered. The British heavy artillery deployed in the rear resumed the bombardment, and the heavy shells plowed the ground near the town again, but the British still did not dare to extend the artillery fire very close to the bridge (some people say that the shelling is as difficult to accurately hit a target as the bombing, but under the intensive heavy artillery fire, no one can guarantee that the unintentional insertion will not happen, as long as a heavy shell hits the bridge deck, the bridge is enough to choke).

After the start of the British shelling, Niklas's armored assault team retreated behind the defensive positions east of the bridge, where he met with the commander of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Garris. Lieutenant Colonel Garris, who had an absolute superiority in numbers on the opposite side, decided to break through from the west side of the bridge and retreat in the direction of the beach with the remaining paratroopers, while Niklas's tank armored vehicles were responsible for opening the road and breaking the rear, and the command specifically mentioned in the telegram the use of the two spare bullet belts on the tank.

The British shelling lasted about 10 minutes, during which time a dozen gray-black and green bumps had reached the front of the British infantry preparing to attack (the British sometimes painted armored cars dark green, gray-black were unpainted vehicles), and as soon as the shelling was over, thousands of British infantry were guided by the chariots to advance towards the bridge again.

At a distance of about 1,500 meters, 3 German tanks responsible for the broken fire fired at the British armored units at the front of the British attacking force, the British little nomad took nearly an hour to climb here, and there were two broken on the road, and the remaining three were naturally full of anger and fired back with cannons, the 37 mm caliber guns of German tanks and the 40 mm caliber guns of British tanks had a comparable rate of fire, German tanks used ordinary shells, and British tanks specially prepared armor-piercing shells, However, due to the small number of tanks on both sides and the fact that they are constantly moving, the two sides have not been able to directly hit each other from 1500 meters to 200 meters (for riveted armored tanks, even a direct hit by ordinary shells has a lot of lethality, which can be damaged, or even lost combat ability or even scrapped).

After the British armored forces entered the effective range of the "K" type bullets, the three "Stone II" switched to machine gun shooting, and history has proved that this kind of bullet can penetrate thin steel plates at close range, so the members of the British armored cars suffered a catastrophic blow, the fearless side of the German tanks fired at the British approaching side, and the British M-type armored cars were paralyzed on the ground one after another, and the shells fired by the little nomads at close range also shocked the German tankers in a cold sweat from time to time.