Chapter 100: Vision and Courage

Cloudy, windless, muggy. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info On a wide road from Metz to Verdun, the soldiers marching on foot took off their hats and helmets one by one, opened their collars, and many of them rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs.

Amid the sound of car horns, artillery trucks and baggage vehicles towed by horses slowly and orderly moved out of the way, only to see a small convoy of three cars and two military trucks approaching along the road. The pedals on both sides of the car are loaded with loaded guards, and the truck compartment is also full of heavily armed soldiers, these people have serious expressions and do not smile, making people feel a sense of inviolable majesty, and the black two-row car in the center of the convoy is exquisite, new and shiny, this is the Mercedes "Black Horse", the latest luxury sedan produced in Germany before the war, the production is only in the double digits, the price is staggering, and it is completely exclusive to the privileged class.

In the back seat of this "black steed" sat a middle-aged colonel and a very young major. Judging by the rank, the major should be respectful to the colonel, but the expressions and gestures of the two were diametrically opposed. Of course, all this is not enough to be seen by outsiders.

"Your Highness is about to return to Kiel because the naval fleet is about to have a new operation soon?"

Crown Prince William's number one military aide, Colonel von Carson, chief of staff of the 5th Army Corps Command, inquired about the Imperial Prince beside him in a deferential but not flattering tone.

After this period of time together, Natsuki and Colonel Carson have become quite harmonious, so they did not hesitate to tell each other: "In the previous two naval battles, although we dealt a very heavy blow to the British Home Fleet, the British Navy is strong and can soon assemble new combat forces, and we must always be vigilant before completely defeating it or forcing Britain to withdraw from the war...... It had been a week since I left Kiel, and the Fleet Command had granted me ten days off to return to Berlin for debriefing and celebrations, so it was time to return to my duties. When the dust settles on the Battle of Verdun, I will set out. ”

Carson immediately expressed his understanding: "I wish His Highness another immortal feat, and the German Navy will ascend to the throne of the first place in the world." ”

Natsuki nodded: "Everything is for the country, and personal glory is only secondary. ”

"This time, our legion was able to successfully break through the defense line of the Maas River and quickly advance to Verdun, thanks to the naval chariots supported by His Highness. Personally, I am very curious that this kind of equipment, which is invincible in land operations, was actually developed and manufactured by the navy for landing operations. Landing Operations...... Could it be that we have plans to launch a landing in the UK? ”

By the last sentence, Colonel Carson's voice had been so low that even Natsuki couldn't hear it clearly.

Natsuki simply pretended not to hear this question, which had nothing to explain.

Carson knew that the topic was far beyond his purview, and he said unceremoniously that it was not what a regimental chief of staff should know.

Amid the monotonous sound of car horns, the convoy continued to move at a speed of no more than 25 kilometers per hour. An hour and a half later, Natsuki saw a "Hubert 13" on the side of the road, so he asked the driver to stop on the side, opened the door and walked forward, only to see three young men in special uniforms surrounding the engine at the back of the chariot, all with oily faces and sweaty clothes.

"What's wrong, boys?" Natsuki asked.

Despite the fact that Natsuki was wearing the uniform of an army major, the soldiers belonging to the German Navy's amphibious test group recognized him at a glance and immediately saluted him with sincere fear. Immediately afterwards, the private who was the commander of the vehicle reported that his tank had been ordered to go to Verdun, and that it had already broken down twice on the way due to engine overheating, and that there seemed to be some tricky little problem with the pipeline, and that they were trying to repair it.

Natsuki leaned up and took a second look, he was a professional naval engineer who could design first-class warships with the current technology, but when it came to automobiles and airplanes, he knew and mastered the same things as an ordinary science man living in the 21st century, and he didn't have so much energy to remaster another different field of mechanical engineering. So he couldn't help and didn't have any advice to offer. In fact, in order to achieve the most desirable secrecy effect, the first prototypes of the "Hubert 13" were not manufactured until the autumn of 1913, and then they have been in a process of repeated testing and adjustment, and mass production began in June 1914. Tracked combat vehicles are the mainstream driving force of land warfare and amphibious warfare, and whichever side can take this step first will seize an important opportunity in this technological competition of great strategic value.

Before parting, Natsuki sent a message to the three chariot crews: "Do your best to repair it, the battle ahead urgently needs your joining, see you in Verdun!" ”

As the convoy continued to move forward, there were still German marching troops on the side of the road, and small vigilant troops could be seen on the hills, but the bursts of gunfire around began to make people involuntarily vigilant, because these sounds were not always coming from a long distance, and some sounded like they were coming from a few kilometers away, as if the French shells could fall on the road at any time. Soon this fear became a reality, and in Verdun, just a dozen kilometers away, artillery fire blocked traffic, the convoy stopped on the side of the road, and everyone got out of the car to hide.

Colonel Carson immediately asked his men to go to the commander here, and after a while, a short lieutenant colonel officer trotted in.

"The commander of the 22nd Infantry Battalion of the 5th Prussian Infantry Division, Ottezig, salutes you!" The bright-eyed young officer raised his hand in salute and gave his name with full vigour.

Carson returned the salute: "I am von Carson of the Corps Command, and I am ordered to go to Verdun. What's going on here? ”

The lieutenant colonel succinctly replied: "We are under attack from the north-west by the French army, the enemy has at least one regiment of troops, and there are dozens of cannons, and I reported the situation here to the division headquarters 15 minutes ago, and was given the order to defend in place to prevent the French from cutting off the lines of communication here." We have repelled one of the enemy's attacks, and the battle line is now solid. ”

Carson asked stiffly, "But the enemy has actually cut off the traffic here." ”

As he spoke, French shells fell in front from time to time. Although these are only ordinary field guns, this section of the road is obviously not safe to pass.

The lieutenant colonel hurriedly explained: "The reinforcements of our division are already on their way, and as soon as they arrive, we should launch a counterattack in time to drive the French army away and ensure the safety of traffic here." ”

Carson was displeased, but he was a mortal himself, and he didn't have the ability to scatter beans into soldiers. There was only one battalion of German infantry here, and even if the soldiers were no longer afraid of death, it was impossible to push the opponent back alone. So, instead of getting angry at the lieutenant colonel in front of him, Carson turned his gaze to the real protagonist of the trip - after listening to the lieutenant colonel's report, Natsuki had already taken the telescope to a hill on the side of the road, and from there he looked northwest.

Carson asked the officer for a pair of binoculars, and then walked quickly to Natsuki's side. There was a relatively open field ahead, and it was estimated that there were about a hundred dead scattered among them, all French soldiers in blue shirts and red trousers. The German battle lines were laid along the roads, and the infantry did not have time to dig trenches and build breastwalks, but hastily dug up the lowest individual bunkers, that is, dug up a small mound twenty or thirty centimeters high, and the men crept behind the buttresses to shoot.

On the opposite side of the field, about five or six kilometres from the road, was a rolling hilly terrain from which the roar of cannon fire was heard. If you look closely, you can see that the gray-white smoke of the propellant is slowly rising and drifting away, and below that is the French artillery position, which is uncovered, unhidden, and hidden. This is the year 1914, on the battlefield without air raids and bombardments, artillery is king, and machine guns are dominant.

Seeing that the French infantry was gathering out of range of German guns and shells, preparing to launch a new charge, Natsuki said to Carson: "The French have set their sights on our troops at Verdun and want to fight a war of annihilation in order to boost their precarious morale. Now, we are in a race against time - we must take Verdun before the French have completed their offensive deployment! ”

Through the observation of the enemy situation in front of him, Carson agrees with Natsuki's judgment of the French army's intentions, but in the second half, he is not as decisive as Natsuki.

"In the case of heavy siege artillery in the later stage, it took our army 10 days to conquer the fortress of Liège, assuming that the role of naval tanks can be compared to heavy siege artillery, we will be in full force, it will take at least 4 to 5 days, and once we have put the main forces into Verdun, the enemy can just cut off our rear road. If we dedicate a considerable part of our forces to protect the lines of communication, the forces to attack the fortress will be relatively insufficient. ”

Colonel Carson would have such concerns, and Natsuki was not surprised. Judgment and decisiveness are essential qualities for a good commander, and they are the key reasons why he chose Reinhardt-Schell over von Ingnoel. Throughout the history of modern warfare, the German Army has emerged a group of very good commanders, and during World War I, Ludendorff, Mackensen, Golz and others were also very good commanders, but unfortunately, at the beginning of the war, the group of people who could decide the success or failure of the Western Front were not among them - whether it was the chief of the General Staff Helmut von Moltke or the commander of the seven main army corps, they were either indecisive or reckless and impulsive, resulting in the German army losing a precious opportunity to win, and then no matter how hard the replacements tried, Even the "big move" of sending Lenin back to Russia, so as to transfer the troops deployed on the Eastern Front to the Western Front to launch an all-out onslaught, was ultimately to no avail.

"The war itself is a great adventure." Natsuki told Carson, "The French wanted to trap us in Verdun or let us retreat and give up this vital strategic objective, but we didn't let them do it." As long as we seize all the time, we have every chance of winning, a victory comparable to the Battle of Jutland! ”

(End of chapter)