"Your Royal Highness, are you really sure that you will be able to break through the Seine defense line from the city?" Falkenhayn still looked a little uneasy.

"Try it and you'll find out! In the city, on both sides of the Seine, there are stone foundations that I need! Chen Tian smiled slyly, "The two armies are facing each other, especially fighting on the territory of France, and spies must be full of spies, so I can't tell you the specific strategy now, and I also ask the chief of the general staff not to inform others that our army will attack from the city!" I also hope that the Chief of the General Staff will do me a favor and launch an artillery bombardment of the French positions in different sections every day, as fiercely as possible! ”

"Oh......" Falkenhain nodded, "no problem with this!" ”

"Well, I need a week to prepare, and the rest of the troops are ready to rest and attack at this time. This line of defense may seem solid, but as long as there is a large breach, the whole line of defense will be useless! Chen Tian looked at the French defense line on the opposite bank with a little regret, and the French's ability to build a defense line did not seem to be ordinarily strong, and they could block millions of elite German troops with a single Seine River.

"Then I look forward to the good news from His Highness!"

Judging by Falkenhayne's expression, he seemed to be somewhere between believing and not believing, and he wouldn't pin all his hopes on Tatsuten and his troops anyway. Chen Tian thought it would be good to do this, at least the French would not notice any strange smell.

After a brief tour of the rest of the front, Falkenhain and Tatsuten returned to their headquarters with different emotions.

When Chentian returned to the station, the soldiers were busy unloading tanks and armored vehicles from the trains, Olg and Guderian were chatting not far away, and François's 1st Infantry Corps and Chentian's 3rd Infantry Corps would all arrive tomorrow and tomorrow.

Chen Tian asked the driver to see the car directly next to them and stopped.

"General Olg, Colonel Guderian, I have something to discuss with you. Do you have time now? ”

"Yes, Your Highness!" The two replied as they saluted.

"Well, that's good! Come to the Legion Headquarters in a moment! After Chen Tian finished speaking, he rolled up the window, and the car drove away.

Olg and Guderian looked at each other, said a few words to the officers next to them, and then boarded their cars and hurried to the regimental headquarters.

Where they had left, tanks were moving their heavy bodies, the roar of engines mingling with the reassuring shouts of the soldiers.

When Olg and Guderian arrived at Tatsuten's office, Tatsuten and Hoffman were already waiting there.

The room was filled with the strong aroma of coffee, and Chen Tian and Hoffman sat on the sofa and tasted coffee, there was also a delicate coffee pot on the coffee table in front of them, and the other two coffee cups with oriental characteristics seemed to be prepared for the two of them.

"You may be seated!" Chen Tian motioned for the two of them to sit on the sofa together, it didn't seem like a formal meeting.

"His Royal Highness the Prince came to us just to taste coffee!" Olg said half-jokingly.

Guderian sat down with some restraint and listened quietly to what the others were saying.

"That's right, I just went with the Chief of the General Staff to inspect the front line, and by the way, I had a close look at the French defense line on the Seine." Chen Tian elegantly held the coffee cup and told them what he had seen and heard before.

"This line of defense seems ordinary, but in fact it is not simple at all!" Olg said with some regret, "It's a pity that our tanks are landlubbers, and we can't cross the river without the help of pontoons, unless the river is only half a meter deep." ”

"Submersible tanks are theoretically feasible, but our technical level is far from being reached, and perhaps in another 20 years there will be tanks that are not afraid of water." Chen Tian remembered those wading tanks with long snorkels on their heads, and if there was such a thing, the Seine was no different from a small ditch.

It's a pity that it's the 10s of the 20th century.

Guderian thought silently alone, without saying a word.

"My plan was to find a breakthrough in the French line along the river in the city, and after crossing the river, our armored forces quickly swept through the French lines and artillery positions in other sections. The French cannons, although hidden, were helpless against the targets that appeared in front of them. At that time, our army will be able to cross the river from other sections at the same time! After saying that, Chen Tian refilled another cup of coffee. In addition to refreshing, coffee is also said to be good for maintaining your figure.

"The French defense line on the Seine stretches for hundreds of kilometers from north to south, and whether it can ensure the supply of fuel and ammunition is very critical!" Olge's question is very on-point, and then he gives an answer that is not the answer in passing:

"So we need to build as many pontoon bridges as possible over the Seine, and we need to clear the French troops from the city on the west bank of the Seine as soon as possible!"

Hoffman consulted Chen Tian's opinion with his eyes, and then said: "According to rough calculations, we need to erect at least twenty pontoon bridges that can pass through one tank or armored vehicle at a time, and all this is done under the noses of 30,000 French troops, hundreds of heavy machine guns, and two hundred artillery pieces of various types. We had no cover for artillery fire other than tank guns and small-caliber infantry guns! ”

"God! What a crazy plan! Olg looked surprised, "Are our infantry going to wear thick armor to erect pontoon bridges?" ”

Hoffman shook his head.

"Colonel, do you have any different opinions on how to erect a pontoon bridge?"

Guderian looked up, and he was greeted by a look of anticipation.

"Me? Your Royal Highness, I'm not an expert in this area. As far as I know, the pontoon bridge is mainly composed of bridge piles and bridge decks, and the bridge piles are generally divided into floating bridge piles and fixed bridge piles. The bridge deck is generally divided into wooden beam plank deck and steel beam plank deck, infantry and small artillery to cross the river using wooden beams plank bridge deck and any kind of bridge piles, heavy artillery and tank armored vehicles need at least steel beam plank bridge deck and floating bridge piles or fixed bridge piles with sufficient buoyancy. ”

After Guderian finished speaking, Chen Tian couldn't help but snicker in his heart, this guy actually said that he was not an expert, he wrote a paper "On the Fast Crossing of the River by Tank and Armored Forces" at the Armored Academy, and the ideas and operational details in it made Chen Tian full of praise.

"Colonel Hoffman, tell me about the river we're going to cross!"

Hoffmann nodded, "The Seine is the fourth largest river in France. It flows into the central area of Paris from the southeast of Paris, and goes to the sea from the southwest, the Seine River is 12 kilometers long, the widest river is 190 meters long, the narrowest river is 25 meters long, the average width of the river is 100 meters, the water depth is 3-4 meters, the river flows slowly, and the bottom of the river is basically hard rock. ”

"Due to the wide surface of the river, it is impossible not to use piles. We don't have enough ships in our hands, and even if we had, the French could destroy them one by one at such a close distance, so there was no need to think about floating piles. Looks like we're left with the only way to fix the piles, Colonel, I'm right! After Chen Tian finished speaking, he turned to Guderian, he just nodded slightly, as if he was still figuring out his own thoughts.

"Then the question is what kind of piles to lay under the intensive fire of the French!" Chen Tian said in an accentuated tone, he was still constantly refining his ideas in his mind, and the original methods were constantly being replaced by better methods.

Maybe these three people can come up with a better way, Chen Tian thought.

"Suppress the French fire on the opposite bank with the whole regiment's tank guns, mortars, infantry guns, and machine gun fire, and then quickly erect the pontoon bridge with wooden and steel piles!" Hoffman's idea is not creative.

Perhaps the mind was enlivened by the aroma of coffee, and Olge's suggestion put everyone to shame: "Take advantage of the existing railway lines in Paris, let the train rush into the Seine, and use the body of the train across the river as a pontoon!" ”

This method may sound exaggerated, but when you think about it, it is possible.

Hoffmann did a quick calculation, "There were originally five railway bridges over the Seine, which means that there were five railway lines leading to the river. The river is not too wide in these five places, so even if the train does not reach the other side, the remaining distance will not be too long. The passenger compartment of the train is almost 3 meters high, so it is suitable to be used as a bridge pier after sinking to the bottom. ”

"This method cannot be used as the main way to cross the river, after all, it is difficult to predict the state of the train after it has rushed into the river, maybe it will only rush to the middle of the river, maybe the carriages will be folded together, and the infantry can barely pass over it, but the vehicles are unlikely. Still, I think we can use this as an aid to the river crossing, which can also attract the attention of the French! Chen Tian imagined in his mind the scene of trains roaring into the river, it must have been very spectacular.

"General Olg's idea has given me a big hint, and I think we can use a more moderate and stable approach!" Guderian said unhurriedly, "Cars! ”

"Cars!"

Chen Tian nodded, Guderian's thoughts coincided with his own. Chentian's original idea was to use the future mechanical engineering troops to erect pontoon bridges, but when he thought about it, first, the current technical conditions did not allow it, and there was no way to come up with so many new things in a short time. He also considered the method of using the assault team to secretly infiltrate behind enemy lines, but now there is no way to transport a large number of troops across the Seine River defense line to behind enemy lines, and the French artillery positions must be very tightly defended, even if an artillery position is placed with an infantry battalion, it will be very difficult for the assault team to sabotage, not to mention the large number of concealed positions of the French artillery positions. So, Chen Tian thought of the car.

The most primitive method was to use a car to carry earth and stone to create an artificial embankment on the surface of the river, but this method was slow and laborious, and completely blocking the river would inevitably cause the river to spread to both banks, so Chen Tian thought of sacrificing the car as a pier for a pontoon bridge.

"I think we can load a lot of earth and rock on the car, and then drive them into the river as piers, and then build the bridge deck on top of it. Only about 15 trucks would have to be sacrificed for such a 50-metre-long pontoon bridge, compared to 300 for 20 pontoons. Guderian outlined his vision.

"But can a car go that far? I mean, the first few are fine, but what about the lot near the other side? Olg asked, confused, as if he didn't quite understand the idea of using a car bridge.

"You'll know that then! Also, I have a better way than loading dirt and rock. Colonel Hoffman, you go and ask the soldiers to modify 300 trucks, how to modify them I will draw you a sketch in a moment, and at the same time make a batch of steel beams and planks out of rails and planks. In addition, we need a lot of smoke grenades, and the more there are, the better. Try to do it all in 5 days! Chentian's brain was running rapidly, his plan had gradually become clear, and now there were only a few details left to further improve.

"Yes!" Hoffmann didn't quite understand either, but everything would be answered in five days.

Over the next few days, the East Prussian regiment was in full swing at the station, and Guderian personally went to the banks of the Seine to observe and measure, and to select all the suitable sites for the implementation of the river crossing plan. In the end, Chentian selected 20 of the sections with a river width of 30-50 meters as the breakthrough sites.

Almost every night, Chen Tian and Guderian fought in the headquarters at night, carefully figuring out every detail of this battle plan until it became a foolproof plan.

On the other hand, Org also ordered his soldiers to repair some of the damaged railroads in Paris, and the train specially prepared for the attack slowly entered the city on the fifth day.

By the time the sun went down on the fifth day, Hoffmann had all the special trucks and axles ready.

In Chentian's opinion, everything is ready now, and even the east wind is not lacking.

If it's a foggy night, then everything is perfect.

Falkenhain walked to the window of the command room, it seemed that it was a clear night full of stars, and he was just about to enjoy the view, when a staff officer stepped aside and reported:

"The Chief of the General Staff, the call of the Prince of East Prussia!"

"Hmm!" Falkenhain walked briskly over to the phone, "Uh-huh, yes, I see!" Okay, that's it! ”

After putting down the phone, he turned to his staff officer and said, "Order the armies to launch artillery bombardment of the French positions on the opposite bank, and take up the posture of preparing to cross the river, but not a single soldier is allowed to cross the river without my orders!" ”

"Yes!"

When the rumbling cannon rang out across the land, the Chentian Division, which had quietly driven into the city of Paris before, began to move towards the riverside.

The sound of distant cannon fire drowns out the mechanical sound of vehicle engines and tracks grinding, and at the head of the legion are some strange-looking trucks with large shells like turtles, or rather, their compartments have been converted into large square boxes. The four meters tall iron boxes and the chassis are welded from steel plates, reinforced with steel pipes or columns, and the lower part of the box is filled with earth and stone.

The strange convoy stopped on a street in front of the riverbank, and soon after, large puffs of white smoke drifted from above, and the river was suddenly filled with fog.

Woo......

In the area where the railway bridge was originally built, the whistle of the train suddenly came from the fog.

"Wasn't the railway bridge completely blown up?" The French soldiers on the other side were bewildered.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise on the surface of the river, as if a giant whale was lapping at the water. This was followed by a loud, dull explosion, a sound so different from a bomb explosion that it was like a ......

"A train rushed into the Seine, and the boiler of the locomotive exploded!" The French soldiers on the other side hurriedly picked up the phone and reported to their superiors.

In the mist, the train loomed like a winding serpent across the Seine, and the locomotive was less than 10 meters away from the west bank.

The French have not yet figured out what is going on, the fog on the river has become thicker and thicker, the visual distance has dropped to a few meters, the world here seems to be swallowed by the fog, and even the "big snake" has quietly disappeared into the thick fog.

General Simão, the French commander of the Paris section of the Seine Line, was already busy, and it was a strange night for him. While the rest of the line was shelled by the Germans, the city remained calm, but he soon noticed that there was a heavy fog for no apparent reason, and his soldiers reported that trains had rushed into the Seine in five sections, two of which had locomotives hit the banks of the river.

Simão quickly reacted that this must have been deliberately made by the Germans.

"Damn the Germans, they actually came up with such a despicable way to cross the river!"

Simão angrily picked up the phone, "Hey, pick up the artillery for me...... Major Vassell? Yes, I am General Simão, and I order you to shell the river in these 5 sections, the coordinates are ...... What's what? There are a lot of valuable buildings out there, to hell with them! Do you want to spend the rest of your life in a German prisoner of war camp? Shell me, bombardment! If there is anything to lose in our construction, everything is credited to the Germans! Uh-huh, good job! ”

After putting down the phone, Simão was still not very reassured, and he decided to transfer part of the reserve team to those accident areas.

"Order the defenders everywhere to keep a close watch on the movements of the Germans, and report to me as soon as something like this happens!"

In the five sections where the train entered the water, although the French did not see the Germans, the French soldiers desperately fired into the foggy water, small-caliber shells and strings of machine-gun bullets kept piercing into the fog, and the bullets and shells fired from the opposite bank made people feel as if what they fired was being bounced back. The battle was fiercely fought with no opponent in sight, and soon the French large-caliber artillery shells joined the chaos of the battle, with buildings constantly being hit by shells, and the flames and flames of the explosion looming in the fog.