"Blue is better than blue, that's what we're talking about." Su Xin smiled, "The Germans don't seem to have ironclad chariots like ours, I'd love to see how they look when they see us." ”

Xiao Yi smiled and didn't speak again, but focused on the operation.

After completing all the preparations, Xiao Yat looked at the table again, and the hands on the watch showed the current time: 6:20.

"Get out of the way!" Su Xin let out a snort, started the tank and drove forward along the lane marked with the line belt last night, stabbing and smoking.

It was just dawn and visibility was only about 400 yards, but as planes flew low and covered by propeller noise from time to time, the pilots of the British Empire could still see the torrent of steel rushing forward in a trapezoidal array on the endless plains in front of the forest.

In the advancing tank ranks, at the forefront were 20 "Land Cruisers." "These behemoths form the top of the trapezoid, and on their flanks are the single-turret twin-gun tanks of the squadron. On their outside, there were diamond-shaped tanks of the British team. Behind these tanks. It was a group of British infantry with heavy equipment on their backs.

In order to achieve the suddenness of the attack, the British commander, General Julian Bing, canceled the routine barrage of barrage fire before the attack, and as a result, the Germans suffered a completely unexpected attack. When the earth-shattering tank group quickly approached the trenches of the German front, the Germans did not react at all.

The tank quickly rushed to the front of the trench, and when Xiao Yat saw the wide and deep trench in the distance from the observation window, he couldn't help but be taken aback, and immediately ordered to stop advancing.

Because the width and depth of the trench in front of them were completely different from the information they had received before.

As Haig irresponsibly threw tanks, a new weapon, into battle in Flanders, the Germans had sensed the threat posed by tanks and dug their trenches wider. It was reached the width of a desert and was used to stop the advance of the tank.

Now Xiao Yat "understands what the British are doing with the bundles of firewood that the British bundle behind his tank."

Groups of British infantry stepped forward quickly, untied the bundles of firewood tied behind the tanks and threw them into the deep trenches dug by the Germans, and soon filled in the trenches and built bridges that were convenient for the tanks to pass through.

Through the observation window, Xiao Yi saw two German machine gunners wearing nail helmets not far away who were desperately manipulating a heavy machine gun and shooting a stream of fire at his side.

The bullets hit the solid tank armor with a screeching sound, and without waiting for his "Land Cruiser" to fire, a two-turret tank had run over the German machine-gun position, and the two German machine gunners immediately discarded their machine guns and fled, but then the British infantryman's guns rang out, and the two Germans froze, then shook and fell into the trench.

Xiao Yi observed the situation around him, and instead of what he imagined the fierce resistance of the Germans might be, what he saw was just the opposite, the Germans at the outpost were completely stunned by the torrent of steel rushing up, many of them just fired their guns and fled, and many more chose to lay down their arms and surrender.

Xiao Yi's "Land Cruiser" burst into the German line without firing a shot, and more tanks poured in, and the Germans were in a short panic. It was quickly recovered, and the excellent combat qualities of the Prussian soldiers can be said to have played a crucial role at this moment.

Seeing the steel monster rushing up, the Germans began to fire flat with artillery, and with one shell after another falling into the assault tank team, Xiao Yi knew that the real battle had begun.

With the roar of German artillery, there were clusters of fire in the tank troops, Xiao Yi saw a large-caliber shell hit a British diamond-shaped tank, a huge flame instantly surrounded the tank, and several British soldiers covered in fire got out of the tank and rolled on the ground.

Realizing that his tank was rushing too fast and was in danger, he chose a suitable position to shoot and stopped, and the "Land Cruiser" was like an angry lion, with a main turret and four auxiliary turrets firing at the time of the fire, firing at the surrounding German troops.

As more tanks stopped and began firing, groups of German soldiers were knocked to the ground, more German soldiers turned and ran, and the German artillery fire became messy and inaccurate. ,

Seeing the tragic situation of the German army retreating and fleeing, Xiao Yi didn't know why. There is a feeling of being in a dream.

By nightfall, the British Third Army and the First Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had infiltrated 12,000 yards on a six-mile front. The operation was an indisputable victory, as the British and Chinese captured the German trenches at an unusually small cost of less than 6,000 casualties. 112 tanks were destroyed by German artillery fire, another 170 tanks broke down or capsized in the trenches, and the British and Chinese captured a total of 17,500 German prisoners. By 7 p.m., as night fell, the assault forces had occupied a wide area of their salient and had driven the Germans out completely, with the British Mi-Banner and the Chinese Five-Colour X-Banner flying over the town of Cambrai. With no tank support, these lost German positions were almost impossible to attack.

When the news of the victory came, General Haig's first reaction was not to believe it was true. Hul legs

As the supreme commander of the British army on the Western Front, General Haig rarely won battles on the battlefield, and he habitually despised his Chinese allies, and in the eyes of many, his understanding of China remained at the level of the beginning of the last century. So when the news of Cambrai's victory came, he was completely overwhelmed by the expansion of his gains at Cambrai. With no more reserves, neither the British nor the Chinese could continue to advance (the follow-up forces of the Chinese army had not yet arrived at sea).

However, Haig was extremely greedy for the victory he had already won, and despite being warned by his staff about the possibility of a German comeback, he was resolutely unwilling to give up the territory he had already captured. However, if the British and Chinese troops remained in place. They were dangerously exposed to a possible German attack on three fronts, plus the weather was unusual. Unexpected early entry into cold and rainy storm climates, and the time that could be used for combat will soon come to an end. At this critical moment, Haig, as the supreme commander, always showed hesitation.

General Julianbin and the actual commander of the squadron, General Chen Huan, were very annoyed by Haig's performance, and they repeatedly sent people urging Haige to send reinforcements, but Haig replied with some embarrassment that they should not expect any more reserves, that he had no troops to send now, and that the British army still needed to support the demoralized Italian army in Caporetto.

The decision to transfer the only five combat-ready divisions to Italy was a decision made by the British command on the basis of imperfect intelligence or erroneous judgment, and in fact at a previous high-level military meeting of the Allied bloc, the staff officers of Austria-Hungary and Germany had already discussed the decision to gradually reduce operations on the Italian front as the winter storm approached.

Both Bin and Chen were aware. They were now in the difficult position of fighting a major battle with the Germans in a situation of declining strength and without the support of a fresh army.

But at this time the population in the rear did not understand the real situation at the front, and people were tormented by the news of the defeat for too long. The success of the Cambrai assault operation has undoubtedly given people a glimmer of hope.

In celebration of the victory at Cambrai, all the church bells in London rang in unison to celebrate the victory (the only time in the Great War), and Chinese plays were staged in the major theaters of Paris to show gratitude and reverence for the squadron's contributions, and the King of England and the President of France sent congratulatory telegrams to Yuan Shikai, the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, "Congratulations on the squadron's great military achievements and contribution to the just cause of the Allies." ”

All the people did not know that Cambrai's victory was only temporary. Although the battle of Cambrai compared to the Battle of the Somme and the Flemish tank battles showed that the concentrated use of tanks could break the stalemate on the battlefield, it is remarkable that the British did not choose to go down the right path in the end, and their enemies got the most out of this battle.

The German Supreme Commander Ludendorff initially reacted somewhat panickedly to the German rout, but he recovered soon after, and after fully understanding the situation at the front, Ludendorff told his men, "The new weapon of the tank is annoying enough, but it is not decisive yet." Hindenburg also had a more sober assessment of tanks, saying to the panicked German Kaiser Wilhelm II: "The British and Chinese offensive at Cambrai revealed for the first time the possibility of a large-scale surprise attack using tanks capable of quickly crossing our undamaged trenches and obstacles, which could not but have a significant effect on our defensive troops." The infantry felt practically powerless against the side armor of the tank. As soon as this motor vehicle breaks through our trench line, the defending troops will feel threatened in their rear and leave their posts. It was this tactic that the Zhongwei people used to defeat the Japanese before. This can be said to be a very successful combat experience, and for us, we can also use a kind of method to deal with our enemy. ”,

Hindenburg's words gave great confidence to the novelty-loving "German Peacock" Wilhelm II, after he had finished his conversation with Hindenburg. Immediately ordered to begin the development of German tanks. And this decision had a huge impact on the subsequent battle situation.

After a careful analysis of the situation on the battlefield. Ludendorff ordered reinforcements to rush to the zone. The Germans lost no time in getting reinforcements from their Fourth Army in Flanders. Other reserves also set off from the increasingly calm Eastern Front through Germany's efficient domestic rail network. Thanks to the strong reinforcements, the Germans emboldened themselves to attack the positions of the British and Chinese troops, and fierce battles unfolded in various battlefields, and the two sides were intertwined and entangled. The fighting quickly turned into isolated, often melee-skirmished. The squadron, as at the beginning of the battle, continued to be the vanguard of the battle. The Chinese soldiers showed extraordinary strength and bravery in the battle, and they held their positions inch by inch, and resolutely refused to give up until the last moment. Unlike the heroic fighting of the Chinese army, the morale of the British soldiers was low, and the British Third Army was incapacitated by the lack of reserves, and could only struggle under the cover of squadrons and a few Canadian and Indian troops, while the German army, which had replenished its strength, was able to fight effectively. In a dense massive counterattack of the Germans that followed. In one fell swoop, the Germans recaptured some of the places lost on the first day of the battle. After a week of fierce fighting, the British left their eastern allies and fled alone, and the Chinese could not support themselves and had to retreat backwards, reducing their possession of the salient to half.

Due to the irresponsible retreat of the British army, the squadron suffered a lot of losses, and the commander of the squadron, Crown Prince Yuan Keding, went to the British headquarters to scold all the British people he saw, and the spit even sprayed on General Haig's face, which made Haig angry. But even this is to no avail, Haig still refused to send reinforcements to the British and Chinese troops defending the Cambrai salient before the arrival of the American army, this is not a personal vendetta of Haig's communiqué, in fact, he does not have troops to send, because his soldiers always die surprisingly fast, London does not leave troops, unwilling to send more troops in his hands in the country that has been difficult to build, Lloyd George is worried that once they reach Haig's hands, they will disappear without a trace like snowflakes falling in flames, The defeat suffered by the squadron also indirectly confirmed that His Excellency the Prime Minister's concerns were not unreasonable.

In the ensuing period, several days of storms prevented all military operations by both warring sides. The fighting over the past few weeks had resulted in 53,000 British casualties and 12,000 Chinese casualties, with the Germans losing roughly the same number of personnel as the British. More than 16,000 German troops were captured, the British army was about 9,000 prisoners, and the Chinese army was about 3,000 prisoners. About a hundred British and Chinese tanks were destroyed in the battle (the Germans had already discovered that some of their guns could destroy those terrible tanks by flat fire), and about the same number of tanks fell into German hands, including 10 heavy new, "Land Cruisers".

When the news of the large-scale counteroffensive of the German army and the later retreat of the British and Chinese troops reached the rear. The joy of London and Paris suddenly turned to depression. Details of the battle soon spread. Many people learned from this information that after the Germans had moved up, the British soldiers saw their cavalry being killed in large numbers and their infantry under attack, because the terrain they were in was actually unable to provide effective cover for holding and fighting, or for a safe retreat. Tanks also played a large role in the defense, but when they lacked fuel, they became a living target for German artillery once they became fixed gun forts for the defense of trenches. The Germans destroyed them one by one with artillery. The Germans, who were good at mechanics, even put the captured British and Chinese tanks into battle after simple modifications and repairs, and these tanks also played a great role in the battle, and the British faced their own tanks. Like the Germans, they behaved in a panic and collapsed.

The German offensive was met with strong resistance from the Chinese army, but due to the lack of effective support from the British army, the Chinese army, which was increasingly short of ammunition, was in an increasingly difficult situation, and the change in this difficult situation was the arrival of the American army. The first American troops to arrive assisted the Chinese army to withstand the German attack and stabilize the front, but the American army also suffered a lot of casualties, the American army lost nearly 4,000 people in the first day of fighting, with the support of the American army, the British and Chinese troops finally stabilized their positions, and the German army also lost the sharpness of the beginning after continuous attacks. In order to avoid greater casualties. Ludendorff decisively gave the order to stop the attack. Then the storm returned to the area, turning it into a place of mud and flooding, and the military operations on both sides came to a complete halt. ,

The result of the tank battle of Cambrai, the losses of the two warring sides can be said to be equal, no one took too much advantage, the most important result of the battle of Cambrai is that both sides of the war are aware of the importance of tanks. The tactical deployment of tanks in Cambrai has shown that the appropriate use of a sufficient number of mobile armored vehicles can effectively change the situation in battle. When the British army fell behind at Cambrai, as was often the case at the end of many previous campaigns. The British opened an investigation by a military court. As usual, the court concluded that all the disastrous consequences were the fault of the junior officers and sergeants. All the actions of the generals are, of course, beyond reproach. The relevant battle records reveal that before the German counterattack began, many junior officers in the British army were deeply aware of the imminent enemy counterattack, and made suggestions to their superiors more than once, but the warnings of the British officers were ignored by the superior commanders without exception. In contrast, the situation of the Chinese army was slightly better, because of the relationship between the French and German armies, the senior generals and junior officers and men of the Chinese army did not underestimate the combat effectiveness of the German army, so the Chinese army was able to react relatively quickly at the beginning of the German counterattack, thus avoiding a rout like the British army.

The Germans apparently summed up the lessons of this battle more profoundly, and while the British were still squabbling over the budget for ordering 4,000 tanks from the United States, the Germans had already begun rapid and large-scale tank production based on captured Chinese tanks. And the Germans' use of these tanks made them almost win the war.

(To be continued!)