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……

"Major, please move the headquarters back five hundred meters!"

"No, no, I have to see the soldiers destroy the British's tanks!"

Richie was slightly embarrassed and half-bent over the dirt wall of the bunker, because the Allied shelling was so fierce that the top floor of the bunker was always falling dirt, as if the bunker was about to collapse in the next moment.

This is the second line of defense on the right flank of the Somme battlefield, and the position of the first line of defense in front is a life-and-death contest, and the lives of soldiers are dying every moment amid the roaring sound of artillery and gunfire.

The war had been going on until September 13, 1916, and the battlefield of the Somme entered a new phase. Yesterday the Allies put a new weapon of war on the battlefield, a war machine called a tank.

The British Army named the tank that was put into battle for the first time Mark-I. The diamond-shaped configuration of this tank is characterized by the combination of the chassis and the upper body into a tall diamond shape, coupled with a low center of gravity and extra-long tracks, as if the entire tank hull was turned into a large wheel, so that the body can roll through all barbed wire and large and small trenches.

When the Germans on the Somme Line first saw a war machine called a tank, they were surprised at the first sight of the tank, even though they had been informed in advance that the enemy would be deploying a weapon called a tank.

The German soldiers should be surprised! Although they had known for a long time that rifles could not be used against tanks, and that barbed wire and trenches were useless against tanks, what they heard was not the same as seeing tanks wading through barbed wire and trenches!

The British attacked with 56 Mark-I tanks, some armed with heavy machine guns only, others with artillery and heavy machine guns.

The first tanks to be put into the battlefield, they were the sound of roaring engines, the tracks grinding mud and everything that could be crushed, and then in the rain of German bullets, the shells sounded the sound of "Ding Zero", layer by layer through the barbed wire, and the Hotchkiss navy on both sides fired 57mm rapid-fire shells, blasting the heavy machine gun positions in the German bunkers into slag one by one.

In addition to the Hotchkiss Navy's 57mm rapid-fire guns, several Vickers machineguns were constantly tilting the lethal furious metal.

With the exception of a few unlucky Mark-I's who were reimbursed for a gun hit, the rest of the tanks were crushing and advancing, and the Germans on the line were jumping in a row, but at least they didn't immediately retreat after the shock.

The retreat of the Germans was after discovering that there was no way to take the tanks after paying great casualties, they did not learn how to deal with the tanks, and almost in a dense formation charged the tanks, and then one by one they fell under the tanks' guns and machine guns and became a corpse.

56 Mark-I tanks, they advanced about 3 km, and along the way there were always tanks that suddenly came to a standstill. Until all the tanks stopped, the tanks were put into battle for the first time and achieved the total results of the Allied infantry in the past nearly three months, which was about 4 kilometers to break through the German lines.

The fact that the British tanks would stop was not how many serious losses the German counterattack caused them, in fact, there were only 5 tanks destroyed by the Germans, of which 4 were destroyed by long-range artillery and 1 was blown up by German infantry with cluster grenades. In addition to the 5 vehicles damaged in the battle, 33 of them broke down after only 3 kilometers of advance, and the tank commander decided that the remaining 18 vehicles could not risk advancing, so they were all stopped.

Some Germans saw the tanks stop, thinking that the steel weapon of war had lost its ability to move, and they jumped out of the trenches to go over and capture it.

The immobility of the tanks did not mean that the threat was lost, and the German soldiers who jumped out of the trenches and launched a charge were once again baptized by tank artillery and heavy machine guns, except for a few soldiers who had to run back to the trenches when they saw the opportunity, and the rest fell to the ground as corpses.

Leach's brigade had been transferred to the front on September 14, 1916, and until they were transferred, the two sides had been fighting between the first and second lines of German defense. However, for the first time in the Somme, however, the German casualties were higher than those of the Allies, thanks to the Mark-I tank.

The German army on the battlefield of the Somme was originally less than the Entente side, and it has always relied on a lower battle loss rate than the Allied side to hold on, if the battle loss rate cannot be advantaged, the German army will soon lose the advantage it originally held, and finally let the Entente win the Battle of the Somme. And this was unacceptable to several army group commanders on this side of the Somme!

The time has come to test Richie's abilities once again! He was ordered to organize a brigade in August, which was supposed to be a reserve for the whole campaign, but later he repeatedly reported the need for a force capable of dealing with tanks. Feng. Bello and Marx. Feng. Galvetz took the lead in allowing a series of tactical training for tanks to take place.

At the last moment when he was transferred to the battle line, Richie's brigade was still in a state of inadequacy, and in fact, the so-called tank training was only some targeted tactics, but it must be noted that some veterans only needed to mention a little, and the tactics were not very complicated, just for tank firepower blind spots and some covert infantry tactics.

"Major!" Adolph. Hitler, panting, ran into the bunker, saluted, and said with excitement on his face: "We have already produced results!" A total of 4 tanks were destroyed! ”

Li Qi looked calm, and nodded: "The machine gun has made a meritorious service, right?" ”

"Yes, yes!" Adolph. As if he had seen with his own eyes how it was destroyed, Hitler described the scene with emotion, and then said with a look of respect: "As you guessed, this new weapon called a tank...... Armor? Right! It's armor! Its armor is not thick, and the cannon can beat it into a sieve! ”

[At least at this point, history has not changed, then the facts have confirmed that machine guns can stop tanks!] 】

It was clear to Li Qi that those soldiers had been trained in tank tactics, but if they were to be allowed to fight tanks in the flesh, the casualties would inevitably be large, and the soldiers would need to adapt to the new tactics to gradually reduce the casualties. What he wants now is to send a satisfactory answer to those generals who trust and support him, and then the twenty or so machine guns equipped with them will become the key!

"Adolf, convey my order, be sure to let all artillery groups pay attention to the safety of movement, and pay attention to concealment when setting up machine guns!"

"Yes, yes, the enemy's tanks are relatively scattered, our artillery crews need to be on the move all the time, I will faithfully convey your orders!"

Richie straightened his back slightly, looking at Adolf in excitement. Hitler left.