"Jurgen, teach that rookie how to use his machine gun to kill people!" Rommel kicked Jurgen, and just as Prinz was at a loss for what to do with the heading machine gun in front of him, a voice was heard from above, and then Jurgen was heard muttering, "You were so imposing when you first became the commander!" ”

Rommel looked up after the order was given, and a second lieutenant platoon commander next to him handed him a cigarette as a reward for giving him a ride with five other soldiers. Rommel liked to chat with the grenadier platoon commander named Manstein, he was a Prussian nobleman at a glance, he was an officer at a young age, he could keep his clothes tidy on the dirty battlefield, and the most important thing was that he did not reject his dirty tank soldiers, and Rommel could also gain a lot of knowledge from chatting.

If Rommel had known the background of this noble officer, he would not have chatted so easily. Manstein, also known as von Lewinsky, was born to an army general who was later succeeded to his brother-in-law, another general. His grandfather and uncle were both Prussian generals, and his uncle was General Hindenburg, commander of the Eighth Army on the Eastern Front.

To serve as an officer in the grassroots units in order to hone his will and improve his command ability, this was proposed by Manstein to his family. Before the war, his family wanted to transfer him to Uncle Hindenburg's department on the Eastern Front, after all, it would be easier to fight against Russia, and most of the family's generals believed that Moltke Jr.'s advance would lead to nothing, or even total annihilation. When this corps suddenly appeared in France, it would be surrounded and suppressed by the French army, and if the main force on the right flank could not break through Belgium in time, Moltke Jr. would have to be wiped out.

Manstein was unclear as to what the outcome would be, but his instincts told him that Moltke Jr.'s armoured forces would work miracles, and that the education and advice he received from his family elders suggested that Moltke Jr. would suffer a crushing defeat. Now, obeying orders means that as a Prussian officer, he has no tradition of retreating, at least he cannot be compared with these simple tank soldiers in front of him.

The consequence of maintaining an offensive posture and not having a strong defensive position was an easy breakthrough by the German tank units, and more than 3,000 French soldiers in front of them were stunned by the mysterious appearance of German armored units. They had neither strong positions, nor sufficient firepower, and even the soldiers did not have enough ammunition in their hands, and some of the officers remained in the town for fun.

Tank 205 appeared in front of a position, flanked by four other tanks, and behind it were the grenadiers covering the advance. The machine gun in charge of the rookie Prinz never fired, Jurgen taught him all the techniques at this moment, his brain went blank, and he was scrambling to fiddle with the machine gun, looking at the French soldiers who had fled from the trenches, Prinz's finger was on the trigger and it was not pulled.

Fortunately, the other coaxial machine gun played steadily, and the grenadiers led by Manstein behind the tank also opened fire with rifles and machine guns, and the accurate fire turned the fleeing romantic Frenchman into a disgusting corpse.

"Fifteen degrees on the right side, there is a suspicion of a battle defense cannon in the bushes!" Rommel was lying on his stomach at the top hatch like his predecessor, and the bullet bounced off the hatch next to him, just a few centimeters from his cheek. Rommel was like a hungry wolf on the hunt, constantly giving orders to fire.

With the exception of Prinz, the crew had a good rap approach, and a high-explosive shell quickly flew out of the chamber and hit the bush accurately, and the sparks scattered showed that there was indeed a French artillery piece there.

Even at a downturn, there was no shortage of warriors among the French soldiers who resisted to the death, and the grenadiers jumped into enemy trenches, and the fierce fighting made the recruits extremely uncomfortable. In the absence of melee weapons such as submachine guns, the German grenadiers could only compete with the French in courage, rifles did not have time to shoot bullets at close enemies, and bayonets and sapper shovels became the most effective weapons.

Transformed from a noble nobleman to a murderous demon, Manstein will cut off half of a Frenchman's head with a sapper shovel, then draw his pistol to take out another howling foe. The comrades-in-arms rushed to support, which greatly reduced the pressure on Manstein, and more and more French soldiers surrendered, most of the escapees were killed by tank machine guns, and several French soldiers who were crushed under the tank tracks made the rest of the people even more frightened.

The battle was of great significance, as the German advance was only about 30 kilometers away from the French town of Sedan. After committing two tank battalions and fifteen thousand grenadiers, the Germans eliminated more than 400 French soldiers, captured more than 2,000 and lost three tanks. After coming out of the Ardennes Forest, Moltke's armored forces won the first key battle.

At this time, Moltke was in high spirits, and as long as he captured Sedan, France was not far from defeat. The support of Field Marshal Schlieffen of the General Staff Headquarters made Moltke Jr. a lot less constrained, and he knew that many people were opposed to investing huge forces here, and if it were not for Field Marshal Schlieffen, it would have been impossible for him to carry out the plan. Moltke was also pleased with the performance of the tanks and grenadiers, who won comfortably in front of the unprepared French soldiers.

There are also many things that worry him, the biggest problem is that the infantry cannot keep up with the speed of the armored forces, the 1st Panzer Division, as the vanguard, lacks infantry cover, and a large number of artillery is also lagging behind in the Ardennes forest. If the French Third and Fourth Armies moved south, Moltke's armored forces would face annihilation. In addition, the situation of logistics and transportation can be described as "pessimistic", only about half of the combat vehicles of the 1st Panzer Division have sufficient fuel, and the loss of ammunition cannot be replenished in time. The 1st Panzer Division could only wait for the arrival of supplies in the rear before launching a new offensive, and the delay in time made Moltke Jr. anxious.

The order had been given to step up the transport of supplies and the infantry to speed up, but the reality could only make Moltke Jr. wait, he lacked most of the elements to launch a blitzkrieg, the air force to open the way, the lack of heavy firepower, the lack of infantry cover, the lack of means of transporting supplies. Fortunately, his opponent was also pure infantry, and even if the main force of the French in the north went south, it would not be able to reach Sedan to organize a defense in a short time, but pinning his hopes on the enemy was a sad thing in itself.

"When will General Moltke Jr.'s troops launch the Battle of Sedan?" Field Marshal Schlieffen in the General Headquarters was also anxious, and the staff officers found that their Marshal actually showed a rare anxious look, but the prestige of the Marshal and His Majesty the Emperor in the command made them tense their nerves and devote themselves to their work.

A lieutenant colonel's staff officer immediately responded: "The 3rd Infantry Corps has arrived on the outskirts of the Ardennes Forest, and the 2nd Panzer Corps, which is advancing from the flank, is about to join up with the 1st Panzer Corps. However, according to the logistics department, most of the supplies are still concentrated in the middle of the Ardennes forest, where muddy roads make it difficult for them to walk, lack of trucks and other means of transportation, and relying on mules and horses alone is very inefficient. It was calculated that it would take at least a week for the 1st Panzer Division and the 3rd Infantry Corps to attack. ”

"We don't have that much time to squander, and in a week Xia Fei's troops will be able to organize a strong defense at Sedan, and the speed advantage of the armored forces will be lost. Let the forces that Moltke Jr. can dispatch to capture Sedan immediately, and give all the supplies that can be collected to the attacking troops, at least, to take Sedan before the French army reacts, even if the losses are worth it. Involve all the soldiers in the rear in the transportation of supplies, reduce rest time, and send fuel and ammunition to tanks and soldiers on the front line as soon as possible. We can't afford death and defeat more than we are tired! ”

Perhaps God was on the side of the Germans, and an hour later Schlieffen received a telegram from Moltke Jr., which pleased him - a tank detachment and a platoon of grenadiers had captured a huge warehouse of supplies, and the French fled too quickly to destroy it, and as a result, the German army was short of supplies.

Rommel felt that this was enough to reward himself and his crew, and at the moment he was staying on the 205 tank to share French jerky and wine with his men, while the large number of soldiers sent by the division headquarters to carry supplies were present.

Rommel's tank platoon and Manstein's grenadiers were ordered to sweep around the battlefield, with the destination being a French village three kilometers away. After arriving here, a company of French soldiers simply surrendered after a slight resistance, and after interrogation, there was a huge supply warehouse to supply the three thousand French soldiers here. The most important of these were more than 300 tons of fuel, more than 50 trucks, and 10,000 shells that could match tank guns.

These supplies were enough to satisfy Moltke's offensive ambitions, and after the 1st Panzer Division was replenished, Moltke ordered the 1st Panzer Regiment and the two grenadier regiments to concentrate most of the supplies and immediately march towards Sedan. Captured French trucks with artillery provided fire support to this force, and their mission was to capture Sedan and build a defense in place, repelling the French attacking forces and waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

The morning sun shines on the land, but everything here is nothing short of peaceful. The 205 tank broke a small sapling and sped forward with the roar of machinery. The tracks of the tank pressed over the muddy ground and rolled forward with black dirt.

"Boom!" An explosion was heard in the distance, a shell hit the village in the distance, and on both sides of the road, the corpses of a dozen Belgian soldiers were lying on each other, and in the village, a machine-gun position was firing fiercely at the approaching tanks.

The bullet hit the tank's turret, sending a splash of sparks, but it did not stop the tank's advance, and on the bullet-riddled tank armor, a vague set of numbers - 205 - was written in hollow numbers. Rommel's crew of the 1st Panzer Division was on the offensive, and their goal was to capture the huge bridge behind the village. (To be continued.) )