PS: Sorry, the first morning is a little late.

The jeep stopped in a small village on the border of the Ardennes in Belgium, and Lieutenant General Moltke got out of the car, patted the dust off his body, and the mud on his military boots made Little Moltke frown, and then immediately walked to the army group headquarters in the village. Even with his attention to appearance, he could only adapt to the dirt of the battlefield as much as possible, as the armored troops and grenadiers rolled forward, rolling up countless dirt and dust, and the tank tracks pressed through the snow, the weight and heat of which quickly melted the snow and created a muddy state on the road.

The headquarters of the army group had been laid out long before Moltke Jr. arrived, and the rigorous staff officers meticulously arranged the headquarters, next to a building in the center of the village, lined with tall communication antennas, which would become the center of the First Army's command of front-line operations.

"Is the field phone system set up?" Moltke Jr. walked into the command headquarters, shook hands with the deputy commander, General Hausen, and asked dryly.

"It has been set up, the signal corps has connected the telephone lines to the various units, and the command has already contacted them, and it seems that the telephone system is performing well and the communication quality is very good." Field communications were also an important part of the combat effectiveness of the troops, and the German army introduced a field telephone system from China in early 1909, the most notable feature of which was that it could make long-distance calls, which was crucial for operational command.

"Tell me about the current situation!" After Moltke finished speaking, an operational staff officer pointed to a large military map and explained in detail.

"The 1st Panzer Corps has entered the Ardennes Forest for fifteen kilometers and has not encountered the enemy at the moment, and the 2nd Panzer Corps is ready to set off and is expected to arrive here and here by noon today. Three of our other infantry corps and a brigade of national militia will also depart this evening into the Ardennes Forest. ”

Moltke nodded, discussed the battle plan with General Hausen and the staff officers, and then walked out of the headquarters, followed by General Hausen.

"Is there anything the general is worried about?" General Hausen asked softly when he saw Moltke's brows furrowed.

"There is some concern, General Hausen, that our battle plan is a gamble, and the most crucial point in this gamble is whether we and the Second Army can quickly pass through the Ardennes Forest and appear behind the flanks of the British and French forces. As soon as the French send troops into this forest, our advance will be greatly hampered, and the delay of time will lead to unforeseen consequences. Our armored forces are not suitable for fighting in mountainous forests, and the French also have a considerable number of tanks! ”

"As far as I know, the French put most of their tanks in the border barrier area, and there won't be many in Belgium."

"The problem is again, the left flank is only 9 infantry divisions, it is too weak, it is easy for the French to break through the border defenses, if the main forces of the right flank cannot bypass it in time, it will be a huge fiasco."

General Hausen did not answer, and like most generals and staff officers, he chose to believe in Schlieffen, the chief of the General Staff, and even more so in the invincibility of the German army. Lieutenant General Moltke is making a bit of a fuss! After saying a word to Moltke Jr., General Hausen turned back to the headquarters, where there was still a myriad of jobs to be done for him, not as leisurely as Moltke Jr.

The most critical and complicated work is logistics and transportation, and with two armored corps and three infantry corps, such a large number of troops need a myriad of materials, which has also caused heavy work pressure on the logistics department. It's still on the march, and once the war begins, the logistical lists submitted by the various units can collapse the people in charge.

The logistics staff envy the front-line soldiers who only need to reach out for supplies, while the front-line soldiers envy the logistics staff who do not have to bear huge danger to their lives. However, not all soldiers have this kind of comparison mentality, such as Corporal Rommel in car 205, what he is most looking forward to is to meet the enemy and kill him, and it seems that their opportunity has come at present.

"Hey, bro, what's going on up ahead?"

"There is a Belgian defensive position, where is your company commander?" A scout on a motorcycle made a difficult and slow advance from the dirt road, and Commander 205 Karl stood on top of the tank and asked politely, everyone knew to be polite to the scout, and the information they brought was likely to decide their life and death.

"The fifth tank in the back, and then!" Carl pointed the Scout in the direction and threw him a box of cigarettes, which the Scout caught and thanked him before hurrying back.

Rommel also climbed out of the tank, and the tank company was resting on the side of the road, where a fuel supply station was set up, and Mark and Jurgen were helping to fill the tank.

"What happened?" Rommel asked.

"I don't know, maybe I met an enemy in front of me!" Karl pretended to be calm, but in fact, his heart was pounding, and everyone began to get nervous after listening to the commander's words - the fact that they were rookies on the battlefield could not be concealed by long-term training.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the commanders were called over by the company commander, and the order that Karl brought back was simple, the 205 car was advancing with the tank company, and a grenadier platoon about three kilometers ahead was blocked by the Belgians. The intelligence brought back by the scouts was not perfect, the Belgians had about a hundred troops, and the positions were rudimentary, but there were two artillery pieces that were well hidden and needed to be solved by tank companies.

"Mark, start the tank, let's go!" Karl ordered. On the way forward, Karl saw Panzergrenadiers from the division headquarters hastily retreating from the front, and two off-road vehicles with stretchers side by side, on which were lying groaning wounded soldiers.

The tracks of the tank pushed through the bushes, and the snow on them was shaken to the ground, and then it was rolled up by the tracks, mixed with black dirt, and thrown aside. The rumbling of the engine was accompanied by the clatter of broken branches. When German tanks appeared on the battlefield, they seemed to have a hint of unstoppable domineering.

When he arrived at the battlefield, a grenadier officer came over and explained to the stopped panzers what they might encounter for a while, he found a fallen tree as a table, spread out a partial map, and introduced to the commanders around him: "Let you support our attack, and I will briefly explain what happened just now: we have been attacked by the Belgians here and here, and they have built improvised defensive positions, and there may be two artillery pieces - but don't worry, the caliber should not be too large." ”

"How many people are there?" Company Commander Ivo tilted his head and looked at the map and asked questions that he was more concerned about.

"I really don't know, we were attacked while we were on the march, so we had to retreat first. Our retreat was not slow, but we also lost 13 men. I reckon they should be quite numerous, with at least three machine guns. The officer pointed to the map and said, "It may have formed a pocket-like defensive position, and it is very good at ambushing." ”

Not far away there was a rumbling explosion, and it seemed that the 150-mm guns of the Panzergrenadiers had begun to fire in retaliation. The earth trembled violently with the shelling, and everyone seemed to be in a bad mood listening to the sound of the artillery and looking at the moaning wounded soldiers.

"Two tanks 206 and 207 will take the lead, Karl, you are in charge of the left flank; Davis, you and I are on the right wing. Cover the grenadiers in the middle. Ivo assigned: "Rush directly over to destroy their defensive positions and drive them out of bunker with guided machine guns." The rest is left to the grenadiers. ”

"No problem." The grenadier commander nodded.

"Check the ammunition and reload the tank gun." Ivo ordered loudly: "Unload the excess fuel and the daily necessities piled on the tank, and hand them over to the battalion headquarters for safekeeping." Keep the intercom working. Get in. ”

"Car 205 is ready." Karl's tank was already in motion.

"Davis, everything is fine here." Car No. 204 also replied.

"Car 206 is fine." "Car 207 is fine."

"Let's go!"

Passing over a thicket, Karl got into the tank and pulled on the hatch of the tank. There was a very clear command in the headset, and he was in charge of the left flank of the entire attacking force, so his artillery was also slightly biased to the left.

"Rommel, I've handed it over to you. The location of the artillery of the opposing side was immediately reported. Mark, slightly accelerated, ready to stop at any moment. Watch out for the branches around you so they don't break our radio antennas. Karl commanded loudly.

In the periscope, he saw a destroyed armored car, parked in an open field, lonely and smoking. Around the wreckage of this armored car, there are also the bodies of several German ** people who have died.

"John, reload the high-explosive bombs." Karl thought for a moment, then added an order: "Jurgen, do you see the bush to your left?" I suspect that there is an anti-tank gun there. If you see it, just fire. ”

"Okay." Jurgen replied, and the turret began to move to the left little by little with his answer, and the gears made a nice click.

Soon the Belgian defenders' machine-gun positions opened fire, but this time they did not achieve the same spectacular results as the last time. After knocking out one infantryman, this exposed machine-gun position was suppressed by the guided machine gun of tank No. 205 on the front. (To be continued.) )