, the second decisive battle of the Ardennes offensive in 8671939

April 27, 1939, 8:30 p.m.

On a more than ten kilometer-long front on the northern edge of the Ardennes Forest, numerous signal flares rose from the French positions north of the forest almost simultaneously. There were red, yellow, and green ones, and this was all an order to fire at the artillery group in the rear. The previous day, the French had engaged a Moroccan infantry division to conduct several rounds of fire reconnaissance against the Chinese Panzergrenadiers holding the northern defensive line of the Ardennes Forest. The reality of some Chinese has been discovered. The defense line of the squadron was very sloppy, there were no deer barricades and barbed wire fences up to several hundred yards wide, no dense minefields, and no deep and long trench fortifications dug, as for whether the anti-artillery holes with the roof had been strengthened, it is unknown. Moreover, there are not many machine gun firing points for the Chinese, and no permanent anti-tank gun fire fortifications have been found. In most areas, there are only a few shallow trenches and makeshift fortifications made of sawn-down trees...... Such a line of defense is simply vulnerable in front of the French army, which is good at positional warfare! However, in order to ensure that the armored forces could break through the Chinese defense line at one time, the French still showed the strength to fight a positional battle in World War I, mobilizing more than 1,500 75mm, 105mm and 155mm caliber artillery from north of the Maas River. At this moment, they all started to show their power at the same time!

Patches of orange fire began to bloom along the entire front, followed by an earth-shattering explosion, as if an eighth-magnitude earthquake had occurred. More than 1,500 cannons spewed fire. In strict accordance with the coordinates determined in advance, the shells were projected. If you look down from the air, you will see that the northern edge of the Ardennes Forest seems to have ignited a wall of fire that is more than ten kilometers long and thousands of meters wide, and this wall of fire is still slowly moving southward, as if it wants to burn the entire forest and all the life in it to ashes!

Standing in Chapter 861 of the Chinese National Defense Forces, the troops were mobilized, heavy weapons were mobilized (of course, a lot of them were blown up), and now it is another shelling that has not stopped for most of the night! If nothing else, the French bombardment may last all night, right? The French tanks won't start their assault until dawn tomorrow, right?

Because, according to the weather forecast, tomorrow the whole of Belgium will be covered with rain clouds, and the Germans will have to temporarily withdraw from the sky. Therefore, the command of the army group had long expected that the French would take advantage of tonight's darkness and tomorrow's rain to launch a general offensive. However, they did not expect that the French would spend the whole night carrying out such an ineffective bombardment.

It's just that this kind of firepower preparation is of course a good effect against the infantry who stuck to the trenches in World War I, but after more than 20 years, it seems to be a bit outdated to deal with the mechanized troops who are excited and flexible, and have strong firepower and air superiority. Especially in this battle, China's 2 Panzergrenadier Divisions and a small number of No. 4 heavy tanks fought on the battlefield of most of the Ardennes Forest, and they did not care about those thin lines of defense at all. Unless the French can destroy the entire forest with artillery...... That is obviously impossible, otherwise such a massive shelling is simply a waste of ammunition.

And, of course, precious time!

According to reconnaissance, the French began to move their forces at the same time that Bastony was attacked by the squadron. It took them two full days to mobilize and deploy an army group from the north bank of the Maas River, consisting of an armored division, a light mechanized division (in effect, a newly formed and poorly equipped armored division), two infantry corps (with a motorized infantry division and a Moroccan infantry division), and a powerful artillery group. The troops were transported by a convoy of trucks and buses from the north of the Maas River directly to the small plains north of the Ardennes Forest. However, in Chapter 861, the command of the regimental army had already accurately judged the time of the start of the artillery bombardment from the fanfare of the French ** team, so the large force was withdrawn from the combat operation at the regimental level in Chapter 861, and more than 1,500 cannons were concentrated, which was much stronger than Lao Maozi. ”

Zhang Bingjun glanced back at this "old and young general" who was already in his 50s, and said with a smile: "Bogong (Pan Ershen character Lebo), this France is also an old imperialist, and its performance in World War I is better than that of Tsarist Russia, I don't know how much!" At that time, the British Expeditionary Force and the American Expeditionary Force used a lot of fire, even the Renault FT-17 tank that started with our armored forces was also French. Speaking of this, he frowned, "According to intelligence, their Charb1-BIS tank and G1R battle tank are not inferior to our number three!" That is, our 45.5-ton No. 4 tank can deal with it, but unfortunately the number of No. 4 is still too small...... It would be nice if each division could have a regimental number four. ”

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the focus of production has shifted to the navy, and the equipment of 8 armored divisions has not been upgraded for nearly 1 year, as well as 1 regiment of tank No. 2 (20 tons, different from the historical No. 2), 1 regiment of tank No. 3 (30 tons), plus 1 heavy tank battalion equipped with tank No. 4 (45.5 tons).

"What? Bingjun, scared? Pan Ershen looked at Zhang Bingjun with a smile and said, "I estimate that tomorrow the French will start attacking, and they can't wait." I have just received the news that this afternoon our 8th Panzer Division has broken the defenses of two French infantry divisions and taken control of the east bank of the Maas. Bastoni's Moroccan division was almost gone, and the German SS's 'Adolf. Hitler's Panzer Division had also been launched...... Wait any longer, and we'll have to dig up the French lair. I guess tomorrow the French will storm with all their might, and we won't be able to face 5 or 600 French tanks! There are 2 or 300 big guys over 30 tons, right? By then, more than 8,000 of our people will be pointing to your 65 No. 4 Miles. ”

Zhang Bingjun was serious by nature, and did not pay attention to Pan Ershen's jokes, but frowned and muttered: "To the north of the Ardennes is the Belgian plain and the main force of the Anglo-French alliance, to the south is the Maginot Line, and to the west is the French capital Paris!" So our Chapter 861 regimental army is now like a sharp knife stabbing into the heart of France! The French, though a little sluggish, were not stupid after all, and they should be able to see the importance of the Ardennes Forest. I reckon that a decisive battle will break out here in the Ardennes Forest to determine the final outcome of the Battle of France! It's done...... It's time for us to beat the gongs and drums and enter Paris! ”

……

At this time, the rear of the French army on the Ardennes Forest was in a small Belgian village on the north bank of the Maas River. In the temporary headquarters of the French Chapter 861 regimental army, the lights were bright and it was tense and busy. The commander of the French Chapter 861 Regiment in charge of the battle was Fourne. Morality. Lieutenant General Lawrence and Commander of the 1st French Panzer Corps, Charles Brown. Major General de Gaulle, along with an elite staff officer of the French Army, were gathering around the map table, planning the offensive campaign that was about to be launched.

For this battle, the two French generals were full of confidence, on the one hand, because the superiority of the French Army "the first in the world" was at work, and on the other hand, the strength in their hands was indeed very strong. The French Army under the jurisdiction of the French Chapter 861 Regiment Army was fully loaded when it set out, but on the first day of the march, it was bombed by the Luftwaffe, losing less than 3,000 men and more than 100 cannons. However, these losses were insignificant for the more than 75,000 men and more than 600 artillery pieces possessed by these two armies.

And the Charles. The French First Panzer Corps commanded by de Gaulle was even more unscathed in the air raid the day before yesterday, and the French tank warfare expert had long been aware of the huge threat to the Luftwaffe, so he arranged for his Panzer Corps to march under the cover of night at the beginning to avoid unnecessary losses. At present, the 1st Panzer Division and the 3rd Light Mechanized Division under the jurisdiction of the French Panzer Corps are at their peak in terms of equipment, personnel, and morale. Moreover, the French Panzer Division has a larger establishment than the German (Chinese) Panzer Division, each French Panzer Division has three tank regiments, each with three tank squadrons, two of which are armed with 52 S35 tanks of 20 tons, and the other squadron is equipped with 52 Charb1-Bis tanks weighing 31.5 tons. The French light mechanized division, on the other hand, was equipped with a tank regiment with 156 10.6-ton Renault R35 light tanks. In addition, the two French armoured divisions (light mechanized divisions) were each attached to a motorized infantry brigade of nearly 8,000 men. The 1st Panzer Corps had a total of 624 tanks and more than 35,000 men, in addition to more than 300 artillery pieces of various kinds, including 108 47mm anti-tank guns from six anti-tank artillery battalions.

In addition to two infantry corps and one armored corps, the French Chapter 861 Regiment also assigned an artillery cluster with 15 artillery regiments to the French Chapter 861 Regiment Corps. This made the artillery firepower of this army group unprecedented, with a total of 425 75mm guns, 436 105mm guns and 432 155mm guns, in addition to 263 47mm anti-tank guns and 338 anti-aircraft guns. According to the information obtained by the French intelligence, the number of artillery pieces owned by the squadrons in the Ardennes Forest is not at all comparable to that of the French army.

This was the main reason why Lieutenant General Lawrence and Major General de Gaulle decided to open the campaign with a massive and prolonged artillery bombardment. According to the original battle plan, the French artillery bombardment would continue for a full night and a day, and a massive tank and infantry assault would take place until tomorrow night.

However, the commander of the regimental group in Chapter 861, Joseph. Admiral George suddenly gave the 861st regimental army an order to launch a general attack as soon as possible.

"Mr. Lieutenant General, Joseph. Commander-in-Chief George asked us to break through the Chinese defenses in the Ardennes Forest within 48 hours and drive them back to Germany! Major General Miller, Chief of Staff of the French Chapter 861 Regimental Army, took the newspaper from the hands of the communications officer, glanced at it, and said to Lieutenant General Lawrence with a frown.

"Within 48 hours!?" Lieutenant General Lawrence and Major General de Gaulle straightened up at the same time and turned to look at Chief of Staff Miller. Major General de Gaulle said: "Mr. Miller, did Admiral George's telegram explain the reason?" He should know that we don't have an overwhelming superiority in forces, so it will take longer to shell the other side to weaken the opponent's ......"

"But time is not on our side now." Major General Miller shrugged his shoulders helplessly, interrupted de Gaulle's words, handed the telegram to de Gaulle, and said: "Charles, see for yourself, during the day today, the 16th Army's defense line on the east bank of the Maas River was routed by the Chinese's Eighth Panzer Division!" They had taken control of the east bank of the Maas River and were confronting the 16th Army, which had retreated to the west bank of the river. However, the situation of the 16th Army was very bad, and the headquarters had urgently transferred the 17th Army from Reims to reinforce it......

In addition, the Moroccan 2nd Infantry Division, which was entrenched in Bastoni, also reported that they were under heavy attack and it was difficult to hold out for more than 24 hours! And this afternoon they found thousands of Germans in the enemy units attacking Bastoni, as well as dozens of German No. 3 tanks! Looking at their uniforms, it should be the German Waffen-SS, and it is estimated that an SS panzer division has reached the vicinity of Bastony and also participated in the battle.

Also, our front, that is, the Belgian Liege line, was also attacked by the German team this afternoon! They also brought in at least eight 420mm train guns to bombard Eben. ...... of Amad Fortress The General Staff estimated that the Germans wanted to drag our main forces in Belgium, and then break through the Ardennes Forest with a strong armored force, go around behind the main forces of the Anglo-French army, and cut us off from the French mainland. ”

As he spoke, Major General Miller sketched the map with a pencil the latest changes in the battle situation, as well as the next evolution estimated by the French General Staff.

"If we cannot break through the line deployed by the squadron in the northern Ardennes Forest, then by April 30, the Sino-German forces will have at least three Panzer Divisions and an equal number of Panzergrenadier Divisions on the east bank of the Maas, and it may even be possible to break through the defense line of our four infantry divisions on the west bank of the Maas River and capture Sedan!" And the 861st Chapter 861 regimental army that we deployed in Lille is probably going to be very difficult to defeat them. ”

De Gaulle held the newspaper in his hand and did not speak for a long time, but his face was rather gloomy. Major General Miller's analysis and his opinion are the same. Even, he had vaguely predicted such a situation two days ago. Two days ago, the Luftwaffe suddenly launched a force after the Chinese Chapter 861 regimental army was blocked in Bastoni, and dispatched an astonishing number of FW-190s and BF-109s to sweep away the British and French fighters in the Belgian sky! Subsequently, countless Stuka, Ju-88, HE-111 and FW-200 bombers occupied the entire sky, bombing the Belgian roads, railways, and the assembly areas of the British and French forces. Under the pressure of the Luftwaffe, the British and French forces had a feeling that they could not move an inch, so they could only change all military movements during the day to night. And even so, they still have difficulty moving because the roads were damaged by bombing...... It seems that the Anglo-French forces are temporarily trapped in Belgium!

"Charles, we must take up the mission of saving France!" Lieutenant General Lawrence seemed to have fully understood the situation that was now suddenly reversed, he patted the map and said loudly to de Gaulle: "The weather forecast says that it will rain all day tomorrow, and this is the best time for us to attack!" As soon as tonight's shelling is over, we will throw in armored forces and infantry to launch a storm! Do whatever it takes! No matter how much sacrifice is made, drive the Chinese and German devils out of the Ardennes forest! ”

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