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In the early hours of April 9.

The road from Reims to Soissons was crowded with troops of different numbers, and the soldiers trudged through the muddy roads in the pouring rain, and the drivers who were afraid of being late and delaying the attack honked their horns vigorously, but the whole team was still as slow as a snail. More than ten meters away, the artillerymen silently tied the ten-ton long-range cannon stuck in the quagmire with ropes, and then hung it on the butt of the Renault truck that came to tow it.

The artillerymen, who were already drenched, stood numb and helpless beside the cannons, staring blankly, and although the officers were still shouting, everyone could see that it was impossible for them to arrive at the predetermined position on time to participate in the attack. The front and back of the cannon were littered with heavy artillery and ammunition trucks stuck in the mud, and these big guys blocked the road and blocked the infantry from continuing to advance, so that it became more and more chaotic and finally became a mess that no one could unravel.

"How? It's messed up like this! Didn't you say that the fight was about to start? Xue Yue muttered, dissatisfied with the chaos in front of him. As the first officer to graduate from Yang Qiu's personally taught armored training class, he pointed to the Renault truck stuck in the mud and was puzzled: "Division Commander Qiu, the last telegram also said that the French army was equipped with a lot of tanks, why didn't you see it all the way?" If only one could be towed out here. ”

"It's quite a lot, and there are more than a thousand of them, just." Qiu Wenbin glanced at Cai Yi, who was sitting in front of him with frowning brows, spread out his hands and smiled bitterly: "You will know when you stay for a while, the effectiveness of tanks here is not as good as artillery." ”

"How is that possible!" Xue Yue heard him say that tanks were inferior to artillery, and suddenly jumped up like a rabbit that had been stepped on by the tail: "The firepower and destructive power of tanks are indeed not artillery. But mobility is far from being comparable to artillery, the commander-in-chief said. Future warfare must be a combination of firepower and mobility, and even infantry needs to be armored to break through trenches. ”

"The problem is, they can't be taught by the commander-in-chief personally!"

"That's right." Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Qiu Wenbin, Xue Yue opened his mouth and thought about it, the armored training class of the National Defense Force began to study armored tactics after the Sino-Japanese War, and the first phase was all taught by the commander-in-chief himself. From the meaning of tanks to the tactical curriculum, he wrote it all by hand, and after using experimental tanks and gray wolf armored vehicles for experiments and confrontation training, everyone gradually understood how powerful that tactical manual was. On the contrary, the tanks of Britain, France and Germany have only just appeared, and there are no tactics to speak of. But then again, how did the commander-in-chief manage to compile a tank combat tactics manual a few years in advance? Could it be the inspiration of the Gray Wolf armored car and the Bunker car? Xue Yue held his chin and meditated. Cai Ye didn't say a few words from the beginning. At this moment, looking at the long dragon outside, he didn't say a word, and seeing his face full of worry, Qiu Wenbin asked curiously: "Deputy Chief of General Staff, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Wen Bin, Boling. Did you notice something wrong? ”

Qiu Wenbin's eyes swept around, and Xue Yue searched for a long time before asking, "Something is wrong?" Aside from the fact that the muddy road delayed the trip, there was something wrong with that. ”

"Attention. Listen to the sound. ”

"Voice?" Qiu Wenbin's eyes lit up, and after listening to the meeting, he sighed with emotion: "Deputy Chief of General Staff, you are really powerful, you can see through the problems of the French army at once. Xue Yue was still puzzled at first, but gradually understood, because there were few loud conversations around except for the sound of vehicle engines and rustling footsteps, and even if there was a conversation, most of the soldiers were very soft, as if they were stuck in their necks by something.

Tens of kilometers of roads, hundreds of thousands of troops trekking, thousands of trucks and cannons stuck in the mud. The mud-covered artillery and the infantry acted together, but no loud noise was made! God, even if it is a few thousand coolies working together, they will shout and work together! After realizing this, the hearts of all three began to sink. It's obvious! After nearly three years of fierce fighting and paying the price of millions of military and civilian casualties, the French army, known as the world's first army before the war, was on the verge of collapse! If this battle is lost again, I am afraid that France's last bit of confidence in resistance will also be gone! So all the way to the arrival at the front command. The three of them were immersed in the silent picture just now, worried and did not speak.

After Qiu Wenbin showed his special pass, the military vehicle drove into the brain of hundreds of thousands of French assault clusters, and as soon as he got out of the car, Xue Yue, who was sharp-eyed, saw Yue Peng and Zhang Xiaozhun hiding under the eaves and smoking a muffled cigarette, and their faces were a little gloomy in the flickering light of cigarette butts. Seeing him and Cai Yi, he barely recovered, squeezed out a smile and greeted him: "Brother Songpo, why are you here?" ”

"Don't mention it, the commander-in-chief saw that I was idle and took my salary for nothing, so if I couldn't get used to it, he kicked me to you as a staff officer."

"If you can get Brother Songpa to help me, then I have to thank the commander-in-chief."

"Huh." After making two jokes, the heavy mood just now gradually dissipated, and Zhang Xiaozhun asked with a concern for the country: "How is the domestic situation now?" ”

"The snowstorm at the beginning of the year was more severe, and the flooding in the north is expected to cause a lot of failure in the summer grain harvest. Everything else is peaceful, only something happened on the Mongolian side. Cai Ye roughly told the story of Zhebu's murder and framing the Wehrmacht. Hearing that Russia still did not agree to send troops into Siberia to suppress bandits in the Northeast Theater after repeated negotiations, and that after the fall of the Tsar, he deliberately restricted the scope of activities of the National Guard and the Railway Brigade, Yue Peng couldn't help but snort coldly: "After the fall of the Tsar, they have stiffened their waists, and I don't know where they got the confidence!" ”

"Forget it, the commander-in-chief has his own deployment for this matter, so let's talk about your situation here." Cai Ye looked at the busy French officers around him and asked, "You two are also high-ranking officers, why don't you go in and have a look?" ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Xiaozhun was full of resentment, and the anger of Nivelle and Mangran who deliberately targeted the expeditionary force at the meeting that day had not subsided, immediately said indignantly: "What is there to see! It's still the same set of firepower coverage, the old cliché that the infantry followed, and the new tactics we spent more than 100 days playing were stunned and didn't see the slightest shadow! Damn, I'm busy. Seeing Zhang Xiaozhun, who rarely lost his temper, his face was resentful and burst into foul language, and Cai Ye couldn't help laughing: "Sure enough, the commander-in-chief guessed correctly, he said that after seeing you, my ears will definitely be filled with complaints." It's true. ”

Yue Peng asked Xue Yue with a smile: "Is the armored brigade ready?" ”

The three senior officers didn't dare to interject when they spoke, not to mention that it was his first time on the Western Front. It is always right to be blind and listen and learn more, and it is not until he asks that he salutes: "Report to the commander, yesterday afternoon we arrived with 72 vehicles, and according to the plan, there will be 108 vehicles tomorrow, and the rest of the French promised to transport all the troops to Reims within five days, but most of the soldiers came with me first." ”

"In five days? Hehe, it's good to be there in ten days. After such a long time, Zhang Xiaozhun saw through the so-called high efficiency of the French army, but Yue Peng was not angry and continued to order: "There is not much time!" The troops that arrive first will immediately begin their adaptation training, and I estimate that it will be our turn in half a month at the latest. ”

As soon as he heard that he would be put into battle in half a month, Xue Yue excitedly patted his chest and promised: "Commander, don't worry." We've been training since October last year. No problem! Yue Peng didn't want to discourage his enthusiasm, but seeing that this kid obviously didn't understand how difficult this battle was, he told with a straight face: "Don't talk big, the tank won't be very effective here." ”

Xue Yue pursed his lips disappreciatively, thinking that Yue Peng, like Qiu Wenbin, didn't understand how powerful the armored assault was. But just as he was about to defend a few words, he suddenly heard a few muffled thunders. At first, he thought it was spring thunder, but as the surrounding French troops and some officers from the observing countries shouted, he immediately felt that something was wrong. But after only a few minutes of this feeling in my mind, thunderclaps burst out from all directions!

Let's go! It's finally time to fight!

On the 50-mile-wide front from Reims to Soissons, a total of 3,000 heavy guns of more than 150 mm, as well as nearly 2,000 cannons of other calibers, roared in unison! Tens of thousands of shells burst through the rain with dark red streamers and rushed toward the German lines five miles away. From the area where the headquarters is located, the entire sky seems to be filled with streamers, and there is no room for other sounds in your ears! Although the rain obscures the view. Although the low-ground line of sight could not penetrate the darkness to reach the target area, the flowing jumping flames on the horizon made Xue Yue, who had seen the war on the Western Front for the first time, widen his eyes, and even his lips trembled with such fierce artillery fire, could the Germans still survive?

But soon Zhang Xiaozhun pinched his watch and said a sentence that completely hit this newcomer on the Western Front: "The density is not enough!" A third of the artillery did not arrive on the road, and the speed did not reach full speed, presumably due to problems with the transportation and storage of shells. "There are so many problems that can be seen in just ten minutes. Even Cai Ye had to say that war is really a training exercise. If it weren't for the fact that so many cannons and ammunition were stuck in the mud when he came, I'm afraid he wouldn't have dared to make such a conclusion.

Only Xue Yue stuck out his tongue: "This is not enough for the chief of staff, I don't take you to hit people like this." ”

"It's not enough at all, and it's a waste of shells!" Yue Peng smiled and looked at this young officer who had made great contributions to the Sino-Japanese War, was selected into the armored training regiment and was drawn out, and raised his finger: "If you know that the French have prepared 11 million shells for this attack, and according to the requirements of their command, they must all be fought within five days, you won't say much." ”

"After firing 11 million shells in 5 days, he is stupid!" Xue Yue was not surprised this time, but unexpectedly patted his thigh and jumped up, crossed his fingers and calculated: "Even if the cheapest 75 shells are 6 dollars each." If all this money is exchanged for building our rolling dragon tanks, even if all of them are assembled from foreign parts, 3,000 can be built! If it is replaced by self-made, it will be 6,000 vehicles, and Lao Tzu can directly spread here! ”

Yue Peng didn't bother to pay attention to this person's madness, beckoned the guards to drive a military car, and looked at Cai Yi, who had just arrived: "Let's go, I'll take you to a high place to have a look." Cai Ye also wanted to see how the army fought, so he immediately got into the car. After about two kilometres, the car stopped in front of an artillery observation post converted from a lighthouse. Since several of them had special passes, the French artillery observers stationed here cooperated with them to give them the top attic.

Climbing to the top of the five-story lighthouse, his vision suddenly became clear, and Cai Ye took out the Zeiss eight-fold telescope that he carried with him, but after looking at it for a while, he gradually frowned, turned his head and asked Yue Peng: "Zi'an, I'm afraid you have already seen the problem, right?" ”

"The soil was soft due to heavy rain for many days, and when the shells fell, they pierced deeply, and the blast wave of the explosion was absorbed by the mud to absorb most of the power." Yue Peng looked into the distance with a solemn face, and snorted coldly: "So this is a pure waste of cannonballs!" As if to verify his words, as the sky brightened up little by little, the Hindenburg defense line in the distance began to become clear, and through the telescope, Xue Yue finally understood what wasting shells, because after the artillery had been fighting for several hours and smashing out at least 1 million shells, the German positions like a gray line still looked relatively intact.

"Look, the tanks are on a sortie!"

In the heavy rain, dozens of French Renault FT17 and St. Monza assault tanks drilled out of the grass and woods used for camouflage, and rushed towards the Hindenburg defense line in a straight horizontal line, but Xue Yue's heart suddenly twitched with excitement after seeing this picture: "Commander, is this how they use tanks?" What about the infantry! ”…… (。 If you like this work, () vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )