Compared to the high level of mechanization of the German armored forces, the larger German army units seem to be only marginally stronger than they were during the First World War. They still had to walk dirt roads with weapons and heavy luggage on their backs, still using old-fashioned bolt-on rifles and sharing a piece of soap for two people.

Although the German army made extensive use of armored vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and even war horses, the expansion of the army by 1.5 million at once was still a number that a military industrial enterprise could not eat. Many weapons had to be eliminated before they were used, and many individual weapons had to be used with all kinds of defective products.

Cars were never sufficient, and at the beginning all artillery units were required to have trucks to tow large-caliber artillery, but this plan clearly did not meet the needs of the expansion. Later, it became that 150 mm guns were towed by cars, and 75 mm mountain guns were all transported on pack horses.

At the beginning of the military expansion, the Army General Command required that more than half of all troops must be equipped with automatic or semi-automatic weapons, which means that the MP-44 assault rifle and the G43 semi-automatic rifle should account for about half. But later, because of the rush to mobilize troops, the MP-44 was insufficient and had to be replaced by the G43, and the G43 was insufficient and had to be replaced by the MP-38/40 submachine gun that was eliminated that year, and in the later period, even the MP-40 was gone, so I had to continue to use the Mauser 98K. Most of the light infantry of the current Army Group I, as well as almost all of the rear garrison units, are using the Mauser 98K rifles that have been eliminated by the other main forces.

However, fortunately, because the German light industry has been supplemented by half of Poland and other regions, the number of military uniforms and tactical vests is still sufficient, and although the quality of tents and some canvas products is not guaranteed, the quantity meets the requirements of the German army to expand its military strength, so that many troops are now changing camouflage uniforms for use in the coming spring.

The German factories worked overtime day and night, and the cars produced were not even able to fully equip the several group armies fighting in the first line, let alone the second-line troops that followed, and many second-line troops were only equipped with the battalion level, that is, an infantry battalion only had a few cars at the battalion headquarters.

More troops retained the ancient formation of cavalry, and these cavalry were more accurate than traditional cavalry, but infantry moving forward at high speed, and these soldiers used horses in large quantities for the purpose of following behind the armored units for rapid infantry use.

Of course, some of the equipment problems mentioned above, as a main infantry division, the 7th Infantry Division in the hands of Colonel Frederick is much better, such as heavy firepower 150 mm caliber cannons and supporting tractor vehicles, as well as MP-44 and G43 rifles in the hands of infantry, his troops are equipped according to the earliest standards.

Moreover, as a reserve panzergrenadier unit for key training, this infantry division has a regiment equipped with armored vehicles and assault guns, which is simply the ace unit in the German infantry division. Because of so many sophisticated and excellent weapons and equipment, when the 7th Division attacked the French army, the French defenders on the opposite side were very depressed.

Frederick was inspecting one of his artillery positions, where two 150 mm guns were desperately tilting ammunition towards the Anglo-French forces in the distance. Two German soldiers were manipulating the angle and direction of the artillery, and more soldiers were carrying the shells back and forth.

Speaking of Germany's 150 mm caliber cannon, it can be regarded as an epoch-making product that draws on the strengths of others. The barrel of this cannon is actually a masterpiece designed by Soviet designers, because of the cooperation between the two sides back then, Accardo's spies used some means to get back to Germany. Of course, the Germans tried their best to reduce the weight of this cannon, and they did not even equip the artillery shield, reducing the weight of this cannon to three and a half tons in one fell swoop.

However, this modification was also accompanied by unsatisfactory points, such as the reduction of the caliber, which led to a decrease in the firing range of this gun, to only 11. 2 km. Although the range is slightly less, but the advantage is that it is more mobile and flexible, these new German howitzers roll forward with the troops, and rarely fall behind.

Coupled with the support of Germany's large and efficient railway transportation lines, the heavy weapons of the entire German army kept up with the rhythm of the attacking troops in the early stage, and they were not left behind at all because of their own inconvenience. Now these mobile cannons have left an indelible shadow on the hearts of the British and French forces.

"I just got the news that the 2nd Battalion has begun to cross this area, and the 4 No. 3 assault guns of the Independent Armored Battalion are covering the frontal assault of the 1st Battalion, Colonel. The chief of staff of the division headquarters pointed to a field map and said: "The British troops on the opposite side abandoned the hill and the area without returning fire, and lost a dozen of their 25-pounder guns." ”

"It seems that there is a problem with their logistical supply, and the resistance is not as stubborn as it was in the previous days. Frederick frowned as a 150-millimeter cannon fired another cannonball in the distance, and his eyes came to the scissor periscope to look at the hill that had been hit in the distance.

After about ten seconds, probably seeing the explosion there, he straightened up, looked at the map in the staff officer's hand, and then pointed to it and said, "Before tonight, advance here and camp." A telegram was sent to the War Office informing General Sù that in light of the present situation, we needed to immediately send a reconnaissance force to ascertain the night movements of the British defenders. ”

Just opposite the 7th Infantry Division, in the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division of the British Expeditionary Force, a group of officers were sighing at the map with sad faces.

They retreated all the way from Brussels, chased by German infantry and armored troops, and lost hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles along the way, but they still failed to get rid of the German army behind them.

What frustrated them the most was not the rapid pursuit of the German soldiers, but the fact that they were running out of fuel and ammunition. Large quantities of ammunition and fuel stockpiled in northern France became trophies of the German Army Group A, and the seemingly safe transport route was now under German control. British forces are now more vulnerable than ever.

"Divisional commander, Lord Gott told us to retreat urgently, but we are not infantry! They raised their legs and said they would leave, what about us? What do you want us to retreat with without fuel?" complained the commander of a tank regiment.

"Yes, division commander! We have already lost a regiment of tanks! Now if we lose another batch of tanks, we will lose half of our equipment to the Germans!" The commander of another armored regiment has now become the commander of the light pole, and the tank units in his hands have now been lost to the Germans, leaving only a few hundred tankmen as infantry to follow him and continue to retreat.

"If we had known about the current situation at the beginning, and had lost half of our tanks early, the remaining tanks would have been able to return to France! Even if we concentrate fuel now, it will only be enough for more than 100 tanks to retreat to France, so what do we need to fight against the German tanks?" The chief of staff also scolded: "Those French idiots are really allies of the Germans!"

Now the German tanks are already attacking the southern part of Belgium, the 5th Light Panzer Corps is sweeping through the southern part of Belgium, Rommel's armored forces are also actively cooperating with the offensive to the north, and now the Anglo-French troops are retreating one after another, and they are retreating to Dunkirk, which has been chosen for a long time to retreat.

If you can't imagine a road to death leading to hell, look no further than the retreat of the Anglo-French army, flanked by mountains of supplies, discarded with ammunition, cannons, and guns for lack of ammunition. Everywhere the Allied soldiers were hungry and had to wait for the Germans to arrive and take prisoners, and sometimes in order to save oil and supplies, Ganmarin had to order the entire regiment of troops to surrender to the Germans.

At least 500 tanks were discarded on the side of the road due to a lack of fuel and maintenance parts, which made the Germans look terrified, and if it wasn't for Army Group A's quick enough, these equipment would probably have completely destroyed Army Group B.

In the beginning, the discarded tanks were destroyed by the British and French forces with grenades and explosives, but later there were so many that they could not be destroyed, and grenades became a resource that they did not dare to waste, so those tanks and armored vehicles were discarded there as they were, at most they only disassembled some parts.

In fact, the main reason is that the advance speed of the German front-line troops far exceeded the expectations of the British and French forces, and the German infantry used cars, mules, horses and even bicycles to advance frantically, and kept up with the retreat of the British and French forces, so many equipment Allies did not have time to destroy, so they had to give up to the German army that was chasing over.

Frederick's 7th Infantry Division had captured 12 discarded British tanks, which were neatly parked on the side of the road, their engine compartments open, but the engines and other equipment were still inside. Apparently, the British engineering troops wanted to disassemble these parts as a backup, but they hastily abandoned this plan because of the attack of the German soldiers.

The officers of the British 1st Armored Division scolded the streets for a long time, and did not come up with a decent countermeasure, so they had to abandon another 30 tanks and continue to retreat in the direction of Dunkirk.

Colonel Frederick, on the other hand, continued the pursuit with his 7th Infantry Division. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to the English Channel, and once the British and French forces were encircled, the German soldiers could easily annihilate these troops who lacked ammunition, medicine and fuel.

The core of the strategy now before the German generals is very simple, it is nothing more than two words - compression!