The commander of the French First Army, Ney, was a little depressed, and for this time, he was basically on the march.

In the absence of a fight, the troops were exhausted.

In particular, the march in the mud in the midst of torrential rains caused some non-combat attrition of the troops.

Even Ney himself had a cold.

The spring rain in Ukraine is really fucking cold.

On several occasions, Ney reloaded the winter gear on board.

Winter clothes are worn on the body, and it is good to say that if you are caught in the rain, it is good to say, if you are caught in the rain.

Oh my God, that garment is heavier than stone.

And once you get wet, there's really nowhere to dry your clothes.

Whoever wears such clothes will get sick.

"Marshal, let the lads rest in Belgorod and then move forward.

Just rest for a day or two!

After all, the troops just came out of the mud. Woodward, commander of the 33rd Division, carefully reminded the commander.

"I also want to give the lads a rest, but His Majesty's order does not allow it."

Ney saw the exhaustion of the troops, and anyone who marched non-stop for more than half a month and four days in a torrential rain would complain.

"But general, the troops are so tired, if they encounter the Ming army......!" Woodward had fought many battles against the Ming army.

He was well aware that a hundred kilometers a day march was simply impossible for the French army.

Even if it is done by force, the physical strength of the soldiers will be greatly reduced.

But for the Ming army, marching 100 kilometers a day was not much of a problem.

They were able to march more than a hundred kilometers even in one night.

Moreover, the soldiers who were advancing in the car could go into battle as soon as they reached their destination.

Physically, there is not much to lose at all.

"Woodward, your Thirty-Third Division is the striker.

You'll have to send your strikers to scout carefully, and if you smell gasoline, turn to the defense immediately.

Also, no matter what the situation is, it is not allowed to give the order to retreat. ”

Ney knew very well that if the Ming army dared to come and ambush his own army of 200,000.

That's definitely a tank unit that walks like the wind!

Ordinary infantry faced tanks, if the retreat was driven ...... by others, it would only be the destruction of the whole army.

The only way is to defend on the spot and rely on the equipment in hand to withstand the Ming army's attack.

The First Army was the main force of the French army, and other units generally lacked anti-tank weapons, but the First Army did not lack them.

After all, the teacher, Marshal Chang Mula, is now in charge of the military industry of the empire.

With good things, priority must be given to the old troops.

And the 33rd Division can be regarded as the descendant of the lineage, the main force of the main force.

Not only are they larger than other divisions, but their weapons are also the best in the whole French army.

Even the logistical supply is better than that of other French divisions.

Other French troops are still nibbling on bread, and the officers and men of the 33rd Division will have broth to drink.

This is also the reason why Ney is relieved to hand over the forward position to the 33rd Division.

Otherwise, other division commanders would not have had much chance to talk to Ney like this.

"Yes!" Woodward knew that it was useless to say anything more.

Even though Ney was a marshal, he did not dare to disobey the orders of His Majesty the Emperor.

After a night's rest, the 33rd Division got up on time at six o'clock in the morning, then had breakfast and was ready to go.

Those scout cavalry were released at half past five to reconnoiter the positions they were going to pass by today.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the troops of the 33rd Division set off on time.

But the troops had only marched for twenty minutes, and some of them had not even set off.

The two horsemen, like crazy, beat their horses and ran back.

The war horse rushed into the marching team like an arrow: "Ming army!

Ming Army! ”

Tank divisions fight ambushes, which are inherited from the tradition of cavalry.

When the 1st Cavalry Division was still a cavalry division, it often did this.

Zu Kuan was also a cavalry general back then, and this kind of trick was not less.

Usually they found a wood, and the cavalry lay in ambush in the woods in advance, and when they saw the enemy passing by, they suddenly rushed out.

Unsuspecting infantry will be overwhelmed in an instant by the cavalry galloping on horseback.

There were even rabbles that collapsed without resistance.

Now that there are tanks, the Ming army still likes to play sneak attacks.

This may have something to do with the tradition of the Ming Army, when Li Xiao started his business, he did not make a trick.

As a result, by now, the Ming army is already the strongest army in the world, but it still doesn't like to fight in an upright manner.

A group of French troops appeared in Zu Kuan's line of sight, and Zu Kuan glanced at his pocket watch.

It's just 8:20!

Not every section of the road, there are woods on the side of the road, and it is impossible for the Ming army to always be able to hide.

After all, those iron guys behind him were three and a half meters tall. If you want to hide your body, where is it so easy.

As a volley of shells landed in the French marching ranks, a tank ambushed in the woods by the roadside began to fire wildly.

The Type 1 tank is equipped with a double-two-five rapid-fire gun, a high-rate of fire thing that is no different from the Grim Reaper's scythe when fighting an ambush.

Before the French could react, a barrage of shells came at them.

Flesh and blood were no longer enough to describe the scene in front of him, and the Double 25 rapid-fire cannon had a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute.

The bullets swept up and simply smashed into a barrage of steel.

The people and things that hit this barrage, or were hit by this barrage, were all turned into pieces.

A French company at the forefront was wiped out without firing a few shots.

A tank quickly launched its tank and rushed directly into the makeshift formation of the French.

The two-two-five rapid-fire guns were constantly spewing tongues of fire, and the French infantry, like lambs to the slaughter, could not organize a decent resistance at all.

In just half an hour, there was no one left in a French infantry battalion.

"Attack forward!" After the 1st Tank Division was deployed, the attack was eight kilometers in front.

The tanks roared and rushed towards the fleeing French.

After receiving the news of the annihilation of the Forward Battalion, Woodward did not panic.

As the elite of the French army, when camping at night, they would build improvised positions.

Although it was only for one night, there were quite a few foxholes dug on the periphery.

It's too late to dig trenches now, but with the help of these foxholes, it's feasible to resist.

Zu Kuan stood in the turret of the tank, leaning out of the turret, and the telescope in his hand kept searching for the traces of the enemy.

A large group of French soldiers occupied the bushes!

They seem to have dug foxholes there, and bullets are constantly coming from there.

A group of Ming tanks pounced, and it was the first type of tank that rushed to the front.

Although the current rocket launchers of the coalition forces can effectively penetrate a tank at a distance of 100 meters.

But Zukuan didn't care, after all, the rapid-fire gun on a type of tank had a range of two thousand meters.

The first tank not only had a two-two-five rapid-fire gun, but also a 12-point-7 mm machine gun on the roof.

If the enemy is allowed to touch a distance of 100 meters, then this carload of people deserves to be killed.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the Type 1 tank, which weighed eighteen tons, was actually directly lifted three or four meters high by the explosion.

Falling to the ground, the ammunition inside began to detonate.

"Fuck me!" Zu Kuan was startled by the loud explosion.

The power of this anti-tank mine is really fucking big, how much does this charge get.

Before Zu Kuan could give the order, another Type 1 tank burst into flames.

Then there was an explosion, which directly lifted the turret of the tank into the air.

Immediately afterwards, a type of tank that rushed to the front was shot and smoked.

In just ten minutes, eight tanks were engulfed in flames.

"Self-propelled guns, fire cover."

Zu Kuan knew that this was definitely not an anti-tank mine, but the famous eighty-eight guns.

This thing was originally an anti-aircraft gun, and now it is being used by the coalition forces to fight tanks.

It is said that it is handy.

Self-propelled guns shot, one hundred and twenty mm howitzers, firing very accurately at a distance of five kilometers.

Two eight-eight guns, found by self-propelled guns, were directly covered by a group of shells.

The first tank also began to move in a zigzag, trying to avoid the fire of the eight or eight guns.

At the same time, the double-two-five rapid-fire guns on the roof of the car also began to strafe the enemy's positions.

At a distance of 1,000 meters, the commander stood on the roof of the car and began to fire from the 12.7mm machine gun on the roof.

The first type of tank was born relatively early, and its protection and firepower are not strong, but it is superior to its light hull and strong mobility.

Now, a tank battalion is also running at the forefront of the division.

Soon, explosions broke out one after another on the French position.

The thick smoke of gunpowder obscured the entire French position.

There was no more cannon sound, and it is estimated that those eight or eight cannons were killed.

The French army was the only one that could inflict damage on the tanks of the Ming army.

Soon, howitzer shells began to fall in the Ming army's shock formation.

But, apparently, it is difficult for howitzers to kill tanks.

The fragments hit the tank with a clanging sound.

Even if it's closer, it's just that there is shrapnel embedded in the tank.

There were also unlucky eggs, who were hit directly by howitzers.

Although a hundred and twenty mm shells were not enough to directly return the tank to the state of parts, it was also enough to destroy.

However, it is simply too difficult for a howitzer to accurately hit a tank moving at high speed.

A hundred shells, not a single one of them was missed.

Just when Zu Kuan felt that he could easily break through the French position, and then scatter the French army like a sheep, he started target shooting mode.

A type of tank that rushed to the front of the French position lay down one after another.

I didn't see the explosion, but the tanks were lying on their stomachs.

What's going on?

No explosion was seen, it was not supposed to be a bazooka, or an anti-tank mine.

It is even more unlikely that it is an anti-tank grenade, and now a tank is almost more than a hundred meters away from the French position.

The range of the bazooka is out of reach!

What the hell is going on?

On the battlefield, Zu Kuan didn't have time to ask why.

I just saw that some of those tanks lying in the nest were shooting, and some were not moving.

The telescope saw a fierce commander firing at the enemy with a 12-o'clock 7mm machine gun on the roof of the car.

Suddenly, a large cloud of blood erupted from the commander's body.

He seems to have been killed by something, from a distance.

Sniper?

Miraculously, the attack of the Type 1 tank battalion was contained.

There were French soldiers, who crawled out not far from the tank.

They had incendiary bottles in their hands, and these people either threw Molotov cocktails at the top hatch of the open tank or at the engine air intake of the tank.

Anyway, none of the Ming tanks lying in the nest were spared.

In the telescope, you can see the Ming tankers coming out of the tank covered in fire.

Although they were two or three kilometers apart, they couldn't hear their screams, but the screams still appeared in Zu Kuan's head.

What's going on?

What did the French army have?

Due to the lack of infantry protection, more and more French soldiers climbed out of the foxholes.

They used either anti-tank grenades, or Molotov cocktails.

Zu Kuan could only watch as his tanks were destroyed one after another, and his tank soldiers were slaughtered like sheep.

In just 15 minutes, 100 meters in front of the French position, there were Ming tanks parked with billowing black smoke.

A lot of Ming tankmen returned fire with pistols and Aka rifles.

But they were still knocked down by bullets.

Some of the tankmen were captured!

The French hated these people so much that they ordered the Ming prisoners to kneel in a row.

An officer-like guy with a pistol shot them in the back of the head one after the other.

Seeing his subordinates' brains burst one by one, Zu Kuan's eyes turned red with anger.

His grandmother's, from Liaodong to the Western Regions, and then from the Western Regions to India, when did Lao Tzu suffer such a loss.

"I want an artillery regiment, blow it up for Lao Tzu, and blow up this gang of miscellaneous pieces." Zu Kuan was really angry.

Now the bombardment of the French positions was not only the 120-mm tactical support artillery of the regiment below.

There is even a 155 heavy artillery regiment in the division!

Zu Kuan, who was full of confidence, couldn't accept such a failure for a while.

Half an hour later, the Ming army adjusted the offensive sequence.

Instead of placing the Type 1 tank battalion on the front of the impact, it was replaced with the latest Type 4 tanks.

This thing, which has five pairs of load-bearing wheels, weighs up to thirty tons.

Above the tank was a 105-mm smoothbore gun, and on top of the hull, there was also a 12.7-mm machine gun.

Fortunately, unlike other tanks, next to the main gun, there is also a 7.62 mm side-by-side machine gun.

The car weighed and couldn't catch up with the speed of a tank.

However, the eggshell-shaped turret is more prone to ricochet.

This kind of tank, which was later called the 59, is definitely an average combination of firepower, mobility, and protection.

"Well done, brethren.

Just like that, the Ming army tanks are not invincible.

You see, the corpses of the Ming army are there.

Kill them and you will become the heroes of France. ”

The major, who had just used a pistol to kill more than a dozen prisoners of the Ming army, shouted with a loudspeaker.

This battalion under his command was responsible for defending the position of 500 meters in front.

Now, more than a dozen Ming tanks have been destroyed at once.

After this battle, you can add at least two stars to your shoulders.

Oh my God!

It was lucky to go from a major to a colonel all at once.

Perhaps, it is possible to be promoted directly to the rank of general.