After the fall of Saint-Mange, Charlemagne's 2nd Army no longer had any force to stop Army Group B from rushing to the Maas River. Sporadic resistance did not even make a splash in front of the armored spearhead, and the brave resisters often only had time to shoot a round of bullets before they became a puddle of flesh under the tracks of the Wehrmacht's chariots.

Without any preset position, and in an open area near the riverbank, how can you stop the torrent of steel with a single shot rifle in your hand alone?

In just an hour, the Balk battle group and the 1st Panzer Division had reached the Maas River. According to the predetermined plan, the Balk battle group immediately began to cross the river, and the 1st Panzer Division waited in place for the sappers to build the bridge.

This is a pre-planned order. While the sappers erected the pontoon bridge, the vehicles of the Balk battle group immediately mounted the submarine equipment carried with them and forced their way across the Maas River, consolidating the bridgehead on the other side of the river before the enemy could react. After the 1st Armored Division has completed the river crossing and the follow-up troops have followed, they will go straight to the Sedang fortress with the cooperation of the air force.

In the design stage, the combat vehicles of the defense force listed the ability to cross as a hard indicator, on the surface it was to meet the operational needs of the developed areas of the river system, but in fact, as long as you look at the soft snorkel more than ten meters long in the selected equipment, anyone with a discerning eye knows who this ability is aimed at.

With the depth of the river in Charlemagne's territory, a 3~5-meter-long rigid snorkel is enough to deal with it, what do you want to do with a nearly 20-meter-long snorkel? Isn't it just to make technical preparations for cross-sea landing? With this thing, even in the absence of a special tank landing ship, the tank can be launched and dived at a distance of three kilometers from the coast. Next, when the defenders were completely defenseless, a large number of aquatic iron kings roared out of the sea and fired at the defenders' beachhead.

At this stage, the felines of the 101st Experimental Heavy Armored Battalion do not need to make cameo appearances in submarines, but the above scenes can be rehearsed on Charlemagne's side first.

There are detailed precautions for diving in the operation manual of the Defence Force tank, and all 14 parts to be sealed are also thoughtfully marked with numbers in the combat vehicle, and the accessories used to seal these parts are stored in the accessory box at the rear of the turret.

The average depth of the Maas River is 2.7 meters, with the deepest being only 3.5 meters, and shallower motorbikes can wade through the water. For the Tiger Chariot with submersion equipment, without heavy artillery, air strikes, and mines to interfere with them, the Maas River is just a larger bathtub, and it will pass with one foot on the accelerator. If one of the lucky ones breaks down in the water, they don't need to worry about drowning. Each crew will receive a life jacket, emergency oxygen cylinder and gas mask before entering the water. When there is a breakdown, the commander pulls a pull tab, and a rubber ball buoy pops out of the box behind the turret to indicate the location of the vehicle, making it easy to salvage and salvage. During the period before the salvage team came, the crew members who put on life jackets before launching into the water will open the cork for water filling, wear gas masks and emergency oxygen cylinders at the same time, and wait for the water filling in the car to be completed and the internal and external pressure is the same, and then open the hatch cover to surface (whether it is a combat vehicle or a submarine, it is absolutely impossible to open the hatch when the external pressure is greater than the inside).

The 101st Experimental Heavy Armored Battalion completed the river crossing in just over 40 minutes, and by this time the first pontoon bridge was halfway completed. The warships of the Air Force are also airdropping prefabricated pontoon components, hinged pontoons are spread out on the river surface one by one, and the sappers standing on the pontoons are holding bamboo poles like fiddling with rafts to line up the pontoon groups in a straight line, and as the hinged levers are pulled off one by one, the hooks and grooves are engaged, and a straight square pontoon appears on the river surface. Next, as long as the two banks are fixed and then connected up and down the gentle slope, the troops can be allowed to pass.

At the present pace, five passable pontoon bridges could be built in a maximum of an hour, and by evening the advance troops would be in the city. The reinforced advance group will complete the encirclement of the fortress at night, and launch a general attack on the fortress early the next morning under the cover of the air force's capital ships, attack planes, and bombers.

If a shell or a suicide plane hits the pontoon at this time, Charlemagne might be able to save it. However, from beginning to end, not to mention artillery and air strikes, the advance troops did not even see the shadow of the enemy. Just as the Wehrmacht's armor essence was steadily crossing the river like a clock, a direct order from the General Staff and accompanying intelligence arrived in Nona's hands.

Because of this order, Army Group B's schedule was once again greatly advanced, and the previous schedule was almost reduced to a piece of waste paper. Because of this order, the fortress of Sedan has become an eternal sad place for the Charlemagne, and the name "Sedan" will always be closely associated with "humiliation" and "shame". As long as the Charlemagnes of later generations mentioned Sedang, they would be embarrassed, hesitant, sad, and then cursed with anger. Interestingly, the vast majority of curses are not imposed on the Alfheim Guard, but on those stationed at the Sedan.

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At 6 p.m. on the 12th of the month, the Sedang Fortress was already lit up, and many richly dressed guests had gathered in the garden of the fortress headquarters with colorful lights. The band played soft dance music, the waiters carried trays from guest to guest, and every now and then a guest called a waiter to refill his glass or replace it with a valuable glass of vintage wine.

There was no shortage of banquets and salons in the Sedang Fortress, but today it was bigger than ever. It can be said that the elite of the entire Champagne-Ardennes region is concentrated in the fortress: champagne merchants with more than a dozen plantations, university professors from Lüders, employees of local government bodies, socialites and courtesans, and numerous young army officers.

This grand carnival was initiated by the commander of the 2nd Army, Admiral Anzire, and in order to celebrate his wife's birthday, the army general spared no effort.

It is said that it is wartime, and any lavish banquets should be suspended for the time being. Even if it's for show, it should be restrained and cooperate with the lighting control. But some people are not bound by rules by nature, especially the local military and political officials who hold the power of life and death on one side, for whom material shortages, rationing, hunger, war, and death are things that are far away from the world. Civilians killed by incendiary bombs, soldiers run over by enemy tanks—to ladies and gentlemen are no different from ants in the grass by the roadside, even when they witness the fires caused by the bombardment of the ghetto from their towers or balconies, they do not frown. The earth-shattering explosions and wailing screams did not prevent them from cursing the brutality of the ghost beasts and admiring the magnificence of the fire. After all, this is a war, and someone will die, and in the end, it will be like in the story, and the righteous Charlemagne will defeat the evil ghost beast against all odds, right?

Since the war is still far away from itself, there is certainly no need to restrain itself. As soon as she heard that the birthday of the wife of the commander of the group army had arrived, all sorts of sycophants and people with evil intentions immediately gathered around Mrs. Anzire, and at the instigation of these people, Madame blew Admiral Anzire with the wind on her pillow. Therefore, in order to celebrate this "important day", Admiral Anzire ordered a lavish banquet to be held in the fortress headquarters on the night of the 12th of the month, and celebrities from all walks of life received gilded invitations.

Admiral Anzire undoubtedly loved his wife very much, but to make such a show just for the sake of a smile from the Bojia people was too underestimating the mind of His Excellency the Commander of the Group Army. The main purpose of the general's lavish ball was to highlight that "everything is under control" and to counter the rumor that "ghost animals had been killed from the Ardennes". Just imagine, the big guys are still as stable as POI, which means that the situation is still stable, people's hearts will naturally settle down, and all kinds of rumors will be self-defeating. The Lüdes side will only see the stability and prosperity of all social strata when they send people to inspect it, and when they return, they will certainly report to His Excellency the commander of the group army for their meritorious service in guarding the locality. Everything is still business as usual, and if you are lucky enough, you can mix up a medal to hang. In addition, Admiral An Qire also wanted to take this opportunity to get in touch with his old friends in the military and political circles to see if there were any opportunities to make a fortune recently. The admiral's wife regarded the carnival as a perfect opportunity for her goddaughters to get married, and from the beginning of the ball, she searched back and forth among the young officers with small binoculars used in the opera house, surrounded by a group of noblewomen and celebrities.

As for the high-ranking and junior officers who had gone to the ball, what to do if there was any unexpected incident in a fortress that no one commanded, such as an enemy attack at night...... What kind of blind person would bother His Excellency the Admiral's Yaxing with such an inconsequential question? The ghost animals are still hundreds of kilometers away, and they can't fly, how can they kill the city of Sedang overnight? Besides, the headquarters of the group army has just reported to the central authorities during the day: "The enemy in front of the 2nd Army has launched an all-out attack, but our brave light cavalry still completed their task at a normal pace, perhaps a little faster on the far left flank of our army. "At this time, are you stupid to say that the ghost beast came to smash the open flame? Do you want to show that you are smarter than the group army headquarters, or do you want to slap the commander of the group army in the face to show your contempt for that Excellency?

So with deliberate connivance, starting at 19 o'clock, this cadre and others gathered in the garden of the headquarters and danced round and round, and continued to carnival until late at night. At the same time, the junior non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the fortress were also very drunk - in order to seal their mouths, all alcoholic beverages were served openly that night, and everyone, including the soldiers on duty, was drunk, and naturally no one would talk too much afterwards. It was in the midst of a fiery carnival that the decisive moment came.

"Look, what's that?"

A young lady pointed to the sky and shouted, but at first there was little response, and soon as the night sky was lit up, the guests looked up at the sky.

Golden balls of light slowly descend with shining tails, showing a golden waterfall that spreads out in a radial pattern, and in the exclamation of people, the angel drawing with its wings spread in the night sky is revealed.

Just one such fireworks was enough to amaze everyone, not to mention the dense mass that almost turned midnight into day.

Looking at the beautiful scenery in the sky, people can't help but admire.

"It's perfect for the finale, Your Excellency. ”

"Even the old men of Lüders have never seen such a spectacle. ”

"What a masterpiece. ”

"The angel that lights up the night sky, isn't this a symbol of my Wang Jun's divine help?"

"Your Excellency, how can you make such a ......?"

A vote of celebrities revolves around the army general to send cheap compliments, and more people are thinking about the recipe for taking away the fireworks for profit, as for Admiral Anzige, although he does not know what is going on, it does not prevent him from enjoying the compliments and praise. Admiral Anzire made up his mind to reward the clever and caring man who came up with the grand finale early the next morning, just as he whispered a few words of the scene that did not hurt. The rumbling of artillery and the rapid sound of gunfire fell silent, and the people stared in amazement in the direction of one fireball after another.

The officers present were the first to react, and this kind of violent gunfire was obviously not a misfire, let alone a movement that Charlemagne's standard weapons could fire. At the urging of the angry army generals, a group of senior officers rushed towards the headquarters, and before they could rush to the gate, with a loud bang, a steel monster broke through the gate of the ornate stained broken glass painting, and in the screams of a group of women, the steel tracks ran over the carefully manicured green grass, and rushed straight to the front of Admiral Anzire, who was surrounded by many officers and gentry. A beast-eared girl in a black uniform climbed out of the turret, straightened her collar, and asked condescendingly:

"Your Excellency General Charles Leon Clement Anderson Nziere, commander of the 2nd Army of the Royal Charlemagne Army?"

"Yes...... Yes. You are ......"

I am Major Nona Georgsky, commander of the 101st Experimental Heavy Armored Battalion of the Yalfheim Defense Force. Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, the evening is over, and you have all been taken prisoner. ”

"Guards ......"

As soon as a senior staff officer shouted, he was interrupted by a dense burst of gunfire tearing through linen, and after a violent tremble, the bullet-riddled corpse slammed to the ground like a bag of flour.

"What a brave man. ”

The wolf-eared girl leaned happily against the conning tower, her fluffy tail flicking around. Behind her, Panzergrenadiers in spotted camouflage entered the venue, their guns pointed at the trembling crowd.

"Which of you wants to be next?"

Glancing at the noble, sifted chaff-like people, a satisfied smile appeared on Nona's face.