I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 153: Amended - 153 Shire’s Elite Troops

Chapter 153: Amended: Chapter 153 Shire’s Elite Troops

The heavy rain poured ceaselessly, each drop like a bullet falling from the sky, fiercely striking the ground. Rainwater mixed with mud and blood flowed across the positions, forming small streams that trickled into the trenches.

In the trenches, soldiers from both sides were locked in a chaotic melee, so tangled in the mud that it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe.

Bayonets, rifle butts, shovels, even rocks and teeth were used—anything that could kill the enemy became a weapon.

The German Army consisted mostly of battle-hardened veterans, well-trained and holding a numerical advantage in the trenches.

The French Army, however, took advantage of the aftermath of grenade explosions to charge in before the Germans could react. They would fire a bullet first before engaging in hand-to-hand combat, seizing the initiative both in tactics and equipment.

The two armies, each with their strengths and weaknesses, were locked in a deadlock, with screeches and clashes reverberating inside and outside the trenches. The red-tinted water made it impossible to tell rain from blood.

On both sides of the trenches, reinforcements were attempting to bolster the front lines.

If both sides succeeded, the frontline trench would become a meat grinder, with soldiers continuously being thrown in and consumed, ultimately collapsing when one side could no longer hold.

However, this precarious balance didn’t last long...

A tank rumbled forward, its 8-meter-long body effortlessly crossing the 1.5-meter trench, which was just a shallow ditch to it.

Then its tracks began to crush the advancing German reinforcements.

The Germans surged forward like a tide, but the tank stood as an iron gate blocking them, even pushing back against the "waves," halting their advance.

Screams erupted, and blood splattered!

German soldiers were continuously crushed under the heavy tracks, emitting a "crackling" sound like dry wood breaking—that was the sound of bones being crushed.

Everyone nearby shuddered at this sound, as if it came from their own bones, a tingling shiver rising instinctively.

The tank’s machine gun roared, a Vickers Machine Gun at its front spitting bullets like a relentless rainstorm at the Germans, reaping lives like Death’s scythe.

Rows of German soldiers fell into pools of blood, utterly defenseless.

Someone tried to use a K bullet to stop this iron behemoth.

However, the 17MM armor of the "Mark I" tank was impenetrable even at close range.

Some attempted to flank the tank.

But the machine gun sounded from the side of the tank as well...

The side of the "Mark I" was armed with a Hatchkiss, its firepower, though not as fierce as the Vickers, combined with nearby tanks to form crossfire coverage:

The side gun of Tank One covered the flank of Tank Two, and vice versa.

Germans attempting to sneak between the tanks were cut down one by one, falling into pools of blood.

The tank successfully blocked German reinforcements. Though only two minutes had passed, the battle in the front trench was already decided.

Waves of French Soldiers surged into the trenches, effortlessly pinning down or slitting the throats of the still-resisting Germans with bayonets, giving them no chance to surrender.

The victorious French soldiers wasted no time, immediately climbing out of the other side of the trench, raising their rifles to provide cover for the tank.

At a sharp whistle, the French soldiers quickly pulled out grenades, lit them, and threw them.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

After the explosions, the soldiers charged forward again with bayonets raised, shouting.

The battle seemed to become simpler, tanks, grenades, and close combat repeating in cycles, breaking through enemy trenches again and again with little resistance.

Colonel Klopp, observing from the rear, could hardly believe his eyes.

He had organized no fewer than ten assaults on this line, replenished troops seven or eight times, with three to four thousand French Soldiers falling on this land without making any progress.

The enemy’s counterattacks were just as fierce!

Colonel Klopp and his staff had assessed that breaking through the enemy’s line would require at least five times their current strength.

About fifteen thousand soldiers, a large artillery complement, and immense sacrifices to achieve victory.

Thus, when Colonel Estiny charged forward with over a thousand men, insisting they needed no other support, Klopp thought they were mad, a suicide mission!

Yet Klopp did not stop them, as it was an order from General Gallieni.

Colonel Klopp could only pray for these poor souls in his heart: Forgive them, for they know not the brutality of the battlefield, not when their commander is but an artillery officer...

However, before his prayer ended, the battle had already turned in their favor, with the anticipated deaths not happening.

Strictly speaking, they did, but it was the enemy who suffered!

"What happened?" Colonel Klopp raised his binoculars, closely observing. Though the rain obscured his view, he could tell this unit was advancing at an astonishing pace.

"Colonel!" a signalman reported, "They’ve broken the second line of defense; the Germans are fleeing!"

Colonel Klopp stared in disbelief: "But that was over three thousand Germans, and they were defeated by just a thousand men?"

When did the Germans become so fragile?

Does this reflect poorly on his own troops?

But then he realized, this was Shire commanding an elite unit. Though unexpected, it made sense!

Colonel Klopp did not realize that his assessment of the unit had naturally, smoothly shifted from "a motley crew sent to die" to "Shire’s elite unit."

...

The German Army collapsed when the French Army broke through the second line of defense.

They realized there was nothing that could stop the French onslaught, all their defenses and structures would be mercilessly crushed under the tank’s tracks. Resistance seemed meaningless!

However, Estiny had no intention of letting these fleeing soldiers go.

German deserters were dangerous, as Estiny had learned from fighting them, they would reassemble defenses somewhere else, even launching ambushes from roadsides despite being deserters.

Thus, Estiny sent teams of machine gun-mounted sidecars to chase down these fleeing soldiers.

They would stay just out of contact, yet be omnipresent—a tactic the sidecar teams had mastered, knowing how to play the game!

Eventually, realizing they couldn’t escape, the Germans began raising their weapons en masse, choosing to surrender.

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