I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 201 Tank Attack Tactics

Chapter 201: Chapter 201 Tank Attack Tactics

Rhodes Defense Line, German Army. Major General Von Bazel braved the rain to personally inspect the firepower deployment along the defense line, accompanied by Colonel Aifuri and several guards.

Major General Bazel walked while frowning:

"Add a machine gun here!"

"Scoop out the accumulated water here, otherwise no one will be able to run!"

"If you don’t want to be blasted to the sky by the enemy, disperse and hide the ammunition!"

...

It was clear that Bazel was not very satisfied with the defense line.

But considering this was the 22nd Reserve Infantry Division, high expectations couldn’t be held.

Reserve troops usually receive professional military training but have never been on a battlefield.

Such soldiers can easily forget everything they learned because of nervousness when they first enter the battlefield. The reserve unit exists to provide them a buffer period.

They undertake less intense combat tasks in the reserve army, and after getting accustomed to the battlefield environment and building sufficient psychological preparedness, they are supplemented into the regular troops.

However, due to the stretched-out defense line and the severe shortage of personnel, the reserve troops have become virtually nonexistent and are directly dispatched to face the most brutal war.

Even so, they are far better than the new recruits who only learn to shoot and queue in one or two weeks.

Bazel continued walking along the trenches, there were still some corpses of French soldiers near the trench, which were left when the German Army recaptured the position. Some of them could still move slightly and let out faint groans.

Bazel had no time to care for them and left them to fend for themselves.

The task of the 22nd Reserve Division was simple: to hold the defense line and block any enemy that tried to enter the defense area, especially the enemy’s tank troops.

After inspecting half of the defense line, Bazel thought it was enough and turned to ask Colonel Aifuri: "How is the preparation of the 77MM field artillery?"

"All according to your orders, General!" Colonel Aifuri stood tall and answered: "We have deployed them within two to three hundred meters behind the defense line, they will only fire when the enemy tanks arrive!"

Bazel responded with a satisfied "Hmm". With the field artillery, K ammunition, and over fifty T-shaped anti-tank rifles, facing the enemy’s tanks shouldn’t be a problem.

Just as he was about to end this inspection and turn back to the command post, suddenly someone shouted behind him: "Enemy! They are advancing!"

Bazel was startled, he turned quickly and crouched running along the communication trenches back to the front trench, disregarding the blood and mud everywhere, he lay down and carefully peered out using binoculars.

Through the rain, he indeed saw some figures, not many, cautiously advancing using craters and the terrain.

Bazel felt a sense of doubt.

Until now, French attacks were either massive infantry charges or overwhelming tank assaults, this method of sending a few infantry to advance stealthily within five hundred meters was unprecedented.

Soldiers raised their guns one after another and lay down in front of the trench preparing for combat. Initially nervous, they couldn’t help but mock upon seeing the "pitiful sight" of the French:

"Don’t they have tanks? Why are infantrymen in front?"

"We must have wiped out the French!"

"They should go back and have more children, otherwise, soon there will only be women left in France!"

...

The soldiers laughed heartily, and the relaxed atmosphere spread along the defense line.

Bazel ignored them, knowing that soldiers needed to seize the opportunity to joke and relax.

Colonel Aifuri jogged over and crouched beside Bazel, reporting: "General, this could be a reconnaissance action by the French!"

Bazel shook his head gently, he sensitively sensed it was not the case.

He cautiously adjusted the angle, observing the enemy’s movements through the binoculars.

The enemies mostly operated within five hundred meters, some crawled closer to two or three hundred meters from the trenches, faintly there were sounds of sidecars, though they weren’t visible from a distance.

At first, Bazel couldn’t understand what the sidecars would be used for here, were they planning to charge with these?

Shortly, he understood; before his sight, the barbed wires were being pulled away easily...

"They are preparing for an attack!" Bazel frowned.

Colonel Aifuri peeked out in confusion and, after a glance, responded indifferently: "Do they think they can charge us? Our machine guns will teach them a lesson!"

Barbed wire was not crucial, as long as there were enough machine guns, no one could charge through.

But Bazel’s face suddenly changed: "No, they have tanks!"

Pointing ahead at several spots, Bazel said: "Look at those small red flags!"

Aifuri raised his binoculars following Bazel’s direction and indeed saw rows of small flags planted on the ground waving in the wind, like little waving hands.

"They are marking paths for tank commanders!" Bazel explained: "This way, tanks can avoid danger zones and reach us in the shortest time!"

Aifuri’s face showed a cautious expression, he immediately passed the orders down: "Be alert for enemy tanks, prepare anti-tank rifles..."

Before he could finish, a burst of gunfire and explosions sounded, the shells whistled as they flew making sharp noises that grew louder by the second.

But they didn’t explode as expected, instead, thick, pungent green smoke rose, and German soldiers immediately covered their mouths and noses.

Shells rained down one batch after another, some exploded, some remained smoke shells, soon the area around the German defense line was filled with smoke, steam, and dust, combined with the drizzling rain obscuring visibility, even at just one hundred meters only vague shadows could be seen.

Watching all this, Bazel felt deeply uneasy.

He realized this was likely a developed tank assault tactic by the French, with meticulous and coordinated steps, while the German Army was completely unprepared and uninformed about it.

Including himself, while knowing what the French were doing and why, there were no countermeasures.

The artillery fire grew more intense, many shells directly hit the trenches, causing German soldiers to scream in agony, many instinctively dove into dugouts to avoid the shells.

But Bazel sensed danger, he peeked out and strained to listen, indeed amidst the gaps of shellfire, he heard faint "rumbling" engine sounds.

"Enemy tanks!" Bazel hurriedly ducked and ran along the trench, shouting to the soldiers: "The enemy is coming, organize the defense!"

However, Bazel knew it was already too late.

The soldiers had no idea what was happening, they had already lost the chance to stop the enemy tanks.

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