The German First Storm Assault Battalion launched a fierce offensive against the French defensive lines in the trenches. They would first toss a few grenades around each corner, and, amidst the explosions, soldiers wielding MG08/15 light machine guns would dart out, mowing down any French soldiers who hadn't yet recovered or were erging from the bunkers. Riflen would then move in to finish off any survivors, and if they encountered a bunker, they would imdiately toss in more grenades.
anwhile, the main German forces launched a frontal assault on the French lines under tank cover. The unprepared French soldiers were overwheld, managing only a few rushed shots before retreating en masse. Despite General Christine's efforts to rally them, their retreat could not be halted.
Amid the chaos, as German forces surged forward, Gaston crouched low, making his way to Christine through the crowd. He shouted, "Retreat now, General! If we don't leave, it'll be too late!"
Christine yelled back, "We have no way out! No matter how fast we run, we can't outrun their tanks!"
"We do have an escape route!" Gaston gritted his teeth. "If we leave the Second Artillery Regint behind!"
"What?" Christine looked at him in shock. The Second Artillery Regint was Gaston's own unit.
"Yes, General," Gaston said firmly. "We have no other choice, or none of us will make it out alive."
"But you…"
Gaston interrupted, patting Christine on the shoulder. "Take care of my family. Joining Charles was the right choice."
Christine understood his aning. Gaston was referring to the decision to align with Charles.
Before Christine could give the order, Gaston was already gesturing with his pistol, commanding the communications officer behind him, "Second Artillery Regint, advance!"
The signals were relayed, and the "Saint-Chamond M21" tanks stationed in the second line rolled out of their shelters and drove toward the advancing German forces, heading against the flow of retreating French troops.
"Get out of here!" Gaston shouted at Christine with a hint of irony in his voice. "Tell Joffre I followed his orders to the end and held the line until the last mont!"
In this battle, almost all the "Saint-Chamond M21" tanks were lost, with only a few tank operators surviving. Those who did survive were either badly burned or knocked unconscious. The others had t horrific ends, and Gaston's body was never recovered. No one could tell which scorched or blown-apart corpse was his.
Nevertheless, they had successfully covered the retreat of the main force of the First Special Artillery Division. This text is hosted at novel⁂fire
As the German forces pursued Christine, Charles' First Tank Brigade arrived in ti, halting the German advance.
With accurate knowledge of the new German tanks' specifications and tactics, and with additional armor plating on the "Charles A1" tanks, even the German tanks' 57mm guns couldn't penetrate their front armor. Thus, the German forces were predictably defeated by the arriving First Tank Brigade.
The enemy's firepower, however, was not the most crucial factor.
Knowing that the Germans relied on K-bullets for their machine guns, Charles had sandbags hung along the sides of his tanks, adjusted to the height of the German machine guns.
Just as before, the German tank gunners ignored their main guns, placing their hopes in the K-bullets from their machine guns. This tactic wasn't unreasonable. At this stage of tank warfare, tank guns were notoriously inaccurate—even at close range, machine guns provided a more reliable rate of concentrated fire.
But in the heat of the encounter, German gunners suddenly realized, to their horror, that instead of facing enemy side armor, they were up against sandbags.
Bullets fired in neat lines, but all they did was pierce the sandbags, releasing puffs of sand.
anwhile, the "Charles A1" tank guns, aid squarely at the German tanks, awaited the mont they ca side-by-side. Then, as their vulnerable side armor ca into the line of fire, the 37mm guns fired with a resounding "boom."
One by one, the German tanks were disabled, smoking and afla across the battlefield.
The tank designed specifically to counter the "Charles A1" was instead being dismantled by the very tank it was ant to destroy.
Following their crushing defeat on the ground, the German forces could hold back no longer and deployed their new fighter planes, hoping to use aerial superiority to turn the tide for their ground troops. Major General Nikolaus planned to use them to counter the relentless "carpet bombing" by the French bombers.
The German Fokker E1 fighter had a top speed of 133 km/h, nearly matching the French Caproni bomber's 137 km/h.
Although the speed difference was minor, and the Fokker E1's small, nimble fra could indeed intercept the Capronis, it could easily outmatch the 100 km/h Avro fighters the French were using.
If the Germans could secure control of the skies, they could use air superiority alongside their 105mm howitzers to suppress Charles' tanks effectively.
Unfortunately for them, the French, just as Nikolaus had feared, had also developed a new fighter—a model faster and far more maneuverable than the Fokker E1: the "Cal."
The air battle's outco was devastatingly one-sided. German fighters, like flaming turkeys, were shot down one after another.
Soon, although the Germans still had planes, none dared take to the skies.
Colonel Imlmann, commanding the German air units, stared blankly at the dispatch from the front lines, which displayed a cold, brutal statistic: 43 to 1.
They had lost 43 planes and only shot down a single enemy aircraft.
And that one was likely downed because of an engine failure that prevented it from accelerating.
"This isn't an air battle; it's a slaughter," Colonel Imlmann gritted his teeth as he gave the order: "Recall all units to the airbase."
"But, Colonel," his aide protested, "Major General Nikolaus has requested all available planes. He says it's critical; otherwise, the infantry will suffer devastating losses from enemy bombers."
Colonel Imlmann paused for a mont before shaking his head. "No. Tell General Nikolaus we can't stop them. Sending more planes will only increase our losses and lead to more pointless casualties."
The pilots were a priority.
Imlmann knew well that the continuous bombing by the French had already inflicted severe losses among the experienced German pilots. If he sent more of them to die, then even if Germany later produced faster planes to match the enemy, they would still be at a disadvantage, lacking enough skilled pilots to operate them effectively.
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