At that moment, a strange thought flashed through Kristen’s mind: to seek help from Shire.
Shire must know how to solve this problem, Kristen thought, there was no difficulty Shire couldn’t overcome.
But the next second, Kristen cut off this thought. He knew the relationship between Xia Fei and Shire, and he also knew that the tank equipped by Schneider was meant to defeat Shire.
In this situation, seeking help from Shire was too absurd!
The military situation was urgent; the German Army was advancing towards Combray Town at a speed of two kilometers per hour.
Kristen only had a little over an hour to prepare. He commanded the troops to unload the tanks from the train and have the soldiers hide the tanks in the town using the houses, ready for combat.
Kristen could only hope to achieve victory this way, as Xia Fei said, to catch the Germans off guard.
However, the reality still disappointed him.
The German 1st Tank Division, Major General Nicholas was riding a sidecar following the unit.
Major General Nicholas observed the battle situation while admiring the convenience of the sidecar. Its small size provided excellent off-road capability, and compared to two-wheeled motorcycles, it was more stable, making it an excellent command vehicle, though the downside was its small space and lack of protection.
A motorcycle caught up with him from the right, and the rider shouted, "General, there’s intelligence!"
Without waiting for orders, the driver slowed down and stopped. The rider handed a telegram to Major General Nicholas.
Nicholas glanced at it, and it read: "The ’First Specialized Artillery Division’ is ambushed in Combray!"
Nicholas’s lips curled into a smile. Didn’t they think the German Army would place spies in Combray?
Tanks, being so conspicuous, obviously couldn’t escape the spies’ reconnaissance. Major General Nicholas even received a map of the French Army’s troop deployment in Combray.
Nicholas didn’t follow the unit; he chose to stop and consider the next combat plan.
Entering Combray for street fighting directly was not a good idea. It was too dangerous for the tanks and wouldn’t bring out their strengths.
"General," the staff officer suggested, "we can concentrate artillery to bomb Combray. By then, the enemy’s tanks will have to come out and fight."
This sounded like a good idea.
If the enemy’s tanks didn’t come out, they would be bombed to pieces.
If they came out unprepared, they would be hit head-on by the German Tank Division.
But Major General Nicholas did not accept this suggestion.
"Gathering artillery takes time, Dim," Major General Nicholas said coldly, "and bombing isn’t something that can be effective in a short time."
The staff officer agreed. Especially when the target to be killed was the tanks hiding in the town, it would require a lot of shells for a long-term bombardment.
Major General Nicholas was silent for a while and said, "We have a better way to force the enemy out!"
In Combray, Kristen stood in the church’s bell tower, holding a binoculars. It was the highest place in the town, giving a clear view of the situation several kilometers away.
What entered the field of view were the defeated French troops. Scattered groups were here and there, many of them throwing away their backpacks, ammunition, and other heavy objects to escape.
Kristen shook his head silently; it had been a long time since he had seen the French Army in such a sorry state.
Suddenly, a plume of smoke appeared on the horizon, followed by a few tanks emerging.
Kristen saw them clearly. They indeed had turrets, just as the wounded soldiers described, with three turrets.
"Prepare for combat!" Kristen ordered.
The signalman transmitted the order with signal flags, and the tanks waiting in the streets started up, ready to attack the enemy.
At this moment, the enemy tanks slowed down.
Then, the tanks, which had been advancing towards Combray, adjusted their direction and turned towards the flank of Combray.
Kristen was startled. He immediately put away his binoculars and opened the map.
The flank was the defensive line of the 97th Infantry Division. If the enemy broke through this line, they could penetrate to the rear of Combray, cutting off the rail and road lines.
Kristen was shocked. He realized what the Germans were going to do and understood that there would be no surprise attack. The Germans evidently knew the "First Specialized Artillery Division" was here.
Kristen made a decisive order: "Leave the town!"
The tanks moved out of Combray one after another along the streets, heading towards the German Army. The heavy "Saint Chammon" led the way, followed by the "Saint Chammon M21".
This was the embarrassment of the "Saint Chammon M21". It had a road speed of 28 kilometers per hour, but this wheeled maneuvering method was rarely used.
Its track maneuvering speed was only 6 kilometers per hour, which was its combat state. This speed was even slower than the heavy "Saint Chammon" with a speed of 10 kilometers per hour.
A light tank slower than a heavy tank?
And it didn’t even have a rotating turret?
Kristen couldn’t imagine what kind of fool could invent such a thing and put it on the battlefield. It was simply murder!
More ridiculously, they actually thought they could use this thing to defeat the Germans!
The tanks gathered outside Combray, facing the German direction in a wedge formation, a standard attack formation.
Only then did Kristen realize he had been duped. The German tanks were already in formation facing this direction as if they had anticipated the French Army would leave the town, waiting for this moment.
Several shells whistled and exploded near the "Saint Chammon", kicking up a cloud of dust. The closest shell was only a dozen meters away from the tank.
Kristen felt a rush of tension. This was the enemy artillery’s test firing. Next would be a barrage of shells into the tank group, which would be deadly to the tanks.
"Attack!" Kristen ordered, putting away his binoculars and turning to run downstairs. He wanted to be with his troops.
Northeast of Combray, on a flat open field, two lines of tanks, accompanied by billowing smoke, charged at each other.
Initially, they were not moving very fast, as if waiting for the soldiers behind to catch up. But soon both sides forgot this and sped up, eventually leaving the soldiers far behind and charging at the enemy.
Two iron torrents collided fiercely.
The sound of gunfire and cannon blasts instantly filled the air, with bullets hitting the armor like a popping of bean pods, "Clang! Clang!"
The "Saint Chammon" charged into the enemy’s position, its 75 guns rapidly firing shells at the enemy as it advanced.
It didn’t dare stop to aim. Doing so could make it a target for the enemy the next second.
Perhaps because the enemy tanks were too dense, or maybe the speed of the 75 guns was quick, the shells fortuitously hit several German tanks, which burst into plumes of smoke and soon flames.
The trailing "Saint Chammon M21" failed to keep up with its 6 kilometers per hour speed, barely faster than the infantry, getting left behind by the heavy tanks.
Including the French infantry, everyone was charging at the enemy, shouting with bayonets fixed on rifles.
However, what they faced were the German "Upper Silesia" tanks, a model developed under the influence of the "Shire A1"!