80 – Episode 80 The Reigning Empire (1)
On December 24, 1916, ahead of Christmas Eve, French soldiers gathered in groups of twos and threes. There was no food or lover for the special occasion, but a bowl of warm soup was enough to brighten the mood.
“It’s cold, it’s cold.”
With the long-awaited cold, the soldiers did not want to go outside the warm Yugae Lake. When my colleague came in, the soldiers handed him soup in a bowl. The soldier hurriedly moved the spoon, wondering if the warm soup would cool down.
“What about your sympathy for the Germans?”
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“Be quiet. “They are talking about an attack from above, but how can they attack with this wind?”
The wind had to blow towards the French army to make it easier for them to push in while using poison gas, but the wind direction was the opposite. Even if the Germans had any intention of attacking, not today.
There is no way to attack without gas, so what can we do?
The soldiers chuckled and passed around letters and postcards from their families. For soldiers on the front lines who had no special entertainment, there was nothing else to enjoy.
At that time, I started to hear the sound of a tractor running, and someone shouted outside.
“The Jerrys are coming!”
The soldiers quickly put on their gas masks and ran out to the trench. I couldn’t believe that the Jerrys came without even spraying gas. Are you planning on creating a corpse field?
The chief panted for breath and slightly put his head above the trench.
“Are you crazy? “What are you going to do if you get shot?”
There were German snipers on the front lines. Unlucky soldiers would be killed by snipers.
Jang didn’t know that either, but he was curious about the situation.
Something was approaching, kicking up dust in the distance, beyond a distant, uninhabited area. The object made of iron resembled an object I had seen many times before.
‘No way.’
Jang could not hide his astonishment.
That was a tank.
It even seemed much larger and more powerful than the Mark 1 operated by Britain. The cannon attached to the tank looked scary.
“Hey, tank.”
“What?”
At Jang’s words, a soldier stuck his head out.
He too shrank his body, his face turning white.
“It’s a tank. “Jerry’s are coming with a tank.”
“That doesn’t make sense. How are the Jerrys? “They made so many things that even the British didn’t have in just a few units?”
The soldiers stuck their heads out into the trenches to see with their own eyes.
Clear silhouettes of metal chunks were visible through the dust approaching from the other side of the no-man’s land. And it wasn’t just one or two. It was a huge number, possibly tens or even hundreds.
The soldiers had an intuition the moment they saw the tank.
‘This war has been lost.’
Despite all-out war with the great powers, Germany was able to produce hundreds of tanks more powerful than those of Britain, which means that Germany was fighting the war leisurely. Or is there a huge gap in technology?
How can you defeat an enemy with such a difference?
Even though the German army was approaching, no one dared to shoot.
On the contrary, some of them let go of their guns and got up and started running across the trench. The panic quickly began to spread to other soldiers. There was nothing visible in the fearful eyes of the soldiers.
They abandoned the defense line without even looking back.
“Hey, hey.”
No, maybe they were wise. All that awaited soldiers who remained in the trenches was death.
The approaching enemy tanks were too powerful for even infantry to stop them.
“Damn it.”
Jang also kicked out his camp and started to run away.
Although French artillery belatedly provided supporting fire, it failed to stop the onslaught of tanks. The tanks pushed into the trenches, ignoring the artillery fire. After that, German infantry followed suit.
Ta-ta-ta-ta.
The tanks freely used machine guns and trampled the resisting infantry. The soldiers who were still unable to be killed were dealt with by the German infantry that followed them.
“How can we stop that?”
Unfortunately, the negotiation forces were not aware of the presence of German tanks and did not build blocking structures such as anti-tank shelters.
If a German tank had an enemy, it was its own engine.
The unreliable German tanks broke through one trench line and half of it spread out.
Still, the number of tanks remaining was enormous.
At least the infantry was not in numbers to attack.
“Keep running. “The jerrys are chasing you.”
German tanks, supported by infantry, steadily broke through the French army positions.
Jang gritted his teeth and ran toward the ally’s rear camp visible in the distance.
No one knew how long they would have to run away.
*
“A group of enemy tanks has made a significant breakthrough through our lines. The target appears to be Verdun, and we expect to reach the city within a day.”
“What are the measures?”
Everyone fell into despair at the fact that the German army had an advantage in tank power, mobilizing up to 300 tanks at once. I never dreamed that Germany would mobilize so many tanks.
“Let’s sell an anti-tank ship. “If we dig it to be 3 to 4 meters deep and 5 meters wide, the Germans will have no choice.”
“If you dig as much as you can, the Jerrys will take a detour. “I don’t think the Jerrys will give us time to sell the issue.”
The generals also thought about it, but there was no way to stop the tank.
But we couldn’t just give up Verdun, who had made enormous sacrifices.
The intensity of the German army’s offensive did not decrease even on the second day. The French army suffered repeated defeats due to German attacks led by tanks. There was no means of communicating with the tank. Direct fire from artillery? That’s also true when there are only a few tanks, but doing something like that against dozens of German tanks swarming around was suicidal.
The German army even sprayed poison gas in large quantities when the wind was good, so the negotiating forces were unable to stop the enemy.
“Verdun has fallen.”
When the German army captured Verdun within two days of a counteroffensive, the French army’s fighting spirit plummeted.
“You can’t win.”
“It’s a retreat.”
As soon as a tank appeared, the front line fell like dominoes, so the French military command could no longer endure it.
“Please insert Mark 1.”
When France gave up its pride and asked for a favor, the British Expeditionary Force also decided to send its prized tanks to the front.
“We are an invincible tank unit. “Let’s prove that Jerry’s tanks are outdated scrap metal.”
British tankers entered the battlefield confidently.
The experience so far has proven that their thoughts are not wrong.
But that thought was wrong.
“Huh?”
Strangely, the cannon of the German tank seemed large.
Before the British could think anything was strange, the main gun of the German tank opened fire.
Boom!
British tanks were instantly reduced to scrap metal by the 75mm tungsten armor-piercing bullets fired by German tanks.
“Damn. “Dodge!”
“Our equipment is no match for them.”
The British tankers were brave, but their equipment did not support their fighting spirit.
The German tank, which was originally designed with anti-tank warfare in mind, and the Mark 1, which was designed for simple trench warfare, were only tanks of the same classification, and were not worthy opponents in the same ring.
The tank battle that took place in Lem, south of Verdun, ended in a one-sided massacre.
“It looks like British tanks are no match for them.”
“Then let’s send in even Schneier.”
The French army had Schneider tanks, but the number was so small that they were not yet ready for use in combat.
However, due to the circumstances, the French army even transported these goods by rail. The Schneider was also equipped with a 75mm blockhouse Schneider gun, which was worthy of its caliber.
“You are the only ones the country can hope for.”
The command staff, including French Field Marshal Joffre, came out and encouraged the tankers.
“I will dedicate myself to my country.”
On December 31, 1916, amid the expectations of all of France, 36 Schneider tanks challenged the German army moving south toward Kume city.
They attempted a counterattack at the timing when the German army advanced toward the trench line.
“Shoot!”
Schneider’s 75mm gun was definitely effective.
Once hit, the German tank also had a hole in it.
But the Schneider tankers had no hope of winning.
“How can I overcome this?”
“They are coming again.”
The march of German tanks covering the horizon was not something Schneider could do anything about.
However, the Schneider’s armor was not able to withstand the 75mm armor-piercing bullets of German tanks.
If it was a one-shot fight, quantity would be the deciding factor, and the German army deployed 200 tanks.
It didn’t take long for the French army to learn of the defeat of the Schneider tank.
“I lost.”
“You lost again? “This time we were completely wiped out?”
The continuous defeat of the tanks of the negotiating countries, and the loss of 100 km in a week, sent France into a panic. All kinds of rumors covered Paris.
“The Jerrys are arriving in Paris soon.”
“Stupid military barbarians. “We should have stopped going on the offensive and prepared for defense before things ended up like this!”
The French people’s anger toward the military was higher than ever.
“Let’s negotiate before it’s too late. “After Paris falls, will the Germans listen to us?”
“Nonsense! “Supporting independent strengthening means betraying our ally, Britain!”
“If those British bastards can protect Paris, they will remain loyal as you said.”
The French parliament had a heated debate over whether to strengthen the country independently.
Meanwhile, there was talk that some political parties were forming a negotiation team to discuss the terms of peace with Germany.
Marshal Joffre was speechless at the fact that even the French government had fallen into anarchy.
The sound of the French Republic collapsing rang in the ears of the old marshal.